• Reports are emerging that, on June 26, Angelina Jolie made an un-publicized, under-the-radar trip to visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

She did not have an entourage. She gave out gift bags with $1000 Best Buy gift certificates. All this is only coming out now because a wife of a wounded soldier blogged about it and a few people took pictures, which can be seen at the link. [ONTD]

• Lindsay Lohan and Kristi Kaylor — who runs Lohan's fashion line — have started a production company together. Several projects are in the works, including a TV show called Faux Real, which would be like Entourage, but in the fashion world; and a "docu-cause" TV show in conjunction with a charity. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson: Bringing home a kid? Ryan tells Glamour UK: "My oldest brother is adopted and I have every intention of adopting at some time. I'm very grateful for having my brother in my life. I couldn't be more pro-adoption. There are plenty of kids in the world that need it." [ET]
• Beyoncé will not turn her back on you! She has a "strict" rule for her "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" tour: Photographers aren't allowed to shoot her from behind. [Gatecrasher]
• George Clooney heals! He toured the ruins of L'Aguila, Italy — where thousands were left homeless after an April earthquake — and promises he'll shoot a film in the area, which should help the local economy. [USA Today, Mirror]
• Ryan Seacrest is working on a contract extension that will give him a major pay raise and make him one of the highest-paid reality hosts on television. Last season he made just under $5 million — about $100,000 per episode. [Reuters]
• This should be interesting: Chinese developers are working on a scaled-down replica of Neverland Ranch as a tribute to Michael Jackson. [Reuters]
• "By all accounts from those who have watched and been close to [Michael Jackson's] children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris-Michael Katherine, 11, and Blanket (Prince Michael II), 7, are not only normal, but model children: unaffected by fame, sweet, polite and very smart." [AP]
• Hmm. This report claims that Paris Jackson wants to record a tribute track for her father. [The Sun]
• The night before the public memorial for Michael Jackson, there was a private open-casket viewing where family members talked and cried. [People]
• Joe Jackson will attend a memorial service for Michael Jackson in the family's hometown of Gary, Indiana. [AP]
• The LAPD is investigating Michael Jackson's prescription drug history. [Breitbart]
• A former bodyguard claims Michael Jackson would leave doctors offices "out of it" and "sedated." [TMZ]
• More drug stuff here. [TMZ, NY Post]
• Joe Jackson suspects foul play in the death of his son. [ABC News]
• Michael Jackson used aliases — employees' names —- to get prescription drugs. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson's body is temporarily in a crypt belonging to Motown founder Berry Gordy. [People]
• Please. No. Please. Joe Simpson is pitching an Ashlee Simpson "concept album" on which she would sing Michael Jackson songs. Ugh. We need to nip this in the bud. [Page Six]
• Flying the friendly skies: French president Nicolas Sarkozy has named his new £50 million jet "Carla," after his third wife. [Telegraph]
• Mary Louise Parker is naked and baking a pie in this Esquire post, which has the browser tag "Mary Louise Parker Ass." Also, MLP has written "A Thank-You Note To Men," in which she says: "You can fix my front door, my sink, and open most jars…" [Esquire]
• By the by, Kristen Stewart thinks the pregnancy rumors about her are "ridiculous." [MSNBC Scoop]
• Kate Gosselin made a "secret, whirlwind" trip to Hollywood; Jon Gosselin is "in love" with a 22-year-old "party girl" named Hailey. Why Radar has pictures of Hailey holding a gun to someone's head is anyone's guess. [RadarOnline]
• In this piece, a beauty consultant speculates on all the waxing and skin treatments Sacha Baron Cohen must have gone through to become Brüno. [Daily Express]
• Have you read the bestselling novel Little Bee? BBC Films has acquired the story; Nicole Kidman will star and produce. (The plot: A16-year-old Nigerian orphan meets a vacationing upper-middle-class British couple who've wandered into an area outside the safety of their resort.) [Variety]
• A Jay-Z book — in which he comments about and tells the stories behind his lyrics — is in the works. [Observer]
