• During a recent interview, BBC reporter Andrew Marr asked Nicole Kidman about "one of the things you haven't talked about before... Scientology - a lot of people would say it is a bullying cult." Nicole stammered, then said:

• "This is just so not... I'm here to publicize Nine. If I was here to do an exposé on myself then I'd be like, ‘Let's go', but I have no interest in discussing any of that." Marr pressed: "You don't want to talk about Scientology?" and Nicole said, "No, I'll talk about Nine." Video here: [Times of London]
• Have Kate Hudson and A-Rod split? Sources say he was partying with other women in Miami this weekend while Kate Hudson was promoting Nine in New York. One eyewitness who saw him with two women said, "He was acting VERY single, and Kate Hudson was definitely not there." Another source added, "They are totally over." [Hollywood Life]
• Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to her son Mason Dash Disick this morning. As you'll recall, "Dash" is also the name of the Kardashian's boutique. [E!]
• Courtney Love lost custody of her 17-year-old daughter Frances Bean Cobain on Friday after a long period of unstable behavior. Kurt Cobain's mother and sister were named Frances Bean's legal guardians. [TMZ]
• Police documents show that Florida's Department of Children and Families is investigating whether there was a "domestic in front of children" involving a weapon at Tiger Woods' house on Thanksgiving, but a spokeswoman for the agency said, "I'm just not able, by law, to give confirmation about whether we visited the children." [Radar Online]
• In her first post-scandal public appearance, Elin Nordegren pumped gas on her way to a Christmas party... and she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. [Radar Online]
• Tiger Woods' private jet flew from Boston to Sweden on Sunday, but only the pilot and two flight attendants were on board. Sources say Elin Nordegren is moving to Sweden, but it's unclear why the jet went without her. [Radar Online]
• Tiger Woods' high school girlfriend Dina Gravell-Parr revealed that he broke up with her by letter. She said of Elin Nordegren, "That could of been me... Thank God it's not!" [Radar Online]
• Tiger Woods skipped his best friend Bryon Bell's recent wedding, but he was still listed in the program as the best man. [TMZ]
• Tiger Woods' mistress Jamie Jungers says, "With all the things that have happened, it's probably in my best interest to move up here [to New York]," whatever that means. [N.Y. Magainze]
• Tiger Woods' 14th reported mistress, Theresa Rogers, has hired attorney Gloria Allred, who is also representing Rachel Uchitel. Rogers is in her 40s, making her the oldest of Tiger's reported dalliances. She also claims she slept with him both before and after he married Elin Nordegren. [Radar Online]
• Looks like Rachel Uchitel won't be suing Joy Behar for calling her a hooker. Gloria Allred released this statement: "We accept ABC's apology and this resolves the matter with ABC. Our action and this apology should also send a message to the public that Rachel values her reputation and that she will consider all of her legal options against anyone or any entity which defames her." [TMZ]
• Sources say Rachel Uchitel has been getting death threats from people who got her cell phone number from a 2001 photo posted on the internet. [TMZ]
• Over the weekend Chris Brown posted a profanity-laced rant on Twitter because he couldn't find his album Graffiti at the Walmart in Wallingford, Connecticut. A Walmart spokesman responded: "We are surprised at the comments online. All Walmart stores nationwide have carried the CD since its release, including the Wallingford store mentioned in the post. This store actually sold through its initial shipment over the weekend. The majority of our stores today are showing they do have copies available." [People]
• You won't miss a minute of Joel Madden's mouth surgery thanks to Twitter. He's been updating everyone on his recovery all weekend. [Radar Online]
• Hailey Glassman has reunited with her mother after an estrangement sparked by her relationship with Jon Gosselin. Hailey wrote on Twitter: "I got the best present for Hanukkah, which was my family n I reunited after all the outside manipulations and lies by 'others' ... This is the 1st yr. I don't care about a gift. My family is my gift n I am so grateful. I'm with my Mom right now,we are doing face masks! :-)." [Radar Online]
• Although some sources are claiming Orlando Bloom proposed to Miranda Kerr, Bloom's rep says, "There is no truth to any rumors of engagement." [People]
• Jude Law was sitting next to Robert Downey Jr. at a Sherlock Holmes press junket when reporters asked about his relationship with Sienna Miller. Jude replied: "The only person I'm in love with at the moment is sitting on my left." [The Mirror]
• David Beckham's London football academy is closing, but the school will live on. A spokesman said: "The David Beckham Academy itself is not ending, this site is coming to the end of its lease but we are planning a more flexible model which will reach communities and schools across the country and internationally." [The Independent]
• Fans have been sending messages of support to the Duggars because their 19th child Josie Brooklyn was born three months early on December 10 and is in the NICU for extended care. [People]
• Hugh Grant said he was drunk when he told an assistant to bid £2 million on an Andy Warhol painting of Elizabeth Taylor, but it worked out for the best: he sold it later for £13 million. [The Guardian]
• Grizzwald "Grizz" Chapman, who plays part of Tracy Jordan's entourage on 30 Rock, is on dialysis three times a week for severe hypertension. He's on a five-year waiting list for a kidney transplant, but he has to lose 75 pounds before he can hae the operation. [E!]
• Taylor Swift had a Christmas-themed 20th birthday party and donated $250,000 to schools around the country as a gift to herself. "Something I wanted to do at the end of this amazing year and especially on my birthday was give back to something I really believe in, which is education," said Swift. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back." [People]
• Snoop Dogg shot another guest appearance on One Life To Live. "As I said when I was here last time, I've been a fan of One Life to Live since I was a baby because my momma always had it on," said Snoop Dogg. "It's cool to come back and hang with Bo Buchanan and the people in Llanview and ‘rock out with them." [WSJ]
• Cate Blanchett was an hour and a half late to a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire in Brooklyn because it was rainy and icy and she was traveling from out of town. After the curtain calls she said, "Thank you all for hanging around. The weather conspired against us. There's black ice out there. Be careful getting home." [NYT]
• Coldplay is selling instruments they've used and other memorabilia on eBay in an "End of Decade Clearout Sale" to benefit the charity Kids Company. [UPI]
• Jersey Shore's Nicole Polizzi, a.k.a. "Snooki", says: "We are better than The Hills... It is all real." (Insert your own tanning joke here.) [Us]
• UNICO, the largest Italian-American group in the country, is pushing Pap John's Pizza, Nivea, LG Electronics and Burger King to pull their advertisements from Jersey Shore because it's a "discriminatory, insulting and Italian-bashing program." [TMZ]
• Maxwell is back after an eight-year hiatus. "Sometimes I just get sick of myself," he said. "That's kind of what happened in 2001. I didn't want to see another photo; I didn't want to hear me. I just sort of needed a coffee bean in the perfume shop of who I was, you know what I mean?" [CNN]
• In Esquire's "What I've Learned" column Sting says: "You don't have to be the greatest singer in the world. What you need to be is unique. Whenever you open your mouth, people should know: 'Oh, that's Van Morrison.' Or 'That's Bob Dylan.' Or 'That's Bono.' You want to get to that point where you have a unique vocal fingerprint. Then it's about refining that sound and making it more and more you." [Esquire]
• Zoe Saldana, who stars in James Cameron's Avatar, says, "He's been impacted by interesting women all his life, because you can tell he's in tune with his feminine side. I've learned this about men who write good roles for women - there's a very beautiful sentimentality to them. Their exteriors are sugarcoated with this manly presence, but deep on the inside, there's also this [fragility]." [WSJ]
• Former model Sienna Miller says of V magazine doing a plus-size issue, "I suppose that's something you'd have to say - I couldn't sit here and say, 'No, I'm not [into it] ... but I sincerely believe that that's more beautiful than someone who is poker-thin. I really do. I would love to have boobs to go with my hips, but I don't - that's just not the way the cookie crumbled." [New York Magazine]

