• 'Sup Twihards? This column alleges Robert Pattinson is a "hot property" thanks to New Moon's record-breaking box office this weekend…

The flick sold more tix on opening day than The Dark Knight did last year. Personally, I don't think the Sparkle Vamp did it all alone: The story, KStew, and the Buff Werewolf deserve part of the blame credit. [Daily Mail]

• Fans pretended they were guests of the Bowery Hotel so they could catch a glimpse of Robert Pattinson drinking in the hotel bar. [Gatecrasher]
• Despite being painfully tedious, New Moon earned $140.7 million during its first three days of release in the US and Canada, and is now third behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 in terms of record opening weekends. [Reuters]
• Sandra Bullock had a big weekend as well: The Blind Side made about $34.5 million, the best opening of her career — just over The Proposal's $33.6 million weekend. [ONTD via Entertainment Weekly]
• Last night at the AMAs, Michael Jackson won four, but Taylor Swift walked away with six, including artists of the year. [USA Today]
• This piece claims that Miley Cyrus' '80s-themed 17th birthday bash was a surprise party, but didn't we hear that she wore a Pretty Woman ensemble? She must have been tipped off. [People]
• What kind of fuckery is this? Amy Winehouse proposed to Blake Fielder Civil? And he said yes? Blaaaaake allegedly told a source: "We've been talking on the phone five or six times a day. On Friday she told me she was going to put the engagement ring [I gave her the first time around] on. We'd changed our status to married on Facebook a couple of weeks back but that was more of a laugh. This is the real deal. She told me she wanted to get married again. I feel so happy." [News Of The World]
• Lindsay Lohan allegedly wanted to pick up a bunch of stuff from trendy LA store Kitson — without paying. A source says it's ridiculous, especially since the store carries her 6126 leggings line: "We're actually really offended. The tables have turned and now we're the customer. We spent $50,000 on her leggings line, but she hasn't come to the store in three years, and she didn't even do a personal appearance. She should have brought cookies for the staff to thank them for selling her leggings because she does nothing. We don't know if we'll continue to carry them." [Daily Express]
• Britney Spears invited several girls from a children's hospital backstage before a show in Sydney, Australia. A nice gesture, and also an attempt to get the lip-sync stories out of the news? [Radar Online]
• Seven bulls being used in the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz movie Knight & Day (previously titled Wichita) escaped and ran through the streets of Cadiz, Spain. Two people were hurt as the bulls headed for the beach. [EW]
• Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Pierce Brosnan and Neil Patrick Harris attended the 2009 CNN Heroes Awards, honoring people who make a difference in the lives of others. [NY Daily News]
• If you watch Jude Law do yoga on the balcony of his apartment, he will throw oranges at you. You've been warned. [Just Jared]
• Jude Law and Sienna Miller: Back on? They were spotted out at a club doing shots, holding hands, acting cozy, etc. [Gatecrasher]
• Are Jude Law and Colin Farrell better as supporting actors? [NY Mag]
• Jon and Kate Gosselin had an all-day mediation hearing in Pennsylvania on Saturday, and Jon "didn't dispute Kate having primary custody of the kids," according to a source. Jon showed up with a bouquet of roses, which Kate refused to take: "In what should have been their most serious moment as a couple," says the source, "Jon again resorted to a publicity stunt." [People, Us]
• Heidi Klum's request to become Heidi Samuel: Approved. [NY Daily News]
• Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson celebrated Bronx Mowgli's first birthday with a bouncehouse, a cake and someone dressed as SpongeBob. And, presumably: Flatirons; eyeliner. [People]
• LOL: "Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe defended by Draco Malfoy in cannabis row." [Telegraph]
• Eyeroll: Lauren Conrad has a style book coming out next fall. [NY Daily News]
• The Discovery Channel is psyched to be partnering with Oprah in her attempts to create OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. [UPI]
• At the link, quotes from Ellen DeGeneres, Gayle King and Martha Stewart about Oprah and her decision to end her show; Gayle says: "Oprah always makes the best decision for herself… And I have a feeling she will come up with some things to do. We don't need to worry about her filling her time, I promise you that." [NY Daily News]
• Robin Thicke and wife Paula Patton are expecting their first child in May and have already picked names: "We like Julian if it's a boy and Isabella if it's a girl," he says. Personally I think it's weird (possibly unlucky) to name so early… and to tell People. Thoughts? [People]
• Meg Ryan and Nip/Tuck's Julian McMahon? Going on dates? He's Australian, like Russell Crowe, with whom Meg allegedly had an affair, thus ending her marriage to Dennis Quaid. Oh, and McMahon maybe has a girlfriend. [News.com.au]
• Investigators found a receipt showing that Dr. Conrad Murray purchased propofol on May 12 and administered doses from that batch to Michael Jackson in the hours before his death on June 25. [NY Post]
• Gwen Stefani and Jon Bon Jovi are suing ally's Saloon and Eatery in Minneapolis, Minnesota for playing their songs without the proper music license. (?!?!) [Daily Express]
• U2 will headline the Glastonbury festival on Friday night. [The Sun]
• Aerosmith is not looking for a new lead singer, despite reports to the contrary. [UPI]
• Levi Johnston's mom: Going to jail on an intent to distribute OxyContin charge. [NY Post]
• This column asks if Leona Lewis will have Titanic-style success with her theme song for James Cameron's Avatar, but I doubt the movie will enjoy Titanic-style adoration. [LA Times]
• Robbie Williams is looking for investors, if you have $83 mil. [Reuters]
• Creed's Scott Stapp tells Spin magazine there's no actual sex in his 1999 sex tape. You know, the one where he and Kid Rock were on a bus with groupies and received oral sex? [Page Six]
• Jenna Ushkowitz, aka "Goth girl Tina Cohen-Chang" on Glee, says the whole cast is close: "It's disgusting how much we all really love each other." [NY Post]
• Major eyeroll: Carrie Prejean's brother says, "I'm all the way against gay marriage. I don't feel that it's right that a man and a man should raise a kid." [Radar Online]
• Unsolicited uterus update: Personal girlcrush Monica Bellucci is three months pregnant. (Her husband, Vincent Cassel, is easy on the eyes as well.) [ONTD via MediaFax]
• Rachael Ray gave Diddy a diamond cuff for his birthday. [Page Six]
• Q. You're 45 and dating very attractive 26-year-old Hollywood actress Amber Tamblyn. Do you give hope to baldies everywhere?
  A: "If you want to use me as an example, sure. But I think it would be a false hope. It's certainly not my looks that are reeling in the ladies. It's more about my completely average-sized cock. — David Cross. [Guardian]
• "British TV personality David Frost will be honored at the 37th Annual International Emmy Awards for a wide-ranging career that has taken him from pioneering political satire on television to conducting serious interviews with former President Richard Nixon and other newsmakers." [NY Times]
• Skater Tai Babilonia will wear skates, a tiny flesh-coloredthing and a sign across her chest while gliding through Rockefeller Center's ice rink for PETA's "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign. [Page Six]
• "A Canadian man has admitted shoving Noel Gallagher at an Oasis concert in Toronto in September 2008, claiming he was drunk at the time." [Guardian]
• Whatshername quit I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. [Daily Mail]
• "Fuck them, what else can I say? Why doesn't that little bitch that wrote that try and write a song — which they wont be able to do and that's why they're sitting behind their little computer, eating their little chips and writing that hateful shit — why don't they write their own song and see what they can come up with?" — Michael Bublé, on a journalist who described his music as being as "cheesy as a quesadilla." [News.com.au]
• "People always compliment me on my performance in the movie, but I cannot take credit for it at all because I truly had no idea what the film was about." — Christina Ricci on The Ice Storm. [Gatecrasher]
• "Age is no issue to me. Fifty is the new 30. Seventy is the new 50. There are no rules that say you have to dress a certain way, or be a certain way. We are living in exciting times for women. Keep up with fashion, keep up with your figure and the clothes you wear. If you look good and you can still do it, then go and do it. I have never worried about age. I am vain. When I look in the mirror, I want to look good to myself. I'm kind of OK with how I'm ageing." — Tina Turner. [Daily Express]
• "We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number." — Adam Lambert on his performance in which "he thrusts a leather-clad male backup dancer's face toward his crotch, and later flashes a knowing smile as he strokes the same dancer's cheek after plowing through a door that swings both ways." [AP]
• "Obama's best material during the campaign was cherry-picked from the things Kucinich had been talking about for a long time. And Kucinich continues to be really the people's congressman. He is the one with the most conscience regarding health care, the banking issue, the bailout. He's the guy who said we should not go into Iraq, and was called a traitor for it. He was a guy who said, 'This Patriot Act is not a good thing, we should not vote for it.' Even people in his own party were saying, 'Why do you say that?' And he says, 'Because I read it,' and there was silence. 'Cause none of them had read it. They just voted yes because they were told to. Same with health care stuff." — Viggo Mortensen. [Mother Jones]
• "I had a girl faint on me. And then the criers. And then the cougars-the Twi-Moms-always come after us. That's been very surreal, because we've had phone numbers slipped in our back pockets. It's like we're The Beatles." — Chaske Spencer, aka New Moon's wolf pack leader Sam Uley. [EW]
• "During World War II, when money was tight, everything was rationed and the most basic commodities impossible to find, women went out of their way to look as attractive as possible… They always wore red lipstick and would melt remnants into tiny containers so as not to waste any, then use a brush to apply it with great care.… here we are in the middle of yet another great recession, depression, slump - whatever our politicians care to call it - and money is tighter than an 18th-century corset. Women still need to cheer themselves up, so what better way to do it than to decorate their faces? I believe that 90 per cent of women can look prettier, healthier and happier in red lipstick, the only disadvantage being that it can leave its mark on a friend's cheek… What better way to face the world than with a perfect face, great hair and good nails? And for those critics who pooh-pooh this idea, let me say to them: just try it. It works - I know it does." — from a column written by Joan Collins. [Daily Mail]
• "I am really in love. I am really happy. Chivalry, opening doors for a woman. It is a big thing. My boyfriend still takes me out for dinner every week. He won't tell me where we are going. He puts on a suit and just takes me out and treats me like a lady." — Lily Allen. [Daily Mail]
• "As an English actress, you have to don a bonnet at some point. This was my time. There was a tsunami of women behind me wanting the role, so I sort of bullied myself in. Many period films are very arch and stiff, and I don't respond to the characters. If I see 'the rebellious English rose' in stage directions, I'm already bored. But this was a girl who was willing to expose herself to the world. That was what was different for me." — Emily Blunt. [NY Mag]
• "I mean, 75 years. That's a long time. [The black experience] is a major part of the story of America. And Disney is excited about telling it. I'm deeply honored to be involved. On the flip side of that, it's not a black movie. It's a movie that has a young black woman as the title character, but it's a story for everyone. I think that anybody can look at this movie and say, 'I remember when I was yearning for something and it was so difficult and I had to work so hard.' That's the beautiful thing about it - it's so inclusive." — Anika Noni Rose on The Princess And The Frog. [NY Daily News]
• "There are certain expressions lifted right off of my face… When she's smiling, she lights up the screen. She has my nose. There's a certain scene toward the end where she has a change in hairdo, in a fantasy sequence, where she looks dead-on." — Anika Noni Rose on Tiana in The Princess And The Frog. [NY Daily News]
• "Pam is due to have her baby in February. I don't know what it is. It's going to be a surprise. There have been a lot of discussions about it but no decision has been made yet. So it's really like a real pregnancy. I think we're going to find out when they write it. What I'm having. It should be really interesting… I don't know if it's that she has chosen not to, but they've chosen not to reveal it. I don't know if you've noticed, but she's always referring to her baby as, like, in things that are not gender-specific." — Jenna Fischer, aka Pam on The Office. [Pop Eater]

