Farber spoke with pop culture professor Robert Thompson, who said of the Real Housewives franchise,

Essentially, this is a show about women behaving badly. That may be fun to watch, but by no means does it play to the more noble parts of the human spirit.

It's kind of hilarious that Farber felt he needed to consult an expert in order to tell us that the Real Housewives aren't, like, Tolstoy. On the other hand, it is kind of interesting to speculate about whether, as viewers, we're laughing at or with the 'wives. Andy Cohen, the show's executive producer, says, "It's about strong, driven, independent women, each with their own singular point of view." And he claims that the show's stars are cast for their status as "archetypical women," not their boobs or willingness to catfight. But Thompson says, "The 'Housewives' gives you a sanctioned, alternative space in which you can freely watch people you hold in contempt." And even Cohen admits that, "There are a lot of times where we are winking at the audience and saying, 'This one said she believes in raising kids healthfully.' Then the next thing she says to the kid is, 'Light me a cigarette.'?"

So is it Okay to like the Housewives? Clearly, anyone who says they watched the recording of "Tardy for the Party" for its musical value is full of shit, as is anyone who claims not to chuckle once in a while at the spectacle of grown women carrying on like overprivileged teenage girls. On the other hand, maybe a show about "women behaving badly" isn't so ignoble. I kind of giggle every time I hear Sheree say "People are intimidated by my success" in the opening credits, but at the same time, it's a pretty ballsy thing to say on television. Yes, the Real Housewives are full of themselves, but it's kind of exciting to watch women who are unafraid to assert how important they are. Kim, Sheree, and the rest aren't models of generosity or restraint — okay, they aren't really models of anything, except sometimes their own clothing lines — but they are loud and bitchy and attention-grabbing and people love them for it, which is maybe not such a bad thing.

Although Cohen may take it a little too far. He says, "Often, people want to apologize for watching. But I would defend this show to my death, for one reason: It's fun." The Real Housewives is pretty fun — but it's not really worth dying for.

It's A 'Real Housewives' World: How Catfights, Cougars And Cosmetic Surgery Conquered Television [NY Daily News]

• Lindsay Lohan accidentally ruined a cake at a Victoria's Secret party, as she thought the cake was actually a giant perfume bottle. "She accidentally poked a hole right in the middle of it." says a source. Team Pie shenanigans! [PageSix]

• Meanwhile, Michael Lohan is furious that the judge at Lindsay's recent probation hearing didn't order his daughter to go to rehab: "She needs to put my daughter in rehab," Lohan says, "How could that judge have let her just walk in to court and walk right back out? The least they could have done was give her a drug test at the door." [RadarOnline]
• Dina Lohan however, just used her Oh Snap Flowchart on Michael, releasing this statement: "Michael Lohan needs to focus on being a parent, paying child support, of which he is six months behind, and making up for all the years he was an absentee dad," Dina says, "And stop going on national television talking about his children publicly."
  Lindsay, meanwhile, is reportedly considering taking a restraining order out against her father. [People]
• Mickey Rourke allegedly is "fascinated with the Mafia" and once "created his own crew in a "male-bonding ceremony" in Los Angeles with 13 friends who swore allegiance to one another." [PageSix]
• Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper were spotted together in Vancouver, and according to DJ Leanne who dined at the same restaurant as the couple, ""Renée was very happy. She was laughing, smiling. They were very cute. They were definitely having a good time and seemed happy." [People]
• Stephanie Santoro, former nanny to the Gosselins (who also claims she hooked up with Jon), says that the Gosselin kids love filming Jon and Kate Plus 8, and that Jon Gosselin is on a monstrous power trip right now. All he does want out of everything is control. He wants to be in control of everything in his life," she said, "including Kate." [LATimes]
• "I was pretty upset. I don't like to think of him sitting in a prison cell. But I wouldn't comment upon it because it's a very complicated issue, you know? It seems odd. He's been living in Switzerland for years and I've visited him there, so this is all very strange."- Ewan McGregor on Roman Polanski [LATimes]
• Kiera Knightley, Amy Winehouse, and Nicole Kidman all all being considered to play Dusty Springfield in an upcoming biopic. [DailyExpress]
• "I don't see it as being from a misogynistic point of view. On the contrary, I don't find any hatred there. For me, the woman character was him. I felt I was playing him. The vulnerability of that woman is Lars."-Charlotte Gainsbourg on her role in the controversial film, Antichrist. [LATimes]
• "It's funny, because I haven't had one ounce of Botox or any of that. I finally got gray hairs in the past couple years, and I wore it on ER, but they made me cover it up in this show. I don't want to be one of those weird-looking guys who gets old but stays looking young."-John Stamos on his youthful appearance [TheAdvocate]
• "I'm old. It's an interesting thing to watch yourself grow older on screen. I was watching Up In The Air and I thought, 'Jesus, who's the old gray-haired guy?' And it was me. I never wear makeup for movies and now it's starting to show."- George Clooney [Telegraph]
• Busta Rhymes has been ordered to pay $75,000 to a man he assaulted in 2003. [UPI]
• Jermaine Jackson's ex-wife, Alejandra Jackson, claims that Jermaine owes $35,550 in court-ordered child support. [TMZ]
• Kim Kardashian's was robbed last night; the robber made off with several pieces of jewelry, including a Cartier watch. [TheSun]
• Megan Fox was crowned "Best Sci-Fi Actress" at the Spike TV Scream Awards last night. [DailyMail]
• "Most of my humor is how totally ridiculous I am. I can find endlessly funny things about me or our life. The grand statement followed upon stepping in the pile of poo."- Ted Danson [LATimes]
• Real Housewives' star Bethenny Frankel is engaged to boyfriend Jason Hoppy. "It feels great, because I'm with the right person," Frankel says. [People]
• Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are rolling their eyes at this right now, according to a source who says the pair "never used to pay attention to what was being written about them in the media but in recent weeks, they've become fascinated by it. They're obsessed with Googling themselves to find out what the bloggers and fans are saying about them. They find all the rumors hilarious!" [ShowbizSpy]
• Madonna is currently being sued by neighbors in her Central Park apartment building, who claim Madonna is using the space to rehearse and subjecting them all to "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for three hours a day. [Mirror]
• Are Madonna and Guy Richie getting back together? A source says maybe possibly who knows: "The pair of them have huge egos so, rather than speaking directly to one another, they are using friends to relay information. The truth is both Guy and Madonna are becoming more and more open in their admissions that in many ways they regret getting divorced." [ShowbizSpy]
• "When I'm singing in the studio, I have an image in my mind of sitting at a table with somebody and they're sitting right across from me and I'm telling them something," he says. "There's a lot of music and a lot of people out there who can tell you how they feel, but if you can tell somebody how they feel and they didn't realize it until you told them, then you've got something." -Tim McGraw [WashingtonPost]
• Hugh Jackman's people are reportedly pushing the actor to turn down a second stint hosting the Oscars, as "he's a movie star, not a song and dance man." [DeadlineHollywood]
• Sting's wife, Trudie Styler calls him "Pookie," because, as Sting explains, "Pookie means magic mushroom. It's because we used to take so many when we were younger." [TheSun]