• Taylor Swift received eight Grammy nominations. "I started freaking out and jumping up and down," she claims. On winning one, she says:

"The thought of that absolutely is something that you daydream about." Taylor, Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé has TEN Grammy noms. [AP, People]

• Details on the Grammy noms at this link. [NY Post]
• Taylor Swift has also inked a video-on-demand deal with Comcast. [Reuters]
• Rachel Uchitel, the first woman accused of having an affair with Tiger Woods — and who denied that she had one — is MAYBE ready to admit that she did hook up with the golfer; her attorney, Gloria Allred, has set up a press conference, which will take place today. [Radar Online]
• Here's the deal: Rachel Uchitel supposedly lied when denying an affair with Tiger Woods to protect him. And she was the one — not Jaimee Grubbs — whose texts caused an argument between Tiger and his wife. [TMZ]
• File this under shit you never wanted to know: Tiger Woods' alleged mistress, Jaimee Grubbs, "has a history of chasing famous sports professionals, tried to get into Playboy and made a sex tape." [Radar Online]
• By the by: Tiger Woods offered Jaimee Grubbs a job: he offered her a condo or apartment, and he said she could stay there for free and "sort of manage the property." [Radar Online]
• Kalika Moquin, alleged mistress #3, had no idea who Tiger Woods was when she first met him, according to sources. When she found out he was a millionaire golfer, she started hooking up with him. [TMZ]
• Ugh: Cheater-oriented website Ashley Madison wants Tiger to do ads and promotion for them. And porn company Vivid Entertainment is offering $1 million to any woman who has proof she was Tiger's lover and signs a contract with them. [TMZ]
• Tiger Woods' sponsors are standing by him, and, since he makes $110 million a year in endorsements, that's a big deal. [NY Post]
• Tiger Woods and his wife and in "intense marriage counseling." And Elin Nordegren has demanded "a total rewrite on the couple's prenuptial agreement." [Us Weekly]
• More on the Tiger Woods prenup renegotiation here. [The Daily Beast]
• Someone at a Las Vegas club spilled a drink on Orlando Bloom's shirt, so, naturally, one of his friends called the John Varvatos store and within 30 minutes, someone arrived with three brand new shirts. Right there in a packed 200-capacity dining room, Orlando took off the soiled shirt and put on a new one. Girlfriend Miranda Kerr was one of those admiring the view. [Page Six]
• Chris Brown's interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts will air on 20/20 Friday night; in this promo, Chris says: "I never ever had problems with anger. No, no domestic violence with any of my past girlfriends. I never was that kind of person. ... I look at it, and it's really, like really difficult. It's like, 'How could I be that person?'" [ABC News]
• Oprah will have a "significant presence" on OWN, her cable network launching in 2011, but she won't be doing a cable version of her talk show. [NY Post]
• George Clooney's girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis is on the cover of German FHM wearing… very little. Also, the mag calls her "Fraulein Clooney." [NY Daily News]
• Will George Stephanopoulos replace Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America? [NY Post]
• Colin Firth stars in A Single Man, a film written and director by fashion guru Tom Ford. Colin says: "He told me I looked good, but I'd look better if I had a personal trainer." Tom corrects: "I told him he was fat." [NY Times]
• Oh, great. "Despite falling ratings, MTV's The Hills will return for a sixth season." You know why? Because MTV has NOTHING else. [Variety]
• People who squabble on The Hills do shots together when the cameras are not rolling. [Page Six]
• ABC has canceled Adam Lambert performances AGAIN — this time on Jimmy Kimmel Live and New Year's Rockin' Eve. Glambert Tweeted: "Yes, sadly friends, ABC has canceled my appearances on Kimmel and NYE. :( don't blame them. It's the FCC heat ... I AM doing Leno though. And lookin into something for NYE ... It'll all blow over. Let's focus on being positive! :)" [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Whee: Ricky Gervais will host the 2010 Golden Globes. [Variety]
• Michael Lohan, ever the underminer, predicts that Jon Gosselin will lose TLC's breach of contract lawsuit against him. [MSNBC]
• In this piece, people have amusing things to say about Viggo Mortensen. The Road director John Hillcoat says: "He's a passionate guy." Director Peter Jackson says: "I just didn't know how gung-ho he'd be for everything… [If a scene called for Mortensen to climb a mountain], he'd be the guy who slept outside in a sleeping bag to get a start on the day." Fran Walsh, Jackson's partner and Lord of the Rings co-writer, says: "He's almost like a hippie. We picked him up at the airport one time, and he wasn't wearing shoes. I still have no idea how he got through the airport barefoot." Viggo himself says: "I know it sounds clichéd, but I didn't want to do anything for fame. I just love the arts." [USA Today]
• Sometimes Page Six is like a celebrity message board; today the bulletin is for Alec Baldwin's former girlfriend, Nicole Seidel: He still loves you and would do anything to get you back. [Page Six]
• Unsolicited uterus update: Tom Brady knows the sex of the fetus Gisele is carrying, even though Gisele does not. He says: "It's a pretty good feeling knowing something that no one else knows." [People]
• Ashlee Simpson has already succeeded in pissing off the cast of Chicago, and she just made her debut on Monday night. [Gatecrasher]
• Page Six claims Candice Bergen and Anna Paquin "just missed each other" at a hotel in Long Island; obviously no one at the column saw this picture from the set of The Romantics. [Page Six]
• Rosie Perez effed up her job presenting awards at the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night. [Gatecrasher]
• Mother-daughter bonding! Candy and Tori Spelling have been mending their relationship! Candy says: "I'm looking forward to a lot of wonderful things. We have taken this private, which is what I've always wanted and I think so did Tori, and I'm really thrilled." [E!]
• Fresh-out-of-the-closet Meredith Baxter is writing a book about her life and shopping the story. [Page Six]
• Steven Keaton supports Elyse Keaton's decision to come out. [People]
• Yasmin LeBon critiques Simon LeBon's gigs with Duran Duran: "I give him a debrief after the show – the lights, the sound. I just can't help it." [Daily Mail]
• Hulk Hogan is engaged to girlfriend Jennifer McDaniel. [NY Daily News]
• "I was supposed to be his assistant as well as work with him on a book and other endorsements such as a motorcycle line and a kids clothing line, and kids' stackable furniture. His contract with TLC never came up. It didn't seem to concern him." — Kate Major, in a deposition in TLC's lawsuit against Jon Gosselin. [Radar Online]
• "I'm trying to find roles that demand more adulthood from me because you can get stuck in a very awful cute cycle as a woman in film - especially being such a small person. I'm a really late bloomer. In my own life, it's only been the last couple of years where I'm like, I'm an adult. I'm not totally an adult but…" — Natalie Portman. [USA Today]
• "I feel like a human being again. There was one point in time where I felt like...[Sighs.] I don't know-I felt like plastic. I think I looked plastic. My face, fat plastic. [Laughs.] I was eating, but the Vicodin made me hungry because it eats up your stomach lining, so you want to fill your stomach back up, but then it stops you up so you can't shit, you just-That's why I was gaining so much weight, I was just so fucking bloated. It's a trip when people take sobriety for granted. Feeling trapped in my addiction and then getting sober-you appreciate it so much more, because I didn't know if I would ever know what it's like to feel normal again, ever." — Eminem, who has been sober for 19 months, talks about drugs, music, Dr. Dre and much much more in an extensive interview. [Complex]
• "When you read things about Michael Jackson it's hard to decipher what the fuck is true, but there's the story of how he woke up at whatever time and he needed something to go back to sleep because he had this or that and it didn't work. That's exactly what used to happen to me: I would take a couple of pills and I would be up an hour later and I'd want more. Then I'd take more and that would be enough to maybe get me back to sleep for two more hours. Then I'd be wide awake again. So I definitely can relate, and it's a shame if he didn't have anybody there to just say, 'Michael, you're an addict, you need help.' It's one of the pitfalls of fame. I could just say, 'Yo, I need this and this and this,' and they're going to give me whatever I want…" — Eminem. [Complex]
• "I overdid everything. I was hung over for two years. If I didn't drink, I didn't do anything. It was bad. [My new album] is not all about getting sober. The problem is, I did all the drinking for my whole life in a two-year span. I wish I had spaced it out. Drinking is great. It makes you happy. But the next day, it makes everything feel as twice as bad as it was before. So what's the point? It's delicious but poisonous." — Julian Casablancas. [CNN]
• "[Being armed and dangerous] turns me on in a way I that I shouldn't be saying. It's boring to always play the victim or the compliant little woman. Eff that! Why don't you have my baby and wait at home while I go kill some mother[bleepers]? It's just very empowering." — Zoe Saldana. [Page Six]
• "[After 30 Rock, I would like to manage a Laytner's Linen on the upper West Side. Every time I'm in there, I wish I worked there — free towels." — Tina Fey. [Gatecrasher via Entertainment Weekly]

