Kathy Griffin Banned from The View Again

Sometime co-host Kathy Griffin has reportedly been banned for a second time from appearing on that post-menopausal bitch-fest, The View. Seems that every time Kathy comes on the show, she uses it as fodder for her stand-up comedy routines, in which she mercilessly skewers the celebrity guests and hosts—including Barbara Walters.

Kathy Griffin is an outspoken comedian who has apparently stepped over the line, at least where Barbara Walters is concerned. Griffin does a dead on impersonation of Babs. She has been performing her standup act in a sold out run at Madison Square Garden. Her final show is tonight, and she had planned to be a guest on this morning’s broadcast of the popular talk show, The View.

Griffin apparently received a phone call yesterday from the shows producer Bill Geddie. He informed her that they have canceled her scheduled appearance because she was too mean to Barbara during her last special on Bravo.

The comedian said that she had been banned once before, but was incredulous to have been rebanned. Griffin is likely to use this momentary setback as fodder for her stand up act. Babs may regret the slight because of the ensuing fallout that is likely to occur.

[From Bitten and Bound]

Barbara Walters really needs to get over herself. It’s obvious that Kathy Griffin idolizes Walters, and is poking fun in the same, good-natured way a kid sister picks on her older sibling. Griffin herself has admitted to antagonizing Walters on the set because she loves trying to “shock” her. It also happens to be hilarious. Besides, Griffin isn’t the first comedienne to mimic Walters—Gilda Radner did a killer impression of Babs on Saturday Night Live back in the ‘70s. If Walters had been hosting this piece of crap show back then, Gilda probably would have been banned, too.

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long go public with relationship

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, who've been photographed trying to exit restaurants from the back and who seemed like they were going to great lengths to conceal their relationship, were photographed kissing and hugging on the red carpet at the LA premiere of "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show" last night. Drew looks a little tipsy. Star notes this week in what seems like a recycled story that Drew has been supposedly partying too hard. They seem to come out with a story that she's partying too hard every time she gets photographed out with a drink in her hand. She doesn't look entirely sober here, but it could be the look of love instead of inebriation. Star reports that Drew and Justin "were all over each other" at a Pussycat Dolls show on January 17.

Drew and Justin have been dating for over five months, according to The Sun.

Thanks to PRPhotos for these pictures.

Lindsay Lohan drinking in public again

Though it’s not exactly a surprise, Lindsay Lohan appears to be back on the booze again. Again. Again. This is the third time she’s been spotted drinking in public since her massive rehab, right? It gets hard to keep track. I’m only one person – if I were to actually try to keep track of all the terrible and salacious things Lindsay Lohan does in one day, I would have to cease all activities. Including sleeping and bathing. Both of which I’m pretty sure Lohan herself avoids. According to Rush Malloy, Lindsay was spotted downing at least two vodka cocktails at the Beatrice Inn on Friday night. According to the report, Lohan was actually with ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos (who’s also dated an Olsen twin [I really don’t think it matters which one] and Paris Hilton) though Brody Jenner was also with the couple. Various reports said Lohan was all over Jenner… which would make sense, considering she was supposedly actually there with Niarchos. It just makes more sense – in the Lohan context – to come with one guy and have sex in the bathroom with another. On top of making a gross spectacle of herself as usual, Lohan also partook of some “liquid courage” – not that she needed any.

The "I Know Who Killed Me" star knocked back "at least two" vodka cocktails Friday night at the Beatrice Inn and later snapped at snappers trying to take her picture, according to our spies.

Lohan, who checked out of a Utah rehab center in October, downed the drinks while partying with ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos and MTV reality "star" Brody Jenner, sources tell us.

[From the Daily News]

But don’t worry, one of Lindsay’s ever-present enablers was on hand to quickly explain her behavior.

"Lindsay is learning how to work through her addictions and, once in a while, she chooses to have a cocktail," says a friend, attempting to explain. "People overexaggerate [sic] her behavior when in fact on Friday night, many people commented to her on how composed she was."

Lindsay's last reported slip was on New Year's Eve, when she was caught on video swigging Champagne on the Italian isle of Capri. One source contends that drinks were showing on Linds on Friday. Confronted by paparazzi at the Beatrice, "she started going berserk," claims a witness. "She didn't want them taking shots of her with Brody."

"[If she got in a fight,] that would be shocking," argues her rep. "Most likely, there were so many photographers and she probably couldn't get to her car. Lindsay is always polite, but sometimes doesn't want to have her photo taken."

[From the Daily News]

My heavens, we wouldn’t want to overexaggerate anything. If Lindsay’s behavior was so bad that her friends (all of whom I’m sure are well-educated and joking) are forced to make up new, redundant words like “overexaggerate” then things must have really gotten out of hand. Oh wait, the friend is actually claiming that Lindsay’s behavior was really restrained and she’s well-behaved when drinking… it’s the rest of us that are overexaggerating everything. Got it. Honestly I really don’t understand why she bothers to keep up the charade. There are some people for whom you can tell rehab will never hold. At least until she’s hit rock-bottom, which Lohan clearly hasn’t. It’s pretty obvious that her many trips to rehab this year were just done to save her “career”/get her out of legal trouble. She clearly doesn’t take her sobriety seriously. At least stop insulting us Lindsay. Like we really believe you just had two drinks. I misunderestimated you.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Lindsay Lohan leaving Barbuto after eating dinner with friends last night. She later stopped by club Socialista in New York City. I’ll give you two guesses as to what’s in her purse. Scratch that. I’ll give you two guesses as to how many bottles are in her purse. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Mischa Barton says she was ?actually really academic?

Mischa Barton has been doing the Sundance press circuit over the last few days, promoting her movie "Assassination of a High School President" – which is actually getting some good reviews. But what she really wants you to know is that her empty-headed, party girl image is undeserved. I never knew Mischa Barton was so freakishly intelligent. According to an interview she just gave, she’s down to earth and smart. Mischa described herself as, “really academic.” And by that, it appears that she meant she has at some points in her life gone to school. She doesn’t give a single example of how she was academic, nor does she say anything that would lead a reasonable person to believe she possesses an ounce of intelligence beyond the very basics that get you through life. You know, the breathe in, breathe out, repeat thing. Not dodging in front of fast moving cars. She seems to grasp the basics that have kept our species alive, but not much else.

Mischa Barton didn't seem so smart when she was arrested recently for suspicion of DUI. However, the star of the upcoming (and very buzzed about) "Assassination of a High School President" insists that despite her character's mischievous ways, she was actually "academic" in her school days.

"I went to public school in New York until I was about 15, so I had a definite school experience, the whole nine yards," the now super-blond starlet told Pop Tarts, curled up on the couch in her Uggs at Sundance.

"But I loved school, though. I was actually really academic, so I liked it it was a lot of fun."

[From Fox News]

School does tend to be a lot of fun when you skip most of it to film an occasional scene with a cute boy and hang out with your on-set tutor. Mischa goes on to talk about her upbringing in the film industry. Be warned, she uses the word “kinetic.” I think she most likely learned it from her Word-a-Day toilet paper.

And even though Mischa spent several seasons on the small screen as Marissa on "The O.C.," the actress definitely seems to prefer doing films.

"I started doing film when I was 1, and I love it — it is the best experience for me," she said. "Each film that you do — it is like a little group that you make friends with and you have that for life. When you go on a television series, it is a different thing. Of course you have it for life, but it's a long-running show and it's not the same kind of temporary kinetic energy that you get from a movie.”

[From Fox News]

Mischa you probably didn’t get that same “temporary kinetic energy” from your television show because you were supposedly a nightmare to deal with. You showed up late, hung-over, (sometimes still drunk…), were a total diva, refused to work with people, and generally made everyone’s lives such a living hell that they killed of your character by having her tumble off a hill in a car. Working on a film is probably a better fit for Mischa, since people only have to tolerate her for much shorter periods of time.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Mischa with all of her free swag from Sundance. Splash notes: “Actress Mischa Barton has her hands full with some Sundance freebies including a Nintendo Wii Guitar Hero game and a couple of umbrellas as she makes her way through Los Angeles International Airport. Barton was attending the festival in Utah to promote her new movie 'Assassination of a High School President.'” Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Amy Winehouse reportedly doing well in rehab

Amy Winehouse is reportedly doing surprisingly well in rehab. After months of crazed and public drunkenness and drug use, Amy finally went to rehab – most likely at the insistence of her record label. Even though an addict generally needs to hit rock bottom and really want to go to rehab and make a change (and a record label forcing you to go isn’t quite the same thing) it appears that Amy is actually doing well in rehab. Of course these reports are coming from The Sun, so take them with a massive grain of salt. But The Sun generally likes to report negative stories – so if they’re saying someone is doing well, I’m a little more inclined to believe there’s some truth to it.

The Back To Black star spent her fourth day in rehab yesterday, where she is delighting doctors with her progress. Especially because she hasn’t even tried to do a runner. For the first time it actually looks like Amy is making an effort to sort herself out. A relieved close family friend said last night: “Although Amy is still taking each day at a time she has done the hardest thing in the world by going into rehab. She has been ill and is withdrawing but at least she is sticking with it as she detoxes. With her family’s support we are hopeful that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel as she weans herself off drugs. She will stay in rehab for as long as it takes even if it is three or four weeks. Nobody is saying it will be easy, but things are looking good at the moment and doctors are encouraged.”

[From the Sun]

Amy’s loser jailbird husband Blake Fielder-Civil supposedly told Amy to quit smoking crack or she’d be dead within three months. This of course comes not directly for Blake’s mouth, but from his mother Georgette Civil. She has always claimed Amy is the whole problem and to blame for all of her son’s issues, even though by pretty much everyone else’s account the reverse is true. Georgette told News of the World that Blake said, “I'm so relieved she [Amy] has finally taken my advice after I begged her to go into rehab.” Yeah right. Funny Blake would beg her to go, considering the first time she went to rehab this summer Blake insisted on coming along, and quickly talked Amy into leaving after he found out that couple’s rehab isn’t so fun. Georgette clearly can’t stand that the entire UK seems to hate her son. But she’d do herself a lot more good by keeping her mouth shut, instead of giving such ridiculously fabricated quotes to the press.

The Sun speculates that once Amy hears about Blake’s supposed “quotes,” she may not pay for his lawyers in his upcoming trial. Wouldn’t that be tragic if he ended up languishing in jail? If Amy takes rehab seriously and gets Blake out of her life, she could really be poised for a comeback. And she’d have some pretty interesting stuff to sing about.

Picture note by Jaybird: Amy Winehouse and her dad Mitch arrive at a clinic in Marylebone, northwest London on January 22nd. Images thanks to WENN.

Posh wants you to stop tanning

I love irony. Speaking of which, always perma-tanned-to-the ugliest-shade-of-orange-you’ve-ever-seen-in-your-life Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has joined forces with designer Marc Jacobs to create an anti-skin cancer t-shirt for the Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group. Wait, this isn’t irony so much as it is hypocrisy. I’m assuming it’s actually like those anti-smoking ads that feature people who just couldn’t quit – and they’re smoking a cigarette through their surgically-created neck hole. So Posh is basically their stoma.

Despite her recent foray back into global pop stardom, Victoria Beckham has still managed to find time to strip off and pose nude for a new designer campaign. Covering her modesty with her hands and the caption "Protect the skin you're in" Posh Spice is the official face of a T-shirt created by Marc Jacobs to raise awareness of the damage sun can do to skin.

