• Jon Gosselin said accusations made by Kevin and Jodi Kreider (Kate's brother and his wife) that his kids are overworked are absurd. He questioned the Kreider's credibility on the matter saying, "They were only in seasons one and two, anyway."

• Jon explained: "My kids probably film an hour and half to two hours a day and we only film three days a week... For Kevin and Jodi to go out there and say were filming eight hours a day and it's hard core, that's ridiculous." [Radar Online]
• Jessica Simpson is spending a ton of money to look good on her new show The Price of Beauty. "To get her camera-ready each episode will cost $25,000. She insists on using her own hair, makeup and fashion stylists, who are more expensive than J.Lo's." says a source. [The Daily Express]
• A source says Jessica Simpson is "bummed" about her split from Tony Romo, but it's for the best because, "[Tony] wanted her to be a house mom and be in Dallas, and he wants to go out and play – and not just football." The source adds, "Tony had his eyes on everyone but her towards the end... But let's not forget they lasted for a long time and he stuck with her even though the fans didn't like her." Should we really give Tony a medal for not dumping Jess when strangers complained about her? [People]
• Jessica Simpson Tweeted: "My godson Dylan giving me a hug after hitting me in the back with my louboutin leopard wedges." [Us]
• Kevin Federline is in Las Vegas filming scenes for a VH1 reality show about his life as a father of four, which hasn't officially been picked up. "He has been through a lot over the years, but handled himself very well. He's learned how to balance being a super single dad and the chaotic life of business, fame and fortune," says a source. "He strives to be a good father." [People]
• Kevin Federline was ordered to lose 45 pounds for the show. "Victoria Prince is supposed to have a big part in the show,"" said a source. They're billing her as Kevin's new Britney." [Radar Online]
• Marie Osmond will not be returning to TV this fall in a syndicated talk show. An executive at who works at the show's distributor said, "Our belief in Marie's creative vision for a new kind of talk show is unshakable, but in the end, the marketplace this year was simply unyielding." [Variety]
• Two Ohio police chiefs and a local mayor's son were arraigned on 10 felony charges, including burglary and tampering with evidence, related to a break in at the home of Sarah Jessica Parker's surrogate. They plead no guilty to all charges. [E!]
• A lawyer for Dr. Allan Metzger, Michael Jackson's former doctor, says he warned Michael abotu Propofol in April. "Jackson was looking for propofol and Dr. Metzger turned him down and advised him how dangerous it was," says the lawyer. "Apparently, Jackson was shopping around for the drug or looking for someone to administer it to him." [People]
• Eminem makes fun of Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon in his new song "The Warning," but Nick says he's planning his next move. He Tweeted: "This ain't checkers. This is chess." Eminem must be so scared! [Perez Hilton]
• About 100 people attended the funeral of American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen last weekend in New Jersey. "I was shocked, stunned and mortified when I found out," said her ex-boyfriend James Kern, adding, "I can understand people having sympathy for the guy [who hit Alexis], but I hope he gets what he deserves, [People]
• Though Perez Hilton posted what looked like legal papers from Carrie Prejean suing the Miss California USA Organization for firing her, she says the papers were unsigned and unfiled. She said she doesn't intend to sue, but, "There's definitely some things that are false that they've said about me and I think definitely the book will - it's sort of like therapy for me. It's a way for me to just get out the truth, really. [Access Hollywood]
• A source says Reggie Bush broke up with Kim Kardashian because, "Reggie saw text messages on Kim's phone from Kanye West and flipped out on her... The texts referenced a night they hung out, how much fun he had, how hot Kim was, and more racy things that got Reggie's imagination running." [Fox News]
• The Chicago Bomb and Arson Unit investigated a suspicious backpack with wires hanging out of it that was found in a flowerbed outside of Oprah's TV studio this morning. After conducting tests they determined it wasn't a bomb. [TMZ]
• Design firm Delete is accusing Jane Fonda of stealing because her newly redesigned website looks almost exactly like theirs. [Media Bistro]
• Here's a video of an interview with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and other stars of New Moon. Kristen and Rob are sitting next to each other, so clearly they're in love. [Pop Sugar]
• Dave Grohl's hometown of Warren, Ohio is naming a street after him. He'll appear at the town's naming ceremony to christen "Dave Grohl Alley." [Rolling Stone]
• OMG: Tyra Banks will appear on an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl. [People]