• Lil' Wayne was supposed to perform in the Bahamas last year, but didn't show up, so "police went to his hotel room" and "found him passed out and unwilling to perform." Cue the lawsuit! [Page Six]
• Why was Jamie Foxx harassing Rihanna at a club? [Page Six]
• David Arquette plans on living inside of a Plexiglas box in New York City for a couple of days to raise money for the hungry. Interesting. [AP]
• Leonardo DiCaprio has settled a dispute with his Hollywood Hills neighbors over a basketball court on his property. [E!]
• Julianne Moore has pulled out of a film in which she'd play Hillary Clinton 12 days before production started in London; Hope Davis will take the role. [Telegraph]
• Zooey Deschanel was asked if she listened to any She & Him while shooting 500 Days Of Summer, and replied: "No, what am I, a jerk? I'm not going to go listen to my own music on set." [WSJ]
• Zooey has joined the cast of Your Highness, a comedy in which an arrogant, lazy prince must complete a quest to save his father's kingdom. Zooey plays the "virginal bride." [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Best wishes and speedy recovery to Mariska Hargitay, who tripped over an umbrella while filming Law & Order: SVU in NYC and had to get 13 stitches. [Gatecrasher]
• "Chrissie Hynde still hard-rocking and sassy as ever as she talks about new album." [Mirror]
• "Monty Python's The Life Of Brian has been voted the most controversial film of all time by movie buffs." [Mirror]
• Jerry Seinfeld is the pitchman for a bank "in the boonies of Australia." Serenity now! [Page Six]
• "Raven-Symoné is not pregnant nor did she give birth." Noted! [People]
• Blind items! "Which online columnist is so aggressive about getting on TV that one network warned its male talent to keep a distance from her while she visited LA to cover the Michael Jackson story? She's already slept with several men who could help her career… Which wife in the middle of a nasty divorce is secretly dating a successful businessman? The affair, if it went public, would complicate the litigation, and her hot-tempered husband can be scary." [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which freaky actor - who currently has a girlfriend - hit on a wardrobe consultant on the set of his latest film with the line, 'I like those jeans. Can I have your number?'" [Gatecrasher]
• "My family don't generally say that they're related to me - my sister doesn't say she's my sister — because they don't want to be judged or lauded based on who I am. I think my parents are happy about my career now, but originally I was like, 'Why don't you support whatever I want to do? If I wanted to sell beef on the street why wouldn't you want to support me?' But it's not about that. Parents never stop being parents, and yet you want them to be your friends at a certain age and that's just not going to happen." — Lucy Liu. [Daily Express]
• "I was no longer in control of my life. I thought I wanted certain things, but I didn't. I got lost. I felt suffocated, miserable and gross. I should never have gone down that route or got sucked in to all the publicity. I was typecast as myself. Too many people weren't getting past what they read about me. That was damaging. I can tell from experience it's bad for you, and bad for your career. So I took a break, went away for a while and let things calm down." — Ben Affleck, on his high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez. [ContactMusic]
• "I'd rather date someone who's regular. But what often happens is that she faces huge criticism like , ‘Why her? She's Miss. Ordinary.' …There is something quite devious about my personality. I'll do all the right things. I'll be the upstanding gentleman but behind closed doors, I want to let loose. As long as I know my secrets aren't going to get out. You know what I mean?" — Idris Elba. And! If you are interested, there's video of him speaking in his native English accent. [Necole Bitchie]
• "You can't help but have a punk aesthetic, to rebel against technology and the way music is presented to people these days. Real rock and roll isn't about MySpace pages and digital music. Those are accessories. That's the scarf on the jacket of real rock and roll." — Jack White, producer, band member, collaborator and head of Third Man record label. Oh! This interactive thingy is pretty cool. [WSJ]
• "I've gone bankrupt about four times now. My manager wants to shoot me. Every dollar I earn goes on the show. Now we're finally getting to a place where it's not bankruptcy. Then again, with another tour coming up soon I'll probably be homeless again." — Lady GaGa doesn't seem to have a savings account. [The Sun]

