Las Vegas Weekly

December 17, 2008 · 8:21 AM

Exclusive: Paul Anka clears the air about ‘overblown’ incident ahead of Orleans concerts

By Robin Leach

Paul Anka greets fans during a concert at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Photo: TVT

The nightly news entertainment shows and Internet gossip sites went into overdrive when police released a mug shot of Paul Anka’s wife, Anna, after she’d left their California home in a minor spat throwing an ice cube at him. Even we were incredulous when we linked to the TMZ gossip and Entertainment Tonight news wire pages: Paul Anka hospitalized! Wife missing! Wife arrested for domestic assault! It sounded as if the world was coming to an end.

So who better than the superstar himself to get the honest truth?

Yesterday morning, my phone rang and there’s the cheery voice of longtime pal Paul Anka ready to tell me exactly what happened.

“I’m laughing now because a tiny spat got blown out of all proportion -- and I’m coming to Vegas. I’m not injured. I’m not in a hospital -- never was. I’m playing at The Orleans on schedule starting Friday night, and I think we’re already fully sold out for all three shows,” the 67-year-old singer and legendary Vegas entertainer told me.

He admits wife Anna had good aim when an ice cube beaned him on the head on Nov. 28 -- but she didn’t even mean to hit him! “She just got lucky,” he laughed. Paul says he’s going to kick the bucket -- of ice! -- when he goes on stage Friday night here just to get some laughs! “I’ve got some fun stuff to start off the show because the whole thing became preposterous. If it was real, I would have stood behind it, but this became laughable when you knew exactly what went on.

“We have no problems. There’s no divorce. We’re not splitting up. Everything is cool. We’re making love more than ever before. We’re singing. We’re happily planning Christmas!”

Paul explained that the accidental ice cube hit caused a small cut, so he drove himself to an emergency room to get it checked. “I wasn’t even admitted. They just stapled me up with two little stitches. I didn’t even need to go in a room. It was done in 10 minutes in the hallway. I was fine, and they told me to go home. There’s not even a scar -- nothing there,” he said. “I just want the truth out there.

“I came home and Anna wasn’t there. I got concerned after a while, and since I know the police here fairly well, I called to see if they’d seen or heard her. That became an official ‘missing person’s report,’ which led to a ‘domestic assault case.’ It all sounded terrible, when in fact it was all totally the same kind of spat that goes on in many marriages. Who hasn’t had one or seen or heard of an argument between a husband and wife like all couples in America? She simply had a bad day, and it got blown up far bigger than it was -- and I object to that. She’d never done anything like that in the four years we’ve been together. It was just something stupid and absolutely nothing serious.

“So the police see the Band-aid on my head and told me that ever since the O.J. Simpson case, everything had to be reported. She’d returned home by then, but they had to take her down because of the technicalities involved. They did the paperwork. No charges were pressed. Everybody was just covering themselves.

“This was back on Nov. 28 -- the next day we’re in the spa together and everything is back to normal, and we had a lovely dinner together. I’m getting ready with everything for Vegas -- and, suddenly three weeks later, somebody squeals and sells it for money, tips off the gossip shows as if it’s urgent breaking news -- and suddenly the world was on fire. It was the most minor of problems between two people who care about each other. No big deal -- a non-event! It was nothing -- a waste of ink -- everything was fine.

“I’m coming to Vegas exactly as planned. I never went into a hospital. I wasn’t hospitalized. The shows are on this weekend and not in jeopardy. Everything is fine, and we’ve made love 22 times! It’s all behind us, and we’re fine!”

On Friday as Paul begins his three nights of shows at The Orleans, we’ll feature a full interview I had with the superstar singer when he gets reflective about his amazing career, his love of Vegas and explains why he’s still such a restless gypsy!

Share This