Although it is sure to gain the campaign column inches and a significant following, using perma-tanned Posh could be seen as a bit of an odd choice to be the face of such a cause.

However, the Spice Girl, who has not sported the pale and interesting look since back in the nineties, claims her attitude to skincare has changed since moving to the States. "I have realised how important it is to practise safe sun for myself and to keep the skin of my three boys well protected as well," she says.

[From the Daily Mail]

While I’m guessing the shirts are supposed to be sexy, I think they actually serve as a warning. If Victoria’s image were in color instead of black and white, you’d really get the picture. “Stop going to the tanning booth or you could end up looking like this!” While it’s good she claims to have had a change of heart and at least covers her kids, Victoria’s still looking like she hits the tanning beds. Though I suppose she could just be really good at applying self-tanner. It’s going to be really uncomfortable when we see Posh out and about, sporting the shirt which clashed so terribly with her carrot-laced skin.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s a collection of recent (past six months) photos of Posh. To be fair, anyone would look tan next to Dita Von Teese. Images thanks to PR Photos.

?Tracy Morgan wants to father waitress? babies? links

Tracy Morgan asked a waitress if he could father her baby [Dlisted]
Naomi Campbell’s Former PA Commits Suicide [Bossip]
Life Sucks and Then You Die: "Breaking Bad" review [Pajiba]
Tony Romo Jessica Simpson in Hollywood [Celebslam]
More scary details about Sam Lufti [Yeeeah!]
Alyssa Milano At Rockin’ Skate NHL All Star Game [I'm Not Obsessed]
Nicky Hilton Got Wasted @ Villa Nightclub, Hollywood [The Bastardly]
Sean Young admits herself to rehab [In Case You Didn't Know]
Maria Menounos Pumping Gas (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
Jessica Alba is Confusing and Showing [CityRag]
Jordan says big boobs are so 2007 [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
How does Woody Harrelson manage to grow more unattractive with each passing day? [Agent Bedhead]
Jenna Jameson pops out of a cake for her boyfriend [The Blemish]
Best Animated Short Films [CityRag]
More On Sean Young [Crazy Days and Nights]
Jim Carrey Really Throws Himself Into His New Role [Popsugar]
More Jenna Jameson Stripper Pictures [The Grumpiest]
Michelle Williams’ Film on Hold [Evil Beet]
Michael Lohan is Ready to Beat Some Ass [CelebWarship]
Tony Romo Will Never Learn [I Don't Like You In That Way]
Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson are doing a music video. Sadly, MC Skat Kat is nowhere to be seen [Glitterati Gossip]
The Spice Girls Arrive In Boston With Their Kids In Tow [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Fashion against AIDS with Rihanna [Popbytes]
Mariah Carey's Diamond Drawer Needs Refilling [A Socialite's Life]
Rumer Willis is a Frequent Flyer [Just Jared]
Uma Thurman Bikini Pictures [Egotastic]
Look at Tom Cruise's new toy [Lifeline Live]
Ryan Seacrest Butches It Up For American Gladiators 2000 [Best Week Ever]

Con artist poses as Heath Ledger?s father

I debated all day about publishing this story. Given how empathic our readers have been towards Heath Ledger and his family, I wasn’t sure if it would be too upsetting to read this story. There’s nothing inflammatory, nor is there any speculation; it’s just hard to think about. So with that caveat, police are reporting that a con artist posed as Heath Ledger’s father, Kim Ledger, in order to trade on Health’s name and get free stuff.

…police were still trying to find a twisted impostor pretending to be [Heath’s] grieving father. The imposter cruelly duped superstar Tom Cruise into consoling him over the phone – and nearly got John Travolta to buy him a plane ticket to the United States, sources told The Post.

The sick scammer also suckered the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan, where the tragic actor’s body was held before being flown to Los Angeles, into booking him and his “family” rooms at the ritzy Carlyle hotel nearby on Madison Avenue, sources said. The hoaxer even got them to send free stuff to their rooms “when nobody was there,” a source said.

And the man falsely claiming to be Kim Ledger spoke on the phone with the doctor who performed the autopsy on the “Brokeback Mountain” star, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed.

[From the New York Post]

The major media outlets are reporting that the police have no idea who the con man is. I’m guessing they’ve got some ideas and are just playing it close to the vest. I mean the man stayed in a hotel, they’ve got to have some video. And it’s logical to assume hotel employees would remember someone who’s supposedly Heath Ledger’s dad. Police had detectives at Ledger’s funeral hoping they might find the con artist but didn’t have any luck. They also say the man tried to get Mel Gibson and Christian Bale’s telephone numbers from one of the celebrities he conned. This story is incredibly sad and the last thing the Ledger family needs to deal with. Unfortunately it’s not that shocking. There are all sorts of con artists who prey on people overcome with grief. Considering all the press this story has gotten today, I’m guessing the NYPD is working overtime to find the guy.

Becks starts a Boyzillian trend

It seems that once people came to grips with David Beckham's billboard bulge - or gave gripping it some thought - they noticed something else besides the bulge: his personal grooming habits. Becks had what is called a Boyzillian, the male equivalent of the brazillian bikini wax. Otherwise known as the classic back, crack and sack. Google this if you're still unsure, I'm not sure I can explain it without being gross.

Becks had some smooth thighs and a distinctive lack of hair in those ads, and it seems that he's started another must-have hair craze.

Kim Lawless, who calls herself the Wax Queen, runs the Brazilia Waxing Studio in Upminster, east London, and specialises in intimate waxing for both sexes. "But most of my clients are men," she said, adding that most of them were straight. "They come from every walk of life and profession - accountants, stockbrokers, teachers, boxers, models - but I've noticed that a lot of my clients are in the building trade."

Business is booming. "A year ago I was doing three men a week. Now I am doing three men a day," she said. "I don't know why it has suddenly become more popular, but when people come in they do mention David Beckham. Now that celebrities like him are open about waxing, it makes other men feel more comfortable about it."

Guardian

Before you decide that a little manscaping is a good idea, let me warn you. It really, really does hurt. Friends of mine claim it hurts more than getting a tattoo (although it is over with quicker) and a few claim it hurts worse than childbirth. In the interests of research I'll be sending my husband to confirm this for me.

What makes my mind boggle is not the fact that people follow celebrity fashion trends, but who would even notice David's public hair, or lack of it? That didn't seem to be the dominant feature in the poster.

In the article, beautician Amanda says that while the women scream a lot more than men, she thinks that might just be a case of 'male bravado'. I can't get over the fact that anyone would pursue a beauty treatment that involves screaming. And pay between �40 and �60 for the privilege.

TV chef Nigella Lawson won?t be leaving her children a fortune

Nigella Lawson - a British celebrity chef, for those of you who aren't following the cooking-show-as-entertainment trend - has an estimated fortune of �110 million, from her television show and cook books, as well as from her marriage to marketing guru Charles Saatchi. But she doesn't plan on her children claiming the spoils of her hard work upon her death.

She has decided that she won't allow her children to inherit a large quantity of wealth, as it spoils them for life, but her husband disagrees.

Mr Saatchi has one daughter, 12-year-old Phoebe from his first marriage.

Miss Lawson, 48, has two children, 13-year-old daughter Cosima and son Bruno, 11, from her marriage to the late journalist John Diamond.

Asked what she hoped the children would learn from her, Miss Lawson told the magazine My Weekly: "To know that I am working and that you have to work in order to earn money.

"I am determined that my children should have no financial security. It ruins people not having to earn money.

"I argue with my husband Charles, because he believes that you should be able to leave money to your children.

"I think we'll have to agree to disagree."

Miss Lawson has not said what she would rather do with the couple's fortune, although she has worked closely with cancer charities after her mother, sister and first husband died of the disease.

Daily Mail

While I think it is nice that Nigella might donate money to cancer causes, who almost certainly would do good work with the fortune, has she considered the fact that by the time she dies her children will probably be in their 30s and 40s? If they haven't learned fiscal responsibility by that point they probably never will.

They also have not exactly been sheltered from the privileges of wealth - Nigella indulges in designer labels and celebrity beauty therapy, as well as employing someone to do her shopping. The family live in a �7 million London pad. All of which sounds pretty good - maybe Nigella and husband Charles could adopt me?

I think this is actually a ploy on Nigella's part to scare the children into aiming high, and upon her death she will leave them money. While the Daily Mail suggests that Nigella plans on leaving her children with nothing, she actually doesn't say this herself.

Last year Body Shop founder Anita Roddick died and left all of her fortune to charity, and her children seem to have accepted this decision. Perhaps it is a good idea - what do you think Paris Hilton would be like today if she had to work 9-5 like other people, instead of partying every night? She gets paid for partying though so that may defeat the purpose of cutting her off.

PICTURE NOTE BY CELEBITCHY: Nigella Lawson is shown at The Golden Age Of Couture VIP Gala on 9/17/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Kiefer Sutherland May Be Mending Fences With Dad Donald

Donald and Kiefer Sutherland at the 2006 Emmys
Since his release from jail for DUI earlier this month, “24” star Kiefer Sutherland appears to be a model citizen—keeping a low profile, staying out of trouble and even spending some quality time with his father, actor Donald Sutherland, currently the star of the ABC hit “Dirty Sexy Money.”

Kiefer, who has been recorded in various stages of drunken undress and infamously attacking an innocent Christmas tree in a hotel lobby, has had an up-and-down relationship with his famous dad for years. Reportedly, Donald pulled some strings behind the scenes to get Kiefer’s acting career started back in the ’80s, and Kiefer has spent years trying to distance himself and prove his talent away from his father’s influence.

In a recent statement, Donald, who struggled with his own substance abuse problems in the ’70s, commended his son for owning up to his mistakes and accepting his punishment accordingly:

DONALD SUTHERLAND has applauded his son KIEFER’s "perfect" behaviour in the aftermath of his arrest for drink (sic)-driving in September (07). 24 star Kiefer will spend Christmas behind bars after a Los Angeles judge sentenced him to 48 days in jail for driving under the influence.

But Donald insists his son conducted himself in an "honourable" manner and that other people, who he refuses to name, behaved in a disrespectful way at the time of the incident.

Sutherland Sr says, "You don’t want to get me going on this. All I can tell you is that he (Kiefer) is the most honourable, responsible, decent man I know, and I love him with a passion.

"(Kiefer) behaved in a way that was so pure and so perfect and so respectful.
There are other elements in our community that were less so, but he was perfect."

[From PR Inside]

Hmmm. Could that be a dig at the Lohans and Hiltons of the world?

Kiefer and Donald were photographed, smiling and walking together, outside Mr Chow restaurant not long after his release from jail. These two are rarely photographed together—and Kiefer is more rarely photographed smiling. Hopefully, he can learn something from his time in jail and get help for his addiction. It seems like his dad is a great support system these days.

PICTURE NOTE BY CELEBITCHY: Kiefer and Donald Sutherland are shown in an image from the 2006 Emmys. Page Six has the photos of father and son hugging recently before having dinner.