[Los Angeles, June 22. Image via WENN]

• James Kambewa, the father of Mercy James, the Malawian girl who's being adopted by Madonna, says he will no longer fight the adoption: "My only plea to Madonna is that she should seriously look after the child," he says. [Reuters]

• Kambewa originally opposed the adoption, but now says that he simply wants "Madonna to make sure that, while the child is growing, she must be informed of me as her biological father ... she really must know that while she is far away the father is still alive." [Reuters]
• Jennifer Aniston made fun of herself at the Crystal and Lucy Awards (and surely set herself up for a million more unnecessary tabloid stories) by joking about how the titles of her movies often match up with her love life: "I have a strange parallel with movies I was doing and my life off screen. First, it was The Good Girl...which evolved into Rumor Has It, followed by Derailed. Then there was The Breakup, followed by the lighter side, Friends With Money. If anyone has a movie called Everlasting Love With an Adult Stable Man, that would be great! I'm at table six, and my agents are at table 12." [USWeekly]
• Yikes: is G.I. Joe so bad that the director has been fired? [ONTD]
• Tallulah Belle Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, has started working as an intern at Harper's Bazaar.[FashionWeekDaily]
• An estimated 400 people showed up to David Carradine's funeral to bid the actor farewell, including Tom Selleck, Lucy Liu, and Jane Seymour.[People]
• Susan Boyle is set to sing a duet with her idol, Elaine Paige. "Susan and Elaine are set to record Memory together as a duet single," says a source, "From what I gather, Elaine's people were in the audience at the Birmingham show and loved what they saw. They were apparently straight on the phone to Elaine after Susan's performance and she was delighted at the thought of their performing together." [DailyExpress]
• Aubrey O'Day is being defended by the co-founders of NOH8, who say that the singer did not act like a diva while on the set for their latest ad campaign, despite reports to the contrary. [USWeekly]
• Sienna Miller claims that Jude Law doesn't like it when she talks about him: "It's dangerous to bring this up," she says, "I talked about him in an interview not long ago, saying that I still love him, and he was like, ‘Please stop talking about it.'"[ShowbizSpy]
• The Red Shoes has been fully restored, much to the delight of Martin Scorsese: "It expresses so much about the burning need for art, and I identified with that feeling the first time I saw the picture with my father, he says, "I was so young then. It put me in contact with something in myself, a driving emotion I saw in the characters up there on the screen and in the colour, the rhythm, the sense of beauty."[DailyExpress]
• Lily Allen is "vulnerable after her relationships failed," says a source, "She is especially concerned about going on her tour without a boyfriend there for her backstage. She needs a man to take care of her, and to give her attention. Without that, she fears she'll go off the rails." [ShowbizSpy]
• Prince Harry's girlfriend, Caroline Flack, apparently has a history of all-night benders, dates with Russell Brand, hot-tub adventures with Jack Osbourne, and flings with Noel Fielding. I think we are supposed to be scandalized by this, but I keep picturing the Queen's face while reading this stuff and I can't stop laughing. [NewsoftheWorld]
• Blind Item:This A list actress who used to be the highest paid actress in Hollywood donated her entire paycheck from a recent movie to four different charities. It was the largest donation any of the four charities had ever received.[BlindGossip]
• "I think everybody's a fan of Pink. Her voice is the best of our generation. Her lyrics are so vulnerable. She's so open about her whole life. People love that."-Kelly Clarkson on Pink[NYTimes]
• "I doubt it very much. Unless he's interested in guesting with one of the bands I'm in. I don't think that's going to happen really for some reason."- Johnny Marr on being on stage with Morrissey.[BBC]
• Simon Cowell "emerged from Stringfellows (a lapdancing club) smeared in bright red lippy" during a night out with Ryan Seacrest. This is pretty much the stuff that Joel McHale's dreams and nightmares are made of, no? [Mirror]

[New York, March 12. Image via INF]

• Nancy Pelosi left a health-care forum at the White House to meet with Brad Pitt. This piece calls them "Brancy." [WaPo]

• Everybody on Capitol Hill was atwitter over Brad Pitt being in their midst; Rep. James E. Clyburn says: "I did not realize when the Speaker asked me to chair the Katrina/Rita task force that it would lead to my getting in a position to make my grandchildren so envious of me, because this effort brought the two of us — Brad Pitt and myself together." [Politico]
• This headline sums it up: "Capitol Hill Goes Gaga Over Brad Pitt." [USA Today]
• Back in September, Amy Winehouse was involved in some kind of "incident" (uh, which one?) and now she has been charged with assault. Run back to St. Lucia! [People]
• Oh yeah: It was when she punched a fan who asked for a picture. [The Sun, Daily Mail]
• Um, Amy's husband Blake Fielder-Civil is "besotted" with Francesca Morralee, who is 17. [The Sun]
• Chris Brown appeared in court yesterday but did not enter a plea. His arraignment was delayed until April 6. [People]
  