• Sebastian Stan says of dating Leighton Meester, "I'm a really lucky guy. She's the most interesting, sophisticated, talented and an extremely funny person that I know. She's really hilarious." He added that her kissing scenes on Gossip Girl don't bother him because, "The good part is I get to go home with her." [People]
• Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford ran into each other at Crate and Barrel, while they were both shopping with thier moms. Crawford says, "He was with his mom shopping for his new place, too... It was really funny. I was like, 'What are we doing here, man?' And he's like, ‘I don't know. Right now it looks like we came together with our moms to Crate and Barrel. What's going on?' It was embarrassing." [People]
• Jeff Fahey, the helicopter pilot from Lost is in a House of Representatives meeting for some reason. [Politico]
• RHONY's Bethenny Frankel continued her blog on E! today, writing about last night's premiere of RHOA. She writes: "I am so excited. Atlanta is by far my favorite Housewife outlet (including my own). It is so decadent, so juicy, such a ripe, sweet Georgia peach, and as is always the case with peach season, I never want it to end." [E!]
• RHOA's Kim Zolciak has filed a police report against NeNe Leakes, who Kim claims strangled her during a fight. [Entertainment Tonight]
• When asked why he's going to do stand-up again just seven months after having open heart surgery, Robin Williams joked, "I realized I was running out of merchandising money from Bicentennial Man." [People]
• Usher says mentoring at the Boys and Girls Club, "makes me a better man. It makes me a better individual... There's a difference between hard work and heart work, and this would represent heart work." [CNN]
• Christina Aguilera is working on her new record in a studio in her backyard. She says, "it just has been so perfect for me to just wake up in the morning, put on my flip-flops and sweat pants, and just go back in the studio and pretty much get into my creative cave and zone out that way, so it's been really convenient. So the paparazzi have probably been upset with me. I know they told my husband - they're like, 'Is she ever going to leave the house?'"[The Daily Express]
• Melissa Auf Der Maur says to ignore Courtney Love's announcements about a Hole reunion. She says, "My loyalty to the legacy of Hole is eternal. But there is no reunion mapped out at this point. I liked the idea of singing with her again, so I said yes, but no singing has happened and I am not aware of any plans for it. I have nothing to do with, and know nothing about, the legal beagle name game. It is true that Courtney and I have been in touch for the first time in a decade, in the context of female humans with significant history of sisterhood. We both love music and magic and are reconnecting because it's been too long." [The Daily Express]
• Chelsea Handler is upset her show wasn't mentioned in GLADD's report on the state of homosexuals on TV. "I can't speak for the rest of the network, but at Chelsea Lately, we're knocking it out of the park. We've hit a homo run," she said. "We always talk about gay issues and [sidekick] Chuy and I were king and queen of the Gay Pride Parade." She then pointed to various members of her staff she claimed were "the biggest gay in captivity" and "transitioning from albino man to albino woman," and said, "I'll be expecting an apology, which I assume will be on some hermaphrodite's stationery." [E!]
• Uma Thurman says, "The only thing that's more ridiculous than the film industry's obsession with eternal youth is trying to look ten years younger than yourself. I think it's very good to look healthy. I feel very happy to look healthy – but I don't want to live a tortured life of neurosis about it all." She adds that being pretty when you're young isn't all it's cracked up to be: "You know, it's like: ‘You're pretty, be quiet.' Pretty girls get self-conscious because they're constantly getting comments about how they look and they end up getting very shy or actually awkward. Even if they feel big about it – it sort of closes them down." [The Times of London]
• "I don't feel pressure to alter my appearance in any way, but being a girl, the media is more interested in what I choose to wear. People care about what I put on my body, which is strange." — Emma Watson [Ok]
• Satirical website Scrape.TV posted a fake story about Kanye West declaring himself the King of Pop now that Michael Jackson is dead. Unfortunately, other news outlets ran the article without realizing it was a joke. Kanye denied the story on his blog writing, "IT MAKES ME FEEL BAD THAT OBVIOUSLY I MADE PEOPLE FEEL THAT I WOULD BE CORNY ENOUGH TO SAY SOMETHING SO WHACK AFTER THE PASSING OF AN IDOL, A LEGEND AND MORE THAN THAT A HUMAN BEING WITH FEELINGS AND FAMILY.... I DON'T TALK TO PRESS OR DO TV OR DO PROMOTIONS OF ANY SORT. I'VE STOPPED CHASING AND BUYING INTO FAME. FAME IS LIKE CIGARETTES WITH NO SURGEON GENERAL WARNING. IT DESTROYS MOST PEOPLE AS IT DID TO THE TRUE AND ONLY KING OF POP. WE EXPLOIT OURSELVES AND EAT OUR OWN EGOS 'TILL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THIS WON'T BE THE LAST FALSE STATEMENT WITH MY NAME ON IT, BUT THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME I DEFEND MYSELF. I'M DONE." [Rolling Stone]

