• Ashlee Simpson-Wentz has been fired from Melrose Place along with co-star Colin Egglesfield, with whom she was rumored to be flirting on-set.

• Producer Todd Slavkin is trying to make it sound like it was always the plan to have Ashlee exit after filming episode 12 in January, saying, "we felt that once the murder mystery was resolved, the tone of the show was going to shift into a much more fun, romantic, sexy upbeat kind of show, and [her] character would move on." [Perez Hilton]
• Jessica Simpson and Gerard Butler: not on. A source close to Jess says: "There is nothing romantic there at all." [Us]
• Lil Wayne pled guilty to attempted weapon possession in New York today. Police say they pulled his tour bus over because they smelled pot and found a loaded gun in a Louis Vuitton bag. He is expected to be sentenced to one year behind bars. [TMZ]
• During a radio interview today, Chris Brown said he's learning a lot in his court-ordered domestic violence course and hopes fans can forgive him. "At the end of the day, I'm human," he said. "Of course you're gonna have your thoughts and opinions. I'm not gonna say they're wrong. But at the end of the day, it's not right to judge someone. People make mistakes all the time." [Radar Online]
• Teyana Taylor says her support of Chris Brown has never wavered. "A lot of people were jumping on different bandwagons and I really felt like that was wack," she said. "Before the incident between him and Rihanna, Chris had always been my brother... I've known him for four years and I was one of the only people that stood by his side when the situation happened... When he gets back to where he used to be, a lot of people are going to come running back and smiling in his face." [Vibe]
• You can listen to the moment that caused a judge to declare a mistrial in the John Travolta extortion case at the link. At a Progressive Liberal Party convention, Bahamian lawmaker Picewell Forbes screamed, "Pleasant Bridgewater is a free woman!" The judge declared a mistrial because he believes someone on the jury may have been "communicating" with Forbes. [TMZ]
• Picewell Forbes has been summoned to appear before the judge because he wants Forbes to explain himself in person. [TMZ]
• John Travolta's lawyer says "He was upset [about the mistrial] as he wanted closure. The family wants to privately begin the long and difficult healing process – as well as to properly honor Jett's memory – without the cloud of this litigation over their heads. But he said he is committed to cooperating with authorities so justice can be served." [People]
• Elizabeth Taylor was one of the first people to see the Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It. She held a screening at her house over the weekend and, according to a source, said, "The film was pure genius and the most magnificent film," and gave it a standing ovation. [Entertainment Tonight]
• When asked if he and wife Khloe Kardashian are planning on having kids, Lamar Odom said, "Maybe one day, hopefully... That's what kings and queens are put on the earth for, to have offspring." [Us]
• Kris Jenner says the Kardashians "have a hunch" about who stole $100,000 of jewelry from Kourtney Kardashian's house. They think it was a group of "jealous" people close enough to the family to know when E!'s cameras weren't rolling and to sort out "what was real jewelry and what was costume jewelry." [Us]
• Dennis Quaid narrowly avoided a DUI when he got in his car outside a L.A. restaurant and moved it about a foot when a cop told him to get out of the car and go back inside and call a cab. A paparazzi yelled, "You don't want a DUI. You don't want to end up like Mel Gibson" and everyone laughed. [TMZ]
• Madonna will visit Malawi on Sunday to lay the foundation stone for a girls' school she's building for $15 million. [Reuters]
• So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deely says last season when Katie Holmes was on the show Tom Cruise was, "an absolute sweetheart. He was taking videos of his little girl and wife. Just like any guy, he was incredibly proud of his spouse." [E!]
• Lady Gaga says her tour with Kanye West was cancelled because, "It just wasn't the right timing... I don't want to embellish on it too much, because I want to respect Kanye's privacy. But we just had our own reasons. We're real friends, real friends can make decisions like that, and we wanted to keep the momentum going in terms of pop music staying innovative with hip-hop and R&B, and we really wanted to do it, and it just wasn't the right time. But who's to say what will happen in the future?" [People]
• Now that the Fame Kills tour has been cancelled, Lady Gaga will do her own tour called The Monster Ball beginning on November 27. "I wanted to really put together a show that would be the most beautiful, expensive-looking, delicious show, but that my fans wouldn't have to pay a ton of money to come see," she says. [Rolling Stone]
• The Spice Girls may be reuniting for a new reality competition show in which they will search for the women to play themselves in a Spice Girls musical. [The Sun]
• Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky are developing a comedy for Showtime based on the memoir Why the Long Face? about author Craig Chester coming to terms with his homosexuality as a child in a conservative Christian family. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Nicholas Rodriguez, a SATC newcomer who will play a "crucial" role in the wedding scene of the upcoming film, says that after the shoot Liza Minnelli said, "'I would like to have everyone's attention,' and they pulled out a stool for her at the piano and gave her a mic and she sang a favorite of her mother, Judy Garland. She said, 'Thank you for letting me play with you guys. It was so heartfelt and genuine. I got choked up and several people were sobbing like a baby, but I'm not going to name names because he might be really embarrassed." Was it Chris Noth? [People]
• Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid is planning to sell condoms featuring a portrait of David Beckham sleeping. [Guardian]
• The National Enquirer claims that John Edwards is paying for Rielle Hunter and their "love child" Frances to live in a million-dollar home near his family's mansion. Supposedly Elizabeth Edwards is fine with this. [National Enquirer]
• Robin Thicke and wife Paula Patton are expecting their first child. [Us]
• Robin Wright Penn says of the media coverage of her split from Sean Penn, "Yes, it's divorce; it's a given that it will be public. But … it's so disrespectful. 'You're an actress, you owe us this?' 'Fuck you,' is what I say." [People]
• Musicians who were outraged when they found out that their songs were cranked up to help break prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, including Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Trent Reznor, have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo. [AP]
• If Michael Lohan Tweets, don't worry: it' isn't really him. "I don't have a Twitter account, so whoever is sending these messages around is a fake and it's not me," says Lohan. [Radar Online]
• Olivia Newton-John says she feels bad for Britney Spears because compared to Brit, she didn't receive as much press coverage when she rose to fame in the late '70s. She says, "The poor girl. She has lived in a time where the paparazzi reign and we didn't have that problem at all. We'd have occasional intrusion, you know I had a few incidents, but it was nothing like it is now." [Daily Express]
• Ang Lee says he made Taking Woodstock because, "After making several tragic movies in a row, I was looking to do a comedy, and one without cynicism. It might seem a strange idea to make a comedy about Woodstock, but it was kind of bizarre and seemed like comedy material to me." [The Telegraph]
• "I won a 'Best Body Award' from Fitness Magazine and I was too embarrassed to accept it. I actually don't have a good body, but if everybody thinks so, I guess it means I'm a good actress. I have acted the part of the girl who has a very good body. If you know how to dress, there's some tricks you can pull." — Salma Hayek [Parade]
• Brace Paine says he new Gossip had hit the big time, "When we got asked to do The Simpson's theme song." [AP]
• Simon Van Kempen of RHONY says of Bethenny Frankel's impending motherhood, "Nothing prepares you for parenthood [more than] parenthood. That baby will change Bethenny for the better. It will smooth over the few rough edges she still has." [People]
• RHONY's Kelly Killoren Bensimon says she posed for Playboy because, "It's the ultimate compliment and every woman's dream. You get to be a sex symbol and work with top people in the business. It's such an honor." [Star]
• Carrie Fisher says the tackiest piece of Star Wars memorabilia she ever saw was, "The sex doll. No question. But there was one other item: There's that doll of me in the metal bikini, and George Lucas had a special one made for me where the top came off and I had tits." [NPR]

[Malibu, September 13. Image via Flynet]

• Demi Moore is fighting with Perez Hilton over pictures of her 15-year-old daughter Tallulah Willis he wrote "slut" and "ass" on because her breast and butt were accidentally exposed. Demi said he isn't "taking violating child pornography laws very seriously..."

• Demi Tweeted: "Let me ask all of you, what is it called when someone is telling people to look and focus on a child's 'boobs & ass' while providing photos?... This is not a game . Children should not be exploited. They must be protected." [Gossip Cop]
• Tim Gunn says Jon Gosselin is committing "the biggest crime against fashion" for men: Not wearing the proper size. "In his case, everything is too big," scolds Tim. "It is what I refer to as the slobification of America. If you want to dress to feel as though you never got out of bed, then don't get out of bed." Tim says he's "accepting" of Kate's hairstyle. [Us]
• Oprah did a "show on abuse, inspired by Rihanna" last spring and Chris Brown said in People, "I commend Oprah on being like, 'This is a problem,' but it was a slap in my face. I did a lot of stuff for her, like going to Africa and performing for her school. She could have been more helpful, like, 'Okay, I'm going to help both of these people out.'" Oprah's rep has responded, "Oprah is very appreciative that Chris Brown performed at her school but she takes domestic abuse very seriously. She hopes he gets the counseling he needs." [TMZ]
• Katherine Jackson filed the bill for Michael Jackson's burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park with the court and it says that his body has been in the cemetery's possession since his July 7 memorial at the Staples Center. [TMZ]
• Macaulay Culkin plans to attend Michael Jackson's funeral. [TMZ]
• Some say French First Lady Carla Bruni has accepted a role in Woody Allen's next film but people in her entourage deny it. [The Telegraph]
• LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian's exes Dean Sheremet and Brandi Glanville have become friends while commiserating about their lost relationships. [Us]
• HBO has ordered a pilot of the Laura Dern comedy Enlightened, which features "Dern as a self-destructive woman who has a spiritual awakening and becomes determined to live an enlightened life, creating havoc at home and work." [Media Week]
• Idina Menzel Tweeted: "Idina & Taye [Diggs]have welcomed baby Walker Nathaniel Diggs into the world, my friends! More details to come. Congratulations!!" [Just Jared]
• Antonio Banderas says of his wife Melanie Griffith being in rehab and the rumors that he's leaving her: "She's doing fantastic and very little of what is being published is true," adding, "I am not going away." [People]
• Salma Hayek freaked out at Chateau Marmont and screamed at the hostess in Spanish. She didn't have a reservation and the hostess wouldn't seat her. [Radar Online]
• At a concert in Tel Aviv, Madonna was given an Israeli flag by someone in the front rows and wrapped it around herself, which angered Palestinians. [Jerusalem Post]
• Avril Lavigne will guest judge an episode of American Idol this season. [UPI]
• Jay-Z says of keeping his wedding to Beyonce a secret: "The sad part is that we offended some." But! "People who love you understand because at the end of the day, it's your day." [People]
• Lori Petty, who was in A League Of Their Own, will plead no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge tomorrow and serve five years' probation. [People]
• Sonic Youth has finished filming and appearance on the October 12 episode of Gossip Girl. "Kim [Gordon] and I are pretty fanatical viewers of the show," says Thurston Moore. "It's sort of our dose of Shakespeare every week." [Rolling Stone]
• Somehow an email Audrina Patridge wrote to Heidi Montag apologizing for insulting her singing wound up on Perez Hilton. Audrina writes: "It was taken entirely out of context and twisted completely. I would NEVER speak like that about you to the press, and I'm actually truly impressed with your performance and all of the hard work that you've put towards your career." [Perez Hilton]
• "I've never thought of myself as a sorority girl. I don't think I could ever be in a sorority house or live with like six girls. I would go crazy." — Audrina Patridge, star of Sorority Row. [Reuters]
• "Only the media would say I play a lot of freaks. Please take a closer look at my filmography. Is Biff Loman from Death of a Salesman a psychopath? Is Lennie from Of Mice and Men a madman?" — John Malkovich. [Newsweek]
• Kelly Osbourne says of being on Dancing With the Stars, "It's one of those shows that a lot of people who are trying to revamp their career go into and do, and moody me would be like, oh, that's sad, I'm not doing that. But secretly I'm like, look how fit they get and look at those amazing dresses they get made for them, and they look like they're having so much fun. I'm turning 25 during the show and I just don't want to have any regrets anymore; I just wanna have fun. How many people in the world get an opportunity like this…and get paid for it?" [E!]
• "Really, it's easier to play a complex character. It's easier to play a good character. It's easier to do Shakespeare than Spelling, and I know that sounds crazy, because the challenge of Shakespeare is living up to Shakespeare, living up to that word, not failing, you know, where with Aaron Spelling it's like, just try to look good. (Laughs) Or maybe don't use Spelling there, that's bad … No you can. He's dead." — Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser. [Vanity Fair]