Beckham?s name used to promote condom; users may have to sleep with Posh

I haven’t been able to get a decent night’s sleep in at least a week. I have no idea what’s changed, but suddenly I’m awake for hours in the middle of the night. Last Wednesday, I was having weird dreams about Avril Lavigne trying to make soup out of me. Last night, it was about the New Kids on the Block reunion. Somehow they’d turned it into a reality show, and I was the judge, but there were weird sexual overtones and an oddly big microphone. And I have a feeling that tonight’s nightmare will most likely feature incredibly scary images of Victoria Beckham, naked, having sex, and in some way impaling me with her pointy scissor legs. Why? Because I’ve just learned that the image of Posh’s husband, David Beckham, is being used to promote a brand of Chinese condoms. They’re not actually endorsed by Beckham – in fact it appears many of the Chinese people are rather mortified, as they really like the soccer star and don’t want to offend him. But just putting his face on the box has made it the number one selling condom in China. Something tells me they didn’t use one of the “seductive” photos that also features Posh.

A Chinese firm is using soccer star David Beckham's name to promote its brand of condoms - without his permission. The firm is claiming men who use the Beckham contraceptive - which has become the best-selling in China - will score in bed like the L.A. Galaxy star does on the pitch.

But fans in the country are calling for a ban on the condoms - because they don't want to offend the British sportsman.

A fan explains, "We do not want Beckham to think the Chinese people are disrespecting him. We love him here." A spokesman for Beckham says, "It's not an official brand."

[From PR-Insider]

Does using Beckham’s condom mean you have to think about Posh when you’re having sex? I’m pretty sure that would kill nearly any intimate moment. I’m not sure it’s the smartest long-term move by that condom company - I would think that’d knock your sales down by at least thirty percent. Can you imagine the injuries that implants that hard and pointy could cause? Jokes about poking an eye out aside – you really could end up with some sort of spleen puncture or something. Considering the Beckham’s “business savvy” (i.e. ability to make a lot of unnecessary cash from sticking their pictures and names on random products) I’m pretty sure we’ll end up with “Intimately Beckham” condoms here by the end of the week. In other Posh/David news, “Intimately Beckham” was on sale for 15% of its original price at my local Target yesterday.

PICTURE NOTE BY CELEBITCHY: David and Victoria Beckham are shown in a spread in W Magazine that came out last summer, and in an ad for their perfume.

Clay Aiken says he?s never had a romantic relationship with anyone

Clay Aiken has been doing a TON of press for his recent starring role in “Spamalot” on Broadway. This is tolerable or terrible depending on your view of Clay Aiken. It’s definitely more tolerable if you only have to read it instead of hear him speak. Clay’s moved to the big city and at 29 years old is living alone for the first time in his life – and seems to feel rather panicky about the whole thing. He gave a surprisingly candid and friendly interview to New York magazine (let’s not forget his terse exchange with Newsweek recently). Clay’s still promoting his family-friendly, nerdy/geeky/dorky, pure-as-the-snow routine.

“Let’s not fool ourselves,” he says with his eyebrows up in his arch, queeny way. “The truth is? There are people like Justin Timberlake, males who are cool on radio right now, and then there’s me. If I heard myself in a dance club? If I went into a dance club—which I never do—and I heard Clay Aiken come on, I’d roll my eyes and get out. But you know what? I’m fine with being kind of vanilla! It’s oh-kye!” In his book, Aiken says that it’s not just clubs but also bars he dislikes: “The only reason people go to bars is to get drunk and have sex. To me, bars are what hell is like.”

[From New York Magazine]

Clay has long refused to talk about his sexual orientation, however he does talk about his personal life a bit – or lack thereof. Apparently Clay’s not interested in the men or the women – his only meaningful relationship is with his dogs.

He imagines his social life here will be “nonexistent, really. I’m not a nighttime person.” He does not plan on dating, and he is not involved with anyone. “Heck, no,” he says. “My dogs.” He has never had a romantic relationship with anyone, unless you count the girls he took to dances back in high school in Raleigh. “I just don’t have an interest in … any of that at all. I have got too much on my plate,” he says. “I’d rather focus on one thing and do that when I can devote time to it, and right now, I just don’t have any desire.”

But Aiken is 29 years old and he is also a human. Surely he must have needs. Urges. He contemplates this in silence for 20 or 30 seconds. “Ah think maybe I don’t! I mean, not really. I’ve just kind of shut it off, maybe. Is that bad?”

[From New York Magazine]

Given that interview, Clay Aiken strikes me as someone who could very well be asexual. I saw a story a while back on ABC News about people who say they’re asexual, and their whole motto was “sexless and proud.” Most of the people interviewed described themselves as asexual and said sex just had no appeal to them. Many claimed they had no inclination towards romantic relationships in general, and they had incredibly happy and fulfilling lives – they just have nothing to do with sex. It really sounds like that’s what Clay Aiken is describing. He’s been pestered by gay rumors for years – which he’s refused to discuss. It’s obviously possible Clay says the things he says as a way of sidestepping the issue. But it is also possible he’s got his own way of doing things and living his life, and he’s perfectly happy with that.

Clay’s been getting pretty good reviews for his Spamalot performance. Although New York magazine was definitely hard on him at several points in the article, they said he really fits into the role well – he even broke his “no cussing” policy. The article also speculates that living in New York may break Clay, and get him to loosen up a bit. Only time will tell.

Best and Worst Dressed at the SAG Awards

I wanted to post as many photos of the celebrities at the SAG Awards last night as possible, so instead of just doing "Best" and "Worst" Dressed or posting by single celebrity, which takes too long, I'm adding an "Undecided" category for those dresses that don't hit either extreme.

Some outfits are obviously bad, like Sandra Oh and her giant bow, and Tilda Swinton's oversized purple metallic jacket. I feel bad for putting Cate Blanchett on the worst dressed list, and usually she would get a pregnancy pass for that busy flowery dress, but we hold Blanchett to a higher fashion standard than everyone else and she's expected to look fabulous throughout her pregnancy.

Other gowns are just not to my taste but don't deserve a "Worst Dressed" label, like Terri Hatcher's too-tight white gown with a silver and bronze flower print. It wasn't a hideous dress, the print just looked like wallpaper to me. Simple clean lines and solid colors are what I prefer to see on the red carpet. I've been aptly criticized in these best and worst dressed posts in the past for being too conservative in my fashion tastes, though. I didn't adore Angelina Jolie's dress - the cut was lovely for a probably pregnant woman, but the colors seemed kind of muddy to me.

Michelle Pfeiffer was striking in a sleeveless tan dress with matching peep-toe shoes and subtle accessories. Holly Hunter cut a striking figure in cowl neck white dress with a grey ribbon. Kyra Sedgwick and Marcia Cross wore flowing dresses in bright hues of blue. And Ellen Pompeo seems to have escaped her sometimes-fug fashion past with a gorgeous silver gown with subtle layers of soft fabric.

Thanks to PRPhotos for these pictures.

Best Dressed: Michelle Pfeiffer, Holly Hunter, Kyra Sedgwick, Marcia Cross, Ellen Pompeo, Marion Cotillard, Brittany Snow, Nancy O'Dell, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Glenn Close, Lymari Nadal, and Becki Newton:





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Worst Dressed: Tilda Swinton, Sandra Oh, Amanda Bynes, Melora Hardin, Nikki Blonski, Jane Krankowski, January Jones, Dana Delaney, Debra Messing, Missi Pyle, Christina Hendricks, Cate Blanchette





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Undecided: Kate Beckinsale, Eva Longoria, Edie Falco, Chandra Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teri Hatcher, Maria Gay Harden, Lisa Rinna, Sara Ramirez, Rebecca Romijn, America Ferrera, Ellen Burstyn, Sophia Bush, Alison Janney, Vanessa Williams, Nicolette Sheridan, Ashley Tisdale, Tina Fey, Angelina Jolie, Sally Field.

Newly crowned Miss America talks about anorexia battle

The 2008 Miss America pageant was held this past Saturday. It marked the first time the organization has dramatically changed the format to appeal to modern viewers: a four-part series leading up to the pageant. “Miss America: Reality Check” aired from January 4th – 25th on TLC and gave viewers a different view of the pageant world. All 52 contestants lived together and had to participate in events and challenges that would supposedly prepare them for the Miss America pageant. The reality show format allowed viewers to vote for their favorite, dubbed “America's Choice" – who was Miss Utah, Jill Stevens. That must be like the reality show runner up. Stevens placed in the final 16 in the actual pageant. The winner was Miss Michigan, Kirsten Haglund, 19. Haglund will spend her year in power promoting eating disorder awareness, and as part of that has already discussed her battle with anorexia.

Just three years ago, newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund was eating tiny portions of food and became so thin her concerned parents "dragged me to the doctor." Haglund was diagnosed with anorexia, and the lack of nutrition caused her collar bones to stick out, her heart rate to drop and her relationships to suffer. "I would feel fatigued walking up six stairs," the 19-year-old Haglund said Sunday, a day after being crowned Miss America 2008. "I was a completely different person. It's not a pretty sight."

Haglund plans to spend her yearlong reign, trying to raise awareness of eating disorders, promoting the pagaent [sic] and helping the Children's Miracle Network while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and exercise. "You have to have curves," she said proudly. "You can't look like a stick-thin model."

[From the Associated Press]

Haglund also went on to proclaim that "I love chocolate. Chocolates are a girl's best friend." I’m guessing she’s going to get a lot of free stuff from See’s. Unlike a lot of contestants, Haglund refuses to disclose her weight to “avoid setting standards for youths obsessed with getting lighter.” She has studied ballet and dreamed of dancing professionally, but eventually changed her mind about the dance world, which she felt ignored eating disorder concerns. Each year Miss America chooses a cause to focus on. Haglund also won a $50,000 scholarship. She is a student at the prestigious Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Alli Sims says Britney ?will be fine;? Sam Lutfi says she?s in ?treatment?

Did anyone ever figure out exactly what so called Britney Spears’ “cousin” Alli Sims real relationship to Brit is? There were a lot of accusations that they weren’t really related, and the press has stopped mentioning any familial relationship when discussing Sims. Alli - who hasn’t been seen in a while – says her relationship with Brit is great, and Britney’s doing just fine.

"She does seem happy," Sims told PEOPLE at Saturday's Hugo Boss/Glamour Studio Glam suite, of Spears, 26. "I'm sure obviously she's going through some things, and a lot, right now. That definitely gets to you. I'm not saying that everything is fine," Sims, 26, says. "Obviously, she's worried about stuff, like we all are. She's hanging in there. I'm not worried. She'll get back. She'll be fine."

[From People]

Assuming Britney Spears will be fine is like assuming a St. Bernard is going to come flying through your window. It’s not 100% completely out of the realm of possibility, but the odds of it happening anytime soon are pretty slim. The St. Bernard has to WANT to fly through your window. Everyone else hoping it’ll just magically happen won’t increase the likelihood.

Sims says she and Spears are still really close and absolutely nothing is wrong with their relationship. She even claims she and Brit have never had so much as a tiny fight. Yet she slams Brit’s creepy-ass boyfriend Adnan Ghalib. Would you really do that to someone you were on good terms with?

"He's been around, what, three weeks?" Sims tells PEOPLE. "I heard about it just from friends who watched it. I don't really see the point of that. I only know him from him following us around for eight months. I don't personally know him. But I don't like that vibe."

[From People]

This morning Barbara Walters told “The View” audience that she’d received a call from Sam Lufti, who’s now calling himself Britney’s manager. Lufti told Walters that Britney is in “treatment” for her mental health issues. I was hoping “in” was the operative word there – meaning she had gone to some kind if of facility. But it’s more that she’s seeing a psychiatrist. Which is still great, I was just hoping she was going whole hog.