• Daul Kim's boyfriend was the first to find the body of the 20-year-old Korean model, artist, and writer, who died by asphyxiation. Police believe Kim's death was a suicide. Her agency has confirmed that her mother is en route to Paris. [AP]

• Don't want to wait until December 1 to watch the whole Victoria's Secret show? USAToday has video highlights, including Marisa Miller anxiously awaiting post-show cupcakes backstage, and Miranda Kerr doing a little dance on the runway to the Black Eyed Peas. [USAToday]
• Women's Wear Daily says it was "pandemonium" outside. [WWD]
• Eva Mendes has signed on to do more ads for Calvin Klein. When was the last time she was in a movie, anyway? [Elle UK]
• Valentino: The Last Emperor has been short-listed for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. [SB]
• Karl Lagerfeld, on Lily Allen: "I love Lily's humor, her cheekiness, her talent, her little upturned nose, and her perfect décolletage." [Elle]
• Rumor has it that Ungaro's two top executives, Asim Abdullah and Mounir Moufarrige (who once said of bringing Lindsay Lohan aboard, "It might work") are fighting over whether the actress should be fired or not. Her first collection for the brand was poorly received by buyers, the press, and the peanut gallery of the Internet; even Emanuel Ungaro himself called it a "disaster." [Elle UK]
• Claudia, Eva, and Helena share the new cover of i-D, like it's 1992 or something. [FWD]
• Shanna Moakler just launched a cosmetics collection. Called Smoak. [People]
• Moncler and Pharrell Williams are doing a line of clothing. It'll incorporate fabrics from Bionic, the eco-fabric company Williams invested in earlier. [WWD]
• Yves Saint Laurent's pots and pans sold for 15,000 Euros (just over $22,000) at the ongoing auction of the designer's household effects. [AFP]
• Sarah Ferguson will not be doing an apparel line with QVC. Pity. [WWD]
• Hand model Christina Ambers fell in love with Angel Rotger, one of the doormen at her Upper East Side building. Their romance and subsequent marriage cost Rotger his job, and led to them both being treated as pariahs by the other building staff, the two now allege in a $10 million lawsuit. Allegedly, the superintendent's wife got drunk and hit Rotger in the groin hard enough to cause a contusion. [NYDN]
• Here's an odd choice of knight in shining armor: supermarket magnate and modelizer Ron Burkle. Burkle has, through his company, invested millions of dollars in buying some of Barneys New York's debt from Citibank, for a reported 60 cents on the dollar. Barneys took on around $500 million in debt in 2007, when it was sold to current owners Istithmar. [WSJ]
• 100 new stores by March 31 is quite a clip, but Tommy Hilfiger thinks it can do it. [WWD]
• Gap's profits rose 25%, to $307 million, for the quarter ended October 31. It made $246 million during the same period last year. [WSJ]

• Naomi Campbell: "Unfortunately, we are the same as before...People, in the panic of the recession, don't dare to put a girl of colour in their campaign, full stop. Nor of any other race. It's a shame. It's very sad." [Telegraph]

• Designer Tara Subkoff is on the mend following the removal of a benign brain tumor: speedy recovery! [NYPost]
• Let the wild rumpus begin! Hipper-than-thou retailer Opening Ceremony, no stranger to the celebrity vanity project, is carrying a line of faux furs inspired by, yes, Where the Wild Things Are. We're more inspired by the dough suit in In the Night Kitchen, personally. [W]
• Speaking of Opening Ceremony: its Tokyo store opening was predictably sparkly and Olsen-studded. [WWD]
• Apparently high-end retailers - think Tiffany and Neiman's - have taken to holding secret sales for VIPs, so as to get the biz without "diluting their brand" with vulgar door-busters. [TimesUK]
• What does Maria Sharapova like to do? "I'd probably have to say shopping and eating...I mean, I am a girl after all, and there's no better place than New York to shop." What, no chasing men with a sassy sidekick? [WWD]
• TopShop is getting into workout clothes. Because we know we like sweating in "chenille." [WWD]
• "Themes of youthful disdain and playfulness continue in Victoria Beckham's second film for her A/W 09 collection," which you can watch. We don't know about the "disdain," but it's pretty cute. [Dazed Digital]
• Sara Ziff, on her documentary Picture Me: "(T)here's a hierarchy when you pair a 45-year-old male photographer-and many of the photographers are older, heterosexual men-with a 15-year old girl. And I think in a way you're asking for trouble if that girl is totally unsupervised, living miles away from friends and family. It's kind of a no-brainer. There should be some protection for these girls." [Mother Jones]
• Temperley of London is launching an affordable (no, really!) line of their ultra-cool duds, coming this spring. [New York]
• Grace Coddington, on The September Issue: "But my very favorite scene is when Raquel [Zimmermann, the model] was eating pies at the couture. She kept looking at them and saying she wanted one, while we were lacing her into this tiny corset and reminding her she wouldn't fit if she ate one. So she didn't eat them ... and she didn't eat them. Then when the shoot was over she ate, like, a whole pie! It's a funny scene, and she looks absolutely beautiful." Well, yeah: that box of pastries was just sadistic! [New York]
• Wait, what? In that doc, Anna Wintour's daughter, Bee Shaffer, says she wants to be a lawyer. Now, apparently, she's working in theatre. Lady's prerogative, we suppose! [NY Post]
• Well, thank God. Pamela Anderson's addressing the serious dearth of celebrity perfumes, launching "Malibu by Pamela" this fall. [New York]
• Kim Kardashian: "My YRB magazine shoot just came out and I am loving the results! "I really love the transformation and the clothes were amazing!!! This has got to be one of the most unique shoots I've ever done! Not sure I'll ever go for a permanent short cut, but it definitely works for this shoot." She looks kind of like Karen O, weirdly. [People]
• Speaking of covers: if you buy the special Lady Gaga issue of V, you can peel her New Wavy glasses off the mag and wear them yourself! Or, you know, not. [New York]
• Model Lily Cole, who's taken a hiatus to go to university: "I like learning. I was going to do social and political science, then I switched to history of art, but I could have done either. I can get impassioned about politics, but I find studying it can lead to a boxy way of looking at the world, so I was put off studying it." [TimesUK]
• Peter Som on his scaled-down collection: "I have to make sure that every piece I design is special and unique," Som says. "People don't come to me for basics. They come to me for print and for color and for happy clothes." [New York]
• Um. For Fashion's Night Out, which we're almost starting to buy the hype for, Calvin Klein has commissioned "a performance by CK One model Jamie Burke and his band, Burke." That'll pack 'em in. [WWD]
• Alleged designer and convicted rapist Anand Jon is about to learn his fate: he could get life. [Yahoo]
• Michael Kors' description of his trip to South Africa is exactly what you'd guess if you were parodying Michael Kors describing a trip to South Africa. "We saw the big five (lions, leopards, rhino, elephant and buffalo) within the first two days. Truly mind blowing. Chilled out midday at the spa and one day even ended up doing an impromptu yoga session in the bush next to the Jeep." [WWD]
• Tyra sports Alexander Wang on ANTM, leading fashionistas who speculate that she'll start supporting more high fashion. But Ty-Ty is a fickle mistress! [Fashionista]
• Department store shoppers, take note: Miranda Kerr was momentarily blinded by a spritz of "Heavenly Enchanted" perfume at the scent's launch. [NYPost]