• A source claims that Jude Law, who, as Dodai mentioned yesterday, is currently caught up in another scandal involving a 24-year-old model who is carrying his fourth child, gets into such situations because he's seeking validation about his looks. [DailyMail]

• "It's actually embarrassing how much validation Jude needs about his looks. He is constantly looking in the mirror at his bald patch and always needs to be told he looks okay," says a source, "We all laugh about how he will bed anyone young who flatters him. This particular affair is just another case of some woman saying how handsome he is. He simply can't resist." [DailyMail]
• Samantha Burke, the mother of Law's child, released a statement via her lawyers about her pregnancy yesterday: "Samantha, her mom, and her family can affirm that Jude has been responsive and supportive throughout the relationship and pregnancy, and know that he will remain so as a father once Baby Sophia is born." [People]
• Law is reportedly afraid that Burke will release intimate photographs she took while the couple were together during Law's time filming Sherlock Holmes in New York City: "Samantha was totally smitten with Jude and enjoyed photographing him hugely. It was a passionate fling and there was a real animal attraction," says a source, "He's been ashen with anxiety, especially because he's putting his loved ones through more stress." [DailyMail]
• "They are just really special creatures and highly evolved. To tell you the truth, I'm convinced I was a dolphin in another life and that's why I'm so attracted to them."-Drew Barrymore [ShowbizSpy]
• Jaime Pressly is engaged to lawyer Simran Singh. Pressly split from Eric Calvo, her former fiance and father of her 2-year-old son, Dezi, last November. [People]
• Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt are apparently back together. "They are definitely happy again," says a source. [USWeekly]
• Tim Burton doesn't understand why parents won't let their children see his films: "I don't know why adults keep fighting that," Burton says, "They keep fighting the fairy tales that have been told since the beginning of mankind. They're fighting Pinocchio. They forget what it's like to be kids. Kids like to be scared. Most great children's literature is politically incorrect, so I don't know why they can't get used to it by now." [DailyExpress]
• "People who project negativity ultimately are crying out for their own broken souls. Trying to save a hater is like trying to teach astrophysics to a wino! LOL Chuuuuch!" -Nick Cannon on Twitter, in response to Eminem's "diss track," about Mariah Carey [E!]
• "I went to a lot of therapy. I talked my head off and pounded enough pillows and confronted enough ghosts. I didn't avoid the feelings of what my childhood was. I went right into them and went as deeply as I could." She does seem remarkably free of anger or bitterness, at this point, at least. "I think people saw how hard it was for me. It's what makes me the artist that I am, it's my bag of sorrow, of human tragedy that I've lived through, and I go to this well every single time I create a character. But that no longer dictates my daily life."- Anne Heche on the difficult period she went through following her split from Ellen DeGeneres [NYTimes]
• When faced with paparazzi or swine flu, James Spader chose...swine flu? "I'm a bit phobic... I told him (the doctor), 'You should be shutting down the whole street!' So I go out, I flee the building, I'm standing outside and there are the paparazzi snapping photos and video. I can't go anywhere, there's no car, so I'm faced with that dilemma: the paparazzi or go back in the building with the swine flu. I went back in the building." [DailyExpress]
• "My problem with women is I love them all, really. If I see a woman who is sweet and innocent, I fall in love with her, I want to hug her and take care of her and all that lovely stuff. Then I see this sex-kitten type walking past me and I think, ‘Wow! That's my woman!' I appreciate women for all sorts of reasons and it can get complicated."- Gerard Butler on his "complicated" reasons for loving women. [ShowbizSpy]
• Salma Hayek is allegedly angry that Jennifer Aniston received an Emmy nomination for her stint on 30 Rock while Hayek didn't. "Salma was angry and swearing in Spanish when the news broke," says a source, "It's not that she isn't happy for Jen, but she feels her own work was as good if not better. They just gave Jen a nomination for the press. They should be ashamed!" [ShowbizSpy]
• When Ashton Kutcher was first starting out in Hollywood, he bought a ton of fake designer clothing to convince his family back home that he was doing well: "I was broke, really running out of money. I knew I had to go home for the holidays, but I couldn't expose the fact that it wasn't going well," Kutcher says, "So I bought my whole family these fake watches and fake Versace pants and fake anything I could find, like fake Calvin Klein T-shirts, so I could . . . show them how well I was doing even though I didn't have a place to live." [NYPost]
• Dustin "Screech Powers" Diamond currently owes $21,015.62 in unpaid taxes. Maybe he should start selling Screech's Secret Sauce? [TMZ]
• "Is "asks" even a word? If not, sorry 4 my layziness with grammar."- Jessica Simpson via Twitter. [ONTD]
• Renee Zellweger was spotted buying Yves Saint Laurent knockoffs. [PageSix]
• AskMen.com will be banning all Megan Fox news on August 4. ""You can have too much of a good thing," says editor James Bassil, "We're giving our readers a one-day reprieve from the woman we've been drowning in all summer." [TheSun]
• "Fucking redneck douchebaggery. Unmitigated douchebaggery. Why are they holding signs that say, 'Whatchoo talking about, Willis?' These people are called 'racially sensitive', what they should be called is racist, backward motherfuckers."-Janeane Garofalo on the Teabaggers. [Guardian]

• Michelle Obama and "first tweens" Malia and Sasha skipped the health care talk President Obama gave on ABC last night and went to a Beyoncé concert instead.

Gawd, imagine sitting next to your mom while Sasha Fierce sings about Jay-Z's penis?!?! [ABC News]

• Late-breaking news: Jackie O seduced Marlon Brando? [Page Six]
• Also? Jackie may have had an affair with Bobby Kennedy? [Gatecrasher]
• Brad Pitt's mom: On Team Aniston. Insert eyeroll emoticon. [MSNBC]
• Kate Gosselin used a local lawyer when filing for divorce, but Jon Gosselin chose Charles J. Meyer, one of the Philadelphia area's most high-profile family law attorneys. [MSNBC]
• "Jon 'hurt' by Kate's remarks as she cites his weekend 'activities.'" [CNN]
• "I'm sorry. And I mean it," writes Perez Hilton. [Perez]
• Here's a mug shot of the dude who allegedly punched Perez, whom you may or may not secretly admire. [TMZ]
• Perez is suing the guy who gave him a black eye. [Page Six]
• Will.I.Am says: " would hate for my silence to be misconstrued… I do not condone harassment or violence of any kind…" [Just Jared]
• A 22-year-old drama student from the University of Indiana is planning to stage a play called The Last Days Of Heath Ledger. [Fox News]
• TMZ says it's not looking good for Farrah Fawcett. [TMZ]
• Have you seen that kid who tried to give Megan Fox a rose? You could get $5,000 if you know who he is. [Page Six]
• Russell Simmons: Seen making out with the gorgeous French actress/model Noemie Lenoir. [Page Six]
• Joy Behar's wedding: Off. How does her boyfriend feel about it? "Steve is fine," Behar says. "He says, 'Do whatever you want.'" [Gatecrasher]
• Amy Winehouse lyrics wrapping paper and greeting cards. No, really. [The Sun]
• Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint went to a pub and got so drunk they couldn't remember the name of the film Harry Portter and The Order Of The Phoenix. [Daily Star]
• Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton wanted to smoke a cigarette in a London club and was shut down. [Daily Mail]
• Two paparazzi were robbed a few hours after they snapped pix of Robbie Williams… and argued with his entourage. Coincidence? [USA Today]
• Launching this fall: Rosie Radio on XM. Rosie O'Donnell will discuss news and entertainment and chat with guests. "I think it'll be good for me," Rosie says. [AP]
• Ryan Reynolds will star in Buried, playing a civilian contractor who's kidnapped in Iraq and awakens buried in a coffin in the desert, armed only with a cell phone, a candle and a knife. [Variety]
• The estranged daughter of Billy Bob Thornton has been indicted in the death of a one-year-old girl she was baby sitting. [AP]
• Kate Hudson is described as a "steakhouse hex," since she watched the Yankees game from a restaurant and her boyfriend's team lost. [Page Six]
• Seth Rogen "seems to have given up on his diet" since he dared to be seen "wolfing down pasta" at a "high-calorie dinner." [Page Six]
• Tatyana Ali from the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is in the news, yay! Oh, but she is suing a company of losing her money, boo. [TMZ]
• An auto parts store in Whittier, CA is "paying tribute" to mother of octuplets Nadya Suleman with an interesting VW display involving a mannequin and a bunch of baby dolls. Traffic-stopping image at the link. [LA Times]
• The ABBA museum: Scrapped due to a lack of cash. If you change your mind, I'm the first in line. (Not really.) [NY Times]
• Get to know Scout Taylor-Compton: She has been cast as Lita Ford in The Runaways alongside Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. [Variety]
• Oh-Snap-Blind-Item! "Which meanspirited starlet e-mailed a co-star's sex tape to a lengthy list of mutual friends?" [Gatecrasher]
• "In 1979, I was teaching nude photography at Parsons school in New York. I needed models for the course – and one day a 20-year-old called Madonna Ciccone showed up. She was just another citizen, a girl trying to make ends meet. She was quiet, taciturn. I'm not sure it was something she enjoyed. She did it for the money, in this case $30. She was relaxed, composed, did as asked. Some people are stiff, some are there to do a job, some give a little more. She was in the middle: she did what she was told but nothing extra." — Martin Schreiber. Nude pic of her Magesty at the link. [Guardian]
• "I can't think of myself in terms of celebrity. It's just too weird. If the choice is between being constantly gawked at and sitting in a chair in a dark room, I prefer the dark room." — Johnny Depp. [Telgraph]
• "The island [I own] can be perceived as a luxury and it certainly is, but it provides me with simplicity and somewhere I can go where no one is looking at me or pointing a camera or a finger at me. I can just be: that's the importance of it. When we're there we do absolutely nothing. My kiddies don't have any toys there and they build little houses out of shells." — Johnny Depp. [Telegraph]
• "I don't feel I've ever played the same person twice. Even though I might have done a couple of comedies or a couple of romantic comedies, the characters are all very different to me," — To you, but not to us, Cameron Diaz. [Reuters]
• "To me, Mia's story's about what happens when you're never really loved in the course of your life. When nobody really takes care of you. You can end up extremely damaged. Thank God, my real life doesn't resemble poor Mia at all." — Hope Davis, on her In Treatment character. [The Daily Beast]
• "I think he's the only functional father. Lucius isn't a functional father. 'Proto' fathers Sirius and Dumbledore are dead, and there's no nice way to put that, so he's the only good image of a father really." — Mark Williams, who plays Aurthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films. [LA Times]
• "After several weeks of continued press coverage of Jon Peters' upcoming book, I want to make something very clear. I have never dated nor had a romantic relationship with Mr. Peters. My name has been continually linked to his romantic liaisons, and I want to put a stop to this lie." — Salma Hayek. [EW]
• "Best way to get over a broken heart? Listen to good music." — Zooey Deschanel, who is reportedly engaged to Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie. [Mirror]
• "I never look at myself, even in still photographs. I don't look at anything. I panic if there is a monitor in the room. I immediately go into like an anxiety attack. I'm insecure, I think most actors are pretty insecure… I'm not coping very well with all this. Really I'm insane and I don't know how to control my mouth, but I'm working on it." — Your friend Megan Fox. [Mirror]

