I've always liked the name Kate. It has a take-no-prisoners shortness and efficiency — I envision Kate walking down a major street in a big city, wearing cigarette pants and stylish ankle boots, with her head in the game and her eyes on the prize. Katherine may dither, Kathy may chirp, but Kate speaks in a serious, matter-of-fact voice, and when she speaks, you listen. Often, when I think about names, I think about high school, but I can't imagine Kate before she had her own apartment (studio; well-appointed but not ostentatious; clean) or her demanding yet extremely cool job (architect; investigative reporter; corporate detective; spy?). Kate doesn't have a lot of time for friends, but when you manage to catch her in town (she travels a lot for work), she gives great advice. And she tells a great story, although you always know there's a better story she's not telling. Kate could star in a modern-dress production of The Taming of the Shrew — except that in the final act, she'd tell Petruchio where to shove it.

But there's also a dark side to Kate. She's so cool and successful it can make her stuck up. She's not a mean girl, and she's not interested in shit-talk or gossip, but she might not have compassion for people less together than her. Sometimes she just doesn't understand how you could date that guy, or that girl, or why you lost your job when she just got a promotion. This aspect of Kate I can imagine playing out in high school — she's the girl who couldn't see why everyone didn't get an A on the bio test, since it was so easy. Kate doesn't take pleasure in other people's pain, but she has no appreciation for messiness in life, and if you're a little bit of a mess, she has no time for you.

Famous Kates don't necessarily bear out my vision of the name. Kate Moss, whom I consider the iconic Kate, certainly dresses like one. She has the badass aspect of Kateness down, but she's also no stranger to messiness. Kate Winslet just seems too lushly gorgeous — and also too down-to-earth — to fit my image of the somewhat unforgiving Kate. Cate Blanchett might be closer — that angular, ethereal face looks like it could deliver some harsh judgments. But Kate Bosworth seems the closest to the ice-queen version of Kate, especially since her enthusiasm for horseback-riding adds a little upper-crustiness to her image.

Kate hit its peak of popularity — #97 in the US — in the 1880s, and it seems like a pretty good name for a Victorian lady, especially the kind who plays the piano and paints and knows three languages and looks down her nose at you if you use the wrong fork. The name fell all the way down to #843 in the fifties — maybe those traditionalist times favored less hard-driving names for women. Now the name has rebounded to #139, but if you're a Kate, you probably don't give a shit. You're probably not even reading this — after all, you have a plane to catch.

Kate [Wikipedia]
Kate (popularity) [The Baby Name Wizard]

Earlier: J Is For Jennifer, The Vanilla Of Names
I Is For Isabel, Who's Snooty, But Earns It
H Is For Hillary, A Barrel Of Laughs
G Is For Grace - What's That Up Her Sleeve?
F Is For Francesca, And I Wish I Were Her
E Is For Emily, Who Seems Sweet (At First)
D Is For Danielle (Or Dani, Who's Apparently Kinda Judgey)
C Is For Courtney, Who's Too Cool For School
B is for Beth (And Barack! And Bandana!)
A Is For Anna: What My First Name Says About Me

[Melbourne, September 17. Image via Getty]

• Filming of Sex And The City 2 has gotten "chaotic," with crazed fans "bombarding the set." An eyewitness says:

"At one point, teenage girls were practically trampling each other trying to get to Sarah Jessica as she was walking back to her trailer, but her security team was shoving everyone out of the way." Security has been stepped up, but a source says there are so many guards "They looked more like they were protecting the President than Sarah Jessica Parker." OMG SHOES COCKTAILS CARRIE OMG. [Gatecrasher]

• More than two months after his death, Michael Jackson's burial will finally take place. Today. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Apparently the LAPD are only focusing on Dr. Conrad Murray in Michael Jackson's homicide investigation. [TMZ]
• Janet Jackson will grant an interview to Harper's Bazaar — her first since her brother's death. Plus, she'll land the cover. [Page Six]
• Jon Gosselin bought a "bunch of blondes" a round of shots at the Mirage in Las Vegas; later he was seen with the same group having champagne at a nightclub and while the ladies massaged his neck. Then the universe collapsed on itself and we all died. [Page Six]
• Madonna has broken her own record for a top-grossing tour by a solo artist: The Sticky & Sweet world tour pulled in $408 million after playing to more than 3.5 million fans at 85 shows. That breaks the record set by her Confessions tour, though the Rolling Stones had the top-grossing tour overall. [Reuters]
• On final night of Madonna's tour — last night in Tel Aviv — Rocco and Lourdes were on stage with their mom. Rocco "bounced up and down" to dance tracks; Lourdes danced and played piano. Blurry pix at the link. [Daily Mail]
• Whitney Houston's first album in seven years is expected to sell about 250,000 copies: Not exactly a huge hit. [Gatecrasher]
• Before his death, DJ AM was working on an MTV show, Gone Too Far, about helping young people get sober. It was slated to premiere October 5; but when asked if that is still the case, an MTV spokesperson said: "No decision has been made at the present time." [People]
• DJ AM was buried yesterday in a small funeral in L.A. attended by family members and close friend Travis Barker. [People]
• Travis Barker and DJ AM were the only survivors of a 2008 plane crash in South Carolina, and this picture of Travis standing aloof at DJ AM's funeral is sad. [TMZ]
• Cate Blanchett was injured when a prop radio hit her head onstage Wednesday night in Sydney, Australia, during a scene in A Streetcar Named Desire. A theater company spokesperson says: "I've spoken to Cate. She's absolutely fine." [Reuters]
• Sandra Bullock — who has who has donated generously to Warren Easton Senior High School since Hurricane Katrina — just purchased a historic home in the Garden District in New Orleans. The manse is 6,000 square feet, replete with gables and iron-work. [NOLA.com]
• The former assistant of Tyra Banks claims she owes him $5,820. [TMZ]
• Alec Baldwin is not, repeat, not interested in Bethenny Frankel. He says: I don't know her and wasn't looking to meet her, but somehow this ends up in the Daily News — manufacturing a nice gesture into a total BS item suggesting I want to date this woman. Nothing against her, but I'm not dating anyone." [Page Six]
• "Tom Cruise has packed his magnificent luggage and left the country. The Hollywood star flew back to Los Angeles on Monday night, leaving wife Katie Holmes and their daughter Suri in Melbourne." [News.com.au]
• Tom Cruise will narrate a documentary called Together: The Hendrick Motorsports Story, about car owner Rick Hendrick and his 25 years in NASCAR. [Mirror]
• Lisa Loeb: Pregnant. [People]
• Keanu Reeves claims that he doesn't even know the Canadian woman claiming he fathered her children. He's willing to take a DNA test. [TMZ]
• As mentioned in Midweek Madness, Holly Madison says, "Plastic surgery changed my life." She used to stuff her bra, and once she started living with Hef, she had low self esteem. A nose job and implants changed everything. [Life & Style]
• Oh no: Former teen heartthrob Andrew Keegan (10 Things I Hate About You, Camp Nowhere) is being accused of abusing his girlfriend. A model named Kristi Parrales is requesting a restraining order against him, claiming that he threw her across the living room. Keegan denies everything. [TMZ]
• From a review of Jay-Z's new album, The Blueprint 3: "There was a time when a rapper couldn't expect to last past his 20s. Jay-Z, who is nearing 40 and releasing his 11th studio album, shows that for someone who is measured mostly against himself, lyrical dexterity doesn't have an expiration date." [USA Today]
• Look for Dan Akyroyd to sign purchased bottles of Crystal Head Vodka at a Philadelphia liquor store next week. Did you know Dan was a distiller? Crystal Head is his vodka that comes in a cool skull-shaped bottle. [UPI]
• Tony Romo is dating Chace Crawford's sister, Candice, a former Miss Missouri, who unfortunately has total crazy eye in the picture at the link. [NY Daily News]
• Tom Hanks is the narrator and executive producer of a "4-D experience" at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and got an all-star cast to join him: Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Connolly, James Cromwell, Viola Davis, Tobey Maguire, Gary Sinise and Elijah Wood. [Page Six]
• Project Runway's "catfighting catwalkers" have their own gossip item! [Page Six]
• "If Björk Is Nearby, No One Will Notice You Are Peeing in Public." [NY Mag]

• Did Madonna collapse twice during her show in Sofia, Bulgaria?

In the video at the link, you can see her lean on her backup dancer — then he asks her if she is okay. But would you call it a "collapse"? [The Sun]

