• Tony Romo broke up with Jessica Simpson the night before her 29th birthday on July 10, which is especially tragic because she had planned a Barbie and Ken themed party.

• A source said Jess had to cancel the party but she's "ok." Did the Ken costume push him over the edge? [Us]
• Madonna's daughter Lourdes was spotted wearing a SpineCor back brace, which is commonly used to treat scoliosis. [Yeeeah]
• David Beckham says rumors that he's posing in a series of sexy Emporio Armani ads with Angelina Jolie are untrue. "She's an amazing person and so is Brad. They're an incredible couple — got an amazing family. You know she wouldn't do it and I wouldn't do it. At the end of the day, I wouldn't do it because I'm married," he said. [Extra]
• Ian Halperin's Michael Jackson tell-all is coming out this week, so expect to hear more salacious details from the book, such as his claim that MJ was gay. Halperin said he's interviewed two of MJ's lovers. "He met a construction worker and fell madly in love with him," claims Halperin. "Michael would leave the house in disguise, often dressed as a woman, and would go meet his boyfriend at a motel that was one of Vegas' grungiest dives. Michael was broke. He struggled to put food on the table for his children. That was all he could afford then." [UPI]
• Sources say Debbie Rowe made a deal with Katherine Jackson that she'd give up custody of Paris and Prince as long as Joe Jackson would have no part in raising them. "The last thing she wanted was for those kids to be looked after by Joe and go through what Michael went through," said a source. "When [Rowe and Jackson] were [married], Michael poured out his heart about how much he loathed Joe for what he had done." [N.Y. Post]
• Sheryl Crow says of being Michael Jackson's backup dancer, "I like to call it magic. It's really overused where he is concerned, but I like to call it magic and I got to watch that magic every night." [CBS News]
• Michael Jackson's production company MJJ Productions has confirmed the rumors that a Michael Jackson video game is in the works. Supposedly it included MJ's voice and will be in stores by Christmas. [Mirror]
• A New York art gallery postponed an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson from the auction block. It's value was estimated at $1 million to $10 million, but the gallery wants to offer the painting to "the greatest number of prospective purchasers." [Yahoo]
• Next month Alana Stewart, one of Farrah Fawcett's closest friends, will publish a diary she kept while Farrah was battling cancer. Some of the profits will be donated to the Farrah Fawcett Foundation. [Crains]
• A judge ruled Amanda Brunfield, Billy Bob Thornton's daughter, won't be released from jail until an expert witness testifies about why there were bruises on the skull of the baby who died in her care. [The Orlando Sentinel]
• Maura Tierney has a breast tumor. She released a statement saying, "I have discovered a tumor in my breast which requires surgery. I will not know either my exact diagnosis or course of treatment until that surgery is performed." Her new show Parenthood was supposed to premiere in the fall but NBC has postponed it until 2010 so she can receive treatment. [N.Y. Times]
• Artie Lange says he doesn't know why he was charged with DUI. He claims he blew a 0.0 Breathalyzer and passed every test the police officer gave him after he rear ended another car. He says he was on his way to pick up a prescription for his sick mother. [TMZ]
• Nas has filed legal papers in his divorce from Kelis claiming he didn't get a $11 million record deal and his income is actually declining. While she says he's offered no child support for their unborn child, he says he wants to be "fully involved" in parenting the child, has already bough two cribs and a stroller, and has offered to pay $5,000 a month in child support. [TMZ]
• Megan Fox is shopping for a home in the Hollywood Hills. This weekend she looked at homes in the $2 million to $3 million range. [The Daily Mail]
• Survivor winner Richard Hatch went to prison for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million prize and is serving out the last three months of his sentence on house arrest. He's asked the court to let him participate in a 10th anniversary editor of the show to help pay the $400,000 he still owes the IRS. [E!]
