• Katy Perry and fiance Travis McCoy have called it quits. McCoy announced the breakup by posting this statement on his website: "My Laptop is my new b–. LOYAL. LISTENS. and NEVER LET'S ME DOWN." [People]

• The Madonna-Louis Vuitton collaboration was a snap to set up: Marc Jacobs texted the pop star and she replied within minutes. "Marc sent her a text saying, ‘Love, would you like to be the new Louis Vuitton woman?’ Five minutes later, she’d replied. He showed me his phone, and she’d said, ‘Yes, I’d love to do it.’” What could be simpler?"[TimesOnline]

• Meanwhile, Madonna's trainer says, ""I want to keep her body looking like it's 20 years old. Because you don't have to have saggy arms, or poor skin tone in your 50s, or not have cute hips. It just doesn't have to happen."[TheGuardian]

• After four months of toxicology tests, it has been determined that Dr. Dre's son, Andre Young, Jr., died of an overdose of heroin and morphine. [People]

• Marilyn Manson is asking for his ex-wife, Dita Von Teese, to testify on his behalf during his upcoming court trial against ex-keyboardist, Madonna Wayne Gacy. In real people's names news: Brian Warner is totally getting sued by Stephen Bier and wants his ex-wife Heather Sweet to help him out or whatever. [E!]

• Happy news: Princess Beatrice's lost dog, Max, returned to the family 3 weeks after going missing. The royal family believes he may have fallen down a rabbit hole somewhere on their sprawling estate, which would account for his slightly "bedraggled" dehydrated state. "Max is back," a spokesperson says,"He was hungry, bedraggled, but is now snoozing contentedly in front of the fire. He is the best possible belated Christmas present."[Telegraph]

• Meanwhile, Prince Edward showed a ton of affection to his animals, following allegations that he had mistreated one of his labrador retrievers during a hunting trip. [UPI]

• Kate Winslet says she stays in shape by doing pilates DVDs at home and watching what she eats. ""I still don't believe this craziness for being skinny, but I eat sensibly and I don't stuff down chocolate biscuits," Winslet says. Mmmm...chocolate biscuits. [People]

• Gossip Girl actress Kelly Rutherford is divorcing her husband of two years. Rutherford is currently pregnant with the couple's second child. [USMagazine]

• Sam and Lindsay's fighting has apparently gotten physical: a brawl on New Year's Eve broke out during a club party and spilled out into an alley and later the couple's hotel room: ""They were punching each other - it was bad," says a source, "And they were doing this in front of all of us. It was scary."[PageSix]

• Steven Soderbergh is talks with Catherine Zeta Jones to star a planned Cleopatra movie. [PageSix]

• Will Smith is Hollywood's top money maker for 2008. Perhaps he'll celebrate the honor in Las Vegas, with a dance like this? [Star]

• Pete Wentz would like you to stop using the word "douchebag." On his blog, Wentz writes, "while i realize that if i saw a dude like me i may just think “hey that guy is
  such a d-bag”, i also know it’s just outdated. i mean we dont use pagers anymore,
  right? i dont mean being dumped on is the problem - thats not what im getting at. lets
  just get better and more creative at it. if you have any suggestions, i am very open to
  them, and I;m sure you will yell them at me eventually." Hey, Wentz? You named your kid Bronx Mowgli. You are not in a position to tell the rest of us what we should or should not call fellow human beings. Douchebag.[PeteWentz]

The story is a bit sketchy: Prince Edward was out hunting pheasant with his pups, who, as good Labrador Retrievers will, began fighting over a dead pheasant that had hit the ground. The Prince apparently attempted to break up the fight with his walking stick: whether or not he actually hit the dogs, or just scared them off, is unknown. However, it's a bit unsettling that the best a Buckingham Palace spokesman can come up with is this: "It has not been determined that he did strike the dog. He broke up the fight with the dogs and pictures show him waving his stick around. We cannot confirm, however, whether he struck the dog." If the answer is really "No, I didn't hit the bloody dogs, you're being tricked by paparazzi photos," then why doesn't Prince Edward just say so and we'll all move on? I suppose only good news Buckingham Palace can give us is this: "Both dogs are fine – no harm was done to them."

Animal activists in Britain are lashing out against the Royal, with Barry Hugill, of League Against Cruel Sports calling Edward's behavior "a truly sickening example," and Andrew Tyler of Animal Aid noting, "We can't be certain that Edward's stick did make contact with the dog although he certainly appears to have acted impulsively without restraint." Both men also take swipes at the Prince for going hunting in the first place, and Tyler notes, "It is an offence to cause an animal unnecessary suffering. Hitting a dog is a pathetic, cowardly and vicious act — it would appear he has had a royal tantrum."

It is hard to take a real side here, as the photographs are inconclusive, though the lack of a definite denial from Buckingham Palace lends an incredibly shady side to this entire affair. One could argue that this article sets off a ton of smaller debates, however: the question of whether or not responsible hunting qualifies as animal cruelty, the idea that hurting some animals causes more outrage than hurting others (though in fairness, a picture of Queen Elizabeth wringing a pheasant's neck set off a storm a few years back, as well), and the notion of public judgment based on a series of paparazzi shots are all interesting pieces of this weird puzzle that I'm sure could use some breaking down in the comments.

Also, I think his punishment, should he be guilty, should be the requisite fines and jail time, along with a 72 hour non-stop screening of those Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercials. Sarah! I have a rescue dog and I donate. Stop breaking my heart every 8 seconds when I'm trying to watch cartoons! I don't know what else I can do! Sometimes I turn the channel because I can't stand it, and I'm not sure that's your point. But at least your message is clear, Sarah: too bad Buckingham Palace can't say the same.

Earl of Wessex In Gun Dog "Cruelty" Row[Telegraph]
Britain's Prince Edward Accused Of Beating Dog[Yahoo]