• Time magazine will release a commemorative issue honoring Michael Jackson on Monday, featuring interviews with celebrities such as Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner. It will be the magazine's first commemorative issue released since 9/11. [Time]

• "He had a childlike heart. And that was very very impressive to me. At the end of the day we're all human beings, and for those who can't see that it is possible for a man who's an adult to have a childlike spirit, it doesn't mean that they're weird, it doesn't mean they're a freak, or whatever ridiculous things that people say. We have all kinds of people in the world. The most important thing is that your heart is in a good place."- Stevie Wonder [Time]
• Aretha Franklin took a moment of silence at her performance at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday in order to honor Jackson: "We do thank you, Michael, for every performance, for every kind thing you did, and we do want to take a moment in remembrance of Michael Jackson."[LATimes]
• "I did meet him one time, and it was amazing. He was just an awesome dad, great with his kids. His kids were so smart and attentive. They were there in the conversation as well. We had a great time. We threw around paper airplanes his son was making – like these really cool ones that were just brilliant. It was just beautiful to meet him. I'm glad I got the chance."-Alicia Keys. [People]
• President Obama has also sent a note to the Jackson family to express his condolences. [WashingtonPost]
• A replica of Michael Jackson's planned "This Is It" comeback tour will be held in September, with high profile artists such as Madonna stepping in to perform in his place as a tribute of sorts.
• Kenny Ortega, director of the "This Is It" tour says that at Thursday night's rehearsal, "There were a couple of times when Michael stood at my side and we looked at the stage together and were just beaming with gladness that we had arrived at this place. And he was happy."[LATimes]
• Dr. Conrad Murray, the last person to see Jackson alive, has hired an attorney. [LATimes]
• Murray's spokeswoman insists that he is "in no way a suspect," and is merely being investigated as a witness. [USAToday]
• At the request of the Jackson family, a second autopsy has been performed. According to NY State Police chief forensic pathologist Michael Baden, "The second autopsy will give the family a lot more information than they have right away, within a few days." [LATimes]
• Joe and Katherine Jackson claim that they are being left in the dark, as far as Michael's will is concerned, but they "really want the children," says a source. [People]
• However, a source claims that if Debbie Rowe wants to see her children, the Jackson family "won't stand in the way." [TMZ]
• "Michael's whole life was a mess except for those kids. He loved them. They didn't have a 'normal' life but Michael was always there for them," says a source, "When you talk to them, they are extraordinary people. They are not at all what you'd expect. They are very innocent, quite naive, in fact. They are good kids. Michael was a good father. He was always with them. They are lost now. They have lost the only father they've ever known." [DailyMail]
• "Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live forever."-Joe Jackson [CNN]
• Grace Rwaramba, who was a nanny for Jackson's kids for many years, paints a pretty tragic picture of his life, claiming that she had to pump his stomach several times and that he was not aware of how bad his financial situation was. [TimesOnline]
• Did Jackson leave a "secret library" of unheard music behind? [TimesOnline]
• Bob Dunn, the trainer who now cares for Jackson's chimpanzee, Bubbles, says that Bubbles misses Jackson: "Bubbles definitely missed him when they parted and will miss him now. Chimpanzees are intelligent. They remember people and stuff. Bubbles and Michael were close friends and playmates. The last time Michael visited, Bubbles definitely recognised and remembered him." [Telegraph]
• "What [Michael] taught me is that you always have to be nice to your fans and always treat them with love and respect. Even if you don't remember the moment, they are always going to remember that moment. That's something that I carry with me." -Corey Feldman [People]
• "Michael was great. He had a sense of humor. He worked hard. People talk about how hard Kobe Bryant works; he didn't work harder than Michael Jackson. This is what I've come to learn. You know, I did a documentary on Kobe, I know him; Michael Jordan, I worked with him a little; Michael Jackson - when you love what you do that much, it's not work. So you can go longer and harder and faster and quicker because it's not a burden. You love what you're doing."- Spike Lee [Time]
• In non-MJ news: Mel Gibson is expecting a baby girl with his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva; it will be the eighth child for Gibson. [DailyMail]
• A private funeral for Farrah Fawcett will take place on Tuesday. [Reuters]
• Eddie Van Halen married girlfriend Janie Liszewski on Saturday; Liszewski walked down the aisle to Van Halen's "When It's Love," which I'm pretty sure is the wedding equivalent of wearing the band's t-shirt to the concert. [People]
• Chris Isaak says that nobody will ever measure up to his high school sweetheart, who passed away from cancer 10 years ago: ""If I had a magic wand and I could go back in time I wouldn't have been a musician if I could have married my first girlfriend. I'd have done anything for her." [DailyExpress]
• Bad news for Russell Brand fans: Brand's second book has been shelved because he's been "too busy to finish." [Telegraph]
• "And why, oh why, is it that Bravo housewives feel the need to wax poetic on all of the charity work they do? If we were all that charitable, would we need to validate ourselves by bringing it up?"-Bethenny Frankel [E!]
• Hugh Hefner was happy to see his ex-girlfriend, Kendra Wilkinson, marry Hank Baskett on Saturday: "I could not be more delighted. This is one of the happiest days in one of the happiest places on Earth." [E!]
• "I think people are struggling with the concept of how much do you let go and age gracefully. How much do you try to, you know, fight it and stave it off?"-Michelle Pfieffer [WashingtonPost]
• Kate Hudson was in the stands as her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez hit his 564th home run. [People]
• "It's always at the back of my mind that acting might come to an end for me when Harry Potter finishes. I don't know if I'm good enough to have a long career."- Rupert Grint [Telegraph]
• Bradley Cooper swears that he's just friends with Jennifer Aniston: "In America, its not like it is here. She's someone who is super, super known. Famous. If someone says 'hello' to her, it's given that he's fallen in love with her. So, no. No. She's a very, very interesting woman, but she's simply a friend." [People]
• "When I lived in New York I tried really hard to ditch the British accent to fit in. I went to classes and everything. I ended up putting on this terrible 'Nu Yawk' accent and hid behind that for a while. Now I don't try to hide it so much, but my accent slips all over the place. It's a mess - I don't sound like I'm from anywhere any more."- Mischa Barton [DailyMail]

[Zurich, May 14. Image via Getty]

• John Mayer did not, repeat did not buy an engagement ring for Jennifer Aniston. [Us Magazine]