• Jesus Luz doesn't just play a DJ in Madonna's new video, he is a DJ. But at a gig in Brazil, "the dancefloor was almost empty," says a source. [Page Six]
• Madonna wants Cate Blanchett to star in her new musical movie about the life of Wallis Simpson, who Britain's King Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry. [Sydney Morning Herald]
• Speaking of Cate Blanchett, was she injured on stage during A Streetcar Named Desire a few hours ago? The audience was "evacuated" from the theater, and "everyone is speculating Cate is hurt." [Sydney Morning Herald]
• UPDATE: Cate Blanchett was "left bleeding from the head" when a fight scene "went badly wrong." An actor hit her in the head with a prop '60s style radio. [SMH]
• Angelina Jolie is "furious" that Brad Pitt has been boozing and smoking weed and has "exploded." She said: "Stop boozing and smoking drugs or check into rehab!" According to insiders, that is. As always, consider the source on this. [News.com.au via National Enquirer]
• Here's another clip from Chris Brown's Larry King interview. He says he's "ashamed" and "really regrets" punching and biting Rihanna. He wishes he could take it back. [TMZ]
• Good news for Rihanna: She will be one of Glamour's Woman Of The Year. [WWD]
• Nicole Kidman has "abandoned" her older kids, Isabella (16) and Connor (14), whom she brought up during her marriage to Tom Cruise. They reportedly don't call her mom, they call her Nicole; she didn't go to the premiere of Seven Pounds, which Connor was in; she hasn't been seen in public with either kid since May 2007. [News.com.au via In Touch]
• Lindsay Lohan is moving out of her Hollywood Hills house, but neighbors claim they've spoken to the owner of the place, who says she's breaking her lease and owes about $50,000. [RadarOnline]
• Nicole Richie "almost collapsed in grief" when she heard the news of DJ AM's death. "She said she felt like her heart stopped for a few minutes."
  The two were involved — and engaged in 2005. They were both recovering addicts, and a source says: "Adam was the one who got her to straighten up. She never thought he'd come to this. She's horrified and regrets that she didn't reach out and help him." [Star]
• Blink 182 will reschedule two concerts because Travis Barker needs "time to mourn" DJ AM's death. [TMZ]
• Authorities say that DJ AM had eight undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach and a ninth in his mouth. A source says: "He wanted to die." [People]
• DJ AM's memorial will be "in the style of an open 12-step meeting." [People]
• Getting divorced: LeAnn Rimes. Was it just five months ago that she was "caught in an affair"? [Michael Jackson's death certificate has been amended, now listing his fatal injury as ""intravenous injection by another." [TMZ]
• Katherine Jackson has filed papers to try and get Michael Jackson's estate to pay for his burial. [TMZ]
• Kate Hudson is "hearing wedding bells." She's always at A-Rod's apartment, yadda yadda yadda. [MSNBC]
• Alec Baldwin met some of the Real Housewives of New York City, who were fighting over time with him, but he only wanted to meet Bethenny Frankel, who didn't show up to the event. A source spills: "He said he really wanted to meet her and even complained that, of course, the one woman he wanted to meet wasn't coming. He wasn't even being discreet about how interested he was." [Gatecrasher]
• Behold: Jon Hamm, astride a motorcycle — and cuddling a dog — in the new Rolling Stone. [ONTD]
• While preparing for his Broadway play, A Steady Rain, Daniel Craig has demanded personal security be available to shadow him at all times. Costar Hugh Jackman? Hasn't asked for any protection. [Page Six]
• Whitney Houston was hoarse during her free concert in Central Park yesterday. [Page Six]
• Guy Ritchie's pub, The Punchbowl, is being investigated for being too noisy. [Independent]
• Joe Francis claims three of his "most trusted" employees "misused their positions" and funneled cash out from his business. He' suing, of course. [TMZ]
• In a poll, only 16% of people who saw the new Transformers movie said it was worth their money, but 55% called Megan Fox the "summer's sexiest babe." Also, The Hangover was named "most worth" the price of admission, even though the cast was "largely unknown." Jack Black's Year One and Will Ferrell's Land Of The Lost scored low. Lesson: Fans favored flicks with fresh faces. [Reuters]
• Natalie Portman's new "rustic, castle-like" house in L.A. looks pretty amazing, and that fireplace makes me think of the fireplace scene in Garden State. [ONTD via In Touch]
• In this column, Kevin Federline is described as "Britney Spears' bloated ex-husband." [Page Six]
• Look for David Beckham to star in an ad for the California Travel and Tourism Commission, kicking soccer balls into the ocean. [Mirror]
• DVR alert: Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy will "perform" on America's Got Talent tomorrow! Also there to judge: Curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf. [UPI]
• The Black Eyed Peas are being sued by a woman who attended a concert rehearsal and fell through some stairs. [TMZ]
• Audrina Patridge is insisting on being a producer on her new reality show, The Audrina Show, so that she won't be portrayed as an airhead, the way she was on The Hills. [Page Six]
• Emily Blunt's dad approves of her wedding to John Krasinski, even though they've only been together for eight months. [Daily Express]
• Phil Spector's being moved to a different prison, where he'll be in a "sensitive needs yard." [AP]
• Tippi Hedren's L.A. animal sanctuary is threatened by wildfire! "Nobody wants lions and tigers going down the road," Melanie Griffith's mom says. "I'm knocking on wood right now." [MSNBC]
• "I love Zooey, she's one of my favourite people in the world — we've been friends for a long time actually. We did a movie together called Manic a long time ago, and we've stayed friends since. So, to come to work every day with somebody that I like and trust and care about, I think it was really key in making the movie work. I think Zooey is similar to Summer in that they are both very honest. They are not afraid to tell you what they think and what they feel. But Summer is quite different from Zooey in a lot of ways also. I think Summer, in certain ways, doesn't quite know exactly what she wants out of life and Zooey definitely does - she is very on the ball, one of the many things that I admire about her, that she's making movies, writing songs and releasing albums." — Joseph Gordon-Levitt. [Mirror]
• "If it's nudity just because they want you to get naked in a movie, then I'm kind of like, 'You know what? No.' But if it's kind of pivotal, and it helps move the story along then yeah, sure I'll do it. I can't imagine being like, 'Hey Dad, wanna come?' I'll just have to wait for it to come out on DVD so I can fast forward through those scenes." — Rumer Willis. [E!]
• "I just sort of dork out and want to hang out with cool, good people. I want to be one of the cool kids at the party. You know: lay my outfit out the night before and show up. Sure, it's nice if a script is good, but a bad script can be fixed by really good directing and decent acting. So, it's more about the people… Obviously, I couldn't be more grateful. This is all I know how to do. If Arrested Development didn't come along, I don't know what I would be doing. I don't have anything else to fall back on. It was nice to get a new tank of gas with that show. Now my job is not to screw it up; the goal is longevity." — Jason Bateman. [USA Today]
• "I basically read every book ever written about Marilyn Monroe. I could end up like that because I constantly struggle with the idea that I think I'm a borderline personality — or that I have bouts of mild schizophrenia. I definitely have some kind of mental problem and I haven't pinpointed what it is." — Megan Fox. [WENN]

• Well here's one we haven't heard before: A source claims that Macaulay Culkin is Blanket Jackson's father. [The Sun]
• Also: Prince Michael Malachi Jet Jackson, 24, claims Michael Jackson is his dad. [TMZ]

• Uh-oh: Heidi Montag wants a baby. Heidi's sister-in-law, Stephanie Pratt, says: "Heidi is the one with the baby fever; Spencer is not. Basically, Heidi got married; [then] she's like, 'Oh my God, what do I do?' I really feel like she went to a bookstore and saw Newlyweds: The Wife's Edition, and so now she's like, 'I still want to get a house with a white picket fence... and then probably a dog, and then we'll move on to kids. And I want to take cooking lessons.'" So surely it's just a matter of time. What shall we do to prepare ourselves for the spawn of Speidi?!?!? [NY Daily News]
• Spencer was seen passing out Playboys with Heidi on the cover to the entire first-class section of a flight from the Bahamas to LAX. No word on whether he said: Take my wife, please. [Page Six]
• Law enforcement sources are saying DJ AM's death was not a suicide. The recovering addict developed a dependency to to Xanax and other benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drugs) as a direct result of the plane crash he survived. He had developed a high anxiety over flying, but it was something he had to do for work. This relapse was recent, and his death was most likely a consequence of the combination of cocaine and benzodiazepines. [TMZ]
• Dr. Drew blames pain medication for DJ AM's relapse: "It very slowly and subtly reawakens addiction. I'm not saying it was inappropriately prescribed, I'm saying he didn't know the risks." [NY Post]
• Madonna is in Israel, where she visited the Old City in Jerusalem, and toured an ancient tunnel near the Western Wall - the holiest site where Jews can pray. [AP]
• I don't know whether to laugh or to cry: Medics have had to treat Twihards who visit the set of New Moon and freak out over the Sparkle Vamp or the Buff Werewolf. Taylor Lautner says: We've met many different fans: the criers, who come around quite often; the hyperventilators, who stop breathing and have to have a medic come. We've definitely seen some passion." [Daily Express]
• While Jon Gosselin was busy posing it up in Vegas, Kate Gosselin had her own pool party — with bodyguard and rumored beau, Steve Neild. And his family. He arrived with his wife, kids, and teenaged sons and all the kids went swimming and everything was fun and everything is fine. [E!]
• By the way: Jon Gosselin was heckled at his own damn pool party. Guys mocked his bald spot, his weight and his clothes. [Radar Online]
• Jon Gosselin did a sit-down interview with GMA's Chris Cuomo and said something like he's worried the show is "exploiting" his eight children. No, wait, he says: "I'm not saying TLC is exploiting my children. But I do believe the media and tabloids covering my family and the show for their own financial gain are the ones exploiting them. I have said on numerous occasions TLC has afforded my kids a better life and has helped provide a better roof on their heads." [E!]
• Whitney Houston hasn't released an album in six years, but her "comeback" is very controlled. Her interview with Diane Sawyer will not be live; neither will her interview with Oprah. And when she does a Good Morning America performance, it will be taped, not live. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Lily Allen needs an Orgasmaton, STAT. [The Sun]
• Here's an iffy story about the Beckham marriage being torn apart because "While David is keen to play football in Europe, ambitious Victoria is set on remaining in LA." [Daily Mail]
• In these pictures from February, Chris Brown is seen tagging a wall — spray painting his nickname, Breezy. Now graffiti removal will be one of the things he is expected to do as part of his 1400 hours of community service. [Daily Mail]
• Elisabeth Moss spills spoilery Mad Men secrets! "It is so important to [creator] Matt [Weiner], and to the way the story is told, that things remain secret if possible. But I can say that [this season] Peggy starts becoming more of Don's protege and moves up in that world. She goes down paths that are wrong for her, but she is just trying to figure out what it means to be in her position in that man's world. I don't honestly know if she is going to figure it out. Does she have to be like Don, or can she be her own person?" [Reuters]
• Ouch: Miranda Kerr was walking the red carpet at the launch of Victoria's Secret's Heavenly Enchanted fragrance when Melissa (Dancing With the Stars) Rycroft accidentally sprayed her in the eyes and momentarily blinded her. [Page Six]
• "Cate Blanchett and Liv Ullmann have long wanted to collaborate. Now Tennessee Williams has brought them together on the Sydney stage." [Sydney Morning Herald]
• When Chris Noth DJs, you're gonna hear '80s hits from KISS and Prince. [Page Six]
• Highly recommended: outtakes from an interview with Amber Tamblyn, in which she says lots of awesome stuff, like, "I have a poem in my new book of poetry out in September called Bang Ditto about Twitter and the poem is 140 characters about how Twitter can suck it." She also says: "People always ask me why I'm so level-headed and normal and don't lash out like all these other young celebrities and go crazy. Well, I went crazy. I just didn't get caught." [Parade]
• Speaking of Amber Tamblyn, her boyfriend David Cross says he's got no news on The Arrested Development movie. But he's looking forward to it: "Just finding out what the characters are up to. Obviously I miss the camaraderie and having fun, but more than anything, my curiosity is like, 'Oh, what are those guys are doing?'" [Time]
• Will Arnett might be the one holding up the Arrested Development movie. [Gatecrasher]
• Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel is talking crap about Jill Zarin: "Why would Jill be hanging with Jon Gosselin and Michael Lohan? That was like an episode of 'The Surreal Life.' It is utterly embarrassing. I mean, honestly, Urkel should have come - and if Gary Coleman showed up, it would have been perfect." [Gatecrasher]
• Joan Rivers claims she almost rented her apartment to Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy: "The Libyan ambassador called my [broker] and offered over $200,000 a week so he could use it for entertaining… I thought it was great. I said I would give half the rent to Lockerbie." [Page Six]
• Jane Lynch — the funny lady from The 40 Year Old Virgin, Best in Show and Weeds, is described as a scene-stealer in the TV show Glee. "I think 'scene stealer' is a compliment, or at least I take it as one," she says. "I certainly don't try to take attention from anyone else, I just do the best job I can with the material." [Newsweek]
• "Oasis split because Noel Gallagher forgave brother Liam for jokingly suggesting he was not the real dad of daughter Anais." [News Of The World]
• Liam Gallagher has gone to Lake Como now that Oasis has broken up. [Mirror]
• Are the Pussycat Dolls dunzo? The group is taking a "long break" and the members are each concentrating on their "own projects." [Mirror]
• Word is that Shelley Duvall (The Shining, Popeye, Casper Meets Wendy) spends her nights in Blanco, Texas patrolling her yard, convinced her home is a portal for aliens. She went to a local hardware store and asked for dirt to block up a hole in her backyard, because that's where the aliens were coming in. Poor thing. [ONTD]
• Sir Sean Connery has won "Worst Movie Accent Of All Time," for playing an Irish-American cop in The Untouchables with his Scottish brogue. [Mirror]
• What the world needs now: Another Rambo movie. Yes, of course Sylvester Stallone is starring and directing. [Variety]
• "A police force is to review the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, 40 years since he was found lifeless in a swimming pool." [Mirror]
• "They do love each other, but they've always been very different. The funny thing is, they didn't fight as children. They didn't fight until they started the band. I hope this isn't the end of Oasis. I don't think it is. They're just tired at the end of the tour. They've had fights before and got over it." — Peggy Gallagher, on son Noel Gallagher quitting Oasis right before the band was supposed to headline a rock festival in Paris. Right before the split, Liam allegedly smashed a guitar and said to Noel: "You're no brother of mine!" [Mirror]
• "It's now like we have become spirits on the Internet. The time sense and the physical-location sense is lost. And of course the visual looks are lost, too." — Yoko Ono. [Newsweek]
• "This show is mad Brooklynish." Olivia Thirlby, on Bored To Death, the new HBO series starring Jason Schwartzman. [The New Yorker]
• "I start the day reading my political blogs. The Daily Beast. The Huffington Post. Daily Kos. But what annoys me is when celebrities all get on a bandwagon and support a t-shirt company that prints slogans about voting instead of getting involved with specific things they really care about and can nurture. So I try not to be another name on a list. I'm active in things like Planned Parenthood. I'm a poet and writer as well as an actress, and I think that is a kind of politics when I write about body image and the experiences of young people in Hollywood. I've always written stuff like that. It's kept me 94% sane because it's an outlet that a lot of actresses don't get to talk about." — Amber Tamblyn. [Parade]
• "I've said that I was an only child for many years, and I realize now it was a mistake saying it… But when I was about 7, a young woman came to our door and told my dad she was his daughter. And she was. She was from a fling he had in the '60s. Her name is China, and she's an artist and a welder. We've become close." — Amber Tamblyn. [Parade]
• "It is one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life. My entire body hurts. My muscle, my bone, everything." — Mila Kunis, on spending four hours a day, seven days a week in dance classes for Black Swan, in which she and Natalie Portman play rival ballerinas. [WWD]

