Like A Kid In A Candy Store

The Oscar nominations have been announced. Here's a list of the major nominees:

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Actress
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

Best Director
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg, Munich

Best Original Screenplay
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana

Best Adapted Screenplay
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich

--This is one of my absolute favorite times of year. First come the Oscars, then March Madness, and the Sopranos premiere. I can hardly contain myself... :)

The Feds' Night Out

Brit taps into her inner small town prom self at a SAG afterparty. Did she buy that necklace at Claire's?

Jess Gets Slapped With Lawsuit

A Los Angeles woman has slapped Jessica Simpson with a federal lawsuit, claiming the bimbonic blonde and her business partners ripped off her trademarked cosmetics brand.

Mara Fox, who launched her "Love Potion" line of beauty products in 1989, also names cosmetics giants Sephora and D'Lish Fragrance in the multimillion-dollar suit. In 2004, Simpson, Sephora and D'Lish launched "Dessert Beauty Deliciously Kissable Love Potion," which Fox claims blatantly lifts from her older, registered brand.

Source: New York Post

Nic Gets Sexy

Nicole Kidman has splashed out on thousands of dollars worth of sexy underwear to please alleged fiancé Keith Urban. The actress bought the lingerie at the ultra-cool New York store Mixona to spice up her love life.

An onlooker told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Nicole was in the store for hours and seemed really excited about revamping her underwear drawer. Since meeting Keith, Nicole's relaxed her diet and started working to give herself a curvier and sexier frame. There's a little more to her now."

Nicole and Keith reportedly got engaged at Christmas and are due to tie the knot in March. Nicole - who was previously married to actor Tom Cruise - is said to be thrilled to be engaged to the singer. A source close to the couple said: "Nicole is the happiest she's ever been in her life and doesn't want a long engagement. Keith proposed at Christmas and she was thrilled. They're happy and in love."

--Gee, ya think it's also because her previous husband wasn't interested?

Source: Starpulse

Pam's New Man

Her mixed bag of ex-boyfs includes rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, model Marcus Schenkenberg and actor Stephen Dorff.

Time to add another star to Pamela Anderson list. According to eagle-eyed gossipers, Pamela Anderson has hooked up with rapper Kanye West.

If the rumors prove true she'll be joining that growing bunch of famous ladies who have bagged themselves a toy boy - at 28-years-old, Kanye is ten years Pamela's junior. The pair were said to have hit it off after doing a magazine shoot together. "Kanye got cozy with Pam," a spy at the photoshoot blabbed to Star Magazine, "taking off his shirt and flirting. "There were definite sparks."

Source: Sky Showbiz

Movin' On Up

Billy Joel has added a West Village home to his huge real estate portfolio.

The Post's Braden Keil reports that Joel, who already has places in the Hamptons, Centre Island, TriBeCa and Miami Beach, just closed on a sprawling townhouse on Perry Street for $5.9 million.

The three-story brick residence features a double-size living room, a full-floor bedroom suite, and a lap pool out back. The seller was sculptor/Band-Aid heir Seward Johnson, who first listed the mansion for $6.7 million. Joel and his young bride, Katie Lee, are selling their TriBeCa loft for $5 million, about $1 million more than they paid last year.

Source: New York Post

Flatty

Charlize Theron says she often gets turned down for action roles - because her boobs aren't big enough.

The Oscar winner claims her small chest sometimes puts directors off casting her. She said she was shocked when she was cast in action movie Aeon Flux. She told Empire magazine: "I knew it wouldn't just be running around with big t**s and kicking things. I'm not good at that. "I haven't got any t**s."

Source: Ananova

Baby Boom

'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' star Angela Bassett and her actor hubby Courney B. Vance are celebrating their latest production -- twin babies!

The celeb duo are now the proud parents of a boy and a girl, who were born January 27 in California through a surrogate; the twins are the first children for the couple. Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Bassett, 47, married "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" actor Vance, also 47, in 1997. Bassett was also a presenter at Sunday's SAG Awards in Los Angeles.

Source: ET

RIP

Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein has died, her agent Phyllis Wender said Monday. She was 55.

The playwright, who had been battling cancer in recent months, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Lincoln Center Theater spokesman Philip Rinaldi said. Andre Bishop, head of the Lincoln Center Theater and a friend of Wasserstein, said the cause of death was lymphoma, the Associated Press reports.

Wasserstein is best known for her plays The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig, which tackled complex subjects such as love, motherhood, marriage and sibling relations – often against a backdrop of feminism.

In The Heidi Chronicles, which won a Tony for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1989, its heroine is followed on a 20-year journey during which she changes her attitudes about herself, men and other women.

Source: People

WTF?

I thought no couple could surprise me these days. I was wrong. Witness Da Brat and David Gest (ex Mr. Liza Minnelli).

Source: A Socialite's Life

SAG Awards

Here's a list of all of last night's SAG award winners.

Overall, there were some surprises: Reese beat Felicity, Crash beat Brokeback Mountain, Eva Longoria looked like craposis, Sean Hayes won, and lawyers got thanked numerous times in acceptance speeches.

Kristin's Sniffin'

Kristin Cavallari's tried cocaine, she reveals in the March issue of Teen People.

"It was fun for, like, 20 minutes, but the next day, I just didn't feel good about myself," she told the mag. "It's a dirty drug. I find people who do coke to be very shady, that they're doing it makes them lie about things. I wouldn't want to date someone who's into it."

Instead, she's dating drug-free Brody Jenner of "The Princes of Malibu," which she calls her "first mature relationship." "With Stephen [Colletti], it was like high school fun." That is, except for when he two-timed her with fellow "Laguna Beach" star Lauren "LC" Conrad. "I saw what happened when I watched the season-one DVD," Cavallari said. "I cried for days."

Source: MTV

LL Back In Hospital

Lindsay Lohan went back to the hospital for the second time this month. She apparently slipped and fell in her home and ended up needing stitches in her shin. Poor girl sure ends up in the hospital more than anyone else in Hollywood. Dina Lohan said:

“Lindsay was going up the stairs, carrying a ceramic teacup,” Dina Lohan told Star. “She had just come out of the shower, so she was still wet and had some lotion on, and she completely flipped on the stairs. … The teacup went flying, it was shattered and one of the pieces cut Lindsay on her shin.”

Source: Popsugar

Chandler's Back

Former "Friends" star Matthew Perry is re turning to NBC.

Perry will join D.L. Hughley and Steven Weber in an untitled drama set behind the scenes at a fictional long-running sketch-comedy series in the mold of "Saturday Night Live." Perry will play a genius comic writer who was forced from the sketch show after a dispute with the network. Weber will play the network's ambitious chairman and Hughley one of the sketch show's stars.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, the drama ignited a bidding war between CBS and NBC — which reportedly paid over $3 million for the pilot.

Source: New York Post

Gwynnie Needs $

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow signed to become a spokesmodel for cosmetics company Estee Lauder, because she was desperate for cash.

The star shocked fans when she agreed to front a high profile advertising campaign, but she insists it was her first paycheck in three years.

She says, "I'll tell you why. I basically stopped making money from acting in 2002. All the things I've done since then have been things I've really wanted to do and I have not made money from them."

Source: Female First

Bloggers Tend to Have Oscar Edge

Traditional media film critics have attacked bloggers who dare to predict Oscar nominees. LA Times columnist Patrick Goldstein once wrote "we've become a nation of handicappers," and, "it's not just an insult to the Oscars, but to the people who make the movies too."

With Oscar noms only days away, TMZ reviewed the 2005 Oscar nom track records of USA Today, Us Weekly, the Associated Press and Variety, against Oscarcentral.com, Oscarwatch.com, EverythingOscar.com, and TheFilmExperience.net. So who was more dead-on, respected traditional critics or their blogging counterparts?

The envelope please. Of the 25 most commonly-predicted nominees, the traditional critics got it right 21 times, the bloggers eeked out a better track record with 23.

Sasha Stone of OscarWatch.com has a theory: "Professionals tend to take bigger chances with their predictions in order to distinguish themselves from the others."

Source: TMZ

Guy To Be Pitt's Best Man?

Guy Ritchie has agreed to be best man at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wedding.

The arrangements were made during a dinner at the Locanda Locatelli in Mayfair on Wednesday night. Pitt apparently admitted that he hopes to marry Angelina as early as next month.

"All the talk was of the forthcoming nuptials," a source told the Sunday Mirror. "And then Brad said to Guy he would like him to be best man. Guy was absolutely thrilled. He thinks it's a real honor."

Source: Digital Spy

LOTR Musical

Two days from now, the 50-odd cast members of The Lord Of The Rings stage production will don their Hobbit feet, elf ears and Orc armour for the first full-length dress rehearsal of the $27-million epic.

Two days after that, the curtain will rise at Toronto's packed-to-the-rafters Princess of Wales Theatre, and 2,000 paying audience members will be the first in the world to behold the three-hour melding of theatre, music and special effects. Though the March 23 gala opening is still more than seven weeks away, the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved trilogy kicks off preview performances Thursday night, a process that producer Kevin Wallace says is like adding fine brush strokes to a nearly complete painting.

"We expect the audiences to be thrilled by the physical production, which is fantastic and extraordinary and big," said Wallace. (He's not kidding -- the giant spider, Shelob, will stretch across the entire 40-foot stage.) "But ultimately, do they actually care about Sam and Frodo and Arwen and Aragorn and Gandalf? Are they interested in the story? Do they laugh and cry and do they go through the whole process with them?"

Source: Jam!

More Trouble for Lyonne

An arrest warrant has been issued in New York for "American Pie" star Natasha Lyonne for missing a fourth hearing on charges she threatened to molest a dog.

Neither Lyonne, 26, nor her attorney showed up in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday, the New York Post reported Saturday. Her former roommate filed charges against the actress in 2004 claiming she trashed their apartment then picked up her pet and said: "I'm going to sexually molest your dog," the Post said.

Lyonne missed her first two court dates last summer while laid up in Beth Israel Hospital with hepatitis C, a heart infection and a collapsed lung. Sources told The Post she was allegedly using drugs and living on the streets for a time.

Source: Reality TV World

The Place To Be

The Chateau Marmont has always been a hub of clandestine Hollywood hookups, but the windows of the famed hotel must be fogging up with all the amorous action there lately.

A spy swears Jessica Simpson took a break from partying with Kirsten Dunst the other night to disappear into Maroon 5 man-whore Adam Levine's room - and didn't emerge until the next morning.

"She was picked up by her best friend, Cacee Cobb, that morning," our snitch tattled. Simpson's rep has steadfastly shot down rumors of a romance with the skirt-chasing singer in the past.

Meanwhile, newly single Jude Law - who broke up with molten-hot Sienna Miller last week - has been spotted around the Marmont making time with a stripper he met at the nearby Body Shop, the Sunset Strip strip club famously name-checked in Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls." But a spy sniffs that Law's latest squeeze is a far cry from the beautiful Miller: "He's been going to the Body Shop strip club every night and hanging out with this nasty young brunette - she is really beat looking."

Source: New York Post

Lohan Gets a Tat

Lindsay Lohan has reportedly had the word 'BREATHE' tattooed onto her wrist.

The young actress recently suffered an asthma attack and the tattoo is allegedly a tribute to the scary experience. A friend of the star is quoted by website toronto.fashion-monitor.com as saying: "It obviously has a double meaning. "It's about the asthma attack, but also a reminder to just slow down and enjoy life."

Source: Female First

Brangelina Baby

Angelina Jolie stands tall at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. She and Brad Pitt chatted with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at the annual meeting of world leaders.

Spidey Warns Leo

Leonardo DiCaprio, freshly single after his break up with Victoria's Secret model Gisele Bundchen, reportedly has been hooking up with Kirsten Dunst, much to the chagrin of her "Spider-Man" co-star Tobey Maguire.

A source tells Star magazine, "Tobey said, 'You thought Gisele was high maintenance?! Kirsten is going to get up in your grill so bad, you're going to want to flee the country for some peace and quiet!' "

--I'm sorry, but I've having a hard time picturing Spidey saying, "get up in your grill."

Source: Teen Hollywood

TMI

Larry King likes to get a little Wild West in the sack, according to his much-younger wife, Shawn Southwick.

In an unsettling interview with Howard Stern, Southwick claims, "Larry has this Indian costume that just drives me wild . . . I wear chaps!" She adds that 72-year-old King's bedroom battle cries didn't ring out until after they were married in 1997.

Southwick, a devout Mormon, made the wrinkled broadcaster wait until their wedding night to have sex - and only after a doctor signed off on it because of King's heart problems.

Source: New York Post

Gaslight Remake

This is starting to get comical:

Warner Bros. Pictures is developing a remake of "Gaslight," the 1944 thriller that starred Charles Boyer as a husband trying to drive his bride, played by Ingrid Bergman, insane, the studio said on Thursday.

British filmmaker Joe Wright, who directed the recent big-screen adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice," is lined up to make his American directing debut on the "Gaslight" update, a Warner spokeswoman said. Abi Morgan, the writer behind the 2004 British television miniseries "Sex Traffic," plans to write the new "Gaslight" screenplay, which will be set in contemporary California instead of gloomy Victorian London, the spokeswoman said.

The 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer classic, like the lesser-known 1940 British version that preceded it, was adapted from a 1938 British stage play by Patrick Hamilton. The MGM picture, directed by George Cukor, starred Boyer as a sinister husband who systematically tries to drive his fragile young wife crazy, in order to gain control of her family's jewels. The movie co-starred Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury, who was making her feature debut at the age of 17.

The popular phrase "to gaslight" someone -- meaning to manipulate someone's environment to trick the person into thinking he or she is insane -- was derived from the film's premise. MGM's "Gaslight" garnered seven Academy Award nominations, winning Oscars for Bergman as best actress and for the film's art direction. Bergman also won a Golden Globe for her role.

--Leave the perfectly-executed classics ALONE!

Source: Yahoo

Haynna?

Days after reports that she and Jude Law had split for good, pictures have appeared of Sienna Miller hugging Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen.

They're both starring in Factory Girl but according to the Daily Mirror, they seem more than just co-stars. During a party with their fellow cast and crew members at McArthur's restaurant in Shreveport, Louisiana, a spy reported back to the paper: "Sienna and Hayden aren't doing a very good job of keeping their flirtations a secret. "Everybody has been talking about it for a while and after the cast party on Monday they were acting like more than good friends."

And it seems that the introduction of a karaoke machine only heated things up further. "She started serenading Hayden before begging him to join her on stage - and it wasn't long before he complied. "After Sienna and Hayden sang together on the karaoke they were whispering and dancing in a corner of the restaurant. "At one point she looked upset while he hugged her and whispered in her ear - that soon cheered her up."

Source: Ananova

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Seeing Red

He might have lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize last year, but Bono's already laying the groundwork for another run at the hardware.

The U2 frontman, Time co-Person of the Year and all-around good guy turned up Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to unveil a partnership with several big companies that will sell a brand called Red. The label will adorn Armani and Gap clothes, Converse sneakers and even an American Express card, with one percent of the profits earmarked for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Flanked by Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani and various suits from the other companies, Bono hailed the private sector for their support and raising awareness at a critical time when governments have been slow to tackle the problem.

"This is really sexy to me. It is sexy to want to change the world," the 45-year-old Irish rocker told reporters.

Source: Yahoo

No Originality

Rawson Marshall Thurber has agreed to write and direct a big screen adaptation of 1980s TV show Magnum, P.I., according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Starring Tom Selleck, the series followed the adventures of private investigator Thomas Magnum who was hired to oversee security at the beachfront mansion of professional writer Robin Masters.

Thurber's (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) version is said to be of a similar style to the series, with the plot seeing Magnum in search of a missing friend.

--Ok gang...who should reprise Selleck's role?

Source: Digital Spy

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MJ Dresses In Drag

Pop star Michael Jackson was spotted shopping in a Bahrain mall on Wednesday, hiding his face behind a veil and donning a black robe traditionally worn by women in the Gulf. He was with three children, apparently his own, who also had their faces covered by dark scarves. An unidentified woman accompanied them.