Barbara Walters received a call from Britney Spears's manager and "very good friend" Sam Lutfi, the TV host told her cohorts on Monday's The View – reporting that Lutfi said the pop star was seeking help for what Walters termed "mental issues which are treatable."

"She has been to a psychiatrist," Walters, 78, said, recounting Lutfi's explanation over the phone. "She, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment." Walters also reported that Spears was having trouble sleeping and was suffering from "mood swings," but that she was back in touch with her mother, Lynne Spears. When those at the table challenged the veracity of Lutfi's report, Walters's response was, "I don't know if anybody is telling the truth or not telling the truth." But she noted, "He has been with her constantly. He seems to be enormously supportive."

[From People]

Hey, Britney Spears getting some sort of treatment is better than nothing. And with her level of crazy, you probably have to take baby steps. Actually that’s not true, with her level of crazy you should be institutionalized. But because Brit’s got money and power, she seems to be able to do whatever she wants. And considering how reticent she’s been to make any positive changes in her life, baby steps towards psychiatric care is a really big deal. Though to be honest, I’m hoping someone gets her into a straight jacket by the end of the week.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Britney Spears at a gas station buying soda after she went to Petco pet store to buy a bird and birdcage with Sam Lutfi. January 20th. Images thanks to WENN.

Pete Doherty rescues a hedgehog; starting animal sanctuary

The ever-diligent journalists at the UK’s Daily Star are reporting that druggie/rocker/crazy person Pete Doherty is planning on opening up an animal sanctuary… quite possibly in his house. Pete was once famously photographed giving crack to a kitten, so it didn’t exactly seem like he was the biggest animal welfare advocate. But apparently that’s all changed, thanks to the love of a three-legged hedgehog. No I’m not being sarcastic. Pete Doherty really did rescue a three-legged hedgehog that he found in the road. As an aside, I’m pretty sure the fact that hedgehogs run around in the wild is the greatest thing about England. They’re freaking adorable. Anyway, Pete named the little pig Mrs. Tiggg-Winkle, after Beatrix Potter’s famed hedgehog. And apparently his life has been forever changed.

An insider said: “Pete rescued the hedgehog. It had a leg missing and he felt sorry for it.

“He made sure it got the proper help it needed from a vet and set up a special section for it in his garden.

“Pete has a big heart. He also loves rats and is looking after one with no tail.

“He has lots of kittens, too, and hopes that by the end of the year he will be able to open his pet rescue centre at Marlborough to local schools so they can educate children about animals.”

[From the Daily Star]

Well this sounds like an all-out fabulous idea. You’ve got a three-legged hedgehog. You’ve got a rat without a tail. You’ve got kittens upon kittens. Really, what more do you need to educate children about animals? This is what I imagine Pete Doherty’s tour will sound like. “Here’s a broken spiny thing. Here’s my crack pipe. Here’s a broken pointy-nosed thing that ought to have a tail. Here’s some cats mating. That makes more cats. Here’s my collection of bongs. Don’t touch the glass one. Here, play with the plastic one.” It’ll be very informative. And what parents in their right mind wouldn’t want to take their kids over to Pete Doherty’s to hang out with some animals and acid? That’s right, boring ones. Pete Doherty’s had a lot of bad ideas. Throwing a vial of his own blood on a camera. Dating Kate Moss. But an animal sanctuary has got to be the absolute worst.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Pete performing with Babyshambles in Concert at Olympia Hall in Paris - January 14, 2008. Images thanks to PR Photos.

?Bjork turned into a Russian nesting doll? links

It finally happened. Bjork turned into a Russian nesting doll [Best Week Ever]
Lisa Rinna has hemorrhoid lips [Dlisted]
The Ten Most Powerful Girls in Hollyweird [Bossip]
You Can Look, But You Better Not Touch: "Teeth" review [Pajiba]
Alessandra Ambrosio at a photoshoot in Miami [Celebslam]
SAG Worst Dressed [Yeeeah!]
Jennifer Garner At The 10th Annual Gospel Brunch [I'm Not Obsessed]
Miranda Kerr @ G’Day USA Australia Day Black Tie Gala [The Bastardly]
Lindsay Lohan in NYC over the weekend [In Case You Didn't Know]
Britney Spears Wearing a Bra (Site NSFW) [The Bastardly]
Paris Hilton Goes Lesbian [Hollywood Rag]
Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama frenching for an important cause [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
Sarah Jessica Parker looks like a tranny prostitute bag lady [Agent Bedhead]
Alessandra Ambrosio clings on to the final moments [The Blemish]
Quentin Tarantino Directs a Slap [CityRag]
Leah Remini Scientology Letter [Crazy Days and Nights]
John Mayer Starts His Spirited Campaign [Popsugar]
Jenna Jameson Stripper Pictures [The Grumpiest]
Demi and Ashton Abandon Madonna [CelebNewsWire]
Mary-Kate is Off the Hook [Evil Beet]
Kate Beckinsale's Kitty Is On Fire [Celebwarship]
Kardashians Are At The Beach [I Don't Like You In That Way]
Pete Wentz, Ashlee SImpson and Pete's bulldog Hemingway [A Socialite's Life]
Madonna’s Ankle Won’t Keep Her Out of Super Bowl [Just Jared]
Britney Spears Boob Slip Video [Egotastic]
Jessica Alba says Baby is a 'shock to the system' [Lifeline Live]

Jamie Lynn Spears possibly smoking & drinking while pregnant

Lynne Spears’ phenomenal parenting reign continues. Though I’m sure it’s very hard to control your kids when they have a ton of their own money, I’m sure there’s a way to do it. And I’d agree that it’s probably extra hard when they’re sixteen and pregnant. But if there’s any time to figure out how, that would be it. According to Life Style, Jamie Lynn Spears is drinking and smoking while pregnant. While it’s shocking in theory, it should be that surprising considering the epic standard set for her by older sister Britney Spears.

“She’s been going out with her friends recently and staying out late,” LS’s insider said of the approximately 4 ½-month pregnant teen. “Her mom and dad are both worried that Jamie’s late-night partying isn’t good for her — or her child.” While Jamie Lynn returned to mom Lynne’s Kentwood, La., home for support during her pregnancy, the “Zoey 101” star is ignoring any motherly advice. “Jamie Lynn continues to break every rule Lynne makes,” a family friend shared with the magazine, “and there are no consequences.”

According to LS, some speculate that along with her partying, Jamie Lynne may still smoke and drink. Dr. Steven Sherwin, an ob-gyn that doesn’t treat Jamie Lynn, told LS that even a half a glass of wine is unsafe for pregnant women, and smoking can cause low birth weight. What’s more, the magazine points out that doctors often advise pregnant women to avoid stress — something Jamie Lynn has lots of. “Everything in Jamie Lynn’s life is causing stress right now,” another insider told LS. ”She’s worried about her career, her relationship with Casey (the baby’s father) and being a mom at 16.”

[From MSNBC]

It’s sad that a sixteen year old girl would have to worry about her career. Of course it’s even more sad that she’d be pregnant… and even sadder that she might be drinking and smoking. More women than I’d expect seem to think an occasional glass of wine while pregnant is fine. Several celebs have been photographed drinking in public while with child. Considering all the things Jamie Lynn has working against her, I would think it’d be a good idea if she could lay off the sauce for four and a half more months. Or do something really dramatic for a Spears woman… wait until she’s 21.

UPDATE BY CELEBITCHY: I don't think this story is true. The main reason is that Star Magazine ran a story last week about Kevin Federline possibly writing a tell-all and included a blurb about how Jamie Lynn was smoking and drinking at the beginning of her pregnancy before she knew she was expecting. It looks to me that Life and Style took that article and embellished it to say she's drinking and smoking now, which I doubt to be the case. JayBird doesn't pour over the gossip rags like I do and I don't blame her for reporting this story. Here is what Star had to say about this last week, and it sounds suspiciously similar:

Kevin could dish, sources say, on how Jamie Lynn has already endangered her unborn baby girl. "Jamie Lynn has been drinking and smoking since becoming pregnant!" says a friend of Kevin. While Jamie Lynn's publicist says that "both claims are completely false," the friend insists otherwise: "For a while, she had no idea she was expecting, so she went about her normal life, which included drinking with friends and smoking cigarettes."

[From Star Magazine, print edition, January 28, 2008]

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Jamie Lynn and mother Lynne Spears the LA Airport on 10/6/07, thanks to Splash News. Header at Nickelodeon’s 20th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards on 3/31/2007.

Britney Spears is good for the economy

Though she might not know the first thing about money, economics, or even be able to do long division, Britney Spears is actually good for the economy. $120 million good. Who knew Britney was capable of contributing anything worthwhile to our lives? It turns out the "Britney Industrial Complex” benefits not just Brit and her record company, but magazines, blogs, clubs – even perfumes. If you can somehow align your product with Britney Spears, you can make up to 33 percent more than you would otherwise. Elizabeth Arden’s three Britney-endorsed perfumes have netted $100 million to date.

According to annual Yahoo! Search rankings, Britney has also topped the list for six of the past seven years. The star was at slot number 2 only in 2004, when Paris Hilton briefly took over.

In just 78 weeks, between January 2006 and July 2007, Britney was on the cover of People, Us Weekly, In Touch, Life Style, OK!, or Star a whopping 175 times. The survey said that during that time, newsstand sales of issues with her on the cover totaled $360 million.

Overall, the singer [personally] is worth an estimated $125 million and still earns about $737,000 a month according to figures submitted as part of her court battle with her ex- Kevin Federline. Federline is also taking advantage of the Britney craze, commanding almost $30,000 for nightclub appearances. He also receives $35,000 a month from his Britney in spousal and child-support payments.

[From the International Business Times]

And to think I’d claimed Britney was nothing but a drain on the entire world. I guess if you want to attach a dollar sign to her, she’s worth more than I thought. I wonder if she’s worth more or less now that she’s batshit crazy. Does spending time in a locked mental ward increase or decrease your value? I would guess it would cause a short-term increase… but if you stay crazy long enough, people aren’t going to want to be associated with you, and endorsement deals will tend to fade away. Britney’s unwashed-turtle-tank smelling perfume will suddenly be endorsed by Lindsay Lohan instead. Which is probably more appropriate, as I imagine Lindsay smells more like turtles. Something about her face. Considering all the worry that we’re headed for a recession, I’d advise the rest of you to jump on Britney’s coattails. Fast.

Picture note by Jaybird: Britney Spears visits a house in Santa Monica
yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

Sly Stallone claims he didn?t inject Janice Dickinson with steroids

Never let anyone accuse Sylvester Stallone of being a gentleman. Or classy. Or dignified in any way. Sly’s had a number of unhappy relationships over the years. He’s also been injecting God knows what into his body for at least the last… well let’s see, he’s 61 now… so I’m going to say he’s been injecting crap into his body for at least the last 58 years. Though if you’ve ever seen pictures of his mother, Jackie Stallone (who is an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women's wrestling) you know the odds are pretty good he was getting some type of injection in the womb. That woman is all kinds of crazy. Anyway, Sly hooked up with equally crazy and self-proclaimed “World’s first supermodel” Janice Dickinson back in the early nineties. And between the mouths on the two of them, you’d think it’d be a match made in heaven, right? Well either that or a total nightmare, and it turns out it was more the latter. Janice got pregnant with what she thought was Sly’s daughter – turns out she’d slept with three guys in one week, and Stallone was not the dad. But they didn’t know that until two months after Dickenson’s daughter was born, and she and Sly stayed in a relationship until he found out the paternity. Janice is now claiming that not only did Sly juice himself, but he’d inject her too.