• Miley Cyrus was paid $10,000 a day for voicing Bolt, but if they movie had made just $11 million more at the box office she would have made tons more in bonuses. [TMZ]
• Neil Patrick Harris will host the Emmy Awards on September 20. [N.Y. Times]
• Matt Damon will guest star on Entourage next season to raise money for his charity OneXOne. You can read spoilers here: [People]
• Natalie Portman has been cast as the female lead in the comic book movie Thor. Chris Hemsworth will play Thor and Kenneth Branagh is directing. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Holly Madison and Jason Statham were spotted hanging out in Las Vegas over the weekend. Elsewhere in Vegas, Leighton Meester performed songs from her upcoming album. [E!]
• Also spotted this weekend in Vegas: Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, and his parents. [Just Jared]
• After many teenagers were turned away from Bruno this weekend, a version has been created for teens 15 and older. Only 1 minute and 50 seconds are missing from the 15+ film, which marks the first time two versions of a film have appeared in U.K. theaters. [BBC]
• Michelle Pfeiffer says maintaining her figure means limiting herself. "I'm not allowed to do those fancy foods, especially while shooting. At that time, I'm given certain portions. Meted out quantities. Like when we filmed Chéri in Paris, I did not partake of those sauces." [The Telegraph]
• Molly Ringwald gave birth to her twins, Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos last week. [ONTD]
• Mira Sorvino gave birth to her third child with her husband on June 22. His name is Holden. She says, "He is my miracle baby. With everything that threatened this pregnancy and both of our lives, he came out of it completely unscathed: perfectly healthy, beautiful and wonderful!" [People]
• Kelly Bensimon is coming back for season three of RHONY, but it's unclear which of her costars will join her. "I am coming back," said Kelly. "But I actually don't know who else is coming back. They don't really tell me." [People]
• Dylan McDermott says he became an actor because of his step-mother, Eve Ensler. He says Ensler, who married his dad when he was 15, "instantly said that I should be an actor" because she "saw something" in him. [AP]
• "Now I've got this moniker that I'm the foot-in-mouth gal, and I keep thinking, In what way? Because I said something you don't agree with? Because I said something you don't like? I'm just telling you my opinion. I hate the idea that I can't be honest about how I feel about things because it's going to piss somebody off who feels differently. That seems preposterous to me." — Katherine Heigl [ONTD]
• Kathy Griffin beat out Lisa Rinna and Tara Reid to win a "Who's Got A Hot Bikini Bod" poll on People.com. "I voted for myself obsessively – I mean many hundreds of times," says Griffin. "Then I called my mother and had her vote, and then I had the staff drop all other work so they could do nothing but vote for me... Finally, at 48-years-old I am seen as a stupid shallow sex object," she says. "That's right: there are guys now that are not gay – well as far as I know – that want to [sleep with] me, who don't think I am funny, or even smart. They just think I have a hot body and I'm all for that." [People]
• "I wasn't trying to be a role model with The Dutchess," says Fergie, but after "seeing little girls in the audience with their moms. [It] made me think about what I do onstage a little bit more. I had to watch my mouth, because it can be filthy." [People]
• "If David Beckham had of spoken out about Iraq it wouldn't have happened, I honestly believe that hand on heart, or Britain certainly wouldn't have got involved... Beckham's cultural gravitas was as such in that period that if he'd have gone 'I don't want this war in Iraq, it's an awful thing, we should not do it', it wouldn't have happened, the public would've gone mad against it. But because he kept his gob shut, and everybody else did, it happened, we sleepwalked our way there." — Jon McClure of Reverend And The Makers. [The Mirror]