The pop star, who seems to be settling in the Persian Gulf, was seen leaving Marina Mall in the Bahrain capital, holding a child by the hand. On the way out a back door, he shook hands with security guards.

The woman - also dressed in the black robe called an abaya, jeans and a scarf that partially covered her face - had the two other children. All three children were wrapped in black scarves and wore yellow shirts and sweatpants or khakis without robes.

Source: AZ Central

Fiddy To Star in Pink Vid

50 Cent is to make an appearance in Pink's video for her new single Stupid Girls.

In the video Pink takes the variety of of stars including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and parodies Jessica Simpson's "These Boots Are Made... " video by writhing around in a bikini while washing a car.

The video is about how fake celebrities can be, but newlywed Pink remains tight-lipped over who's she's actually targetting in the video. "I don't think I need to name names," she told MTV. "I live in LA so it's obvious what I'm surrounded by," she said, adding that her vid is "sick and twisted and insane."

Source: Ananova

Lovely

Former "Saturday Night Live" comic and world-renowned party monster Tracy Morgan apparently isn't sold on safe sex.

At event planning company Joonbug's launch of Donald Trump's new travel site GoTrump.com at Marquee, a tipsy Morgan barreled to the front of the men's room line, where he was distracted by an attractive woman walking by.

"He grabbed a condom from a bowl that the attendant had laid out and announced, 'I may need this later!' " relays a witness. "Then he threw it back in the bowl and said, 'It doesn't really matter because I don't use them anyway.' "

Source: New York Post

Another One Bites the Dust

Josie Bissett and Rob Estes, onetime stars of Melrose Place, are divorcing after more than 13 years of marriage, Estes has confirmed.

Saying that Bissett, 34, has "decided to move on to greener pastures," Estes, 42, tells TV's Entertainment Tonight: "I live in Seattle. ... I moved there because my soon-to-be ex-wife's family lived up there, so we moved up there for the kids. Then after we had been there for two years, we split, but I will stay there because the kids love it." The couple have two children, Mason, 6, and Maya, 3.

Bissett and Estes met during a 1991 casting call for a TV movie and wed in May 1992. Bissett joined the Melrose Place cast that same year, in the role of Jane Mancini. Estes joined the nighttime soap four years later, playing Kyle McBride.

Source: People

SJP and Hubby To Do Play

Former Sex & The City star Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick are hoping to star together in a play about celebrity gossip on the Broadway stage.

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost, Too features a husband-and-wife team who write gossip columns for a New York City tabloid. Parker has been looking for a play for her and her husband to star in since her Sex And The City stint ended.

A theatre executive says, "She's been saying to producers and theatre owners, 'Find us a play!'" Parker took part in a staged reading of the play on Monday which was attended by a select group of Broadway insiders. Broderick's schedule didn't allow him to attend the reading, but Tony-winning actor Alan Cumming stepped in to read opposite the actress.

In the comedic play, written by Douglas Carter Beane, the couple create non-existent celebrities who attend non-existent parties. Things begin to spin out of control when movie studios try to track down the fake celebrities to star in films. Beane says, "It's all about the wonderful world of tabloid journalism and celebrity culture."

Source: IMDB

Avril Becomes a Girl

Punk princess Avril Lavigne has signed with Ford Models and wants to land a high-fashion advertising campaign.

The singer, who became famous for wearing men's white shirts and ties, had a style awakening after receiving a designer Prada handbag and has become hooked on high-fashion. Lavigne says, "I want to do those really beautiful ads with the high-end products. I look through magazines and stare at ads and think, 'I'm not six feet tall, but I know I can do that.'"

The singer has shed her tomboy image and has been experimenting with new styles - including new clothes and cosmetics. She adds, "I'm starting to feel more feminine. I'm getting into hair and make-up and image. That's the best part of being a girl."

Source: Teen Hollywood

SS To Collaborate With Elton

New York disco-pop outfit Scissor Sisters wrote, recorded and produced their 2004 self-titled debut in keyboardist-bassist Baby Daddy's Brooklyn kitchen. Two years later, the band is cutting its follow-up in its own state-of-the-art studio, aptly dubbed Discoball.

And a longtime dream has been realized: The group's collective idol Elton John, himself a Sisters fan, collaborated on the new track, "I Don't Feel Like Dancing." "He's been so amazing and supportive and warm, and it's a really big deal for us," says Baby Daddy.

The as-yet-untitled follow-up, which the group is attempting to self-produce, will potentially include the song "Everybody Wants," which the band debuted onstage this past summer at Live 8. While the rest of the album, due late spring, is just taking shape, singer/lyricist Jake Shears says it will be a mishmash of upbeat disco songs, Sixties psychedelia and glam rock.

--I love the Scissor Sisters. Can't wait until the new album comes out.

Source: Rolling Stone

Humble

Kanye West, with a crown of thorns atop his head, poses as Jesus Christ on the cover of the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone.

The outspoken rapper defends his brash attitude inside the magazine's pages, on newsstands Friday. He is also pictured posing as Muhammad Ali.

"In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts," he says. "You want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?" West also says his hit song "Gold Digger" was the best song last year and that it should have been nominated for the Grammy's best rap song category: "That's a gimme Grammy."

Nevertheless, the 27-year-old is nominated for eight awards, including album of the year for his sophomore album, "Late Registration." The Grammys will be presented Feb. 8. West has always been forthright in saying what he feels, most famously when he said " George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims.

"If I was more complacent and I let things slide, my life would be easier, but you all wouldn't be as entertained," he says. "My misery is your pleasure."

The strangest tangent of the Rolling Stone story, however, is when West says he's addicted to pornography. He remembers first seeing his father's Playboy magazine when he was 5 years old. "Right then," West says, laughing, "it was like, `Houston, we have a problem.'"

Source: FoxNews

The CW

Two small, struggling television networks, UPN and WB, will merge to form a new network called The CW, executives from the companies that own them said Tuesday.

The announcement was made by executives from CBS Corp., which owns UPN, and Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., which owns WB. Both UPN and WB had struggled to compete against larger rivals in the broadcast TV business, including Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, News Corp.'s Fox, General Electric Co.'s NBC and CBS Corp.'s CBS.

The new network will launch in the fall, the executives said, and both UPN and WB will shut down. It will be a 50-50 partnership between Warner Bros. and CBS, and the network will be carried on stations owned by the Tribune Co., which is a minority owner of the WB network.

Among the Tribune's TV stations that will join the new network are its flagship WGN in Chicago as well as WPIX in New York, and KTLA in Los Angeles. Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp., said the new network will air 30 hours of programming seven days a week aimed in part at young audiences.

Source: AZ Central

More Cruise Control

A steamy sex scene between Katie Holmes and Aaron Eckhart has been mysteriously snipped out of the version of "Thank You for Smoking" being screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

In the flick, based on the best seller by Christopher Buckley, Holmes, who plays an investigative reporter, and Eckhart, who plays a tobacco lobbyist, enjoy a randy romp. But while that scene was still in the movie when it debuted at last year's Toronto Film Festival, it has vanished from the Sundance screenings, causing some to wonder if Holmes' fiancé, Tom Cruise, used his staggering showbiz clout to kill the footage.

A spokeswoman for Fox Searchlight didn't seem to know what happened: "It's never been altered," she said of the finished film. "It will absolutely be released with that scene. We don't know what happened, but we're looking into it."

Source: New York Post

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Off Again?

Is This The End For Jude?

It's been on and off more times than gossip mags can count. But word on the street is that Jude and Sienna's relationship really is now officially off.

Depending on which paper you read, Sienna dumped Jude over his plans to move into a house with ex-wife Sadie Frost and the kids...Or, Jude dumped Sienna because she's become too paranoid and controlling since they got back together.

The Sun says Sienna did the ditching after hearing how Jude plans to spend more time with his kids by taking a home with Sadie. A mole says of Sienna's reaction: "She screamed at Jude when he told her. "She claimed he might as well get back with her if he's prepared to live with her."

Meanwhile, in the Daily Mirror, the story goes that Jude could no longer stand being wrapped round Sienna's finger since nanny-gate and told Si to hop it. "Sienna has become more demanding," an insider on her new film blabbed. "Sienna thought she could call the shots. Jude put up with it for a while, but in the end her behavior drove him away."

Source: Sky Showbiz

Sloppy Seconds

Britney Spears stole away Shar Jackson's babies' daddy, Kevin Federline, so Jackson has struck back by sleeping with Spears' ex-husband, Jason Alexander.

Jackson showed up at the 25th-birthday party for singer Ray J, Brandy's younger brother, in L.A. Saturday night with Spears' redneck ex-hubby in tow. A spy says, "They made out all night before going upstairs to the off-limits bedroom area of the house." The rumpled duo rejoined the party an hour later, we hear - much to the surprise of Brandy and her new beau, Nick Cannon. A rep for Jackson declined comment.

Source: New York Post

Sirius Standards for Stern

Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps.

High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks. “It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said.

Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program — which he already has done. Stern moved to Sirius in part because satellite-radio services such as Sirius and XM — unlike free terrestrial radio — are not policed by the FCC, which spent years waging an indecency war against him.

Source: New York Post

Paparazzi Help Spears

Access Hollywood has learned that Britney Spears and her brother were rescued by paparazzi on a Los Angeles freeway on Sunday evening.

A source tells Access Hollywood that paparazzi, who had been trailing Spears on a Los Angeles freeway, helped the pop star and her brother Bryan push their broken down Ferrari to the side of the road.

In a turn of events, the paparazzi then waited with Spears and her brother until authorities arrived. When they arrived, Britney and Bryan reportedly hopped into the squad car's backseat and were driven back home.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Code To Open Cannes

The Da Vinci Code will open the Cannes Film Festival this year.

The movie will be shown at Cannes on May 17, two days before its release worldwide. Based on Dan Brown's bestseller, the film, which will be screened out of competition at Cannes, stars Tom Hanks, Jean Reno, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina and Paul Bettany.

The book has sold more than 30 million copies in about 40 languages.

Source: Ananova

Itchy and Scratchy

Jason Lee has the chickenpox--and his show will go on hiatus.

Although the 35-year-old actor's immediate fellow cast members on My Name is Earl– including Jaime Pressly, Ethan Suplee, Nadine Vasquez and Eddie Steeples – have already had the highly contagious yet common childhood disease (which normally brings about more serious consequences when contracted by an adult), at least one other "Earl" costar said his mother "couldn't remember" if he had had the pox.

When the show's executive producer and creator Greg Garcia was asked this weekend about how he would write around his incapacitated – and itchy – leading man, he replied that no Lee means no show.

"He'll be in all the episodes," says Garcia. "We're just shutting down until (Lee) is feeling better and is presentable to put on TV again." NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said the hiatus should last "for about three weeks."

Source: People

• Fiddle Dee Dee linked with My name is Itch
  
  

Friends Reunion

The cast of Friends are reuniting for four one-hour specials after agreeing on a deal.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry have agreed to star in the shows. The four double episodes are due to air later this year reports IOL.com.

An NBC insider source said: "Bringing them back is a dream come true. Ratings will go through the roof."

Source: Ananova

Long Island Lolita Reunion

Joey Buttafuoco, Amy Fisher and Mary Jo Buttafuoco — the Long Island love-triangle figures who exploded onto the nation's front pages 15 years ago — plan a TV reunion they promise will have "shocking revelations," The Post has learned.

A California producer said he signed all three this month and hopes to sell their TV tell-all this year. "Time heals all wounds," said Fisher, the erstwhile Long Island Lolita. "It's been nearly 15 years, so it's time to just put it behind us. We played this all out in a public eye. It'd be interesting to let the public see the healing process at the end. They saw everything else — why not let them see the final product?"

Fisher, now 31, was convicted of shooting lover Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the head in 1992, and served seven years in prison. She was released early, with the magnanimous support of her victim. Joey and Mary Jo ended their 26-year marriage in 2003. Joey has since remarried, and Mary Jo is engaged.

Source: Foxnews

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Wow

One of Heidi Klum's legs is worth less than the other.

Klum's legs are insured for two-point-two million dollars.

She says her left leg has a "stupid little scar" from when she fell on glass when she was a kid. So that leg is worth only one million dollars, while her right leg is insured for 200-thousand more.

Source: KTVO

JLH To Pose Nude?

Squeaky clean Jennifer Love Hewitt may soon be a centerfold, sources say. "Jennifer has received some really big-bucks offers for years from magazines, including Playboy, to pose nude," but she has always laughed off the idea, a close friend tells Star People.

Although Hewitt, 26, has a hit with CBS's Ghost Whisperer, she still wants a film career and doesn't feel she's getting the right scripts. "She always gets offered a cute little sidekick role," another friend says. "She told me that maybe a sexy magazine layout with her showing her assets might give her a little edgier image and she might be considered for a femme fatale role. She knows she can pull it off, but she thinks casting directors aren't so sure."

--Keep your fingers crossed, boys.

Source: Star

TomKat Bump

The TomKat Bump:

Twins for the Jolie-Pitts?

Angelina Jolie is reportedly pregnant with twins.

It is alleged the 30-year-old actress, who announced last week she is expecting lover Brad Pitt's baby, is expecting two babies because of fertility treatment.

A source close to the couple is quoted in Britain's The Sun newspaper as saying: "Angelina is overjoyed. Getting pregnant with one of Brad's children would have been God's precious gift to her. "Now we believe she is carrying twins. Angie is in seventh heaven." Another source told a US magazine: "I understand that she's undergone fertility treatments to help her conceive and it certainly seems to have worked."

Source: Female First

Huh?

Secretary star Maggie Gyllenhaal is the latest spokesmodel for sportswear giant Reebok.

The older sister of Jake Gyllenhaal will follow in the footsteps of Christina Ricci and Lucy Liu by starring in the latest I Am What I Am campaign for Reebok. A spokesperson for Reebok says, "She is a great representative for our brand, which is about promoting individual style."

--Could she look any more unathletic?

Source: Teen Hollywood

The End of West Wing

NBC's acclaimed White House drama "The West Wing" will conclude its seven-year run in May -- as had long been expected -- after languishing through a steep ratings decline in recent seasons, the network said on Sunday.

In formally announcing plans to bring the series to a close on May 14, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly stressed the show's fate was strictly a matter of TV democracy -- "West Wing" simply failed to draw enough viewers to keep it on the air.

"It's no secret that the ratings have been tough for the last couple of seasons," Reilly said at NBC's semiannual presentation to TV critics. "There's a point where you look at the ratings and you just say, 'it's time."'

Source: People

P.S. Will and Grace is canceled, too.

The Next Real World Cast

Click here to meet the cast of The Real World: Key West.

Source: MTV.com

A Depo Transcript Doesn't Lie

After reading her hacked-into e-mails and watching her do the nasty on tape with Rick Salomon, is there anything America doesn't know about Paris Hilton?

For those still wondering what the world- renowned celebutard is really like in person, the Web site TMZ.com got the full transcript of her deposition with lawyers representing Zeta Graff, who's suing Hilton for $10 million for defamation over her alleged role in a story that appeared on Page Six.

Among other lowlights from her deposition, Hilton claims Graff once told friends of Mariana Kourkoulos, mother of their shared ex, Paris Latsis, that Hilton had worked as a "prostitute" on billion-nerd Paul Allen's yacht during the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. And that's just for starters.

* Paris on the challenge of friendship: "I meet so many people. I don't even know some of my friends' names."

* On women who stalk women: "I would never say stalking. I'm not a dude. Like, I think a girl can only stalk a guy. She can't really stalk another girl."

* On travel: "I was in Europe for the whole summer, and all there is is, like, French - I didn't see anything because I wasn't in America."

* On the nature of e-mail: "Whatever I write in e-mail, it doesn't mean anything. It is just words I write."

* On spelling Israeli-born music/movie producer Guy Oseary's name: "O with an apostrophe S-e-a-r-y."

[Her Lawyer]: "Do you know how to spell his first name?"

Paris: "Just G-u-i, Gui . . . I've known him for a while."