• In fact: John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston may have broken up. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Brad Pitt: Considering public office? [Variety]
• Chris Brown pulled out of the Kids' Choice Awards of his own accord; Nickelodeon didn't make the decision. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Chris Brown is firing his manager and looking for a "whole new team." An insider claims he wanted to apologize for the beating earlier and was advised not to… [Page Six]
• Rihanna went out clubbing in West Hollywood Tuesday night. [Concrete Loop]
• "Julia was all smiles for fans and stopped to do a few autographs, but as soon as she stepped inside the cinema her mood changed. She shouted at photographers to leave her alone then asked staff to bring her a glass of champagne before she would answer any questions."  From a spywitness report on Julia Roberts' behavior at the Duplicty premiere in London. [The Sun]
• Here, Julia Roberts dishes on 10 of her favorite leading men. [EW]
• A French "society" magazine is reporting that Prince William will marry Kate Middleton this summer. ZOMG royal wedding askjdkfflasjdk!!! [Daily Mail]
• A hospital official inspected Nadya Suleman's new house yesterday, to insure that it is safe for the octuplets. The babies will be released, two at a time, any day now. [E!]
• Noted marijuana enthusiast Michael Phelps has been interviewed by Matt Lauer; look for footage on the Today show on Friday and Sunday on Dateline. [ET]
• Jesus Luz is back in Rio. He claims he has "always" been interested in kabbalah, before ever meeting Madonna. He's going to be in Brazil for a month while waiting for his work visa, then back to New York! [Made In Brazil]
• Madonna and Guy Ritchie have come to a custody agreement regarding the kids: Rocco and David will live with Madge but guy will get regular visits and see the children in the UK during the holidays. [The Sun]
• If you miss Project Runway, Heidi Klum thinks you should do something about it: "I think that people should be demonstrating outside of [company co-chairman] Harvey Weinstein's house. If it were up to me, it would be on by now." [MSNBC]
• Prince has decided that Prince will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno four times, coinciding with the release of Prince's albums, LotUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND. Oh, and also coinciding with the last time Leno hosts. [ET]
• Ricky Gervais to appear on the finale episode of The Office? [Mirror]
• Early buzz on Sacha Baron Cohen's new flick, Bruno: "Shocking, jaw-dropping and TOTALLY FUCKING HILARIOUS." [Mother Jones]
• Joaquin Phoenix was rapping at a Miami Beach nightclub when someone in the audience started heckling him, so naturally he jumped into the crowd and had some sort of confrontation before being dragged away by security guards. Did Casey Affleck get the whole thing on video? Yes, yes he did. [Yahoo News via AP, Daily Mail]
• Mickey Rourke will be the Russian villain in Iron Man 2. [Deadline Hollywood]
• Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French spoofed Mamma Mia for Comic Relief and Sienna Miller played the Amanda Seyfried role. Click for the photo, which in itself is funny. [Daily Mail]
• Geri Halliwell dumped her fiancé, but he'd done an interview with an Italian magazine the same day  in which he talked about how much she's "changed his life." Awkward! [The Sun]
• The guy who owns the Beverly Hills mansion where MTV shot the Live From The Hills Season finale says the production company trashed his house. The damage? $158,250.07. Please don't forget the seven cents. [TMZ]
• Balthazar Getty, who recently left Brothers & Sisters, will guest star on an episode of Medium. At least he's working? [EW]
• Kiefer Sutherland used to babysit Gwyneth Paltrow. True story. [The Star]
• 50 Cent and Rick Ross are in a feud and Fiddy's latest move is to release a porn tape featuring Ross's former girlfriend. Classy! [TMZ]
• Lance Bass is a matchmaker. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Jada Pinkett Smith's school is now open, and accepting kids pre-K through sixth grade. Does it have ties with Scientology, you ask? Well, the "study technology" is that developed by L. Ron Hubbard. Pinkett Smith says the school stresses "100 per cent mastery," encouraging students to retake exams until they score 100 per cent. Fun? [Yahoo News via AP]
• Shannen Doherty will return to 90210 for the season finale, if you care. [E!]
• Ashley Jensen is definitely leaving Ugly Betty, because she just got cast as a regular on a new CBS show, Accidentally On Purpose. That's the one where Jenna Elfman plays a movie critic who finds herself "accidentally" knocked up after a fling with a younger man. [EW]
• Beck is playing a charity show tonight, with proceeds going to Educating Children International. Turns out that's a Scientology organization. If you feel icky inside, you're not the only one. [LA Times]
• Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs has a third band, the Dead Weather. The new group includes Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Greenhornes. Album drops in June. [USA Today]
• Handsome devil Chris Cornell has a new album, produced by  wait for it  Timbaland. [Yahoo news via AP]
• Dr. Phil's wife promised some skin care company she'd get them on her husband's show. The company was so psyched, they spent $650,000 on stuff the public would surely be clamoring for. Except the products never made it to the show. So the company is suing. [TMZ]
• Kathy Griffin was booed off the stage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. [Village Voice]
• Al Reynolds is not getting a reality show, even though he wants one. [Extra]
• If you remember the '90s, then you may remember blond bro rockers Nelson. Well Matthew is getting divorced and asking his wife for spousal support. Yeah. [TMZ]
• Blind item: "Which newly engaged lesbian would be horrified to discover her main squeeze has been sleeping around ... with men?" [Gatecrasher]
• "I've come into my own head a little bit really, being a bit more honest and open, rather than hiding in a crack pipe or wherever and just not turning up most of the time."  Pete Doherty. [The Sun]
• "Artemis has a few really great lines because she plays everything – even the humor – very straight. The one that made me laugh out loud when I read it was when she tells Hippolyta that they shouldn't have let Diana go out into the outside world. Hippolyta asks, 'What could we have done to have stopped her?' And Artemis says, 'Well I could have shot her in the leg with an arrow. Not in an artery, of course.' It's just so deadpan – she wouldn't kill her, but she would've shot her. It's so dry, and it's so honest. And I love that."  Rosario Dawson, on her role in Wonder Woman. [Toon Zone News]
• "It's amazing to me that the tabloids such as the National Enquirer print such negative stories about me and my health when there are so many positive things going on in my life right now. I've started a new chemotherapy and, once again, I am one of the lucky ones with pancreatic cancer that is responding well to the treatment."  Patrick Swayze, who denies he has reached "the end." [People]
• "I'm not quite sure why, but the strongest female characters I've found have predominantly been in period films, more than in modern-day films. At least with the stuff that's been sent to me. I love watching period movies because I think that watching films is about escapism and about fantasy and I find it easier to dive into a fantasy that I don't know anything about, you know, that I don't live day to day. I love that feeling of escapism that period films give me, and that books about different times give me, or paintings give me. But I wasn't setting out to go, 'OK, I'm only going to do period films.' I work in a very instinctual way and I respond to certain things and I have no idea why, but for some reason the last couple of films have all been period."  Keira Knightley, whose new film, Edge Of Love, is set in the 1940s and depicts the poet Dylan Thomas. [Salon]
• "You know, the company that financed this film, they came to me about two weeks before we started filming and said watch out for Malkovich, he's a badass, he will fuck you - I don't know if I'm allowed to curse - he will really, you know, ride a director into the ground. And then he showed up and he was nice and cool and funny and sweet and I never had a single problem. Kind of disappointing; I almost wish that at some point he had really let me have it, but he never did."  Director Sean McGinley, on John Malkovich. [New York Mag]
• "I hate all that calorie counting. I eat what I want and then if my weight starts to go up, I cut back. Of course, I've aged a bit in the face, but not enough to worry about it. I have common sense enough to know that if I'm nearly 70, something has to happen."  Tina Turner. [Daily Mail]

• Sources say the woman who texted Chris Brown, "triggering" the assault on Rihanna was his manager Tina Davis, 40, who is rumored to have had a relationship with Brown when he was 16. [TMZ]

• It just keeps getting worse. Not only are Chris Brown and Rihanna reportedly recording a duet for his new album, TMZ reports that a music producer rushed them into the studio because "the heightened emotions would translate powerfully into the music." Sources claim the two were "very, very emotional ... the feeling in the room was pure love." [TMZ]
• Akon says he's be happy to work with Chris Brown again. "I wouldn't take anybody's personal issues or problems- I won't hold them accountable for that when it comes to work. I think it's two separate things," said Akon. [AP]
• Jesse McCartney would also love to work with Chris. He says: "From what I've seen and from what I know of [Brown], he's always been a gentleman. I've always known him as just a really nice guy. He's always been supportive of me too. Even in the early years when he was on top and I was just building my way up. He's always been really supportive…I think he'll be okay." [Perez Hilton]
• Not everyone is heaping praise on Chris Brown, but don't get too excited. This criticism comes from Donald Trump. He says he stands by a recent quote in which he calls Rihanna a loser. "If she goes back to him, she's absolutely crazy  they say that hitters are quitters," said Trump. "If she goes back to Chris Brown, who beat the hell out of her, she's a loser." [Extra]
• Oprah is dedicating a show this week to "all the Rihannas of the world" and talking about domestic violence. It's unclear why Tyra Banks is a guest. [Jossip]
• Ha. Someone took a picture of Columbia student James Franco sleeping in class. [TMZ]
• It was announced this morning that Nadya Suleman has accepted the help of Angels in Waiting, but now the organization has issued a statement saying they are not connected to Suleman in any way. It appears there may be more than one organization called "Angels in Waiting." [Perez Hilton]
• With everyone in the Suleman family constantly doing interviews, Nadya has decided it's time for the octuplets to get in on the action. She holds each of the babies in the hospital in this video. [Radar]
• American Idol told viewers to call 1-866-IDOLS-13 to vote for contestant Anoop Desai, but that number is already in use by a phone sex company. [TMZ]
• American Idol has set up another number for tonight's voting. [New York Magazine]
• Britney really is back. She went on a shopping spree in Miami. [People]
• Hayden Panettiere is supposedly trying to get ex/co-star Milo Ventimiglia fired. Sources on the set say she's behaving like a child. "She is making it difficult for everyone involved… She refuses to be on the set at the same time as him," said one source. [Perez Hilton]
• Jay Leno is performing a free show on April 7 in Detroit for unemployed autoworkers. It's called "Jay's Comedy Stimulus Plan." [NY Times]
• Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are back together. Their rep says: "They hit a rough patch. But in every long-term relationship, people go through ups and downs. These two are very much in love and plan to be together for a long time." [Perez Hilton]
• Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins testified before Congress today about musicians getting paid fairly. [Politico]
• Anne Heche's divorce has been finalized. She and ex-husband Coley Laffoon will share custody of their son Homer. [Star]
• Here's the trailer for Powder Blue. There's probably a plot to the movie, but people seem to be excited about it mainly because Jessica Biel goes nude for her role as a stripper. Sigh. [ONTD]
• Tom Felton, a.k.a. Draco Malfoy has Twittered that he's releasing his album "In Good Hands" on iTunes next month. [ONTD]
• Paris Hilton says she hopes BFF Nicole Richie is having a boy. "I would love for Harlow to have a little brother to look after her," says Paris. [ONTD]
• After a party at the Kabbalah center in Beverly Hills, Ashton Kutcher tried to get a drunk Demi Moore into the car without alerting the paparazzi. Judging from this series of pictures, he was unsuccessful. [Socialite Life]
• Here are pictures of Freida Pinto in the new issue of Elle. [ONTD]
• Lily Allen says she is not promiscuous. "I haven't slept with many people and on a promotional trip you don't get a chance to meet or shag anyone, and I don't like one-night stands," said Allen. [ONTD]
• Tony Award nominee Domhnall Gleeson is expected to join the cast of the new Harry Potter film as Bill Weasley. His father Brendan Gleeson plays "Mad Eye" Moody. [Muggle Net]
• Apparently Alex McCord of The Real Housewives of New York City had a job, but she's been laid off. She worked from home in visual merchandising for Victoria's Secret. She says she may have to get rid of her nanny. [Perez Hilton]
• There will be a Battlestar Galactica retrospective at the U.N. on March 17 about how the show explored themes of "human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, human rights and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faith." There will be a panel featuring U.N. representatives, show producers, and actors moderated by fan Whoopi Goldberg. [ONTD]
• Ewan McGregor found out someone was writing a fake Twitter account pretending to be him and had it taken down. [The Business Insider]
• Coolio has been charged with one felony count of drug possession and two misdemeanors, battery and possession of a smoking device, following his arrest last week at LAX. [People]
• Disney has moved the Christmas release of The Princess and the Frog up two weeks. They don't want to compete with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel. [Variety]
• David Alan Grier's Chocolate News won't be renewed. [The New York Times]
• Tina Turner has postponed two U.K. concerts because she has the flu. [The Star]
• Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian describe themselves as "kissing bandits" because, as Khloe says, they "kiss then run away." The newly-single Kourtney says, "I have made a ban for myself – to be single. I cannot have a boyfriend until at least a year." [People]
• Chris Rock's brother Tony has been charged with drunk driving. [TMZ]
• Marcia Cross says her daughters Eden and Savannah are big talkers. "They happen to be very verbal girls and I think that comes from me. Their mom is pretty verbal," she said. [People]
• Bad news for those planning on drinking away their economic woes: A popular bartender at the Boston bar that inspired the show Cheers has been laid off. [CBS News]
• Jimmy Boyd, the child singer and actor best known for the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" died of cancer over the weekend. He was 70. [AP]
• Kelly Clarkson says she has no desire to have kids. "I would not be a good mother. I mean, I love being an aunt to my niece and nephew. And I used to want to, like, adopt 10 kids  because I had friends who were adopted, and I thought that was the coolest thing, to be chosen. But again, my job is too selfish." [Star]
• Kelly also says, "I've never been in love. I want to be so badly – I'm a hopeless romantic, but I haven't been there yet." [People]