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

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

Serena Williams may look a little bridesmaid, but I love these graceful lines on her.


And Miranda Kerr is the bride! Albeit an incredibly glamorous one.


Jaime Pressly's mini kind of reminds me of what the evil trophy wife wears to her elderly mogul husband's funeral on a soap/one of those romance novels where all the wardrobe seems mired in 1984. Just picture it with a huge hat.


It's really striking how carefree Condoleezza Ricelooks now compared to...well, you know. Bright colors and a big smile make her look like a different dame!


Don't you wonder if Kendra and Condi were forced to talk? And what they said? And if she's hard to talk to in this dress - although I'm sure Kendra was totally un-self-conscious! And, from the waist down, it's extremely demure.


Rashida Jones can do almost no wrong in my book, but I'm not loving the fit of this - at least, in motion.


Venus Williams is perhaps the only woman in the world who could wear this caftan - and not the other way around. Some would say a tall lady shouldn't do a lot of pattern - I say they can and should!


Kristi Yamaguchi's right: self-exams are important. So are comfy shoes. Either, though, is optional for formal situations.


[Images via Getty]

[Cannes, May 19. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

[New York, May 3. Image via Flynet]

• As you'll recall, Shia LaBeouf injured his hand in a car crash in July 2008. He says: "I'll never be back to 100 percent or have full recovery." And:

"I can't zipper my zipper or button my shirt without extreme pain. But I chalk it up as my own s—-. These things had to happen. This accident is what I needed in my life. I'm not in control. For the first time, I can admit that and know that. I'm a fallible individual, and the hand is like a tattoo that says MISTAKE. It's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life." [People via Playboy]

