• Does Jay-Z reference Anna Wintour in his song "Empire State of Mind"? The line in question is: "caught up in the in crowd/now you're in-style/and in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out." [Fashion Week Daily]

• Earlier today it was reported that Michael Vick had resigned with Nike two years after the company dropped him when he was sent to prison for dogfighting. His agent said, "Mike has a long-standing, great relationship with Nike, and he looks forward to continuing that relationship." But, now Nike has released a statement saying it has not "contractual relationship" with Vick and it merely, "agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike." [AP]
• Michel Phan of the ESSEC Business School, which runs the world's only luxury brand management MBA program, says luxury retailers in Asia need to focus more on service. He explains: "It's not enough to say 'Our brand is expensive, or known'. You have to make customers connect with your brand, especially during this crisis, when they're more reluctant to buy on the spur of the moment. You have to give people a good reason to buy." [Reuters]
• Peter Copping, the new designer of Nina Ricci, says Ricci's romantic designs are in line with his personal taste and belief that customers want feminine clothes. In his previous job at Louis Vuitton, he says, "whenever we did more feminine-based collections, the sales were always incredible in the stores as opposed to the more austere or hard-edged things... Obviously, one has to find a way to make that contemporary, modern and fashionable." [WWD]
• On Tuesday, Giles Deacon received an award from France's National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts along with a grant of $233,470 that will finance his spring fashion show in Paris. [WWD]
• Timberland has collaborated with Wyclef Jean to design a line of 16 boots. For every pair sold $2 will be donated to Yéle Haiti Foundation to support reforestation in Haiti. [WWD]
• At the D&G runway show in Milan, the chief executives of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman were put in the second and third rows while the chief executive of Yoox.com was in the front row. Bloggers have been invited to New York shows for a few seasons, but Europe is just warming to fashion bloggers who write for sites like Bryanboy.com, JakandJil.com, and GaranceDore.fr. [WSJ]
• Artist Brian Einersen created a Lady Gaga comic book that's selling at Marc Jacobs stores for $2. [Fashionista]
• Gareth Pugh is considering doing a fast-fashion line. He says: "I have considered it. The offers have come in, and every time we get an offer, I mull it over. I'd like more people to have access to my clothes, but the timing hasn't been right, or the project hasn't been right, or some combination of both those things. The first time I was approached, I wasn't even producing the garments I was showing on the runway. I didn't have a factory. Everything I was making, I was making by hand. Doing a fast-fashion collection seemed a little premature." He says companies should, "Keep asking. And I'll keep thinking." [N.Y. Magazine]
• Robert Lee Morris had to create toned down versions of his jewelry in during the recession in the early '90s, but now his more showy creations are becoming popular again. They were featured in several runway shows this fall and Henri Bendel will open a Robert Lee Morris boutique tomorrow. [N.Y. Times]
• At a party celebrating Sundance Channel's new show Man Shops Globe about Anthropologie buyer at large, Keith Johnson introduced guests to his partner Glen Senk, who fell in love with him in grade school. "I moved next door to him, at age 9, and the first day I saw him, I fell in love with him," Senk said. "It was otherworldly. I felt sparks all over my body. Literally, I saw stars. He was the kindest, sweetest, most wonderful person. I feel like that 44 years later." Johnson said, "It took a few years to convince me... He didn't convince me until I was 12." [N.Y. Times]
• Paolo Colonna, a partner in Permira, the European private equity firm that bought the Valentino Fashion Group, said that though the fund usually exits its private equity investments after four or five years, but, "The various [economic] crises will delay our exit. Still, we are patient money. This is a long-term deal for us. I don't see any urgency to sell at these low valuations." [NY Times]
• Giorgio Armani has reorganized his company, expanding the board of directors and delegating more power to non-family members. He's been suffering with a bout of hepatitis for months and says his illness was worsened by working long hours for decades. The reorganization is raising questions about whether the brand can outlive Armani. [WSJ]
• Pam Grier says, "I'm hoping the Smithsonian will call me for the dress from Foxy Brown. The blue one with the ruffles. I'm holding onto it. Call me, Smithsonian!" [Village Voice]

Apparently at some point, Craig told Shirley that Paul McCartney looks like Angela Lansbury and, as seen on last night's Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Shirley simply can't get it out of her head. Clip at left.