• Seriously, Jennifer Aniston, what the hell are you doing? First you signed on for desperado babyfever flick The Baster, now you're doing a movie called Pumas. That's right: PUMAS. The plot:

"Two thirtysomething women make a habit of romancing younger men." But wait: The ladies take a French skiing vacation that "challenges their romantic expectations." What's next? Old Maid: The Musical? [Variety]

• Mel Gibson was in a scuffle with a photographer and the snapper's friend; a shirt got ripped open and someone is filing a battery report against Gibson. More to come. [TMZ]
• Mischa Barton arrived in New York on Tuesday night to start filming The Beautiful Life, but some are saying it's too soon after her hospitalization. Here's the thing: On the show, Mischa plays an aging supermodel with a drug problem. [Gatecrasher]
• Isn't it interesting that we don't know who the mother of Jude Law's love child is? Someone from the set of Sherlock Holmes perhaps? [Page Six]
• Jennifer Lopez, her luggage, her husband and her impeccably dressed children are in Rome. [Daily Mail]
• Nadya Suleman's reality show is in production. Right now, her 14 kids are being kept off camera, while work permits are being figured out. Her lawyer says: "It most likely will be aired in the UK first once it gets finished, but there has been substantial interest from a U.S. major cable network." [EW]
• Kenny Chesney is denying the Star report (from yesterday's Midweek Madness) that he and Jessica Simpson flirted on July 4, in front on Tony Romo. "Tony's a friend, and I wouldn't flirt with a buddy's girlfriend," says Chesney. "More importantly, Jessica was just being sweet and there was nothing else to it." [People]
• Liam Gallagher and Lily Allen were on an 11-hour Virgin Atlantic flight to Japan and were repeatedly told to "calm down" as they boozed it up in a "marathon drinking session." [The Sun]
• BREAKING: Kim Kardashian doing "okay" after split. [People]
• Amy Winehouse made a deal with her neighbor — he'd grill the meat she'd bought if she'd do a private gig for him one day. [The Sun]
• Here's what happens when Hollywood films a movie in your house: branches with fake leaves arrive; Betty White holds your dog; Ryan Reynolds ignores you. [NY Times]
• Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, will get custody of his kids. Katherine and Debbie Rowe have reached an agreement which gives Rowe visitation rights — but no additional money. [CBS News]
• Debbie Rowe wants the kids to have a psychologist to help them adjust to her being in their lives… And she will get one. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson's personal nurse and nutritionist Cherilyn Lee says she never saw him take any IV drugs. What I knew for a fact was he had very small veins. "When I met him and did his blood work he said, 'Don't feel bad because I have tiny squiggly veins, sometimes it takes 30 minutes to an hour to find my veins.'" [MSNBC Scoop]
• Michael Jackson's personal chef, Kai Chase, is still talking about being in the house the day the singer died. "I thought maybe Mr Jackson is sleeping late," she says. Also: She is sort of pushing a cookbook, tentatively titled Fit for a King. [Guardian]
• Dr. Conrad Murray was sentenced to jail earlier this year… for non-payment of child support. [Radar Online]
• Dr. Murray may lose his Las Vegas home. [NY Daily News]
• TMZ spoke to two sisters who worked for Dr. Conrad Murray — LaQuisha Middleton and LaQuanda Price — trying to get details about boxes of dirty needles and whatnot. Whatever you do, do not read the comments over there. [TMZ]
• Rumor has it Michael Jackson's will is not valid because it's not notarized; but in California, a will doesn't have to be notarized. So. [TMZ]
• Speaking of doctors and celebrities with prescription problems… Elvis' doctor has a new book in which he says: "I don't regret any of the medications I gave him. They were necessities." [UPI]
• Daniel Bark, who is charged with vehicular homicide in the death of American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen, says Cohen was drunk. [TMZ]
• The Sex And The City movie sequel is having issues attempting to shoot in Dubai, probably because the UAE authorities don't like that the word "sex" is in the title. [Daily Express]