On U.S. news show Red Eye earlier this week, Dickinson alleged she had seen Stallone doing steroids. She said: "He juiced me.

"I'd wake up and my arm was as big as Popeye - steroids, testosterone, all that stuff that people say [mimicking Stallone voice], 'Hey, it's not that good 'cause you get really big, you know what I mean?'"

Host Greg Gutfeld replied: "So that's an actual confirmation, though? You did see him juice?"

Dickinson answered: "I did confirm that, didn't I?"

[From the Daily Mail]

Awesome. Dickinson claims that thanks to Sly’s “vitamin” and exercise regime, she was able to walk the catwalk for Versace six weeks after giving birth. Apparently her claims didn’t sit well with the always-upstanding Stallone, and he felt the need to defend his gentlemanly honor on Howard Stern’s show yesterday.

Sylvester Stallone had an armed guard deliver an advance screener of the new "Rambo" to Howard Stern, who gave the flick five stars when Sly called in yesterday to see if he liked it.

The talk quickly turned to women, with Sly denying Janice Dickinson's claims he injected her with steroids. "The only thing I injected her with was my fist," he joked. He also claimed Brigitte Nielsen was one of the "least crazy" women he's dated and that saucy redhead Angie Everhart was demented.

[From Page Six]

You know what’s always funny? Jokes about beating up your former girlfriends. Really, that humor never gets old. God forbid there were 8 people left in the world that didn’t think Sylvester Stallone was a total slime ball. He’s probably just cranky from all the steroids he’s not injecting into himself. Or anybody else. I’m not saying there’s any reason to believe a word that comes out of Janice Dickinson’s mouth. That woman redefines crazy. But it’s probably not the greatest thing to joke that you beat her up. I think if there’s anyone out there who’s crazy enough to take on Sylvester Stallone in a fight, it’s Janice Dickinson.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Janice Dickinson at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards on October 10th. Header of Stallone donating memorabilia from “Rambo” to Planet Hollywood on January 17th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Nude Buttocks May Cost ABC $1.4 Million

I stole that headline directly from the Associated Press. I admit it, because it was way too funny, and too perfect to paraphrase. NYPD Blue is in trouble again, for some bare ass-edness. Whose nude buttocks are so pricey you ask? Actress Charlotte Ross. Yeah, not Dennis Franz, so I really don’t see what the problem was. You’re probably sitting there asking yourself, “Wait, NYPD Blue is still on the air?” No, no it’s not. This was for an episode that aired on February 25th, 2003. Yes your math is correct, that was nearly five years ago. The FCC must have one insane work backlog. I know they talk about the inefficiency of the government, but damn. Late last night they issued a massive fine against ABC and its affiliates for showing some bootay.

The commission late Friday issued a proposed fine totaling almost $1.4 million against 50-some ABC affiliates for airing a Feb. 25, 2003, episode of NYPD Blue that included "adult female nudity," specifically a "small portion of one side of her breasts" and a side view of her buttocks, the FCC said, and another scene of her naked from the back. Rather than the fleeting nudity and profanity decisions currently being challenged in court, the FCC said the scene "dwelled" on the nudity and was lingering," as well as "shocking and titillating."

[From Broadcasting Cable]

My God, both lingering and titillating? I can’t believe riots didn’t break out in the street! What’s next, teenagers dancing? Men and women holding hands in the street? The FCC is either totally ridiculous or absolutely essential depending on your views on decency vs. censorship. Which is a debate I’m not even going to get into here because it’s a Saturday and my brain only runs on 30 percent of its normal power on the weekend. What I am going to do is make fun of the FCC’s reasons. Because they’re utterly hysterical. And who couldn’t use a nice mid-weekend chuckle?

The FCC defines indecent content as depicting or describing "sexual or excretory activities" in a "patently offensive way." ABC argued that "the buttocks are not a sexual organ." But the agency rejected that, saying buttocks qualifies as both sexual and excretory.

[From First Coast News]

Wow, the buttocks really are a multifaceted body part, aren’t they? I wonder how much they would have been fined if the butt were not excretory? Does anything excretory count? For example I have a crazy sinus infection, and have been blowing some bizarre things out of my nose. Is my nose thus excretory? Are noses therefore indecent? If so we need to talk about something I saw on the channel four news last night. Brian Williams was indecent all over the place.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Charlotte Ross' ad for PETA. Her buns look downright inoffensive to me.

Scarlett Johansson says she?s engaged to Barack Obama

Since celebrities are so notoriously publicity shy, you really can’t blame them for hiding out and refusing to talk about their personal lives. What? They need publicity to have good careers? Holy crap you must be joking. Okay I’m kidding, I get that there’s a delicate balance between privacy and publicity, and Scarlett Johansson seems to know just how to balance the two. Rumors were floating all over the internet this past week that Johansson and boyfriend Ryan Reynolds were engaged. The two have been pretty private about their relationship – it’s nearly impossible to find a photo of them together. So we’re really not expecting any kind of confirmation until someone at the Enquirer gets a hold of their marriage license or something. In a sense it keeps things private for the couple, and in another way it increases the buzz. Crafty. Yesterday Johansson confirmed that she was in fact engaged. To Barack Obama.

Scarlett Johansson returned from the Persian Gulf with a whole lot of soldiers' trinkets and a delusion of her own engagement — to Barack Obama.

"I am engaged to Barack Obama," Johansson joked in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. "My heart belongs to Barack, and that is who I am currently, finally, engaged to. Yes."

Johansson, who showed her support for the Democratic presidential candidate at the Iowa caucus earlier this month, was really just deflecting a question about rumors she might be engaged (to actor-beau Ryan Reynolds).

[From the Associated Press]

Johansson was giving interviews after returning from visiting troops in the Persian Gulf last week. Apparently she had a blast. It always makes me a little curious when celebrities visit the troops and talk about how much fun they had. It’s nice that they go, I just find it a little … unusual to talk about how you brightened their day.

"Everybody that I met there was so incredibly friendly and polite and genuine and generous," she said. "They were so, so sweet. I mean, I was just amazed."

Johansson said some people ripped patches off their jackets as gifts and handed her challenge coins from their military units. One Marine offered up his St. Christopher medal. Another starstruck guy gushed: "You made my whole deployment!"

[From the Associated Press]

It’s good that she took some time to do that. In other Scarlett Johansson news, she’s releasing her first CD on May 20th. Titled “Anywhere I Lay My Head," she’s been working on it for the last year. Actors traditionally have a hard time being accepted as singers, though the reverse isn’t true. I can’t think of any that have made the transition successfully. Hmm… Eddie Murphy… Scott Baio… Danny Bonaduce… Tony Danza… Peter Gallagher… Jared Leto… Lindsay Lohan… Alyssa Milano… hmm, this isn’t looking good for Scarlett. And I’m not under the impression that any of these actors got a lot of credit for at least trying. The only success I can think of would be Jamie Foxx – he was an actor first and then put out an album. Though to be fair, his first attempt, 1994’s “Peep This” wasn’t exactly a commercial success. Hopefully Scarlett Johansson stays away from hip hop tune about TV shows.

Amy Winehouse finally checks into rehab. Don?t sing the song. (Update)

Both The Sun and Us Weekly are reporting that Amy Winehouse has finally checked herself into rehab. This morning video was released of Amy doing a wide array of hard drugs over the course of several hours. A lot of people had recently hoped that Amy was starting to turn her life around, after going on vacation with an ex-boyfriend, gaining a little weight, and dramatically changing her hairstyle. Then last week she yelled about her undying love for her incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil… during his court appearance. Hope for a turnaround waned a bit. The release of the shocking drug video seemed to put the final nail in the coffin.

This morning Amy’s own father told the press that she was fine and the video was no big deal, as it just showed what he already knew. While all of this seemed pretty hopeless, Amy Winehouse actually going into rehab is a big deal. She has steadfastly refused to go, with the notable exception of spending a few days at the Causeway Clinic this summer… with Blake in tow. Rehab with your husband generally doesn’t work. Rehab with your using loser of a do-nothing husband really doesn’t work. Considering that Amy has always refused to go to rehab all on her own, this could end up being a very good thing for her.

Amy Winehouse Is in rehab. The shamed singer left her East London home this afternoon in a blacked-out Mercedes and headed to the Edward House private rehabilitation clinic in North West London. Her relocation comes on the same day The Sun exposed a shocking video of her taking a cocktail of drugs.

Earlier in the day her dad, Mitch, arrived at the singer’s home to offer support. He later followed Amy to rehab. The Black To Black star has also reverted back to her familiar brunette beehive look after ditching her blonde bottle haircut.

[From The Sun]

Amy’s own website is filled with comments from fans urging her to get help. Though I’m really glad – and optimistic – that she’s finally gone to rehab, I can’t help but wonder what’s different about this particular drug revelation. What made Amy go this time, when she wouldn’t all those other times? She’s been seen multiple times buying drugs, using drugs, drunk and high, she accidentally overdosed… and this is just within the last six months. After the video was released this morning, Universal Republic, Amy’s label, said, "We are deeply disappointed and upset by these latest revelations and are doing everything we can to offer Amy our full support in dealing with her problems." I can’t help but think someone with some influence must have put their foot down. Perhaps the video was enough evidence that Amy knew she could face legal repercussions if she didn’t go into rehab and show she was acknowledging and working on her problems. Or maybe Universal threatened her in some way. Honestly, who the hell cares? Let’s just hope something changes for her in rehab before she overdoses for the last time.

Update: Amy's rep is denying that she's in rehab. I'm not sure that I buy her story, but time will tell.

"Amy is not in rehab," the rep says. "She was seeing a doctor who she regularly sees as part of her ongoing treatment. It was a regular appointment which she attends all the time."

[From People]

If she regularly attends that clinic all the time, why would all the people that follow her 24/7 think she's in rehab? If she's not, I hope they tie her down and keep her there.

Picture note by Jaybird: Amy Winehouse and her dad Mitch arrive at a clinic in Marylebone, northwest London. WENN notes: Amy is clutching a note written by her husband Blake, who is awaiting trial at Pentonville Prison. The note reads: "Because I fu***g believe in us we will get through this and our kiss will taste all the sweeter for time served, I'm getting out this year.” Images thanks to WENN.

David Beckham visits Sierra Leone

Apparently David Beckham is quite the humanitarian. Though he’s most famous for being married to Posh… and something about football… he’s actually been a UNICEF ambassador for seven years. Who knew? He and Posh also have their own charity, but supposedly they don’t do it for publicity, which is why the rest of us haven’t heard much about it. Beckham hasn’t done a lot of UNICEF stuff lately, so he decided to go to Sierra Leone to draw attention to the impoverished country, which has the highest rate of child deaths in the world.

"We can't turn a blind eye to the tens of thousands of young children who die every day in the developing world mostly from causes that are preventable," added the father-of-three. "In Sierra Leone, one in four children dies before reaching their fifth birthday -- it's shocking and tragic especially when the solutions are simple," said Beckham.

Measures that could be taken to tackle the problem include vaccinating against measles or using a mosquito net to reduce the chances of getting malaria. "Saving these children's lives is a top priority for UNICEF and as an ambassador I hope I can help to draw attention to this issue across the world," said the LA Galaxy star, who spent four days in Sierra Leone.