• "When I first started the role of Wolverine, back for the first X-Men movie, I watched a lot of Mike Tyson videos in my trailer," says Hugh Jackman."The way he just goes straight in. I kept saying to the writers, 'Don't give me long, choreographed fights for the sake of it. Don't make the fights pretty.' Like Tyson, if Wolverine wants to take your . . . head off, he's going to do it." [LA Times]
• Even though Tyra Banks' stalker was found guilty, he won't go to jail: He'll "get help" for his "unhealthy obsession." [NY Daily News, NY Post]
• Madonna is not leaving her kids with Guy Ritchie while she tours this summer in Europe. She Twittered: "They go where I go." [Perez, The Star]
• Michael Jackson is afraid to fly to the UK because he's terrified of SWINE FLU. [Telegraph]
• This was in Midweek Madness, but here it is again: When Chris Brown calls her producer looking for her, Rihanna says, "Tell him I'm not here." [OK!]
• Lindsay Lohan is being painted as "desperate" and "crafty": She has arranged to be in London next month at the same time as Samantha Ronson. LL will be doing a shoot for British Vogue; Sam is headed to do a series of DJ gigs. [Daily Mail]
• This report claims that Lindsay Lohan is such a train wreck, Harry Morton, who dated her 3 years ago about bought her an engagement ring, now sorta denies it: "I didn't really date her . . . I really didn't," the Hard Rock Café heir says. "It's embarrassing being known for that. I'd like to be known for stuff I've created or things I've done. I don't want to be known for that. No way." [Page Six]
• Andy Samberg once found $5,000 extra in his bank account. He assumed it was an error. After four months, nothing happened, so he kept it. [Gatecrasher]
• Nadya Suleman, mother of octuplets, is adding to her posse of little mouths to feed: She's getting a shih tzu. [MSNBC]
• Sandra Bullock is being inducted into the Warren Easton High School hall of fame later this month. She's donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Louisiana school since Katrina ravaged the area in 2005. A spokesman from the school says: "Sandra did not attend Warren Easton High School, but we proudly claim her as one of our own." [Daily Express]
• Sad face: Singer Kelis, who is 7 months pregnant, has filed for divorce from her husband, the rapper Nas. [TMZ, People, NY Daily News]
• Q.You play the villain Nero in Star Trek. How would he fare against another bad guy you've played, Chopper? In a steel cage match, who wins? Eric Bana: Ohhh, goodness. Well...I'll say Chopper. [Laughs] But who knows? [EW]
• Hayden Panettiere has auditioned to be Chace Crawford's leading lady in the Footloose remake. They're both so large eyed and pretty, it's gonna be tough to focus on the singing and dancing. Oh, yeah, the movie is a full-blown musical. [E!]
• It's hard to even read this story without bursting into laughter at the picture of Robert Pattinson in his Dali moustache. And then the headline has the words "gay sex scenes." LOL. [LA Times]
• Kanye West's new book, Thank You And You're Welcome, is out now. Here is a snippet: "Love your haters. They're your biggest fans!" And: "Never complain without offering a solution! I'm often seen as complaining in situations when I lose. I see it more as an explanation of why I should have won." [Men.Style.com]
• Ousted ANTM contestant Fo (my fave!) is pissed that she was sent home: "Honestly, I don't want to sound too bitchy or catty, but I do think Celia [Ammerman] should've gone home before me, or instead of me, because I can put on a pair of six-inch heels and be tall, [but she] can't change. Age isn't something you can drastically change." [E!]
• Roman Polanski has not taken any steps to surrender next week: He's due in US court if he wants his case examined, but if he sets foot on US soil, he faces immediate arrest as a fugitive. He has not contacted the court or the LA County Sheriff's Dept. [LA Times]
• "Rebecca Romijn Lost 60 Lbs. after Twins – Without Exercise!" [People]
• Jada Pinkett returns to TV for the first time since the '90s with a TNT show HawthoRNe, in which she plays a hospital nursing director. [USA Today]
• Real Housewives gossip: Jill Zarin was "acting like a total nightmare" in a high-end boutique. [Page Six]
• Mary-Kate Olsen's boyfriend, Nate Lowman, has created a piece of art which mocks Lizze Grubman's SUV accident, an its in the MOMA. Grubman says: "I don't understand how a picture of me during a tragic time in my life can be considered art." [Page Six]
• Jim Carrey is in talks to star in The Beaver, a flick which "enters on the relationship between a man and a beaver puppet he wears on his arm, which he talks to and treats as a companion." [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Here's video of Johnny Knoxville discussing the documentary he produced, The Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia. The Whites are a family known for wreaking havoc. [NY Times]
• A newspaper in NJ is mad that Jay Leno made fun of their headlines: Page on claimed "School taxes going up" and page two's headline was "School Taxes Going Down." A spokesperson for the paper said: "Apparently Jay and the NBC folks didn't bother to read the actual stories, and instead got a great laugh out of what they thought was some kind of hilarious blunder on our part. Two different school districts. Two different tax situations. Is it really that complicated?" [Poynter]
• Miranda Kerr is not engaged to Orlando Bloom or publicly trying to get pregnant, but she was pestered by a reporter into saying that she eventually wants kids. Then she was asked about Heidi Klum's pregnancy. [E!]
• "It looks like Linda Hogan isn't the only thing her 19-year-old boyfriend is allowed to ride — a judge just blocked the Hulkster's attempt to keep the youngster from driving his cars too." You stay classy, TMZ. [TMZ]
• Farrah Fawcett's son Redmond O'Neal will enter rehab instead of going to jail. [People]
• Leonard Nimoy will receive a "special gong" at this year's Saturn Awards, given out by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. [Mirror]
• Trivia! Elliott Gould is the only non-Muppet actor to be in two separate Muppet movies. [BlackBook]
• Blind item! "Which closeted TV icon should be more careful about whom he dates? He has been squiring an infamous gay bartender around town, and everyone's noticing." [Gatecrasher]
• "Everybody has a little mischief in them - I do. I like to live on the edge a little bit, and other times I think I'm boring and passive like everybody else. I've been working 15 months straight, so these days I feel like all I can do is have a day at work and then go to bed." — Ryan Reynolds. [Mirror]
• "I've been very fortunate to get to know both Schreiber brothers very well." — Carla Gugino, who has done nude scenes with both Pablo and Liev Schreiber. [NY Mag]
• "If you ever catch your present girlfriend at a sex shop with her two ex-boyfriends and they're examining dildos, she's not the right one for you." — Breckin Meyer. [GQ]
• "All these random little stories become someway, somehow newsworthy, so you have to be very secretive about everything." — Robert Pattinson. [E!]
• "I think that my song selections are a little more hip. I know they're more uptempo. They're funky, they're sassy, they've got attitude." — Reba McEntire, who says last year's tour with Kelly Clarkson changed her perspective. [USA Today]
• "I loved rock'n'roll but there's got to be something behind the rock'n'roll. There had to be. We found, of course, that it was the blues. And, therefore, if you really want to learn the basics, then you've got to do some homework. We all felt there was a certain gap in our education, so we all scrambled back to the 20s and 30s to figure out how Charlie Patton did this, or Robert Johnson, who, after all, was and still probably is the supremo. Blues didn't just mean doing one thing or another — there was a lot of room to manoeuvre around the blues." — Keith Richards. [Guardian]
• "It's been two years since I washed my hair." — Prince Harry. [The Sun]
• From Heidi Montag's Twitter: "im so sad to leave mexico! im ready to get out of the pig flue country though… We landed!! Now I am just praying for health!" Also, she thanks God for her "soul mate," Spencer. [People, HeidiMontag's Twitter]
• "When I was four, my dad was performing with Aretha Franklin and, even though he made sure I was backstage with the nanny, I wanted to get up there and dance so much that I ran on to the stage. I was passed around all these great artists and Aretha held on to me so tight. All I wanted to do was entertain." — Miley Cyrus. [Daily Mail]
• "It's interesting, the older I get the younger they get. When I was younger they were all 50 and 60. I'm going to stop there though. I'm heading into dangerous territory if I get any younger." — Michelle Pfeiffer, on her costars. [Daily Express]
• "I'm trying to get [two-year-old son] Kingston to listen to the No Doubt records. He didn't know the No Doubt records, so now I'm forcing him to listen to them, and I think he's going to get into it if I can get him to stop listening to Miley Cyrus. He's listening to the Disney Channel a lot. But I think [nine-month-old son] Zuma is more of a No Doubt fan than King is." — Gwen Stefani. [Mirror via MTV]

[New York, April 9. Image via INF]

• The Malawi Human Rights Commission is stepping in to help Madonna appeal her adoption case. Sources say three-year-old Mercy James "understands what's going on" and has been asking, "Where is Mummy? Where is Lola?" [People]

