Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — A pregnant Jessica Simpson on the cover of Elle magazine was apparently too much for some customers of a Safeway store in Tucson, Ariz., where a worker covered it with cardboard. The April edition features a photo of the singer/ actress/fashion designer with one hand over her breast and another wrapped around her nude belly. The Arizona Daily Star reported that the manager of the store received multiple complaints,prompting a worker to cover the image with cardboard. “The sign was up for a short time and removed,” Teena Massingill, director of corporate public affairs for Safeway Inc., said. “This was one store employee’s response to some customer complaints. This was by no means a company wide directive.” Elle released a statement Friday. “We’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response to Jessica Simpson’s cover,” it said. “She’s celebrating her body during this joyous time in her life and we couldn’t be happier for her.”

The comedian Gallagher says he’s had his fill of performing live onstage and is retiring after 32 years. The Los Angeles-based comedian, whose full name is Leo Anthony Gallagher, told an Ohio radio station Thursday that his retirement plans include posting his writings online and possibly appearing at private parties. Gallagher is known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer. He had a heart attack March 14 before a performance at a suburban Dallas bar. He came out of a medically induced coma last week and was released from a hospital Wednesday. He told Scott Spears of WDCM in Marion that it sometimes didn’t matter how clever his jokes were if the audience members couldn’t hold their liquor. He said the job is like “baby-sitting people who can’t handle alcohol.”