* On Graff: "[I told her] she is old and should stay at home with her child instead of being at nightclubs with young people. And just that - I just . . . What else did I say? Just that she is not cute at all."

* On Page Six: "I don't know them, but, like, if I see them at a party, they will come up to me, but I don't talk to them."

Lawyer: "So you would not consider anybody at Page Six a friend?"

Paris: "No, definitely not. I hate Page Six."

At one point, she blurts out, "I'm hungry."

Source: Page Six (of course)

Bobby & Whitney Not Divorcing

Bobby Brown is brushing off reports that he and wife Whitney Houston are headed for divorce court. "The rumors are wrong," Brown said on Thursday. "They're false."

Among several recent reports about the couple, New York's Daily News said the R&B singer, 36, was telling friends that he was planning to divorce Houston, 42. (The Atlanta-area based couple have a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, 12). The Daily News also reported that earlier this month Brown was seen with several women backstage at Connecticut's Foxwoods Casino.

Asked by PEOPLE on Thursday how the story started, Brown replied, "I really couldn't tell you. They say I said something about it, but I joke a lot. ... I don't think I said it, but if I did it was a joke. Trust me. ... It's someone that got the words mixed up." When Houston heard the story, Brown says, "Oh, she called me! She's calling me on a regular basis like, 'Bobby! Did you say this? Did you say that?'"

Brown describes Houston as "definitely upset." As for himself, he says, "There's no way I can be upset, because I didn't say it and I'm not trying to divorce her, and that's the most important thing. "She's my friend," he adds. "She's the better half of me. They say opposites attract, but we're not opposites. We're one person. We're loving life, and we're just trying to be as good to each other as possible. And we're moving on."

--Whew. Now I can sleep tonight.

Source: People

TMI

File this under "TMI:"

Ricky Martin is not taking criticism about a sexy interview he had with Blender magazine lightly, reports Yahoo! Music.

The Latin singing sensation has stood up to backlash he's receieved following an interview with the sexy music mag where he said, "I love giving the 'golden shower.' I've done it before in the shower. It's like, so sexy, you know, the temperature of your body and the shower water is very different." Ricky went on to say, "I'm open to everything. There are moments for soft, gentle sex. And there are moments for a good spank in the butt."

Source: AZ Central

When The Opera Bores You...

Fabrizio Moretti knows how to keep girlfriend Drew Barrymore happy.

When Jane magazine asked the Strokes drummer to name the craziest place he'd had sex [presumably with Barrymore], Moretti answered: "I had sex in the bathroom at the opera a little while ago, in New York. We went to 'La Boheme' and it was wicked boring. So we decided to go to the bathroom, and we got caught, and it was embarrassing. If we'd gone to the men's room, people would've heard it and said, 'Good on you, man.' But we were in the ladies' room, and when we heard an old woman start to tinkle, we couldn't help but crack up. I guess she told the security guy - he came in and was, like, 'Just go.' "

Source: New York Post

Court Says Jolie-Pitt's OK

A judge granted a request Thursday by actress Angelina Jolie to change the names of her two adopted children to reflect that actor Brad Pitt intends to become their adoptive father. Neither Jolie nor Pitt attended the hearing.

Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz approved the motion during a closed hearing about a month after lawyers for Jolie filed the paperwork. "The court granted the name change, " attorney Evan Spiegel, who represents the actress, told reporters outside court. He did not take questions.

Source: Yahoo

Cruz To Peddle L'Oreal

Penelope Cruz has signed an exclusive contract to become the new spokesmodel for French beauty giant L'Oreal.

The Vanilla Sky actress will follow in the footsteps of Beyonce Knowles, Scarlett Johansson and Andie Macdowell to promote L'Oreal Paris' latest hair-dye product Natural Match.

Cruz, 31, is keen to work with the brand because she believes it promotes female empowerment. She says, "I'm very excited and very honoured to be a part of L'Oreal." "I've seen this campaign and have said 'Because I'm Worth It' with my friends since we were little girls, and I always thought the advertisements were very charming, and beautiful, and they give out good messages to woman to take care of themselves and make time to feel good about themselves."

--Anyone else think she looks like Audrey Hepburn in this pic?

Source: Teen Hollywood

Zack Morris To Have Another Kid

Saved by the Bell alum Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 31, and wife Lisa, 34, are expecting a baby.

The actor, who now stars on the hit TV show Commander in Chief, and his wife will welcome their daughter this spring. The couple met when Lisa had a small role on Bell, and they married in 1996. They also have a son, Michael, who turns 3 on Jan. 31.

Source: People

--We can still remember:

RIP

Wilson Pickett, the soul singer with the raspy voice and passionate delivery behind the hits "Mustang Sally" and "In the Midnight Hour," has died at age 64.

Pickett died after a heart attack in a Reston, Va., hospital, said Chris Tuthill of management company Talent Source, which represented him. The singer lived in Ashburn, Va.

"He did his part. It was a great ride, a great trip, I loved him and I'm sure he was well-loved, and I just hope that he's given his props," Michael Wilson Pickett, the singer's son, told WRC-TV in Washington.

Source: Foxnews

Life After Boy Bands?

There may be life after 'N Sync for Lance Bass and Joey Fatone - as television stars.

The former boy band members are developing a new series about their lives for UPN described as a modern-day "Odd Couple," said Dawn Ostroff, the network president, Thursday. Fatone is Oscar, the slob. Bass is Felix.

Tentatively dubbed, "Out of Sync," and planned for this fall, it's a hybrid of reality and comedy, she said. "They came to us," she said. "Joey and Lance are such fun, interesting people and they truly are an odd couple - even if you sit in a room with them, it's Felix and Oscar in many ways." It's a classic kind of story that could resonate with a new generation, Ostroff said.

--Puke.

Source: New York Daily News

Hatchney?

Teri Hatcher and George Clooney are playing coy about their rumored romance, by refusing to chat about their reported date.

Hatcher is staying quiet about the 'date', while Clooney insists "it's a good rumor". The actress says, "If I went on a date with George Clooney I would not be talking about it." And gentleman George adds, "She is my neighbor, though, and she's beautiful."

Source: Contact Music and Popsugar

Feel The Frustration

I feel you, Cameron. Golf frustrates the hell out of me, too.

Eva Cheating on Tony?

Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria will pose with her boyfriend, basketball star Tony Parker, in an upcoming issue of men's magazine GQ.

The beautiful couple will appear in a spread in the April issue of the publication.

--Hmm, not sure this is going to happen considering that word on the street is that she was all about Jamie Foxx after the Globes:

Eva Longoria has sparked speculation she has split from her basketball star lover Tony Parker, after cuddling up to Jamie Foxx at a Golden Globes after-party. The actress, 30, struck up a friendship with Oscar-winner Foxx when he invited her to star in his latest music video. Longoria and Foxx attended Mary J. Blige's surprise birthday party in Los Angeles last Wednesday, before speeding off together in the Ray star's silver two-seat Lamborghini.

After attending the Golden Globes alone on Monday night, the actors walked the red carpet of the InStyle and Warner Bros post-awards bash together and were photographed hugging at the party, before leaving together.

Source: Teen Hollywood and IMDB

Gettin' Into Character

Recognize this guy?

It's a bulked-up Jared Leto on the New York City set of Chapter 27 on Tuesday. The actor – toting a copy of Catcher in the Rye and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album, stars as Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman.

• Fiddle Dee Dee linked with Holy Crap!
  
  

Lohan To Kick Butts

Lindsay Lohan is so desperate to clean up her tarnished image, the teen singer has been prescribed anti-smoking pills in a bid to curb her nicotine addiction.

The singer, who has endured a battering from the press in recent weeks for speculated drink and drug problems, has been persuaded to seek help for a smoking addiction by her mother Dina. And she hopes her daughter will have kicked the cigarette habit soon, according to gossip site The Scoop.

She says, "Lindsay smokes under a pack a day. She's addicted." "The doctor put her on an anti-smoking pill. God willing, it will work within a month."

It is the second dose of medication the teen star is undergoing after a severe New Year asthma attack forced Lohan to take pills to control her breathing difficulties. Her mom says, "Lindsay's on Advair (asthma medication). She can't be around dogs and cats and certain foods." "And when you're 19, you don't deal with that. I'm her mother and I tell her, 'You have to stick to it.'"

Source: Teen Hollywood

Winters Wed Before Dying

Movie star Shelley Winters realized her dream of marrying boyfriend Gerry DeFord hours before she died this past weekend.

The Poseidon Adventure star's partner of 18 years called off the couple's wedding plans after Winters' daughter Vittoria Gassman publicly opposed the marriage. Gassman, who took charge of her mother's estate while she battled drug problems, refused to give up her right to the actress' fortune and Winters eventually decided to give up on her wedding dreams.

But she became Mrs. Gerry DeFord on her death bed when actress pal Sally Kirkland, a legally ordained Los Angeles minister, wed the couple on Friday night. It was 85-year-old Winters' fourth marriage and DeFord's first. Winters died of heart failure 10 hours after exchanging vows.

Source: IMDB

Andie McDowell Engaged

Only a year ago Andie MacDowell seemed resigned to being a single mother, but now the actress is preparing to walk down the aisle with her new fiancé, businessman Kevin Geagan.

As a mom to three kids, last year McDowell was content to stand on the sidelines solo as she cheered on her children at basketball, equestrian and dance competitions. "It’s work to have a relationship," she told InStyle. "And right now I just want to focus on my kids."

Still, when a friend introduced her to Geagan, a businessman who lives in MacDowell's Asheville, N.C., community, the actress agreed – and within months was sending a decidedly different message. "She called me around Christmas," MacDowell’s father, Marion, said, "and said, 'Dad, I'm in love.'"

Soon after that declaration, MacDowell, 47, and Geagan, 40, were celebrating their engagement. "They’re fabulous together,” says MacDowell's older sister Julia. "They are both very family-oriented. They both like the outdoors, and they're both into community work."

Another thing they have in common: parenthood. Geagan has three daughters, while MacDowell is mom to Justin, 19, Rainey, 16, and Sarah Margaret, 11, by her first husband, model-turned-contractor Paul Qualley, to whom she was married for 13 years before their 1999 split.

Source: People

Sundance

Actors are directing. Singers are acting. Drama directors are making concert films. Former presidential rivals Al Gore and Ralph Nader are hitting the big screen. And Hollywood's much-maligned system of rating movies stars in its own film.

The Sundance Film Festival, the country's foremost showcase for independent cinema, gets under way Thursday with an intriguing mix of role reversals among its cast. Gore and Nader lead what's shaping up as a powerhouse year for documentaries, always a strong suit at Sundance. Director Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" chronicles former Vice President Gore's dogged campaign to convince a reluctant society of fossil-fuel profiteers and consumers about the dangers of global warming.

Nader, viewed by critics as the spoiler whose campaign kept Gore out of the White House in the 2000 election, is the subject of Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan's "An Unreasonable Man," a portrait of the crusader for consumer rights and safety.

Sundance opens with writer-director Nicole Holofcener's "Friends With Money," starring Jennifer Aniston as a woman in limbo about her future after quitting her job and taking up temporary work as a housecleaner. The film centers on her relationship with three affluent friends (Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Joan Cusack).

Actress Joey Lauren Adams ("Chasing Amy") directs Ashley Judd in "Come Early Morning," a drama about a Southern woman struggling to turn around her self-demeaning life. Comic Bob Goldthwait directs "Stay," a romantic comedy about a relationship strained to the breaking point by a pact of absolute honesty.

Jonathan Demme, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs," is showing "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," which captures the rocker in concert accompanied by Emmylou Harris in Nashville last year.

Singer Justin Timberlake joins Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone in Nick Cassavetes' "Alpha Dog," a tragic tale of rivalry and violence among young drug peddlers. Musician Tom Waits is among the cast of "Wristcutters: A Love Story," Goran Dukic's offbeat film about a dreary afterlife reserved for people who have killed themselves.

Among other Sundance highlights: Finn Taylor's "The Darwin Awards," with Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes in a twisted comedy about people accidentally killed in idiotic ways; Dito Montiel's "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Rosario Dawson in a mean-streets drama set in 1980s Queens; Laurie Collyer's "Sherrybaby," featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal as a prison parolee trying to rebuild her life; and Isabel Coixet's "The Secret Life of Words," with Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley in the story of a nurse tending a temporarily blinded man on an oil rig in the Irish Sea.

As Sundance has grown from its roots as Robert Redford's little place of discovery and nurturing for new talent, celebrity hoopla and corporate marketing gimmicks often have overshadowed the films. Critics say Sundance has gone commercial, yet defenders insist such trappings are outside festival organizers' control.

Source: New York Daily News

Fashionista U

Condé Nast’s Teen Vogue in October will offer readers a crash course on the fashion business at Fashion U, a three-day event in New York.

The goal will be to have 1,000 participants attend seminars and lectures, conducted by Teen Vogue’s fashion team, which will cover everything from jewelry design to managing a clothing line. Attendees can pay for either the entire event—including a live concert and fashion show—or individual classes. A portion of the proceeds will go to a soon-to-be-named charity. Although the schedule is still being finalized, Teen Vogue vp/publisher Gina Sanders said course highlights will be available online, so budding designers from Duluth, Minn., can also access Fashion U’s curriculum.

The program, she added, will mentor readers looking to do more than wear fabulous clothes. “We’re hearing more and more from readers that they no longer dream of becoming fashion models, but they aspire to be in the business of fashion,” she explained. Moreover, program sponsors—Sanders said she will be approaching both high-end and mass advertisers—will have an opportunity to reach an educated fashion consumer. “Teen Vogue has carved out a specific fashionista person that they go after,” said Mike Labella, media supervisor for PGR Media, which counts Tommy Hilfiger as a client. “They’re actively seeking these women that have the qualifier of being a fashionista. [This program] is a good move to solidify that base.”

Source: Media Week

She Won't Be Frock-Blocked

Whatever Mrs. Trump wants, Mrs. Trump gets.

When Melania Trump stopped in with her sister at the trendy BCBG Max Azria store on Madison Avenue, she spotted a young employee from the Completely Bare spa upstairs trying on a low-cut black evening dress with an Empire waist. Melania, whose personal tastes tend more toward Dior, was so taken with the dress that she asked a salesperson if she could have the same frock for her sister, but she was told that the spa employee had scored the last size 2.

Melania would not be deterred. She approached the shopper, offering to buy her anything in the store if she would give her the dress off her back. According to a source, “The dress was absolutely darling, and the girl looked beautiful in it. She really had to think about it.’’ Ultimately, she caved at the sight of the pleading pregnant woman, and Melania made good on her offer: She paid for everything in the woman’s dressing room.

Souce: New York Magazine

Hell To The No!

Hell To The No!

Superstar Whitney Houston and fallen R&B singer Bobby Brown's 14-year marriage is reportedly on the rocks, with the couple planning to divorce.

The New York Daily News reports the My Prerogative singer, 36, has been telling friends and acquaintances he is divorcing Houston, 42, after an infamously tumultuous marriage. Earlier this month, the former New Edition band member was reportedly seen flirting with a group of beauties backstage at an all-star concert featuring R&B groups SWV, Guy and Blackstreet at the Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

A backstage source tells the Daily News, "While flirting with a bunch of women, they asked, 'What's up with your wife?' Bobby said, 'We ain't together no more. We're getting a divorce.'" The couple are frequently at the centre of tabloid stories about their admitted drug and alcohol battles and in December 2003, Brown was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery against Houston in their Georgia home. The couple have one child together - daughter Bobbi Kristina, 12.

Source: IMDB

Tiffany Is Crying

Socialite Paris Hilton and her friends have come up with secret signals to help each other escape when they're trapped talking to less than desirable lotharios.

They have developed a special language to bail them out of situations when would-be suitors come on too strong. The party-girl says, "My friends and I have code words and phrases that we use when we need help. If I say to them, 'Tiffany is crying!' then they know to jump in. That's one we use a lot. And then we run away."

Hilton admits she doesn't always get to talk to the most desirable people at parties she attends. She adds, "They're usually older guys, who try to talk to you, or women who look like they've had a lot of plastic surgery. They are to be avoided at all costs."