• Nadya Suleman says she may apply for welfare. "If I need to apply for [the Women, Infants and Children program] to provide my babies with formula, then I'm going to," she said. [Whittier Daily News]
• Woody Harrelson attacked a TMZ photographer again at the airport. Along with the video TMZ posted this description: "Our photog says Woody smashed the camera to the ground, breaking it. Harrelson then picked the camera up and began walking away with it. The photog followed Woody, claiming he was assaulted and demanded that Woody return the camera. That's when Harrelson attacked again, striking the photog repeatedly and grabbing his neck. Our cameraman shot the action with his flip cam." [TMZ]
• Kate Hudson broke up with Owen Wilson again. A source says, "Owen wants to get married and he proposed to Kate soon after they got back together. But she's not ready." [Perez Hilton]
• The National Enquirer claims that Billy Joel's wife, Katie Lee, is cheating on him with Yigal Azrouel, a handsome 36-year-old Israeli-born fashion designer. [National Enquirer]
• Rihanna visited a six-year-old fan who has leukemia in the hospital. [People]
• Oprah Winfrey has teamed up with the FBI about to warn people that scammers are sending people emails saying they have been nominated to appear on an episode of Oprah and possibly win $1 million. All they have to do is click a link to buy plane tickets to Chicago from the sender. [People]
• Paul McCartney's website was hacked, but it's fixed now. [The Daily Express]
• Unlike ex-wife Heather Mills, Paul McCartney's girlfriend of one year, Nancy Shevell, is popular with his kids. [People]
• Jennifer Lopez won a cybersquatting case against a man who registered two websites that used her name to make a profit. The man had to turn the domain names over to the Jennifer Lopez Foundation. [Reuters]
• One room in Jennifer Lopez's home is devoted entirely to wigs. "Jennifer keeps the door locked and hardly ever lets anyone in the room, not even Marc," says a source. "The shelves on the walls are full of plastic heads holding the best hairpieces money can buy." [Star]
• Jade Goody's dying wish was to have a wax statue made of her at Madame Tussauds so that her boys could still see her. The museum says they are considering it and sources say they are considering a figure that talks and moves, saying Goody's most famous sayings such as: "Rio de Janeiro, ain't that a person?" and, "Where's East Angular though?" [The Daily Mail]
• Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr said, "Yeah, one day down the line, of course I'd love to be a mum - it's definitely something I'd like to do," which is a big deal because she's dating Orlando Bloom. [The Daily Mail]
• Real Housewives of New York City star Countess LuAnn de Lesseps said she and her husband were separated for three months when he sent her an email saying he was seeing someone else and it was serious. "I was devastated," she says. "I knew that we were kind of separating, but I was hoping that things were going to work out." [People]
• Heidi Klum's 64-year-old father, Gunther, is in a German hospital recovering from a stroke. [The Sun]
• The falconer who supplied the owls for the Harry Potter movies plead guilty to 17 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to his 42 birds and 11 chickens. He was accused of keeping the animals in "filthy, squalid abandon." [The Sun]
• Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon were in a just in a fender bender in L.A. We know this because Mariah Twittered: "so this is why I don't drive,or get up early. Just got into a little car accident in la..but we're all ok. Neither of us were driving." [TMZ]
• David Caruso is being sued by a woman who says he fathered her two children and promised to love her forever. But he broke up with her when their second child was born and she says he owes her the $1 million he promised her. [TMZ]
• Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, is suing her accountant because she says he calculated her taxes incorrectly and she had to pay $900,000 in back taxes and a $110,000 fine after an IRS audit. [NY Post]
• Kim Kardashian has big dreams for her career. "I would like die to be in Twilight," says Kim, "being around all those hot guys. I want to be a vampire." She adds, "I would love to be a Bond girl, that would be my dream of life." [People]
• An Australian woman stalking American Idol reject Diana DeGarmo is being held without bail until a hearing in May. [Yahoo]
• Bad news on Dollhouse. Joss Whedon says that FOX is only airing episode 12 and episode 13, the season finale, will only be available on DVD. [NY Magazine]
• James Gandolfini has asked a judge to ban camera from the courtroom when he testifies against a man he's accused of choking and punching in an airport. The fight started when the man greeted Gandolfini with his Tony Soprano impression. [Daily Express]
• Is Gabrielle Union pregnant with Dwayne Wade's baby or not? [ONTD]
• Spencer Pratt uploaded a picture to his Twitter, but when people pointed out there was a bong in the background he took it down. [Perez Hilton]
• Russell Brand is back on UK radio. He had to resign from BBC Radio 2 a few months ago after he left obscene messages on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs as part of his show. [Independent]
• Katie Holmes will read the story of a veteran during this year's National Memorial Day Concert in D.C. [E!]
• Miley Cyrus says her 20-year-old boyfriend Justin Gaston has brought her closer to God. "I've never been closer to the Lord since I met him," said Cyrus. "He's really made me read my Bible. He's made me actually read the stories in the Bible — not the quick little verses — that not only help me, but show you how to help other people." [Us]
• Miley Cyrus told Tyra Banks that she's cool with invading her boyfriend's privacy. "I go through their text [messages]," she tells Tyra. "I see if they're nice to their mom, because if they're mean to their mom they're going to be mean to me." Cyrus adds, "It's so much better than going through their phone and stuff because they always know." [People]
• Benjamin McKenzie reveals in this lengthy interview that he watches 30 Rock and Mad Men and he still keeps in touch with the Cohen family from The O.C., but not the ladies of the show. He says: "Adam Brody and I live not too far from each other and I see him quite a bit. Peter Gallagher and I stay in touch. Kelly Rowan and I stay in touch. Josh Schwartz every once in awhile. That's about it." [Just Jared]
• Chris Isaak talked to Yusuf, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, and this is what he had to say: "The way in which I kind of unplugged and walked away was abrupt, and it needn't have been that way," said Yusuf "And perhaps that was because of my naiveté. I was always a little bit naïve. I thought people would understand that when I'd written a song called 'On The Road To Find Out,' that if I happened to one day find something out, they might expect, 'Well, he might disappear then.'" [The Huffington Post]
• If you missed last night's South Park, you should watch this video about Kanye West's legendary love of "fish sticks." [Perez Hilton]
• Here's Kanye West's response to the episode: "SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER. I USE TO USE IT TO BUILD UP MY ESTEEM WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED IN ME. NOW THAT PEOPLE DO BELIEVE AND SUPPORT MY MUSIC AND PRODUCTS THE BEST RESPONSE IS THANK YOU INSTEAD OF "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" IT'S COOL TO TALK SHIT WHEN YOU'RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. WHEN YOU MEET LITTLE WAYNE IN PERSON HE'S THE NICEST GUY FOR EXAMPLE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT. EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF SHIT WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I'M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I'M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. I'M SURE THE WRITERS AT SOUTH PARK ARE REALLY NICE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW MY CREW. THAT WAS PRETTY FUNNY ALSO!! I'M SURE THERE'S GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS... THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW IT'S ME!" [ONTD]

• American Apparel is launching a "plus-size" sister label. Called "Colossal Clothing." It's only for the menfolk. [Kempt]
• The company is also busy harassing Woody Allen. The director called the clothier "sleazy" and "adolescent." [Page Six]

• Sienna Miller, by her own admission, doesn't actually do much for her fashion line, Twenty8Twelve. "My sister's the sketcher. I can barely draw a stick man, let alone a frock," the actress admitted. "I'll say, you know, can we get a top and make it that crinkly material? And she's like, 'Organza.' I don't speak the jargon." That sister — Savannah — went to fashion school, if you recall. "But I have an aesthetic that she understands," Sienna clarified. [Style.com]
• Georges Marciano, a co-founder of Guess?, is running as an independent candidate for the governorship of California. Platform: something about taxes (and, this is just a wild guess, fabulousness). [WWD]
• Model Jenny Shimizu named the late Richard Avedon as her favorite artist. "He would bring out stuff in you that you would never think was in you. He and I used to play together like apes in his studio. He was an incredible man, a genius." [Daily Beast]
• Sarah Brown, wife of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, gave up paid work in PR as her husband advanced his political career, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. For glitzy state occasions, she can't buy a new designer dress every time — so she rents them. Smart lady. [Telegraph]
• Daul Kim, the South Korean supe who made hilarious videos for New York once upon a time, dyed her hair ash blonde in Paris. And blogged funny pictures. [I Like To Fork Myself]
• Maria Sharapova, in addition to being the face of Cole Haan, will design for the brand. "Somebody needed to make a shoe that you can stand around for hours in," the tennis star said of her design inspiration. The stilettos for her line have Nike Air cushioning. [WWD]
• Miranda Kerr, the Australian Victoria's Secret model who dates Orlando Bloom, totally wants his sweet, widdle, scrumptious behbehs. At least, that's what the Daily Fail reckons. What Kerr actually said was "Yeah, one day down the line, of course I'd love to be a mum." Then the Fail calls her 23, then 25. Then 23. [Daily Mail]
• Naomi's on the cover of Giant, and she looks good. [The Life Files]
• News of Barbie's interminable semicentennial is kind of getting stale, but if you care, Henry Holland "curated" a Barbie stand at Dover St. Market. Interestingly, Holland's mum didn't allow her children to play much with the toy as a child, "because she gave lectures on the welfare state and sharing the wealth." When Holland and his siblings finally did get their hands on a Barbie, they took turns shooting at it with a bow and arrow. "My mum was well happy!" Now you know. [Dazed Digital]
• The owners of Christian Lacroix are looking to sell a stake in the brand. That puts them in the same boat as Brioni and Roberto Cavalli. For Lacroix, sales have been slow, and retailers are scaling back their orders, meaning the label will be further squeezed for cash over the coming seasons. [WSJ]
• Alessandro Dell'Acqua left Malo, the Italian knitwear label he had designed for less than a year, because of pressure from its owners over cost. The label is owned by IT Holdings SpA, an Italian apparel company that went into bankruptcy in February. No new creative director will be appointed — IT Holdings prefers to maintain the current design team, without a banner name heading it. Surely it is cheaper that way. [UK Vogue]
• Your Target or Macy's faux-leather handbag: another thing that could be killing you. No further details are available. Thanks, evening news. [KPBS]
• Missoni is going ahead with the opening of a luxury hotel bearing its name in Edinburgh, Scotland. Because the thing was already mostly built before the recession bit. The second Missoni hotel will open this summer in Dubai. [FT]
• Four words: Yves Saint Laurent Musical. Are these tears of joy or despair? I can't even tell anymore. Pierre Bergé, what have you wrought? [WWD]