• Chris Brown was supposed to be sentenced today for pleading guilty to felony assault, but the sentencing was postponed to August 27 so the judge could review his full community service schedule, which she wants to include hard labor. [TMZ]

• Rihanna's mom Monica Fenty said she's worried her daughter is "playing Russian roulette with her life" after hearing rumors that she secretly met up with Chris Brown at a Manhattan hotel last week. Fenty added, "I'm devastated. Chris has power over her. She still loves him." [The Mirror]
• Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are engaged. The True Blood co-stars have been together since February. [People]
• For the first time Forbes has released a list of Hollywood's top earning women. The top five in order are Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Celine Dion, Beyonce Knowles, and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Judge Judy and Britney Spears are tied for numbers 6 and 7. [Forbes]
• Marc McLeod, the 53-year-old man who claimed Miley Cyrus was sending him "secret messages" through her TV show has been arrested for a second time for stalking her. He was spotted hanging around the Georgia set of her new film. [TMZ]
• Ryan Seacrest said on his radio show this morning that he was shocked to find out Paula Abdul won't be returning to American Idol. "She's a dear friend. I love her to death and am really sad that it came to fruition," Seacrest said. "I'm just bummed because we've worked together for so many years. It's sad." [People]
• Paula Abdul may have been kicked off American Idol because of a passionate Tweet. She and the producers were still in the middle of negotiations when she Tweeted a goodbye, which the producers took as an official declaration that discussions were over. [TMZ]
• This article says by leaving Paula is acting out a "celebrity cliche," and is titled "Abdul turns back on show that kept her relevant." Ouch. [MSNBC]
• Here's People's "inside story" on why Paula left: she asked for a raise and got a much smaller offer than she expected. Also, an NBC executive says, "Paula is an exceptional piece of talent." [People]
• Adam Lambert says the tabloid story that he lashed out at a fan for smudging his nail polish isn't true. "That never happened," he says, "Oh my god, I love it! I love how they always go with a 'very reliable source,' 'a close friend of Adam.' I'm like, 'Who?' " [E!]
• Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have fired the head of their private school The New Village Leadership Academy because she didn't agree with the school's practice of Study Tech, a curriculum devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. [Radar Online]
• Timberbrit, a modern opera about Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, was written by a Yale doctoral student and is being adapted into a fully staged version. The songs were inspired by slowed down versions of Brit's songs, which tell, "a tragic tale that imagines Spears' last concert, in the final hours of her life. Timberlake returns after a long absence to win back Spears' love, but in the end she chooses the audience's love above all else." [NPR]
• Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers says, "If Justin Timberlake was so stupid and hated money so much that he would work for us permanently, we would love to have him... But he would really have to hate money." [N.Y. Magazine]
• Kevin Federline has been offered $2.5 million to endorse a weight loss supplement called EP-2 (Extreme Physical Performance). [Radar Online]
• Brooke Hogan says of her singing career, "It's hard to crossover. First, I was doing the singing, and because I was Hulk Hogan's daughter, everyone was like, "Oh, it's handed to her. Oh, she looks like a wrestler herself." I mean they were hard on me from all angles, you just couldn't win. And then I started doing the TV show to kind of have a platform and get people to know me and stuff like that. But I did the TV show to help my singing, and people think that I'm a TV star that's trying to sing now, like Heidi Montag or something. I'm like, "No. It's different." The singing is the permanent thing, the TV show's what's going to come and go." [AP]
• 2.1 million viewers watched the episode of Kendra in which she married Hank Baskett, making it the high rated first season finale for E! since The Anna Nicole Show in 2002. [Broadcasting & Cable]
• Kourtney Kardashian says her sister Kim Kardashian is still house hunting even though she broke up with Reggie Bush. "You go see this amazing house that's, like, a family house," says Kourtney, "and she's like, 'Wait, where does Reggie fit into all of this?' That's what, I think, she's struggling with." [People]
• Have you seen the new T-Mobile ads which are basically about horney guys drooling over Catherine Zeta-Jones? You can check one out here: [AdWeek]
• Tony Griffin, is suing the people running his father Merv Griffin's companies, claiming they squandered much of Merv's fortune. But sources say Merv Griffin Productions was actually handled pretty well, but has suffered due to the recession. [TMZ]
• Rosie O'Donnell and partner Kelli Carpenter-O'Donnell haven't split, according to her rep. "This is ridiculous," she says. "I get this rumor every time Rosie travels for work. Right now she is on tour with Cyndi Lauper." [People]
• Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who recently announced that he has cancer sent an e-mail to fans thanking them for their support. He said he's recovering from surgery but, "no sooner am I on the mend from this first torture than are they lining up the next one." In a few weeks he will begin radiation treatment, which he said, "involves blasting you with some kind of beam for a few minutes a day, 5 days a week, for about 7 weeks." [N.Y. Times]
• Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs' baby boy is due on September 6, but they haven't picked out a name yet. "We have a couple [names] in the running," says Diggs. "But part of us wants to see what he hits us with when we see him. We'll see what he looks like." [People]
• Leighton Meester says of the allegations that she made a sex tape, "[The tape] is not real, so it makes me sort of sad. It's unfortunate that it got carried as far as it did.... I definitely understand the nature of people better now and that the mere allegation of something like that could be headline news. People think it's real because somebody says it is... I've never been crazy. I'm a very good girl, to be honest. I don't do anything to hurt anybody. Honestly, all I ever do is work." [People]
• "I have love in my life, a soul mate–absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don't get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we'll get married when it's legal for everyone else.' I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it–hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I've had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment." — Brad Pitt [Just Jared]
• "Would it bother me if a child of mine turns out to be gay? No, not one bit. Listen, I want my kids to live the lives they want to live. I want them to be fulfilled. I hope I teach my kids to be who they really are." — Brad Pitt [Parade]

• According to a search warrant, Dr. Conrad Murray is officially the target of a manslaughter investigation into the death of Michael Jackson. But more importantly, Michael's hair is being made into diamonds.