• Russell Brand "was seen being propositioned by a member of staff from naughty undercracker shop Agent Provocateur." He was in the store chatting with the young lady; and as he left, she ran after him with her phone number. In other words: Just another Wednesday. [The Sun]
• Are Lil' Kim and Scott Storch back on? [Page Six]
• "There's a better fight in the season opener of The Real Housewives of Atlanta than there was in the recent finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. [NY Daily News]
• Balthazar Getty: Back with his wife? [Daily Mail]
• The casting of Bryce Dallas Howard and the ousting of Rachelle Lefevre = Twilight dramz. [E!]
• Put it this way: Rachelle Lefevre was "stunned" that her role in Eclipse was cast with someone else. [AP]
• Bridget Moynahan will star with Aaron Eckhart in Battle: Los Angeles, a flick about a Marine platoon in a face off against aliens attacking L.A. [Variety]
• Matthew McConaughey and Eva Mendes are in talks to star in Southbound, in which he'd play a a patrol officer on the border between California and Mexico who accepts a bribe from a beautiful Mexican woman. Eva was born in Miami to Cuban-American parents but whatever. [Variety]
• Russell Crowe will star in The Next The Days, directed by Paul Haggis (Crash). Crowe will play a teacher whose wife is arrested and convicted of a murder she says she did not commit. [Variety]
• By the by, while filming Robin Hood, Russell Crowe popped into a charity shop and donated £1000. [The Sun]
• Interested in ESPN reporter Erin Andrews' 911 call? [TMZ]
• Shakira is back! Her new album and first single are called She Wolf, and the video airs tonight on MTV. You'll see her dancing in a golden cage: "It was improvisation. I went crazy," she says. "They said 'Action!' and I just started hanging from the bars. I felt so inspired, maybe because I felt like I was a living metaphor trapped inside the cage." [USA Today]
• Weird: Val Klimer owes $538,858 in unpaid taxes in New Jersey, even though he is originally from L.A. and has been living in New Mexico for the last 20 years. [TMZ]
• Audrina from The Hills has a new man, an "Aussie BMXer" named Corey Bohan. [E!]
• Gretchen Wilson plans to start her own label which, of course, she will call Redneck Records. [USA Today]
• Men At Work: Still facing plagiarism charges, from a song that was a hit in 1981. [BBC News]
• "I think it's brilliant that Leno is at 10 p.m., because America can get bored more easily and go to sleep earlier. When was the last time you heard, 'Did you hear what Leno said last night?'" — Joan Rivers. [Yahoo News via Reuters]
• "I can't wear a skirt that's too short any more. It's not that my legs are bad, it just looks silly. I feel less pressure to dress youthfully. I'm 50 and everyone knows I'm 50 – who are you kidding? Jeans are my uniform. I have about 15 pairs." — Michelle Pfeiffer. [Daily Express]
• "You just read it. Seriously. It is an incredible document. I think people either forget about it or have been taught it too early in their lives. It's a document worth reading and rereading every single year because it's the principles in that document that we should be loyal to and fight for and struggle for, rather than whichever government is in power." — Matt Damon, on making reciting the Declaration of Independence exciting for a History Channel movie. [AP]
• "I love my curves, I embrace them, but I have to walk a fine line. I think it comes down to being voluptuous, and if your body's a certain way, then things can go distasteful in a second… I love therapy! I'm very in touch with my feelings... there's nothing like going in and sitting down and talking to someone who has no emotional tie to your life." — Eva Mendes. [NY Daily News]
• "I want a part so bad. Any part's fine. I will be the vampire who carries Robert Pattinson's luggage in the airport. That is the part that I will play if they need it. I'd pass out [if I met Robert]. I can't talk about it, 'cause I'd pass out. It's because he's Edward. Listen, Edward can fly you through the forest. He's like Aladdin with vampire teeth - there's magic-carpet rides. He can sing. He can watch you sleep. He plays music. He sniffs your neck. I mean, please!" — Jennifer Love Hewitt really really really wants to be in a Twilight movie, poor thing. [MSNBC]