[From the Agence France-Presse]

Though I’m always a little skeptical when celebrities suddenly become do-gooders, it appears David Beckham has being one for quite some time. He’s just been fairly quiet about it, and actually focuses on the cause, and not attaching his name to it. Beckham said the only reason he’s doing so much publicity for UNICEF and Sierra Leone is because his role for the agency is to bring attention and publicity to the problem.

In absolutely ridiculous David Beckham gossip, supposedly he will be joining good friend Snoop Dogg and rapping on one of Snoop's upcoming tracks. David Beckham might be rapping with Snoop Dogg on a new track if rumours are anything to go by. The BFFs have so far designed a slipper together. So the next logical step is rap.

The source says: "Snoop thought it'd be a laugh and David is going to give it a real go. They are huge names so the song's bound to be a hit - even if it's no good."

[From Angry Ape]

Even if it's no good? Well at least they're keeping their expectations low. Expect an update with a complete denial by one of their reps in the next three hours.

Picture note by Jaybird: David Beckham is shown at his youth soccer clinic on 8/17/07. Images thanks to PR Photos.

?Kim Kardashian hosts the Lifestyles condoms make-out booth? links

Kim Kardashian set up a “Lifestyles Make-Out Booth” with boyfriend Reggie Bush. So much for Sundance having any class this year [Bossip]
More Beauty Queen Hijinks [Dlisted]
Eliza Dushku in and around the Sundance Film Festival [Celebslam]
Scarlett Johansson Brings USO TA To Troops [Yeeeah!]
Adnan Gahlib Speaks!! In An Unpaid Interview? [I'm Not Obsessed]
Paz Vega Promotes Her New Flick “El Destino De Nunik” [The Bastardly]
Kirsten Dunst Ryan Gosling to star in ‘Good Things’ [In Case You Didn't Know]
Kylie Minogue’s Theatrical See Through (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
Salma Hayek Freezes Breast Milk [Hollywood Rag]
Miley Cyrus makes time for her fans who really need her [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
Brittany Murphy Rocks A T-Shirt [Agent Bedhead]
Mariah Carey is topless [The Blemish]
Rihanna Naked, On Purpose [CityRag]
As a part of her 34th birthday party celebrations, Kate Moss participated in an orgy [Crazy Days and Nights]
Brad Pitt For Edwin Jeans — Hot or Not? [Popsugar]
Vanessa Minillo in her Mom Jeans [The Grumpiest]
Tom Cruise's New Strategy: Deprive Katie of Flavor [CelebNewsWire]
Why some people hate Tom Brady [Evil Beet]
Jared Leto will never be the same [Gabsmash]
Max Liron has a bris [Celebwarship]
Now We Know What Lindsay Lohan Will Look Like In 30 Years [Glitterati Gossip]
Nicole’s Delivery Details. Because I'm sure you wanted to know [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Justin Timberlake is Friends with Warren Beatty [A Socialite's Life]
Charlize Theron @ Sundance Film Festival [Just Jared]
No WGA picketing at Grammys [Lifeline Live]
Five More Controversial Cloverfield Theories [Best Week Ever]

Heath Ledger Has Died

Australian actor Heath Ledger has died in his New York Apartment, following a suspected heart attack brought on by drug overdose. He was 28.

The New York Times reports he was found by a masseuse who had an appointment with Heath this afternoon at 3:31pm.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body.

Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, and became well known after appearing in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. He appeared in a variety of films including The Patriot, A Knight's Tale, and Ned Kelly before breaking seriously into Hollywood with Brokeback Mountain. For this role as a homosexual cowboy he was nominated for an Oscar.

During the filming of Brokeback Mountain he began a relationship with his on-screen wife Michelle Williams, and together they have a two year old daughter Matilda. They broke off their relationship in September 2007.

This is truly awful news, particularly since I am not aware of any history of addiction for Heath, but the holidays can be a very hard time of year for some people. TMZ reports that Heath did have a history of substance abuse, but had been clean for a year.

They also report the death was accidental. The autopsy will be tomorrow.

Heath can currently be seen portraying Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and he is also playing the Joker in the latest Batman film The Dark Knight. No word on whether filming of his role was complete. Currently he is filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Our thoughts go out to Heath's family and friends.

Friends say they saw Heath Ledger?s death coming (Update)

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment at 3:26 this afternoon. Heath was 28. His housekeeper let a masseuse into the apartment for an appointment. When Heath didn’t answer a knock at the door, both women entered and found his body. They tried to wake him, then called 911. A bottle of pills was found near his body. Police say no foul play was involved. There is some speculation that the overdose was intentional.

Heath Ledger was found dead at his Manhattan residence, a police spokesman confirms to the Associated Press. He was 28. Police say the death may be drug-related. The NYPD spokesman tells AP that Ledger had a massage appointment at his Soho apartment. When the housekeeper went to alert Ledger the masseuse was there, she found him at around 3:26 p.m.

He did not respond when they shook him, and the housekeeper called 911, The New York Times reports. He was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m. Authorities later said they did not suspect foul play but that pills were found near the body.

[From People]

An NYPD rep has said that the apartment Heath was renting is actually owned by Mary-Kate Olsen, and that Heath was subletting it from her. However Mary-Kate's rep has said that the apartment isn't hers, and she's never lived in the building. It's certainly not the most important detail of the story, but it is an unconfirmed point.

Heath broke up with actress Michelle Williams in September. They have a 2-year-old daughter named Matilda. Heath and Michelle were very private, and managed to keep a pretty low profile living in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. Heath had several run-ins with the Australian paparazzi, which really upset him, and reportedly contributed to his decision to move to the U.S. Because he and Michelle were notoriously media shy, no one really knew why the pair broke up. But it appears that Heath has had a history of addiction, and was really struggling in his battle against it. One of Heath's friends has noted that things had been really tough with his sobriety over the last year, enough so that many of his friends feared he would die.

News of Heath Ledger's death has shaken friends of the actor. "This is terrible and I'm in shock," a close friend of Ledger's tells Usmagazine.com. "But to tell you the truth we saw it coming. Heath has gone though a rough road of trying to get sober," the source tells Us.

"Things were very dark," the source says. "His one joy was Matilda." Matilda is his 2-year-old daughter with ex-wife Michelle Williams. They split in September. "Everything else was misery for him," adds the source. "Unfortunately he was too late in getting help."

[From Us Weekly]

The New York Times has a police source that says most signs point to a suicide. Police spokeswoman Barbara Chen said the medicine found near Ledger's body appeared to be over-the-counter sleeping pills. Courtney Hazlett, who writes MSNBC's "The Scoop, said, "In a lot of ways, this reminds me — we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this with Owen Wilson." I hate to speculate, but given what's been reported, it seems likely that Ledger killed himself. Though a lot of people assumed Anna Nicole Smith had killed herself, and it ended up being ruled accidental. Ledger's autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. We'll update you as further information comes available.

Update: It’s now being reported that there were two bottles of medication found near Ledger’s body: one an over the counter sleeping aid, and the other a prescription. Due to HIPAA laws, no information has been released about the prescription or what Ledger may have been taking it for. A commentator on Headline News (whose name I didn’t catch) said that he’d interviewed Heath Ledger several times over the years, including “recently.” He said that while Heath had always been a bit of a “social misfit,” he seemed especially out of it the last time the two spoke. He also described Heath’s behavior as nervous and jumpy. He said that he believed it’s possible that Heath accidentally overdosed. He noted that Heath had been very “honest with the press” recently in discussing his battle with insomnia, and that he’d taken Ambien and other sleep aids. The commentator pointed out that - considering one of the pills was an OTC sleep aid – it is possible that Heath accidentally overdosed. He also said that, as an actor, he would have at least expected Heath to “stage” his death, instead of being found naked with pills everywhere. This is just one person’s speculation, but he does make a valid point.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Heath Ledger sporting a beard, on the set of his new film 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' in London on Friday. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Heath Ledger in photos; he had pneumonia

Here are photos of Ledger's well-documented life in chronological order from newest to oldest. RIP Heath, we hardly knew you.

From 2007






From 2006








From 2005 and earlier



-------------------------

When I first read this story via e-mail I thought it was a joke, like one of those fake press releases that says some child actor you haven't heard of in years has died in an accident. I was like "Oh yeah, the masseuse found him," and I e-mailed Vera at I'm Not Obsessed that the article she sent had to be fake, because I just wouldn't believe it. Except in this case it wasn't someone unknown, it was Heath and the story was all too real.

We haven't covered Ledger favorably in the past because he was a guy who shunned photographers, generally looked grumpy and was portrayed as a bit of a cad after his split with Michelle Williams. He seemed like he was a hipster Hollywood star who perfected the disheveled look and chased skirts. Maybe Ledger died of an accidental overdose of whatever medication he was taking to help him sleep, or maybe this was something else and we'll soon hear about it. His family denies that he committed suicide and initial impressions point to an accident. TMZ reports that he had pneumonia at the time of his death, and we'll have to wait to see if there are more details.

However Ledger died, there was undoubtedly much more to this guy than we saw. He wasn't just a grumpy star who wasn't into appearances, he was a person with interests and fears and a father who wanted to protect his daughter. There may have been a deep shyness behind his reluctance to accept the scrutiny that comes with being famous.

There was an incident at the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain in which paparazzi squirted Heath and Michelle with water pistols. It was thought at first that Heath wasn't too bothered by it, but his father later revealed that Heath was distraught and cried about it that night. He also asked his father to sell his home and decided to move out of his native Australia as a direct result. We blasted Heath for being a "crybaby," but a fan really schooled us on how Heath was the victim of incredible harassment by those same paparazzi, who would camp outside his house and taunt him night and day. She also said that despite his persona Heath had a reputation in the industry of just being shy and fearful of public events:

Do you know that the Sydney paparazzi slept in his bushes and behind his bar-b-que to try to sneak pictures into his house? Every night! Do you know that they parked at the end of his driveway and waited for him to leave his home and followed him Michelle everywhere they went? One even interruped a scene on the set of Candy, and then menacingly whispered, "See you at home, Heath."

How would you feel? Do you really think that in order to be an actor a person has to be subjected to this? Where's the line?

How much would it take for you to flip off someone who harrassed you daily?

At some point the stress builds up and you have to let it out. He cried. I don't think that's anything to be ashamed of. It doesn't make him a "girl". It makes him human.

Heath's father didn't tell anything Heath hadn't admitted already. He had said in an earlier interview that he broke down when he got home. Extreme stress, built up over time can do that to a person. Not just being squirted by a water gun, but the constant harrassment and viciousness. That was just the final straw, and he had to let it out.

None of us can understand how much pressure and stress they had been putting on him and how long it had been going on. How many lies had been printed and how long he had kept quiet and not defended himself? He's only now beginning to speak out.

Heath is a very gentle and private person. He doesn't have an ego. Industry friends who know him tell me that he's extremely shy. Sometimes people think he's being aloof; premieres are a nightmare for him, and he's uncomfortable being approached by strangers, but he doesn't have an ego. He's not ashamed to admit he cried. I think it's admirable.

He wants to act. He likes the work. It's the acting part he loves. And why should he have to give that up, just because some photographers lack common decency and manners.