• Here's a picture of two "fans" outside Chris Brown's court hearing yesterday, with signs which read "I love you Chris." [Concrete Loop]
• After Chris Brown was charged with two felonies, one of Rihanna's relatives told People: "It's about time." [People]
• Rihanna's lawyer told Chris Brown: "I think Rihanna would like this over as quickly as possible. It benefits everybody." Then Brown's own lawyer told Brown: "I've explained it to you that the best thing that could happen in this case is, Don [Rihanna's lawyer] is involved. Didn't I tell you that?" [LA Times]
• Nine days passed before Chris Brown apologized to Rihanna for beating her. [Fox 411]
• The reason Usher backed down on his criticism of Chris Brown? Rihanna. Trying to show support for Rihanna. [MSNBC]
• Chris Brown "hit the town" after his court appearance. Not really… He hung out at a hotel bar with bodyguards. [TMZ]
• What the goop was Gwyneth Paltrow doing getting into a chauffeur-driven car with Christiane Amanpour? [Page Six]
• Jewel and Nancy O'Dell have both withdrawn from Dancing With The Stars due to injuries suffered during rehearsals. What the hell goes on at that show? [People]
• Girls Next Door star Holly Madison will replace Jewel and Nancy. [NY Daily News]
• It may have sounded like there were screaming masses at Michael Jackson's press conference, but there were only 25 people including press. [Gatecrasher]
• But! People trying to get "pre-sale" tickets for Jackson's show are complaining that the website is effed. [Telegraph]
• Even though Heath Ledger's dad told a reporter that the family planned to keep Heath's Oscar "forever," it will actually go to Michelle Williams. Today. She will hold it for Matilda. [LA Times]
• WTF. This report begins, "Madonna has offered a gnarly old hand to Sienna Miller…" [Daily Star]
• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony were "in tears" watching American Idol finalist Jorge Nuñez. [E!]
• "Regis Philbin Blackmail Shocker!" [National Enquirer]
• David Beckham will stay with AC Milan until the end of the season and will return next season, but he'll be "timeshared" with the LA Galaxy between July and October. [Daily Mail]
• "Flip-flopping" Bachelor Jason Mesnick swears he is not a jerk. [MSNBC]
• Shh! Don't tell anyone, but Lucy Liu is an artist, painting under the pseudonym Yu Ling. Snap up her portrait of two people kissing for a mere $28,000. [Page Six]
• It's all baby-talk all the time on the set of Ugly Betty. [People]
• For an episode of Oprah's show, Dennis Quaid and his wife returned to the hospital where their twins were given an overdose of blood thinner. [AP]
• Vince Vaughn is engaged and the lady is named Kyla Weber; she's a Canadian real estate agent. [Gatecrasher]
• Simon Cowell and ex Terri Seymour went on a dinner date. Cue the "ooooohhhh!" [Daily Mail]
• Gossip Girl's Matthew Settle and his wife welcomed a daughter, Aven Angelica, yesterday. [People]
• "LSD, Easter Island, science fiction and, of course, Lorne Michaels, all played a role in developing the Coneheads sketch for Saturday Night Live. [Page Six]
• Joe Francis denies he accidentally bumped into Brody Jenner's girlfriend at a club, which sparked a screaming match. Joe, ever the pacifist, says: "There was no physical contact, but if you're Brody Jenner and dating an ugly piece of trash…you should expect these types of altercations." [Page Six]
• Ghostface has written a song for Rihanna. Sample lyrics: "Shake it off, wake up… Pretty lady, come about yourself…" [Concrete Loop]
• Fantasia Barrino returns to the musical The Color Purple for a five week stint in Washington DC. [Variety]
• Mark Wahlberg will star in a "dark thriller" which this piece calls "one of the hottest scripts in town." It's set in Boston, so Wahlberg can do his best "Say hello to your mother for me." [The Hollywood Reporter]
• DNA tests prove that Jerry Lewis has a daughter — he mother had an affair with the entertainer back in 1952. He has not publicly acknowledged the woman as his daughter, but his son agreed to a DNA test because "everybody deserves to know where they came from and who they are." [UPI]
• Blind item: "Which flowery former wild child had a bad sexual experience with the creator of a hit TV show - but went for another round because 'she'll try anything twice'?" [Gatecrasher]
• R.I.P. Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's son and Tony-award winning actor. [AP]
• "My dad is more of a rock star than me. He embraces the lifestyle. People think having your dad on tour would cramp your style. But I don't have any style - he's got all the right moves. He's living the dream. I am going to check he hasn't trashed the hotel room before we leave each city." — Chris Martin. [The Sun]
• "The biggest thing for me is that I am now going to have to choose between work - this script or that script. Until now, my roles have chosen me; my career has been shaped essentially by never saying no. But now I will have to say no. I just hope l'll be wise in my choosing." — Melissa Leo, about her life post-Oscar nomination. [Guardian]
• "So when I do go out with him I sit and get progressively more pissed, and he's one of those annoying people who remembers everything. I go to him, 'Just have a fucking beer! One beer!' And he says to me that if he has one beer he'll probably end up in a crack house in Kings Cross within 40 minutes. I'm like, ‘Brilliant, I'll come with you.'" — Noel Gallagher, on hanging out with Russell Brand, who does not drink. [The Sun]
• "It's fine if Tori wants her own reality show or wants to write books about her childhood. I just wish she'd leave me out of it. She has plenty to talk about without saying things like, 'I wish I were closer to my mother,' or 'Did you see what my mother wrote on her Web site?' I wish she would call me, rather than say on television, 'I should call my mom.'" — Candy Spelling, whose autobiography, Stories From Candy-Land, is out at the end of the month. [Gatecrasher]
• "Dave [Stewart] and I talk to each other only rarely these days, and I can't see another reunion. He lives in America and I'm over here. We're both working on our own things. For me, it would feel like a step backwards and I want to keep moving forward. I enjoy multi-tasking, so I want to do a lot of different things. I want to keep all the plates spinning." — Annie Lennox. [Daily Mail]
• "I am in perfect health. I'm in very good shape and feeling very good." — Hugh Hefner, knocking down reports that her was "far from his normally alert self" at a recent party. [Yahoo News via E!]
• "It doesn't vacuum, it doesn't wash the dishes or stuff like that." — Charlize Theron, joking about her Oscar. [The Star]
• "I'd love to work with Amy Winehouse. She has a very distinct, sexy, soulful voice and she writes great lyrics." — John Legend. [Mirror]
• "[The role reminds me of ] a period of my life where I had to work several jobs to pay my bills. Something would go wrong and you'd have to take another job to get your car running. That was very real for me." — Amy Adams, on Sunshine Cleaning. [WSJ]

[Los Angeles, February 20. Image via Bauer-Griffin.]