• Last week, Katherine Heigl complained that "cruel and mean" Grey's Anatomy producers forced her to work a 17-hour day, but according to rumors, the schedule was the result of producers shuffling things around to let her promote The Ugly Truth.

• Ken Levine, a producer who does not work on Grey's, says that everyone on the crew was paid overtime for the long day, adding, "This is an extreme case of chutzpah, but it's not uncommon that when shows become big hits cast members become much in demand... All of a sudden, the show that launched their success is now sort of an imposition... So producers are put in the sticky position of either denying them these outside projects or moving heaven and earth to accommodate them." [The L.A. Times]
• EW reports that Jude Law is expecting his fourth child this fall, "following a relationship last year." A rep adds, "no other statements will be made." Mwahaha...we'll see about that! [EW]
• Brad Pitt joked, "It's so tough being an actor... Sometimes they bring you coffee, and sometimes it's cold, and sometimes you don't have a chair to sit on." [People]
• This morning Star said that Michael Cera is 21 and had been dating 33-year-old Charlyne Yi for the past three years, but the two recently broke up (right before their film Paper Hearts opens). Newsweek ran an article dubbing him "The Hipster's Cougar Cub" but then posted a retraction, saying she's probably in her early 20s even though numerous sources say she's 33. Nobody knows here real age, and Newsweek also says he's 20, so we really have no idea how old these kids are. [Newsweek]
• Michael Jackson's friend Dick Gregory said that during MJ's molestation trial he called him saying, "They're trying to kill me ... they'll poison me!" but he was actually just so extremely dehydrated that a doctor at the hospital said if he'd waiting another 12 hours to come in he would have died. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson's former nutritionist says he mostly existed on juice and smoothie diet, but "He loved trail mix, and once a month he had to have fried chicken." [E!]
• Michael Jackson's chef, Kai Chase, said she knew something was wrong on the morning of MJ's death because Dr. Conrad Murray didn't come downstairs to get the juice and granola he brought him every morning. She says, "I started preparing the lunch and then I looked at my cell phone and it was noon. About 12:05 or 12:10 Dr. Murray runs down the steps and screams, 'Go get Prince!' He's screaming very loud. I run into the den where the kids are playing. Prince runs to meet Dr. Murray and from that point on you could feel the energy in the house change. I walked into the hall and I saw the children there. The daughter was crying. I saw paramedics running up the stairs." Chase, the nanny, the housekeeper, and the kids formed a prayer circle as paramedics tried to save MJ. [Us]
• The DEA and the LAPD are fighting with Las Vegas police because the former agencies wanted to do a simultaneous raid of Dr. Conrad Murray's Houston and Las Vegas residences to maintain an element of surprise, but the Las Vegas police held up the second raid for nearly a week. [TMZ]
• Q: What's hanging above your sofa? David Cross: A painting of Michael Jackson being honored in the Rose Garden with Ronald and Nancy Reagan by his side. [N.Y. Magazine]
• Is Blake Fielder-Civil just holding daily press conferences now? Today he announced that Amy Winehouse cheated on him with four other guys during their marriage. [The Sun]
• When asked about the tabloid-generated rumors that Jessica Simpson would reunite with John Mayer, John's friend Rob Dyrdek said "absolutely not," but added that he "wouldn't rule out... I'm just saying [I don't think so]." [People]
• As mentioned in Midweek Madness, Us claims Tony Romo is dating Natalie Smith, the daughter of his former athletic director at Eastern Illinois University, even though all parties deny it. A source says they're "are are not officially dating, but they are having an intimate relationship." [Us]
• Ryan Reynolds rep has denied rumors that he skipped Comic-Con because of a fight with wife Scarlett Johansson saying, "[The report] is completely untrue. Warner Brothers never planned to have Green Lantern as part of their panel at this year's Comic-Con and Ryan is in Europe shooting a film." [People]
• Yesterday Kelly Clarkson blamed producer Ryan Tedder for not telling her that the backing track on her song "Already Gone" is the same one used on Beyonce's "Halo." Today Tedder replied, "They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically, & lyrically and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyoncé into recording over the same musical track, the idea is both hurtful & absurd." [TMZ]
• Ugh. More Twitter clues that Miley Cyrus is leaving her Jonas Brother for Justin Gaston. She Tweeted a line from one of Gaston's songs (apparently he writes music) this morning. [People]
• Georgia Sheriff Al St. Lawrence says he didn't do anything wrong by arresting and releasing the 53-year-old man accused of stalking Miley Cyrus last month. "If we had heard something about this guy supposedly being a stalker or he had been charged with a felony he wouldn't have been released," said St. Lawrence. [WSAV]
