D'Alessandro issued one of the more prosaic press releases on the issue that nobody outside of Ling's family was speculating about, and he might have chosen his words a little more carefully, making his client sound like a bit of an easy touch.

"While Bai Ling, who is single, has dated a lot during her career, she isn't some 'whore' who hooks on to rising actors."

No, she just gets her publicist to link her to established ones. The PR man had clearly opened Pandora's Box (he represents her as well) as it seemed that he couldn't stop digging himself a lovely big hole.

"She considers Mickey Rourke a friend. He sent a car for her. She never had an interest in dating him. The next day it was all over the tabloids . . . Though she is an iconoclast with her fashion, too often she's mislabeled as a tawdry Holly Golightly."

So there you go. That's the current situation on Mickey Rourke and Bai Ling, the showily-dressed slapper. Well, at least this has got people talking about her. Well, whispering and pointing, at least.