[New York, February 9. Image via INF]

• Britney was at a middle school in The Bronx yesterday to present a $10,000 check for the music program. The donation came from Elizabeth Arden, which is behind Brit's fragrances, Believe, Fantasy and Curious. [People]
• Hey, guess who has another perfume coming out in December? [ONTD]
• So yesterday we read that Britney wanted to buy her sex tape from Adnan Ghalib. Today Adnan says: "There is no sex tape. I’m extremely upset and taking legal action." Um, against whom? Also, even if there is no "sex" tape, there's no doubt he has some footage of her dazed and naked. You just know it. Think about the state she was in back then. [The Sun]
• Oh here we go, more quotes from Adnan: "There is no sex tape, and I've never claimed there is one. I don't know where these quotes I'm supposed to have said have come from. What I do know is they certainly didn't come from me and they are completely false. I'm extremely upset and distressed and I'm taking legal action... This story has caused a lot of hurt to my family and people close to me. There is no sex tape. That is the end of the matter." [Star]
• OMFG: Did LC hook up with JustinBobby behind Audrina's back??? [E!]

• Lily Allen's friends want her to go to rehab, since she drinks too much and always feels depressed. Sniff. [Perez Hilton]
• Tina Fey's Palin videos are getting big traffic for NBC's website. And she's not even an SNL regular anymore. [MediaWeek]
• The Heather Locklear/Jill Ishkanian story is long and complicated, but it seems to involve Denise Richards. [Jossip]
• Did you know that Charlize Theron makes a shitload of money just for wearing jewelry? [The Smoking Gun]
• Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo: Winter wedding? [The Superficial]
• Have you seen this video with Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Linney, Eva Longoria, Leo DiCaprio and ton of other celebs encouraging you to vote? [People]
• There's also a video with Demi Moore and Ashton and "Barack Obama." [Perez Hilton]
• David Beckham spent the whole night drinking with some guy he thought was Rex Lee — Lloyd from Entourage — but it was just a prankster. [Mirror]
• Shia LaBeouf: Injured again, this time above the eyebrow, by a prop on the set of Transformers. He got stitches, then it was back to work. [Perez Hilton]
• Bianca Golden, the America's Next Top Model contestant who had an airport showdown with Nikki Blonsky and her family this summer, has spoken out for the first time about the incident to Tyra Banks (of course!). Bianca says Nikki was rude to her family from the beginnning and that "her father … punched my mom. He knocked her out. He hit my mom with such force she stumbled back, and when she stumbled back, the whole family got up and attacked my mom." Then the Blonsky family supposedly yelled racist remarks at the Goldens. DRAMA! [Perez Hilton]
• Jamie Hince, Kate Moss's ex, went to a psychic in L.A. after a "massive drinking session" and had to be helped out the place. Did the clairvoyant see a reconciliation in her crystal ball? [The Sun]
• Word is Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady will get married very soon. A friend says: "I don't think they will even bother getting engaged — and will just slip off and marry quietly." [Perez Hilton]
• Russell Crowe gained 63 pounds for his role in Body Of Lies. He says: "I'll have that cheeseburger for breakfast, thank you!" [UPI]
• A women's shelter cut headliner Sandra Bernhard from its annual benefit after she said Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin would be gang-raped if she ever visited New York. Jokes! [AP]
• Russell Brand wants to sleep with Helen Mirren. "She's so sexy and enchanting, just look at her form." They're going to be working together in a new film version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Russell says: "I'll be all over her. I don't know how I'll get any work done." [Mirror]
• Is Holly Madison heading for The Hills? She was seen partying with Lo, Brody and Frankie. [E!]
• Jane Kaczmarek says even though she and hubs Bradley Whitford are television stars, their family only has one TV in the house. "We don't watch much TV," she claims. "We're big readers." [UPI]
• Were those nude Marilyn Monroe photos that are the subject of a lawsuit found in a garbage can 35 years ago? [AP]
• Robbie Williams is working on an aliens-inspired album, and has been writing alien-anthems at a UFO camp in Trout Lake, WA — a hot spot for alien encounters. [Perez Hilton]
• You know how Courtney Semel smacked a security guard in Vegas back in August? She's getting off with just paying a $250 fine. [TMZ]
• A cookbook from rapper Coolio? LOL! He says: "I'm a gourmet chef. I have my own YouTube channel for cooking. I do a lot of healthy fusion food - I do Black Italian - Blitalian, Black Asian - Blasian, Black English - Blenglish and I'm about to try Black Scottish - Blottish. I like traditional food and putting my own twist on it." [Daily Express]
• Get your tie dye out, Phish is reuniting. [Newser]
• Rickrolling has brought Rick Astley back into the public eye, and he's up for an MTV Europe Music Award this year, although he has never been nominated before. [BBC News]
• Behold: Luke Ledger, Heath's cousin. Also an actor. [News.com.au]
• Here's a funny little story told by actor Sir Michael Gambon, about Johnny Depp meeting the Queen. [Telegraph]
• Ang Lee is working on a comedy about Woodstock. The 1969 concert, not the tiny bird who's friends with Snoopy. [Reuters]
• "I think my only trick is… be normal and kind of have your shit together. And be consistent and reliable. Just not a flake. Really, the thing is, not to be a superflake. Don't be an asshole. Don't be supercocky. Don't be a show-off. Everyone for some reason feels the need to show off." — David Spade, on how he gets so many chicks. [Radar]
• "I definitely think there's more opportunity in television to a certain degree. But I don't know that there's as much opportunity for a lot of people of color to spread their wings because sometimes it came be very limited. But there are so many filmmakers that are willing to take more risk, and do color-blind casting — that's how a lot of things have come to pass for me […} You can get shafted both ways — you can be too American, or you can be too Chinese. It's a very difficult combination to be neither/nor, or either/or. It's nice to be able to embrace all cultures and to jump from one thing to another, which is kind of the whole reason for acting, to transform yourself, you know?" — Lucy Liu. [Wall Street Journal]
• "I have a great guy that's been around me for 15 years and he likes to yell at me every time I come into the office. He's a cranky old man. I love him. He is a Jungian therapist. He's taught me to listen to my psyche, be aware of what is going on and to make great choices." — Pamela Anderson. [Guardian]
• "The film is particularly painful for some people to watch. They keep hoping for a different ending. The great thing for me as an actor is I get to play all that anger on screen. So I don't have to live with it." — Kevin Spacey, on his flick Recount, about the 2000 election and the hanging chad debacle. [Independent]