• Johnny Depp is looking at schools near Bath, England, where he recently bought a home, for his children Lily-Rose, 10, and Jack, 7. [The Daily Express]
• Madonna has written a column titled "How My Life Changed" about her religious awakening for the Israeli paper Yediot Ahronot. [AP]
• Russell Crowe walked into a charity shop in the U.K. next door to the cafe he's been frequenting while working on Robin Hood and made a £1,000 donation. [BBC]
• Friends of LeAnn Rimes and Dean Sheremet aren't doing much to dispel the rumors that their marriage ended because he's gay (in addition to her affair). They say the two were always spotted shopping for clothes for LeAnn around Nashville and, "When she met Dean, the whole image of who LeAnn Rimes was completely morphed into 'fabulousity," says the source, adding, "Her wardrobe, hair and makeup changed almost over night from the time they started being together." [People]
• For some reason Radar Online has posted the last blurry picture taken of American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen a few hours before she was killed in a hit and run. [Radar Online]
• Bob Barker met with members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina to ask them to stop exhibiting bears in pit-like enclosures at local zoos. [Yahoo]
• Yesterday Courtney Love insulted The Veronicas and Taylor Momsen via Twitter. Lisa Origliasso Tweeted: "Is wondering what is considered 'credible' these days anyway!? A sob story? A drug addition? A guitar? Bleached hair? Give me a break.." [The Veronicas]
• Though a promo for The Real Housewives of Atlanta shows Sheree Whitfield pulling Kim Zolciak's wig off, Kim says, "It didn't happen." Co-star Lisa Wu Hartwell said of the incident, "Did that happen? You have to tune in to see that. But I know she had a hell of a grab on that. She had a serious mean grip." [Us]
• A public records search has revealed some of the names of the rides at the theme park Wizarding World of Harry Potter inside Universal Studios Orlando, including Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Dragon Challenge. [The L.A. Times]
• While promoting her new reality show How'd You Get So Rich? Joan Rivers said, "I'm still in this business at age 197, and am still relevant." [Media Week]
• A memorial garden honoring Adrienne Shelly, the Waitress actor, writer, and director who was murdered in 2006 will be dedicated in New York's West Village next week. [The N.Y. Times]
• Dolly Parton's Broadway musical 9 To 5 will close around Labor Day after a short run, losing about $14 million. [N.Y. Post]
• The Bachelorette Jillian Harris says of her engagement to Ed Swiderski, "It feels more normal than any relationship I've ever had," Harris says. "It's very strange how it's such a contradiction to have something so normal come from something that's so manic." [People]
• DJ AM was once a cocaine addict and survived a plane crash, and this fall he'll help the families of addicts stage interventions on the MTV show Gone Too Far. "There's no reason why I should have lived or why I lived and they didn't," Goldstein said. "I'm never gonna know. But I am alive and I'm here and I have to do something better with my life now." [The L.A. Times]
• "(I'm) a woman who has been through life experiences, thank God, and therapy. I love therapy! I'm very into it. I'm very in touch with my feelings, so I'm a completely different person. Not that different but you know... I gotta tell you, there's nothing like going in and sitting down and talking to someone who has no emotional tie to your life. Just to talk to someone. It's amazing." — Eva Mendes [The Daily Express]
• A fan asked David Beckham where he came up with his children's names and he responded: "With Brooklyn, we found out when we were in New York that Victoria was pregnant with him, so that's where his name comes from. Romeo comes from [the fact] that we're a very romantic couple. When we first met Tom Cruise - actually quite a few years ago – I said 'Isn't Cruise a really nice name?' And Cruz came from that. Tom was one of the first people we phoned when Cruz was born and told him. [People]
• When a reporter suggested Mad Men reflected the classiness of the '60s, Jon Hamm replied: "Buddy, I don't know if they had class back then. I can send you a couple of links of stuff where guys are berating their wives for making their coffee badly. What I think happened in the '60s is I think irony happened. And the idea of selling non-earnestly became cool. And obviously that's not a mistake that that's when the baby boomers started getting 18. We're seeing a lot of it now, we're seeing these cool hipsters, man ... You can't tell 18-year-olds anything. ... That's what happens. The irony happens. And it's cool to be in a not-cool place. Get it man? And so that's what the big shift was that our guys are trying to figure out." [The L.A. Times]
• January Jones said Mad Men producers admonished her for looking too thin. "I'm naturally pretty thin, so I'm trying," she said, explaining that all the women on the show are "encouraged NOT to work out. We want soft; we don't want any muscle definition. They tell us to gain weight, gain weight, gain weight, because they want a soft, voluptuous woman which they were [back then] which is beautiful, as it should be." [I'm Not Obsessed]