[Paris, May 9. Image via INF]

• 1. Kate Moss is fat. 2. Kate Moss is in. 3. Fat is in. Q.E.D. [Times of London]
• Salma Hayek wore Balenciaga for her second wedding to Francois-Henri Pinault, head of PPR. [UK Elle]

• Robin Givhan has a report on the lobbying trip made last week by Maria Cornejo, Jason Wu, and Narciso Rodriguez. The designers went to Washington, D.C., to argue for a law that would offer stricter protections against design piracy. "There's a lot of misconception thanks to movies like Sex and the City or The Devil Wears Prada," said Cornejo. "People think designers spend all this time swanning around. We don't do much swanning." Cornejo, who has only twelve employees, can't compete directly with larger businesses on price. "The only way we can compete is with our ideas. That's like my bank. So when someone steals my idea, it's like they've put their hand in my bank. They're taking ideas out of my head." [WaPo]
• Diane von Furstenberg hit the headlines late last week after a Canadian blog revealed striking similarities — down to the placement of darts and the distinctive raw edged collar — between a jacket by von Furstenberg's company, and an earlier piece made by the Montreal label Mercy. Von Furstenberg, who has championed the expansion of copyright protection and attacked copy-catting in the past, is blaming the apparent knock-off on a member of her design team who is no longer with the company. "When I saw it on the Internet, I thought, The print is completely different. But then I saw something about the style with the bow, so I am not sure," said von Furstenberg. "I am finding out the information, and I have asked my attorney to contact [Mercy's designers] and say that we are investigating. I am mortified that something like that could happen here. I will do what is necessary to do, and if indeed there was an infringement, I will compensate and will use this example to make sure this doesn't happen again — not just for me, but for everybody." [WWD]
• Meanwhile, in one of Forever 21's several ongoing court cases on knock-off allegations, the company founders were deposed for two whole days earlier this month. Anthropologie is suing the fast fashion chain for allegedly copying nine of its garments. [WWD]
• That blonde lady with the nose has a new perfume. Wonder if they'll box them in a collection? 'The Nine Smells Of Paris Hilton.' [NYDN]
• Michelle Obama wears Rodarte. This makes me insanely happy, for some reason. [WWD]
• Lily Cole, the doll-faced red haired model, spoke at a student-organized ethical fashion show at Cambridge University, where she studies. [Daily Mail]
• Leggings: The Trend That Will Not Die. [WWD]
• Serena Williams, tennis star/fashion designer, has more than 300 pairs of shoes, but can't find a pair of jeans to fit. [NY Times]
• And if you think those two facts aren't connected, you're dreaming. Shoes are easy to love, and their sizing doesn't connote judgment. I can admit to refuging in a new pair of shoes after a mortifying defeat in some other wardrobe arena. Maybe that's why shoe stocks are winners. Of course, in spending money on shoes, I am left with less to put in shoes. Now that's an economic catch-22. [WWD]
• Ever wonder idly about Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone's relationships? No? Well, regardless, it turns out that Martone was the one who proposed, after having picked out matching rings at Jacobs' favorite jeweler in Paris. Now that the designer has met his fiancé's extended family in Brazil, it's full steam ahead to the wedding. Martone likes the thought of St Bart's in December. Don't we all! [The Cut]
• Kerry Washington already has her mind on gifts. "I'm not saying what I'm really going to get them — then it would ruin the surprise! If I could get him anything in the world, it would be a private jet so they could jet around all around the world to have fittings in the world with all the girls, stress-free!" [FWD]
• Beyoncé gets dressed with the aid of Style.com. [Style.com]
• Tim Gunn is set to receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the Corcoran College of Art and Design, when he speaks at its commencement ceremony on May 23rd. [Blogging Project Runway]
• Six people were arrested when police raided a warehouse full of $20 million worth of counterfeit goods in Brooklyn. [WWD]
• Filene's Basement, the much-loved discount department store, was acquired on April 21 by a company that specializes in liquidations, which could mean the 25-store chain will close. If Filene's does meet that fate, it could imperil former sister company Discount Shoe Warehouse, which lent Filene's millions of dollars. [WWD]
• Sophie Dahl: "To everything there is a season; from 17 to 21 mine was the season of chocolate cake. I didn't know how to eat within the boundaries of reason; instead I learned loudly through trial and error...I really don't believe in cutting out food groups or subscribing to militant, forbidding diets. What I do believe in is moderation and balance, because both have served me well. The recipes in my book are all things I cook and eat. There are recipes for rainy, insatiable chocolate days and lighter things for the gossamer, less hungry summer evenings." Now that's a cookbook I would buy! [Daily Mail]

• Tyra Banks will be in court this week; she's expected to testify in the trial of her alleged stalker, Brady Green.

How weird will it be to be face-to-face with the guy? Oh, and get this: Green's lawyer's argument is that Tyra is to blame. "She invites fans that are inspired by her show to reach out to her," defense lawyer Sydney O'Hagen said in opening arguments at Green's trial. "Mr. Green was a fan, albeit perhaps an overzealous fan." Green allegedly sent flowers and love letters to Tyra, and then when an employee of her talk show refused to give him the address of the studio over the phone, Green said: "You're fucking lying, I'm going to find you and slit your throat." [NY Daily News, NY Post, AP]

• Casey Aldridge, the father of Jamie Lynn Spears' baby, was injured in a car accident yesterday; he was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. [Breitbart]
• This report claims that Casey Aldridge has a "cracked skull." [NY Post]
• Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's wedding had a "spring feeling," meaning the colors were green and yellow and people drank margaritas while eating appetizers like tuna tartare and chicken salad. No one noticed the glowering specter in the corner, the one named "In The Grand Scheme These People Are Irrelevant." [People]
• Miss California, Carrie Prejean, received a "hero's welcome" when appearing at a San Diego megachurch. "'You need to apologize to the gay community. You need to not talk about your faith. This has everything to do with you representing California and saving the brand,'" Prejean recalled being told. "I was representing California. I was representing the majority of people in California." She also said: "I learned that God has a bigger crown than any man can give you." [AP]
• Clearcast, a TV company in the UK, wants to cut scenes from Keira Knightley's domestic violence ad before it is broadcast; specifically, the scenes where the actress is being thrown to the ground and kicked — the organization believes it is too violent. [Telegraph]
• The Sanskrit tattoo on Rihanna's hip is misspelled, but the tattoo artist says she wouldn't care: "It's copied off of a necklace that she got from somebody important to her," he explains. [UPI]
• Actress Vanessa A. Williams — not to be confused with Ugly Betty's Vanessa L. Williams — is using Rihanna's name on an invitation to a violence-prevention event. Rihanna is not involved with the organization, but the copy reads: "On February 8th, when famed singer Rihanna was allegedly beaten by her boyfriend, she was not alone." [Page Six]
• Susan Boyle auditioned for a TV show 14 years ago, and was rejected. [Daily Mail]
• Guy Ritchie has purchased a house 200 yards from Madonna's London mansion, putting him "as close as possible" to the kids. In addition, a source says Guy laughed when he found out that her Madgesty's new man, Jesus Luz, speaks very little English, saying: "Blimey, no wonder the whole thing works so perfectly." [The Sun]
• Is Jesus Luz only getting modeling jobs because of his relationship with Madonna? [Page Six]
• This paper claims Amy Winehouse is being called the "Pied Piper Of St. Lucia," since she loves hanging out with kids. But you get the feeling that the only person calling her that is whomever wrote this story. [The Sun]
• Henry Ian Cusick, aka Desmond on Lost, is being sued by a former ABC Entertainment employee for sexual harassment. He's been married for 3 years after being with his wife for 14 years and the couple has 3 sons. [Daily Mail]
• Apparently two high school guys saw Kate Winslet in her workout gear and commented on her "big hot booty." [Page Six]
• "Every Friday that he's shooting a movie, Hugh Jackman comes to work with a bag full of lottery tickets. He gives them to everyone who works on his movies: co-stars, camera crews, set hands, the people who cater the food. He doesn't play." [USA Today]
• Miley Cyrus says that she and Nick Jonas are just friends and not back together — if you heard that he is her boyfriend it is just a "stupidddd rumor." She Twittered: "It makes me sad to think that people out there aren't friends with THEIR ex bf, because let me tell u it IS possible." [People]
• Jennifer Hudson performed a concert in her hometown of Chicago — her first since her mother, brother and nephew were killed there. She didn't talk about the murders but did dedicate "You Pulled Me Though" to family members in the audience. [UPI]
• Will you look at the way Tina is looking at Beyoncé? It is soooo "tired mom." [Concrete Loop]
• Speaking of Beyoncé, guess who has another hit flick? Obsessed was number one at the box office with $28 million. [MSNBC Scoop, NY Daily News]
• Surely this will come as shocking, shocking news: The ladies of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey have ties to the mob. [NY Daily News]
• If you're a dedicated fan, get your credit card ready: Various props from the newest George Clooney flick, Up In The Air, are going up for sale. [UPI]
• Kobe Bryant demanded creative control over the documentary Spike Lee filmed of the basketball star, and an insider claims "Spike completely yielded." [Page Six]
• Jon Hamm and ladyfriend Jennifer Westfeldt have formed a production company named Points West Pictures. They have 3 projects in development and all will feature at least one of the couple. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Jamie Foxx has recorded a message for Nineline, a crisis helpline run by Convenant House, the agency which works with homeless kids. Says a spokesperson: "Now kids in crisis will not only hear a reassuring voice but a well-known, positive role model." [Hollywood Reporter]
• If you're interested in reading an essay about Mike Tyson written by Ice-T, click here. [The Daily Beast]
• There's tension and "cattiness" in the Pussycat Dolls; in a recent concert, Melody said: "Thank you so much for supporting me - even if I'm not featured, you know what I'm saying?" [NY Daily News]
• Katy Perry and Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes: Back on. [Gatecrasher]
• Kate Walsh's divorce is getting nasty — there's a quibble over the accounting firm Walsh is using, which her estranged husband Alex Young says is doing PR for Walsh. [TMZ]
• Daniel Radcliffe is the "12th richest young person in the UK." He's got more cash than Princes William and Harry! [Telegraph]
• If you have $27,9995,000, you can buy the Holmby Hills house of Kimberly and Hugh Hefner. [LA Times]
• Yes, yes, James Franco's student films are inspired by gay poetry. [NY Mag]
• Ugly Betty returns this week, ending the rumor that the show was cancelled. [NY Daily News]
• Liam Neeson and his sons are "keeping busy with normal life" — like going to Knicks games. [People, Mirror]
• In this article, Dominic Monaghan spills on all of his travel memories. He says: "I do remember a fantastic holiday to Thailand with Billy Boyd and Orlando Bloom in my early twenties. We were all single, young and up for an adventure. We went to Bangkok then took off to the islands." [Independent]
• Curious what's up with Michael Keaton? He's directed a film, The Merry Gentlemen. And he's broken his foot. [LA Times]
• In a lengthy interview, Natasha McElhone talks about dealing with grief since the death of her husband one year ago. [Guardian]
• Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, 61, plans to marry his girlfriend Ekaterina, 20, just as soon as he can get a "speedy" divorce from his wife, Jo, 54. [Mirror]
• Actor Campbell Scott got engaged in November, but we're just hearing about it now? Eh, congrats. [People]
• "Kylie Minogue and Richard Branson lose money but make UK rich list." [News.com.au]
• Aerosmith will perform on Maui to settle a class-action lawsuit resulting from a concert cancellation in 2007. [AP]
• "He was renowned for wearing grandpa-style spectacles but it now emerges that John Lennon's iconic look came about by accident…" [Daily Express]
• Blind item! "Which alcoholic songbird wears her sunglasses even inside her hair salon so no one can see how sauced she is?" [Gatecrasher]
• "I love her. It's great for her. It's what she wanted." — Josh Lucas on ex-girlfriend Salma Hayek getting married in Venice on Saturday. [People]
• "Tax got to 82% [in the 1970s] and I thought this was kind of unfair. Also, I see... that the government has taken it up to 50% and if it goes to 51 I will be back in America. I will not pay the Government more than I get. No way, ever. So they've reached their limit with me. That's the lot." — Michael Caine. [Telegraph]
• "I did read a scene for the Coen brothers last year, which they were amazed I would do. I was amazed they were amazed because apparently there's a whole etiquette I'm not aware of that says if you've been in a couple of films, you don't read. Which I find very strange, because how are the filmmakers supposed to know whether you can do it or not? I was very happy to read." — Tilda Swinton, when asked if she has ever auditioned for a role. [Backstage]
• "Life's a pain in the butt. You've got to be in shape for it. And the hell with the good old days. The most important thing is now. What are you this moment?" — Jack LaLanne, who still works out every day for two hours, lifting weights and swimming, at age 94. [Reuters]
• "I knew it was a joke. I knew it was supposed to be silly. Something like that I don't even take seriously. I thought it was hilarious." — Beyoncé, on the "screeching" clip made by prankster Matthew Zeghibe. [Gatecrasher]
• "I was raised in the country. When it was warm outside we were out there in shorts, no shirt, no shoes. I was doing that long before anybody was taking pictures and people like you were seeing it." — Matthew McConaughey. [Newsweek]
• "I know I've never done any independent film before…but there aren't that many other scripts out there with great parts for women my age. It's a true phenomenon that the parts dwindle as you get older. You wake up one day and you're flabbergasted to find out…so, this has happened to me. When I started out," she continues, "It was right around the time when Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange and Sally Field-all these actresses getting older-were still having big movies every year. There was a Sophie's Choice, a Norma Rae, etc. I thought, this is a new era, and I won't have to worry. It will all be fixed by the time I'm 40! And of course, it wasn't. All of us female actors think we can just keep going and going. But it's not always the case." — Geena Davis. [The Daily Beast]
• "We know so much about every actor on planet Earth. We know how they like to slice their avocado, what they named their baby. When I'm watching them save the world in a movie, I don't want to be thinking about their baby's name. I will now go on record to say I'm not going to even name my kid." — Ryan Reynolds. [NY Mag]