• Britney is so freaked out about her world tour, she's been having panic attacks. A source says:

"She has been telling her doctor she feels under pressure and ill when she thinks about touring." Is it possible she needs a break? [The Sun]

• Joaquin Phoenix swears his rap career is not a joke: "There's not a hoax. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention." [USA Today]
• Angelina Jolie doesn't watch her own movies: "There’s a film or two I haven’t seen. I don’t really like to watch movies. I love to watch Brad’s movies though." We knew something was wrong with her. [The Sun]
• Oh, but Angelina does say that Oscar night: "I'm rooting for Brad." Plus, these are her priorities, in case you are wondering: "I'd say kids first, kids, woman to Brad and then my work internationally and being a kind of ... trying to educate myself and trying to learn about the world and ... trying to do some good things while I'm alive." Acting is like, fourth, or whatever. [People]
• Guess who isn't happy that Madonna has been parading around town with a 22-year-old Brazilian model? Alex Rodriguez. Apparently, a source spills, "Madonna likes to be in control." Do tell! So, yeah. Jesus Luz is more attentive and Madge was never committed to A-Rod anyways. [Gatecrasher]
• Jennifer Hudson's lip-sync-y prerecorded Super Bowl "Star Spangled Banner" is available for download on iTunes. [E!]
• Chris Martin and Coldplay: Viva la lawsuit, from Joe Satriani. [Fox 411]
• Prince threw a "rowdy" party with a dance bash where his band did '70s and '80s covers, and after his guests did a huge Electric Slide, His Purpleness quipped, "Y'all done tore up my carpet. I'm never inviting y'all back." [USA Today]
• Victoria Beckham is in talks to be a judge on popular UK show The X Factor. If David indeed becomes a fulltime player for AC Milan, the whole family will be moving back across the pond, sigh. [Daily Mail]
• Uh, this report says there is "no truth" to the rumor that Victoria will join X Factor. [The Sun]
• Ashton Kutcher wrote a long-ass MySpace blog entry in which he attempts to explain his Twitter obsession: "Our intention in becoming more active on the web has been with the effort to connect to the community in an effort to create a greater bond with the amazing fans that we have adopted over several years." [Perez]
• By the by, even though it was reported by the National Enquirer that Ashton and Demi Moore would adopt, Demi says, "Don't ever believe what you read there." But what about the John Edwards love child??? [UPI]
• Sean "Diddy" Combs didn't want the cops to search him before entering a party in New York where Kobe Bryant and a bunch of basketball stars were in attendance. What would they have found? [Page Six]
• Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn: Ironed out their differences? [Page Six]
• Celebs are feeling the recession: America Ferrera will only have one house; Eva Longoria wore the same outfit twice; Britney is driving a Mitsubishi. [MSNBC Scoop]
• The dude from the Kooks dumped Mischa Barton and she is "heartbroken," poor thing. [The Sun]
• Jude Law plays a transvestite supermodel named Minx in an upcoming movie called Rage, and from the looks of this picture, he's fairly comfortable in eyeliner and a wig. [Daily Mail]
• Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon will not, repeat, not perform together at a UN event in NYC on February 26. [Fox 411]
• The Speed-the-Plow crew cancelled a recent taping of Theater Talk when they learned the Jeremy Piven stuff would be brought up. The Voice's Michael Musto says: "Duh." [Village Voice]
• Leona Lewis on her autobiography: "I’m doing a picture book. A picture speaks a thousand words and I’m a big fan of photography." [The Sun]
• Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis has been released from federal custody and is on home detention. But doesn't that mean he can watch DVDs of Girls Gone Wild? [Reuters]
• Congrats to model Angie Everhart, who is pregnant with her first child. Baby daddy is "very nice" but not her boyfriend or anything. "It's nobody you know," she says. [E!]
• Blind item! "Which A-list action star is trying to fool fans with his new face-lift?" [Gatecrasher]
• Mariah Carey Valentine's Day e-cards are delightfully tacky! [Pop Dirt]
• The chick who is Tina Turner's dance captain sounds totally awesome and kick-ass. [The Star]
• The Newlywed Game is coming back to TV and Carnie Wilson will be the host. Whether she will say "make whoopie" remains to be seen. [AP]
• Some reject on American Idol ripped into Simon Cowell, saying: "You need to get some wardrobe. For somebody to be so rich, your pants are very, very cheap, with that cheap, very lame shirt you've got on." The Brit press calls it a "cheeky rant." [Daily Mail]
• The dude from The City changed his name and got a record deal. [Page Six]
• "I am a dad. I think it's probably the worst thing any parent could face, the abduction of a child. It really is. Death is preferable. There's no question of that."  Liam Neeson, star of Taken. [Mirror]
• "I've never met anybody with a higher sex drive than me ever in my entire life."  Mel B. [The Sun]

• Kelly Osbourne checked into Oregon's Hazelden Alcohol and Drug rehabilitation center on Wednesday. Her mom, Sharon Osbourne, says:

"She knew that it was the right thing to do at this point and we're proud that she did it. The family is all standing behind her. Kelly knew that she needed help and she's getting it." [Star]

• This is 24-year-old Kelly's second time in rehab; she went when she was 18. [Daily Mail, The Sun]
• The SoHo apartment in which Heath Ledger died has yet to be rented. It's empty, and had been on the market, but was taken off last month. [UPI]
• Heath Ledger's sister says of her family: "We are still all nursing broken hearts. Like anyone who loses a family member, it has opened our eyes to the intense suffering and painful journey that is death." [People, News.com.au]
• During an Oscar Roundtable, Brad Pitt was asked if he Googles himself and said: "Dear God. No. Never. First of all, I don't really know how to operate a computer." But! Robert Downey Jr says: "Oh, I love all that shit, personally. Sorry. I love it. Because it's a hoot. Some people overstate their support, like they know you. Other people are busy doing something else and just want to go on this chat site and say some despicable character assassination, which I honestly think they kind of nailed it. I do have that shortcoming. It's really fun." [Perez]
• Mariah Carey was "furious" on inauguration day, because she was seated in the VIP section instead of with the Obama family. So she bailed on the ceremony. LOL. [Page Six]
• Engaged: Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and SNL's Fred Armisen. That was quick! [Yahoo News via E!]
• Gisele and Tom Brady: Not engaged, despite persistent rumors. [NY Mag via Boston Herald]
• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's marriage seems totally fine, despite all the rumors. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Someone's been spreading a rumor that Kanye West is going to do bisexual porn; Kanye says it's not true and "PLEASE I BEG YOU GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!" [ONTD]
• The appellate court has granted an emergency stay in Roman Polanski's sex abuse case; a proceeding scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed. [UPI]
• Kate Hudson is in the Rob Marshall film adaptation of the Broadway musical Nine, playing a fashion writer for Vogue. Hudson, who sings and dances and the flick, says: "I was taking dance since I was a little girl. So to do it with a choreographer like Rob, you could only hope to work with him. It's a childhood dream." [USA Today]
• Is David Beckham in love with Milan and hoping to stay in Italy forever? [Daily Mail]
• Pregnant Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford continues to spar with her estranged husband in court; the hubs wants custody because he says she's always working, and Rutherford counters: "If I'm being asked to choose my career over my son, I choose my son. [But] I need this job to pay my bills, legal bills, and [my husband] has offered no support." [People]
• A security gate fell on Tom Cruise's car at Heathrow airport, but Xenu made sure no one got hurt. [TMZ]
• Mickey Rourke is being offered $250,000 to play Crimson Dynamo in Iron Man 2. That's what's known as "lowballing." [Perez]
• Did anyone see Sigourney Weaver flash her underwear on The View? [Daily Mail]
• So you know how Sienna Miller is out as Maid Marian in Ridley Scott's Nottingham? Well Kate Winslet has passed on the role. An offer has gone out to Cate Blanchett, but she's expected to decline as well. Is it that no one wants to kiss Russell Crowe as Robin Hood? [Fox 411]
• By the by, Sienna Miller will make her Broadway debut in September, playing Miss Julie in After Miss Julie. [Daily Mail]
• Marisa Tomei met an exotic dancer named Misty when she was researching her role in The Wrestler and says even though she learned some pole dancing moves for the film, "I ended up not using all of them… I guess you can say I still have some tricks up my sleeve." [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which d-bag actor beats his beautiful action-star girlfriend?" [Gatecrasher]
• Patrick Swayze and his wife of 33 years are working on a memoir together. [UPI, EW]
• "I am your father!" James Earl Jones is getting a lifetime achievement award at the SAG event on Sunday. Did you know he was one of the first black actors to play a president on film, in 1972's The Man? [USA Today]
• Lost's season premiere bombed, ratings-wise, with numbers down 25% from last season. [Fox 411]
• Simon Cowell fired Kelly Brook from Britain's Got Talent and is now apologizing and offering her a role on spinoff Britain's Got More Talent. Fun? [Daily Mail]
• Alex James from Blur says when he had a record label in the '90s, he didn't sign Coldplay becayse "they were ordinary." [The Sun]
• Prepare yourself for a new celebrity offspring in the spotlight: Simon Le Bon's daughter Amber is 18, gorgeous, leggy and ready to party. [Daily Mail]
• News you cannot use: Andy Dick is trisexual. "I'll try anything," he told Tyra Banks on an upcoming show. "I really have tried everything, except nothing with animals. There's only room for one animal - that would be me." [NY Daily News]
• SNL funnylady Kristin Wiig will appear on an episode of Flight Of The Conchords, playing a woman both Bret and Jemaine fall for! [Chicago Tribune]
• Ouch: Larry King lost over $1 million by investing with Bernard Madoff. [Page Six]
• Ugh, they're already casting for round two of Paris Hilton's My New BFF. As for the "winner" of the first season, a spy says: "Paris treats her BFF like an unpaid assistant." [Page Six]
• "A 50-year-old woman is equivalent to 40 when I was growing up. If you take care of yourself, 60 is nothing for women these days. In today's world you can be the kind of woman you want to be. I remember my grandmother wearing the apron and the hairdo, but that's gone. Believe me, that is totally finished."  Tina Turner. [Daily Mail]
• "I just hope I can stay famous enough for a little bit so someone rich will marry me. That’s all I really care about these days."  Lily Allen, who looks smoking hot in these pictures from Interview magazine. [Daily Mail]
• "I don't know if this film is going to help my box-office career. The fans who liked my earlier films, who watch films to escape and have some fun, this won't be their cup of tea. But I think I will gain a different kind of audience."  Jean-Claude Van Damme on JCVD. [Guardian]
• "There is a lot of whisper acting these days. Paul Giamatti in John Adams whispered most of his dialogue. Not to criticize him, but, one, I'm hard of hearing. And, two, voice is voice. Not aspiration. A whisper is a raspy sound. A voice is a full sound. Speech is a very important aspect of being human. A whisper doesn't cut it."  James Earl Jones. [USA Today]
• "I've got so many stunning girlfriends who can't get a boyfriend. But when I go out here, I get asked out all the time, and my girlfriends  who are better looking than me  say, 'How the hell does that happen?!' Maybe it's because I'm comfortable with myself."  Heather Mills, underminer. [Page Six]
• "YOOOO WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE GREAT!!! I HAD THE TWO GREATEST DAYS OF MY LIFE AND WHEN I GET BACK FROM THE LOUIE SHOW I READ SOME SHIT CLAIMING I SAID I'M DOWN TO DO PORN AND SOME BISEXUAL PORN!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE AVN WOULD POST FIRST PEOPLE BELIEVED THE TWITTER/STEVEN COLBERT THING, ROLLING STONE EVEN PRINTED IT!!!! NOW SOMEBODY HAS BEEN HACKING INTO MY MYSPACE AND SOMEBODY'S ACTUALLY HACKED INTO MY PERSONAL GMAIL ACCOUNT AND HAS BEEN EMAILING PEOPLE FROM IT... HEY WORLD I NO LONGER HAVE A GMAIL!"  Kanye West, naturally. [ONTD]

