Today the New York Post’s Keith Kelly reports that Newsweek — struggling to survive — essentially “scrubbed” a piece about MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough so the mag’s editor Jon Meacham could continue to make appearances on his show.

Newsweek and Meacham denied it. The piece was by the mag’s esteemed Johnnie Roberts. Scarborough, it seems, once defended an abortion doc killer back when he was a lawyer and not just a blowhard TV commentator.

Kelly writes today that the Roberts piece was recut to de-emphasize Scarborough’s past. Here’s how the question and answer are presented in the piece:

When you were a young lawyer in Pensacola, Fla., in 1993, you helped defend one of the first murders of an abortion doctor. In the wake of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the abortion doctor shot dead in his church on May 31, do you have any regrets about your role in the Florida case?

I’m an attorney. I represented clients. I did it as a favor to the family. The goal was to stop this young man from trying to defend himself. I had a family [that was] heartbroken. I was called in to help keep the media away from his family, from his wife and young children. Why would I regret that? Why would anyone regret that? I did the judicial system of the state of Florida a favor.

That’s Scarborough’s story and he’s sticking with it — read it here.

But I was only able to find it by searching out Roberts and Scarborough and abortion doctor. The Q&A is cached on the Internet. Otherwise, it’s been completely removed from the Newsweek website. Of course, the site has no search engine. But check it out. What the Newsweek website does have is a link to — drum-roll please — its corporate partner, MSNBC.

I can sympathize with Roberts. The line between corporate ownership of one entity and actual journalism has vanished recently. If the corporate owner doesn’t like it, or there’s a conflict, then the journalism is history.

Ironically, Kelly is merely repeating news of the scandal from the online blog Gawker.com, which reported the story yesterday. (I’m sure Kelly’s original filing had the Gawker credit. Somewhow, it was omitted.) On Gawker, you can see the original Roberts story and how it was changed. Read it here.

But now the entire Roberts piece is missing, unless you Google it. Why is anyone surprised? Scarborough has always been a Fox in sheep — or cheap — clothing, an O’Reilly wannabe who adapted to MSNBC’s attempt to find a niche. Viewer beware.

Bon Jovi is in the studio recording a new album. But don’t expect them to make the Grammy deadline of August 31st.

Band insiders say a single may make the early cut-off. The album, though, will likely drop later in the fall, maybe in November.

This news accounts for the lack of Bon Jovi touring dates this summer. So far they’ve booked only June 25th and June 27th. In this economy, sources point out, Jon and Richie and the gang would be better off waiting until next year, hope for an upturn, and tour behind a new CD.

Michele Lee came in from L.A. and got last minute tickets to everything. She and Fred Rappaport sat fourth center at Radio City where Michele rekindled her old friendship with Jane Fonda. On Saturday night, Michele sneaked in a performance of “Blithe Spirit” to see pals Angela Lansbury and Christine Ebersole. There was a time when Michele and Angela were the cornerstones of the CBS line up with two of the network’s longest running series ever, “Knots Landing” and “Murder She Wrote.” Michele co-starred on Broadway a few seasons ago in “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.” Now the Tony nominee for “Seesaw” — who’s had sensational reviews for a Houston production of “Hello, Dolly!”– is looking for a musical return to Broadway.

P.S. A new list of top TV episodes of all time omits the best “Murphy Brown” — when Ebersole is hired by Murphy’s newsroom buddies to be her sister, as a birthday gift. Ebersole’s actress turns into Murphy’s stalker. It’s genius…

…Meantime: who in New York City government approved one of those traffic-snarling, rat infested “Street Fairs” to run all day Sunday right in from of Radio City Music Hall? Does any keep a calendar in this city? How is it possible that such a spectacle of unncessary tchotcke selling and greasy sausages could take place on the same day as the Tony Awards? The “fair” — the same one that will snake around the city all summer for no reason — tied up traffic as Tony Award guests, dressed in black tie, had to step through the trash on the way to the show. If Mike Bloomberg wants to be mayor again, his first campaign promise should be to get rid of these things, pronto…

You know, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote ‘Hound Dog’ for Big Mama Thornton in the 1950s. Then Elvis Presley got hold of it, and the rest was history. Leiber and Stoller have like seven thousand hits from ‘On Broadway’ to ‘Poison Ivy.’

They were at Elaine’s last night for a book party, in from Los Angeles. David Ritz has just co-authored their original biography, called ‘Hound Dog’ (Simon & Schuster). The thing about Leiber and Stoller is, they’ve always been outspoken. Stoller says in the book that he was uncomfortable at first when Presley took the song and changed the lyrics. But he adds it wasn’t like Pat Boone covering Little Richard. ‘Pat Boone was insipid,’ he says.