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

• Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt were married yesterday in front of 200 guests. An airplane flew over the ceremony, spelling out "Spencer Loves Heidi." several times in the air. You know, real subtle like.[People]

• And OMG, you guys, Lauren Conrad attended the ceremony, even though she previously said she wouldn't. That, as Huey Lewis would say, is the power of love. Or something. [USWeekly]
• Betty White has released a statement on the death of her co-star, Bea Arthur who died yesterday at the age of 86: "Bea was such an important part of a very happy time in my life and I have dearly loved her for a very long time. How lucky I was to know her." [People]
• "I was raised in the country. When it was warm outside we were out there in shorts, no shirt, no shoes. I was doing that long before anybody was taking pictures and people like you were seeing it."-Matthew McConaughey [Newsweek]
• Simon Cowell thinks Susan Boyle has her work cut out for her on Britain's Got Talent: "" keep saying to everybody, she's got to win the next stage. It's [up to] her," Cowell says, "She has four weeks to prepare for the biggest time of her life. She's got to sing better than she's ever sung before. But it could all go horribly wrong now because there are so many distractions." [People]
• Jamie Foxx has asked his 14-year-old daughter to write Miley Cyrus a letter in an attempt to make up for the nasty things he said about Cyrus earlier this month. " "I don't want to defend my position as a comedian to be further insensitive to Miley on (U.S. late night show) Jay Leno. We apologised to Miley and reached out to her.. and so we'll move on," Foxx says, "My daughter has written a letter to her. We're going to get that to her and like I said, I don't want to defend it.. you can't defend it." [DailyExpress]
• Ben Stiller has had some pretty bad dates: "The worst? I took a girl to see The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond. That wasn't a good date movie: 'Orthodox Jew wants to be a singer', you know? I didn't get lucky that night." [DailyMail]
• Salma Hayek held a second wedding ceremony over the weekend, celebrating the day with a masquerade theme. Penelope Cruz, Woody Harrelson, and David Blaine were all in attendance.[DailyMail]
• Pete Townshend wasn't too impressed with Sting's performance in Quadrophenia: "Awful at the time, rather wooden," Townshend says of Sting's performance, "Though I am a huge fan of Sting and the Police as musicians."[DailyExpress]
• Blind Item: "This tweener actor on a hit show needs to get off the coke that was introduced to him by a former tween actor, and now, unemployed drug addict on the same network."[BlindGossip]
• Are the Pussycat Dolls in trouble? Member Melody Thornton apparently took a shot at lead singer Nicole Scherzinger during a recent concert, yelling "Thank you for supporting me, even though I'm not featured," to the fans, while giving Nicole a nasty look. She then pulled a Gretchen Wieners and shouted, "Don't let anyone stomp on your dreams!" [TheSun]
• "You know, how come there are fewer and fewer rock stars, people that a fan can really get into? I mean, I dig a lot of underground music, because there's a sense of community about it. But you get these kids that approach it like it would be cooler to be the guy that does Girls Gone Wild than to be Pete Townshend. That reflects where our society is right now. There needs to be more ambition about being a musician, about what it means to be creating music, about making the record of your dreams."- Billie Joe Armstrong [TimesofLondon]
• "I'm not like all the other celebrities in Hollywood that do a line of coke to lose weight.I could be really skinny, but I don't want to be. I like food. I don't want to be on drugs."-Kelly Osbourne [TheSun]
• Joel Madden was not allowed on a British Airways flight until he covered up his tattoos. [ONTD]
• Beyonce's latest film, Obsessed, opened in first place at the box office on Friday, taking in 11.1 million dollars. [EW]
• Mischa Barton will be returning to television with a role as a "super bitchy model" in a series called A Beautiful Life. "‘It's a younger version of Sex And The City," Barton says. ]DailyMail]
• Mike Judge on his famous voices: "I'm probably pretty close to Hank, I guess, and maybe a little bit of Milton in "Office Space." But when I was doing "Beavis and Butt-head," I kind of felt like after a while I was becoming Beavis, even though I was a lot smarter than Beavis and Butt-head. Or at least I hope I was." [NYTimes]

• Lindsay Lohan went to Samantha Ronson's house yesterday afternoon and left later in the evening. [Perez Hilton]
• As for Samantha Ronson, she was seen leaving Lindsay's house at 6 am this morning. There's more ...

• Here's some telling Facebook evidence. Last week Sam deleted her "In a relationship" status, but now her profile says, "It's complicated." Indeed. [E!]
• Oprah Winfrey is threatening to sue Mutual of Omaha because the company was about to roll out an advertising campaign with the slogan, "Official sponsor of the aha moment." Oprah says she owns the rights to the "aha moment." [TMZ]
• Friends say Kevin Federline has put on more than 40 pounds since last year and now NutriSystem has offered him an opportunity to be a spokesman for their diet program. [Perez Hilton]
• Everyone knows Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt hate publicity. That's why they sent out a flyer to residents of the Pasadena neighborhood surrounding the church where they are getting married this weekend, asking them to sign a pettion allowing them to shut down streets for "an untitled reality TV project" (a.k.a. wedding) to keep the paprazzi at bay. [TMZ]
• TMZ has a copy of a tax lien against Snoop Dogg that shows he owes the state of California $284,053.59. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson's driver turned himself in yesterday, saying that he had no idea he had broken the mirror off an ambulance outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. No charges have been filed. [Radar]
• Debbie Nelson, Eminim's mom, says her dying wish is to reconcile with Em and his daughter Hayley. According to Eminem's grandmother, Debbie, "needs heart bypass surgery and she should weigh about 120 pounds, but she's some 50 pounds below that." Also, "she has no will to live." [Perez Hilton]
• Miley Cyrus says she has a crush on George Clooney, but Justin Gaston and Nick Jonas don't need to worry. "I refuse to date actors as a rule," she said. "They're too good at lying – it's their job." [The Telegraph]
• Guests at Salma Hayek's wedding rehearsal dinner on Friday night included Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, and former French president Jaques Chirac. Guests expected at the wedding are Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Penelope Cruz, Ashley Judd, and Lucy Liu. [People]
• Rihanna is back in the studio, and according to a producer she's writing about "different situations in her life, just things that inspire her." Producer Brian Kennedy Seals says, "She's ready, ready to make hits." [People]
• Eric Bana plays the bad guy Nero in the new Star Trek movie. He says of the hours he spent in the makeup chair to look like a Romulan, "It was so much fun. There you are in the make-up chair, freaking out. By the end of the first week it's very normal, and when the other Romulans took their make-up off, I didn't know how to take them." [Telegraph]
• Idris Elba, who plays Beyonce's husband in Obsessed says, "I'm watching Beyonce and Ali [Larter] go at it, being catty to each other, (and then someone would say) 'Idris, it's your line.' 'Oh, my God, yeah, sorry. Now where am I?'" [The Daily Express]
• Beyonce says she's lost weight recently because she's preparing for her tour. "I lost a lot of weight naturally, just from 12-hour rehearsals," she said. "That's a lot of dancing. I would never work out for 12 hours, but I'm able to move around and not think about it. It's part of my job." [People]
• Bruce Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa will miss several upcoming concerts because she's recovering from falling off a horse on Wednesday night. She is bruised and in pain, but has no broken bones. [People]
• Claire Danes bridesmaid in her marriage to Hugh Dancy says she's not a bridezilla. "She's so calm and excited about it," says Mamie Gummer. "She is going to be the most beautiful bride." She says she watched Danes and Dancy fall in love over games of Boggle and Scrabble. [People]
• A judge has allowed a civil case filed against Sharon Stone and two film companies in November to be made public after media outlets questioned why it was closed in the first place. The case was eventually settled. [AP]
• You can check out Prince's new cover of "Crimson and Clover" here: [NY Magazine]
• Fleetwood Mac has cancelled a concert in North Carolina this weekend due to scheduling conflicts. [The Daily Express]
• John Malkovich has turned down an offer to star in a Broadway production of The Good Canary because he wants to spend more time with his family. Malkovich, who lives in Massachusetts, says: "I have kids at home who don't want to leave their friends and move, except they will when I'm in Vienna this summer doing The Infernal Comedy. They'll come because they love the sausage. I live a quiet life in a very relaxed place. We don't go out much. One son's in Cambridge, my 16-year-old's a junior in high school. I'm involved with their schooling. This is probably my son's last year at home." [The Daily Express]
• In this video blog Annie Lennox sings and wears Mickey Mouse ears to promote a charity concert in Hong Kong. [Video Gum]
• British music millionaires, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Mick Jagger, and Amy Winehouse saw their fortunes decrease in the bad economy this year, yet Simon Cowell got 7% richer. [People]
• Cyndi Lauper and her husband David Thornton are starring in their first movie together since meeting on a movie set 20 years ago. The film is called Here and There and will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. [Yahoo]
• Mary-Kate Olsen is super excited about being a juror at the Tribeca Film Festival. "I wish there was a class. It is a huge honor to be a part of it and I was asked to be a part of it, she says. "I just got my pamphlet this morning. I have already watched all of the shorts. This is fun." [AP]
• Hilary Duff says of her pro hockey player boyfriend Mike Comrie, "You know what? We're very compatible, luckily, and it never seems like a big pressure of, like, what I have to do to make him happy, or vice versa. You know, it's just kind of natural for us, which is great, and I think that we both have busy jobs and we're both very public people, and that helps, too, you know, since we are apart so much. It's not like one person is sitting at home waiting for the other. And we're both just really supportive of each other." [The Observer]
• Miss USA judge Alicia Jacobs removed a blog post criticizing Carrie Prejean after she started getting death threats. Jacobs said, "I am going to be honest with you. I am an entertainment reporter, and I am not an investigative reporter and I am not used to being in that environment. Some reporters probably get death threats every day. For me, it scared me. I discussed it with my station and they have been beyond supportive and I am very grateful for that. We decided at least for the time being I would take it down. There is something else is up there now which I wrote last night, and that is how I am going to keep it for now. And, believe it or not, I am still getting negative responses and I am shocked. Where are these people coming from?" [L.A. Times]