[Sydney, Australia, August 8. Image via Getty.]

• Australian Vogue's September cover is out, and it features a stunning illustration of Cate Blanchett. [WWD]
• Meanwhile, Fashion Week Daily is reporting on a rumor that Victoria Beckham might be American Vogue's October cover model. [FWD]

• The Kanye West-Gap intern story is back, this time as written in the Chicago Tribune. But no sources are named — doubly so where the rumor-within-a-rumor that West is looking to launch a clothing line with the retailer is concerned. But it would be so perfect! Amber Rose could model it. [ChicagoTrib]
• Jessica Simpson, on her new lingerie line, produced by a licensee of a licensee: "Of course I love lingerie. What girl doesn't? My lingerie reflects the way I'm feeling when I wake up and helps me set the tone for my day." [WWD]
• Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton stuffed animals: no celebrity artist megabrand collaboration should ever be this goddamned cute. [FWD]
• French street style photographer Garance Doré has a new gig expanding her blogging coverage for Paris Vogue. [WWD]
• Balenciaga returned to Jennifer Connelly for its fall ads — and then had Steven Meisel photograph her very awkwardly. [SassyBella]
• Jean-Paul Gaultier, for his part, booked Raquel Zimmerman and Raquel Zimmerman for his fall campaign. Raquel Zimmerman plays the girl role and the boy role and looks mighty good doing it. [FWD]
• Gaultier's collaboration with Doc Martens — available only in France, hélas — features boots with perforated leather in a grid. And, as Fashionista points out, you could totally make a DIY version. [Fashionista]
• Roberto Cavalli's house involves significantly less leopard print than we might have imagined. [The Moment]
• Naomi Campbell may have attacked a paparazzo with her handbag on holiday in Sicily. [Daily Mail]
• Designer Paul Smith, on photographing his own ad campaigns: "The whole idea of a designer doing photographs is sort of pretentious: ‘I do everything, you know.' Like Karl whatshisname. I'm a snapper, not a photographer. I'm not Mario Testino. But my lot have been saying, ‘You take pictures; you do it.' So I thought, ‘Let's have a go.' My creative director and the marketing guy and the press people are all pleased with them." [ToL]
• Amber le Bon is to be featured in an upcoming issue of (British?) Vogue wearing her mother Yasmin's vintage clothes. [Daily Mail]
• Late on Friday, fashion writer Diane Pernet published an e-mail exchange between the stylist for "a well-known singer of color" and a PR representative for designer Alexander Wang; the PR was denying the singer's request to wear Alexander Wang clothing, and when the stylist wrote back intimating that the denial was based on her client's race, the PR seemed to agree, and said she was quitting her job. Although Blackbook originally reported on the story, both it and Pernet have pulled their posts about it — did Wang threaten legal action? — but Blackbook's Facebook note publicizing its post is still visible, and Homo Neurotic has reprinted the full text of the e-mails. [Facebook and Homo Neurotic]
• You can now count Yves Saint Laurent designer Stefano Pilati among the thundering horde descending on London Fashion Week in September. Pilati will be in attendance because of his mentor relationship with the label Veryta. [Vogue UK]
• The fashion industry's huge waste is a serious environmental hazard in the third world countries where most of our clothing is made. [UPI]
• A particular jean factory in Lesotho, which produces denim items for the Gap and Levi's, exposed locals to burns and chest infections because of its toxic fumes. [CBS]
• Juicy Couture's higher-priced line, Bird, is now hitting stores. Anyone who had her eye on Rachel Zoe's recommended leather leggings, now is your time. [LATimes]
• Emma Watson, despite her professed abhorrence of celebrity clothing lines, is rumored to be in the process of launching one with the London fair trade organic brand People Tree. There's a Mischa Barton coke joke in here somewhere. [Daily Mail]
• New York is still an attractive place for overseas tourists to go shopping, since the dollar is slightly lower again. London, where the exchange rate has only recently become more favorable, has seen a 4.7% increase in retail sales over last year for the month of June. [WWD]
• Astoundingly, teenagers in America are spending on average 14% less on clothes than they were last year. [NYTimes]
• Christian Dior's profits were down 27%, to $943 million, in the first six months of this year. [WWD]
• A collage of snippets of fabric used in the late Princess Diana's wedding dress is available on eBay for £15,500, if anyone wants it. [Daily Express]
• 13,300 Burlington Coat Factory boys' hooded sweatshirts are being recalled because their cords pose a strangulation risk. [UPI]

[Sydney, July 31. Image via Splash.]

[Sydney, July 27. Image via Getty]

• Lindsay Lohan turns 23 tomorrow, but she's allegedly already been paid $70,000 by the MGM Grand for hosting an all-day "pre-celebration" in Las Vegas last Saturday.

Even though LL changed bathing suits five times and promoted her Sevin Nyne tanning product, a source says: "None of her really close friends were there" and LL just did it for the cash. [Page Six]

• Meghan McCain thinks Hilary Duff would be a great choice to play her in a movie: "I think she's really hot - hotter than me - but I'd still want her to play me." [Gatecrasher]
• Even though Mariah Carey was supposedly dressed like Eminem for her "Obsessed" video, she looks more like that dude from Linkin Park, no? [Gatecrasher]
• Heidi Klum: Expecting a girl? There were pink cupcakes at her baby shower! [Gatecrasher]
• "A close Michael Jackson confidant tells The Daily Beast's Gerald Posner he believes the star triggered his death with a foolhardy plan to void a concert commitment: mixing pills to prompt a minor hospital visit." "Like a child who doesn't want to go to school, Michael thought he could get away from his obligations if he had a 'note from the doctor.'" [The Daily Beast]
• A registered nurse named Cherilyn Lee has stated that Michael Jackson was an insomniac who begged for strong sedative drugs to induce sleep. [AP, AP]
• TMZ says: "We're told the drug Propofol was discovered at the [Jackson] residence. The drug is used to put people under anesthesia before surgery. It is an extremely powerful drug that is only available to medical personnel. As one source said, 'There is no conceivable way this drug can be properly prescribed for home use.'" [TMZ]
• If Neverland becomes a memorial site, don't go looking for Michael Jackson's animals — they won't be coming back. [TMZ]
• The man who kept Neverland from being auctioned says: "We must be prepared for the fact that visitors and fans will come, with or without permission or an invitation." [Yahoo via E!]
• A concrete truck arrived at Neverland yesterday. Preparations for the memorial? [TMZ]
• "Ukrainians Want Village Named After Michael Jackson." [Breitbart]
• "There is nobody who knew Michael like I did… For instance, people always think of him as talking in that high, soft voice, but he didn't really speak like that - it was a facade. Still to this day I am not sure why he did it. The Michael I knew talked like a real man, acted like a real man and shook a hand like a real man." — David Gest, an authority on manliness. [The Sun]
• Here, Quincy Jones talks about the music he and Michael Jackson made together. [WSJ]
• In his last "interview," — which seems to be just chatter from the Staples center — Michael Jackson was rehearsing and said: "This is where I belong. I am so excited. We need a bit more work on a few more songs but we're so nearly there. This is what it's all about. Me being on stage." [Mirror]
• The Iowa State Fair is planning a butter sculpture of Michael Jackson. [MSNBC]
• Video. From Dolly Parton. Mourning Michael Jackson, whom she says had "the heart of an angel." [EW]
• "Joe Jackson Still Has Power To Upset Family" Duh. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Photographer Kevin Mazur took pictures of Michael Jackson's rehearsal at the Staples Center. He says: "Michael was physically fit and performing the same way that I photographed him through the years. You can look at the photos. I documented it, I was there." He says he was shocked to find out Jackson had died a few days later, because: "He was full of energy and full of life."[BBC News]
• More on this in Midweek Madness, but the Michael Jackson shot OK! is using on their cover this week is being called "ghoulish" and a "disgrace." [Page Six]
• Michael Jackson's will: Filed today. [TMZ]
• 200 friends, colleagues and family members — including jailed son Redmond O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart, Lee Majors, Ernie Hudson, Cheryl Tiegs, Jackie Collins, Joan Collins, Gary Shandling, Marla Maples and hairstylist Jose Eber attended the funeral of Farrah Fawcett. [E!, CNN]
• Alana Stewart delivered a eulogy for Farrah Fawcett, saying:
  "Goodbye sweet girl… [Farrah] never felt sorry for herself during her illness ... she fought cancer furiously. She's the most beautiful angel in heaven. She always seemed so indestructible." [People]
• Forbes has released it's "Hollywood's Top-Earning Actresses List" and Angelina Jolie is number one, with poor lonely desperate single Jennifer Aniston as number 2. Meryl Streep is third. But! There's a gender pay gap! "All told, the top 10 actors earned $393 million, compared with $183 million for the top 10 actresses." [Forbes]
• "Sacha Baron Cohen Attempts To Appease Gay Community By Posing For Attitude Magazine." Nude, of course. [Daily Mail]
• Life & Style magazine asked Robert Pattinson's aunt if he should date Kristen Stewart. She replied: "I don't think it would be a good idea for Robert to be in a serious relationship with Kristen. How can he live his life with a fellow star, with their every move being watched just like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes?" Thank you. Very helpful. [Daily Express]
• Robert Pattinson was seen hanging out with a pack of guys and going un recognized by wearing a baseball cap. [Page Six]
• Susan Boyle will not appear on Ugly Betty, even though that's what we heard. [ONTD]
• The Beckhams have their 10-year wedding anniversary coming up! David will whisk Victoria away on a "surprise" trip to Richard Branson's private island in the Caribbean. Although is it a surprise if it's in The Sun? [WWD]
• From a Q&A with True Blood's Anna Paquin: You and Stephen [Moyer] are in a relationship off-camera as well. The passion you have on the show is palpable — did it transition from on-screen to off-screen or vise-versa?: "We met at his screen test when they were doing, essentially, a chemistry read to make sure the Sookie they had cast was going to click with the Bill they wanted to cast, and shockingly enough we ended up liking each other. But, it kind of all happened at the same time — it's kind of hard to say which came first because when you click with someone and you have that sort of – vibe — that's just how we've always been around each other. Nothing's really changed except we live together now." Was your first kiss then on-screen or off-screen?: "Ha. I'm not telling you that." [Out]
• Usher's wife was surprised by the divorce filing and "had every reason to believe her marriage was intact." Uh-oh. [USA Today]
• Uh-oh, this item snarks on Stacy London's outfit. Not cool. [Page Six]
• Kerry Washington is looking for a "cheap" furnished apartment in Manhattan, which means $3,000 a month. Can it be done? [Page Six]
• Cute! Christina Applegate will play Drew Barrymore's big sister in Going The Distance, a rom com about a long-distance relationship — which also stars Drew's maybe-boyfriend Justin Long. [E!]
• A street corner in Queens, NYC will be named for Run-DMC. Slay all suckers who perpetrate and lay down law from state to state. [NY Times]
• "I wish to not talk unless we're doing the scene. I enjoy it that way. Johnny seemed happy to do it that way, too. So the answer is: No, we really didn't get to know each other better between each take. So I guess I'll have to wait and get to know Johnny Depp someday." — Christian Bale, on Public Enemies. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• "I prefer to walk away with the experience as opposed to walking away with the product… I like to portray a character, inhabit a character and build character, but I don't want to watch the end result necessarily, because it becomes about money then and I'd rather not think about that. My children have seen more films of mine than I have. They've seen all of them within reason - many more than I have. I have no plans to see them - any of them." — Johnny Depp. [BBC News]
• "It is deff. in my top 3 favorite books of all time! :) so disturbing but beautifully written." — Miley Cyrus, on Identical, in which twin sisters escape troubled lives — one by sex and drugs, the other by bingeing and cutting herself. [Page Six]
• "The script kept changing and evolving to the point where I was no longer appropriate for it. Cate's 10 years older than me, which is more suitable for the script. If they'd recast with Keira Knightley I'd have been heartbroken but they've gone for something different – and better in my opinion. If I had the choice between Cate Blanchett and me I'd go for Cate Blanchett." — Sienna Miller, on not being Maid Marian in Robin Hood. [Daily Express]