[Comment from Phyllis of the now-down HeathHeathens.com]

Heath personally wrote a letter to the NY Post after they published a blurb in the Page Six section in November, 2005 revealing the exact location of his new brownstone with Michelle and daughter Matilda. He denied the story that they were rude to any neighbors and admonished the paper in a measured tone, saying that "Page Six's revealing our whereabouts could possibly put our child in danger."

Ledger had plenty of reason to be annoyed with the paparazzi and media based on his experience. It seems he couldn't even escape them in death. There are already plenty of photos and video of his covered body being taken out to a waiting ambulance.

Tina Fey?s gynecologist asked her if she was ok after she dissed Paris Hilton

Actress and writer/producer Tina Fey ripped on Paris Hilton in an interview with Howard Stern in November, 2006. She dished on how immature Paris was when she appeared on Saturday Night Live, annoying cast and crew and coming up with idiotic suggestions for skits. Here's the relevant part of the interview in case you'd like a refresher. She called Paris a piece of shit and said she's dumb and self important:

HS: What is Paris Hilton like?

TF: She's a piece of sh-t. The people at SNL were like maybe she'll be fun, maybe she won't take herself so seriously. She takes herself so seriously! She's unbelievably dumb and so proud of how dumb she is. She looks like a tranny up close.

HS: Was she bad on SNL, was she hard to deal with?

TF: She was awful. People never come in and say "I'm not doing that." So, this guy Jim Downey wrote a really really funny sketch, it was supposed to be Lorne Michaels just finding out that she had a sex tape and telling her she couldn't host the show because SNL has standards So she was like "I'm not doing it!" and refused to come out of her dressing room. Also, you would walk down the hall and find what just looked like nasty wads of Barbie hair on the stairs Her hair is like a Fraggle.

HS: Did she give you ideas for sketches?

TF: Yeah, she wanted to make fun of all the girls she hates. She was like "I want to play Jessica Simpson, I hate her." She would come in the room and say "you should do a show about Jessica Simpson because she's fat."

HS: What was the bet you guys had going about her?

TF: The cast had a bet if she would ask anyone on the cast anything about themselves, you know like how are you? where are you from? anything. I think Seth Meyers won because at one point, she asked him if Maya Rudolf was Italian.

[From US Weekly]

Star Magazine has quotes from Tina Fey's interview in Gotham Magazine's yearbook issue, and the Golden Globe winner reveals that it was her gynecologist that made her have second thoughts about her public diss of the heirhead. Can you just picture her laying there in the stirrups with a contemplative look on her face? Anyone who criticized me at that point would get special consideration due to the circumstances:

When Tina went on Howard Stern and dissed Paris Hilton she got flack from her gynecologist! "She was like 'That was very hostile. Are you alright?' And I was like, 'You know what? You're right What business is it of mine?"

[Excerpt from Gotham Magazine article found in Star Magazine, print edition, January 28, 2008.]

Tina also spoke out in her characteristically blunt way about the unreal standards for beauty in Hollywood. She said "I think TV has conditioned our brains to see fake teeth and fake tans and fake lips, so when you see a normal person, you're like 'Oh, that's disappointing' I'm probably always disappointing, with my crooked teeth and thin lips."

Tina looks hot to me and that's great that she never fell prey to the plastic surgery obsession that plagues so many of her colleagues. She's lovely and it would never occur to me that there's anything wrong with her mouth, especially considering the awesome observations that come out of it. Anyone that says Paris Hilton has Fraggle hair deserves our utmost respect.

Ms. Fey is supporting her fellow writers in the WGA and has been seen picketing. There are new informal talks announced between the The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and the hope is that they will become full negotiations and that the strike will be resolved soon. There is hope that the strike may end in time for the Oscars.

Tina Fey sis shown at the Emmys on 9/16/07, where she won for her show 30 Rock. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Marcia Cross lobbies congress to end ?drive through? mastectomies

It’s interesting to hear what different actors decide to do with their time off during the writer’s guild strike. I have a feeling there’s a lot of kicking back and vacationing going on. But some of the more civic-minded celebs have been volunteering or championing social causes. Desperate Housewives actress Marcia Cross has jumped on board the women’s advocacy bandwagon and joined several prominent congresswomen (and a few men) to lobby for the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007. The bill mandates that women have the right to spend at least 48 hours in the hospital after having a mastectomy. Currently many women are forced by their insurance providers to be sent home the very same day. The bill has been languishing in congress for almost a dozen years.

One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime," Cross said. "I've seen it up close and personally. I'm sorry to say I don't have a friend, but friends who've been diagnosed with breast cancer, and when I first heard about drive-by mastectomies I was shocked."

Cross said for her part, she would like Hollywood to get more involved with the issue. She said roughly 20 million people a week watch ABC’s Desperate Housewives, the same number who signed the petition, and television can be a powerful medium. Her show already has a character with a different kind of cancer, but she said she’d suggest other shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy, dedicate an episode to drive-by mastectomies.

“I don’t want this to be a one-hit day,” she said after the news conference. “I really want to raise awareness and get this done after 12 years. I don’t want it to go another five or 10.”

[From the Baltimore Sun]

The Lifetime network has been pushing the bill for quite some time, and has a petition you can sign on their website. Marcia Cross is one of those actresses that always seems to have her act together. She has a master’s degree in psychology – not something a whole lot of celebrities can claim. It’s great that she’s using her celebrity to bring attention to important issues.

Picture note by Jaybird: Marcia Cross at a news conference to raise awareness of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. Cross delivered 20 million signatures collected online that urge Congress to pass legislation to stop "drive-through" mastectomies yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

Jamie Lynn Spears to let her mom ruin her baby?s life too

This week's Star Magazine leads with the headline "Pregnant Jamie Lynn Giving Up Her Baby!" in all caps with a yellow bubble that reads "Troubled Teen's Desperate Decision." (They also claim that Angelina and Brad are adopting a Katrina orphan so we'll have to see if that has anything to do with Jamie Lynn.)

Inside the magazine the news is a little less sensational, because it's not as if Jamie Lynn is giving the baby up for adoption - she supposedly decided to let her mother raise her child so that she can continue with her career. The baby will live in Jaime Lynn's hometown of Kentwood, LA and be cared for by its grandmother while Jamie Lynn does what she has to do for her career. Another reason that's given for why she is letting her mom raise the baby is so that she can continue with some semblance of a teenage lifestyle, but it seems like the money she brings in is more of a motivating factor in this decision:

“Lynne says Jamie doesn’t understand the life long consequences of having a baby.

“She still wants her daughter to be able to be a teenager, go to parties, hang out with friends and have a career.

“So she’ll take the front seat of caring for the baby and take the pressure off her daughter"

Since the news broke Jamie Lynn has left Los Angeles and headed back to Kentwood where she has been attending high school equivalency and parenting classes.

She has been staying at the family’s $3 million estate but once the baby is born she is planning to return to LA.

But despite the news she is pregnant at 16, residents in the tiny town, whose population is just 2,200, are supporting the teen.

Kentwood local Pam Wright said: “How many 16 year-old girls get pregnant every week?

“It doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person. I don’t think this will end her career, life will go on.”

And that is exactly the same attitude mum Lynne is taking with her daughter.

The insider added: “She wants Jamie Lynn to continue her show business career after the baby is born and Jamie Lynn also realizes she wants to enjoy her teenage years without the responsibilities of caring for a baby.

“Lynne is convinced that having a baby on her hip will not help Jamie Lynn’s future in the business and she’s expecting her daughter to pick up where she left off as soon as the baby is born.”

According to the source, Jamie Lynn’s managers also agree and have advised Lynne that the best thing to do is have Jamie photographed with the baby as soon as it is born, sell the pictures and then take over raising her own grandchild.

[From Showbizspy.com]

Doesn't that sound so calculated "Jamie Lynn’s managers also agree and have advised Lynne that the best thing to do is have Jamie photographed with the baby as soon as it is born." This is Star Magazine we're talking about though, so it's not like any of this is necessarily true. It's also not out of the ordinary. A lot of grandmothers raise their grandchildren when the mother is too young or otherwise unable to care for them.

Unlike Britney, we've had hardly any glimpse of Jamie Lynn since her pregnancy announcement apart from a single outing in which she was seen picking up materials for her GED while wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

The shocking news about 16 year-old Zoey 101 star Jamie Lynn's pregnancy was quickly eclipsed by her older and more famous sister's standoff with police in which she held her youngest son hostage for several hours, refusing to turn him over for his scheduled visit with his father. Britney has since taken up with a married paparazzo and pulled so many other stunts that it's hard to remember the brief time that another one of her family members dominated the press.

Thanks to Popbytes for the header image.

Tony Romo predictably tires of Jessica Simpson

Many a man has tired of Jessica Simpson. Many a woman his tired of Jessica Simpson. In fact, many a houseplant has tired of Jessica Simpson. She just strikes me as someone you could only be around in very small, controlled doses – and five extra minutes of her could easily send a person into deep psychosis. Now imagine that somehow - by the grace of God – you’ve managed to figure out a way to tolerate being around the straight-to-DVD blond. But every time you try to get a little, her creepy-ass dad pops his head in the room. Though to be honest, when I imagine Joe Simpson’s intrusions, it’s more like him sticking his head between the two lovers. Yeah try to get that imagine out of your mind now. Anyway, the relationship is plugging along, so the two of you decide to go away together – an all-important relationship step. And then Jessica’s dad decides to join you. Romantic, huh? At this point you’re just barely hanging on by a thread, but you want to try to make the relationship work so it’s not a total PR disaster for the two of you. And then Jessica tells you she wants you to sing a duet with her on a new country album. If you’re Tony Romo, that’s when you decide enough is enough, and you do your best to give Jessica Simpson the boot. But she’s sneaky, that one. Luckily, so are you.

Just when it seemed like Jessica Simpson and her quarterback hunk Tony Romo might not go the distance, the two were spotted cavorting together on a seemingly romantic hunting trip over the weekend in Texas. But now OK! has learned all might not be well just yet as insiders say the trip was a last-ditch effort to save their relationship.

On Jan. 17, Tony called Jessica at her L.A. home to try to break things off. "He said he thought it was better if they went back to being friends," a pal of the singer tells OK!. "'Just friends' is not in Jessica's vocabulary, and she is not a victim. She knows how bad this will look in the media."

But according to the pal, Jessica refused to give up, and so Tony invited her on what he thought would be the worst date of her life: a hunting trip! "It's Tony's way of punishing Jess," laughs her friend. "Jessica Simpson hunting — and without her entourage? Forget it!" Only time will tell if these two will make it. But according to an insider, “Tony has finally started to realize how high-maintenance Jessica is," says her friend. "We're talking diva status. She comes with an entourage, and that includes her dad, Joe Simpson. What's not to love?"

[From OK!]

Poor Tony Romo. Jessica Simpson must either be really in love with him or one conniving woman. Can you imagine her hunting? That doesn’t seem like an activity that’s really popular these days, even for regular folks. The idea of Jessica Simpson hunting is hysterical. Somehow all I can imagine is Tony Romo, a gun, and a lot of blond hair. I can’t even visualize the rest of Jessica taking part in that. I’m not going to get into the hunting debate, or even the general gun debate. Regardless of how you feel about those issues, does anyone think it’s EVER a good idea to give Jessica Simpson a gun? She’s confused by tuna fish and buffalo wings for heaven’s sakes. Can you imagine the damage she could do with something that has a trigger?