• Police issued a search warrant for a storage locker in Houston that Dr. Conrad Murray had his employees visit on the morning of Michael's death. According to the warrant, police are looking for, "items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense." [TMZ]
• Here are some more shady details about Dr. Conrad Murray: Police say he wasn't in the room when Michael Jackson's heart stopped. Murray says he found Michael in distress about a half an hour before he called 911 at 12:21 p.m., but that doesn't explain why he made his employees take a suspicious trip to his storage locker three hours earlier. [TMZ]
• When the feds raided Dr. Conrad Murray's Houston office earlier this week they too two Yahoo emails from Stacey Howe, correspondence addressed to Howe, and asked the office manager if she knew Howe. [TMZ]
• OMG: LifeGem is planning to make a lock of Michael Jackson's hair that fell off his head in the 1984 Pepsi commercial accident into diamonds. Producer Ralph Cohen found the lock of hair in his jacket after he threw it on MJ's head to put out the fire. "The provenance and authenticity of this lock of hair is impeccable, including the highly publicized video showing the original owner of the hair using his Armani jacket to extinguish Jackson's hair," said hair collector John Reznikoff, who sold some of the hair sample to LifeGem. The company is examining the hair to see how many laboratory diamonds they can get out of it. [UPI]
• Jon Gosselin and Kate Major are still at Michael Lohan's house. "They are still shacked up together because they don't want to be hounded by the media," said a source. Is it too much to hope that they'll stay in hiding forever? [Radar Online]
• Apparently not. Kate Major said today, "As a journalist, I get it... I realize being in the public eye often means facing criticism and being a target of hurtful lies. It simply comes with the territory." But she added, "I just want people to know that I am a nice and genuine person and anyone who knows me knows that." [E!]
• Kate Gosselin was photographed today without her wedding ring even though when she was asked last month why she still had it on she explained: "It would devastate my kids. It's not necessary. I was looking at it while I was in the shower this morning, and I thought, I'm not taking it off. I'm not ready." What could Jon have done to change her mind? [People]
• Ugh. People is polling it's readers on who's best for Jon Gosselin: Kate Gosselin, Kate Major or Hailey Glassman. So far Kate Gosselin in is winning, but we just want all of them to take a chastity vow. [People]
• According to multiple sources Adrian Grenier's junk is smelly and he has a hairy butt. [L.A. Rag Mag]
• Katrina Bowden of 30 Rock has made a bold admission: she doesn't find Robert Pattinson that attractive. "I think he's a good looking guy, but I'm not that into him," she said, "He's not really my type... He looks like he has a scowl on his face, which some people find very sexy. I like somebody who's more funny and jokey – a little less serious looking." [People]
• 45,000 stop signs in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin were vandalized to read "Stop Voldemort." Initially the police though Voldemort was a new tagger until an officer's seven-year-old son explained it. [The Guardian]
• Rihanna is back in the studio recording a new album, which a source says "will be the album to really give her an identity musically." It's goign to be more techo-based than her previous work. [People]
• Major League Soccer fined David Beckham $1,000 for threatening to fight L.A. Galaxy fans who booed him in his own stadium. [TMZ]
• Simon Cowell offered Anna Friel a record deal after he noticed her on a British soap opera in the 1990s. She explained, "Simon offered me a record deal twice, I was about 19. I wouldn't be here now if I'd said yes." [The Daily Express]
• In May after the Lost series finale, props and costumes from the show will be auctioned, including Kate's toy plane, Hurley's winning lottery ticket, and Locke's hunting knife. [UPI]
• E. Lynn Harris, a pioneer of gay black fiction died last night at the age of 54. He became ill at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, but the cause of death is still unclear. [USA Today]
• Last night Kristen Cavallari told Chelsea Handler that Lauren Conrad is "a bit more reserved," while she's "more energetic." Chelsea replied: "Are you suggesting you have a personality?" Video here: [Entertainment Weekly]
• Isabelle Fuhrman, the 12-year-old girl who stars in Orphan is actually pretty adorable in real life. She said, "Usually I can't even see PG-13 movies unless my mom sees them before me. The only reason I was allowed to see [the R-rated Orphan] is that when we were on set in Montreal my mom said, 'I'll let you see the scenes you're in.' And then a producer tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'Uh, that's every single scene!'" But she still hasn't see the whole thing. She added, "My sister sat next to me in the theater and covered my eyes during scenes of Vera [Farmiga] and Peter [Sarsgaard] um, you know." She explains how they Photoshopped her to make her look scarier on the movie poster here: [W]
• Kim Zolciak of The Real Housewives of Atlanta says she's returning for another season because, "I figured in the second season you couldn't make me look any worse, so I might as well do it." She adds that her newfound fame on a cable reality show enables her to identify with Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. "I feel bad for Britney Spears," she says. "I look at her and I'm like they just tear up one side and down the other! Then the next month, she's doing so great. She's lost weight. She's a great mom all of a sudden. I kind of sympathize with her because I take a lot of that heat myself."
  [People]
• Eminem is a huge fan of The Wire , so he asked Dominic West to voice a British doctor on the first track of his new CD. West says Eminem was "very sweet" adding, "I'm the first thing you hear on his new album. Track No 1 is called Doctor West which is pretty cool, don't you think? He's a fan of The Wire - he's watched The Wire four times all the way through, he doesn't get out much, he's obsessed with The Wire. [Mirror]
• In this clip Megan Fox explains the plot of Jennifer's Body: The boys in Adam Brody's band, "sacrifice [Jennifer] thinking she's a virgin but she's not. She's not even a backdoor virgin." So the sacrifice backfires and she needs to feed on human flesh so she starts eating the boys in her high school. Diablo Cody says she wrote the script because "a lot of adolescent girls are ravenous. You feed on your friends and you feed on boys sexually and it's a time when emotions are heightened and you feel a little insane and... specifically with women you haven't seen this in a horror movie." [TMZ]

• Police are investigating Lindsay Lohan because she's accused of walking off with the jewels she wore during a photo shoot for British Elle. [The Sun]