Source: Teen Hollywood

Hasselhoff Blames Booze

David Hasselhoff has admitted that his marriage collapsed due to his alcohol problems.

Hasselhoff and actress wife Pamela Bach filed for divorce last week after 16 years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences". But Hasselhoff told German newspaper Das Neue Blatt about the effect his drinking had on his marriage and explained: "Alcohol destroyed everything."

The TV star has publicly struggled with drinking problems in recent years, admitting that he hit "rock bottom" in 2002 during a drinking binge that almost killed him. He checked himself into a number of rehab clinics since but kept falling off the wagon and in 2004 was charged with drunk driving.

Hasselhoff told the German paper: "I went through a horrible time during which I hated myself. I caused a lot of pain for Pamela through my behavior."

Source: Ananova

• The LLama Butchers linked with Feeling flat
  
  

Jackson Needs a Job

Job Wanted:
Michael Jackson seems to be settling in to the Persian Gulf. He has shopped for real estate here, been spotted in glitzy malls — and now it appears that Jackson is interviewing for a job.

The singer, his reputation in tatters at home after winning a grueling molestation trial in California last year, is negotiating a position as a consultant with a Bahrain-based company that plans to set up theme parks and music academies in the Middle East, according to a press release.

AAJ Holdings Ltd., owned by Bahraini businessman Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi, said it wanted to hire the 47-year-old Jackson to give advice on setting up entertainment businesses. AAJ, which focuses mainly on urban development projects, played a key role in designing Bahrain's ongoing Financial Harbor development and Oman's Blue City, a multibillion-dollar tourist resort with golf courses, hotels, and several dozen kilometers (miles) of sandy beaches.

According to the statement, Janahi believes Jackson could play an important role in the company. "Stagnant architectural structures need content in the form of entertainment to revive them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an integral role," the statement said.

Source: Yahoo

She Gave Him the Brush-Off

Maroon 5 man-whore Adam Levine - who's been linked to Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton and Kirsten Dunst - tried to rekindle his romance with newly single Simpson Monday night, but was rebuffed.

Simpson and pal Eva Mendes were having drinks at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood when Levine "came running over, pulled up a chair and insinuated himself into their conversation," our source says. Simpson, who allegedly had a fling with Levine while married to Nick Lachey, managed to make a speedy exit.

Source: New York Post

Don't Count Them Out Yet

Hilary Swank and her husband, Chad Lowe, recently announced their separation, but the Oscar-winning actress says they hope to rescue their eight-year marriage.

"We're still trying to save it," Swank told syndicated TV entertainment show "Access Hollywood" at the Golden Globe Awards, which were presented Monday in Beverly Hills, California. "It's not over, we're not divorced. We've been together for over 13 years, and there's a lot of love there."

Swank, who wore her wedding ring to the awards ceremony, added: "We're still married."

Source: IndyStar

Shatner Sells Stone For Charity

Boston Legal Emmy winner William Shatner has sold an unusual souvenir to a fan for a good cause. The souvenir was his kidney stone. The cause was Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy. The price was $25,000.

The sale of the 74-year-old Shatner's kidney stone was organized by the online casino site GoldenPalace.com, the Associated Press reports. "This takes organ donors to a new height, to a new low, maybe. How much is a piece of me worth?" said Shatner. GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe called the actor's contribution " a bold new addition to our fleet."

"This would be the first Habitat for Humanity house built out of stone," joked Darren Julien, president of Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions, which handled the sale.

Shatner reportedly passed the stone last fall. It was so big, he said, that "you'd want to wear it on your finger." He added, "If you subjected it to extreme heat, it might turn out to be a diamond."

Source: People

Gene Loves Indy Racing

Gene Simmons has signed a deal to promote Indy Racing.

The former KISS star and marketing partner Richard Abramson have signed a promotional deal with the Indy Racing League. The campaign will feature an anthem called 'I Am Indy' sung by Simmons and band BAG.

Simmons called the song "a personal statement that's sort of a personal allegiance to the United States of Indy." The lyrics preach individuality and top-speed performance, and can be found on www.indycar.com.

Other details surrounding the campaign are currently being kept under wraps, but Abramson said Indy Racing "is already is pretty hip and cool. We want to involve Hollywood more, we want to involve music people in it more. We want to get more individual people involved as opposed to flocks of people."

Indy Racing League president and chief operating officer Brian Barnhart added: "I think it's very aggressive and I think it's exactly what the IndyCar Series needs."

Source: Digital Spy

Twins For Hunter

Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter, 47, and her partner, actor Gordon MacDonald, are seeing double: The couple has welcomed twins.

"She had the babies," the star's publicist said. "They are happy and healthy." No other details were immediately available. These are the first children for The Piano star and the British actor.

Hunter, who is one of seven children herself, voiced the role of the mother Helen Parr (also known as Elastigirl) in 2004's animated movie smash The Incredibles. Besides winning the Oscar in 1993 for The Piano, she also received Academy Award nominations for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm and Thirteen.

Source: People

Golden Globe Fashion Roundup

Click here for a complete list of winners.

Here's my list of the Best and Worst dressed:

BEST

--Eva hits the mark with this one. Perfection.

--Keira Knightly looks fabulous. She oozes class and sophistication.

--I think Felicity's dress is stunning, but I'd rate her up there in the Worst Hair category. It reminds me too much of bad Vincennes Lincoln High School prom hair.

--Vintage Chanel. 'Nuff said.

--This dress is daring yet perfectly executed. It makes her looks 10 times more curvy that she is. The color is great w/ her hair and skin as well. And see...daring dress, but smooth, simple hair. Well done, Teri.

--Kate looks smashing in this Dior number. And, I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but she had these great greenish/turquoise earrings in that really added some pizzazz to the whole look.

--Reese, as usual, never disappoints. Not one thing out of place with this. And, could her acceptance speech have been more adorable? And, could her husband have looked hotter? But, I digress...

WORST

--I know this is on many people's Best Dressed list, but it's just too messy. One too many sprigs of lace. And, if you're going to go w/ a more daringly messy dress, you should have very simply hair. Overall, I think she went the wrong way with this total look.

--Glad to see her win, but I'm not a fan of her dress. It's a snoozer.

--Ok, props to her for covering herself up for a change. However, it's still ugly. It looks like one of those wraps to carry a baby in.

--Did she steal that bedspread from a 2-star Florida hotel?

--Gag. Her boobs were spilling out of the sides of this. And, her hair was so damn tight it made her look stiff all night. Too much Elvira.

--Also on my "Worst" list (although I'm in a hurry so I'm not posting pics): Mary-Louise Parker (although props to her for beating out ALL of the Housewives) and Rachel Weisz.

How Romantic

Tom Cruise has given his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes a unique 27th birthday present - a DVD compendium of every movie he has acted in.

The star, 43, decided there was no better gift for his wife-to-be than a full history of his long and fruitful career. A source tells British newspaper the Daily Express, "Each was inscribed with a special handwritten love message to the future mother of his child."

Source: Contact Music

• Fiddle Dee Dee linked with Worst Gift Ever!!
  
  

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Baby Girl For Damon?

Looks like Matt Damon and his wife are expecting a little girl.

The “Bourne Supremacy” star recently arrived in the Dominican Republic with his four months pregnant wife, Lucianne Bozan, to film “The Good Shepherd.”

Damon told reporters in Spanish that the child will be a girl, according to a local paper. “ ‘It [she] will be a girl,’ said Damon in Spanish,” noted El Caribe, according to a translation carried on a Damon fan site. “The actor has advanced in his classes thanks to his wife, who has dedicated herself to teaching him the language.” Damon's wife was born in Argentina.

Source: MSNBC

He's Nuts

WTF?

Vincent Gallo wants to have your baby - and he's hell-bent on offending as many people as possible in the process.

Gallo made headlines in 2004 when he told Page Six that he had put a "black-magic curse" on Roger Ebert to give him "colon cancer" after the critic panned Gallo's art-house bomb, "The Brown Bunny." Now, as if that wasn't tasteless enough, he's posted an ad on vgmerchandise.com, the "official site for Vincent Gallo merchandise" linked to his main Web site, in which he offers to sell his sperm for $1 million.

"Mr. Gallo maintains the right to refuse sale of his sperm to those of extremely dark complexions," Gallo writes. "Though a fan of Franco Harris, Derek Jeter, Lenny Kravitz and Lena Horne, Mr. Gallo does not want to be part of that type of integration."

His site posting continues, "Under the laws of the Jewish faith, a Jewish mother would qualify a baby to be deemed a member of the Jewish religion. This would be added incentive for Mr. Gallo to sell his sperm to a Jew mother, his reasoning being with the slim chance that his child moved into the profession of motion picture acting or became a musical performer, this connection to the Jewish faith would guarantee his offspring a better chance at good reviews and maybe even a prize at the Sundance Film Festival or an Oscar."

Gallo describes himself thusly: "Mr. Gallo is 5-11 and has blue eyes. There are no known genetic deformities in his ancestry (no cripples) and no history of congenital diseases. If you have seen 'The Brown Bunny' [in which Gallo appeared nude in a sex scene], you know the potential size of the genitals if it's a boy . . . I don't know exactly how a [well-endowed] father can enhance the physical makeup of a female baby, but it can't hurt.

"Mr. Gallo also presently maintains a distinctively full head of hair and at the age of 43 has surprisingly few gray hairs. Though his features are sharp and extreme, they would probably blend well with a softer, more subtly featured female."

--Crazy AND racist! What a combo.

Source: New York Post

Murphy Engaged Again

Brittany Murphy is engaged to boyfriend Joe Macaluso, the actress's publicist said.

The pair, who met when he was working as a production assistant on her 2004 romantic comedy Little Black Book, got engaged over the Christmas holidays, her rep said. The ring is a 3-4 carat Tiffany diamond.

--Hmmm...how much to production assistants get paid? Sounds like that's the job to have! How else would Cash Warren snag Jessica Alba and this guy snag Brittany?

Source: People

Another Crowelet On The Way

Actor Russell Crowe confirmed reports his wife Danielle Spencer is expecting their second child, at a concert on Saturday.

The Gladiator star, 41, and singer/actress Spencer, 35, already have a two-year-old son Charles and have been married for just under three years. Reports emerged last month that Spencer was pregnant again, with the couple's publicist refusing to confirm or deny the rumours.

However, now Spencer has passed her first trimester, delighted daddy Crowe was proud to share the news with 500 fans at his band's The Ordinary Fear Of God gig at the Coffs Hotel in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, Australia. The new addition to the family is expected in July.

Source: IMDB

Brit Shops Sans Ring

Britney Spears has again sparked concern her marriage to Kevin Federline is in trouble, after she was photographed shopping without her wedding ring on.

The singer was indulging in a bit of retail therapy in Malibu, California, on Saturday, when she was spotted not wearing the ring in pictures published in British tabloid newspapers today.

An onlooker says, "Britney didn't look very happy as she shopped for flowers and was chatting away on her phone."

Source: Teen Hollywood

Voight Tries to Mend Fences

Angelina Jolie's Oscar-winner dad reportedly wants to be back in her life after five years apart. 67-year old Jon Voight is apparently keen to be an active grandfather to his daughter's expected child with Brad Pitt.

He told the Daily Mirror he is "very happy" for the pair, continuing: "Now she's announced she is pregnant with Brad Pitt's child, I'd love to be included in this exciting moment."

Source: Digital Spy

Shue Pregs

Elisabeth Shue can leave Las Vegas but apparently she can't get out of the nursery.

Shue is pregnant with her third child, US Weekly reported Friday on its Web site, citing her manager, David Seltzer. Calls to Seltzer and Shue's publicist by The Associated Press were not immediately returned Friday night.

Shue was to have started filming a Joel Schumacher thriller called "Number 23" but has dropped out of the project because of her pregnancy, US Weekly said. Shue, 42, received an Oscar nomination for her role in 1995's "Leaving Las Vegas."

She and her husband, Davis Guggenheim, have an 8-year-old son, Miles, and a 4-year-old daughter, Stella.

Source: AZ Central

LoLennon?

She's one of the hottest names in Hollywood, his dad has one of the world's most famous names. Could there be romance on the horizon for Herbie star Lindsay Lohan and Sean Lennon, son of the late Beatle?

The pair have been spotted enjoying an intimate dinner at New York's smart Bette restaurant, according to reports in the Daily Mirror. And they headed off to meet Lindsay's mom Dina at a club afterwards.

Lindsay, 19, is to star in the film Chapter 27, which is about John's tragic murder, so the meet could have been for research purposes. Interestingly enough, Lindsay's on-off boyfriend Jared Leto is also in the film, playing Mark Chapman - the man who killed Lennon.

Sean, 30, is openly looking for love, however, so he could have been considering Lindsay as a would-be girlfriend...Last December he issued his own personal ad in the New York Post, looking for a lady aged between 18 and 45 with an IQ above 130. He also specified: "They must not have any clinical, psychological disorders - and have a kind heart. I'm completely miserable."

--Not sure Lohan fits that bill.

Source: Ananova

Engagement

7th Heaven star Beverley Mitchell has become engaged to her longterm boyfriend Michael Cameron.

The 24-year-old star accepted Cameron's New Year's Eve proposal during a holiday in Colorado. Mitchell and Cameron, 25, have dated for five years and it will be the first marriage for both.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Scary

She looks possessed. Possessed by the Evil Collagen Spirits, apparently.

Source: Dlisted

KFed's Romp With Porn Star?

Did KFed Cheat On Brit With a Porn Star?

Britney Spears hubby Kevin Federline spent some time in Las Vegas with porn star Kendra Jade in early December while Britney was away in Louisiana with her mom and baby Sean Preston, according to a published report.

American tabloid the Star is dropping the bombshell accusation that Brit's husband K-Fed has cheated on her with ex-adult film star Kendra Jade during a weekend getaway in Las Vegas.

The Star says that while Brit was away, Federline slid to Sin City where Kevin and Kendra partied, cuddled and made out during a seven hour romp in her suite with several other friends. Kendra is most famous for her video taped sex romp with none other than Jerry Springer.

The story cites a source that goes into excruciating details of a wild all night party at Kendra's Las Vegas suite at the Venetian Resort. The details include several bottles of champagne (a Cristal bill of over $7,000, the source dishes) and four masseuses that cost $700 for the whole group. The party lasted seven hours according to the report and then K-Fed headed back to LA "to make nice with Britney," the report from the Star tabloid claims.

Kevin's rep confirmed to the magazine that he was indeed in Vegas at the time - but denies that he fooled around with Kendra. Kendra's rep says she is in a committed relationship but refused further comment. The report does not allege sex, only a heavy make out session, but it still should spark some interesting conversation at the Spears household.

Source: National Ledger and A Socialite's Life

Diddy's Ads Too Hot

Sean "Diddy" Combs' ads for his new fragrance, "Unforgivable," were so hot that many department stores, especially in the conservative Midwest and Bible Belt, refused to run them.

That caused Estée Lauder to shoot a new "store-friendly" ad. The original ad has Combs lying in bed with a white woman and an Asian one, all looking as if they'd just had sex.

The new ad has Combs with just one woman. The original is still being used on billboards. John Dempsey, global president of Estée Lauder, said, "It is unfortunate that some people were so uncomfortable with something with that much sexual presence, but we stand by it."

Source: New York Post

Cammie Pregs?

Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake are expecting a baby together, the Daily Star claims today.

Timberlake's mother, Lynne Harless, apparently revealed the couple's happy news to her neighbors in Memphis, Tennessee. "Lynne told us about a neighbor who had gone all out for Christmas because she'd had her first grandchild over - and she couldn't help grinning," one friend told the newspaper.

"She was asked if she was keeping a secret and burst out that it was going to be 'a very exciting year for Justin and Cameron' and that she hoped to have a baby over next December 25 - then added, 'I'm knitting booties.'

"She's been planning a huge birthday party for Justin's 25th at the end of the month and seemed to be hinting there could be an announcement then. It seemed pretty obvious that Cameron's pregnant."