[Sydney, February 26. Image via Flynet]

[Sydney, February 12. Image via Flynet]

• More Manolos and man-drama: The Sex And The City sequel is on. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are all on board… and getting more cash. [Us]

• Heath Ledger died one year ago today. His last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, will be released in June. [News.com.au]
• Paging Dr. Ross! George Clooney will, indeed, return to ER during its final season. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Tina Fey and Jon Hamm spill about 30 Rock! Tina says: "He plays a divorced gentleman who lives in my building. I meet him because I start getting his mail by accident and I start opening it and making assumptions about him based on it. Then I believe the technical term for what happens is 'shenanigans.'" Hamm adds: "Also high jinks. Believe it or not, there are misunderstandings." [EW]
• Jennifer Hudson will do the National Anthem at the Super Bowl because "she knew it was time" to perform again, says a source. [People]
• People are disgusting. How else to explain why there's an extortion plot involving John Travolta and a photograph taken of his son, Jett, as he was dying? [Daily Mail]
• Tom Cruise is urging Americans to "support" Barack Obama. Uh, dude? We got this. [The Star]
• Gwyneth Paltrow's trainer is opening a studio in New York. This is how it starts. Next we'll all be covered in GOOP. [NY Mag]
• Jodie Sweetin is reportedly back on coke, which may put the custody of her 9-month-old daughter in jeopardy. [Radar]
• Dita von Teese is returning to the "celebrated" Crazy Horse theater in Paris for a two-week run of her striptease show. Two years ago she "emerged from a rhinestone-encrusted bubblebath," but this year? "I feel I have to raise the bar," she says. "I wanted to do something more elaborate this time." [Reuters]
• Kevin Dillon, aka "Drama" on Entourage talks to Vanity Fair's George Wayne about Oliver Stone, outer space and the singer Pink: "Johnny Drama would love to get together with Pink." [Vanity Fair]
• Keira Knightley was walking around East London and realized that she was being followed and photographed; she texted her friend: "Read dickhead pap! Ahh!" We know this because the photographer took a close-up picture of her phone and it has been published. Madness. [Just Jared]
• Is Twilight keeping Kristen Stewart from going to college? She has no plans to go to university, she says: "Not now, maybe if I can grow up a little bit. But not yet, I can't. It's just I've had a lot of demands put on me for quite a long time." [Reuters]
• Dakota Fanning in the Twilight sequel? Could be fangtastic! [E!]
• Abigail Breslin's inked three pictures: two animated and a horror comedy called Zombieland with Woody Harrelson. [Variety]
• Sharon Stone D.C. gossip: "Over at an unofficial Pennsylvania ball at the Ritz, an emaciated Sharon Stone wowed the audience with an impassioned, if wildly disjointed, Obama-style appeal to get involved in politics. During her rambling discourse, she highlighted single mothers, anthracite coal and the Steelers as the Keystone State’s greatest attributes, according to an attendee. 'It was so weird. She’s seven flavors of crazy, each more delicious than the next,' the source added." [Politico]
• Here's a rundown of all the celebrity ego trips — including Halle Berry getting her dress stuck in an escalator — that happened down in D.C. [Page Six]
• Etta James watched Beyoncé sing the song she made famous, "At Last," from her home. [NY Daily News]
• U2's new album cover is virtually the same as the CD cover of an album called Specification Fifteen, which came out in 2006. [The Sun]
• In case you missed it, Katy Perry has taken a vow of celibacy this year. "No kissing anyone. Just my cat, Kitty Purry." [The Sun]
• Alanis Morissette is swimming with river dolphins and feeding wild monkeys in the Amazon right now and you're not. [AP]
• Don't speak: Gwen Stefani is getting back together with No Doubt for a 2009 summer tour! [Page Six]
• Dudes who logged on to AskMen.com found Isla Fisher more desirable than Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr. [News.com.au]
• The best thing about this gossip item regarding Audrina from The Hills is how she's wearing a T-shirt with the words "a beautiful lie" right over her fake boobs. [People]
• This new Heineken commercial with John Turturro should be an ad for weed, because he says the kind of shit you say when you are high as a kite. [Brand Freak]
• PETA has withdrawn an offer to televise an anti-dogfighting PSA with Michael Vick after his release from prison. [AP]
• Susan Sarandon is doing a new flick with Pierce Brosnan because Pierce called her and asked her to. [Gatecrasher]
• Singer Akon has no idea how old he is. He was born in the US but spent his early years in Senegal and says: "In Africa... age is not important over there. They don't care. People only focus on it here [America] and in Europe." [AP]
• Peter Falk's daughter is trying to place him under a conservatorship, but his wife of 32 years is opposing the proceeding. [AP]
• Some dumbass working for TMZ asked Ron Howard if there will be an Andy Griffith movie, and since Howard said no, this story is called "Ron Howard Kills 'Griffith' Reunion." [TMZ]
• Josh Groban is gonna work with Metallica and Beastie Boys producer Rick Rubin, LOL. [Fox 411]
• Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are friends now, FYI — they grew closer after Townshend faced child porn charges and was cleared. "Roger bravely stood by me when I really couldn’t speak for myself," Pete says. [Daily Express]
• Mark Ruffalo is back to work. [Reuters]
• Blind item! "Which small-screen actress is just as naughty as her TV character? The hottie was seen kissing quite a few fellas at Sundance despite having a serious boyfriend." [Gatecrasher]
• "Miley Cyrus Likes To Touch Big Boys." [The Life Files]
• Aerosmith's Steven Tyler says he's never been rejected by a woman: "I'm a persistent motherfucker. I'm very sensual and very rhythm-oriented and into poetry. Women can feel that." This blogger points out: "In a culture where no doesn't mean no, you've just got to be a 'persistent motherfucker' until a woman relents—and then you can claim victory and convince yourself you're some kind of awesome Casanova." Word. [Shakesville]
• Catherine Deneuve's daughter, Chiara Mastroianni — who once dated Benicio Del Toro — is in a new flick with her mother. Chiara says having famous parents (her father is the late Marcello Mastroianni) "made me even more determined to prove that, if I get attention, it's because I'm good at my job, not for other mad reasons." [Independent]
• You know how George Carlin loved to say the 7 words you can't say on TV? None of that made it into an FBI file on him. "Which kind of disappoints me," his daughter laughs. [AP]
• Fess up: Which one of you spent £12,000 on Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy portrait? [The First Post]
• "I did once snog identical twins in San Diego. I was on the sofa and I had them both. I was dancing and shoving my ass on one of them. That’s the only time, but I have lesbian dreams a lot." — Lily Allen, on her same-sex experience. [The Sun]
• "I'm having a really good laugh over the fact that I've been nominated for a Razzie this year. I had so much fun filming Disaster Movie and giggled the entire time during the shoot. There is steep competition in my 'worst supporting actress' category, I have to admit... including my fantastic costar Carmen Electra (you go girl!), Leelee Sobieski (what a surprise!), Jenny McCarthy (really?) and Paris Hilton (who could technically sweep this year's awards with a whopping three nominations!). It's an honor just being nominated! LOL!" — Kim Kardashian. [Kim Kardashian]
• "I'm in love with Barack Obama. I wanna get married — like, I wanna have his kids. Why am I not Michelle, you know what I mean? Who the [bleep] is she? You know, why can't I be her?" — Macy Gray. [Page Six]
• "My videos stand the test of time. They are like the almanac for every performer. Even Rihanna has come up to me and said 'I hope you don’t mind.' And Beyonce. You can see the influence of what I’ve done." — Paula Abdul. [MSNBC]
• "Mother Nature was not very kind to me. I'm going to deal with her when I get home. It, by no means, was my standard. I was not happy with it, but I just feel blessed because it could have been five above zero or five below zero like it is in Detroit. I was still blessed to be able to pretty much just sing the melody, but I wasn't happy with it, of course." — Aretha Franklin on her inauguration performance. [CNN]