The Huffington Post reported on the first few productions of the play in Beijing in March, when it was still known as V. Although the crowd appeared excited about the show ("I'd never, ever seen anything like that!" said one college student), reporter Julian Baird Gewirtz noticed that many women were unwilling to shout "bi", a slang term akin to pussy, when one actress tried to start a chant:

But there was one particularly revealing moment from the audience that may itself capture the current cultural situation in China as much as the action on stage. As in the English-language version, the actress Lin Han concluded one of her pieces by chanting the word "bi" over and over again, zealously calling on the largely female audience to do the same. But from this Beiing crowd, a few male voices yelled out the word once; not a single female voice could be heard.

Like the change in title — which director Wang Chong said was necessary in order for him to book a venue — the lack of audience participation points to the conservative beliefs many Chinese still hold about female sexuality. "They are . . . the second sex" in China, Wang said. "In Mao's period, women had a better position in society: equal to men. But now those socialist ideals have disappeared."

Chinese producers first tried to bring Ensler's play in Shanghai in 2004, but the show was canceled by officials, who told the director that the play was "not yet mature." Five years later, and several months after the successful run in Beijing, The Vagina Monologues has returned to Shanghai. Wang has translated the script from English to Chinese, trying to stay as close to the original as possible. Of his decision to change the name for Beijing, Wang said: "In China, things should be handled Chinesely."

"Chinesely" apparently means discreetly. As Time reports, sexual freedom in China is a strange and elusive beast. For the most part, sexual limits are "set by parents, not the Communist party." However, the government has been known to issue crackdowns on sex-related events and pornography, but they do so in a manner that is unpredictable and confusing (the gay pride festival is OK, as are drag shows, but a screening of The Laramie Project is not). The initial name change was not endorsed by Ensler's camp, but it may have been necessary for the show to go on. Although there is a certain irony to the censorship of the word "vagina," as noted by a professor of women's studies at Sun Yat-sen University, Wang hopes that his production will help free women from social restrictions. He also advises men to see the play: "I highly recommend male audience to see this show because really finding a vagina is about really finding a female and at the same time when you know what a female is you know what a male is. It's about both sexes."

In China, V Is For The Vagina Monologues [Time]
The Vagina Monologues Are Coming To Shanghai [The Shanghaiist]
The Vagina Monologues Comes To Beijing [Huffington Post]

• Suck on this: Madonna will be involved in New Moon, the Twilight sequel. Her Madgesty will not only be in the film, but supply music for the soundtrack. Brain exploding, brb. [ONTD via E!]