--Hmmm...we'll see.

Source: Digital Spy

Carrie Fisher Says...

Like many stars of yesteryear, Carrie Fisher has turned to lucrative autograph shows to make some extra cash.

But Fisher, best known as Princess Leia in "Star Wars," is perhaps more self-aware than many of the showbiz fossils who sell their signatures at the shows. "In a way, by accepting money for my signature, I have become a whore," Fisher writes in Details. "I have prostituted a token, a souvenir, and a gesture of my good will, and seen from an awfully odd angle, couldn't 'lovemaking' also be regarded as such a gesture? At least with an autograph you get a picture."

Source: New York Post

Em Remarries

Love is (hopefully) lovelier the second time around for Eminem, who remarried his ex-wife, Kim Mathers, on Saturday.

"Marshall and Kim Mathers were married tonight in a small, private ceremony at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, Mich.," the rapper's rep, Dennis Dennehy, said. "Family and close friends were in attendance, including members of D-12, 50 Cent, Obie Trice, and members of G-Unit. D-12 rapper Proof (real name: DeShaun Holton) was best man." Guests dined on lobster tail with filet mignon, and at the reception music was provided by New York DJ Lord Sear, according to Dennehy.

Eminem, 33, and Kim, 31, originally married in 1999 and divorced two years later, at which time an ugly custody battle erupted over their daughter, Hailie Jade, now 10.

Source: People

Final Season

The sixth series of mafia family drama The Sopranos will be the last according to the show's creator David Chase.

Chase remained elusive about how the story would unfold, but confirmed there would be eight bonus episodes for fans to look forward to after the final season is over.

He says, "There will be these 12 (forthcoming episodes) and then another eight, and that will be the end." Rumors of The Sopranos appearing in a feature length film were knocked by Chase, producer of Northern Exposure and The Rockford Files, who claimed any ideas for the movie have already been used up.

He says, "We haven't talked about it in a long time... It's hard to see how it would work. I think what we're going to be doing the next year and a half would have been that movie." Award-winning lead actor James Gandolfini insists his days of playing dominating father figure Tony Soprano are over. He says, "I'm too tired to be a tough guy or any of that stuff anymore. We pretty much used all that up in this show." Series six begins in March.

Source: IMDB

McGraw To Try Politics?

Tim McGraw says he and his wife, Faith Hill, might be another celebrity couple hitting the political campaign trail.

"I think it's something I'd do well," McGraw, who is a Democrat, tells the February issue of Esquire magazine (on stands Monday). He announced his plans to run for governor of Tennessee someday. "I just think as governor of the state, there would be a lot more opportunities to make some decisions and change some things."

It's not the first time McGraw has expressed an interest in politics. In 2004, he told Time magazine: "I want to run for the Senate from Tennessee. Not now, but when I'm 50."

McGraw, 38, and Hill, 38, have three daughters, ages 8, 7 and 4. He tells Esquire he plans to wait until the girls are older — "maybe in 10 or 15 years."

Source: USA Today

RIP

Shelley Winters, the forceful, outspoken star who graduated from blond bombshell parts to dramas, winning Academy Awards as supporting actress in "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "A Patch of Blue," has died. She was 85.

Winters died of heart failure early Saturday at The Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills, her publicist Dale Olson said. She had been hospitalized in October after suffering a heart attack.

The actress sustained her long career by repeatedly reinventing herself. Starting as a nightclub chorus girl, advanced to supporting roles in New York plays, then became famous as a Hollywood sexpot.

A devotee of the Actors Studio, she switched to serious roles as she matured. Her Oscars were for her portrayal of mothers. Still working well into her 70s, she had a recurring role as Roseanne's grandmother on the 1990s TV show "Roseanne."

--She was great. My favorite role of hers was in The Poseidon Adventure (she received an Oscar nom for it as well).

Source: Foxnews

Cameron and Justin Engaged

Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake are officially engaged.

It happened seconds after the duo returned from their holiday ski trip in Telluride, Colorado.

"Justin didn't get down on his knee," says an insider. "They were just talking about it and were kind of like, Yep, let's do it. He didn't give her a ring, and she's still not wearing one. But she is squealing, like, all the time."

--Zzzz.

Source: E!'s The Awful Truth

Should Brad Have Called Jen?

Brad Pitt did not alert ex-wife Jennifer Aniston about Angelina Jolie's pregnancy, says the publicist for the former Friends star.

Speaking to TV's Extra, Aniston's rep, Stephen Huvane, corrected reports that Pitt had spoken to his former wife (of 4 1/2 years) before People broke the story on Wednesday that he's expecting a baby with Jolie.

"All the reports about phone calls between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie are all made-up lies," Huvane told Extra.

--Ok readers, what do you think? Should Pitt have done a courtesy call or is it good that he followed the old mantra, "When it's over, it's over?"

Source: People

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Thank God

Previous reports of an Ashlee Simpson sex tape proved to be false (as we all expected).

Here's the scoop.

--Much thanks to Iceman for his detective work.

Levunst

Almost every member of the hot young Hollywood girls' club has one thing in common: Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine.

So far, Levine has been linked with Maria Sharapova, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and others. Now, according to "The Insider" correspondent Marc Malkin, he's dating Kirsten Dunst.

Earlier this week, while Nicole Richie cuddled up to "Jackass" star Steve-O at Teddy's in L.A., Dunst and Levine were cozying up and dancing until the wee hours of the morning.

Source: New York Post

Random

Katie, already barefoot and pregnant, hangs with her new friend, Posh:

Tori Clings To "Fame" For Dear Life

VH1 has set an April 2 premiere date for its first comedy series, "So Notorious," starring Tori Spelling in a fictionalized version of herself.

The show originally was developed as a pilot for NBC, which passed before VH1 picked it up. "It's our biggest project from a cost perspective," said Michael Hirschorn, VH1's newly appointed executive VP original programing and production. "But it seemed like the next logical step for the network, so it was a risk we were happy to take."

For her part, Spelling said her family calls her "brave" for taking a role in which she often pokes fun at herself. VH1 unveiled its slate during parent company MTV Networks' portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena Wednesday.

Source: Yahoo

Orange?

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow has ended speculation surrounding her expanding waistline by confirming she is expecting a second child with husband Chris Martin.

The Shakespeare In Love beauty has told fans she will not be working on any movies in the foreseeable future while she concentrates on raising her 20-month-old daughter Apple and keeping herself healthy during pregnancy. She says, "Since my daughter came along, I've not worked much through choice. And with another baby on its way, I don't think I will be doing a lot for the next year or so either."

Source: IMDB

George's Dream Woman

George Clooney has revealed the qualities he looks for in a woman.

The Ocean's 11 actor told OK! magazine: "The ideal woman is a mixture. She should have Nicole Kidman's laughter, then the personality of Julia Roberts and the aspect of Michelle Pfeiffer, the quintessence of beauty. And finally the ambition of Jennifer Lopez.

"I'll buy into the idea of finding the woman of my dreams. Who knows? Maybe one day."

George admitted that he likes female company but says he is not about to settle down. He added: "The driving force in my life is my work and that means everything else in my life is going to suffer to some extent, and that's why things haven't worked out between me and some of the women that have been very close to me."

Source: Ananova

Can't Party Like He Used To

KISS rocker Paul Stanley will have to undergo further surgery, after an hip replacement operation failed to improve his mobility.

The 55-year-old singer, who has already endured two spells in hospital with the problem, is hoping for an improvement when he returns to the operating room later this year.

He says, "Things haven't gone as smoothly as expected. "I'll have to look at having something re-done."

Source: Contact Music

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Another One Bites The Dust

Former "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff is divorcing wife Pamela Bach after 16 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences, his publicist said on Thursday.

Hasselhoff, 53, filed for divorce in Los Angeles on Thursday, and the couple have agreed to an amicable settlement, publicist Judy Katz said.

The actor, also known for starring in the TV drama "Knight Rider," has two daughters with Bach, according to his Web site, www.davidhasselhoff.com.

Source: Yahoo

AbDiva

Two overworked Las Vegas hotel workers claim an ornery Paula Abdul got them fired after they couldn't comply with her demands.

As reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke, Carol Good and Damon Rosa were working the overnight shift at the Silverton Hotel & Casino when Abdul called down at 6 a.m. and asked them to change her 7:40 a.m. flight.

Good, whose shift was over by then, stayed to help Rosa print out flight schedules when, she says, Abdul "called up and went off on me." Abdul, after learning the later flights were fully booked, blamed the hotel staffers for missing the 7:40 a.m. flight. Both employees were fired. Abdul's people didn't return calls.

Source: New York Post

Shatner Keeps On Truckin'

William Shatner has vowed to keep working until he drops, because he loves acting so much.

The former Star Trek character has enjoyed a career renaissance and is currently starring in TV hit Boston Legal.

And he is loving staying busy at 74: "My job is great fun, challenging and well paid - why would I even think of giving it up? "It's not like I'm working in a coalmine. I think most actors would like to think they'll still be in demand at this age, even if they're no longer a leading man.

"I'm very grateful that I'm still working, so I won't stop soon."

Source: Contact Music

No Cash In Cash Musical

The director of the new Johnny Cash stage musical, "Ring of Fire," struggles to define exactly what the show is, but one thing is certain -- no one portrays the country music legend known as "The Man in Black."

"This isn't a biography," director Richard Maltby told reporters on Wednesday at a rehearsal for the show that starts previews on Broadway next month for a March 12 opening."It's 38 songs without connecting material, but it's not a revue," he said. "It has a story, it has characters," he continued, but no plot. "It's some other kind of theater piece, a play made up of songs. It's a book-musical without a book."

Confused? All will become clear, Maltby said, when audiences see what he calls a classic tale of American life -- not Cash's own life but the story of an everyman who emerges from the songs he wrote.

Source: Yahoo

Another Ruined Classic

This is just so wrong:

Best pals Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up on the big screen again to remake Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The actors will take on the roles made famous by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the 1969 classic.

Damon will reportedly play the Sundance Kid, while Affleck will recreate Newman's role as Butch Cassidy, according to OK! magazine.

Source: Contact Music

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Nick Buys House In Cincy

Nick Lachey is looking to move on from his broken marriage to Jessica Simpson by buying up property in his native Ohio.

The singer bought a $300,000 Cincinnati house with his father, John, just before Christmas, according to American magazine In Touch. Father and son plan to spend time renovating the home.

Source: IMDB

Fantasy Land

She's been Jean Harlow on film, a futuristic conehead on the red carpet, and she's the original "Hollaback Girl," so what's next for Gwen Stefani? \

Try Old Mother Hubbard or maybe Little Red Riding Hood. The singer, who's expecting her first child with husband Gavin Rossdale, may dress as a different character from a children's story every day to entertain her new audience, Vogue.co.uk is reporting, once she becomes a mother.

Source: New York Post

Winter Olympics Coverage

Figure skating fans are advised to stay off the Internet and away from the radio next month if they want to be surprised by who wins the Winter Olympics next month.

NBC released its ambitious, 416-hour TV schedule for the Winter Games that begin Feb. 10 in Turin, Italy. The network opted not to broadcast the figure-skating competition live. Instead, skating — traditionally, the most-watched event of the games — will air on tape after 8 p.m. here, about six hours after the competition will have taken place in Italy.

Hockey, however, will for the most part be live on TV — though the time difference means the games will be on in mid-afternoon, U.S. time.

Coverage of the games will sprawl over 16 days (Feb. 10-26) and air on seven different channels including NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC HD, Universal HD and Telemundo, NBC's Spanish-language network.

Source: Foxnews

Em Gets Marriage License

Slim Shady and his ex-wife are going to get married again.

Kim Mathers has applied for a license to marry Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem, the Macomb County clerk's office said Wednesday. The license was to be ready on Thursday.

The couple has 33 days from the application date to remarry in Michigan, but information on the wedding has been scant since the rap superstar announced in December that the two would get back together.

Source: New York Daily News

Roberts To Make Film Comeback

Julia Roberts is set to make her movie comeback in a new film opposite fellow Oscar winner Tom Hanks.

The Pretty Woman star took a hiatus when she became a mum in 2004, but now she has been lured back to the big screen by her Closer director Mike Nichols. Roberts is in negotiations to play Texas socialite Joanne Herring in the real-life story of US congressman Charlie Wilson, who fought to fund the Afghan rebels' battle against the Russians. Charlie Wilson's War, based on George Crile's book of the same name, will be Roberts' first movie role since 2004's Ocean's Twelve.

The actress is also in negotiations to star in the second sequel of Ocean's Eleven.

Source: IMDB

Book Refund Available

Random House is offering refunds to readers who bought James Frey's drug and alcohol memoir "A Million Little Pieces" directly from the publisher, following accusations the author exaggerated his story.

Readers calling Random House's customer service line to complain on Wednesday were told that if the book was bought directly from the publisher it could be returned for a full refund. Those who bought the book at a bookstore were told to try and return it to the store where it was bought.

"If the book was bought directly from us we will refund the purchase price in full," one Random House customer service told Reuters, adding that readers would have to return the book with the original invoice. "If you bought it at a book store, we ask that you return the book to the book store."

Only a small portion of consumers buy books directly from publishers. However, the agent said Random House normally sells books to consumers as nonrefundable but is offering refunds on Frey's book "because of the controversy surrounding it."

Source: Yahoo

• white pebble linked with Now I wonder where my copy is…
  
  

Stork Arrival

Melissa Joan Hart, best known as the star of TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and her musician husband, Mark Wilkerson, welcomed their first child, a baby boy, on Wednesday.

Mason Walter Wilkerson was born at 4:19 p.m. in Los Angeles, and weighed in at 9 lbs. exactly. "He was a little stubborn, but all is well," the actress said. "Everyone is well and we are all relieved."

Source: People

iPod Jeans

Denim giant Levi Strauss said on Tuesday it had designed jeans compatible with the iPod music player, featuring a joystick in the watch pocket to operate the device. Obviously, this was designed to compete with the iBoxer - iPod-ready underwear.

The Levi's RedWire DLX Jeans for men and women, which will be available this fall, also have a built-in docking cradle for the iPod and retractable headphones. Pricing was not immediately available.

Haute couture fashion houses began featuring pricey iPod carrying cases after the device's 2001 launch, while outdoor company Burton Snowboards unveiled what it called the first iPod-compatible waterproof snowboarding jacket in 2003.

Last fall, Los Angeles-based manufacturer Kenpo launched men's jackets selling at Macy's for between $275 and $350, featuring iPod controls on the sleeve.

If you're keeping track of iPod-ready clothing, Play Underwear also introduced the iBoxer - iPod-ready underwear. The Play iBoxer is a cotton/spandex blend button fly boxer, with a discreet front pocket which is perfect for holding an iPod, other mp3 players or your cell phone. The Boxer is available in solid colors and the solid waistband features a racing stripe and the Play logos. If you buy 2 pairs of the Play iBox Boxer, you’ll receive 3 free iTunes.

Source: Impact Lab

Governator Rode Illegally

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to update his driver's license after police determined he had been riding his Harley Davidson illegally when he got into a minor accident last weekend.

Police did not cite the governor because they arrived after the accident. Officers referred their findings to the city attorney's office, which will determine whether Schwarzenegger should be cited for an infraction.

Schwarzenegger "will move forward to get the appropriate endorsement," the governor's spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, said Tuesday, two days after the accident that left him with 15 stitches in his upper lip.

Source: CNN

Mideast Barbie

Mideast Barbie:

Move over Barbie, veiled is beautiful. The physical ideal of Muslim girls increasingly includes the hijab, as evidenced by toy shops' best-selling doll "Fulla" and the string of showbiz stars opting to cover up.

The dark-eyed and olive-skinned Fulla has replaced her American rival's skimpy skirts with more modest "outdoor fashion" and Barbie's luxuriant blonde mane with an Islamic veil.

"Fulla sells better because it is closer to our Arab values: she never reveals a leg or an arm," says Tarek Mohammed, chief salesman at a Toys'R'Us branch in Mohandessin, one of Cairo's more upmarket neighborhoods.