[Image via Lindsay Lohan's Twitter]

• American Idol runner-up Adam Glambert has been vague about his sexuality, but a source says:

He'll come out, officially, on the cover of the next Rolling Stone. [Page Six]

• For the love of Zeus: Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer might be back on. Here is an actual quote from a "source" o the set of The Baster: "[John] wasn't calling her or texting her. But, as she got lonelier and the shoot for her new movie wore on, she started reaching out to him, sometimes very late at night and sometimes after a few too many glasses of wine." Boozy old lonely sad tragic drunk dialing! [MSNBC]
• Jen Aniston's movie is filming near her ex-roommate's restaurant; the roomie is the one who wrote a memoir and depicted Aniston as "weight-obsessed." Unscripted dramz. [Page Six]
• Pierce Brosnan saved Uma Thurman from an out-of-control van on the set of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief! He saw the runaway vehicle "hurtling down a hill" towards Uma and jumped into the drivers' seat and slammed on the brakes. [Daily Express]
• Unsolicited uterus update: Nicole Kidman dyed her hair red and has a "poochy stomach," so clearly she must be pregnant. [Page Six]
• Kate Hudson and Alex Rodriguez have been dating for about a week but she is "already following A-Rod around." [Page Six]
• Order in the court! Al Roker got in big trouble yesterday for snapping pictures while on jury duty. [NY Daily News]
• Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman together on Broadway? Can your ovaries stand it? [NY Daily News]
• The ex-wife of Jon Cryer (aka Duckie Dale) has been arrested for felony child neglect. [TMZ]
• Is Demi Moore going to the UK without Ashton Kutcher? Well that would mean a woman acting independently of her husband! Sound the alarm! [Mirror]
• "Carla Bruni: I feel pain when people criticise my husband... and mock my low-heeled shoes." [Daily Mail]
• Will Susan Boyle bail out of Britain's Got Talent? At this point, she could get a record deal without actually finishing the program. "The producers of the show are going to do everything in their power to make sure she is there on May 30," said a source close to the show. "Whatever Susan wants between now and then, she'll have." [MSNBC Scoop]
• This report says that network bosses will not get rid of Susan Boyle, despite the fears that she's not coping well with her new-found fame. [Mirror]
• Before he joined the cast of SNL, Andy Samberg worked as a writer for the MTV Movie Awards. So the fact that he's hosting Sunday's show means he's coming full circle, in a way. He says: "It's going to be action packed. There's going to be some surprises - nothing I can divulge, but it will involve celebrities. It's going to be great. There's going to be some pre-taped stuff, some digital shorts-style stuff, and a lot of fun collaborations." [AP]
• The rules for I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here state that there is to be "no bullying, nonconsensual touching, racist or homophobic language, romantic advances (at least ones 'which are not desired or returned'), assault or sex in camp." Can Heidi and Spencer abide? [Gatecrasher]
• Four words: Bridget Jones The Musical. [NY Post]
• Is Disney being cheap with Miley Cyrus? She's getting "only" $5,000 for a week of work to guest star on The Suite Life On Deck. [TMZ]
• Jon and Kate Gosselin spent Memorial Day apart: She took the kids on a boat ride in North Carolina; he was seen in an upstate New York bar with two women. [People]
• Here's video of the Gossip Girl cast talking about various things; Blake Lively has been traveled through Asia on her break from the show and is halfway to getting certified for her scuba license. Penn Badgley went with her and grew a beard, saying, "I looked like a homeless person." [E!]
• The Jonas Brothers do not fight, says Nick Jonas. "We get along very well. I think it's just because we have a different kind of respect for one another, being in the band together. We consider each other as equals. There's no picking on the youngest, it's just not that way." Boo. Zzzzz. [Mirror]
• "Her sunglasses gleam. Her skin is scrubbed, her body pneumatic, her vast white teeth dazzling in the sunshine. Meeting Kruger is, in fact, an almost entirely predictable experience. She is pleasant and pretty and punctual […] She looks extraordinary on screen, but disarmingly normal face-to-face. She is not alienatingly gorgeous […] bland, malleable beauty […]" — from a profile on Diane Kruger. [Guardian]
• Lily Allen will have a cameo appearance in the Aussie soap Neighbors. [Independent]
• Cate Blanchett's Sydney Theatre Company is thankful to Tom Stoppard, whose play Rock and Roll sold the largest number of tickets over the last 12 months. [Telegraph]
• So Mayim Bialik is the first celeb on What Not To Wear, but Stacy London and Clinton Kelly had some restrictions: the woman formerly known as Blossom doesn't wear pants or leather. [People]
• Sherri Shepherd will be taking WWE superstar wrestler Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) to the prom. No, really. [Page Six]
• Dr. Dre appears in a Dr. Pepper ad, and so do eight seconds of his new, long-awaited album, Detox. [LA Times, Reuters]
• Comedian Zach Galifianakis gets a lot of big-screen time in The Hangover, which could make him into a movie star. [WSJ]
• NBC CEO Jeff Zucker says Seinfeld would not make it on TV today, since shows have less time to mature. [CBS News]
• An Australian woman was sentenced to more than two years in prison today for stalking American Idol's Diana DeGarmo over the Internet. [AP]
• Amy Adams will star in Leap, about a very detail-oriented woman who plans to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day — "and things sort of go off course with the help of a very handsome, roguish Irishman." Matthew Goode is her co-star. [USA Today]
• Break out the jazz flute: Will Ferrell's in talks to do an Anchorman sequel. [NY Daily News]
• Emily Mortimer has purchased a house in Amagansett, Long Island. [Daily Express]
• Chris Martin has lost his voice and Coldplay had to cancel a show in Saratoga Springs, NY. [The Sun]
• Steve Martin's banjo music CD means the actor is on the U.S. pop album chart for the first time since 1981. [Reuters]
• Lucy Gordon, the Spider-Man 3 actress who was found dead in her paris apartment last week, apparently hanged herself, two days before her 29th birthday. She had just finished filming her role as British model-actress Jane Birkin in the biopic of Serge Gainsbourg when she died. [People]
• Phil Spector will be sentenced today. [UPI]
• The Rockabye Baby! CD has hits by Nirvana, Queen, AC/DC, Bob Marley and Pink Floyd — done in lullaby version. With the lights out, it's less dangerous? [The Sun]
• Blind item: "Which former newscaster was so drunk at a recent fete that she could barely remember her own name, never mind what day it was?" [Gatecrasher]
• "There are people who take the quest for youth too far. Madonna – she's from the show-off brigade. She makes my skin crawl. I call her desperate. I know she's got a wonderful willpower and beauty regime but talk about the ‘me' generation wrapped up in one! I think as you get older, you get the face you deserve. I'm hoping that good habits will get me through." — former Dynasty actress Stephanie Beacham. [Daily Express]
• "I tried really hard not to be who I am. I tried super hard. It was a difficult journey for me to come to terms and be whole and happy with who I am." — Kelly McGillis, who says coming out as a lesbian has not been easy, either. [People]
• "It is sad that Linda Hogan continues to attempt to throw her family under the bus to gain publicity. In terms of the ongoing divorce suit, Hulk Hogan and his legal team would gladly take Linda up on her offer to submit to a legally supervised drug test and certainly Terry would do the same. We believe the results would speak for themselves and reveal that Linda's idea of a good time would definitely not be appropriate for Mass or a family restaurant." — An attorney for Hulk Hogan. [Perez]
• "The Tonight Show means everything to me. I'll have good moments and bad, but I'll keep coming at it. At 4 a.m., I do wake up sometimes and go, 'Oh my God, it's The Tonight Show. But nothing funny comes out of reverence. I'll take care of this franchise. The key is to put aside the fear and say, 'Let's just make some people laugh.'" — Conan O'Brien, who plans to host the show "Until I'm 160, because there will be medical advancements. Fallon will take over for me when I retire at 108 to travel with my family. But it won't be Jimmy, it'll be his brain in a jar." [USA Today]
• "As I look around my friends' Tweets I see banality on all sides. I think if people were able to take these 140 characters (allowed in each post) and develop a poetic Western form - a haiku of our own in which all human existence could be compressed into those 140 characters - that would be a satisfying thing, but that's not what I see when I read them." — Hugh Laurie on Twitter. [MSNBC]
• "Tattoos are sexy. I love my name on a woman; it lets me know I'm serious" — Tyrese Gibson to InStyle. [Page Six]
• "I really want to work with Madonna. It doesn't seem a likely pairing, maybe, but I just think that she is so creative and has such vision." — Adam "Glambert" Lambert. [Mirror]

• Chris Brown is being sued for assault and battery, but not by anyone you know:

The suit is being filed by Robert Rosen, who took a photo of Brown playing basketball at a gym in L.A. Rosen ran away when Brown's bodyguards noticed him; but fell down the stairs in his rush. Then, according to this report, one of the bodyguards "picked him up by his shorts and physically assaulted him, causing further injuries." [Radar Online]

• Chris Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, says: "This is a specious and frivolous lawsuit by one of the paparazzi seeking publicity and a payday. [Rosen] has done this before and lost. We will vigorously defend against this." [Radar Online, TMZ]
• Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his bladder. Be well. [BBC News]
• RED ALERT! PRINCE HARRY ARRIVES IN NYC TOMORROW! GINGER CANDY FOR EVERYONE!!! [NY Daily News]
• Courtney Love "failed and refused to make payments" on her American Express cards, and the company's taking her to court, claiming she owes $352,059.67 in unpaid charges and fees. Ugh, they always get you on the fees! [E!]
• Hey, did you notice how Michael Lohan, who looooooves publicity, hid the fact that he was arrested in April for allegedly threatening to kill himself and his fiancée??? [MSNBC]
• Will you root for Michael Lohan in his "celebrity" boxing match against Johnny Fairplay? [TMZ]
• Director McG says the of the Christian Bale rant: "I'm to blame for the whole thing." Really? Do tell! "First and foremost it's my job to create a safe environment on the set at all times so that actors can explore any given emotion and always believe in the sanctity of the film… The fact it was leaked was inexcusable and I'm ashamed and embarrassed on behalf of Hollywood that that would happen. It's very unfortunate." He goes on to explain that he deliberately aggravated Bale so that his character would be more on edge: "I'm on the set getting in Christian's face… Now that's going to get him fired up in the spirit of creating a real life and death performance and that's never meant to get outside that arena… The truth is simply Christian's a good guy. Don't accuse him of being a bad guy because he's not. He loves his family, he has no entourage, he's an actor's actor and he operates from a place of passion. He'll be the first to admit, 'Wow, I flew off the handle,' but he was very much involved in what I was driving him to." [Telegraph]
• Lionel and Nicole Richie talked to CNN's Larry King in a joint interview which will air tonight. Larry asked Nicole if she's going to get married, and she said, "Eventually, yes… I think for both of us, we are going to do it because we want to, not because that's what you do." And! As a grandfather, Lionel is "very animated. He smiles like this all the time, and so he's nothing but fun for Harlow. She absolutely loves him." Larry asked Lionel if he wanted Nicole and Joel to get married, and Lionel said: "I want them to take their time. I'm more interested in whether they like each other and whether they're best friends. Because that means they'll be great parents forever." Wise man! [CNN]
• "'Jon & Kate Plus 8' madness: Why do viewers care about the Gosselins, anyway?" [NY Daily News]
• Kylie Minogue wedding rumors: Persistent. This paper says she's in Rome, among "engagement whispers." [Daily Mail]
• MSNBC Scoop's Courtney Hazlett says it should come as no surprise that voting blocs were part of the American Idol process; writing: "The bottom line is this: it was a group of organized [Kris] Allen fans who went to the trouble of getting AT&T to their viewing parties and Fox has a system in place to discard power votes." [MSNBC Scoop]
• After being with Def Jam for years — and being the CEO of that label — Jay-Z is close to signing a deal with Sony. [Reuters]
• Wait, this report says Jay-Z is in talks with Warner Music Group. [Gatecrasher]
• Eminem's album had the best first-week sales of 2009. Then again, it's been a crappy year for music. [Daily News]
• A journalist did something to upset or tease Susan Boyle, and she lost her temper in a hotel lobby. Details are sketchy. [Mirror]
• T.R. Knight will not be returning to Grey's Anatomy next season, according to sources; apparently he has been frustrated by his character's lack of storyline. [E!]
• Kelly Ripa's lawyers have sent cease and desist letters to some internet weight loss product which uses Ripa's face in its ads. [TMZ]
• Emily Blunt will be honored as British Artist of the Year at the 2009 BAFTA/LA Brittania Awards on Nov. 5. Her upcoming films include The Young Victoria and The Wolfman, with my übercrush Benicio Del Toro. Congrats! [The Hollywood Reporter]
• The Sydney Theater Company, run by Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton, is experiencing a cash crisis. [Jill Zarin tried to get on Inside The Actors Studio, and James Lipton had to tell her it was for ACTORS. [Gatecrasher]
• If you would like to see a video of Kristin Cavallari "making an entrance" at Spencer and Heidi's wedding, by all means, click the link. Warning: it looks staged as all hell. [Perez]
• Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford may be hooking up with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg. [Page Six]
• Chace Crawford on being in Footloose, the movie based on the musical based on the movie, which Zac Efron was supposed to star in: "I know Zac and we're actually friends. He's gotta make the best choice for his career at this point and I have to make the best for mine and luckily it worked out for both of us." Chace also says: "I don't know if the gymnastics [high bar] scene is going to make it. I've got some movement in me, but I'm not a dancer… I need to start stretching now." [EW]
• Tom Cruise has a job! He'll star in action comedy Wichita, with Cameron Diaz as a costar. The gist: Cruise will play a secret agent who pops in and out of the life of a single woman. Do you think they will make out? [Variety]
• "Barbra Streisand has finished building her dream house and started to think about her life." [AP]
• Do you care about Katie "Jordan" Price? Do you care about her ex-boyfriend, former boy band singer Dane Bowers? He was arrested on suspicion of drink driving after a car crash.[Independent]
• The Little Britain guys are going after Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow; David Walliams told an interviewer that in order to sort out the "important issues" of the world he had to dress like a star from Les Miserables musical and call his first born child after a piece of fruit. [The Sun]
• Something about this picture of Kelis pregnant and in a bikini makes me smile. [Concrete Loop]
• Peter Falk's wife and daughter continue to battle over conservatorship of the 81-year-old actor, who suffers from dementia. [LA Times]
• Phil Spector's lawyers are trying to get his sentence reduced. [AP]
• Blind item! "Which Great White Way star tries to rock girls he's crushing on by sending them X-rated photos of himself?" [Gatecrasher]
• "I hope this doesn't sound narcissistic because I have a supporting part in the movie, but I can't wait to see it again. I've never been a part of a movie I've so thoroughly enjoyed." — Justin Long, on the Sam Raimi thriller Drag Me To Hell. [CBS News]
• "Most of the stuff I don't tell her about, and she doesn't want to know about. She wants me to come home safe. A lot of it, she's just shook her head at. We've made a few trips to the hospital. That's how you know I am hurt, when I come home and voluntarily go by the emergency room. I've busted a few ribs and bruised my back and cracked the bone in my elbow. I think I got a concussion. It's my job." — Jesse James, who withholds information about his show Jesse James Is A Dead Man from wife Sandra Bullock. [USA Today]
• "I was really interested in seeing what the routine is, and it's really shocking, no matter what you've done, you stole, you killed or whatever, if you're in prison, everybody gets treated the same - I kinda thought that was really shocking. When they strip away your basic human rights, there's a routine of going anywhere - one door closes, another one opens. If they have a suspicion that you have anything on you, they strip-search you. You can't do what you want to do anymore. And that to me was a lot more shocking. "They don't make a difference - like he raped 58 women and killed 10 or if you didn't pay your parking tickets and you're in prison for six months, it doesn't matter, it's the same." — Diane Kruger, who researched prison life for her new French thriller Anything For Her. [Mirror]

• Jesus Luz went on a Brazilian TV program, Fantastico, and said of Madonna: "She is my friend, only my friend." Hmm. Wow. Okay. He also said:

"Madonna is a person who I admire very much, a friend who has entered my life and [with whom] I keep in contact. I cannot say anything more than I don't have plans of marrying her. I can't say if she is the woman in my life." Dammit! Are they shagging or not? What does it mean? [Gatecrasher, The Sun]