• Okay, so they're saying Beyoncé had a little armpit hair at the Cadillac Records premiere. 1) Who cares? 2) Can you even see it? [Mirror]
• A reader points out you can barely see Beyoncé's pit hair in Perez's pictures, though on TMZ, her pits seem especially hirsute. Photoshop of horrors? [Perez Hilton, TMZ]
• Surely when Kanye West said that Beyoncé is "just as great, if not greater, than artists we had in the past. She’s probably greater than Tina Turner," he had not seen this. [Perez Hilton]
• Tina Turner put on a show in New York right after being hospitalized for having a very high fever. Amazing. [Page Six]

• William Balfour, the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, is innocent, says William Balfour's lawyer. [People]
• Amy Winehouse's husband Blake Fielder-Civil, failed a drug test, so he's headed back to prison to be Blake Incarcerated again. [Daily Mail, Mirror]
• Here's the thing: If Blake had stayed in prison instead of going to rehab as part of an early release, he'd be out at the end of the month. Now he could be in jail until 2010. Whoops! [The Sun]
• Remember how Miley Cyrus said she was "embarrassed" by her Vanity Fair issue with those suggestive Annie Leibovitz pictures? Well she told Scotland's Daily Record: "Everyone outside of America liked it a little bit more because that's more like the style, but the States are really conservative." And! "I would love to be a photographer. She was amazing and so talented and her lighting... I would love to work with her again. But I realize I'm just a kid." [ONTD]
• Madonna was in Buenos Aires yesterday, where she met with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez as well as former guerilla hostage Ingrid Betancourt. [USA Today]
• Twilight's Kristen Stewart will play Joan Jett in biopic The Runaways. Do we approve of this casting? [Hollywood Reporter]
• Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham on her new clothing line: "Do I draw? No. Then again, nor do lots of designers. But I put it all on myself and walk around in it, and I know what feels comfortable. I know how a dress should sit. I’ve worn so many and when I see the photographs I think, crikey, my boobs are up round my neck again because the corsets are too short and not cut high enough." Ooh, and: "In these recessionary times, and at these prices, women are looking for something that will be an investment, aren’t they?" [Mirror]
• "I was never that good a singer, but I think I am good at fashion."  Victoria Beckham. [The Sun]
• Rihanna and Chris Brown are being sued by a photographer, who claims he was beaten and robbed of his $3,000 camera after taking a picture of the couple in May. Did the singers' bodyguards go ballistic? [TMZ]
• Hockey star and Vogue intern Sean Avery has been suspended by the NHL for making "inappropriate comments." He said: "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds," referring to ex girlfriends Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter, who are both dating other players. [AP, Gawker]
• A sneak peek at the season premiere of Lost! Drama for Kate and not-so-little-baby Aaron, involving the nature of their relationship… [LA Times]
• Christina Aguilera wears a heart-shaped locket with her son Max's name on it and a tiny drop of human blood. She doesn't say whose blood it is, but does claim: "I love the symbolism of the blood droplet. It's like Max pierced my heart." [Perez Hilton]
• Naomi Watts plans to get naked in the name of art. [Daily Express]
• First Alyson Hannigan, now How I Met Your Mother costar Cobie Smulders is pregnant, too. Something in the water? [MSNBC]
• Pete Wentz admits that getting Ashlee Simpson knocked up was a "happy accident." [Page Six]
• Audrina Patridge has written a blog post in which she says: "I just want to put it on record that never did I EVER call Lauren a 'slut,' 'bad friend,' 'shady person,' etc. I simply asked her a question and that’s how she interpreted it. I didn’t go around town running my mouth either." Plus: "Justin and Lauren treating me like I wasn’t worthy of an explanation was almost worse than the rumor itself, and it only got worse the harder I tried to get a genuine answer." And! as for JustinBobby: "His inexcusable behavior has become somewhat expected at this point. And I just want to say that if I were looking for a serious relationship, I would definitely be looking elsewhere!" [People]
• Zoolander sequel: Good idea? Not sure. Me and my friends have been too busy sunbathing off the southern coast of St. Bart's with spider monkeys for the past two weeks, tripping on acid. Changed our whole perspective on shit. [ONTD]
• CBS has a midseason series called Game Show In My Head, a reality show produced by Ashton Kutcher. Contestants must perform "embarrassing and hilarious" tasks in front of strangers to earn cash. [NY Times]
• VH1 is ordering up 8 episodes of Tough Love, a reality series from Nancy Juvonen and Drew Barrymore's Flower Films. The premise: A group of women in a house get "ready" to meet Mr. Right by having their destructive dating habits "reshaped" at "tough love boot camp." [Variety]
• Johnny Depp's production company has acquired the screen rights to In The Hand Of Dante, a Nick Tosches novel. [Variety]
• Tyler Perry was in court over allegations that he stole the material for his blockbuster film Diary of a Mad Black Woman from a playwright named Donna West. [Yahoo News]
• Donny Osmond on gay marriage: "There are many gay individuals that are members of our church. I know many of them. In fact, some of my best friends are gay. You ask how I react regarding their marriages. Well, I do support our Church leaders who say that we can accept those with gay tendencies in our church as long as they do not act upon their temptations. Everyone has tendencies to succumb to temptation, but we all have the same standard given to us by our Father in Heaven. Whether we may be tempted to be immoral with members of our own sex or of the opposite sex, we are expected to live chaste lives." [Joe. My. God., Donny.com]
• Dylan McDermott, who married his wife Shiva Rose in 1995 and = with whom he has two children, will be single again on January 2, when their divorce is final. New year, new you. [TMZ]
• Kristin Chenoweth is working on a memoir, due in stores April 2009. [Daily Express]
• Ricky Gervais answers reader questions, and talks about the Beckhams being in an Extras special. [The Sun]
• Brandy, who has not recorded anything for four years, has a new album, out December 9. She still faces a wrongful death lawsuit which goes to trial in April, stemming from a car accident in which another driver died. Says she: "What I experienced in the past couple of years was tough, but I had to face it and find the strength to move forward. Connecting back with music has definitely helped me through everything. Once I got back in the studio, the butterflies went away." [Yahoo News]
• Julianne Hough and her boyfriend are "talking marriage" but are not engaged. [People]
• Gary Coleman was in court yesterday, facing a disorderly conduct charge from that Utah incident outside of a bowling alley. He paid $100, case closed. [ET]
• What's a Hollywood lawsuit without mentioning the name Bruce Willis? [TMZ]
• Former Playmate Shauna sand claims she was choked, punched and thrown across the room in front of her kids by her husband, Romain Chavent. She got a restraining order against him yesterday and the paperwork alleges that the Frenchman hit her in the breasts when she'd just had reconstructive surgery. [TMZ]
• Donald Trump is mad at his brother Robert, since Robert's getting divorced but failed to get a pre-nup. Ouch. [Page Six]
• "I have a passion for words. That has always been in me, and I wanted to see if I could come up with some interesting phrases. I wanted to make people laugh a little and to tell some good stories."  actor Christopher Plummer, whose memoir is "engaging." [WSJ]
• "Nobody really wants to recognize that Beyoncé is a fucking living legend."  Kanye West. [Perez Hilton]
• "Every investor and financier turned down this film because of Mickey Rourke, but I wouldn't do the film without him."  Director Darren Aronofsky, on The Wrestler. [Page Six]
• "Some actors take drugs, drink, and act crazy to light a fire within them; others take drugs, drink, and act oddly to put out the fire in them. Mickey [Rourke] is one of those actors."  Alec Baldwin. [Page Six]
• "It is fun, obviously, to kiss Beyoncé. I insisted on a lot of takes."  Adrien Brody, on his role in Cadillac Records. [Rush & Molloy]
• "I got my gig late, got married late, had my kid late – and none of it came a minute too soon. All my life I'd had this problem with following through, not feeling that I was worth it. Not having a mother makes you think, 'If only I'd been better, she wouldn't have left me.'"  Mariska Hargitay. [People]
• "I've been contemplating taking a college course in religion. I love religion. I remember whenever the book The Da Vinci Code came out, the Discovery Channel did this three-night piece on it that I TiVoed and then watched eight times."  noted scholar Jessica Simpson. [Page Six]
• "I'm planning an album of all these great songs from the '60s that I've never covered before. It was such a magical time for music - groups like The Beatles, the Hollies, the Zombies, the Kinks, the Stones and singers like Dylan and Otis Redding… I want to pay tribute to a time when I used to listen to music on my little transistor radio or on my AM radio in my Ford Mustang."  Cher. [Page Six]

[New York, December 1. Image via Splash.]