The Arab answer to Barbie has been selling like hot cakes for Eid Al-Adha, the most important holiday in the Muslim calendar, not least because it is cheaper than its American rival, although both are made in China. Fulla is not the first Islamic doll but none of her predecessors have taken the regional market by storm like she has, selling some two million since its creation two years ago by the Emirates-based NewBoy Design Studio.

Source: Yahoo

Brangelina Baby

Like we didn't already know, but now it's OFFICIAL:

Angelina Jolie is expecting a baby this summer with Brad Pitt. "Yes, I'm pregnant," Jolie told a charity aid worker in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Monday. The pregnancy has since been confirmed by representatives of both stars.

This is the first biological child for Jolie, 30, who is already the mother of son Maddox, 4, whom she adopted from Cambodia, and daughter Zahara, 1, adopted from Ethiopia in July.

Source: People

Doing The Backstroke

Lindsay Lohan is "appalled" by the Vanity Fair article released last week in which she confessed to dabbling in drug and battling bulimia.

The Vanity Fair story, which hit newsstands nationally Tuesday and was widely reported last week, made headlines for the 19-year-old actress' acknowledgment that she dabbled in drugs "a little."

The magazine also quoted Lohan on her drastic weight loss last year: "I was making myself sick," she said. The article, written by Evgenia Peretz, noted Lohan was "referring to bulimic episodes." Lohan also said, "I knew I had a problem and I couldn't admit it."

However, in a statement released Tuesday to Teen People magazine, Lohan denied having bulimia and said, "The words that I gave to the writer for Vanity Fair were misused and misconstrued, and I'm appalled with the way it was done." An editor for Teen People said Lohan's denial was regarding Vanity Fair's reporting of her alleged bulimia, not drug use.

"Aside from (the writer's) lies and changing of my words, I am blessed to have this job and wonderful family that I do," Lohan's statement read. Vanity Fair, in a statement of its own, stood by its story. "Evgenia Peretz is one of our most reliable reporters," the magazine said. "Every word Lindsay Lohan told her is on tape. Vanity Fair stands by the story.

Source: AZ Central

Blackwell Tells It How It Is

Calling her a victim of "Couture Chaos," fashion guru Mr. Blackwell on Tuesday named Britney Spears the worst dressed star of 2005. "From the 'Princess of Pop' to the ultimate 'Fashion Flop,'" sneers Blackwell of Spears, claiming the new mom "looks like an over-the-hill Lolita."

But Spears isn't the only celeb to be skewered by Blackwell, the former designer whose scathing "Worst Dressed" lists have been tweaking the noses of Hollywood goddesses for the past 46 years. (Paris Hilton's great-aunt, Zsa Zsa Gabor, got so tired of making Blackwell's list that she once broke down and hired him to design a gown for her).

Also receiving his disapproval, in rankings from 2 to 10, accompanied by his usual sarcasm, often set to rhyme are:

• Mary Kate Olsen: "In bag lady rags that look depressingly decayed – forget the 'accessories' and buy some Raid."
• Jessica Simpson: "It's time to sack the stylist and divorce the designer … she resembles a cut-rate Rapunzel slingin' hash in a Vegas diner."
• Eva Longoria: "Gorgeous face, garish taste ... what a waste."
• Mariah Carey: "The world applauds your musical emancipation ... but please – leave that body to our imagination."
• Paris Hilton: The Burger Queen Sensation may be very rich – but she still looks like yesterday's cheesecake ... with a side of kitsch."
• Anna Nicole Smith: "Queen Kong."
• Shakira: "Coiffure by Medusa ... clothes by the Marquis De Sade."
• Lindsay Lohan: "The Teen Scream defines 'Fashion Fright' – looks like she's aged 30 years overnight."
• Renee Zellweger: "Runs the gamut from Kewpi Doll Dreck to Red Carpet Wreck … she looks like a painted pumpkin – on a pogo stick."

Hollywood's best dressed have not gone unnoticed by Blackwell. Among those anointed his Fabulous Fashion Independents of 2005: Reese Witherspoon, Kirsten Dunst, Kathy Hilton, Dionne Warwick, Nicole Kidman, Carolina Herrera, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Moss, Natalie Portman and even the widow of "Moon River" composer Henry Mancini, Ginny Mancini.

Source: People

Flowers' Case Is Dismissed

Gennifer Flowers is steamed: A federal appeals court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit she filed against Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Bill Clinton advisers James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Flowers said. "It's been a David and Goliath story, and unfortunately Goliath has gotten the upper hand." Flowers sued the trio in 1999 after they suggested on a talk show that the audiotapes she used to try to prove her affair with the former horndog-in-chief were doctored. The former lounge singer, who held a press conference during the 1992 presidential campaign to announce that she had a 12-year affair with the then-Arkansas governor, was represented for free by conservative group Judicial Watch before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously dismissed the case on Monday.

Source: New York Post

Some Dude Buys Simpson-Lachey Pad

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey have sold their Calabasas, CA home. The 5-bedroom, 6,500 square-foot Mediterranean-style house, featured in the couple's MTV reality series "Newlyweds," was listed at $3.75 million and was sold for an undisclosed amount to "Malcolm in the Middle" actor Justin Berfield, who has been a long-time family friend of the Simpsons.

Berfield also has his 1930s Spanish-style Studio City, CA, house up for sale -- which included former past celeb owners such as George Clooney and Jaime Pressly.

Source: ET

Not A Good Investment

Pop superstar Britney Spears is smarting after the value of her New York apartment plummeted by more than $1 million in just three months.

The singer's luxury penthouse abode was first put on the market at $6 million, but is now being offered for $4.95 million, according to New York Magazine.

Spears has owned the three-bedroom apartment for several years, but first decided to put it on the market when she became pregnant and opted to move to the US west coast with husband Kevin Federline.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Paris' Supplier Squeals

Steve-O has got Paris Hilton into trouble by implying he may have given her drugs before her recent car crash.

The ex-Jackass star appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday and told the eponymous host that he spent a night with Hilton and boyfriend Stavros Niarchos III.

He said: "I walked into this nightclub to go and meet her and her billionaire boyfriend. I was just clinking and clanking with little nitrous (oxide) cartridges and filling up balloons - I probably shouldn't say that, but whoops! It's funny (but) half an hour before Paris Hilton had that car crash I might have given her some mind-altering substances."

Source: Digital Spy

Staring Death In The Face

Naomi Campbell conquered her fear of death by literally looking it straight in the face.

The supermodel's adopted "mother," Mary Blackwell, wife of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, passed away last year and "the funeral home had done this makeup for her, it was awful," Campbell said. "I wiped it off her, redid everything, fixed her hair. I've never spent so much time with a body before," she told the London Observer. "It was a big learning experience because it made me not afraid of death anymore."

Source: New York Post

Rising Star Noms

Budding acting talent including former Dawson's Creek actress Michelle Williams and Mexican hunk Gael Garcia Bernal have been tipped for the new Orange Rising Star award at this year's Baftas.

They are joined on the glittering shortlist by Mean Girls star Rachel Mcadams as well as British actors James Mcavoy, who starred as Mr. Tumnus in the movie adaptation of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, and Love Actually's Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The five nominees were whittled down from a host of aspiring stars by a panel including Cate Blanchett and Sir Alan Parker, with the winner set to be announced at the London award ceremony next month.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Not Hard Work

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers says he couldn't help sneaking a peek at Scarlett Johansson's breasts while filming Match Point.

Jonathan revealed that Scarlett, 21, banned him from looking at her breasts during love scenes - but he did anyway. The 28-year-old Irish actor told Unscripted: "I remember (Scarlett) telling me not to look at her t**s. And I was trying to be a gentleman and sort of asking for a glimpse. "But I did sneak a peek - I couldn't help it, they were in my face."

Jonathan said he had no problem "acting" his part as Scarlett's lover in the Woody Allen film. "It was easy work doing the sex scenes, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't," he added. "She has lovely lips and she's a great kisser. Being able to maul her for 30 seconds, I was able to embrace that side of me and the film became easier."

Source: Ananova

Phantom's Record

On January 9 (Monday), Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera became the longest-running show in the history of Broadway.

It was performance No. 7,486, surpassing producer Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's Cats by one performance.

Source: Yahoo

Nick Sues Jessica?

According to court documents, Nick Lachey has sued estranged spouse Jessica Simpson for ending their marriage three months before the pair contractually agreed to stay together.

“Mr. Lachey signed over to Ms. Simpson all royalties from ’98 Degrees’ songs, his appearance on an MTV reality show to promote her albums and perfume line, and his soul in exchange for 41 months of marriage that would keep him in the public spotlight,” wrote Lachey’s attorney. “The couple has been married only 38 months and Ms. Simpson is in violation of the contract, ending the union early.”

In a written response, Simpson’s lawyers argued that since Lachey would continue to receive publicity until the divorce is official in several months, she is still fulfilling her contractual obligations.

“I hope Katie Holmes is paying attention to this,” said one source close to Lachey. “These Hollywood stars feel free to play fast and loose with marriage contracts and they think they have so much power you can’t do anything about it. The lack of morals sickens me.”

--Not sure I'm buying this, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention anyway.

Source: Dateline Hollywood

Prof Prinze

After starring in the ABC sitcom “Freddie,” Freddie Prinze Jr. has started teaching a sitcom writing class at the UCLA Extension School. The show is built around Prinze’s eagerness to please where he plays Freddie Moreno, a bachelor living with a house full of women.

“After starring in this show for half a season, I thought I’d share my talents with aspiring comedy writers,” says Freddie. “The writers on my show come up with the funniest lines on television every week, and I’ve learned so much about being naturally funny with those lines they write for me.”

“I’m trying to break into sitcom writing,” says 43 year old Martin Vanison. “Then I saw in the course book that Freddie Prinze, Jr. was teaching a sitcom writing course this semester, and I signed up right away. If anyone knows anything about comedy, it’s Freddie Prinze, Jr.”

--Has anyone watched his show? It looks terrible.

Source: Dateline Hollywood

Usher's New Woman?

Usher has a new squeeze: his stylist, Tameka Foster. They frolicked in the waves off St. Barts recently and were close while visiting Aspen.

Foster has three children and is separated from her husband, Ryan Glover. A flack for Foster said she and Usher were just friends. Usher's reps said he was vacationing "with friends and members of his entourage, which included Tameka."

Source: New York Post

Curry Bashes Banks

'Surreal Life' star Adrianne Curry lashed out at Tyra Banks in an interview in the February issue of skin mag Playboy, reports New York Daily News.

"She's really mean. She's Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde," said Curry. Curry continued, "She can be the sweetest person in the world, but once that camera is off, she's Naomi Campbell, in your face."

The 23-year-old was the original winner on Banks' 'America's Next Top Model' reality series. Since the show ended, Curry hasn't been shy about complaining that Banks and the show's producers didn't help her win modeling contracts.

--Idiot move.

Source: AZ Central

The Oscars of Porn

Cameras whirred and fans pressed 10 deep against a velvet rope in Las Vegas to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars sashaying into one of the first entertainment awards shows of the year. As at any Hollywood awards ceremony, photographers asked the performers to twirl and pose, and reporters stationed along the red carpet begged for quips about the next project or the state of the industry.

But unlike the Golden Globes and Emmys, the goody bag contained "Barely Legal" playing cards and Hustler condoms, and the stars such as Arnold Schwartzenpecker and Britney Rears were not quite household names.

The 23rd annual Adult Video News (AVN) Awards, the Oscars of porn, boasted a higher attendance than ever this year, with more than 5,000 watching Saturday night's two-hour-long event in a huge ballroom at the ritzy Venetian Hotel.

The winners were as earnest and even as tearful as their Hollywood counterparts in their appreciation of the glass trophies they took home, and works such as "A Day Without Whores" and "Big Butt Road Trip" won fulsome praise.

Source: MSNBC

Turtle Needs Some Love

For you fellow "Entourage" fans out there:

If the Knicks' Eddy Curry has anything to do with it, "Entourage" actor Jerry Ferrara will get the girl in the show's next season.

Ferrara, who plays star Adrien Grenier's gopher, Turtle, visited the Knicks locker room after the game Friday night to find that Curry and teammate Stephon Marbury were big fans and rooting for him.

"They need to make sure you get some of the pretty girls this season. You usually get stuck driving the guys around in the Hummer," Curry said. Ferrara replied, "Talk to my boss about that." Curry said he would and then chatted with one of the producers on Ferrara's cellphone.

Source: New York Post

Beckinsale Slams US Sports

British actress Kate Beckinsale is relieved her husband Len Wiseman hates American football, because she thinks the sport is for girls.

The actress believes the US sport is too feminine and gentle, compared to football and rugby in her native England.

She says, "Len's not into American football. I'd have a hard time if he constantly had to watch girls' fu-king rugby bollocks. That's what I call American football. "It's like rugby except they wear armor and scream a lot. It's completely poofy. (They do) the gayest dances when they score.

And Beckinsale also has no time for baseball, which she compares to the English game rounders - a sport normally played by girls, which features small bats. She continues, "And their other national sport? Rounders. Which is a girls' game. The prosecution rests."

Source: Female First

LoCaprio?

Lindsay Lohan is rumored to be dating Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio.

The pair allegedly celebrated the New year with a midnight kiss after meeting at the New Year's Eve party Lohan hosted at Miami's Prive nightclub. Lohan was hospitalized the next day after suffering an asthma attack but had her friends sneak the 'Titanic' star in to see her.

A source told Britain's Daily Star Sunday newspaper: "Leo visited every night. He would sneak in through a back entrance wearing a cap which covered his face. "He really helped her get through the ordeal. And he showered her with gifts and chocolates to keep her spirits up."

Source: FemaleFirst

Moulin Envy

Hollywood stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger bonded long before starring in gay romance Brokeback Mountain - they were united in their jealousy of Ewan McGregor.

The actors auditioned for Moulin Rouge together, but the two Americans lost out to the charms of the Scottish screen hunk. Gyllenhaal says, "We'd auditioned for Moulin Rouge together. It was actually me, Heath and Ewan McGregor at the very end.

"Neither Heath nor I got the part and it was out of jealousy against Ewan that we became friends."

Source: Contact Music

Depp To Do "Sweeney"

Johnny Depp is reportedly teaming up with Tim Burton again for an adaptation of Sweeney Todd.

The pair have worked together five times - most recently on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Corpse Bride. Depp would play the lead role reports MovieMusicals.net. The musical first premiered on Broadway in 1979.

--I expect Chuck to weigh in on this one.

Source: Ananova

"The Producers" Get Stars

Matthew Broderick had a request for people strolling the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "Please remember to curb your dogs when you are walking in this area," Broderick said as he and Broadway buddy Nathan Lane received their stars on Monday in a dual ceremony.

The two actors are currently starring in "The Odd Couple" on Broadway after appearing in the stage and screen versions of "The Producers."

"It's a joy to feel like part of a tradition in such a showbiz town," Broderick said. He thanked Lane for "acting so well with me." Lane said he was "truly touched, and it's a great honor, and thank you all for coming."

Broderick's wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, attended the unveiling along with director Mel Brooks.

Source: IndyStar

And The Celeb Breakups Continue

Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe are separating after eight years of marriage, her publicist, Troy Nankin, announced in a statement Monday.

"Hilary and Chad have decided to separate but they are hopeful they'll be able to get through this tough time," the statement reads.

Swank, 31, and Lowe, 37, were married on Sept. 28, 1997. It was a first marriage for both.

Source: People

Ashlee Pulls a Paris?

Reports are that an Ashlee Simpson sex tape was stolen from her home in California late last year.

Right now there's only screen caps, but the tape apparently is of Ashlee and an ex-boyfriend in various positions. The tape was said to be made before she got famous.

Click here for details. (Not safe for work).

Source: Dlisted

Nicholson's Love Child?

Movie star Jack Nicholson has a secret Danish lovechild who is speaking out about her Hollywood lineage after keeping the movie star's reported secret for 24 years.