• Madonna released a statement through her rep saying, "I am extremely grateful for the Supreme Court's ruling on my application to adopt Mercy James... I am ecstatic. My family and I look forward to sharing our lives with her." [Us]
• Yet another star of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here has been hospitalized. Janice Dickinson was rushed to a Costa Rican medical facility to treat an undisclosed illness. Previously, Heidi Pratt and Lou Diamond Phillips needed medical treatment. [New York Magazine]
• Jessica Alba will not be charged for putting shark posters all over Oklahoma City earlier this month because no one wants to prosecute her. [TMZ]
• A paparazzi says after taking pictures of Kevin Spacey working on the set of his new film Casino Jack he was thrown into some bushes by crew members and Spacey said, "Don't ever take my picture and fight with the crew." Assistants for the film say that the photographer actually started the incident by hitting a production assistant after he asked him to leave. [The Daily Express]
• Angelina Jolie recorded a PSA to draw attention to World Refugee Day on June 20. Angie says: "Refugees are the most vulnerable people on earth. Every day, they are fighting to survive. They deserve our respect. Please do not forget them. Remember them on this day." [Just Jared]
• News alert: Newly-single Megan Fox "wouldn't rule out" dating a British guy. [The Sun]
• Friends of Usher and Tameka Foster Raymond say their split comes as no surprise. One friend says, "As bad as this is gonna sound, it was never a matter of 'I wonder if they'll divorce,' but more like 'I wonder WHEN they'll divorce.'" Another pal adds, "They peaked before they even got married... Right after it was over, they started to drift apart. [Usher] just wasn't ready to settle down, at least not with her." [People]
• Kelis, who is nine months pregnant, has filed legal papers asking that her estranged husband Nas be order to give her spousal support, child support, and money for all pregnacy-related expenses. She says even though he's rich, he's completely cut her off ans she's out of money. "My survival is based on [Nas'] will at this time. If he does not want to pay for an expense, it does not get paid," says Kelis. [TMZ]
• After cancelling a show on Sunday Susan Boyle will rejoin the Britain's Got Talent tour tonight. "She had one rest day, but she will be back on stage tonight," says a tour rep. [Us]
• John Mayer and friend Rob Dyrdekwere spotted doing tequila shots at a Hollywood club before Mayer gave an impromptu performance. Mayer then Tweeted "In triage at Cedars with @Robdyrdek. When the contents of his stomach hit that silicon bag and we all saw it, we just broke into applause." But a source says it was all a hoax and Dyrdek didn't really have his stomach pumped. [People]
• In this video, Spencer Pratt explains that Jesus saved Al Roker's life, because if he hadn't been recently "saved by Jesus" he would have ripped the anchor head off for being "disrespectful" and "inappropriate" this morning on the Today show. [TMZ]
• For the third time in a week Miley Cyrus' people have had her hang up on a radio interview when a host asked a question that Disney hadn't approved. Miley claimed on her Twitter that, "a station goes over time I am IMMEDIATELY connected to the next station." [TMZ]
• Billy Ray Cyrus says the upcoming fourth season of Hannah Montana will be the last. "Quite frankly, I give a lot of credit to Miley for taking it to another year," said Cyrus. "She didn't want it to just end with whatever was the last episode we did. She wanted it to build to where there's a moral to the story, to where it doesn't just end and go away and that's it. She wanted there to be an official ending to Hannah Montana." [UPI]
• A photo of Robert De Niro and Anthony "Fat Andy" Ruggiano has surfaced, sparking rumors that he met with the late mobster who was involved in at least seven murders to research his role in Analyze This. De Niro says he doesn't recall taking the picture. [The Daily Express]
• T-shirt company Sledge USA wanted Carrie Prejean to model for the company even after she lost her crown, but Prejean didn't bother to show up for the job. [Perez Hilton]
• "Idol champ's lesbian hell." Kelly Clarkson has been single for several years and she says, "Those [lesbian rumours] are not helping me on the dating front! I prefer the boys. I'm extremely flattered when I do get hit on by girls and I think it's hot but I'm not into it. I like boys." [The Sun]
• For his upcoming debut album, Adam Lambert will work with RedOne, the producer behind Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and "Just Dance." [E!]
• Bloomsbury Publishing released a statement denying allegations that J.K. Rowling copied "substantial parts of a 1987 book called The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No 1 Livid Land by Adrian Jacobs for Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire. The statement said, "The allegations of plagiarism made today, Monday 15 June 2009, by the Estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue. This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously." [Reuters]
• Are you dying to hear the new single from Mel Gibson's girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva? You can listen to it here: [People]
• Thandie Newton will teach acting classes at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. [The Daily Express]
• Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendra Wilkinson, and others have filmed a new commercial for E!'s Drive Safe campaign that promotes having a designated driver. [E!]
• Carnie Wilson gave birth to a baby girl named Luciana Bella on Friday. She is the second daughter for Wilson and her husband Rob Bonfiglio. [People]
• Peaches Geldof was spotted leaving the Scientology Celebrity Center in New York with recruitment documents. [The Sun]
• Jordan and estranged husband Peter Andre have signed a deal to star in rival reality shows that will air at the same time on different networks to play out their divorce in public. [The Sun]
• Prince Ernst August of Hannover, husband of Caroline of Monaco, admitted that he hit a hotel owner in Kenya. A court previously ruled that he was guilty of beating the hotel owner with a metal object, but he says he only hit him with his hands. [CBS News]
• Alice Cooper says he would like to write an operatic movie starring himself. He said if he wasn't a musician he "would probably write movies, but why not put that to music to make an operative thing on stage where you can portray this guy? ... Alice has always been the villain so Alice can easily play this character." [The Star]
• In case you're wondering what it's like to be in the presence of Robert Pattinson, a New York magazine intern risked life and limb to report on the scene around the area where he is currently filming in New York. He says: "I tried to take cell-phone pics, but I was thwarted by packs of girls literally crying... People threw roses at him, took pictures, gasped. He smiled and then had to SPRINT into his trailer. He looked skinnier, paler - yet better! - in person." [New York Magazine]
• "I don't mind getting older; I mind getting uglier. You know – knees, disease, old age, death. I'm a wreck. Frankly, who else cares? No one else does. No one else in the world is out there saying, 'It's a tragedy she's getting older.'
  So why bring yourself down?" — Chrissie Hynde [The Telegraph]
• Bruce Willis is half-naked in most of the photos for his new W magazine shoot with Emma Heming, but that wasn't the original plan. He explains, "When we were getting ready to do the shoot and we were talking about the concept, they said to me, 'We see you with a lot of clothes, a lot of layers.' And I said, 'Great!' And they said, 'Emma's going to be scantily clad,' and I said, 'As it should be!' And then we get there and Steven says, 'We're gonna change it up, we'll put Emma in a lot of clothes and we'll have you in less clothes.' And I went, 'I gotta get some weights!'" [W]