• Lauren Conrad is On The Move, Azlan-style. After a prolonged period of alleged laziness, Conrad is promoting her eponymous clothing line all over our fifty states. [Yahoo]
• According to this Sun columnist's "hunch," Kate Moss is pregnant. Take that for what it's worth. [The Sun]
• According to model Niki Taylor — and her husband, doctor and uterus' hunch — she's pregnant too! [People]
• Fashiongate FAQ. [Washington Post]

• More signs of economic apocalypse: the cancellation of Fashion Rocks, CondeNast's annual fashion-rock concert-magazine. [AdAge]
• Here's how to get those undecided swing voters! "On Thursday morning, (Zac) Posen filmed a 15-second video urging people to vote, to vote for Barack Obama, and to dress for the occasion." [WWD]
• L'Oreal keeps its head above water, but cuts forecasts. [WSJ]
• There's hedging your bets, and then there's...this. In case they don't get Runway back, Bravo's introducing Fashion House, Celebrity Sew-Off and The Fashion Show, which sounds suspiciously like a Project Runway where viewers choose the winner. [Yahoo]
• Kate Moss, friend, rumored to be dressing up as Tina Turner, Cher for Halloween, kicks. [Fashionologie]
• "Where would Moss be without her languidly rockish locks?" Um, I don't know. Anyway, her hairdresser is releasing a budget line of hair products. So that we can continue to look nothing like her, on the cheap! [Guardian]
• Ferragamo does all the beautiful, 40s-style shoes for the epic film Australia. [W]
• As an army of Bettys and Joans can tell you tonight, Mad Men has had a serious influence on fashion. [LA Times]
• Charlotte Ronson for J.C. Penney is predictably darling. [Nylon]
• Speaking of cute fast fashion: Old Navy's latest plus-sized line is really pretty. [Fabsugar]
• On the other side of economic divide, Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière ditches his celeb moddles. [New York Magazine]
• And the head of Chanel: “Even in tough times, people want to see beautiful and inspirational things." [Economist]
• Rami Kashou lectures at the Phillips Collection. Quoth the master-draper: "I want to talk about what it takes to keep a dream alive...What it's like to be a 5-year-old and have a dream." [Washington Post]
• Bottega Veneta gets into cruisewear. Believe it or not, more frequent collections is actually a Recession-proofing measure. [WWD]

In the end, I decided that ignoring Turner's flaws would have been disrespectful, a qualifying act not unlike that old male chauvinist saw: "You play pretty good for a girl." She's a real artist, and a musical innovator; she would want me to be honest, I think.

Powers notes that the letters she got "stressed Turner's veteran status" and suggested it was wrong to find fault with her singing because of her age or place in pop history. Powers asks, sincerely: Is there a point when an artist becomes off-limits to criticism?

In addition, Powers points out that concert reviews become historical record: "In 100 years, a Tina Turner biographer needs to know how her later performances compared to earlier ones." But, she counters: "On the other hand, holding to a rigid standard of musical perfection is inappropriate for some artists."

Last year, I posted a picture of Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross with the headline, "True Or False: A Legend May Wear Whatever She Damn Wants." Because on the one hand, Aretha is the Queen of Soul! Diana is a living legend! How dare one critique their dresses? On the other hand, if the dress is unflattering, the dress is unflattering. When it comes to Tina Turner, there's no doubt that she survived abuse and redefined pop music. Does that mean a reviewer should give her  or any other legend  special treatment?

Are Tina Turner And Other Legends Off-Limits To Negative Criticism? [LA Times]
Related: Live: Tina Turner at Staples Center [LA Times]
Earlier: True Or False: A Legend May Wear Whatever She Damn Wants

• A little too late, Britney Spears regrets allowing her misdemeanor charge for driving without a license to go to trial. Maybe because the jury started deliberating on Friday and Brit realized if found guilty, she faces a maximum of six months in jail. The $1,000 fine? Not that big of a deal. [MSNBC]
• The Spears jury is presently deadlocked. They're split 10-2, but whether they're leaning toward guilt or innocence is not known. [CBS News, People]
• Britney! Live! On Good Morning America! December 2! [Page Six]
• Brit's hired Wade Robson to choreograph her new world tour. He's the one who did the Slave 4 U moves and can't wait to get started. Plus, he says of Brit's problems: "When you exist in a warped world, warped things are going to happen to you." [The Sun]
• Sienna Miller and Balthazar Getty are on vacation in Italy. Again. They were just there in July. [People]
• Chevy Chase was not impressed by Sarah Palin on SNL: "Quite frankly, it's a big mistake to let her go on," he says. "What was brilliant about Lorne [Michaels] was that he had nothing written for Sarah and that apparently she cannot improvise herself out of a paper bag!" He also says: "If anything, you just want her to be seen just from a distance. I'm sure she's very bright. But so is the Butterworth woman." [UPI]

• Gwyneth Paltrow on Madonna: "You know, she's a dear friend, and I'm supporting her in all [the] ways that I can. I'm just here for her. I'm just here on the other end of the phone, really. I speak to her a lot." [Us Magazine]
• Trudie Styler on Madonna and Guy: "They're both dear friends of mine and all good things sometimes come to an end. Obviously they've been struggling for a while. I think they're destined to become great pals." [The Sun]
• Guy Ritchie thinks Madonna spies on him. A source says he thinks of the split as "something concocted by the KGB," and told her: "This is a divorce, not the Cold War." [The Sun]
• Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez was seen in Miami with his wife and daughter. [The Sun]
• The latest is Madonna wants to raise her kids in NYC. [People]
• Do pictures of Tea Leoni hanging out with Billy Bob Thornton prove anything about the state of her marriage at the time? [TMZ]
• Wow, David Duchovny plans to sue Britain's Daily Mail for claiming he cheated on wife Tea Leoni with 28-year-old tennis instructor Edit Pakay. Pakay says she hasn't seen Duchovny since last November and never had a romantic or sexual relationship [with him]." [Rush & Molloy]
• A 19-year-old hacker who published provocative snaps of Miley Cyrus was raided by the FBI Monday morning in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He'd gained unauthorized access to her Gmail and her MySpace. The guy's also made about $50,000 exploiting an advertising scheme on MySpace. The moral of the story: Change your passwords often! [Wired]
• Scarlett Johansson will host the Nobel Peace Concert on Dec. 11 due to her "compassion and influence." [Yahoo News]
• Prosecutors in the Raffaello Follieri case are urging the judge to give him more than the four years in prison agreed to in his plea deal. They say he "committed crimes out of greed and a desire to live a lifestyle like the rich and famous." [AP]
• Joe Biden was on Ellen and called Proposition 8 "regressive" and "unfair." [SF Gate]
• Tom Cruise took son Connor (member him?) to see Tina Turner in concert last week, and after the show, Tom went to a dinner for Tina. Private dancer! [Page Six]
• Victoria Beckham, wedding planner! Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm has asked Vicky to help plan her ceremony to fiancé Thomas Starr. Expect crisp white everything. [Pop Dirt]
• Kristin Cavallari of Lauguna Beach is hooking up with hot hottie Chris Evans of Fantastic Four. [Page Six]
• Paris Hilton hearts London. "I love the Brits, they rock! Everything from their personalities, style and of course the accents. I'd love to live here one day." Don't let us stop you! [Daily Mail]
• Venus and Serena Williams are posing in evening gowns on a tennis court for November's Bazaar. Click for pix! [Concrete Loop]
• Hugh Grant has dropped out of a romantic comedy called Lost For Words. He would have played a British actor approached to star in a movie by a Chinese director with whom he falls in love after a brief flirtation with her translator; Ziyi Zhang was cast in the role of the director. Hugh Grant will be replaced by a cocker spaniel, who promises to be as floppy and charming. [UPI]
• Eminem on that 2002 MTV Awards where he was seated in front of Moby and had a showdown with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog: He was drunk. [Rush & Molloy]
• Pamela Anderson was seen leaving a plastic surgery center with a bandage on her chest. What does it mean? [Perez Hilton]
• Gillian Anderson gave birth to a son last week, whom she named Felix. Her first son's name is Oscar. Her very own Odd Couple. Gillian also has a daughter named Piper. [Reuters, ET]
• The driver of a car in which Mary-Kate Olsen was riding backed into an an El Pollo Loco delivery vehicle in West Hollywood. M-K was out furniture shopping at the time. [TMZ]
• Teen Dream Zac Efron will be in Pirates Of The Caribbean 4. Disney's got to "groom" a successor for Johnny Depp. Not that you can replace Johnny Depp. Especially not with a dude from a teen musical. [The Sun]
• Here's a video of a Faberge egg that belonged to Princess Grace. It's making its first public appearance at the Clevland Museum. [Forbes]
• A burger restaurant in New York has a huge Andy Warhol hanging by the takeout window; guess who is pissed off? The Campbell's Soup people. They say the art makes it "seem that the restaurant is affiliated with or sponsored by Campbell in some way." [Page Six]
• Heather Locklear and Richie Sambora were together Saturday night  for the sake of daughter Ava, who was celebrating her 11th birthday. [TMZ]
• Here's a story all about the drug habits of the Rolling Stones. (Mick Jagger's been clean for years; Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, on the other hand, were "permanently fuelled by a combination of cocaine and alcohol.") [The Sun]
• Sting received a kiss  described as a "terrifying snog"  from Little Britain transvestite character Emily Howard; aka David Walliams. [Mirror]
• Bond Girl Ursula Andress has suffered from osteoporosis for the last eight years: "My doctor told me that I had to take medication to save my way of life. I find it so strange because I had no pain, no warning. But that is the nature of the disease. You carry on as normal and you don't realise that your bone is becoming like glass." [Daily Mail]
• John Cleese: Baffled by the curtains in his California hotel room. [The Sun]
• Hmm, a blogger accused of leaking songs from the long-delayed Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy has pleaded not guilty to violating federal copyright laws. He could get three years in prison if convicted. Does this mean the album may actually get released??? [AP]
• Fergie, the Duchess of York, probably won't get married again: Her daughters don't want her to. She also says of Prince Andrew: "He said I must never say this, but he said, 'We are divorced to each other, not from each other.' We are the happiest unmarried couple." [Daily Mail]
• Ricky Gervais has an idea for an Extras Christmas special. He misses Extras more than The Office and says: "Andy Millman was more real than David Brent by the end of the show and I loved Maggie Jacobs - she was the best character we've ever come up with." [The Star]
• Katy Perry, whose single "I Kissed A Girl" has more than five million worldwide sales, says she really has kissed a girl. "Of course. I think I was 19. I kissed a girl and it was great." [The Star]
• Tim McGraw has co-written a book about a dad and his daughter, just hanging out. He says dads should bond with daughters, but not by getting pedicures or shopping: "Do what you have to do in your regular routine and take them with you. It makes all the difference in the world." [Yahoo News]
• Robert De Niro's hotel got a bad review. You talkin to me? [Jossip]
• Jamie King has been dealing with a stalker, and had to get protection from the cops. "It's very real and he was very aggressive," says a source. "He had recently escaped from a mental institute. It was scary." [E!]
• Apparently the cover of OK! with Jordan breaking up with husband Peter Andre was a trick/joke. [Perez Hilton]
• Daniel Craig is backing a £2 million campaign to fund a new lifeboat station near his childhood home. [Telegraph]
• Hulk Hogan's son: Out of jail. [AP]
• "You can’t ignore divorce rates. Every friend of mine has parents who are divorced. I didn’t go into it with Max thinking, 'This is going to last forever.' But I did go into it thinking, 'I love him right now and I know that I will continue to love him for a long while.'"  Peaches Geldof, 19, on her quickie marriage to Max Drummey. [Perez Hilton]
• "She said that small towns, that's the part of the country she really likes going to because that's the pro-America part of the country. You know, I just want to say to her, just very quickly: Fuck you."  Jon Stewart on Sarah Palin. [Perez Hilton]
• "In writing my memoirs, I have made a great many observations about myself and my sister Madonna. I will not be commenting on her divorce as that is a private matter between her and Guy Ritchie and would consider any commentary on my part dishonorable and disrespectful."  Christopher Ciccone. [MSNBC]
• "I’d never work out and lose weight if the part called for it. I’d say, 'that’s not the film for me.' It’s not real life, it’s ludicrous. If you fall for someone because they’ve got a jawline and a chest and they’re brain dead it won’t last! In life, real people fall for nice people all the time and Hollywood denies that a bit. That’s what I brought over from Britain."  Ricky Gervais. [The Sun]