Earlier: Tom Selleck Makes Shirley Manson Blush

Craig and Shirley went on to crack each other up; she clearly spilled the beans about his Friday show being pre-taped on Thursday. Also: I wanted to write something like "make that scotch a double," since they're both from Scotland and their accents are so awesome. But anyway: Clip at left.

• Tina Turner vs. Aretha Franklin! Last week, Tina was asked to comment about that moment when Beyoncé called her "The Queen" during the Grammys, and Aretha got upset. Tina said: "[Aretha's] the queen of soul, and I'm the queen of rock 'n' roll. There were so many kings and queens there that night. Her ego must be so big to think she was the only one. That's how queens are!" Aretha says: "I never figured her to resort to tacky press just to sell a few tickets. I really had put her in a different class — higher than that." Tina and Aretha have never met. [USA Today]
• Angelina says Brad makes traveling with kids easy! "After the flight from Europe, we were all suffering a bit from jetlag. Although we went to bed early, [the kids] were up at 4:30 a.m. goofing around," she says. "Brad took care of things. He just said, 'Go back to sleep, you have to work tomorrow,' and then went to the living room with the kids. He's an amazing father: totally devoted." She also says of the twins: "They're totally sweet. They already have completely different personalities. Knox is more the quiet one, very relaxed, while Viv is a little more aggressive and loud. Knox looks more like Brad and Viv more like me." [People]