Of all the dirt that's surfaced on the women of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, NeNe's has been most public. It's been suggested that NeNe isn't as well-off as she portrayed herself to be: she didn't own her home, and instead rented. She and her husband Gregg Leakes were evicted from that rental in September, and owe $6,240 in back rent. Also, she might not be legally married to Gregg, after she cryptically told one newspaper, "You don't know my relationship with Greg so be careful what you report!"

Also, Gregg owes over $100,000 in back taxes. He was described on the show as being a "real estate investor," but it turns out that he ran a rental management company, Advantage Move LLC, that rented homes in the Atlanta area for other people. Recently, Fox News ran an investigative report in which they interviewed a property owner who employed Gregg and sued him for breech of contract after he rented her home to personal friends of his who had bad credit and didn't pay their rent. They also caused significant damage to her home and even left "human waste" on the floor. No one knows where NeNe and Gregg are living right now.

Some info was dug up from Sheree Whitfield's past. In 1989, when she was 19, she was arrested twice for theft in her native Ohio. More shocking, though, is that Sheree gave birth to a daughter, Tierra, when she was 15. While Sheree acknowledges her two younger children she had with ex-husband Bob Whitfield as her own on the show, she publicly refers to 23-year-old Tierra as a close friend. Sheree was interviewed for Essence a few months ago, and while though the article pointed out that Sheree has three children — named Tierra, Kairo and Kaleigh — the captions under the photos of the family list only the two younger ones as her kids, and Tierra as a friend.





Sheree's financial standing has also been called into question. She didn't get that "seven figures" lump sum divorce settlement she was looking for, and has appealed the ruling. She's also put her home — which reportedly is not in her name — on the market for $2.8 million and removed her children from private school and enrolled them in public school his year.

Perhaps most embarrassingly: Sheree bounced a check for $346.61.

Lisa Wu-Hartwell seemed to be the most sensible and collected of the Housewives. However, Lisa, who has several aliases — Sharon Millette Wu, Sharon Lisa Sweat, and Lisa Wu-Sweat — filed for bankruptcy in 2007 after she was sued by her ex-husband, R&B singer Keith Sweat, for repayment on a $150,000 loan he gave her to make a movie called Blackball. Keith now has custody of their two children and wouldn't allow them to appear on the show.

Since the show stopped airing, Lisa has reportedly gotten into a feud over some smack Kim was talking about her while she and Sheree were extras on the set of The Joneses (a social commentary on American consumerism starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny).





Word of the trash-talk got back to Lisa, who called Kim up and "made threats." Kim then hired a slimeball lawyer and got TMZ on the horn to milk some publicity out of it. You can watch their mini-press conference here, and hear the "threatening" voicemail Lisa left for Kim.

As for Kim, like the other housewives mentioned, she may be in a bit of a financial pickle as well. Her townhouse is reportedly up for sale, although, according to property records, Zolciak paid $486,000 for her home in January 2006, and it was assessed at only $371,100 the following year. And in this market, you know that number has plummeted.

The identity of her boyfriend "Big Papa" is almost accepted as fact now, after she confirmed on the reunion special that some blogs had correctly guessed who he is. However the two have broken up and she has reportedly begun dating a very wealthy cosmetic surgeon named Dr. Stefan Lemperle, who helped invent some wrinkle filler that was never given FDA approval, but that he injected into his patients' faces anyway, causing adverse reactions, a lawsuit, legal troubles, and the loss of his job as CEO of Artes Medical.