• 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]

• While everyone was busy focusing on the presidential debates, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds got married. The ceremony took place Saturday night at a "remote wilderness resort" outside of Vancouver, Canada. The bride is 23, the groom is 31 and they have been dating since 2007. [Us Magazine, People]
• Heather Locklear was busted on suspicion of driving under the influence Saturday night in Santa Barbara, CA. Apparently a witness saw her driving erratically while leaving a parking lot. This report says: The witness said Locklear was revving her engine loudly, and backed over a pair of sunglasses several times." Cops found Heather by the side of the highway "disoriented and impaired." Prescription drugs appear to be the blame; Heather just left a treatment facility for anxiety and depression 2 months ago. She looks rather stunned in her mug shot. [People, TMZ, ET]
• Heath Ledger left behind at least $145,000 in assets and cash  but maybe as much as $20 million in the estate  and Heath's father has announced that every penny will go to Matilda. [News.com.au]
• The company that wrote Heath Ledger's $10 million life insurance policy is being sued after claiming the actor's death might have been a suicide, even though officials concluded it was accidental. If it was suicide, the company won't have to pay. [TMZ]
• Jermaine Dupri partied so hard on his 36th birthday that he vomited in Janet Jackson's lap. [Page Six]

• Paul Newman made plans to continue to be charitable after his death. One hundred percent of the profits from his food company, Newman's Own, continue to benefit camps for children with life-threatening illnesses and thousands of other charities. [Yahoo News]
• Barbra Streisand on Sarah Palin: "When you run for the second highest office in the land, you better be ready to answer questions from the press and the American people. […] This reminds me of the movie business...when the studio knows it has a dud on its hands, they ban reviewers from seeing it beforehand." [Campaign Silo]
• Amy Winehouse's friends have her on 24-hour surveillance because she is "in a very fragile state at the moment." [The Sun]
• Amy smacked someone in the face for no reason last Thursday, not that anyone is surprised. [TMZ]
• Did Amy's bodyguard hit a paparazzo with his car? [Daily Express]
• "Look where I am now. Look what happened to my dreams. This isn’t a life – I’m a mess, look at me. What life do I have? My life begins when Blake gets out of prison. He is my life, I want to see him."  Amy Winehouse. [Mirror]
• Could former drug addict Russell Brand mentor Amy? [Daily Mail]
• Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham on her kids: "They are getting American accents. I think it’s really cute." [The Sun]
• Please to be looking at these "kinky boots" Posh wore: wet-look pleather with no heel. [The Sun]
• The Galaxy is called Major League Soccer's richest club, thanks to David Beckham. [Daily Express]
• Cammy Diaz's boyfriend Paul Sculfor stopped doing coke when his hair started falling out. He says: "I'm lucky it grew back. I'm not vain but I'm obsessed with my hair." [Mirror]
• Mel "Scary Spice" B will get somewhere in the six figures for "artistic yet revealing photos" for Playboy. Chances that the magazine cover line will be "Zigazig-ah!": High. [Mirror]
• You know Amy Adams of Junebug and Enchanted? Her mom works at Starbucks. "I was like, 'Mom, you cannot tell everybody who comes in to get a latte that your daughter is an Oscar nominee." [Page Six]
• A while back, Kate Moss drew a self-portrait in lipstick; Pete Doherty wrote, "Who needs blood when you've got lipstick?" on the canvas; Saturday it was purchased for £33,600 at auction by a "mystery buyer." [BBC News]
• Jack Osbourne and his mom Sharon witnessed a dude steal a woman's purse; Jack chased the guy and tackled him, restraining him until cops arrived. "I could see the girl was in trouble; it just felt like the natural thing to do. I'm glad it turned out OK," Jack says. Get the man a cape! [UPI]
• Chris Brown and Rihanna hit Kentucky Fried Chicken and Ri's shoes are pretty intense for a fast food outing. [The.Life Files]
• Don't use your BlackBerry at the table when Countess Luann de Lesseps is in the area; she will school you. And if you're Asian, she'll tell you that European men "adore Asian females because of their submissiveness. So work that to your advantage." [Page Six]
• Kylie Minogue is set to perform at the opening of the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai in November, but the terror threat level is high for the event. [News.com.au]
• A Kylie musical??? [The Sun]
• Dennis Quaid is pissed that Meg Ryan's been blabbing about their their past. "It was eight years ago, and I find it unbelievable that Meg continues publicly to rehash and rewrite the story of our relationship," he says. [Rush & Molloy]
• Have you seen that Kid Rock/Dale Earnhardt Jr. commercial for the National Guard? You will want to harm yourself or others. [Jossip]
• A remake of My Fair Lady will star Keira Knightley and either George Clooney or Brad Pitt. The two friends are battling for the role of Henry Higgins, each offering to take a pay cut. Who do you think should play the professor? [Daily Express]
• Ricky Gervais is not necessarily going to host the Oscars. The producers haven't made any decisions yet. [Daily Express]
• Kristin Scott Thomas makes films in English and in French. "So far there hasn’t been much crossover between the French-language career and the English one, but maybe it will happen this time," she says. Her film I've Loved You So Long opens October 24. [NY Times]
• Sure, she battled heart disease before going to Dancing With The Stars, but Toni Braxton is a surivor, not a victim. Get it right. [TMZ]
• Kathy Griffin is suing the cybersquatters who own KathyGriffin.com. Only Kathy makes fun of Kathy! [Perez Hilton]
• Grammy-winning R&B singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his girlfriend Nicole Pantenburg have welcomed their first child together. [People]
• Tina Turner's concert tour starts October 1 in Kansas City, MO. "I've been away from America  home  for at least a good 12 years. I have some memories of certain towns and when we started to think about where to start… Kansas City and St. Louis were areas I played a lot, a lot, when I was here." She also says: "I think the costumes are fantastic." [UPI]
• A Sean John employee got his hands on Pharrell Williams' e-mail address somehow and contacted him repeatedly; the "situation" was "handled internally." [Page Six]
• Jeremy Piven: Seen swigging booze out of a tiny bottle during the Emmys. [Page Six]
• Blind items: "Which fame-hungry 'social' spends so much time stuffing cocaine up her nose, her hangers-on have taken to calling her 'Coco Puff?' Which designer daughter and her husband are stirring the pot on both coasts? She had tongues wagging in LA over her scary skinny bod, while her other half was recently kicked out of a Hamptons hot spot for slugging another guy." [Page Six]
• Little Britain: The Movie? [Mirror]
• Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood faces £50million divorce pay-out after he is pictured on intimate date with Russian lover, 20. [Daily Mail]
• Clark Gable almost walked off the set of Gone With The Wind because of rampant racism. [Page Six]
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at this year's Super Bowl halftime show in Tampa, FL. [CNN]
• "Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin. Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets."  A statement from Robert Plant. [BBC News]
• "You sit there and say, Who am I selling this movie to? Who’s the audience? And the answer is, No one."  A Hollywood insider on Tom Cruise's new flick, Valkyrie. [Fox 411]
• "There was something about him. There was definitely this sensation that we already knew each other, we just had to get better acquainted. It was very intense very early on and we were very much attracted to each other."  Bob Dylan's former long-term girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, who is on the cover of his breakthrough album Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. [Daily Express]
• "Everybody’s like, 'Oh, we’ve been waiting for this album forever.' But no one has waited longer than me. I’ve been waiting since I was 7 years old."  Jennifer Hudson, whose self-titled debut drops tomorrow. [NY Times]
• "My heart just feels a little bit different, softer and somehow more in love. I don't know how. But it just feels really romantic and lovely."  Ellen DeGeneres on married life. [People]
• "It’s fun, it’s not meant to be taken so seriously, it’s cheeky, and let’s face it, we’re living in a world right now where the economy has gone into hell in a hand basket, our environment is in a lot of trouble, and the world is just not a great place, we’re still at war. If I can throw some humor out of speaking in third person, it’s really not that serious, and I think we have a lot bigger issues in this world to worry about than what tense I’m speaking in."  Project Runway's Suede. [NY Mag]

Just an idea of the awesome '70s graphic design. Elton is psyched to talk about sex!