• Lily Allen: Not impressed by Susan Boyle! "I thought her timing was off on Britain's Got Talent on Sunday — no control, and I don't think she has an amazing voice." And! "She seems like a lovely lady but if the show is about talent, then that Shaheen kid should win." [Daily Mail]
• Aww, Kiefer Sutherland and Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough have kissed and made up! Well there was no kissing, but the two did issue a brief joint statement: "I am sorry about what happened that night and sincerely regret that Mr. McCollough was injured," Sutherland said. "I appreciate Mr. Sutherland's statement and wish him well," McCollough said. Then a unicorn jumped over a rainbow and gumdrops and structured dresses fell from the sky. [USA Today]
• Kiefer's headbutt incident caused some drama on the set of the film he's working on. [Daily Express]
• Guess who was out drinking Thursday night? Kiefer Sutherland. He had his 21-year-old daughter with him. [Page Six]
• Check out the toothless picture Demi Moore posted of herself — from the dentist's chair — on Twitter. Nice glasses. [Daily Mail]
• Charlotte Gainsbourg has won the best actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Lars von Trier's Antichrist — in which she does unspeakable things to the genitalia of Willem Dafoe. Congrats! [AP]
• Tragic: Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter is on life support after she was found with her neck caught in the cord of a treadmill. [AP, NY Post, NY Daily News]
• Cate Blanchett spoke at the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen yesterday, saying: "Australia's best climate scientists have been warning us that we'll face many more catastrophic fire days in south-east Australia unless the world acts to dramatically cut greenhouse pollution. We have the ability to kick start the low carbon economies of the future right when we need to, and that's now." [Breitbart]
• Natalie Cole has been released from the hospital five days after getting a kidney transplant. The memorial service for her sister, who died from lung cancer the same day Natalie received a kidney, was held yesterday. [People]
• We've heard this a zillion times, but now it's confirmed by his "people": Mel Gibson's girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, is pregnant. [People]
• "Actress and Scientologist Kirstie Alley is on a Twittering crusade against a bill that would provide money for screening, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum depression." Here are some of her Tweets:"I have to get you all info on THE MOTHER'S ACT. this is this lousy BILL that would give BIG BROTHER the right to force you to drug ur kids" And: "AND MANDATE that when you are pregnant, YOU MUST take drugs if a Dr. tells you to. THIS is BIG BROTHER at his finest. More on this soon moms." Plus: "I am organizing a MILLION MOM MARCH to protest this BILL. It just keeps rearing it's head. BACKED 100% by BIG PHARMA. MOMS UNITE!!" According to a spokesperson, the "Mother's Act," sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bob Menendez, will not force "expectant mothers or new mothers to do anything." The spokesperson says: "Furthermore, the pharmaceutical industry has had nothing to do with this bill. We frankly have no idea where they get this stuff." [Politico]
• Lindsay Lohan will star in The Other Side, an indie comedy Katie Holmes was supposed to make. Apparently Katie was really into the script, sending notes and stuff, and then there was a scheduling conflict. This is the one with Woody Harrelson, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, Alanis Morissette and Dave Matthews; Lindsay will play a grad student who goes to spend her summer doing research on a remote island, where she discovers a community of eccentrics who share a secret. [Yahoo via E!]
• While Monica Bellucci was at the closing ceremonies of the Cannes Film Festival, burglars stole about $112,000 worth of jewels, a laptop and such from her Paris apartment. It's so To Catch A Thief! [Reuters]
• Whoopi Goldberg cut her Las Vegas stand up show short on Friday night after a man in the audience had a seizure and collapsed. [TMZ]
• Amy Winehouse's mom, Janis, says Amy drinks because she's bored. "Amy knows her drinking ruined the performance. Of course her band is frustrated, but even they can't stop her. It's just another one of Amy's addictions getting the better of her. It's yet another demon she has to beat. She came off drugs on her own so I know she'll stop drinking too much too. It has to be her decision though, no one else can stop her." [The Sun]
• Colin Farrell will be the best man when his gay brother Eamon Farrell marries his partner Steven later this year. [Daily Express]
• Shocker: Jon & Kate Plus 8 is staged, says Kate's sister-in-law Julie. She blogs: "When the show first started, Kate made a wish list of things that she wanted, and that became the theme of each episode - the carpet, twins' room, bunk beds, cow, hair plugs, teeth whitening, trips, etc. EVERYTHING that you see them do or buy is completely paid for out of the budget for the show or traded for free advertising … The episodes are also staged. Here's how it works ... there is a staff of people reading these blogs and they base the shows around what people are talking about." [MSNBC Scoop]
• The Real Housewives Of New York are getting a raise: Next season they'll get "upwards of $30,000 per episode." Raise your hand if you feel impoverished now. [NY Daily News]
• Lost's Evangeline Lilly says that producers "have seen that I haven't picked up on the opportunity to become a big movie star. It frustrates [them] that they've given me this chance to become the next Angelia Jolie" yet she hasn't gone after it. She adds: "Sure, I'd love to be her, but just the humanitarian side." [Page Six via Women's Health]
• Desperate Doused Wives? Teri Hatcher jumped into the pool fully clothed after performing with her charity group, "Band From TV," at Miami Beach's Shore Club. [Page Six]
• Mandy Moore loves watching the cagefighting mixed-martial arts of the UFC: "It's the best way for me to get out my aggression," she says. "The rush of adrenaline, being in an arena with 20,000 screaming people-it's overwhelming in the best way." [Maxim]
• Kevin Bacon's BlackBerry was stolen at a subway station in NYC on Thursday — and KB totally chased the guy! Unfortunately, he didn't catch him. [Daily Mail]
• Liz Taylor is in the hospital, but it's only a routine visit. Also: La Liz hearts Twitter. [MSNBC]
• "Brooke Shields: 'I was a virgin until the age of 22 because I didn't like the way I looked.'" [Daily Mail
• Rapper T.I. played a farewell concert to an arena packed with 16,000 fans Sunday night; he's due to report at the Federal Correction Institution at Forrest City, Arkansas by noon today. [USA Today]
• Unsolicited uterus update: Model Adriana Lima is reportedly three months pregnant; she eloped with NBA player Marko Jaric on Valentine's Day earlier this year. [Gatecrasher]
• Are you wondering if the Jonas Brothers are fizzling out as a Disney franchise? Here's a 1,114 word story that will sort of, but not really, answer that question. [NY Times]
• In this interview with Michael Bay, he divulges that the new Transformers movie takes up huge chunks of computer memory with its special effects. The first Transformers took up "an astounding 15 terabytes," and the sequel required 140 terabytes. "That breaks every record," says Bay. Also: Did you know he directed that old Aaron Burr "Got Milk" commercial? [LA Times]
• Phylicia Rashad, aka Claire Huxtable, is taking over as the mother in the Broadway play August Osage County. This article notes, "In a notable flourish of so-called nontraditional casting, Ms. Rashad inherits a white stage family of three daughters, a husband, a sister and other relatives." [NY Times]
• Are Kylie Minogue and her hot hottie gonna get married? [News.com.au]
• Not that you care but: "Peter Andre tells Katie Price it's 'too late' to reconcile, as he spends first day back with his kids." [Mirror]
• Morrissey has canceled more tour dates due to illness. [BBC News]
• For the last few weeks, there's been lots of buzz about the book Hollywood producer Jon Peters was going to write — with details about Barbra Streisand and so on — and now his book deal is off. Although he's still going to write a book. [Deadline Hollywood]
• "A Night Out With" Nia Vardalos includes Greek desserts, men yelling out blessings in Greek, and Rita Wilson dipping her tongue in a shot glass of Jägermeister, with Vardolos urging, "Do it, do it, do it." [NY Times]
• Sly Stone — previously reclusive — has been taking the stage lately, to support his 27-year-old daughter Novena Carmel, and her band, BabyStone. [CNN]
• Two Scottish cities are fighting over Groundskeeper Willie of The Simpsons. Is there nothing else to do? [The Sun]
• Grumpy Paul McCartney is reportedly "furious" about the switch to digital cable. "He doesn't think it's right that you have to either go to the trouble of getting an adapter or you have to buy a new TV, which he should do anyway," says a source. "You'd think he'd have an apartment full of flat screen TVs but really, he's got these old clunky sets in this tiny New York apartment." [MSNBC Scoop]
• Attention, Black Magic Women: Tomorrow, Carlos Santana will kick off a two-year residency at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. [USA Today]
• RIP Jay Bennett, former member of the band Wilco. [E!]
• Tony Curtis called Joan Collins a "****" but it's tough to figure out what those stars stand for. [Daily Mail]
• Liberty DeVitto, who played with Billy Joel for 30 years, has sued the singer claiming he's owed overdue royalties. [UPI]
• Do you want to read a quote from Heather Mills' ex-fiancé, Chris Terrill, in which he compares her to a tornado? Then by all means, click the link. [Mirror]
• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian made a whopping $70 million over the last four days; Terminator Salvation made about $65. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Phish tour: Sold out. Go find your tie-dye. [UPI]
• "Simple Minds return with a new album but the same defiant attitude." [Daily Express]
• Blind item! "What seemingly sweet small-screen starlet is actually so nasty that she won't speak to anyone on set until she 'has her face on?'" [Gatecrasher]
• "It was a divine beginning and it went on becoming more romantic. He took more attention than you can imagine to make sure you were sexually OK, with tiny wee cushions everywhere so one was comfortable. I never knew anyone who gave one such tiny, exquisite attentions. It was like having a wonderful parrot who bites everyone else but you. Everyone said: 'Oh Serge, he's so dangerous.' I said : 'Oh yes, he is,' but really, he was a pushover – very sentimental, very romantic." — Jane Birkin, on Serge Gainsbourg. [Guardian]
• "I don't take myself so seriously. All these people think I do. Look, a lot of people think it's fun to hate on Michael Bay. There's a lot of poison on the Internet. People always try to knock someone who's had a ton of success in movies. Whatever." — Michael Bay. [LA Times]
• "Becoming a mum was the single most profound, self-adjusting moment in my life. I birthed myself. It's like I took back my life. I took back the essence of who I am." — Thandie Newton, who struggled with bulimia before she got pregnant. [Times Of London]
• "Very swiftly we turned into two different people, and it's just hard. He's angry with me that he's home and I'm not. Yet he doesn't really feel great about me, so he wants me to travel. It is so involved I almost can't put it into words. I think the thing that makes me the maddest is: Jon made some mistakes and he was out and whatever, and that made people question him. I'm doing what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing. I'm working and traveling. [which led to reports that she was having an affair with her bodyguard]." — Kate Gosselin. [AP]
• "Since I've played for years, I get a little break. I think if I were doing rock music, there would be more doubt because there's such a great tradition of actors doing rock music so badly." — Steve Martin, on his banjo playing and bluegrass album. [NY Post]
• "I have never tap-danced in my life and I was kicked out of the choir in the fifth grade because I can't sing, but for this movie I had to tap-dance and sing in one scene… when I was supposed to be nine months pregnant. So I had tap shorts over fishnets around a fake pregnancy belly, and when I put my arms up to tap-dance in front of 300 people, my pants fell down. It was like embarrassment laid on top of embarrassment laid on top of embarrassment." — Sarah Chalke, on shooting the Lifetime movie Maneater. [NY Daily News]
• "For me, it's not a pastime, going out and meeting people and trying to hook up with people. That actually makes me feel disgusting. From a really early age, I was really sensitive to that. Getting your flirt on is the best thing in the world, but when it comes to sharing bodily fluids with a person I don't know — no thank you." — Katy Perry. [Gatecrasher]

[Image by Steven Klein via W Magazine.]

[Perth, Australia; March 13. Image via Flynet]

• People are freaking out because, in new pictures of Miley Cyrus jogging with her boyfriend, you can see her cleavage. She says: "I guess it's just... I'm not allowed to jog any more." Apparently not!

• Miley explains that she was hanging out with her sister before jogging, wearing her mom's loose shirt over her bathing suit. "As I'm running, it got a little bit lower and you could see a little of the bathing suit top," said Miley. "So, oh my goodness, Miley Cyrus wears a two-piece! Kill me! I'm wearing a two-piece ... with an 8-year old." You can check out the photo in question at the link. [Us]
• Apparently, raising eight kids may not be as tough as it seems. Jon of Jon and Kate Plus 8 was allegedly out partying and drinking with students at Juniata College last month. One woman says: "He was acting like a drunk, girl-chasing frat boy. It really disturbed me. On the show he is so nice, but here, he was acting like an idiot." The next night, he was reportedly at it again. A witness says: "He was dirty dancing with several girls from the volleyball team, making out, kissing them on their necks and mouths." [Star]
• The police are still investigating Chris Brown. The L.A. County D.A. has not received the case from the L.A.P.D. yet - will he still be arraigned on Thursday? [TMZ]
• Chris Brown was nice to Suge Knight's 14-year-old daughter once, so now Suge (who has also been accused of domestic violence) says in this video, "I'll ride with Chris Brown 1,000%." [TMZ]
• Usher said after seeing a recent picture of Chris Brown jet skiing in Miami, "I'm a little disappointed in this photo … After the other photo [of Rihanna's bruised face]? C'mon, Chris. Have a little bit of remorse, man. The man's on jet skis? Like, just relaxing in Miami?" [The Life Files]
• Nadya Suleman was investigated by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services even before she had the octuplets. In fact, the police have been called to her house eight times. [TMZ]
• Suleman was spotted leaving Dr. Phil's office with her lawyer. It's unclear if she was there for a taping or a private meeting. [E!]
• Jaime Spears said in court that he spends 60-70 hours a week taking care of all things Britney, and that's why the court is paying him $16,000 per month. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson is expected to announce in London this week that he'll be holding a series of comeback concerts in the city. Isn't he supposed to be gravely ill? [Yahoo]
• A woman is suing Paula Abdul because she fell on her property during a taping of her reality show Hey Paula. Insert your own Paula falling down joke here. [TMZ]
• Cate Blanchett will star as Blanche DuBois in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. [NY Times]
• Dancing With the Stars contestant Lil Kim says she and her fellow inmates used to watch the show in jail. "Me and my girls used to watch it and they would say, ‘You need to be on that show,'" says Kim. [People]
• Oprah and Larry King are both bidding to interview Jade Goody, the British reality TV star who has cancer, via satellite. Jade says: "This illness has made me famous all over the world." [The Mirror]
• Oprah has adopted a puppy. The dog is an 8-week-old blond cocker spaniel. Staff at the PAWS Chicago shelter say they named her Amanda, but don't know if Oprah has picked a new name. [Us]
• Mark Ronson jokingly offered Lily Allen anything she wanted when she agreed to join him onstage at the Glastonbury music festival last year. Lily sent him the $10,000 bill for a helicopter to the event. He says: "She completely took me seriously! And what was I going to say at that point? I had to fucking pay for it. She got the helicopter." [Showbiz Spy]
• According to a new poll, men would most like to party with Megan Fox, and their second choice is Tina Fey. This is probably the only time you'll see their names together in one sentence. [People]
• Liverpool Hope University is now offering a Master of Arts degree in The Beatles. "There have been over 8,000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address," said a lecturer in the program. [Reuters]
• America's Next Top Model is back this week and Tyra says this group of models is "very special" because it includes a contestant with scars on her body, one with startlingly large eyes, and a street preacher. [AP]
• Comedy Central wasn't sure that it could afford to keep The Sarah Silverman Program but they have worked out a way to bring it back for a third season, by sharing it with Logo. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Matt Damon is visiting refugee centers on the South African border with Zimbabwe as part of his work with the human rights organization he started with other celebrities. [Yahoo]
• Scarlett Johansson has brown hair now, but says: "For a long time I've had really white-blonde hair. I'm naturally blonde – my dad's Danish – and I was playing up to it. I wanted to act out all those famous blonde icons – Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe ...Ever since I started on the red carpet, my idea of glamour was the Golden Age of Hollywood. I like to be feminine. Give the people what they want. The hair, the make-up, the gown, the diamonds. That, to me, is glamour." [The Telegraph]
• Rainn Wilson, one of the guys honored at Cosmo's Fun Fearless Men Awards last night, says: "I have no qualms about making myself look idiotic and I think that is a rarity in Hollywood ... I don't mind looking like a big, weird doofus, because that's what I am. I embrace my inner doofus." Chace Crawford, Aaron Eckhart, Michael C. Hall, Joshua Jackson, and Timbaland also received awards. [USA Today]
• Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks shared her thoughts on what she looks for in a man, saying, "I'm a big sports fan, and nothing is more unattractive to me than a guy who doesn't appreciate ESPN ... If I have to explain football or basketball, that's the biggest turn-off." She adds: "Aggression doesn't belong in the home. And if he gets too excited by gore or violence on television, I'm out of there." [People]
• Trista Sutter, one of the only people to find love on the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows, says Bachelor Jason Mesnick "doesn't deserve to walk away scot-free" after breaking off his engagement with one woman, only to turn around to propose to another. She says: "What disappointed me as a mom is that he introduced both girls to Ty (Jason's son). Melissa was around, and now she's gone. What is Ty going to think?" [E!]

