Yep, Depp’s the sexiest man alive

New York — People magazine has named Johnny Depp the “Sexiest Man Alive 2003,” saying the actor, known for his “brooding eccentricities,” has mellowed since becoming a father.

Depp, star of this year’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” has two young children with his girlfriend, French actress and pop singer Vanessa Paradis.

“Because he arrived at his new, happy place without selling out, without becoming slick or packaged or politically correct, he is a hero to his fans and an idol to his young costars,” People says in its Dec. 1 issue.

Rounding out the Top 10: Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, George Clooney, Lenny Kravitz, Justin Timberlake, Hugh Grant, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington and Colin Farrell.

Harrison tops hall of fame class

New York — Two years after his death, former Beatle George Harrison is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Harrison leads a class of 2004 inductees, announced Thursday, that includes Prince, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger, Traffic, ZZ Top and the Dells.

The singer and guitarist, who died in November 2001 at 58, already has been inducted into the hall as a member of the Beatles. As a solo artist, his songs included “All Those Years Ago” and “Got My Mind Set On You,” although his career was always eclipsed by the legendary success of his old band.

Artists are eligible for induction into the hall 25 years after their first recording is released. Prince, whose biggest album remains the multiplatinum disc “Purple Rain,” is being inducted upon his first eligibility.

The induction ceremony is scheduled for March 15 in New York City.

Hilton rethinks Letterman show

New York — Disgraced socialite Paris Hilton, star of an upcoming Fox reality series and suddenly an inadvertent Internet icon, is pulling out of her announced interview on David Letterman’s “Late Show.”

Hilton was scheduled to appear Wednesday on the CBS late-night show, the network said.

But Thursday morning, a spokesman for Dan Klores Communications, the PR firm that represents Hilton, said the 22-year-old was scrapping all planned media appearances to promote her new TV show.

The heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune costars in the upcoming Fox series “The Simple Life,” in which she and Nicole Richie, Lionel Richie’s daughter, live on a farm for a few weeks. A two-part premiere airs Dec. 2-3.

Hilton said this week that she was “embarrassed and humiliated” that a homemade sex video she shot three years ago with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon has been making the rounds online.

“I can’t walk the streets — it’s too embarrassing,” she said. “I don’t want to go out anymore. I don’t want to party.”