As for her working relationship with superstar producer Dallas Austin, he posted this on his MySpace:

Remember how Kim said she was 29 and no one believed her? Well it's absolutely true! (She's since turned 30.) However, the truth was revealed in a sorta embarrassing way when this info was dug up by the NY Post:

As a teenager in Windsor Locks, Conn., she had a high-profile affair with a police sergeant, John MacDougald. According to the Hartford Courant, Zolciak was "16 or 17" when the romance began and allegedly a witness in a criminal investigation at the time. McDougald, a 25-year veteran of the police department, copped to the affair-but insisted that the relationship started after the case was closed. The scandal helped touch off an internal investigation in the Windsor Locks police department-where allegations of secret tapings, sexual-assault charges and cover-ups flew.

The upshot of unleashing these skeletons in her closet? The Hartford Courant's reporting on the scandal, which unfolded in the summer of 1997, identified Zolciak's age as 19.

Then there's the matter of Housewife DeShawn Snow. Apparently, she's the only one on the show who really has money, which means she's legit — and kinda boring.

• Madonna is "begging" Gwyneth Paltrow to move back to New York so they can hang out and do yoga or whatever. Gwynnie lives in London with hubby Chris Martin, son Moses and daughter Apple. Will her Madgesty get what she wants? [The Sun]
• We reported this before and it may actually happen: Madonna is orchestrating a Britney-Justin reunion! Brit and JT will be on stage with Madge tonight when her Sticky & Sweet tour stops at Dodger Stadium. People are going to freak the fuck out. [Yahoo News]
• Brad Pitt and Oprah were both at the Obama victory rally in Grant Park, Chicago, but they missed one another "I was looking for you and would have invited you down to sit with the rest of us," Oprah told Brad. "You mean the non-VIP area?" Brad joked. He assured her that he took public transportation to be at the rally "just like everyone else." [Star]