• Mischa Barton's former friend Nicole Richie is helping her get her life back together after her recent meltdown. Nicole, "stepped in and talked to her about making changes in her life… basically doing a 360," says a source.

• "Mischa isn't even smoking anymore, thanks to Nicole... Nicole told Mischa that she has to straighten up because she has a lot riding on this new show," added the source. We hate to question an anonymous source, but it seems her math is a little off there. [Radar Online]
• Maybe the rumors are true: Mischa Barton is scheduled to return to work on The Beautiful Life later this week. Her rep says she "will be resuming production as planned with the rest of the cast in NYC. She's back to business as usual." [People]
• Jessica Simpson said she's not going to ask Tony Romo to return the $100,000 boat she got him for his last birthday. She explained, "I'm not an Indian giver." [TMZ]
• Joe Simpson says Jessica Simpson is "doing very good," since the breakup and she got a 5-carat diamond ring this weekend from a random jewelry designer at a party. What more could a girl want? [E!]
• "Jen romping with so publicly with Butler is like stabbing a knife through Brad's heart," claims a source, because as we all know the only reason Jennifer Aniston continues to pursue romantic relationships is to make Brad Pitt jealous. [ONTD]
• Just so you know, Brad Pitt bought another motorcycle. [The Daily Mail]
• Some are interpreting a reference Miley Cyrus made on Twitter to a John Mayer song to mean that she's going to break up with Nick Jonas for Justin Gaston... or something like that. We can't spend anymore time trying to make sense of a 16-year-old's Tweets. [People]
• Apparently Demi Lovato is still friends with Miley Cyrus even though she just broke up with her brother Trace Cyrus. Lovato says, "Recently [Miley] sent me this four-page text message encouraging me and telling me she has faith in me. It was so inspiring and made me feel great – because I do get a bit overwhelmed by the paps sometimes." [People]
• Amy Winehouse is shipping all of her equipment back from the Caribbean so she can set up a new studio and start recording her third album. [The Sun]
• Now that their divorce is finalized, Blake Fielder-Civil continues to spill details about Amy Winehouse. He says of the first time she tried heroin, "We had a bottle of pink champagne and had sex and were lying on the bed together talking. I'd been smoking heroin on my own before that, but never in front of her. I got a bit for myself, and she looked at me and said, 'Can I have some?' I was out of my mind on drugs and I said, 'Of course'. She inhaled the heroin and then just sat back, smiled and her eyes went a bit funny. She said, 'I can see why you take this'. Amy took to heroin like a duck to water, same as me." [The Sun]
• DEA agents raided Dr. Conrad Murray's home in Las Vegas today looking for Michael Jackson's medical records. An agent spoke to the press and said Dr. Murray was home during the raid. [TMZ, TMZ]
• A spokeswoman for Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyer said, "It's a waste of time responding to all these timed ‘leaks' from ‘anonymous' sources... I have no doubt they want to make a case – for goodness sakes, it's Michael Jackson - but things tend to shake out when all the facts are made known." [Radar Online]
• According to Brody Jenner he doesn't hang out with Lauren Conrad anymore. "I haven't seen much of her since she left the show," said Brody. It's almost like the producers of The Hills were forcing them to hang out. [E!]
• Apparently this L.A. Candy movie is all part of Lauren Conrad's master plan. "Lauren's goal is to get into producing – it always was," says a source, "It was always to make L.A. Candy into a film or TV show. She's been in talks about it." [People]
• Daniel Bark, the man who allegedly hit and killed American Idol hopeful Alexis Cohen has been charged with aggravated manslaughter by causing the death of another while fleeing from law enforcement officers, vehicular homicide and eluding police. Bark's attorney says he's on suicide watch. [UPI, Extra]
• Simon Cowell is dating Mezghan Hussainy, a make-up artist who works on American Idol. [The Daily Mail]
• Marilyn Manson wrote this threat to journalists on his blog: "I can, but do not need to defend myself And the absurd accusations that the average press has clinged onto. If we need a nude photo of me to prove that I am far different than the soon-to-be-murdered-in-their-home press has decided to fabricate, that is easy. But if one more 'journalist' makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech. I dare you all to write one more thing that you won't say to my face. Because I will make you say it. In that manner. That is a threat. Mm" [Perez Hilton]
• It seems Marilyn Manson's comments were a reaction to a recent L.A. Weekly interview that paints him as a paranoid cocaine addict and claims ex Evan Rachel Wood was nicknamed "Snowflake" because "when they played shows, she'd hold all the coke." [Rolling Stone]
• A few days before their split from Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian said in an interview about their house hunting expedition, "I've always wanted to buy a big house myself and ... It is time for me to move. I wish my sisters could move in with me...I don't think I would ever live with someone unless I'm engaged. I'm really firm on that. I have done it before. I would tell all my friends, the best thing is to keep your independence. It feels really good to be able to buy a place by myself." Of course, People thinks this is "telling." [People]
• Hulk Hogan's divorce from Linda Bollea is nearing an end. This morning they agreed to a final settlement over their assets and Hulk told reporters, "I'm a free man." [TMZ]
• Supposedly just six months into their relationship Josh Duhamel and Fergie's relationship is on the rocks because he wants to start a family and she wants to pursue her career. "Publicly they're painting a picture of sheer bliss, but behind the scenes, cracks in their young marriage are beginning to show," says a source. [The National Enquirer]
• The Sun quoted Estelle, who sings "American Boy" as Tweeting "Rihanna just doesn't do it for me," but she says they were actually quoting one of her followers and she never insulted Rihanna. [The Daily Express]
• Ashley Jensen of Ugly Betty and her husband, actor Terence Beesley, are expecting their first child in the fall. [People]
• Ethan and Joel Coen's A Serious Man and Drew Barrymore's Whip It will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. [Variety]
• Warren Beatty's lawyer is arguing that it would be too expensive and inconvenient for him to travel to Delaware for the trial to settle a dispute about the movie and TV rights to Dick Tracy. [AP]
• A reporter on Good Day Scramento joked during an interview with Joan Rivers that her daughter Melissa Rivers was just riding her coattails. Joan replied: "I think we're going to end the interview right here. Don't be so fucking smart." [TMZ]
• Josh Brolin says sex with Megan Fox was "uncomfortable" ... on screen in their film Jonah Hex. [The Sun]
• Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted flirting with Ashley Roberts of the Pussycat Dolls. [The Sun]
• According to a press release from E!'s Daily 10, Kevin Federline says of his relationship with Britney Spears, "It's been really cordial, you know, thank God. We've had our rough patches, but you know, right now, we're doing great." And concerning the rumors that he'll star in a reality show about him getting back into shape, Kev says, "It would probably be pretty interesting, you know?"
• A reporter asked Nora Ephron if it's possible to achieve real happiness without butter. She replied: "I feel this way, but, you know, there are probably some people who have probably achieved happiness without it. But I feel sorry for them." [The L.A. Times]
• Dame Judi Dench was almost hit by a speeding taxi in London. The driver yelled, "You stupid cunt!" and she replied, " That's Dame Cunt to you!" [Perez Hilton]
• Diane Keaton has spearheaded a campaign to keep a developer from demolishing the Century Plaza Hotel, a curving glass and steel building made in the '60s that Keaton calls, "a sexy woman surrounded by ogling men – Sophia Loren in the 1960s". [The Independent]
• "Who's not Team Edward?" says Jennifer Love Hewitt of Twilight's Edward Cullen, "There is not a girl in the world who's not Team Edward! Have you met girls who are not Team Edward? Well, they are not girls! They're aliens from another planet who should not be allowed to exist... Listen, Edward can fly you through the forest. He's like Aladdin with vampire teeth - there's magic-carpet rides. He can sing. He can watch you sleep. He plays music. He sniffs your neck. I mean, please!" [MTV]