• Hayden Panettiere, 19, and Milo Ventimiglia, 31, are over. Done. Apparently "Hayden tried to break up with Milo many times since Christmas, but he wouldn't accept it." She wants to be free; he wants to settle down. [Star]
• Lily Allen and Perez Hilton are in a "Twitter catfight." He wrote: "If I wanted to be a fucked-up Brit, I'd rather be Amy Winehouse – whose[sic] got talent." She fired back: "God, you're like so obsessed with me its embarrassing." He sniped about her album being discounted; she called him a little parasite. Isn't the internet fun? [Telegraph]
• A charity set up by Prince Harry is accused of promising £30,000 to the children of poverty-stricken Lesotho, only to have the money fail to materialize. [Telegraph]
• Prince Harry also flew a training aircraft yesterday, despite failing his exams last week. [Daily Mail]
• David Beckham "finally got" wife Victoria to agree to move to Milan. Ciao, off you go! [The Sun]
• Chris Brown has hired Paris Hilton's spin doctor, Mike Sitrick. But Fox News's Roger Friedman says Sitrick is "universally disliked by the press" and that Chris is "clueless." [Fox 411]
• Julia Roberts looks beachy keen on the March cover of Allure and says she'd like to have dinner with the Obamas. "The girls can play with my kids." She also says: "I think it should be against the law to take a picture of a celebrity's child." [MSNBC Scoop]
• More from Julia in Allure, talking about her kids: "I will never be bored again… [I have] little time theives running around [the] house." And her life: "I'm the luckiest girl in town, I really am." Yawn! [People]
• Halle Berry will star in a flick called Who Is Doris Payne, about an international jewel thief whose career spanned five decades. Rejoice: Neither a hooker, a victim nor a doormat! [Variety]
• Drew Barrymore has a crush on Christian Bale. Back of the line, dear. [Mirror]
• Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto wants a meaty, "ugly" role: "I don't want to be known as just a pretty face. I loved Charlize Theron in Monster. I want to play parts that are challenging and inspiring." Good luck! [Mirror]
• Peaches Geldof made the paper for wearing fishnet thigh-highs with garters. Slow news day? [The Sun]
• Wowza, check out Emily Blunt in this tribute to Blue Velvet. Lynchy! [BlackBook]
• Anne Hathaway, Anne Archer, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Camryn Manheim, Jessica Alba, Maria Bello, Rosario Dawson and others were on hand for V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women, hosted by feminist playwright Eve Ensler and Glamour. [WWD]
• Grace Jones arrived so late for the African Fashion Collection bash the other night, the party was already over. [Page Six]
• Becki Newton, Ugly Betty's Amanda, swears the show is not cancelled: "We don't know what's going to be happening with the time slot, but we're well into season three, and we just got picked up for season four. There was panic for no reason." [Gatecrasher]
• Jackie Chan is starring in a new flick so violent that it's not being released in mainland China. Of course, that makes us want to see it. Okay, just saw a trailer and it looks epic. [AP]
• There's ultra-violence in Quentin Tarantino's new film, Inglourious Basterds; Nazis get scalped, hit by bats and machine-gunned down. [Page Six]
• PR queen Kelly Cutrone (seen on The Hills and The City) is friends with Eliot Spitzer's ex-hooker, Ashley Dupre. Cutrone says: "I met Ashley through friends in the music industry, I liked her and decided I would be nice to her. I will continue to be nice to her." [Page Six]
• Steven Van Zandt of The Sopranos and the E street band has a radio show, Little Steven's Underground Garage. [Guardian]
• Amy Fisher is a stripper now. "I am going to take this road until my fans tell me, 'Dear, please put your clothes back on. You're too old.'" [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which crazy comic tells everyone about his, ummm, taste for booty whenever he's trashed? Talk about TMI!" [Gatecrasher]
• "A lot of people are scared of him, not just because of his position, but because of his temper. I don't think he ever had the time for 'la dolce vita.' I showed him how." —Carla Bruni on husband Nicolas Sarkozy. [Daily Mail]
• "Do I look like I care? I really don't think about [Joop or what he said]. What am I supposed to say? It's his opinion. What do you think?" — Heidi Klum, on being called "too heavy" to be a runway model. [Gatecrasher]
• "The character is learning lessons about consumption and debt like the rest of us right now. It feels fairly topical. Obviously the movie was conceived during a different economic period but she learns her lesson. It is a redemption story." — Isla Fisher, defending the timing of her Shopaholic picture. [Mirror]
• "She was the greatest show on earth last year. She was going through her issues in public... It was great to watch her spin out of control because it makes the average person feel better." — 50 Cent on Britney Spears, who helped inspire his album Before I Self Destruct. [MSNBC, Mirror]
• "I'm a sentimental person who's trying very hard to be a tough cynical person. This show has been more than a job for me; I met my wife on a remote, and we have two kids. I got my dog through this show. This has been a huge central part of my life. I'm quite good at denial, so I've been keeping it at bay. There's not time to dwell. (But) when we're doing the last show, it'll hit me. I'll probably cry like a baby." — Conan O'Brien on leaving Late Night for Tonight. [USA Today]
• "That was the least of our problems. I was always really proud of her success. I'm not a competitive person, and I have no aspirations to be a giant in this industry. I like making movies, but I never had designs on making $25 million a picture." — Ryan Phillippe, denying that he was ever jealous of wife Reese Witherspoon's success. [Contact Music]
• "I can't say that I'm still pole dancing. It's hard! I understand the hazards of the exotic dancer in a way I never imagined." — Marisa Tomei, on the skills she learned for The Wrestler. [Mirror]
• "I had to run and scream while wearing it! But it helps your posture, and certainly makes your boobs look fantastic. My internal organs now loathe me, however, so it might be good to do something in jeans and T-shirts. After all, I don't want to be typecast as the 'English rose' -that's boring, isn't it?" — Emily Blunt on wearing a corset in Wolf Man. [BlackBook]
• "Chris Brown's lies and excuses make me want to beat the crap out of him... He uses the language of the perpetrator just like every sleazy bastard who ever smacked his wife, kid, mother or girlfriend around uses. You dirty bastard, I hope you go to prison for ten years. IT'S YOUR FAULT, ASSHOLE! As for all the mealy mouthed Hollywood and music scene chicks that can't bring themselves to condemn a misogynistic bully, let me say this: Your time as whores for propaganda is ending, bitches." — Roseanne Barr. [ONTD]
• "I've been at war, without a doubt. I've really experienced the judgment of women in the past year. We say we want to be equal, but men don't sit around bitching at each other. There's no sisterhood." — Sienna Miller. [Mirror]