• Beyoncé is giddy about Obama's win: "Whatever they want - if they need me to volunteer, they need me to sing, I'm there, and I'm ready. I'm just beyond excited." She was supposed to be in Japan on election night but postponed her trip: "I said, 'What am I doing? I'm completely making a bad decision. I have to go home, I'm gonna kill myself if I'm not home in America.'" Plus, she wept while watching the results come in: "I fell asleep crying and smiling at the same time. I woke up with mascara running and a smile on my face!" [AP]
• Mariah Carey heard that Michelle Obama played Mariah's song Hero for Barack before the election results were announced; she is "honored." [Mirror]
• Now that the Obamas are headed to the White House, Leslie Gray Streeter has written an open letter to Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live, saying: "you have to hire a black woman as a permanent cast member. Like, yesterday." [Palm Beach Post]
• Diddy partied with Q-Tip and Mark Ronson on election night. [Vanity Fair]
• There's video of Martha Stewart being ambushed on the street by Fox5 reporter Arnold Diaz, since a Martha-branded glass patio table from Kmart tends to "explode and shatter" and has been found "defective and dangerous." Martha says, "Oh that's old news," and blames the Chinese manufacturers Kmart uses. She claims she hasn't heard of any reported injuries, but the Diaz totally interviews a little girl who got cut! [CityFile]
• Kim Cattrall was asked if there will be a Sex And The City sequel, and She replied, "Yes, there will." Pardon me whilst I groan. [The Sun]
• Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson: Splitsville. He may have been controlling and emotionally abusive. [Star Magazine]
• Blake Fielder-Civil is no longer Blake Incarcerated! He was released yesterday and said: "I’m gonna see my wife and take her knickers down." But! Blake had to go directly to a rehab clinic, so Amy can't see him for seven days. Sigh. [The Sun]
• Here's video of Amy being harassed by photographers and fighting back, which this paper calls a "rampage." [The Sun]
• A beacon of Hope for Amy Winehouse: "Quincy Jones has taken her under his wing and put her back on the wagon. The two are collaborating on one or two projects and if anyone can save a talent like Amy, then it is Q." [Daily Express]
• Robin Williams is dating a 27-year-old painter named Charlotte Filbert, who happens to be staying with Ally Hilfiger. Small world. [Page Six]
• Padma Lakshmi is on the prowl, and she seems to want a billionaire. [Page Six]
• Who is Minnie Driver's baby daddy? Could he be a TV writer? [Page Six]
• Ashton Kutcher was seen partying with Wilmer Valderrama in West Hollywood. The '70s are back! [Yahoo News]
• Julianne Hough had surgery for endometriosis five days ago, and says she's "feeling phenomenal. I am still walking slow but I’m feeling good." [People]
• Samuel L. Jackson says it's strange to promote his new film, Soul Men, without Bernie Mac. "It's even weirder that he never saw the movie." [USA Today]
• Susan Lucci is out on Dancing With The Stars. [AP]
• What the hell is a "bacon buttie" or a "bacon sarnie"? And why does Daniel Craig love them so?! [Mirror]
• So you know how Harry Potter and Hermione Granger never hooked up? J.K. Rowling says it "could have gone that way" because Hermione "shared something very instense with Harry" but they're not meant to be together. Harry's true soulmate is Ginny, obvs. [Perez Hilton]
• For her fragrance campaign, Paris Hilton says, "I didn't have to lose weight, but I just wanted to look really good. I started doing Pliates." [Daily Express]
• Nick Hogan hasn't visited his friend, John Graziano, who's been in a coma since Nick's August 2007 car crash, because John's family won't let him into the hospital. [TMZ]
• Mos Def allegedly attacked a photographer in Vegas, back in August, and now a warrant has been issued for his arrest. [TMZ]
• Jamie Pressly and her fiancé "still love each other" but are no longer a couple. They're the parents of an 18-month-old son. [UPI, E!]
• Bruce Springsteen auctioned off a Harley, a guitar and a leather jacket for Stand Up For Heroes, a charity that raises money for injured troops returning from the Iraq war. [Fox 411]