[Perth, Australia. February 28. Image via Getty.]

• Updates on the Chris Brown and Rihanna incident:

He is holed up in a Hollywood hotel; she is perhaps more seriously injured that originally reported — she has bite marks on her skin. She's supposed to be playing Malaysia on Friday but may cancel and head to Barbados, where she was raised. [E!, USA Today]

• Rihanna is now out of the hospital and has postponed her concert in Malaysia. Also, the charges filed against Chris Brown — suspicion of making criminal threats — means the victim "is in fear for [his/her] life." [Yahoo News via E!]
• This report claims Rihanna suffered tow "huge contusions" on her forehead as well as a bloody lip and nose. [TMZ]
• A cop called the injuries "horrific." [NY Daily News]
• Oh no: Is it true that Rihanna will not file criminal charges against Chris Brown and is no longer assisting investigators? [Media Take Out]
• No, this report says she is cooperating with the LAPD. [UPI]
• When Chris Brown was on Tyra, he talked about his abusive stepfather and said, "I would never hurt a woman." [Perez]
• Chris Brown has pulled out of his scheduled appearance at Sunday's NBA All-Star Game. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Chris Brown's career may be over, since he was known for a squeaky-clean image. [AP]
• The LA Times is defending it decision to out Rihanna as the victim of Chris Brown's domestic violence case. A reporter explains: "The Times has a blanket policy when it comes to not naming victims of sexual assault. There isn't a set policy when it comes to physical assault or a criminal threat. In that case, there's a decision internally and on a case-by-case basis of whether to name somebody. In this case, obviously there was a discussion among the editors about this. The nature of this case - against the backdrop of the Grammy's, the delay in changing things, the explanations put out by both camps - the decision was made that this was fair game." [E&P]
• Wow. Britney Spears has rehired her former assistant, Felicia Culotta, who was with Britney for years and is a true friend. Good news. [Perez Hilton]
• Before the Baftas, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie didn't have dinner at one of London's "posh" restaurants but chose a 40-seat "local curry house" instead. Claudia Schiffer and Robert Downey Jr. were also there, and the group ate vegetable samosas, tandoori lamb chops and the house special, lamb passanda. [Telegraph]
• When Brad and Angie got home the kids were "running up and down the hallway" at the hotel and guests had complained about the noise. How much do you want to bet Maddox was the instigator? [The Sun]
• Tomorrow is the big day: Jennifer Aniston turns 40! [NY Daily News]
• Miley Cyrus has issued a real apology for that racially insensitive picture in which she was seen slanting her eyes. Unlike last time, she uses the word "sorry." [Perez]
• Lily Allen is in the U.S. to promote her album! She'll do Today, The Tonight Show and visit with Oprah and Ellen. Will she show off her third nipple? [Mirror]
• Why won't Gwyneth Paltrow walk the red carpet with Chris Martin or have their pictures taken as a couple? "It's cheesy," she says. "I mean, who wants to live like that?" [Fox 411]
• After the Grammys, Chris Martin stayed out partying and Gwyneth was nowhere to be found. [NY Daily News]
• Ben Affleck wants a son he can dress in Red Sox gear. [Mirror]
• Is Guy Ritchie moving to New York to be closer to his kids? [Mirror]
• Christian Bale's sister Sharon has heard the audio of his rant on the set of Terminator and says: "He seems to be incredibly stressed and angry at the moment. I think he might need help." She's reminded of last summer's incident in a London hotel, when Bale "attacked" her and their mother. "He verbally attacked us," Sharon claims. "He spoke in the same aggressive way he did to that lighting engineer. I wouldn't have minded so much but it was in front of my family and three children." [National Enquirer via Telegraph]
• Hmm, seems like Cate Blanchett will play Maid Marian in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood movie — the role Sienna Miller was "too young" for. Not-exactly-nimble Russell Crowe is the leading man. [Variety]
• Heath Ledger fans would like to see the character of The Joker retire from film, so that Ledger's portrayal is the final word. One fan explains: "We think this psycho in scarred whiteface is the best ever. No one can improve it. So please, Hollywood, use other enemies in the sequels to come." [Wired]
• Apparently Paris Hilton told Paul McCartney she'd love to do a duet with him. She also said of his hair: "It's just like in The Beatles. It's so cute." She must be stopped. Why does she even get invited places? [The Sun]
• Mickey Rourke tried to hook up with an actress named Abi Titmuss after the Baftas; she had to tell him: "No, I won't be sleeping with you tonight, Mickey." Also: Rourke took a sleeping pill before the awards to "calm his nerves" and was seen staggering around with a champagne bottle. [The Sun]
• Mickey Rourke's speech at the Baftas: "Salty." He said: "Thank you to BAFTA, to Optimum Pictures, to Fox Searchlight, to [director] Darren Aronofsky, who gave me a second chance after I fucked up my career for 15 years... I want to thank my agent, who put his career in jeopardy by representing me several years ago, David Unger... I want to thank my publicist, Paula Woods, for having the hardest job in show business — telling me where to go, what to do, when to do it, what to eat, what to dress, what to fuck… Oh God, it's such a pleasure to be here and be back out of the darkness." [UPI]
• For his flick The International, Clive Owen had to run through a busy market in Istanbul with a gun in his hand because they couldn't get permission to shut the market down. He says: "I had a security guy very close to me but some of the reactions were pretty shocking. People would see the gun and just laugh. If it was New York or London I'd be put up against the wall if I was running through the streets with a gun - no matter who I was." The Turkish were unfazed. [Daily Express]
• Fatherhood is Clive Owen's favorite role right now, you guys. Read about how his daughters are obsessed with Friends. [USA Today]
• Speaking of Clive, he stars with Julia Roberts in Duplicity, and this article is about her return to the screen as a leading lady. [NY Times]
• Kylie Minogue, her sister Dannii and Natalie Imbrugllia will host a benefit show in London for the victims of the Australian bush fires. [This Is London]
• Fore! Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to narrate a documentary about African-American pioneers in golf. [Daily Express]
• Congrats to Kelis, who is pregnant; her husband, rapper Nas, is the father. [Mirror]
• DMX is in jail but has threatened to fight the guards, saying he would "assault somebody to get some respect." He also announced: "Y'all gonna make me lose my mind up in here." [TMZ]
• ABC will film Siegfried & Roy's final farewell performance for a special edition of 20/20. We have a feeling the "one-night, one-time illusion" will probably involve them disappearing. [UPI]
• Oh dear: the original cop is suing the Village People. Insert "Macho Man" joke here. [AP]
• Bob Marley's face on clothes, food and video games? [WSJ]
• Blind item! "Which beauty's marriage dissolved when she was caught having an affair with a man Down Under? Her husband wasn't bothered that she was pregnant with the other man's child - just that she was indiscreet." [Gatecrasher]
• "It stinks! Those boys are slovenly and have garbage and clothes everywhere. You'd think they were living in a frat house!" — An insider on the home of Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick. [NY Daily News]
• "If I waited too long, it's because we were supposed to do other things. If it is just too late? There are millions of children on this planet that I would be honored to call my own." — Sandra Bullock on being 44 and not having had a biological child. [People via InStyle]
• "[Kim's] the first girl that's ever cooked a meal for me. That's honestly how she got me - with the food! She cooked one of my favorite meals, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, candy yams and fried chicken and it was ridiculously good. My boys were there and the first thing they said was, 'she's a keeper!'" — Reggie Bush on Kim Kardashian's skills. [MSNBC via OK!]
• "I've been very lucky in the last few years, haven't I? I'm where I want to be, really, in terms of the opportunities I'm getting and the people I'm working with. If it keeps going like it is and I keep working with the caliber of people I've been working with, I'm just thankful." — Clive Owen. [USA Today]
• "My breasts, my face, liposuction, a tummy tuck, a leg lift. I've had everything you can think of except for my eyes and lips. I wouldn't touch them" — Sharon Osbourne on her plastic surgery to Ladies' Home Journal. [Page Six]
• "I have 10 songs, and three of them I think are really good. The others are pretty crap, but we're working on them." — Joaquin Phoenix, on his rap career. [MSNBC]
• "I love the storytelling aspects of hip-hop, but I love the wordplay, as well. I just think the rhyming is fantastic, and I love, like, the raw emotion of it." — Joaquin Phoenix. [AP]
• "I didn't actually lose it. But nobody knows where it is at the moment." — Angelina Jolie on her Oscar, which she gave to her mother; her mom died in 2007. [Variety]
• "I think you're born an artist. It's like being gay. You're born gay, and then you discover that's who you are over a period of time in a world where maybe being gay is not the normal thing. Then you look it in the eye and you say thank you, and you put it in your heart and you lock it up and you go. When you're 12 years old and making clothes with plastic flowers attached to them, and trying to choreograph shows at your school that are entirely too sexy — you start to be like, Okay, this is my aesthetic. My aesthetic is in so many ways exactly the same as it was when I was younger, I'm just smarter. And I know how to execute the ideas. And I have a bigger budget." — Lady GaGa. [EW]
• "I just don't feel that it's all that sexy. It's weird. And uncomfortable. I look at photos of myself, and I look like such a tranny! It's amazing! I look like Grace Jones, androgynous, robo, future fashion queen. It's not what is sexy. It's graphic, and it's art. But that's what's funny: Well, yeah, I take my pants off, but does it matter if your pants are off if you've got eight-inch shoulder pads on, and a hood, and black lipstick and glasses with rocks on them? I don't know. That's sexy to me. But I don't really think anybody's dick is hard, looking at that. I think they're just confused, and maybe a little scared. It's more Manson to me than it is sexy." — Lady GaGa. Click for more amazing quotes! [EW]