• While picking up Michael Jackson from the hospital, his driver sideswiped an ambulance. Police say the suspect was driving "a dark colored SUV" that was "being followed by a group of paparazzi." Sounds like MJ!

• The mirror of the ambulance broke off, but no one was injured. [TMZ]
• Hackers broke into Salma Hayek's email and posted screen shots of her emails, including iPhone applications she bought, an invitation to America Ferrerra's birthday party, and the weekly scans she receives of tabloid stories about her. [Defamer]
• "Aladdin82" made a video to explain why he made the fake Beyonce sound board recording. Apparently he just wanted to bring humor into our lives in these dark economic times. [Perez Hilton]
• In response to Lindsay Lohan saying, "I don't believe in cheating on someone... I watched my father do that to my mother my entire life, so I really don't," on Ellen, Michael Lohan says, "It disturbs me that she still continues to take the focus off of herself and accuse me of cheating on her mother when I only did so when Dina and I were separated." [Extra]
• Lindsay Lohan told Ellen DeGeneres that she didn't know the split with Samantha Ronson was coming, saying, "When you don't know you're breaking up ... really weird." She continued, "I had no idea what was going on. I just hadn't seen her in, like, a week. She, like, disappeared." [People]
• Michael Phelps is denying rumors that he's dating Miss California, Carrie Prejean, or anyone else. As for her anti-gay marraige remarks, he says, "That's the cool thing about America - everybody has their opinion. I'm not saying I support her. I'm not saying I don't support her." [Us]
• Donald Trump says of Carrie Prejean, "Miss California has done a wonderful job, that was her belief ... It wasn't a bad answer, that was simply her belief." He added that the question was "a bit unlucky," because no matter how she answered, "she was going to get killed." [Fox News]
• Ugh. The Alabama House has approved a resolution that praises Carrie Prejean for speaking out against gay marriage. [Waay TV]
• Equality California has invited Carrie Prejean to meet with GLBTers from her home state, "to start a dialogue about who LGBT people are and the harm that is caused by denying LGBT community members equality." [SF Bay Times]
• Phil Spector's adopted son, Louis, is shopping a memoir in which he reveals: "When I was 13, Dad was seeing someone, a woman the kids all liked . . . and hoped for the chance of one day calling her 'Mom.' That all changed, however, one evening . . . [It] involved a bottle of wine, a Playboy magazine and 'the lady.' That night I lost my innocence, and my brother, Donte, at the age of 10, lost his virginity — to that lady. That was the last time I ever saw the 'lady.' " [NY Post]
• We thought Justin Timberlake kissed Jessica Biel at a Lakers game because a) she's his girlfriend or b) they want to shoot down those rumors that they split up. Justin set us straight on Jimmy Kimmel, explaining that on the Kiss Me Cam, "They cut to Dustin Hoffman and his wife and he planted an open-mouthed kiss on her, that was award-winning in its own way, and they cut to us and I was not to be outdone! So I mouthed in (kissed) my girlfriend in front of 18,000 people." He added, "It actually looks like she's struggling for breath!" [The Daily Express]
• Leighton Meester has signed a record deal. She says, "I'm thrilled to be welcomed into the Universal Republic fold. Their reputation for nurturing artists combined with a willingness to break new ground makes it the ultimate environment for me to enjoy making music and explore my own creative boundaries. I look forward to a great working relationship." [Perez Hilton]
• On Monday, April 27, Mia Farrow plans to stop eating for as long as she can to show support for the people of Darfur. She says she gained nine pounds in preparation and isn't sure what he last meal will be, but "Probably a fist full of aging, chocolate Easter eggs." [People]
• Madonna and Jesus Luz: still back on. [The Daily Mail]
• Lily Allen marked the end of her North American tour by having an ice cream fight with her crew. A source says: "She had ordered several tubs of ice cream on her rider, and she just began flinging it at her pals. Before long, everyone was chucking it about and it was all over the dressing room." The venue owners weren't so amused, and charged her $2,000 for cleanup. [The Daily Mail]
• Heidi Klum, who is pregnant with baby number four, says she'd be happy with either sex, "But it would be a lie if I said we all weren't hoping for a little girl — especially Leni, because she would love to have a little sister. She'll say, 'I hope it's a girl so she can be in my room, and I'm going to help you and I'm going to change the diapers and I'm going to be a really good sister!" [Us]
• Hayden Panettiere has been meeting with TV executives to pitch her own show. She may leave Heroes if one gets picked up, and her goal is to be goal is to achieve Heidi Klum-like status with a fashion related show like Project Runway. [Hollywood Dame]
• Susan Boyle was mentioned briefly on South Park last night. Ike runs away to be a pirate in Somalia and leaves a note explaining, "Everyone at school is a fucking idiot and if one more person talks to me about that Susan Boyle performance of Les Miserables I was going to puke my balls out through my mouth." [The Sun]
• Have you already figured out all the mysteries on Lost? Then you'll probably be happy to hear that ABC will be running mysterious commercials for a new show, Flash during the breaks. [Yahoo]
• Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis says of his 18-month-old son Everly Bear, "He's the little love of my life, that boy, and I feel very lucky to be his dad," adding, "You can't really care about yourself as much as you used to. It kind of takes the focus off yourself, which for me is a good thing," he says. "It also gives me a cool guy to hang out with." [People]
• Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz have donated $1 million to his alma mater, the University of Illinois to create the Roger Ebert Program for Film Studies. [Editor And Publisher]
• Michael J. Fox says he's excited about his role on Rescue Me as a bitter, drug-addicted character. He says, "People don't often think of me as a bitter misanthrope, so to get to play one, it's too fun to pass up." [The Daily Express]
• If we understand correctly, Lady Gaga is referring to her teacup when she says, "She hasn't got a name but she's quite famous now, so I made her stay in today. I take her everywhere because she makes me feel at home. I used to have tea at home with my mother every day, you see." [The Sun]
• Lady Gaga says: "I don't like blogging. It ruins the mystery of the artists." [The Sun]
• Kelly Clarkson says of being single: "I'm not that girl who's really concerned with it. I've dated a bit and it's just draining to me. If it's not going to happen natural, obviously it's going to be someone in the industry because that's the only time people ever really see me. I don't ever worry about it. I really love being single. I like having that freedom. I'm only 26 years old so I'm not in any kind of rush. I'm not really that girl that's looking for it, but I'm also not not looking for it." [Rolling Stone]
• Coco Arquette has designed a dress for dad David Arquette's clothing line, Propr. "She actually did paint a little red dress," said Arquette. "She said, ‘Here, Daddy. I painted this for Propr.' She designed her own beautiful red dress. And it has a little heart shaped top. It was very elegant, something you could wear tonight. We'll probably put that in [the line] for next Spring." [People]
• Nancy Wilson of Heart said it's hard to juggle being a mom and a rock star: "It's my job. I'm a working mother. Like everybody that keeps a job and also has children, there's a lot to balance out. The traveling part during the summer, my kids can come out and be with me. The family can travel together. But during the school time it's really tough, because we have to schedule everything around being able to be together. It's more important than anything there is, is trying to be a good parent. They're more important than you are, because they're the next generation. You can't just be self-absorbed in your career thing too much because they deserve everything of you." [Reuters]
• We don't really want to know why the person interviewing Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey in the video is shirtless. [Entertainment Weekly]
• A fan wants to know why Matthew McConaughey is so "relaxed and calm" all the time. He says: I think I'm pretty good at localizing and I also enjoy people and conversations and I like to share opinions. I'm not as chill if I don't get my sleep, I'll tell you that. So getting a good night sleep and I don't really leave crumbs in my life, if you know what I mean. When you leave crumbs in your life, you have a reason to look over your shoulder. A lot people tend to be anxious because they're looking over their shoulder a little bit." [People]

• Indian police say they have not found any evidence to support allegations that Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali's dad tried to sell her. [The Guardian, People]