• Lisa Rinna on getting cosmetic procedures: "You have to be careful. I'm a perfect example of that!" [ET]
• Michael J. Fox will appear in four episodes of Rescue Me early next year, and he'll play a paralyzed man in a wheelchair. "The funny part is me playing a paralyzed guy because I am the opposite of paralyzed. It's tricky just to even be still," he says. [Reuters]
• ABC has pulled the plug on Aylssa Milano's sitcom, Single With Parents. The show was to be a midseason replacement; creative differences tore it apart. Related: Who's the boss? [Yahoo News]
• Danny Bonaduce's divorce is final and he has to pay his ex-wife $16,000 a month. Dude's not giving up on marriage, though: He's shopping a TV show called The Next Mrs. Bonaduce. [AP]
• Rare film footage of the Beatles in Kansas City sold for $6,600 at an auction on Tuesday. It's a silent film, btw. [Reuters]
• This was in Midweek Madness, but here it is again: Carnie Wilson is pregnant. [People]
• Emily Deschanel has written a "10 Things You Don't Know About Women" column for Esquire. Number 6: "When a guy sends us a text, we analyze everything, down to the punctuation. 'Did he really use an umlaut? He must be smart!'" [Esquire]
• Even though he can't vote, Daniel Radcliffe went to the polls on election day, just to see what it was like. [Daily Express]
• An episode of Hannah Montana, in which a teen gets diagnosed with diabetes, won't air as planned. They're trying to consult with medical experts now and ensure the story is told properly. Something was done out of order, no? [UPI]
• Here's a picture of Pete Wentz, as a baby, being held by Joe Biden! [Perez Hilton]
• Do not click this NSFW link unless you want to see the guys from Jackass naked. Penises, people. You've been warned. [Perez Hilton]
• Jodie Foster on the woman she dumped after 14 years: "She's fine. She'll be very well taken care of." [E!]
• Great Scot! James McAvoy will be honored by his former drama school; he'll receive a Fellowship from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow next month. [The Star]
• Country star Merle Haggard has a malignant tumor on his lung; he went to surgery on Mondayy and should be recovering as we speak. [Perez Hilton]
• Patrick Dempsey addressed the firing of Dr. Hahn on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday by pulling a note "from ABC" from his pocket and reading: "'We've had a great time working with her and that the conclusion of her [role] has been orgasmic'—I'm sorry, I'm dyslexic—'organic ending to the storyline.'" [E!]
• Patrick Dempsey also says: "Thursday night is her last show, which is too bad, she has been a great character, and I don't know what happened with that story line. They decided not to continue it for some reason." [ET, People]
• Antonia Kidman, aka Nicole's sister, had an advice column in New Idea magazine, but she's left because it's "not going in the direction that she wants to be going." [News.com.au]
• "I live in a mobile home and I love it! It's small but chic and perfect for me and the kids [Brandon, 12 and Dylan, 10] It's fun having to sit on beanbags and do our washing at the laundrette." — Pamela Anderson. [The Sun]
• "After Barack Obama's victory I think we might have reached the moment for a coloured 007. I think the role could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Fleming in the Fifties has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated." — Daniel Craig. [Telegraph]
• "I am far from being an expert. I’m not that musical. I don’t really know how a record is produced, and, funnily enough, I don’t want to. I listen from a punter’s perspective, as somebody who would buy a track. I base it on gut instinct. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong. Many times I disagree with producers and artists, and we listen to each other. It’s not about proving a point or being a loudmouth, I just want the record to be as good as it can be." — Simon Cowell. [Telegraph]
• "I'm so excited [about turning 16]. I always ask my mom, 'Can I drive your car in the parking lot?' And she’s like, 'No.' I want a BMW truck!" — Ali Lohan. [MSNBC]
• "Here's the best secret weapon I can give you: Hold off on having sex. Give him a little taste, but not too much… Keep him drooling. [When intimacy finally happens], get crazy! Fuck like a porno star!" — Tila Tequila. [Page Six]