• More from Angie: She talks about fate, a theme in Changeling: "When I met my son Maddox, I went to Cambodia and left feeling I'd left something behind. I went back on a humanitarian mission and I felt, 'My son's here.' It was the strangest feeling. I woke up that morning thinking, 'They're going to introduce me to my kid today and I wonder how I'm going to feel.' And the moment I saw Maddox I knew I was his mother. I can't explain it." [Pop Sugar]
• Angelina also says Brad convinced her to get knocked up: "I think one of the life changing things that he did, one of many, is that I was absolutely never going to get pregnant. I never felt that it was the right thing to do. I suppose I just looked at him and loved him and just felt open to (getting pregnant). I suddenly wanted to. It's one of those things you can't explain." Also: "I'm with a man who's evolved enough to look at my body and see it as more beautiful, because of the journey it has taken and what it has created. He genuinely sees it that way. So I genuinely feel even sexier." [People]
• Speaking of Brad, one Katrina survivor says: "I thank God for Brad Pitt. I told him how much I appreciate all that he's done for me and my family." [CNN]
• That thing Britney has been working on is a documentary for MTV. Called For The Record, she uses it to talk about her past erratic behavior: "I sit there and I'll look back and I'm like: I'm a smart person. What the hell was I thinking?" The film airs Nov. 30, two days before her album drops. [People]
• It's official: Whitney Port has her own reality show, The City. It will air in the spring. In it, she works for Diane Von Furstenberg, reunites with a best friend from her past and meets "a guy she's head-over-heels for." Where's the part about being super stressed out and living in a hideous, tiny apartment? That's sooo New York. [ONTD]
• Whitney says: "I am thrilled and honored to be in New York City." [People]
• Josh Brolin speaks out about his July arrest in Shreveport: "I don't know exactly what happened. I do know that there was no fight. None. Zero. I do know that I was Maced, and I do know that somebody else (Jeffrey Wright) was Tasered …. There was no defiance. There was no struggle. There was no fight. There was no resistance." He also says: "I have never ever, ever, ever, ever seen an escalation of paranoia and abuse like that…ever. And I know a lot of cops. And everybody knows I have a checkered past and I've been in situations which are kind of tough. I've never ever been treated like that by any kind of police… ever." [USA Today]
• As previously reported, Travis Barker is eating meat for the first time in 25 years to help with his recovery. He says: "I need protein from food rather than just protein supplements. I changed my diet. I would do anything I possibly could if they said like, 'There's a possibility you might heal faster if you do eat meat or just change your eating habits.' So I did. I don't regret it at all, I feel so much better." [ONTD]
• Great Depression survivor Jerry Stiller: "If you loved Roosevelt, you will love Obama." [NY Mag]
• Lindsay Lohan needs to give a deposition in a case filed by Sam Ronson, but she doesn't want a transcript or videotape to be on public record. [AP]
• Joe Son, who played shoe-tossing villain Random Task in Austin Powers is being accused in a gang-rape case going back 17 years in California after his DNA matched evidence from the file. The details are gruesome. [NY Post]
• Breaking news: Madonna is a diva. [Page Six]
• OMG if Guns N' Roses actually releases Chinese Democracy this year, everyone in America will get a free can of Dr. Pepper. [Page Six]
• Charlize Theron is being sued for breach-of-contract by Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil. Charlize was paid about $20 million to be the new face of Weil watches and she was to wear its timepieces exclusively from October 2005 to December 2006. But! She was the face of Dior perfume at the same time, and wore a Dior watch to a press event in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2006. So: Weil wants their money back. [People]
• Dancing With The Stars champ Cheryl Burke says she's endured vicious comments from tabloids and bloggers about her weight after gaining about five pounds over the summer. She still fits into her size 4 costumes and clothes, but she's cried over the harsh words. "I know I'm not fat, but when people keep telling you that you have to think about it. It's hard. I've always had that naturally curvy body since I was 11 years old." [ABC News]
• Cheryl also says: "I want kids or women out there to realize you don’t have to be anorexic to be beautiful." [People]
• Um, Woody Allen's Upper East Side apartment doesn't have any huge portraits of Scarlett Johansson in it, but it does have "creepy pedophile stuff": paintings of Mickey and Minnie Mouse hang in the living room. [Jossip]