Ryan Seacrest followed her around as she shared little bits of her life: she liked to draw, she liked to paint, she came from Allentown, PA and she wanted to be a singer. The editing is pure Idol: "Look at this wacky girl! She thinks she's going to be a popstar! Isn't that funny!?" Of course, there are two payoffs for such a clip: Alexis Cohen was either going to open her mouth and shock the judges with her voice, or she was going to fail her audition and flip out. Either way, Idol had a story on its hands:





Of course, Cohen's audition was unsuccessful; she tried to channel Grace Slick and was told she wasn't right for the competition, and that perhaps she'd find success in a 60s cover band of sorts. After she left the room, the judges, knowing that their words would be televised, compared her to Willem DeFoe and laughed. This is the Idol way: come try to make your dreams come true, so that we can humiliate you for the sake of television hilarity. Every successful reality show has to have its victims, its castoffs: some of these people come willingly, knowing how bad they are, just to be hyped up as terrible contestants and to receive their 15 minutes of fame. But then there are the Alexis Cohens of the world, who really do think they sound like Janis Joplin, and just want a chance to prove it.

This is not to say that all failed contestants should be let down easily: Cowell is blunt because he speaks for his profession: you're not going to make it, try something else is perhaps the kindest thing many of these wannabes will ever hear. But the humiliation element of American Idol is one that is both fascinating and horrifying: we want these people to be crushed, to be punished for their delusions, because it's funny to see them lose it once their dreams have been taken away. "That's what you get," we think, "for being so stupid."

But in watching Alexis Cohen, one gets the sense that perhaps she was not stupid, but just a bit naive. And perhaps her rant against the judges, which made her an American Idol celebrity in her own right, was not as funny as it was telling of the lengths people will go to to cling to the small amount of fame given to them once the camera is turned on. Cohen's "rage" comes across as both false and true, in weird ways, as if she decided somewhere after being rejected to just say what she was thinking, or perhaps an exaggerated version, if only to have her voice heard by millions for the first and only time in her life.

Idol knew they had ratings gold in Cohen: they allowed her to audition for a second time earlier this year, and promptly sent her home again. Why on earth would they let her audition again? They knew what she sounded like. They knew there was no chance they'd take her. They let her audition again to give the audience a thrill. "Look! It's that crazy girl! Let's see if she gives Simon the finger again!" And lo and behold, she did.

Cohen was in the process of preparing for her third callback audition with the show before she died, according to her mother, Mindy Dallow, who says Alexis was planning to sing a country song. "In a way, 'American Idol' appreciated her rowdy ways, she got them ratings," her mother said, "All she wanted to be is basically loved." They kept calling her back to audition, presumably to dismiss her for ratings purposes, and Alexis Cohen kept going back. Because she was asked. Because someone gave her yet another chance to try to make it.

And now, Alexis Cohen is dead, the victim of vehicular manslaughter at the age of 25. She was found on the side of the road at 4 am, pronounced dead a few hours later, and now she is being mourned as "Alexis Cohen: Viral Idol Contestant," her tiny brush with fame becoming the definitive moment in a life she barely had time to live. For the show, it means nothing, except perhaps a bit of publicity and a moment of silence, if that, in an upcoming episode. The show is not bound to Alexis Cohen: there are bigger stars, newer faces, stranger characters to seek out and exploit. But for Alexis Cohen, and for many other reality has-beens or almost-weres, the show is always bound to them, following them where ever they go, even in death, a reminder that our strangest realities are the ones we allow others to create on our behalf.

Alexis Cohen's Mother Speaks About Her Late Daughter's Third Idol Audition [Lehigh Valley Live]
Alexis Cohen, Viral Idol Contestant, Struck And Killed By Car [HuffingtonPost]
Former American Idol Contestant Killed [People]
American Idol Recap: "Take It!" Girl Alexis Cohen Returns With Makeover [Seacoast Online]
Related: The Girl Who Flipped Off Simon Cowell [Gawker]

Fox had the Pennsylvania-native hop on Amtrak yesterday, and filmed her interacting with pedestrians in the freezing cold on the sidewalk in Times Square. Never before has the channel's journalistic brand of "dance, monkey, dance" been so overt — or shamefully entertaining. But perhaps we shouldn't feel too guilty about laughing at (with?) Alexis. According to her MySpace profile, she is a member of two different improv troupes. (The Tool and Ministry fan is also a Wiccan and hails from "the planet UR Rectum.") Clip above.