• Three-year-old Mercy James is currently under the care of a nanny provided by Madonna. The director of the orphanage where the girl was staying says, "As Mercy's legal guardian, I authorize where she goes. She is staying with Madonna's people as a visitor. There is nothing wrong with that." [The Daily Express]
• As mentioned in Midweek Madness, British singer Marilyn is confirming long-standing rumors that he had a relationship with Gavin Rossdale in the '90s. "We were together five years, but it felt like 40," said Marilyn. [Perez Hilton]
• Beyonce's dad, Mathew Knowles is responding to the alleged (and now debunked) recording of his daughter singing off-key on The Today Show saying, "If no one took the time to listen to Beyonce sing 'America the Beautiful' and 'At Last' at the Neighborhood Ball for the first dance of President Obama and the First Lady, and they question Beyonce's vocal ability, they've gotta be an idiot. At 12 years into her career, the last thing someone should be questioning is her vocal ability. That would be like questioning if Kobe Bryant could shoot a jump shot. The vocals were obviously altered." [TMZ]
• Miss California Carrie Prejean's grandmother, Jeanette Coppola, says of Perez Hilton, "I don't know why that gay guy Perez was even judging a contest with a bunch of girls. That doesn't make any sense. He should be judging a Chippendale's contest." Perez responded: "Dear Jeanette, I was judging that contest because I am an American. I am a gay American. I am a Latino American. And I am an American who knows a thing or two about women in the spotlight." [The L.A. Times]
• Amy Winehouse's mother, Janis, says that Amy's ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil is trying to get a bigger divorce settlement. "It sounds like his hands are outstretched not only for him, but for this person he's made pregnant. To me it seems like a case of 'lets get our hands out for the money'," says Janis. [The Daily Express]
• Is it a coincidence that Audrey Tautou is starring in a new film about Coco Chanel and is also taking over for Nicole Kidman as spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5? [Yahoo]
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have a cameo in Terminator Salvation. [CNN]
• John Mayer is dating model/aspiring actress Scheana Marie Jancan, who is 23. [Star]
• This week's SNL host Justin Timberlake says he loves the show so much, "I would go as far to say if I didn't have a career that I felt so extremely lucky to have, I would see if I could get cast on the show." [USA Today]
• Denise Richards made a video for FunnyOrDie about how much everyone loves her "fun bags." It's like the Lindsay Lohan FOD video, with an extra dash of desperation. [Funny Or Die]
• OMG, Twilight fans: Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson went to the grocery store and a fellow shopper says they were holding hands. [E!]
• Chris Cornell says he likes Twitter because, "It's actually created an environment where I can answer simple questions that someone's probably had forever. And I don't mind answering them. And I can actually have conversations with fans that are quick, but still more meaningful than the typical situations you're put into. I've really liked it." [CNN]
• Shots were fired at Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter and a bail bondsmen when they tried to apprehend a Colorado man charged with attempted murder. No one was injured. [AP]
• A literary agency is suing Prince because he allegedly backed out of a book deal at the last minute and went behind their backs with another agency. [TMZ]
• Vanessa Hudgens will star in the film Beastly, an update of Beauty and the Beast. [Entertainment Tonight]
• Officials in Urbana, Ill. have decided to honor film critic Roger Ebert by putting a bronze plaque on the sidewalk in front of his childhood home. [AP]
• The website TheDirty.com posted pictures of Real Housewives star Gretchen Rossi riding topless in the passenger seat of a car. Previously, they posted compromising bathroom pictures. Now she's getting the police involved. [TMZ]
• Simon Cowell may quit American Idol when his contract runs out next year to start a U.S. version of the U.K. show The X Factor. [The Sun]
• Vivica A. Fox, host of The Cougar says she is currently single. "I am single right now," she says. "I am a different breed of chick. I like to go by the beat of my own drum. I haven't found a man that I want to answer to." [People]
• Salma Hayek and her husband François-Henri Pinault are holding a wedding celebration this weekend in Venice and guest including Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz have already arrived in Italy. [E!]
• Jennifer Love Hewitt says of dating co-star and long-time friend Jamie Kennedy, "I've heard about it – about being friends with somebody and it turns into something else and I've never really done that before and it's been great. He's hilarious and when you're with somebody funny, they're always funny and it's just great." [People]
• Billy Corgan, the only remaining member of The Smashing Pumpkins, is planning to charge subscribers $40 for 12 weekly 25-minute videos of him working in the studio. [The Guardian]
• Hugh Jackman says of the persistent rumors that he is gay, "I'd be happy to go and deny it, because I'm not. But by denying it, I'm saying there is something shameful about it, and there isn't anything shameful." [Parade]
• The Jonas Brothers will host Fox's Teen Choice 2009 Awards on August 11. [E!]
• Mariska Hartigay says she's feeling "Sooooo much better," since being hospitalized with a collapsed lung. "I've turned the corner and I'm feeling great. Really great," she said. [E!]
• Oh no! Mickey Rourke says he's going to slap Joel McHale, host of The Soup, in the face for making a joke about his late dog Loki. Hopefully Lou the chihuahua will help them work this out. [E!]
• Debra Messing said she met Robert De Niro at an audition. "My first film callback was for Casino, for the Sharon Stone role. I was 24 and had no money and was in school," she explained. "And so I went to an uptown hair place and said, ‘Make me look like Ivana Trump.' And I wore this very fancy - what I thought was a very fancy - black jumpsuit, and I was all ready to go, and I walked in and [De Niro] looked at me, and he's like, ‘What? You goin' to a prom?'" [NY Magazine]
• British singer Billy Bragg is criticizing a proposed EU law to double music copyright to 95 years saying, "This legislation offers the multinational record corporations a potential windfall of the size of the invention of the CD." [Yahoo]
• Kieran Culkin says he threw himself into work to try to deal with the death of his sister Dakota in December. "It's been a rough couple of months. I won't speak for anyone else, but I'm doing okay," he said. "That's the point of doing this interview and stuff. For a little while there, I wasn't going to do any press. I wasn't going to do Sundance. This was all a sort of getting-out-of-bed-and-start-walking thing." [The Daily Express]
• In a very lengthy interview Rosie O'Donnell talks about her children attending a Waldorf School, which involves signing a contract that they won't watch TV or use the computer. "I do it because I didn't have parents - my mother died and my father wasn't home. I had no one to talk to," she says. "I would much rather play rummy with my parent than sit in front of a video game, and when you don't have the TV as an option, you'd be surprised at how much you can interact with your own kids." [Just Jared]

• Justin Timberlake will attempt to finish what Ann Curry started: He'll head to Tanzania and climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Timberlake's goal is to raise awareness of the global water crisis. Rapper Lupe Fiasco and singer Kenna are going with him (?!). He says: "I've been training four times a week to get my VO2 (oxygen consumption) levels up to expand my lungs. We'll climb a week straight, carrying 30 pounds on our backs. It's going to be intense, but it's going to be so rewarding. We're going to be ready for it." [Mirror via GQ]

• High times: Amy Winehouse and Snoop Dogg collaborated last year, but were too stoned to finish the tracks! [The Sun]
• But Amy has been getting all detoxed in St. Lucia — she does a lot of mud treatments to draw out impurities. [TMZ]
• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are mentioned as a cheap ploy for attention in this beyond stoopid press release. [Breitbart]
• Mel Gibson has "fled" to Costa Rica with his "mystery blonde." [Daily Express]
• Why hasn't Eminem been on the scene for three years? He's been on drugs. He says: "I wasn't ready mentally. I wasn't ready to give up the drugs. I didn't think that I had a problem. Basically, I went in, and I came out. I relapsed, and I spent the next three years struggling with it. Also, at that time, I felt like I wanted to pull back, because my drug problem had got so bad." He was also impacted by the death of his friend Proof: "I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became." [XXL via The Sun]
• ZOMG Lindsay and Sam ran into each other. [Page Six]
• This report insinuates that Justin Long is super into Drew Barrymore, while she's all, we're just friends. [Gatecrasher]
• Kate Moss had to cut short a vacay in the Maldives because her boyfriend and her gal pal weren't getting along. [Daily Mail]
• Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn have a sex scene in the new movie Management. But poor Jen still can't escape being compared to Angelina; this column notes: "While it's no Mr. & Mrs. Smith, let's just say Mike (Zahn) ends up with his shirt off and his pants down to his ankles and Sue (Aniston) on her back on top of a table." [E!]
• The producers of Slumdog Millionaire have donated $740,000 to children living in Indian slums. [People]
• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has renewed Martha Stewart's contract and will pay Martha Stewart at least $2 million for the next three years so she can continue living as Martha Stewart. [WSJ]
• Even though In Touch reported that Kate Hudson would be on , she apparently doesn't "do" TV. The rumor is "not true," says her rep. [E!]
• Matthew Perry on Lost? "It is not true," says Perry. "I really don't know why those rumors have been floating about. I have admitted I am a Lost junkie. And at the press junket for [17 Again] I was asked what my favorite TV show was and I said [Lost], so maybe that's how they started." [EW]
• Mandy Moore got help for her new acoustic rock album Amanda Leigh from her "in-home teacher," husband Ryan Adams. [Mirror]
• Lady GaGa rocked the gay bash known as the Palm Springs White Party. She has said: "I love the gay community. Like bleeding heart love the gay community…it's a genuine love I have for them." [NBC Bay Area]
• Audrina on her new reality show: "It's my life after The Hills, my journey. It's going to be a little spicier, edgier, older." We think this means drunken makeout sessions. [People]
• Keisha Knight Pulliam, aka Rudy from The Cosby Show, is getting her own reality show on Oxygen, which involves her live-in boyfriend and will "explore what it's like to be "young, rich, single and co-habitating." The show will be called "Keisha and Kaseem." [AP]
• Guess who else is getting a reality show? Fantasia Barrino. [Reuters]
• Which Idol judge should go: Kara or Paula? [MSNBC]
• It seems that Bruce Springsteen is the "victim" in that NJ divorce scandal where the wife was calling him the other man in her marriage. A source says: "The wife pestered Bruce, but he didn't have an affair with her. He's freaked out that he was named in her divorce because he barely knows her." [National Enquirer]
• Daniel Radcliffe says the kissing scene between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley is awkward: "Harry's got a real thing for her, and that is slightly odd because when we met I was 11 and she was nine." [Telegraph]
• Speaking of Harry Potter, the Half Blood Prince flick will open two days sooner. [NY Daily News]
• Uh, they are really squeezing the life out of this franchise: There will be a 5th Fast and Furious film. [NY Daily News]
• Miss USA contestants will wear swimsuits from the Jessica Simpson Collection Sunday night. [NY Daily News]
• Real Housewife Jill Zarin had a breast reduction and "feels 20 lbs lighter." [Page Six]
• Sean "Diddy" Combs has just been cast in a Judd Apatow flick, along with Elisabeth Moss and Rose Byrne. Get Him To The Greek stars Jonah Hill and Russell Brand, and the gist of it is that a record label intern (Hill) is hired to get an out-of-control rock star (Brand) from London to a gig at the Greek Theater in L.A. While it might have been interesting if things were shaken up a bit, Diddy plays the record label boss while Moss and Byrne play girlfriends. Of course. [Hollywood Reporter]
• David Duchovny and Tea Leoni are so back on they have matching tattoos now. [Daily Express]
• Catherine Keener has been cast in a fantasy/adventure flick called Percy Jackson, in which she will play a mom whose son is half human (his father is Poseidon). [Hollywood Reporter]
• Here's a profile on legendary producer Jon Peters, whose memoir is "filled with outrageous tales of Jack Nicholson and hookers, and Barbara Walters in her undies." he may have told a room of people that Baba Wawa had "a great rack and nice ass." [The Daily Beast]
• After saying that he "totally understands OJ" Simpson, Hulk Hogan has issued a statement, claiming he "in no way condones the OJ situation. As part of a larger conversation, he referred to it to exemplify his frustration with his own situation." [ET]
• Meanwhile Linda Hogan says she is "taking these recent comments seriously." [ET]
• "Electroclash godmother Peaches and voodoo loving rave producer Drums of Death get together in the latest issue of Dazed & Confused to talk about drugs, power ballads, performance art, their favourite fancy dress costumes, and working together on her new album I Feel Cream." [Dazed Digital]
• Former "pin-up" Heather Thomas has written a novel called Trophies, about Hollywood wives and fundraising. She says: "I researched this and found these wives are responsible for directing about 80 percent of the foundation monies in America. It is the wives who have the time and can draw things to their husband's attention. Trophy wives are seen as charms on a man's arm, but I have come in contact with a lot of billionaires and their wives are busy and often have PhDs and are brilliant businesswomen. I've yet to meet a bimbo trophy wife." [Reuters]
• A former publicist for James Brown is suing for control of his estate. [USA Today]
• Actress Tawny Kitaen has settled a fraud suit against her ex, so you can go back to not thinking about her. [AP]
• Blind item! "Which funnyman doesn't even bother to hide his drug habit? When pals come to visit his pad, they're just as likely to see baggies of cocaine lying around as they are to see throw pillows." [Gatecrasher]
• "Your blob [sic] is very funny and clever. You have so much fun with it. No wonder everyone loves it." — Diablo Cody's mom. [Page Six]
• "When the show started it was such a different beast. It was exciting and dangerous and funny and edgy and bizarre. [Then] it started feeling a little complacent, and that was very frustrating… When you have a jewel, why not polish it and put it out there for all to see?" — Nicolette Sheridan on Desperate Housewives, which she felt never gave her character enough attention. (Her last episode airs Sunday.) [LA Times]
• "Edie's already slept with most of the guys on the street and has caused about as many problems as she could. We will find a new kind of sexiness coming through Wisteria Lane. What I won't do is cast another fortysomething sexy blonde. [Sheridan] performed the aging neighborhood tramp better than anyone has ever done before." — Desperate Housewives creator Marc Chery. [LA Times]
• "I think a wedding is about love, friends, family and fun. I think spending millions of dollars on a wedding is ridiculous and it has never been my dream. I would never do that." — Salma Hayek, denying she is planning an extravagant $2 million ceremony to follow her City Hall nuptials in February. [People]
• "I think this movie presents the relationship between the media and the government - and it's kind of interesting because it says that the institutions are both a little bit corrupt." — Ben Affleck, on State Of Play. [LA Times]
• "I have a little blog that I do with some friends, but beyond that, I'm kind of clueless when it comes to the Internet. I just got e-mail down pat. So I've got to speed it up, I guess. But I tend to get my news from the radio. I don't know why, it's just the way I like it." — Rachel McAdams. [LA Times]
• "I kind of value having people not know where I am or what I'm doing." — Zac Efron, who avoids MySpace and Facebook. [Reuters]
• "I have never seen that (From Justin to Kelly), other than the time I had to sit through it at the premiere. I was contractually obligated to, and I fought that with tears - I did not want to do that movie." — Kelly Clarkson. [MSNBC Scoop via Rolling Stone]