• Janet Jackson's almost recovered from her undisclosed illness and is "excited" to go back on tour. [People]
• I don't even want to talk about Lauren Conrad's new $113,000 Audi R8 sports car or how the rich get richer. [Perez Hilton]
• Trouble in paradise for Avril Lavigne and rocker husband Deryck Whibley? [Perez Hilton]
• Actress Gabrielle Union and basketball star Dwyane Wade: It's on! [StereoHyped]
• The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center will honor filmmaker Gus Van Sant for his upcoming bio-pic Milk. [UPI]
• John Cusack's stalker refused a plea deal, so she'll stand trial. She faces four years in state prison if convicted. [CNN]
• Ugh, in this never-ending story, Christie Brinkley has filed a restraining order against Peter Cook. [People]
• Peter Cook says, "There was no temporary restraining order issued against me." [Us Magazine]
• Shirley Manson says Butch Vig is working with Green Day on their new album. [Rolling Stone]
• Everybody say hey…oh…hey! Naughty By Nature has reunited! [ONTD]
• The MTV show in which Peaches Geldof is made editor of a new magazine sounds awesome: She makes rude comments about the editorial staff, makes assistants weep and earns the nickname Pineapple, because she is spiky and sour. [The Sun]
• Russell Crowe wants a posse of children. He said: "I want 17 or so kids. I say to my wife, 'Imagine having a daughter! A little you running around!' She just smiles and nods and says 'Yeah, yeah... no.' " [Sydney Morning Herald]
• According to this article, "Boy George is off the drugs, off the booze, and seeking solace in conversations with God." [Independent]
• Celebrity Rehab is coming back: Look for Jeff Conaway, Sean "son of Rod" Stewart, Tawny Kitaen, Amber Smith, Steven Adler of Guns N Roses, Rodney King, and American Idol reject Nikki McKibbon. [Perez Hilton]
• There's a new Black Eyed Peas CD in the works. Look for lots of digital stuff: Will.i.am thinks that this Christmas is the last year stores will actually carry physical content. [Perez Hilton]
• Hot lunch! There's a Fame remake in the works. [Reuters]
• Jude Law's new ladyfriend posed in a lesbian magazine. First, who knew he was dating a black model? Second, so what if she's topless in a gay mag? [This Is London]
• America's Next Top Model spinoff called Operation Fabulous? Starring the Jays? Fierce! [Yahoo News]
• Is Hugh Hefner gonna replace Holly Madison with 19-year-old twins? [The Sun]
• Whoa, the twins have mug shots and rap sheets. Does Hef know? [The Sun]
• Smarty-pants Emma Watson was seen touring Harvard and Yale. [Perez Hilton]
• "If I am around my friends, even if they are a bit older, I am a 14-year-old, I act like a 14-year-old. [I feel] maybe 17, [when I talk about] filmmaking and all this cultural stuff, but then when I am with my friends I feel like a kid again." — Saoirse Ronan, of Atonement and the new film City Of Ember. [Yahoo News]
• "I've been a hockey fan since I was fresh out of the womb, to be honest, It would have been hard not to be in my family since we're all hockey fans. I played street hockey a lot. Most Canadians learn how to skate when they're 2 years old. I was one of those kids, so I skated a lot on my figure skates and my hockey skates." — Alanis Morissette, who is participating in the NHL Face-Off 2008 festivities. [People]
• "So now, in an attempt to save his campaign, they’re talking about coming back. You see what I’m saying? So we said, 'Sure, we would love you to come back.' And even on the phone, he said, 'I’ll bring…Sarah.' But they’re being squirrely. Politicians can be squirrely. Because we have a date picked. We do this show every afternoon at 5:30. He wants to do the show at 5. So one –- we have no guarantee he’s going to show up, period. And we’ve kind of already rearranged our schedule on his behalf to save the economy, right? By getting that big-headed kid in here to talk about the politics. You know what I’m driving at? I just don’t know if we can trust him. And by the way, I don’t need to remind you that the road to the White House runs right through here." — David Letterman, on John McCain. [LA Times]
• "Tom Cruise is a maniac. I can't understand the way he conducts his life." — Lauren Bacall. [NY Post]
• "We have a high-profile family, but I don't want my children to be scared when we have to quickly get into the car because some person is running at us with a camera or something. It is a fine line of wanting them to be aware of strangers but not making them afraid. I suppose that, like with everything with children, it's just communication and being honest with them. I'm just a mom and I'm very grounded by my family. I'm very happy, and I'm so lucky. The world can like me, hate me, fall apart around me, and at least, you know, I wake up with my little kids and I'm happy." — Angelina Jolie. [Pop Sugar]