Warren Beatty discusses what turns him on. A definable waist is a must.

Al Pacino's fantasy involves boredom and a seven foot woman. Anyone care to deconstruct?

Jack Nicholson wants you to help him vomit. Any volunteers?

Two or three dozen naked women, Telly? Seriously?

Tina Turner is awesome. That is all.

Elton John's theme song is Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me."

Dear Pam Grier, Did you hear the one about Truman Capote being gay?

• Amy Winehouse showed up so late to the Novello awards in London that she arrived just as her dad was on stage accepting and saying, "Amy unfortunately couldn't make it." The songwriting award was for "Love Is a Losing Game." Also a losing game? Drugs. [People]
• Oh! Tina Turner has offered to help Amy kick drugs, says this headline. But hmm. The quotes don't exactly support that. Tina says: "My view of Amy is that her problems started before her success. And the drugs are making it hard for her to deal with this success. You get nothing from drugs except a feeling and bad health." [Mirror]
• Amy might go to rehab in Israel. Mazel Tov! [The Sun]
• Lindsay ♥ Sam. Just look at these snuggle pix. Pretty sure they are making out. [The Sun]
• In Cannes yesterday, Michelle Williams walked her first red carpet since the death of Heath Ledger. And she glowed. [People]

• The rumor about Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder is untrue, and it was started by Star magazine. [Perez Hilton]
• Did Diddy and Naomi Campbell have some kind of showcase showdown? She walked into a party on his yacht all smiles, and left at 3am "shaken and upset." Honestly? In a fight, I think Naomi would win. [Perez Hilton]
• Jessica Simpson is a daddy's girl, which is making for trouble between her and Tony Romo. Tony hates how Joe Simpson is always giving him advice and how Jessica always defends her father's motives. A source says: "Tony took her to the wedding to be a nice guy. But at this point, he just wants to back out gracefully." Just do it! [E!]
• Usher and Tameka: Still together. The reports of their breakup are "100% not true," says his rep. We say: Yet. [E!]
• Usher talked about being a dad on Ellen: Of his 6-month-old son, he says, "He is my reason for living. [Aside from] my wife, obviously, for helping me have him." [People]
• Baby-wipe loving actor Terrence Howard admits that he threatened to kill his 14-year-old daughter's boyfriend. He says: "She's supposedly in love with some guy. I made her break up with him and I've threatened to kill him. I was like, you picked a green fruit from the tree that's far from ripe. I'm sure he's still kind of her boyfriend. This summer I'll take her off to another country where her phone won't work, and he'll start dating someone else." [IMDB]
• Madonna auctioned off a private concert at a dinner, raising $560,000 for AIDS charity amFAR. [Reuters]
• Apparently Madonna's documentary about Malawi is pretty good. [Guardian]
• Madonna and Sean Penn: Avoiding each other in Cannes, despite staying at the same hotel. [Rush & Molloy]
• Production has begun on Hannah Montana: The Movie, which will be filming in and around Nashville. It's gonna be all Miley Cyrus, all the time. Her 3-D concert film made $65.3 million at the box office for crying out loud. [E!]
• The "other woman" named in Shania Twain and Mutt Lange's breakup says she is not to blame for their marital woes. She does not however deny that she had an affair with Lange. Sigh. [Showbuzz]
• An attorney for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the owner of famed L.A. baby boutique Petit Tresor for selling false details about Suri's stuff. Apparently the boutique told Life & Style magazine about TomKat's shopping habits. TomKat's lawyer says: "Petit Tresor is trying to get publicity for themselves by telling the press that celebrities are shopping in their store when they're not." [E!]
• Kanye West, Method Man, Redman and Common are being sued for using samples by late jazz musician Joe Farrell. Farrell's daughter is looking for $1 million and asked that no further copies of the songs be made, sold or performed. Good luck with that. [Reuters]
• Adam Sandler is preparing his 2-year-old for a sibling by saying: "Mommy's not like bad sick. She just has something growing in her that's eventually gonna shoot out her vagina and take half your toys." [People]
• Are Drew Barrymore and Justin "I'm A Mac" Long gonna get engaged? Apparently Justin suggested they go look for rings and Drew said, "You know what I like, surprise me." [MSNBC]
• Nigella Lawson admits that she bans camera men from shooting her derriere. She says: "There's a rule... no one's allowed to shoot my bum unless it's out of focus. Not if they want me to be nice and feed them." Aw, Nigella, own that booty! [Mirror]
• More Denise Richards/Charlie Sheen drama. Is any of this crap true? Or just well-timed publicity for her new show? [Page Six]
• Michael Gross's book, Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, may be turned into a movie. Have any of you guys read it? [Page Six]
• Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News used to weigh 417 lbs., but he lost 52 recently and had lapband surgery this week. He says: "I've been a happy fat man, but when diabetes came into the equation, which has a possibility of blindness - which would really [bleep] up my favorite passion in life, film - I have taken the steps necessary to defeat [it]." [Page Six]
• Michael Lohan says: I haven't seen my kids in two months. [Dina] brought them to Vegas for her reality show, then to California. Before that, she missed 15 out of 29 appointments. She doesn't care. She does what she wants." [Rush & Molloy]
• Rocker Rikki Rockett has been cleared of felony rape charges. Apparently there was an impostor at work! [TMZ]
• Cops are looking for that guy who knocked out Suge Knight. Bet they're not the only ones. [TMZ]
• Yeardley Smith Erickson, the voice of Lisa Simpson, has filed for divorce from her husband of six years Daniel Erickson. D'oh! [TMZ]
• George Clooney with his shirt off. [TMZ]
• Wesley Snipes was granted bail in his tax fraud case. He's free and an appeal is pending. So scary that he's messing with the IRS. [Reuters]
• Oasis/Coldplay feud? Yawn. [The Sun]
• Shia LaBeouf, 21, and Megan Fox, 21, made out in Transformers and Megan says Shia is "the best kisser - ever." Is she secretly seeing Shia? Even though she's engaged to David Silver Brian Austin Green (who is 13 years older)? Signs point to yes. [Janet Charlton's Hollywood]

• An autopsy may be performed on Heath Ledger today to determine the cause of the actor's untimely death yesterday. While anti-anxiety drugs were found in the apartment, reports that pills were scattered around the body are said to be untrue. Heath did admit to having insomnia and taking Ambien. [News.com.au]
  
• Also, Heath had pneumonia when he died. [Sydney Morning Herald]
  
• But early reports are that Heath Ledger did not kill himself. [TMZ]
  
• Heath's rep calls the death an "accident." [People]
  
• Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, John Travolta and Geoffrey Rush are among the stars who have nothing but good things to say about the late Heath Ledger: He was "admired," "adored," and "extraordinary." [The West Australian]
  
• Heath's family says they are "saddened and shocked." [Us Magazine]
  
• Michelle Williams, Heath's former fiancé, is devastated. Naomi Watts has canceled all of her Sundance interviews. Additionally, Lindsay Lohan was seen sobbing inside a restaurant as she learned of Heath's death. [TMZ, E!, TMZ]

• The Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing Heath's funeral because the actor appeared in Brokeback Mountain and "God hates fags." [ONTD]
• Onto other news: In Kathleen Turner's upcoming autobiography, the husky-voiced actress disses Nicolas Cage: "Oh, that stupid voice of his and the fake teeth!" She also has snarky things to say about Burt Reynolds, hee hee. [Page Six]
• Regarding Britney buying pregnancy tests, photographer Adnan Ghalib says, "I think she was hoping she was pregnant with my child." Also, their relationship is "far from over" and dude would marry her... Especially now that his wife's filed papers to formally separate from him? [Page Six]
• Oh, and Adnan hit a motorcyclist on Tuesday night while driving Britney's car  Brit was in the passenger seat. No one was injured. [Perez Hilton]
• Paris Hilton on Britney Spears: "She's a great mother and a great girl and I really care about her. I wish the best for her and I just wish everyone would leave her alone so she could live her life." Shh, you're making it worse. [AP]
• Lenny Kravitz is celibate?!? And has been for three years? Huh. [Page Six]
• Beyoncé and Tina Turner are planning a "surprise" duet for the Grammys? That would be fun. [Gatecrasher]
• Charlie Sheen and ex-wife Denise Richards were in family court yesterday, and a judge ruled that Denise can do a reality show with her kids (with certain restrictions), even though Charlie objected. Won't be watching, but thanks anyway. [TMZ]
• Amy Winehouse visited a mental health clinic which specializes in addiction yesterday. Could be good news? [Telegraph]
• Hmm, but these pictures make it seem like she didn't go willingly. WTF. [ONTD]
• And police officers will be taking a look at Amy's crack-smoking video to "ascertain whether any action needs to be taken." [BBC]
• Toni Braxton has pericarditis  heart disease  and is joining a campaign to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women. Is a check-up one of your New Year's resolutions? Be well, guys. [Newsweek]