[St. Tropez, April 13. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

• A source says Lindsay Lohan is temporarily staying in a "therapeutic environment" organized by Stephen and Daniel Baldwin. Lindsay's rep says she's not in rehab. [Fox News]

• Natasha Richardson's death has been ruled an accident following an autopsy. The cause of death is "epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head." [TMZ]
• Madonna has dumped Jesus Luz, or as this paper puts it, "Baby Jesus is dead just in time for Easter." [The Daily Star]
• Bruce Willis will marry his girlfriend, model Emma Heming, this weekend in Turks & Caicos, where Bruce owns a home. [People]
• Justin Timberlake is launching a brand of tequila called 901 for the Memphis area code. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Michael Jackson is releasing an album to coincide with his comeback concerts this summer, and it's rumored that he wants to collaborate with Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, will.i.am, and Ne-Yo. Kanye West submitted tracks for MJ to consider. [ONTD]
• Dita Von Teese says that her ex-husband, Marilyn Manson, regularly calls her to apologize for ending their marriage, but she wants non of it. She says: "He has been in touch a little. The apologies come, and he was like, 'I made a big mistake.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, I know. Go ahead and say what you need to say to feel better and to sleep at night.' Right now I've got three (men). They're all in different parts of the world... That's my biggest sin - juggling men." [ONTD]
• Britney Spears is engaged in a super-sexy catfight with Fox News! In the music video for "If You Seek Amy" Britney takes a shot at Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. In this video, Kelly invites Britney to come on her show and have it out, then makes the cat claws motion and meows. [E!]
• We've already seen the stills, but now Us has released video evidence of LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian's affair. They are shown kissing, holding hands and sucking on each other's fingers. [Us]
• Flight of the Conchords co-star Bret McKenzie has married girlfriend Hannah Clarke. They began dating in college and are expecting a child. [Stuff.co.nz]
• Mandy Moore was spotted wearing her wedding ring in public for the first time. [Pop Sugar]
• New Jersey Bruce Springsteen fans who say Ticketmaster cheated them are getting another chance at concert tickets. Ticketmaster is holding an drawing for 1,800 people for tickets to two May concerts. [Yahoo]
• Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson is tired of people saying she's not a real blonde so she posted blonde baby photos on her website. [ONTD]
• Salma Hayek has been developing a line of cosmetics. "I'm trying to develop a line with a drugstore so that it is affordable for everyone," says Hayek. "We've researched for two to three years. My grandmother was a cosmetologist and she used to make her own creams, but my whole approach is how can we get the essence of the really expensive ones, but for everyone to be able to afford." [ONTD]
• In this revealing interview Paul Rudd and Jason Segal make fart noises for three minutes and Rudd laughs so hard he cries. [Best Week Ever]
• Journalists Laura Ling (Lisa Ling's sister) and Euna Lee have been detained on the China/South Korea border because they refused to stop filming when asked to. [Perez Hilton]
• Joaquin Phoenix has added a new prop to his elaborate performance piece: He's now wearing an Ez-Comb. [Best Week Ever]
• Mark Whalberg and his girlfriend Rhea Durham just had their third baby in September and now they've announced that they're expecting a fourth child. [D Listed]
• Cartoon character Stewie Griffin of Family Guy is going to guest star on live action show Bones. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Not-so-nice guy Tom Hanks is pictured here flipping off the paparazzi. [TMZ]
• Golf pro Annika Sorenstam is expecting her first child. [People]
• 50 Cent will be replacing Forest Whitaker in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables. [ONTD]
• According to the National Enquirer Jessica Simpson's dad Joe Simpson is no longer a Tony Romo fan. He thinks that Tony is too much of a distraction and blames him for Jessica's recent career troubles. [ONTD]
• Simon and Garfunkel are reuniting for a spring tour of Asia and Australia. [CNN]
• Lady Gaga had a nipple slip while signing autographs in Portland. [Socialite Life]
• Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are clearly not concerned about the economy. They have made an offer on the $125 million Fleur de Lys, the most expensive estate currently on sale in the world. [World Of Wonder]
• Ted Haggard and his wife are going to appear on Divorce Court but they're not getting a divorce. They just want to let us know how strong their marriage is. [NY Magazine]
• Meryl Streep says of friend Natasha Richardson: "Tash was the warm sun in the center of a large constellation of family, friends, all of those lucky enough to know her - she is irreplaceable in our lives; she gave us so much, so generously - her legacy is the love that connects us all." [Entertainment Tonight]
• Helen Mirren says of former co-star Natasha Richardson: "Natasha was a great actress, a fantastic mother, a loving wife and a whirlwind of energy, with an infectious love of life expressed firstly by her wonderful deep laugh. Anyone who knew her will be in mourning today. I hope that Liam and her sons are helped in their pain by the great love and sympathy that is coming to them from people all over the world." [Extra]

• Interesting: Chris Brown and Rihanna are "taking a break." They're not calling it a breakup, though.

Unfortunately, this report has sources close to Brown saying things like, "He's just putting ideas down for some songs he wrote," and "He needs to feel like he's moving forward." We're definitely interested in what he thinks he needs. [E!]

• Rihanna was spotted "flying solo" in New York over the weekend. [Page Six]
• Vanessa Redgrave was seen visiting the hospital where Natasha Richardson is reportedly on life support. [TMZ]
• Friends of Natasha Richardson are in mourning; Ted Casablanca says they have all been informed that she is "brain dead." [E!]
• A Natasha Richardson family friend says: "There is no chance. It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead." [People]
• Two of Nadya Suleman's octuplets have gone home. Six more to go! [The Insider]
• Apparently the police in Chicago are not amused that Lady Gaga does not wear pants; they stopped the singer, who says, "It was really funny because all you saw was this half-naked girl on the street yelling at some cop 'It's fashion! I'm an artist!' It was fun." [Perez]
• Lady Gaga hearts Prince Harry: "I spotted him last year in a club and couldn't take my eyes off him. British men are cool. I especially love the accent and Prince Harry sounds so posh." [The Sun]
• An artist named Ben Tegel has made an "American Gothic" type poster — called "American Sapphic," starring Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson. LL looks good, but Sam looks sinister. [E!]
• Coming soon to a bar near you: Justin Timberlake brand tequila. [Page Six]
• John Mayer's latest Twitter: "This heart didn't come with instructions." Naturally the papers think it's Aniston-related. [Mirror]
• Joy Behar has been with her man for 26-and-a-half years and may get married! She says: "Somebody that I know lost her partner. They were gay women. And the partner was in the hospital, and she had to pretend that she was her sister in order to really deal with stuff. I don't want that to happen to us … and I also just feel that I want to." [People]
• Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow had dinner with Valentino last night and talked goop all evening. [Daily Mail]
• Madonna will release a fourth greatest hits compilation, because she owes her current record label one more album. [Perez]
• Nicole Richie has launched NicoleRichie.com. You'll find posts about her jewelry line, her charities, her Brazilian blow dry — all while listening to Deep Purple. [Socialite Life]
• An ad for Angelina Jolie's film Wanted was banned in the UK for glamorizing violence. Here in the US, we encourage that sort of thing. [Telegraph]
• Two contestants on Paris Hilton's British Best Friend were screaming at each other and going so nuts a psychiatrist was called in. Apparently there is a shrink on hand "at all times," but shouldn't the doctor be questioning why the hell the ladies are on the show to begin with? [The Sun]
• Ellen DeGeneres will play Mother Nature in a comedy flick written by Sex And The City writer-producer Jenny Bicks. She does really really love animals… [Reuters]
• George Michael played a one-hour performance for a Russian nickel magnate and made £1,606,856. How much is that in rubles? [Daily Mail]
• Sleazy 'N Sync mastermind Lou Pearlman might be in jail, but he's plotting a reality show. Part Charlie's Angels and part Making The Band, "it essentially would feature Lou's disembodied voice on a speakerphone," a source says. Creepy! [Gatecrasher]
• Mena Suvari's image is being used to sell condoms in China without her knowledge. But she looks good. [SF Gate]
• Kimila Ann Basinger — more commonly known as Kim Basinger — is playing a the head of a large family whose perspective on life has been changed by breast cancer. A different kind of role for her, no? [Independent]
• Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Colin Quinn have joined the cast of an untitled Adam Sandler comedy. Salma is Sandler's wife; Maya is the wife of Chris Rock. Yeah. The old goofy guy/hot chick cliché. [Variety]
• Simon Baker has been named the sexiest man on TV. Did anyone see him glisten in the sun in that movie Something New? That was hot. [Mirror]
• Actor Stacy Keach has been hospitalized for an undisclosed health problem. [Reuters]
• What the world needs now: A Goonies reunion. Seriously: Goonies never say die! [The Sun]
• Blind item: "Which hip-hop icon gets laughed at when he strips down at the gym? Guysin the locker room can't believe it's that small." [Gatecrasher]
• "It's hard to know what the rule book is for guy friends. Girls call their friends girlfriends. You'll never hear me say, 'My boyfriend Paul Rudd and I were working together.'" — Jason Segel, whose "bromance" flick, I Love You Man, is opening Friday. The back and forth between Rudd and Segel in this interview is pretty funny. [USA Today]
• "I went crazy for the script. I was going through a phase where I was turning everything down. This gem landed. I finished the last page and called my agent. It was a rare gem." — Clive Owen, on Duplicity. [USA Today]
• "I'm embarrassed on almost a daily basis. You sort of have to suck it up sometimes. [Fans] say stuff like, 'You're so much shorter in person Or 'Oh, my god, you look just like that girl, but you are a lot prettier than she is.' You have to grin and bear it. I might say in return, 'I know I looked skinnier in The House Bunny, but thanks to my diet of beer and doughnuts, I'm back to my fightin' weight!'" — Anna Faris, to Self. [People]

• Fox News sources are now saying that actress Natasha Richardson is being transported to NYC before she is taken off life support. She was hospitalized in Montreal for an injury suffered while skiing. [Fox News]