[Los Angeles, July 29. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

Three good things about this photograph:
1. The composition and colors
2. The dress/shoe juxtaposition
3. Lucy's muscles
Three terrible things about this photo:
1. The earrings are $25,000
2. Surely if she puts her foot down that heel will sink into the grassy ground and she'll be trapped or hurt?
3. Is this an homage to or a mockery of the sport of javelin throwing?

Girl looks fierce until you think about the fact that she's on a balance beam in a gown and heels, which is ridiculous.

Get it? Shotput. With a $2800 Chanel bag. Dumb.

Okay, actually, this is cool. No, really. The foxy Robin Hood vibe, like the Disney film. Oodelally, golly what a day.

Lifting weights is for brawny dudes. Ladies pick up $3100 Gucci bags and barely break a sweat! Osteoporosis, shmosteoporosis.

LOL. Chariots of ire.

Earlier: The Asian Model In Allure: Stereotyped?
Teen Vogue Gives Summer Olympians A Sliiight Makeover
More Of Vogue's "World's Best Bodies"

[New York, February 7. Image via INFDaily.com.]

The Good::
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise might be psycho, but always look sleek.

Liya Kebede, can I be you when I grow up?
Words I never thought I would say: I love how Ellen Pompeo is dressed.
The color of Becki Newton's dress got me hot.

The Bad:
Lucy Liu's dress was probably a dazzling sketch...but the execution seems a little off.
Drew Barrymore's skirt and belt combo is a little much.
That shapeless black gown isn't doing Cynthia Nixon any favors.
J. Lo: Stay home! You look so uncomfortable!

The Ugly:
Rachel Zoe: Then, now, always.
Molly Sims should refrain from wearing floral sculptures.

The Good:
At Givenchy, Natalia Vodianova looks perfectly put-together in a one-shoulder black dress and the hottest shoes we've seen in ages.
Charlotte Rampling, also at Givenchy, reminds us that when we grow up, we want to be middle-aged Englishwomen who pretend to be French.
Dita von Teese showed up at Jean-Paul Gauliter making plaid posh, not punk.


The Bad::
At Valentino, Blake Lively wears a gorgeous yellow coat. That looks about eight sizes too big. This is probably the worst we've ever seen Lively look.
Eva La Rue's sleeves probably needed a row of their own at the Valentino farewell show.
And if someone can tell us what that pink thing slung around Lucy Liu, also at Valentino is, we'll buy you a pony. (OK, actually we won't.)