Pretty Honey Hollman claims she's the product of a romance between the As Good As It Gets star and one-time supermodel Winnie Hollman. The Danish 24-year-old tells U.S. tabloid National Enquirer that she regularly visits her famous father in Los Angeles, even though reclusive Nicholson has never publicized the fact he has a Scandinavian daughter.

Hollman says, "My dad's never been a stranger. When I was a kid, my mom took me to see him and when I got older I went on my own... I think we have a regular father/daughter relationship. We have similar facial features and my mom says I have the same temper as him... I scream and shout a lot." The Dane insists she won't be following her father into the movie world: "I think it would be too hard, being judged on my background all the time."

Source: IMDB

Spacey Outed?

Hollywood superstar Kevin Spacey has been named on a list of famous gays and lesbians being used to educate students in British schools.

The actor, who has never discussed his sexuality despite rumors he is gay, is named alongside Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams and Irish TV presenter Graham Norton on documents offered to UK schools by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender group, which is part funded by the government. Organizer Paul Patrick says, "We double check our material carefully but Mr. Spacey's name got through. I don't know how; it will be withdrawn. It should not have happened and we apologize."

--Thanks for the tip, Chuck.

Source: IMDB

Pesci's A Singer

Joe Pesci is a closet crooner.

The star of "Goodfellas" and "Casino" dropped by Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Time Warner Center in New York City with two friends to hear his jazz organist pal, Joey DeFrancesco, play the other night.

During the second set, Pesci got on stage and impressively warbled the Lerner & Loewe classic "'Til There Was You." Pesci, it turns out, can be heard on a DeFrancesco CD, "Falling In Love Again," performing under the alias "Joe Doggs."

Source: New York Post

Wedding Bells

Punky pop singer Pink and her fiancé, motocross racer and The Surreal Life star Carey Hart, wed in Costa Rica on Saturday.

More than 100 guests (including Lisa Marie Presley) attended the non-denominational ceremony, which was held on the beach during sunset at the Four Seasons resort and performed by a local officiant. "We just love the beach, so we knew we wanted it to be at the beach," Pink said.

Adds Hart, "We wanted it very fun and non-traditional. We're spiritual, but we're not religious. It was about being with our closest friends and family and having a very fun and loose party."

Source: People

Tiger's New Den

Tiger Woods is buying a four-hectare Florida waterfront estate for $54 million but is unlikely to be made welcome at the local golf club.

Woods, 30 last week, is certainly the world's best golfer but it is unlikely that the ultra-exclusive Jupiter Island Golf Club will invite him to be a member. "There's a long list and membership is by invitation only," club membership secretary Debbie Squires said.

One of his new neighbors, who did not want to be named, thought the chances that Woods would be asked to join were remote. "No way. They don't want anybody famous," he said. "They are as low key and unassuming as it gets. No stars, fame, publicity or press."

Woods - who has won 10 major championships and has his sights set on Jack Nicklaus's 18 majors - will be able to play on the course, but only as a guest. In the past he has practiced on the idyllic course, on a barrier island bounded by the Indian River to the west, the Atlantic to the east, a wildlife refuge to the north and the Blowing Rocks Preserve to the south. The back nine wanders through a huge ornamental garden, with sweeping views of the river.

Also out of Woods's reach will be the club's 14 tennis courts, gym, saltwater pool, game-fishing facilities and its guesthouses and cottages along the ocean front and river.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Naveen's a Baby Daddy

Naveen Andrews, who plays Iraqi soldier Sayid on the hit show "Lost," has acknowledged that he fathered a child while briefly separated from his longtime girlfriend.

Andrews' publicist said that Andrews and actress Barbara Hershey were separated for a "brief period" last year, during which Andrews had an encounter with another woman. He recently learned that he is the father of her baby boy.

"I have every intention of assuming appropriate responsibility for the child," Andrews said Friday in a statement released to The Associated Press. Andrews said he and Hershey have worked things out and remain committed to their relationship.

The British-born Andrews, 35, plays Sayid Jarrah, a former member of Iraq's Republican Guard, on ABC's "Lost." He is currently nominated for a Golden Globe for supporting actor in a series, miniseries or movie. Hershey, 57, has appeared in films including "Lantana," "Breakfast of Champions" and "Falling Down."

Source: New York Daily News

GLAAD Ticked At Shalit

Veteran Today show critic Gene Shalit has been taken to task by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation over his negative review of the gay cowboy western, in which he referred to Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack, as a "sexual predator" who "tracks Ennis down and coaxes him into sporadic trysts."

The group claimed that Shalit's statements, delivered during his "Critic's Choice" segment on Thursday's Today show, promoted "defamatory anti-gay prejudice to a national audience," and criticized NBC News for providing the eccentric critic with a platform from which to air his views.

"Shalit's bizarre characterization of Jack as a 'predator' and Ennis (Heath Ledger) as a victim reflects a fundamental lack of understanding about the central relationship in the film and about gay relationships in general," GLAAD said in a statement. "It seems highly doubtful that Shalit would similarly claim that Titanic's Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a 'sexual predator' because he was pursuing a romantic relationship with Rose (Kate Winslet)."

GLAAD demanded an apology from both Shalit and NBC News and urged supporters to contact the network and complain.

Source: Yahoo

Casting News

Former child star Jonathan Lipnicki is making his movie comeback in the upcoming The Jetsons film.

The Jerry Maguire star, 15, has signed on to play Elroy in the live-action version of the space age cartoon series, according to website Movietome.com.

The film will also star Steve Martin, Diane Lane and Lindsay Lohan.

Source: Contact Music

Truthiness?

A panel of linguists has decided the word that best reflects 2005 is "truthiness," defined as the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts.

The American Dialect Society chose the word Friday after a runoff with terms related to Hurricane Katrina, such as "Katrinagate," the scandal erupting from the lack of planning for the monster hurricane.

Michael Adams, a professor at North Carolina State University who specializes in lexicology, said "truthiness" means "truthy, not facty." In a runoff for the most creative word, "whale tail," the appearance of a thong above the waistband, beat out "muffin top," the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-riding jeans.

Tom Cruise became the first public figure in the contest's 16 years to be noted for his influence on public discourse. The group coined the term "Cruiselex" to describe such terms as "jump the couch" and "Cruisazy."

--That was the best they could come up with?

Source: CNN

Duh

File this under "Duh:"

Research shows women spend millions 'on clothes they never wear.'

Source: Scotsman

Baby Mama Drama

Jennifer Aniston decided over the Christmas period...it being the season of goodwill and all to call up her ex-husband Brad Pitt.

She dialed his cell phone only to have his new love, Angelina Jolie answer the phone for him. With rumors of a marriage and baby on the horizon for the Jolie/Pitts, their conversation was understandably short and strained.

However, according to the Post Chronicle and FOX news the conversation did manage to break the ice and led to another phone call from Angelina in which she revealed she was pregnant with Pitt’s child. According to reports, the conversation was a tearful one.

Source: Entertainmentwise

Nick's Shoe Fetish

Nick Lachey reveals in a new interview that he used to put on Jessica Simpson's shoes and walk around in them – "It was sort of a kinky thing we liked to get into," he tells Elle magazine.

Other revelations from Lachey, 32, in the post-marriage interview include him owning up to "typically (being) an overly sensitive person, I lay my heart out there too often." For instance, he tells Elle, "I've never been shy about crying. Sometimes we're so scared of our emotions that we rob ourselves."

He's also a proponent of candid conversation ("I haven't even realized my full dirty talk potential," he claims) and expresses a degree of surprise over the marital breakup, blaming it in retrospect on "the exposure" the two had on their own MTV reality show, Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica.

Source: People

Trouble In Paradise?

Hold off on buying that first edition of "Dianetics" as a wedding present for Tom Cruise and his pregnant fiancée, Katie Holmes.

The buzz is that the engagement of the happy couple has hit a few bumps and, after reportedly tense holidays spent at Holmes’ house, wedding plans may have been put on hold. With a new year beginning, Cruise “decided to take the opportunity to mend fences with the family of his fiancée, Katie Holmes,” according to the upcoming issue of Life & Style Weekly. It didn’t go so well.

“Tom and Katie ended up leaving — three days earlier than planned,” according to a “close friend” of Cruise. “Katie was in tears, but that’s standard when it comes to dealing with family matters and Tom.” A spokesman for Cruise denies the story, but there have been previous reports that Holmes’ lawyer father is not thrilled with the prospects of the two getting hitched.

“My honest opinion is that the wedding’s not going to happen,” a “friend of the couple” told the mag. “Neither one of them seems as enthusiastic as they once did about marriage.”

Source: MSNBC

What A Tool

Ben Affleck had to sell off his lips when he realized he'd dashed out for diapers without his wallet just before Christmas.

The movie star was caught short at the cash desk of a late night convenience store, according to In Touch magazine, and had to ask fellow shoppers to help him out. According to bystanders, desperate Ben refused to sell his Boston Red Sox baseball cap and instead settled on kissing a fan, who offered to pay for the diapers.

"According to sources, he told the giggling store clerk, 'I've got to come back with these or my wife will kill me.'"

Source: Yeeeah!

Mariah To Buy hotel?

Mariah Carey is planning to invest some of her singing fortune into buying up a London hotel - so she can personalize it to suit her exact needs.

The singer has hit out at the lack of gender-orientated accommodation in the British capital, and vows to improve the situation with her own foray into the hotel business on her planned move to the UK.

She says, "I'm thinking of buying a hotel in London. It would have the best nail and hair place for the girls and a separate salon for the guys." "And the lighting would be fantastic - everyone would look a billion dollars."

Source: Teen Hollywood

Lohan Released

Lindsay Lohan was released from a Miami area hospital Thursday, after being treated for an asthma attack, her publicist said. "She's on her way home," said spokeswoman Leslie Sloane Zelnick.

Lohan's mother and manager, Dina, was quoted Wednesday as saying her daughter was improving after being hospitalized Monday night and that she planned to take her home to New York to recuperate.

The 19-year-old actress-pop singer was in Miami for New Year's Eve.

Source: Yahoo

NBC Show Banned

Two television stations are refusing to broadcast a new NBC series about an Episcopal priest who abuses painkillers, has a gay son, a promiscuous straight son, a daughter who deals marijuana, and a wife who drinks too much.

Conservative Christian groups have condemned the depiction of Jesus as blasphemous, accusing the writers of portraying Christ as tolerant of sin in talks with the priest.

NBC affiliates KARK in Little Rock, Ark., and WTWO in Terre Haute, Ind., said sensitivity to viewers led them not to air "The Book of Daniel," which debuts Friday. In Little Rock, the WB affiliate has arranged to show the drama instead.

"If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission," Duane Lammers, WTWO's general manager, said in a statement on his station's Web site.

Source: New York Daily News

A Star For A Queen

Queen Latifah has become the first hip-hop artist crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"I think the reason I am here is to inspire African-American women who are rappers, full-figured women to know that they can do it, too," Latifah, 35, said Wednesday at the unveiling of the sidewalk's 2,298th star.

Family and friends, including actor Terrence Howard, cheered for Latifah, also an actress, singer, spokeswoman and producer. "Who would have known that in the '70s, when a pink 8-pound baby girl was born, this is where she would be today. She came out screaming, 'Look out world, here I come,"' her mother, Rita Owens, said.

Source: Jam!

Another One Bites The Dust

Tracey Edmonds, the wife of Grammy-winning R&B singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, has filed for divorce after 13 years of marriage.

The papers, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, the Associated Press reports. The couple announced in October that they were ending their marriage, and that they had been separated for some time.

"It is with deep regret that we announce our permanent separation. We remain best friends," they said in a statement at the time.

Source: People

Koppel Heads To Discovery

Veteran journalist Ted Koppel, who built ABC's "Nightline" into an American institution over 25 years, will join the Discovery Channel to make news documentaries, the channel said on Wednesday.

Discovery Communications said Koppel, 65, would be managing editor at the channel and would be joined by longtime executive producer Tom Bettag and eight other former "Nightline" staff.

Koppel's departure from "Nightline" in November after 42 years with ABC News was part of a generational shift in U.S. television news.

Source: Yahoo

SAG Noms

Click here for the entire roster of nominees for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Kiss My A$$!

E! counted down the top TV clips of the year. No matter how many times I watch #1, I still laugh. God bless Bobby and Whitney.

Click here to watch. Who knew they were so well-versed in political discourse? (Make sure you watch the whole thing. You'll think it's over and they're moving on...but they're not).

And the Oscar Host Is...

Emmy-winning Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart has a new gig: host of the 78th Annual Academy Awards on March 5, it will be announced Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The paper reports that Stewart, 43, secured the deal right before Christmas.

The funnyman hosted the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002, and his selection by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences follows reports in recent weeks that last year's host, Chris Rock, was not being asked back (at least not in 2006) and that veteran host Billy Crystal refused the Academy's offer to return.

Source: People

Lohan Pregs?

Lindsay Lohan sure must have had an action-packed New Year's Eve weekend. After she was admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Monday night for an "asthma attack," the hard-partying hottie was visited by a female friend bearing a clear plastic bag full of goodies.

A picture of the bag seen shows that the friend brought Lohan a pregnancy test in addition to playing cards, mouthwash, Coke and a box of Cocoa Puffs.

Source: New York Post

Oprah Plays Shrink To Roberts

It was a rough few months for Julia Roberts and hubby Danny Moder, sources say. Three years after they wed, the pair were fighting constantly, the sources say, mostly because Julia reneged on a pledge to stay home with 13-month-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus for three years so that cameraman Danny, 36, could focus on his career.

Instead, without asking Danny, the Pretty Woman star, 38, agreed to make her Broadway debut in a three-month run of the drama Three Days of Rain this spring. Friends feared the two were headed for a split, until, about three months ago, Julia turned to an unlikely source for help: Oprah Winfrey.

Why would Julia turn to the never-married talk-show queen, 51, for marital advice? "Oprah is one of Julia's best friends, and she knew that Oprah would give her straight-up honest advice and really tell it like it is," a source close to Oprah says. "Oprah cares about Danny and loves the two of them as a couple."

And, according to the source, it appears that Oprah has taken Julia's marriage woes to heart, burning up the phone lines urging her friend to save her marriage. "Oprah was really there for her," says the source. "She counseled her during all those conversations."

Source: Star Magazine

Louvre To Host Premiere?

Producers of much-anticipated movie The Da Vinci Code are considering staging the film's European premiere at the Louvre art gallery in Paris, France, where the story begins.

Film executives are impressed with record-breaking figures from last year, which show more people than ever before visited the famous gallery, which houses the Mona Lisa among other great works. And they believe many tourists were inspired to make the trip by the book the film is based on, written by Dan Brown.

Director Ron Howard was given special permission to shoot the movie in the Louvre, where the gruesome beginning of the book takes place. More than seven million people visited the gallery last year - a new record attendance.

Source: IMDB

Divorce Is On!

Divorce Is ON!

The topsy-turvy relationship of Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards appears to be back off, as her rep said: "Denise is moving forward with divorce proceedings."

On Wednesday, lawyers for both Sheen and Richards asked that the case be removed from Los Angeles County Superior Court and handed over to a private arbiter, retired commissioner Jill Robbins.

Source: People

Brokeback Oscar

Now you too can have your very own Brokeback Mountain Oscar statue.

Click here for the Ebay auction.

Source: Defamer

L'Oreal's New Face

Where one door closes, another opens – especially when it comes to beauty boutiques and A-list actresses.

Just a month after Scarlett Johansson's role as the face of Calvin Klein fragrances came to an end, the bombshell blonde actress has been swept up by L'Oréal Paris to represent its new colour line: HIP High Intensity Pigments.

"It's wonderful to be working with L’Oréal, a company that has celebrated independent women for years," says Scarlett. "I'm very excited to be part of this campaign, which is modern and fashion forward." The Match Point star, who is thought to have made $1 million-a-year through the cK contract, is estimated by industry sources to have been wooed by a $3 million-a-year deal this time around, according to WWD.