• Journalist Ian Halperin, who has written new book about Michael Jackson, claims the star is planning to get more plastic surgery before his comeback concerts start this summer. MJ's camp denies the story. [The Sun]
• Since Michael Jackson's London comeback concerts sold out in a matter of hours, he may bring the show to the U.S. when the European tour ends in January. [Perez Hilton]
• Lindsay Lohan was involved in a fender-bender last night, but she wasn't at the wheel. Her bodyguard/driver crashed into a wall outside the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood at 3:30am while Lindsay was in the car. [E!]
• A man showed up outside Nadya Suleman's home with a turkey baster and three tubes of "samples" strapped in his coat, waving a sign that said "I am the real OctoDad." Turns out it was rapper Smooth E trying to promote his song about Suleman. [TMZ]
• Britney Spears' camp is denying rumors that she will performa duet with Madonna, or anyone else, at an upcoming concert. [Perez Hilton]
• Star claims that Reese Witherspon was wearing an engagement ring presented to her by Jake Gyllenhaal at a recent Avon commercial shoot, but she took it off when she saw people staring because she's not ready to go public. [Star]
• An 8-week-old puppy Oprah Winfrey adopted from PAWS Chicago this month has died. Ivan, a blond-colored cocker spaniel, died from the parvo virus late last week. Oprah recently adopted him with Sadie, another cocker puppy. [UPI]
• Rihanna's mentor, music producer Evan Rogers says stars like Oprah and Tyra Banks reaching out to Rihanna may be making things worse for her. Rogers says: "I think that everyone has good intentions and means well, but it turns up the heat in terms of it seeming like the whole world is telling her what to do. At the end of the day, people forget that at 21, your perspective is very different. These kinds of things can happen to anyone, whether you're a celebrity or not." [Entertainment Weekly]
• Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen will have another wedding ceremony in Costa Rica with only 50 guests. [Radar]
• Catharina Franca, ex-girlfriend of Jesus Luz, says of his dating Madonna: "I think the age makes a difference and it is ridiculous for her. It's like my mum with a boyfriend my age, or even my grandmother. I think it's very weird. She is a ridiculous old bag, jumping around on stage at her age." Wow, Madonna is probably crying her eyes out over what this 18-year-old has to say. [The Sun]
• Amy Winehouse took the stand today to enter a "not guilty" plea in court. She's accused of assaulting a woman at a high society ball last year. [People]
• Kanye West went to a table read for the Family Guy spinoff The Cleveland Show and will appear in animated form on the show. [People]
• Injured Harry Potter stuntman David Holmes only has a 5% chance of ever walking again. [Perez Hilton]
• Christina Ricci is engaged to Owen Benjamin. The two started dating in November. [Us]
• Donald Trump is being sued over a folded Baja-Mexico luxury condo building project. Trump sold his name to the project and people invested in it because they thought they were getting a quality product, but now they're out $32 million. [Perez Hilton]
• Here's a gallery of photos taken inside Mike Tyson's ostentatious abandoned house. [Boing Boing]
• This summer Jessica Biel will be in a production of Guys and Dolls at the Hollywood Bowl. [Perez Hilton]
• Parker Posey will star in the off-Broadway play This next season. The play is described as "an unromantic comedy" about the ups and downs of a woman turning 40. [AP]
• In the new Details A-Rod says he and Madonna are friends and he's sought her advice through the years because she's "smart" and "passionate about everything she does." "If there ever was any situation, she's a great ear to have," he says. A-Rod explains that they've actually known each other for years, saying, "I met her about 12 years ago in Miami, believe it or not. … I was trying to buy her house, and I couldn't afford it." [Entertainment Tonight]
• Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys runs a year-old movie company called Oscilloscope, which distributed the indie movie Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams. He says he got into the business from attending film festivals. "I am a fan and would just come and end up watching five films a day, many of them great, and then coming away and wondering why they never got released. Now we can do something about that." [NY Times]
• Linda Hamilton will have a short voiceover at the beginning of Terminator Salvation. [Perez Hilton]
• Denise Richards says her two daughters are excited to meet their new half-brothers. " [Brooke Mueller and Charlie Sheen] just had the babies and we're letting Brooke heal," Richards said. "Then they will see their new brothers. They can't wait. They actually drew a picture for them, they are so excited." [People]
• Antonio Banderas has bought 50 percent of a winery in northern Spain. [AP]
• Elisha Cuthbert says her Old School costar Will Ferrell was "quiet, shy – a calm soul. That, to me, was really shocking." As for Vince Vaughn "He's witty, quick, and sarcastic – which can be a little intimidating. He's scary in the way that David Letterman is scary." [People]
• Salma Hayek says her new husband Francois Henri-Pinault was her stylist for the Golden Globes. She explains: "It was Christmas and I was just overwhelmed with so many things to do. He said, 'Let me help you. How can I help?' And I said, 'Well, I have to pick a dress for the Golden Globes,' ... So Bottega Veneta sent swatches and sketches, and François worked with the designer Tomas Maier, and he took care of everything." [People]
• Paul Rudd says that while promoting I Love You, Man he took a bathroom break with co-star Jason Segel before a TV interview. He decided it would be funny to pull his pants down to his ankles. Segel laughed and left the bathroom, but the joke backfired when a stranger entered. "I'm pulling my pants up in front of a urinal and my (rear end) is sticking out and the guy just like, walks in," Rudd said. [AP]
• Kim Kardashian did a photo shoot with her boyfriend Reggie Bush for the new issue of GQ. [People]
• Just in case you were dying to know what Kim Kardashian thinks about Lindsay Lohan's recent fight with Samantha Ronson, Kim says: "It's so sad that there's such an invasion of privacy, with camera people, cops and paparazzi outside their home. I mean, when have you not thrown something when you're mad? Everyone has to admit that at one time in their life, they've gotten so mad that they've thrown something, but maybe not necessarily breaking a window." [Perez Hilton]
• Before her blog was (probably) hacked, Roseanne Barr shared more thoughts on Rihanna, saying that Oprah and Tyra's view of domestic abuse is "out of date, and irrelevant and made me mad." She continues: Rhianna is a victim of chris brown to be sure, but nothing will ever change as long as the FACT is ignored that in the beginning of domestic violence, the female often (like Rhianna) colludes and ALSO IS VIOLENT!" She says after ending her abusive marriage to Tom Arnold, "I was in a lot of groups and noticed how many women said that they stayed because they mistakenly thought: 'I am not like all these other helpless women who get beat, I hit back, or I hit first. I am not a helpless victim, I am a strong fighter, and I can handle this'. Then comes the time when his strength is too much to withstand, and the sobering reality that you are in fact just another victim hits you. [Roseanne's Blog]

• Michelle Obama will receive a CFDA award — but CFDA president Steve Kolb isn't certain she'll attend. "We'll do whatever we can to get her here, but the award isn't about getting her to come." [AP]

• The other nominees include: Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, and Kate and laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, for women's wear designer of the year; Italo Zucchelli of Calvin Klein and Michael Bastian and Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders are up for the men's wear award. Interestingly, the nominees for the Swarovski women's wear award, which celebrates emerging talents, include two designers who shot to acclaim after Michelle Obama wore their dresses: Jason Wu, and Thakoon Panichgul. (Alexander Wang, no lesser light, is the third nominee.) The Council of Fashion Designers of America will host its annual shindig at Lincoln Center — a change of venue from the traditional Bryant Park-adjacent Public Library — on June 15. [WWD]
• Model Tyson Beckford gave up texting, which he doesn't like to do, for Lent. Someone should maybe tell him how it works... [The Cut]
• Salma Hayek is reportedly set to debut a range of anti-aging cosmetics. [Daily Express]
• Naomi Campbell, meanwhile, is organizing a runway show benefit for victims of the Mumbai terror attacks; she'll walk in the show with Bollywood stars, and afterwards the clothes will be auctioned for charity. [WWD]
• So that's what Jil Sander was doing at the fabric fair in Paris: plotting new looks for Uniqlo! The Japanese fast-fashion giant — picture American Apparel without the cokey company culture and advertisements drenched in ballsweat — has taken on the long-unemployed designer as a kind of creative director with responsibility for all men's and women's apparel. She'll also do a special capsule collection, set to debut this fall, for sale at Uniqlo. [WWD]
• People say models look angry. I say anyone wearing a neutral expression always looks about 30% more sullen in a still photograph than they do live; anyone who's ever laid eyes on a photograph of themselves going about daily business without a posed smile has probably said the words, "But I look so angry!" Even though you weren't actually angry at the time. It's the same with models! If you want the camera to catch you looking vaguely sweet-faced, you have to kind of ham it up (slightly raise your eyebrows, widen your eyes, drop your bottom lip, purse your mouth like you're about to say something nice). And there's no fucking time for that kind of delicate facial maneuver on the runway. So you walk with a blank face and, yes, sometimes you look angry. Even though you are not. Is that all right with everyone? [The Cut]
• Scott Schuman's book, to be titled, The Sartorialist, will be released by Penguin this fall. To celebrate it, the Times of London is saying there'll be — what else? — a pop-up shop called Sartorialust selling accessories from pajamas to suspenders inside Barneys New York; Fashionista says the only confirmed store is Colette in Paris. Schuman would love, he says, to consult for a venerable menswear label and make it more modern; he's currently exploring some other kind of deal with Net-a-porter.com and the possibility of writing a style guidebook. [Times of London via Fashionista]
• Now that the fall collections are over, the Wall Street Journal is shuttering its excellent fashion blog, Heard On The Runway. I hope they don't somehow rate this a higher priority. [WSJ]
• In her CNN: Revealed documentary, screening this week, Carine Roitfeld goes through options for an upcoming cover featuring Scarlett Johansson (the editor was apparently disappointed the actress had dyed her hair brown before the shoot, since it made her look less recognizable). CNN just released a teaser video, which has footage of the potential cover shot. [Fashionologie]
• Juicy Couture on 5th Ave. certainly has some imaginative window dressers: their current offering features one mannequin on its hands and knees, in that awkward doesn't-quite-bend mannequinly way, wearing a saddle. Another stands over it, holding a riding crop, in case you didn't get it. Do they think this will sell sweats? [Racked]
• Singer Adele, whom Anna Wintour styled for the Grammys and had Annie Leibovitz photograph for Vogue's "Shape" issue, says she would have walked the red carpet in a "jumper" if Anna hadn't rang. "Anna! As if we're on that level! I hate fashion! I had to tell her I've got four bums..." She took Vogue editor Hamish Bowles, her Grammys date, out for In N Out after the ceremony. [Grazia]
• JC Penney, the Humane Society has announced, has gone fur free. By which the company means they currently have no fur items and no plans to sell any in future. It's as if McDonalds went "cruelty-free" by announcing that they are definitely never going to serve any foie gras. [HSUS]
• A Swedish company owns the rights to Gucci's iconic double-G logo, at least in Sweden, a patent court there has found. Fishy. [UPI]
• Various brands, including Lacoste and Coach, are planning price cuts for the coming seasons. They hope to prevent retailers from having to make steep discounts of their own, as happened last year, because seeing something expensive marked down by 70% makes customers question whether the item was ever worth its original price. Lowering the original price by 30% makes customers say, This is surprisingly cheap, let's buy it! Allegedly. [Forbes]
• Or will "vengeful populism" destroy our appetite for luxury goods altogether? [AdAge]
• Either way, Escada's losses are even greater than originally reported for the quarter. [WWD]
• American Apparel, which was saved from bankruptcy with an eleventh-hour financing agreement last week, reported a 29% increase in net profits last quarter. [WWD]
• Valentino says if you want to be his friend, you have to love his designs. [VF]