[Sydney, February 1. Image via INF]

• It's going to be Kate Winslet vs. Kate Winslet at the Bafta awards. [Guardian]
• And! Winslet is on the February cover of In Style. [The Life Files]

• The Oscar presenters are a secret, but no one cares. [NY Daily News]
• Ruh-roh: Justin Timberlake was having dinner with Jessica Biel when Britney and her mom walked into the restaurant. A spy says JT and Jess quickly slumped down in their chairs to avoid Brit Brit. [Gatecrasher]
• Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa are "each other's rocks." [People]
• Random celebs are going to the inauguration! Josh Lucas will attend the swearing-in ceremony, Kal Penn has a ticket, Gloria Reuben is going to the Creative Coalition's pre-inaugural bash, and Ashley Judd is going to a couple of balls and the swearing-in. Of course, Judd will swing through Sundance first. Stars! Just like us. Not. [USA Today]
• And yes, Will Smith will be there too, as an "eyewitness to history." [Telegraph]
• Want to know what Barack Obama will eat for dinner on January 19th, before he takes the oath of office the next day? Click away. [TMZ]
• The new Barack Obama wax figure is vaguely horrifying. [Concrete Loop]
• Oh dear: Mickey Rourke and Bai Ling made out at Chateau Marmont. [Page Six]
• Breaking: Naomi Campbell and Naomi Campbell's maid have settled their lawsuit. Raise your hand if you think the maid got paid. [AP]
• Lost fans! Foxy Matthew Fox is looking foxy on the cover of Details! [ONTD]
• Lost fans! Awesome Evangeline Lilly is on the cover of TV Guide! [JustJared]
• Whoa: Guy Ritchie was in Madonna's NYC apartment on Tuesday, because Lourdes begged them, "Please don’t be mean to each other." Now, says a source: "Madge and Guy are getting along better than they have in over a year." Absence makes the heart grow civil? [Gatecrasher]
• Madonna is flying to Florida for an equestrian festival, and she's having a British riding instructor flown out for her. Six months ago Madonna had a horse shipped to the U.S., how did we miss that? [Perez]
• Amy Winehouse has extended her "well-being" stay at Le Sport Spa in St. Lucia, but she is ignoring the booze ban her management put in place. A source says, "We keep catching her crawling past bars, or hiding behind chairs. She grabs guests’ drinks and runs off, like a squirrel with a nut." [MSNBC]
• Okay, even though this is a picture of Amy Winehouse on her hands and knees outside of a hotel bar, her spokesperson says: "Amy was not stealing drinks off people's tables. She could have been doing anything in those pictures. She is moving out of the hotel and into a private villa nearby. She wants a bit more privacy. Her dad arrived today and she has decided to stay out there for two more weeks. She is just on holiday and enjoying herself." Clearly. [Daily Mail]
• American Idol's Kara DioGuardi is defending her attack on the contestant known as Bikini Girl. It isn't that she has a problem with attractive women: "I love pretty girls," DioGuardi told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show. "The thing with Bikini Girl, to be honest with you — I think she had a better body than her face. But we wouldn’t be talking about the bikini if she killed the song." [MSNBC]
• In this behind-the-scenes video of Beyoncé and Solange's L'Oréal commercial, you find out that they each think the other one looks "beautiful and flawless." Oh, and there's hair choreography. [ONTD]
• This item is about how Daniel Craig admits he's done some "crap" films, and used to go in Blockbuster and throw his bad movies that were on the shelf under the counter. Which is the story he told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, and we posted that clip here. [The Sun]
• We've heard this before, but Whoopi Goldberg is returning to the sci-fi genre: She'll produce and star in Stream, a series which premieres today on horror website and on-demand network FEARnet. [Reuters]
• Filmmaker Michael Moore "misused" a war photograph — in which a U.S. soldier is seen cradling a wounded Iraqi girl — and now there is a lawsuit and a kerfluffle. [Page Six]
• Will Ferrell is learning you can't say "douchebag" on morning television. [Page Six]
• Sharon Osbourne won't go on Jay Leno's new prime-time show in September: "I wouldn't go on it. Fuck no. He had always been a friend of ours, but then Ozzy went and performed on Jimmy Kimmel, and Jay has banned us ever since. So fuck him!" Tell us how you really feel, Sharon. [Page Six]
• By the by, Sharon has just won an apology and cold hard cash from The Sun after the paper falsely accused her of overworking husband Ozzy. [AP]
• Even though Courtenay Semel beat up Casey Johnson and set her hair on fire, the two will go to Sundance together this weekend. Fun! [Page Six]
• Emily Blunt is in negotiations to play femme fatale Black Widow in Iron Man 2. [Variety]
• Kendra Wilkinson says: "Now I'm totally against [Hefner's] way of life, with three girlfriends and all of that." But! She will marry fiancé Hank Baskett at the Playboy Mansion this summer. Moral compass: Askew. [NY Daily News]
• Aww, Lenny Kravitz and daughter Zoe work out with a trainer together in Miami. [Page Six]
• For some reason Craig Ferguson is really protective of Jimmy Fallon, who will take over Late Night in March. Ferguson told a bunch of TV critics: "I challenge you all to this: Give Jimmy a month before you review him. [Fallon] is kind of like the reverse Barack Obama. It's like he hasn't done anything yet, but everybody is commenting on his performance. Give him a chance." [AP]
• Jude Law and Judi Dench are helping save a gorgeous old Victorian church in north London. [Telegraph]
• Blind item! "Which aging action star had a leisurely conversation with a young, hunky co-star on set — all while being pleasured by an extra?" [Gatecrasher]
• Joey McIntyre says of the New Kids On The Block cruise: "Our manager tells us this is not a cheesy thing." But honey, he gets paid to say that. [Gatecrasher]
• Emma "Baby Spice Bunton" says there will be no Spice Girls reunion: "We had the most amazing time. It was a completely different vibe and we had so much fun. But it's done now, and I think we're all going in different directions." Ya think? [Mirror]
• Blur guitarist Graham Coxon says Pete Doherty is a "scumbag magnet." [The Sun]
• Daniel Radcliffe had to change a line in the play Equus because American tourists were laughing. It had to do with someone asking a horse's name and the line "Trojan... and you can stroke him." [Telegraph]
• "Are you sure you want to get this close to me after seeing my show?" — Bret Michaels to a group of "busty, flirty" fans who approached him begging for photos at a NYC bar on Monday. [Gatecrasher]
• "People come up to me and have certain words for me, but you know what I do? I say, 'I'm healthy, I exercise, I believe in myself, and I think I’m beautiful.' You just have to learn how to transform the pressures into something that doesn’t soak into you on a personal level. You see it, you breathe past it, you don’t let it sink into your self-esteem." — Raven-Symoné, who battles body critics, but will host a Dove-sponsored self-esteem workshop today. [People]
• "Honestly, to see how in love with Angelina he is, it was really quite disgusting. Awful in fact. It's in my contract now: I won't ever work with him again." — Cate Blanchett, joking about Brad Pitt. [Telegraph]
• "I got a souvenir. I got his glasses as a present. And it's my treasure. I love those glasses. He only has two pairs and he gave me one." — Penelope Cruz, on what Woody Allen gave her after Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Bet he says that to all the girls. [Hindustan Times via Contact Music]

• Lindsay and Sam rang in 2009 with yet another tear-drenched fight, this time at Miami International Airport. Linds was so inconsolable on the plane that she was asked if she'd like to disembark.

• As two of our favorite Lezebels, we hope these kids can work it out! [TMZ]
• Heather Locklear's DUI charges have been dismissed and she plead guilty to reckless driving, a misdemeanor. Locklear had prescription drugs in her system when she was arrested last September, but she'll only pay a $700 fine and have three years of informal probation. [TMZ]
• Alanis Morissette says that what inspired her to go on a diet and lose 20 lbs was longevity. "I realized I want to live till I’m 120. There’s a lifestyle that I am now happily creating that can, as best as is possible, prevent most forms of cancer and other diseases." Posing in pleather leggings in Ok! is just an added bonus. [ONTD]
• In his new audio book Ricky Gervais says he wants to tell people who have liposuction and gastric band operations, "You lazy f—-ing fat pig. Just go for a run and stop eating burgers. You might f—-ing die." We have a feeling Gervais may realize just how active the overweight can be when he's swamped with angry letters and phone calls. [The Telegraph]
• Molly Ringwald is pregnant with her second child! Insert your own Brat Pack/Pretty In Pink/Secret Life of the [Knocked Up] American Teenager joke here. [Star]
• Robert Pattinson's life is so hard because he has to wear gold (or perhaps topaz) contact lenses for the Twilight sequel New Moon. They are uncomfortable and hamper his acting. Note to Pattinson: if you whine this much about contacts, your chances of being offered Benjamin Button-type roles in the future are slim. [E!]
• K-Fed's new girlfriend Victoria Prince shares a birthday with Britney, which is clearly some kind of sign from the cosmos. Kevin has been a real gentlemen, opening the car door for his new lady and always paying for their bowling games. "They are definitely a couple – I have seen them kiss," says a source at their local bowling alley. "But they both seem focused on the bowling." [People]
• Despite rumors that Diddy was begging for inauguration tickets, his reps would like to inform you that Diddy does not beg for invites. He was offered tickets by the Obama camp for his work on the campaign trail. Says Diddy, "I'll see ya'll at the inauguration." [TMZ]
• It was reported yesterday that the millions Madonna raised for her own charity Raising Malawi had not been received by the foundation. But apparently they are just being processed by the LA Kaballah Center, which of course, makes perfect sense.[Perez Hilton]
• Rosie O'Donnell wrote this on her blog: "2009 / this year / unplugged / see what happens / on we go / peace out / and in," which means she is never posting on her blog again. We think. [Perez Hilton]
• Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban will continue renovating their recently-purchased Australian mansion even though developers are building a 100-dwelling conference center on the other side of their back fence. There is local opposition to the development and the owners offered to just sell it to the couple, but they don't want to get involved in the local squabble. [News.com.au]
• Will Smith has been voted the Top Money-Making Star of 2008 by Quigley Publishing Company. Reese Witherspoon and Angelina Jolie were the only ladies who made the top ten. [PR News Wire]
• "Everyone ages in a really different way. Some people rage, rage against the dying of the light, and some people embrace it. And people age according to how their lives have been physically. And so I really had to think about the fact that Daisy was a dancer and so how would she age? And how would she treat her aging? I thought, well, she'll always wear makeup, and she won't let her hair go, and that her injuries will come back to haunt her later in life, hence the stick (a cane), and I have a slight limp. A limp and a stick often help a character sink in." - Cate Blanchett on playing an older person in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Reuters]