As we’ve previously mentioned, the violence against women in Congo has reached unprecedented levels. Over the weekend, NPR interviewed Eve Ensler and Dr. Denis Mukwege about their work in helping to heal the wounds caused by the sexual attacks of soldiers. Mukwege, the founder of Panzi hospital in the Congo, said that first “we need to help them feel like human beings again before we can do any medical help.” Eve Ensler became involved with the crisis in Congo through several interviews she conducted with Dr. Mukwege in 2006. She continues to raise awareness about the violence in Congo, partially through V-Day, a global movement she founded to end violence against women. In this clip, Eve Ensler and Dr. Mukwege calls for help from Americans to help “put pressure on the political actors of the countries of the great lakes so there will be a political will to prevent these horrible crimes.” [NPR]

Earlier this year, author Nancy Redd was asked to give her 2007 body-positive book 'Body Drama' to 250 teenage Hurricane Katrina survivors at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the 'Vagina Monologues'. "I've harbored a major crush on Eve Ensler for over nine years," Nancy says. "Growing up with normal teenage angst and inadequate health education, I hated my vulva and I never referred to "down there" as anything other than a "hoo-ha". The Monologues were my introduction to feminism; nothing was more empowering to 18-year-old me than having a legit reason to scream "MY SHORT SKIRT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" and "IT'S SUPPOSED TO SMELL LIKE PUSSY!" to the world." Below, Nancy fills us in on everything that went down in the (very fertile) Crescent City over the weekend, where 18,000 participants raised awareness of violence towards women by giving love to vaginas and the amazing women who own them.

"We call her sultry and sexy when we crave her, but after when we want to demean her and dismiss her, we call her swampy and soiled."

"We brag about her music, the way she moves, we beg to get inside her, but disown her later when she has needs."

This year, Eve decided to concentrate the power of her tenth anniversary on the community who needs it the most: the women of New Orleans, who, as Ensler explains, have "survived the fallout of global warming, failure of public structures, racism, economic hardship, and domestic abuse." (She calls them "Katrina Warriors".)

As soon as we walked into the Superdome, we were overwhelmed by the Biggest. Vagina. Ever. Very hypnotizing, and reminiscent of Gene Simmons' tongue!

Right after I arrived at the arena on Friday, author Gabrielle Roth had everyone come to the front of the stage for a fifteen minute "ecstatic dance" designed to release grievances and to allow positive energy to flow. The crowd was LOVING it, and I wanted Gabrielle to crowd surf so badly, because we would have caught her and it would have been awesome.

Afterwards, I checked out the art that decorated the Superdome, created by activists from around the world. Pieces included the biggest bra ball ever...

...an activist comic titled "Fuck, I'm a Victim," and V-Day memorabilia from the past ten years. One really cool installment was the Intentions Hut, where people could go inside and write their dreams and goals and place them in a box aptly titled 'Intentions.' This is where I found out that nearly everyone working the event — from Rosario Dawson's assistant for the day to the translator for Congolese doctor Dr. Denis Mukwege — was a volunteer, and many were college students or retirees. (The volunteer manning the Intentions Hut told me that her husband took Eve Ensler to his prom!)

A large part of the decision to hold the anniversary event at the Superdome was to transform horrible memories for Katrina survivors into positive ones. To do this, V-Day created three healing stations for local women (with some services and samples open to everyone) on the upper levels. To get to the stations, which was also where the food was, everyone had to pass through a giant glowing vulva. Perhaps for rebirth?

Once upstairs, there were massage sessions, yoga classes taught by Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman, and free haircuts and makeup application for Katrina survivors, who were truly enjoying all of the pampering.

There was also a jam-packed activism room full of creative and inspiring groups and organizations, like the women from SAFER, who displayed edgy t-shirts...

...and Rha Goddess, who offered her new book We Got Issues.

There were so many younger kids swarming around and it was heartwarming seeing them studying the artwork and questioning the activists about what they do.