Stoller says Ahmet Ertegun passed on signing Elvis because Colonel Parker wanted $25,000. So RCA got him. Ahmet’s elegant widow, Mica, came by Elaine’s to pay respects to the songwriters last night. I asked her which of Ahmet’s acts was her favorite. ‘Ben E. King,’ she said, ‘but I was always a Rolling Stones fan.’

The book party was like a meeting of the real Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lesley Gore and Leslie Uggams turned up, also. Legendary producers Phil Ramone and Tommy LiPuma posed for pictures together. It was a tasty appetizer before the Apollo main course — a Monday music night in New York.

But wait: the last chapter hasn’t been written. Stoller has a musical called ‘Laughing Matters’ opening at the Pasadena Playhouse this November. Iris Rainer Dart, author of ‘Beaches,’ supplied the book and lyrics. Leonard Foglia, director on Broadway of ‘Thurgood’ and ‘Master Class.’ is in charge. The producer of the show told me last night it’s coming to Broadway. Ritz will have to add a chapter to the paperback of ‘Hound Dog.’

Prince — yes, Prince, the Purple One — capped off the hottest Tony Award night in about 20 years. He showed up unannounced at the Hudson Terrace on West 46th St. where, ‘four Broadway shows were having Tony Award after parties. He sported a long diamond studded walking stick and several burly bodyguards. He had no idea it was Tony night, knew none of the shows and didn’t care. He’s Prince. West Side Story? Feh.

Still, it was a great night for the Tonys. The opening number featured dozens of shows and looked like it had been rehearsed for weeks. Nope — just one soundcheck, yesterday afternoon. Amazing.

The show played very well in Radio City. During commercials,’ a watch company raffled off two expensive time pieces. Host Neil Patrick Harris (pictured) did magic tricks, and was far funnier than when the cameras were on.

It was the first time in years when yours truly didn’t want to leave the audience and hang out backstage. The show was actually entertaining. And the winners were all good choices, from Geoffrey Rush to Angela Lansbury to 10 awards for “Billy Elliott.” It’s the most number of Tonys ever for a British import. And Rush now has an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe.

Harris, buttoned up most of the night, ended the show with his own song, using “Tonight” from “West Side Story” to sum up all the winners and foibles of the night. He took a nice swipe at the Golden Globes.

After the Tonys, many of the shows repaired to their own parties. “Billy Elliott” took over Bar American on West 52nd St where Elton John and Stephen Daldry each made speeches. Then Elton, cheated out of a best score award, flew home to London where he has a show on Tuesday. He lost, strangely, the best score award to “Next to Normal.” Try singing one of those songs, I ask you.

Many stars filled up the two-story Hudson Terrace including Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Matt Cavenaugh from “West Side Story,” and Jane Fonda. Prince, growing tired of this fairly conventional spectacle, finally left for parts unknown.

More on Monday afternoon…

Tonight’s Tony Awards show on CBS promises to be the best in years– maybe ever.

For one thing, this has been a theater season full of movie stars. And they’re all coming to Radio City Music Hall tonight. Be there or be square.

Two time Oscar winner Jane Fonda, nominated for Best Actress in “33 Variations,” will open the show. That’s a big deal. From then on you will see a parade of stars from James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden to Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, and Angela Lansbury. Martha Plimpton — a possible winner for her show stopping performance in “Pal Joey”–will be there despite the death of her uncle, David Carradine, a couple of days ago. Neil Patrick Harris--from CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother”– is hosting the event.

It will also be a big night if you’re a fan of Elton John. He’s set to perform at least a couple of times, and his show, “Billy Elliott,” is on track to sweep through several categories.

Dolly Parton is going to perform with the cast of “9 to 5″ as well. This year the Tonys will only show video clips of nominated plays. The big money is going to be on musical numbers and big names. You do not want to miss the numbers from “West Side Story” and “Hair,” believe me. Or from “Billy Elliott.”

If time permits, I’m told that there’s a big number planned for the end of the show, after the Best Musical award is given. Insiders say it’s worth sticking around till the very end just to see it.

And remember: at least if you’re home you can make a sandwich or take a toilet break. The audience will be in Radio City from 6 to 11pm. Help! The show is followed by an official Tony party in the Radio City ice skating rink. Then many of the shows have individual parties. The celebrating will go on all night.

One thing’s for certain: CBS is very excited about this year’s show. Les Moonves has invited all the big deals from the network including the board of directors, I’m told.