A man who once claimed to have fathered the child of John Edwards' mistress says in a book proposal the former presidential candidate is the real father and that Edwards worked with his campaign finance chairman to hide that secret, according to a newspaper report published online yesterday.

The New York Times said the book proposal by former Edwards aide Andrew Young states he helped facilitate the affair between Edwards and Rielle Hunter, a video producer. According to the newspaper, which cited its examination of the book proposal, Young wrote that Edwards once told Hunter they would wed after Edwards' wife Elizabeth, who has cancer, died.

OPRAH-BACKED FILM WINS BIG IN TORONTO

A raw film about an abused teen named Precious won the audience choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival yesterday, stoking predictions that the harrowing, Oprah Winfrey-backed tale is Oscar-bound.

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," snagged the coveted award at a luncheon that also named "Cairo Time," from Toronto director Ruba Nadda, the best Canadian feature.

The win for "Precious" follows a sensational debut earlier this year at Sundance, where the film claimed the grand jury and audience awards.

The film revolves around an obese teen impregnated for the second time by her father, and stars Gabourey (Gabby) Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey. Tyler Perry and Winfrey serve as executive producers.

MICHIGAN GETS EARLY PEEK AT MOORE FILM

Filmmaker Michael Moore gave residents of his adopted Michigan community an early showing of his new documentary yesterday and urged them to help overthrow an economic system he said was beyond redemption.

More than 500 people crowded into a theater in Bellaire to see "Capitalism: A Love Story," a film based on the premise that greed and corruption have subverted U.S. democracy.

Moore keeps a lakeside home near Bellaire, a rural village about 240 miles northwest of Detroit, and produced the film in a nearby town. The two showings along with three parties raised about $25,000 for the local Antrim County Democratic Party, its chairman said.

FLEISS' LAS VEGAS DOG SALON SHUTTERED

Former "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss' Las Vegas dog grooming business has been shut down by a judge as part of a civil lawsuit, two days after she was sentenced to three years' probation on felony drug charges.

Fleiss' Dirty Dog salon had been open for just three days when Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez ordered it closed Thursday.

The ruling was in response to a motion filed by Jeffery Marvian, who claims his estranged wife conspired to sell the business to Fleiss in violation of the couple's ongoing divorce action.

Marvian's attorney, Shelley Lubritz, said she recorded a conversation in which her client's wife, Nickol Marvian, admitted selling the business to Fleiss and porn star Kendra Jade Rossi behind Jeffery Marvian's back.