One of the best stage presentations included a girl who looked to be about ten and who proudly exclaimed that in her life from now on, she was "going to ignore stupidity and claim self control." She is now my new role model.

There were quite a few guys (a.k.a. "V-Men") around, too, both as participants and spectators. Authors and activists Jimmie Briggs, who brought his proud mom and aunt (aw!), and John Prendergast chatted with Tara from CosmoGIRL! and myself in between adoring fans (of which there were many).

On Saturday morning, Asia Rainey, local activist and the force behind the Daughters of Hope Rites of Passage, gave us our cues and got us all charged up, and Eve Ensler came in to say hi to the giddy teens, who were nervous and thrilled about being onstage in front of so many people, where they recited skills they'd learned in mentoring classes.

A lot of the girls were super-amped about the fact that they were going to meet Kerry Washington afterwards, worrying that their cell phones wouldn't get good enough pictures. As I was lining up to go onstage to give my presentation — during which I gave a motivational speech and presented my book — I bumped into Dr. Mukwege, an amazing Congolese doctor who is at the forefront of next year's V-Day focus on stopping violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even though I let loose with an embarrassing scream of glee and a big hug he was incredibly gracious, just chilling in the waiting room wearing a sparkly red feather boa around his neck. I was hoping he would keep it on for the whole evening but alas, he took it off before his Q&A with Eve.

Next up was a Hollywood panel with Kerry Washington, Rosario Dawson, Amber Tamblyn, and Ali Larter; it was a huge hit, and the ladies really opened up about a lot of the sexism and weight concerns that they deal with in the industry.

Women are actually lambasted for crazy things like their ARM size, y'all! When asked about racial stereotypes of females in the media, Kerry expressed her frustration about the few roles for black women that aren't maids or prostitutes, and said that when she had to play one of those roles she tried hard to make the character a real person and not just the stereotype. There were girls who started CRYING in the audience when the celebs came out, and a few teens were brave enough to sneak backstage to get hugs and pictures, and everyone was really cool and gracious about it.

For that evening's star-studded performance of the Vagina Monologues, the Superdome was packed and full of energy.

Eve's adopted son Dylan McDermott was sitting right in front of me next to one of his daughters.

For me, the Vagina Monologues are like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and other movie classics...even though I've seen 'em a million times and I have most of the lines memorized I still love watching from beginning to end. Seeing Eve perform live injected new life into the decade-old words, and I loved her vulva pantsuit.

The celebrities added an interesting flavor and there were some new monologues that had been introduced since the last time I did the show. After watching the touching monologue "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy" in homage of the transgender experience, I had to Google one of the performers, Calpernia Addams, and I have found my new favorite time-killing video channel.

Towards the end of the performances, Jennifer Beals stole the entire show with her rendition of the crowd favorite "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy", aka "The Moaner".

Her and her backup moaners' renditions of the Irish Catholic orgasm moan "Oh, Oh, Oh PLEASE forgive me!" and the African-American moan "Oh SHIT! Oooooh SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT!" were absolutely hilarious.

At the afterparty at the W, I finally got a good look at Rosario Dawson's shoes and they were as I suspected - the infamous backward heels!

What's really funny is that earlier that evening, while we were both backstage, she seriously questioned whether or not my gold wedge heels were comfy. Anyway, she said her shoes felt fine but I wished I had asked her where she got them because my Google-fu is failing me and I NEED THOSE SHOES!

There was tons of food at the party, including made-to-order FREAKING chicken and waffles, y'all! (Eve and her people know how to throw a party.) Everyone was into the music and the atmosphere and the people and it was just a room full of hot, happy vaginas and their guy friends...a perfect end to an amazing weekend. Hope to see everyone in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009!

The V Day Event Of The Decade: V To The Tenth [V10.VDay.org]

Earlier:
"Here At The Hospital, We Have Seen Women Who Have Stopped Living"
New York Interviewer Accuses Vagina Book Author Of An "Anti-Waxing Slant"
Badass, Self-Described Feminist Jane Fonda Drops the C-Word On Today

Related: Body Drama [Amazon]

Related: The V-Day Event Of The Decade [VDay]
Earlier: Why Is The Word Cunt Still Such A Big Deal?