[Los Angeles, September 11. Image via Flynet]

• The FBI has "recovered" jewelry given to Anne Hathaway by Raffaello Follieri. Meaning she gave it up. Two Rolex watches, rings, necklaces, and bracelets. There is no value given yet but every time the paperwork says "clear stones" you can bet that they're talking about diamonds. Sigh. [The Smoking Gun]
• Rosie O'Donnell wrote about Sarah Palin and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on her blog: "sarah p – elisabeth h/identical cousins/women who hunt in high heels/gives one pause." [TMZ]
• Wednesday, a judge said that Nicole Richie has been taking care of herself and is "in compliance" with the terms of her probation stemming from her 2006 DUI bust. She has turned things around since driving the wrong way on the freeway after taking Vicodin and smoking pot, huh? [Yahoo News]
• Post-rehab Kiki Dunst is on the October cover of Harper's Bazaar. Did you know she was in rehab for being "enormously co-dependent"? She says: "Everyone goes through a hard time in their life. They just don't have to do it in front of tons of people and with our media the way it is. I did, and I'm lucky that I had the resources and the money to take care of myself." [People]

• Keira Knightley jokes getting pregnant may be the only way people will stop thinking she is anorexic. [Mirror]
• That dude in the plaid sitting next to Mary-Kate Olsen at the fashion shows is her boyfriend Nate Lowman. [Rush & Molloy]
• Mariah Carey's former record producer is penning an "explosive" tell-all book with details about their "intense four-year personal relationship." Vision of love? [Page Six]
• Madonna got drunk at Guy Ritchie's birthday party last night and had to be helped to a car. She went home at 10 pm; Guy didn't go home until 4 am. [Daily Mail]
• Audrina blogs about her drama on The Hills. [People]
• Another misstep by Solange Knowles. [TMZ]
• You know how Ciara is "nude" on the cover of Vibe? Apparently she posed with clothes on and the magazine airbrushed them off. Scandalous! [Perez Hilton]
• A sofa on which actor Glenn Ford supposedly had sex with Marilyn Monroe is to be auctioned off in October. [Reuters]
• This story, "People Don't Take Heart-Throbs Seriously," is all about Colin Firth! [Telegraph]
• Bret Stirton, the photographer who shot Brad Pitt and Angelina's new kids, talks about that, even though he's not supposed to. He says: "I know Angelina from my work in Sierra Leone… In a world of 15 minute celebrity, where people will use the humanitarian sector to maximize their publicity, she's one of the few honorable people. I feel that any time that I can be of assistance to her, I will do it. I've seen where that money goes. It's built a number of hospitals." Stirton, who won an award for images of gorillas in the Congo, also says: "I could try and shoot good documentary for the rest of my life… and never get close to the kind of direct impact that that kind of money makes in people's lives." [MediaBistro]
• Singer Sarah McLachlan is splitting from Ashwin Sood, her husband of 11 years. Two new songs from her upcoming album, "U Want Me 2" and "Don't Give Up on Us," are about their separation. McLachlan and her husband have two daughters, India Ann Sushil, 6, and Taja Summer, 14 months. [Yahoo News]
• Jessica Alba's public service announcement urging people to vote is not so much "kinky" or S&M-inspired as it is "someone broke in to steal my flatscreen and went nuts with the electrical tape." See it here. [E!]
• Meg Ryan talks about meeting her adopted daughter, Daisy. "She was red-faced, screaming and crying," Meg says, but when officials passed the baby to her, "Daisy stopped crying. I'm not kidding you. She checked me out and then she went to sleep. The next six to eight hours, she'd wake up and be very afraid and then she'd cry and then relax and play with you. I'd do the same thing. Just get really afraid, then really expanded. It was this metaphysical kind of labor, this crazy meeting. I just saw that face and I knew we were just related." [LA Times]
• Garbage's Shirley Manson is on the verge of recording some solo material, but she's also part of the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She says: "I think musicians in general tend to be quite sensitive, and that helps when you're trying to interact with others on screen." Also, you may not know this, but she's only happy when it rains. [Reuters]
• Matthew McConaughey was on NPR's outpost KCRW-FM's Los Angeles studio as part of its Guest DJ Project. He played John Mellencamp, Ted Nugent and mournful African ballads. [Yahoo News]
• The British press loves making fun of the fact that Heather Mills is writing a book. [Mirror]
• Apparently Colin Farrell threatens to get the creases out of a baby's forehead with a hot steam iron in a crappy movie called Pride And Glory, shown at the Toronto Film Festival. [Fox News]
• Johnny Depp will voice the lead character in a new animated movie from Gore Verbinski and George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic. Prediction: It will be awesome. [Daily Express]
• Dionne Warwick has released a picture book called Say A Little Prayer. "I wanted to write a book about dreams and where everything is possible," she explains. "It really is about me and my childhood and the things that occurred to my in my life. It was a wonderful experience to go back and remember those days. I had an incredible childhood, one which I wish for every child in the world. It was full of love and family and friends." [Reuters]
• DJ Lethal of House of Pain: Cleared of all charges after actress Nicole Eggert accused him of beating her and burning her with cigarettes. [TMZ]
• Nicolas Cage owes the IRS after wrongly writing off almost $3.4 million in personal expenses. [Daily Mail]
• Hugh Laurie's family is moving to America to be with him. [Daily Mail]
• Amy Winehouse might buy a country farmhouse, a quiet spot to sober up in. Hopefully not in a poppy field. [Telegraph]
• Is Paul McCartney getting engaged? [Daily Mail]
• Michael Douglas to play Liberace???? [Guardian]
• A Dixie Chicks song was supposed to be used in an indie flick, but the film distributor didn't want to pay for it. [Page Six]
• This story about how Chicago Sun-Times film Critic Roger Ebert got smacked with a binder because he tapped some other guy on the shoulder — because, due to cancer, he cannot speak, is just sad. [Rush & Molloy]
• Hip-hop mogul Damon Dash's baby mama must return their son to his father, a judge has ruled. The teenage Damon Jr. went to visit his mom in Long Island and she allegedly enrolled him in school there, even though his father has sole custody and he's supposed to be going to school in Manhattan. Drama! [NY Post]
• Um, this report says Damon Dash has two apartments in foreclosure. [Page Six]
• Metallica's new album has leaked but the band is remaining calm. [USA Today]
• Timbaland's Australian tour got all jacked up but he swears the company who arranged his performances is to blame. Which is why he's suing. [NY Sun]
• Young Jeezy registered to vote! [Concrete Loop]
• "She's the most stylish, but I take longer to get ready. If I were more stylish, I would take less time. But I have no vision, so I have to try on everything at first to see if I want to wear it. She can tell right away what's gonna work and what's not gonna work. But I have to put on the pants, put on the shirt, put on the jacket, put on seventeen other jackets." — Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, on hus wife, model Marisol. [Yahoo News]