[Los Angeles, January 14. Image via Flynet]

• Wanna see Posh's designs, complete with lampshades and elephant-trunk headpieces? Check out the new commercial for her fashion line. [Fashionista]
• "The video sees various models taking inspiration from Posh’s own ads for Marc Jacobs last season by hiding themselves all over a large mansion – behind drawers, in carrier bags, hanging behind doors, turning themselves into lamp shades and transforming themselves into an elephant." [Sassybella]
• Says Posh: “Being in the Spice Girls, fashion-wise probably didn't open any doors. If anything it shut doors and I've had to bang them down.” [Times Online]
• A New York bridal shop is knocking off the Vivienne Westwood wedding gown in which Carrie Bradshaw was jilted. [New York Post]

• Notify jeans classifies butts into three categories. [Guanabee]
• Apparently Katie Holmes is surrounded by a whole gaggle of other moddles for her ballyhooed Miu Miu campaign. [New York]
• Uniqlo beats the odds, is up 32%. [WWD]
• This, we like: Kate Moss is teaming up with Liberty to use their classic floral prints in her next Top Shop collection. [WWD]
• "Liberty are already working with Topshop on a lingerie collaboration, which launched in stores yesterday, though exactly how Moss will use the London store's iconic prints is still under wraps." [ElleUK]
• Michelle Obama's Vogue cover's not a sure thing. Neither, apparently is Anna Wintour's job! [New York]
• Meanwhile, Michelle continues to boost young designers: the latest beneficiary is Jason Wu. [WSJ]
• Oh noes! J. Crew and Bloomies knocked out on a prime shopping day by website malfunctions. [Crains]
• So why is the entire payroll of NBC in this batch of holiday Gap ads? [Jossip]
• Luxury luggage gets extra-ridiculous to woo reluctant jet-setters. [IHT]
• Zara's founder is funding alternative energy solutions in Spain. [Business Week]
• Pre-fall collection peeks for Versace, DKNY, Alexander Wang, Armani, Missoni! [WWD]
• Supermodel Miranda Kerr has been replaced as the face of Australia's oldest department store. [AdAge]
• The “2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide" is a cheat-sheet to apparel made under ethical conditions. [WWD]
• Helena Christensen's line for Pilgrim jewelry is "typically, ethnically-inspired and feminine, in both delicate orchid-pastels and strong, spicy colours, priced between £10 and £100." [Telegraph]
• Victoria's Secret tries to go higher-end with a new flagship, "a level of elegance that casts the flirty and frilly lingerie and romantic beauty products in a softer, luxurious light." [WWD]

[Venice, November 24. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

• Russell Simmons may be vegan but admits, “my clothes are not especially animal-friendly." [BlackBook]
• In a somehow perfect/distasteful marriage, Gwen Stefani and L.A.M.B. will be designing the uniforms for W Hotel employees. [Portfolio]
• We've been burned by Target's accessories collabs before, but hopes are running high for the Sigerson Morrison-Anya Hindmarch double whammy! Pics! [FabSugar]
• Some dick crashes the shows at Fashion Week; heckles; makes racist jokes; kills. [NYC The Blog]
• Baby Dior. 'Nuff said. [The Life Files]

• Phew! Lydia Hearst's kidney stones won't be keeping her off the runway: the "leggy trooper" is determined to walk. [NY Post]
• Marc Jacobs enjoys the freedom of kilts: "I was just recently fascinated by the whole men-in-skirts controversy of the nineties. No. I got one and I started wearing it and it made me happy, so I bought more. And now I just can't stop wearing them." [NY Post]
• NPR discovers that people are interested in political fashion. [NPR]
• Which is good, cause apparently there's a political tee "arms race" afoot! "A search on the site for Sarah Palin already yields more than 2,500 results. John McCain gets about 9,000, and Barack Obama about 20,000 (Joe Biden paraphernalia is in very short supply.)" [LA Times]
• Kate Moss has cut her hair. [ElleUK]
• Agyness deep-conditions her newly-bobbed coif. "Yeah… or else they’d fall out! Because I bleach them. I go to Laurie Foley." [Elle]
• And if this makes you admire Agyness enough to totally trivialize the election, why, you can wear a political button supporting her "candidacy!" "Modelinia.com created these buttons with slogans like “Vote for the Stam,” “Cast a Tally for Ally,” and “Coco 2008,” all for the week’s most popular models to match this year’s political theme." [Fashion Week Daily]
• Fast Fashion Cheat Sheet. [Esquire]
• Laetitia Casta is the face of "Notorious," Ralph Lauren's newest women's fragrance. [UPI]
• WHEN WILL TOP SHOP NEW YORK OPEN? STOP TAUNTING US! [NY Mag]
• Monique Lhuillier's fashion week caffeine consumption: "I've been getting between four to seven hours of sleep, and I've been drinking 4 cups of coffee on average during show prep. Normally, I barely have one!" [Elle]
• Model Miranda Kerr's mom may be a savvy business manager but, "We talk every day and she texts me every time she gets on a plane and lands again to say she's safe. It's important for our peace of mind. She's still our only little girl." [News.com.au]
• To appeal to European women, Nike swaps the aggressive "Just Do It" for the vague "Here I Am." [WSJ]
• Fashionistas talk recession: Says one critic, "I don't think enough designers are thinking about it. The clothes we've seen so far have been embroidered and beaded or very elaborate, and they only mean something to the top one-thousandth percent of the population." [Slate]
• Irina Lazareanu is giving Fashion Week a pass to work on this alleged "album with Sean Lennon" that's been in the works since they were a couple. [WWD]
• No one knows what to make of the new trend in shiny happy moddles. [IHT]
• Hey, want a $1,000 tote bag? "To mark Vanity Fair’s Campaign New York, Lambertson Truex teamed up with artist Donald Baechler to create a limited edition tote. The bag features a print that is the background of one of Baechler’s paintings." Oh, well in that case! [WWD]
• That Blahnik that Big proposed to Carrie with is selling at Bergdorf's. For $945. Manolo will be there to autograph said shoes. The sad thing is, you just know they're gonna fly. [NY Times]
• Yoga outfitter Lululemon beats the recession blues. [WWD]

[London, September 9. Image via Flynet]