HIP is expected to generate sales of $50 million in its first year and Johansson's contract will likely include the promotion of further make-up and haircare products in the future. Her first ads for the brand will air during the Golden Globes, of which L'Oréal Paris is the sole beauty sponsor, on January 16.

Source: Vogue UK

2006 Bloggies

It's time to nominate your favorite blogs for the 2006 Bloggies.

Click here for the nomination ballot.

If you're reading this, I'm SURE MP&S is your favorite entertainment blog, right????? ;)

13?

George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh are planning a third film in the Ocean's Eleven franchise.

They are aiming to put Ocean's Thirteen into production later this year, according to Variety. Brian Koppelman and David Levien have already written a script for the movie which would be produced by Jerry Weintraub Productions for Warner Brothers.

--Usually more Clooney on the big screen is always a good thing, but Ocean's 13? Not sure about this one...

Source: Ananova

Versace's Newest Face

Move over Demi and Madonna. Halle Berry is the new face of Versace:

Source: Made in Brazil

Cowsill's Body Found

The body of singer Barry Cowsill, who was reported missing last year around the time of Hurricane Katrina, was found by police at the Charles Street Wharf in New Orleans on Dec. 27. He was 51. The Cowsills were the famous family band of the '60s and '70s that inspired the Partridge Family. The cause of death has not yet been released.

Barry was believed to have been at the infamous New Orleans Convention Center after Hurricane Katrina hit. In a video of survivors posted on the CNN Web site, brother BOB says the family spotted a man who looks to be their famous sibling. "We saw him [on the video]," he said. "We're pretty sure that's him, and if it was him, it meant he was at the convention center." The last the family had heard of Barry was from a message left on his sister's answering machine asking for help: "I don't know how to get out of town except wait for a bus ... I've been so ... lonely ... I hope I get in touch with you."

Source: ET

The Statue Wears Prada?

And in today's "WTF?" moment...

Those indomitable PETAns had a brainstorm to encourage wintertime faux fur use. Dawn Carr, PETA’s director of special projects, says the group asked the National Park Service in mid-November for permission to hang a 70-foot-long pleather belt, worn low in the style of the Olsen twins, around the waist of the Statue of Liberty.

But by December, the Feds had nixed the request, responding in a letter that “while adding a ‘pleather belt’ might seem like a great idea to some,” the statue’s fans “expect to see this icon as it was originally created. Our policies do not permit an alteration of this kind, even on a temporary basis. [We] realize that this cause is very important to you and your organization and believe with your creative talents and imagination you will find other avenues to pursue.”

“We knew it was a long shot, but we're dreamers,” says Carr. “You never know how the spirit might take people during the holiday season.”

--I can see ole Lady Liberty in a Chanel suit, clutching a Fendi bag, or wearing a gorgeous strand of Mikimoto pearls, but pleather? Those folks at PETA must wear and smoke a lot of grass.

Source: New York Magazine

Robbin' the Cradle

Kate Moss has a new man for the New Year.

The supermodel, still reeling from revelations of her cocaine use and her doomed dalliance with druggie rocker Pete Doherty, was spotted in Aspen making out with singer/songwriter James Burke. Though Moss, 31, claims she and Burke, 20, are "just friends," sources tell British Vogue that Burke has already met Moss' mother and brother. She has Richard Branson's son, Sam, to thank for the introduction.

Source: New York Post

Jude Banned

The drama that is the relationship of Sienna Miller and Jude Law just keeps getting weirder. According to the Daily Mirror, Jude Law has been banned from visiting the set of Sienna Miller's new film, Factory Girl, by the movie's production bosses.

"There has already been so much attention put on this film because of Sienna's involvement. The producers want her to concentrate on her acting - not spending time working on her relationship with Jude," says a movie insider.

"It's a small, independent movie, so no one can take any risks. They've already changed the schedule to make sure they could cast Sienna - they don't want anything to go wrong. "She's an ambitious and hard-working girl, so she's unlikely to rebel against their wishes."

Source: Egotastic

Lohan Hospitalized

Lindsay Lohan has been hospitalized in Miami after suffering an asthma attack on Monday night, but she's fine now, according to her rep.

Lohan was in Miami to celebrate New Year's Eve by hosting a party at the nightclub Prive. But a few days later, the city's humidity got to her and she had trouble breathing, the spokesperson said. She sought help from a doctor, who suggested she get herself to the emergency room. Lohan had been diagnosed with bronchial asthma as a child, her rep said, but she hasn't had an attack in years.

"It's the first attack since I've known her," spokesperson Leslie Sloane Zelnick said. "She's had attacks before, but not that many, and not recently. She's taking it easy now, she's resting comfortably. She's just tired and not feeling too good. It took a lot out of her."

Lohan is expected to be in the hospital for at least a few days but should be back in New York soon to start shooting her next film, "Chapter 27," her rep said.

Source: MTV News

UPDATE: And she admits to being bulimic. Source: People

Oscar Bound

Felicity Huffman has admitted that her role in new movie Transamerica was a labor of love.

The Desperate Housewives star enjoyed being constrained by low budget shooting for the acclaimed film, in which she plays a man undergoing surgery to become a woman.

"We were staying in Best Western hotels and getting dressed in rat-infested buildings in the middle of nowhere, and we were happy to be there," she told WENN.

"There's a difference between doing something for money - which I certainly try to do - and something like this, where you know there's no money and you work 24/7."

Source: Digital Spy

Paris Lied

Paris Hilton has reportedly admitted fabricating a story about the former girlfriend of her ex-fiance Paris Latsis, who claimed the hotel heiress made defamatory statements about her.

Model/actress/producer Zeta Graff filed a $10 million lawsuit last summer, alleging Hilton made up stories about Graff's jealous and criminal behavior and supplied them to the New York Post newspaper.

A source tells the publication, "Hilton made a deposition in the slander lawsuit, and admitted she planted a false story in the press in which she claimed Graff attacked her in a London nightclub." In a statement, Graff says, "Hilton will learn a valuable lesson about what happens when you try to ruin another person's reputation. She made a number of false statements about me, and she repeatedly lied under oath during her recent deposition. I look forward to her explaining all of this to a jury." Hilton's publicist Elliot Mintz says, "In view of the fact that it's an ongoing matter, I'm not in a position to make any comment."

Source: IMDB

Why?

Though he still has to pen a best-selling book to qualify, Ryan Seacrest is leaping closer to becoming the new King of All Media.

The American Idol host, who turned 31 on Christmas Eve, and his Ryan Seacrest Productions have signed a $21-million contract with the E! cable network to develop, produce and host a variety of programs that, in some cases, are scheduled to run simultaneous with his duties on Idol.

The new deal, which is said to cover approximately three years, calls for Seacrest to executive produce the network's Live from the Red Carpet awards-show coverage, starting with the Jan. 16 Golden Globes Awards. In addition, he will serve as managing editor of E! News; will produce and host celebrity interview specials; act as tower host of red-carpet shows; and start – in March – as lead anchor E! News.

--Could he be a bigger douchebag?

Source: People

I Did The Same Thing

Socialite Nicky Hilton and her actor boyfriend Kevin Connolly got 2006 off to an expensive start at midnight on Saturday when they cracked open a $100,000 bottle of champagne.

The couple were hosting a New Year's Eve party at Caesar's Palace nightclub Pure and couldn't resist uncorking one of Sin City's most expensive bottles of bubbly.

Meanwhile, Hilton's sister Paris staged her own Las Vegas party at new club Tao, housed at the Venetian hotel and casino.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Kevin Arnold's Back

Fred Savage was thinking about devoting himself to directing and producing when he was offered "Crumbs." So he's back acting.

Savage's cute-little-boy-next-door mien brought him success as wide-eyed Kevin Arnold, growing up amid '60s morals and mores on the ABC series "The Wonder Years" (1988-93).

Since then, his focus has been behind the camera, including producing and directing the kid-oriented comedy series "Phil of the Future" on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh." "Other acting opportunities had come along, but nothing that was tantalizing enough to me to step away from what I found most interesting," says Savage, who at 29 still retains his boyish charm.

The ABC sitcom about a dysfunctional family premieres 9:30 p.m. EST Jan. 12, following the second installment of a new run of the summer smash "Dancing with the Stars." Savage says "Crumbs" appealed to him because it didn't have "that set-up/set-up/joke pattern that has come to define sitcom. I liked that it was about the characters, about the family ... and was brave enough not to have a laugh for a few pages."

As the name implies, the Crumbs are a crumbled family, who nevertheless retain affection for each other. The mother (Jane Curtin) has just been discharged from a psychiatric facility. The father (William Devane) is expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. They have suffered the death of one of their three sons, and many unspoken memories linger. Jody, the son who stayed home running the family restaurant, is played by Eddie McClintock. Savage portrays Mitch, the gay prodigal son, who returns home from a failed Hollywood career.

Source: New York Daily News

Industry News

Jackie Chan and Danny DeVito are in talks to star in action comedy 90 Mins.

The film tells the story of two football teams trying to win some money for their schools. Film bosses reportedly want the movie in cinemas in time for the World Cup in July. The film is due to start shooting in February reports Moviehole.net.

--That's a very vertically challenged cast.

Source: Ananova

Vongo

Starz Entertainment Group is launching a movie download service that allows consumers to view full-length studio films, concerts and TV shows on portable devices powered by Microsoft Corp. software.

The service will provide the content critical for the success of a number of devices that will be introduced at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off in Las Vegas this week. Video delivered over the Internet will be a key theme at this year's show.

The service, dubbed "Vongo," is available for a monthly subscription of $9.99 and will eventually include more than 1,000 movies, short films and other programs. The films will be available at the same time they are offered on the Starz premium movie cable channel, about five to six months after they are released on DVD.

Users will be able to download as many films as they want each month to up to three devices, including Windows-based computers and portable devices running Microsoft's Portable Media Center software.

Source: AZ Central

She's Like the Wizzind?

IN what's surely the scariest development of the young new year, allhiphop.com reports that "Dirty Dancing" star Patrick Swayze wants to release a rap single.

The actor, who had a massive hit in 1987 with "She's Like the Wind," told the site he's working on a new tune which will show that "rap rhythms [are] an emotional undercurrent for ballads." Swayze is no stranger to keepin' it real - he starred in Ja Rule's video for "Reign" - but didn't have a "timeline" for when his foray into hip-hop would be released.

Source: New York Post

SPF

An SPF sighting:

Who Needs An Actual Divorce?

Much like Tori Spelling, the not-yet-divorced Christina Applegate has already moved on to another man. His name is Lee Grivas and he’s a fisherman and aspiring photographer.

Source: Popsugar

Stalkerazzi Law

Starting Jan. 1, 2006, a new California law went into effect that increases penalties against overly aggressive photographers.

They may be hated, but their work — candid pictures of celebs in unguarded moments — is coveted. They are the paparazzi, purveyors of pix that are the lifeblood of the weekly star-tracking mags and tabs. Their photos demand huge sums of money and are circulated worldwide. And as the public hunger for such glossy grist has grown they've become ever more relentless and ruthless. But starting Jan. 1, there'll be some new reins on the paparazzi parade.

That's when a new California law goes into effect that increases penalties against overly aggressive photographers — dubbed "stalkerazzi" — who forcefully thrust their cameras into famous faces or crash their car into a celebrity's vehicle. They'll now be liable for three times the damages they inflict, plus lose any payments their published photos might earn. Publishers can also be held liable.

"Now the paparazzi are going to have to think twice about chasing down a celebrity anywhere in California," said Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez, who drafted the bill, which was signed into law in October by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (The former actor had an infamous paparazzi moment in 1998 when they used their cars to surround his SUV as he and wife Maria Shriver picked up their child from school.)

"This law now gives (celebrities) the ability to quash a photograph, and potentially a story (resulting from the photograph), with a frivolous lawsuit in an attempt to keep the public from being informed," he said. "The constitution demands a little bit higher standard before the government puts the kibosh on a newspaper's ability to publish that story."

Source: USA Today

Sean Says, "No Thanks"

Bad news for all you readers who expressed interest in contacting Sean Lennon.

Ever since Page Six ran an item last week in which Lennon half-seriously complained he needs a girlfriend, they've been inundated with e-mails and phone calls from women desperate to date the singer/songwriter son of John Lennon.

But while Sean tells Page Six he's very flattered, he says it's unlikely he'll be answering any of the dozens of e-mails we have forwarded to him.

Source: New York Post

You're My Boy, Blue!

Patrick Cranshaw, who achieved cult-like status as fraternity brother "Blue" in the 2003 comedy "Old School," has died. He was 86.

The veteran character actor died of natural causes Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, his personal manager, Jeff Ross, told the Los Angeles Times.

Throughout his career spanning nearly 50 years, Cranshaw had dozens of roles, including a bank teller in "Bonnie and Clyde" and a demolition derby owner in "Herbie: Fully Loaded" (2005). Other credits included "Bandolero" (1968), "Best in Show" (2000) and "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), as well as television series "Mork & Mindy" and "The Dukes of Hazzard."

But he was probably best known for his role as elderly frat boy Joseph "Blue" Palasky in "Old School," starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn. In the hit comedy, he was about to wrestle two topless girls but dies of an apparent heart attack from overexcitment. After singing "Dust in the Wind" at Blue's funeral, Ferrell's character calls out in agony: "You're my boy, Blue!"

Source: CNN (Thanks for the tip, Brian).

Macaulay To Do Reality TV

Actor Macaulay Culkin has signed up to be a contestant on the new series of British reality show Celebrity Big Brother - and TV bosses are hoping he will reveal all about his friendship with Michael Jackson.

The Home Alone star, 25, was reportedly picked because of his troubled childhood and his relationship with pop star Jackson who was acquitted of child abuse charges last year. A source at network Channel 4 tells British newspaper the Daily Star, "This is a great coup for us. And because of his friendship with Michael Jackson, you're almost getting two for the price of one. We were desperate to bag Macaulay because we want some big name Americans who will be controversial and have a troubled history. And he fits the bill nicely because so much has happened to him in his young life. But more importantly he has been privy to Jacko's private world at Neverland."

Culkin will reportedly join basketball star Dennis Rodman and Anna Nicole Smith on the show.

Source: IMDB

Je T'aime

How cute are Zach Braff and Mandy Moore in Paris?

Hurley To Quit Acting?

British screen siren Elizabeth Hurley is reportedly considering ditching her acting career after a traumatic experience playing a serial killer last year.

The Bedazzled beauty played the role of an actress starring as a 19th century murderer in thriller Method, but the film failed to make an impact on critics and audiences alike.

And the experience was so bad, Hurley is contemplating turning her back on the silver screen once and for all. She says, "It was a horrible movie, horrible director, just put together horribly."

--Oh, wouldn't that be a shame.

Source: Teen Hollywood

Pulling Herself Out of Debt

Lorraine Bracco keeps a simple strategy when it comes in investing: She sticks to real estate.

Bracco said she has never bought a stock in her life and doesn't understand it. But real estate "is like porn for me." "Listen, if I am going to get in a cab to go home, and I see a sign for an open house, I will go in. I like real estate because I am the boss," she said in Sunday's New York Times.

Bracco filed for bankruptcy in 1999, the same year of the debut of "The Sopranos." "It was horrifying and embarrassing: getting foreclosure notices; lawyers knocking on your door wanting their money and no work to be found," she recalled.

Since then, Bracco said, she has paid off much of her $2 million in debt as well as nearly $500,000 in back taxes. "I owe my last $50,000 to the bankruptcy lawyers," she said, adding that the show has given her financial security.

Source: Foxnews

Jess Goes Bicoastal

Jessica Simpson is going bicoastal.

Less than two weeks after filing for divorce from Nick Lachey, the bimbonic blondshell bought a $3 million Beverly Hills home - and now's she's sniffing around luxury pads in Chelsea. Simpson recently viewed a $5 million duplex, with a private conservatory and heated floors, at the Altair building. She took a pass on a $4 million pad in London Terrace, home to Annie Leibovitz, Debbie Harry and club queen Amy Sacco.

A friend said, "She wants to start fresh, and she loves New York - it's always been good to her."

Source: New York Post