The Ugly:
At Valentino, Uma Thurman breaks one of our iron-clad fashion rules: Just say no to lace turtlenecks.

[Images via INF and Bauer-Griffin.]

• As reported late Friday, Nicole Richie gave birth to her baby on January 11, a daughter she named Harlow Winter Kate Madden. (6 lbs., 7oz.) Ooh, pretty name! Er, names, that is. [People]
  
• And the next day, just down the hall in Cedars Sinai's maternity ward, Christina Aguilera gave birth to a baby boy, Max Liron Bratman, (6 lbs. 2 oz.) on Saturday. Seventeen years from now, will Max and Harlow be dating? [TMZ]
  
• Britney Spears and new boyfriend Adnan Ghalib went shopping over the weekend and Ghalib got into a "shoving match" with the paparazzi. Dude, don't forget where you came from! [Page Six]
  
• Um, while Brit and her man were car shopping, she was wearing her old wedding dress. [People]
  
• Did Britney pay for Adnan's new Mercedes SUV? [PopDirt]

• Britney's due in court today, and Commissioner Scott Gordon is definitely going to want to know what was up with the kerfluffle at her house that crazy Thursday. But will she even show up? [TMZ]
• She has been "strongly advised" to attend the hearing. Obviously. [People]
• A source says Britney's boys are doing "fantastic" in the sole custody of Kevin Federline and aren't asking for their mom at all, sob. [PageSix.com]
• Staffers at the Mexican hotel Britney stayed in on Wednesday say Britney appeared to be "high" while there. She sat all alone at the bar singing the words to "Toxic" to herself. Maybe she felt like she was in a video? [The Sun]
• Sources say Adnan and Britney may get married. But wouldn't he have to get divorced first? [Mirror]
• Is Val Kilmer dating Chad Lowe's girlfriend? Do you care? [Page Six]
• "It's great to see an exotic face in sci-fi. Little girls who look like me — or who are Arab, Filipina, whatever — are going to go, 'Oh, my God, we can be in space, too!" — Zoe Saldana, who plays Lt. Uhura in the upcoming Star Trek movie. [Page Six]
• Will Lipstick Jungle be way better than Cashmere Mafia? Sources say CM's Lucy Liu has a "lack of friendliness" whereas LJ's Brooke Shields "laughs out loud constantly." Hmm, could one of those "sources" be Candace Bushnell? [Gatecrasher]
• Blind item! "Which candidate's daughter recently went on a date with an ardent Ron Paul supporter? "The date became all about him trying to convince her about Paul," laughs a friend. 'Finally, she said, "You know my dad's running for President. You're not going to change my mind!"?'" [Gatecrasher]
• Will the writers' strike derail the Grammys? Survey says: Maybe. [Rush & Molloy]
• Bjork landed in New Zealand and a member of her entourage asked that no pictures be taken at the airport. A photographer snapped a couple of shots, so Bjork ran up on the guy and tore his T-shirt. Human behavior! [TMZ]
• A new report names Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Timbaland among the stars who may have received or used performance-enhancing drugs. Mary on steroids? Thought she was just fine! [Editor & Publisher]
• So you know how Brad Pitt let Pax "drive" a couple of weeks ago? He also let him ride in a cherry picker at the construction site. Sources are saying that Brad put the kid in danger and Pax should have been wearing a helmet, seatbelt, safety harness, etc. [MSNBC]
• Dame Edna (Australian comic Barry Humphries) has been ordered to rest for six months after complications from appendix surgery. The 73-year-old Humphries was forced to cancel a North American tour. Get well soon! [Reuters]
• The Harvard Lampoon is giving Paris Hilton the "Woman Of The Year" award in a large public ceremony in the middle of Harvard Square. Is this the closest Paris will ever get to Harvard? And does she realize it's kind of a joke? [PR Newswire]
• Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary — he penned Pulp Fiction — was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and DUI after he crashed his car, injuring his wife and killing a man. Hate to say it, but it sounds like a plot twist from the flick. [USA Today]
• Malia Nurmi, known as Vampira, has died at the age of 86. RIP. [BoingBoing]
• Vivica A. Fox claims her rumored sex tape does not exist. "If you see me having a love scene, it's going to be choreographed in a movie, and be fabulous," she says. [People]
• Yes, Lauren Conrad has left Teen Vogue but she was not fired. "I was kind of done," she explains. Meanwhile she says she's "looking" for a new job. And will return to The Hills for another season. [People]
• In old-school Hollywood news, Richard Burton slept with Marilyn Monroe, a new book claims. Yeah, not surprising. At all. [Telegraph]
• Wesley Snipes will go on trial today over the fact that he didn't pay taxes from 1994 to 2004, despite earning about $38 million. He says he is not guilty and acted on the advice of tax professionals. Good luck! [NY Times]
• One of Kid Rock's friends dropped a $200,000 watch at a restaurant; Kid gave the busboy who found it $1,000 in cash. Who knew that KR had cash to throw around? [Page Six]

The Boston Herald:

"Cashmere Mafia" seems designed to distract viewers with the heroines' dazzling wardrobes. But clothes don't make a woman, nor do they make a show.

The Alphabet web trots out another uninspired hour about women attempting to balance fabulous lives and careers with romance, but other than a lesbian liaison, it all feels about as fresh as "That Girl." Each member wrestles with romance, while their frenetically paced careers are wholly nondescript. Beyond the main foursome, meanwhile, the other women in the show are almost uniformly predatory — conniving bitches eager to entice those overwhelmed and emasculated husbands.

"Cashmere Mafia" also feels rushed, as if the creators sensed their material is so familiar, they can't afford any foreplay. Sexual identity crises, insensitive men who do incredibly lunkheaded things, and whispers of spousal cheating all surface in the first episode, as if each character has a checklist of traumas and might as well start enduring them right now. This serves neither the viewers nor the actors.

The biggest problem is that the women populating "Cashmere" seem to be more caricatures than characters. It's as if Starr [sic] was trying to fill out the roster of a reality show with stock types — and various hair colors — and forgot to make them warm, interesting and/or engaging.

It's slick and exquisitely cast. The characters are easy to believe and easier still to look at. Naturally, the clothes are fabulous, too. Most importantly, for those drawn to this kind of melodrama, the stories invite emotional investment.

The clothes are glamorous and the settings are chic, but the lives of these women are parodies of businesswomen, or perhaps stereotypes...For a series like "Cashmere Mafia" to survive, there would have to be practically no other dramas to watch and, whaddya know, that just might be the case, as more scripted shows fall victim to the writers strike.

Earlier: Is It Possible To Make A Show Worse Than Sex & The City?

• Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon attended a party at Carrie Fisher's home and "were sitting by the fire all night, talking... They were in deep, deep conversation. It was like there was no one else in the world." [E!]
  
• "I hate L.A., I'm so sick of that town." — Britney Spears. You have money, darling. Why don't you move? [Page Six]
  
• Watch out, ladies! Heath Ledger is still on the prowl: He and a friend were seen chasing two girls and giving them the address to Heath's new apartment in SoHo. [Page Six]
  
• Paris Hilton is trying to get her new man, Swedish tourist Alex Vaggo, signed with a modeling agency. He also seems to have moved out of his $27 a night hostel. "He's living much better now," says a source. No doubt! [Page Six]
  
• Vaggo was previously a pizza delivery man, by the way. He says Paris' family is "nice, normal and ordinary." Poor kid. [The Sun]

• The stripper who sold photos of Oscar de la Hoya allegedly in drag has regrets. [Page Six]
• Is Lucy Liu going Jew? Spies have seen her reading a book called The First Hebrew Primer between takes on the set of her show Cashmere Mafia. Keep in mind she's friends with kabbalah enthusiast Demi Moore. [Gatecrasher]
• A pal of Lindsay Lohan's says she is set to leave rehab this weekend. [Gatecrasher, 2nd item]
• The day after their motorcycle accident, George Clooney and Sarah Larson were seen eating at New York hotspot La Esquina. Margaritas speed recovery! [Gatecrasher, 4th item]
• Blind item! "Which powerhouse music producer likes to gear up before long sessions in the studio by watching his favorite kind of big-booty porn?" [Gatecrasher, last item]
• Brokeback Mountain, The Opera: in the works! [Rush & Molloy, 9th from bottom]
• Jackass star Steve-O: releasing a rap album, LOL. [Rush & Molloy, 7th from bottom]
• Catfight! At a wedding reception, Kate Moss accused Sienna Miller of stealing her style, her lifestyle and her friends. Sadie Frost broke up the brawl. The thought of being bitched out by Kate is horrifying. Doesn't she seem capable of being vicious? [The Sun]
• Drew Barrymore was seen serving cocktails at a West Hollywood gay bar over the weekend. She's so kooky! [TMZ]
• Halle Berry's baby daddy Gabriel Aubry says Halle craves pickles now that she's preggers. Also? "She loves foot massages ... I do all of that stuff," he says. We're so jealous our head is going to explode. [People]
• Lawyers in the Spears-Federline custody battle met on Monday to "refine certain areas" of a judge's previous order in the case. Whatever that means. The first hearing is set for Nov. 26. [USA Today]
• Sir Elton John intended to loan a Nan Goldin photograph to an exhibit at the Baltic Modern Art Gallery, but it was seized by police on suspicion it breaches child pornography laws. The picture features two young girls, one of whom is sitting down with her legs wide apart. We're just surprised to hear they're girls. [Telegraph]

[Beverly Hills, July 26. Image via Bauer-Griffin]