Picture note by Jaybird: Jessica Simpson at Joans restaurant in Los Angeles on January 12th. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Stephen Colbert?s broken wrist leads to $171,525 charity donation

What do you do when you’re the host of a late-night faux news show and you’ve got no writers? Well you could sit on your ass, you could mumble at random, or you could do something great with your time and support a charitable cause. But what if your show is all mockery? How do you do something that’s actually good, while poking fun at the same time? Well if you’re Stephen Colbert, and you happen to have broken your wrist a few months back, you do everything you can to "raise wrist injury awareness” – and donate the money to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which supports injured U.S. soldiers . How do you raise the money? By selling red WristStrong bracelets of course.

"The only thing worse than the pain has been the agony," the bespectacled funnyman said. "Hollywood has been glamorizing wrist violence for years…and I am fighting back with the most powerful tool known to man—the silicone bracelet! It is go time. Just to put it on requires a wrist—that's one level of awareness," Colbert continued. "Every time you look down, it will remind you that you have a wrist. And if you ever forget what the area connecting the hands to the arm is called, you can just look down and it says 'wrist,' right there on the bracelet."

On Wednesday, he encouraged fans to purchase more bracelets and send them to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who may or may not have been sporting a boot on his foot when he was photographed leaving girlfriend Gisele Bündchen's Manhattan apartment this week. “Now, I know that he injured his ankle, but I have said many times, the ankle is just the wrist of the foot,” Colbert said.

[From E! News]

Colbert raised $17,000 just from auctioning off his wrist cast. Awesome… and kind of gross. He got New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Brian Williams, Tim Russert, Bill O'Reilly, Tony Snow, Katie Couric, and Nancy Pelosi to sign the cast before the auction by asking them to “board the "WristStrong" express.” Between all his fundraising efforts, Colbert was able to hand over a check for $171,525 to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. The charity helps injured U.S. service members who are recovering at the National Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and provides housing and transportation for them and their families. They also provide job mentoring and internships, and give tickets to sporting and cultural events.

Conservative radio and tv host mocks Ledger?s death repeatedly on air

Think Progress has an excerpt from Fox News host John Gibson's radio show in which he called Heath Ledger a "weirdo" with a drug problem, and repeatedly played a clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger says "We're Dead." He openly mocked the guy and suggested it was suicide or an overdose.

One of our writers Helen wrote an article about those Westboro Baptist crazies planning to picket Ledger's funeral and I decided not to publish it because why should we even acknowledge them? When a prominent newscaster so openly mocks a tragic death like this, they need to be called on it.

Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger’s death, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide.

On yesterday’s drop in the stock market:

GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market.

TOM SULLIVAN: And possibly today, he looked at the window and said…

GIBSON: “Oh my God.”

SULLIVAN: His name’s not Keith Bledger, right?

GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday’s downturn in the world stock markets.

On the Democratic debate in South Carolina:

GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.

[Transcript of Gibson's radio show found at ThinkProgress.org]

At the beginning of the show they play funeral music followed by a montage of sound bytes from the critically acclaimed film Brokeback Mountain. It's as if this guy was gloating that Ledger has died. Think Progress notes that Gibson called Brokeback a "gay agenda movie" when it was released. I wonder if he'll be forced to issue an apology or if he'll get suspended or canned. What a jerk. How do people like this get jobs working in the media? Do they look for the most abrasive assholes they can find?

Britney Spears went to elementary school; freaked out students

I sometimes feel conflicted about the whole Britney Spears story. I don’t think it’s necessary that people report on every little crazy detail of her life, but sometimes her behavior is so bizarre, random, and fascinating that you can’t help but be interested. Case in point: on January 7th (the Monday after Britney’s crazy breakdown that landed her in Cedars-Sinai medical center) she showed up at a Beverly Hills elementary school. The “scantily clad” singer pulled into the school’s parking lot a few minutes before 3 o’clock and got out. She was smoking cigarettes and talking to herself. I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to smoke on school property, though that’s probably the least freaky thing she did. She then told a witness that she was there to pick up her kids. Keep in mind her two sons are both under the age of three and obviously don’t go to elementary school yet.

“She was just rambling and confused,” says the witness, who approached Spears to ask if she was OK. “She said, ‘I’m here to pick up my kids.’ But then she changed her story and said, ‘They aren’t my kids; I have a new attorney, and I came to pick them up for her.’”

Adds the witness, “All I could think was, Who in their right mind would let her pick up their kids?”

As children began to leave for the day, the star, 26, caused a commotion — “It became the talk of the school. Some of the kids were freaked out,” says a school source. She was directed to a more secure entrance around back. But before getting into her car and driving off (without any children), she chatted up the female witness: “She said, ‘You’re so nice. You should give me your number. I don’t have very many friends.’"

[From Us Weekly]

This is probably one of the least crazy things Britney Spears has ever done. I’m kidding. But sometimes it’s these smaller incidents that really give you a picture of how crazy Britney is. And it makes you wonder how much of a danger she may be. This incident happened on January 7th, right after Britney lost custody of her kids on January 4th. What in the world was she doing there? Was she just looking at kids? Would she have tried to take one? I’m not saying she’d get very far – it’s not exactly like Britney Spears can blend in to a crowd – but that doesn’t mean she can’t attempt crazy things. Don’t forget this is a woman who three days prior held her own kid hostage. It’s not okay when you’re a danger to your own family. But it’s just as problematic when you’re a danger to the community. No one should be held captive to Britney Spears’ whims. Showing up at an elementary school and freaking out little kids is not okay. You’ll note that the kids weren’t described as excited to see Britney Spears. They were scared. That says a lot about her behavior.

Picture note by Jaybird: Britney Spears on a little road trip to Petco in Beverly Hills. Britney sent her assistant into Petco to pick up some pet supplies while Britney drove around and around and around the block before heading home yesterday. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Denise Richards wins court battle to put her young daughters on TV

It’s funny to think that guys like Kevin Federline and Charlie Sheen are looking like better parents than their former wives. I mean Charlie Sheen was one of Heidi Fleiss’ most famous clients. So if anyone would know about the ups and downs of pimping, it would be Sheen. He tried to stop his ex-wife Denise Richards from pimping out their kids by featuring them on her upcoming reality show. Despite his objections, the court commissioner decided that Richard’s could go ahead with her plan.

Now, notorious bad boy Charlie seems to be a more sensible caregiver than his ex, Denise Richards. Only Charlie isn’t doing as well as K-Fed at the courthouse.

TMZ reports that despite Charlie’s objections, a court commissioner granted Denise permission for the divorced couple’s two daughters to co-star in her upcoming reality show. Appropriately enough, Charlie seems no way OK with subjecting Sam, 3, and Lola, 2, to constant public scrutiny. Meanwhile, despite certain undisclosed restrictions applied to the court ruling, Denise is “very happy” with the court’s decision, according to the Web site.

[From MSNBC]

Apparently Denise is doing the show with Ryan Seacrest, though what role Seacrest will play is unclear. Ryan called Denise “an interesting personality.” I’m calling Ryan a bold-faced liar.

Mega mogul Ryan Seacrest revealed that he is in talks with Denise Richards to film a reality TV show about her life. The American Idol host and radio personality told Extra that he finds Richards "an interesting personality."

"We've been in talks about doing a series with her. I don't know if the kids would necessarily be involved. It would be about her, if we do this, and her life. And what she wants to do with it, with her career."

[From OK!]

I think this show actually sounds like a fabulous idea, because it’ll put that final nail in Richard’s career coffin. She’s got as much personality as a bag of gummy worms. As dull and terrible as anything with her in it would be, I really do worry for her kids. I have never seen so many pictures of two little girls who always look miserable. Catching them in a smile seems incredibly hard. I’m sure having two angry parents doesn’t do much for your happiness, nor does it encourage a fulfilling, carefree childhood. But having those two parents be Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards? That’s probably the one thing that could make it worse.

Amy Winehouse really goes to rehab - according to her record company

Amy Winehouse has finally entered rehab, and it’s been confirmed by her record company. I feel like I’ve written versions of this article seventy times. Probably because Amy’s always torturing us with such crazy antics that you assume someone would force her into rehab afterwards, but it never happens. Apparently the threat of not being issued a travel visa for the Grammys was enough to get Winehouse’s butt in gear. Well in theory anyway.

"Amy decided to enter the facility today after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors," said the statement from Universal Music Group. "She has come to understand that she requires specialist treatment to continue her ongoing recovery from drug addiction and prepare for her planned appearance at the Grammy Awards. She is nominated in an incredible six categories. Amy entered the facility by mutual agreement and continues to receive the full support of all concerned. Amy is the most talented and important musical artist of her generation and has made huge strides on her road to recovery. Universal Music Group wants nothing more than to see her take the time she needs to come back to full health and fulfill her incredible potential with the label. The label has always had the best interests of Amy at heart and has been guided by her family and doctors in the last few months as to the best direction to take. All concerned feel that Amy must put her health before all other considerations and will be by her side whenever and wherever they are needed."

[From People]

I think calling anyone “the most talented and important musical artist” of their generation is asking for trouble. You’re just begging people to argue why that’s not the case. I can’t tell if Amy thinks she’s too important or has no self-esteem whatsoever. Something tells me it’s probably the latter, and if hearing she’s the best of the best makes her want to get better, go for it. I hope rehab does some good, but I’m under the impression from this statement that Amy’s probably going because her record label is forcing her to. If she were going entirely of her own volition, that’d be one thing. It would mean she’d realized some things on her own, and/or hit rock bottom. Her motivation has a lot to do with her success in rehab. But at least she’s there, and that’s a step. We wish her the best.

Picture note by Jaybird: Amy Winehouse and her father Mitch Winehouse leaving the Universal Records office after attending a 2 1/2 hour meeting with Amy's record company today. Images thanks to WENN.

?The top 10 Britney Spears phobias? links

The awesome Top Ten Britney Spears Phobias [Yeeeah!]
Paris Hilton has the Voice Of An Angel [Dlisted]
More reasons of why Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds broke up [Bossip]
Classics week continues over at Pajiba. Check out the "Lawrence of Arabia" review [Pajiba]
Will Ferrell accepting the “James Joyce Award” in Dublin [Celebslam]
Blake Lively At Paris Fashion Week [I'm Not Obsessed]
Hot or Not: Jennifer Esposito [The Bastardly]
Uma Thurman and millionaire boyfriend Arpad “Arki” Busson [In Case You Didn't Know]
Miss America’s Preliminary Bikini Contest (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
Busta Rhymes Will Do Community Service [Hollywood Rag]
What did Halle Berry do to her hair? [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
Hayden Christensen was frightened of Jessica Alba [The Blemish]
Paris Hilton's Sex Dress [CityRag]
Now everyone loves Tom Cruise. WTF? [Crazy Days and Nights]
Lost is almost back on!!!!!!!!!!! Not that I'm excited. Or counting down the days. [Popsugar]
Kim Kardashian Bikini Pictures. Sorta NSFW, depending on how cool your boss is [The Grumpiest]
Tori Spelling is Once Again Knocked Up again [Evil Beet]
Dita Von Teese at Gaultier’s Paris Spring/Summer Runway Show [CelebWarship]
Britney Spears is braless in a nearly see-through shirt at Petco. Where the pets go. Sorta NSFW [I Don't Like You In That Way]
Paris (The City) Presents Spring Fashion [Glitterati Gossip]
Pregnant Camila Alves Runs Errands, looks fabulous [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Katie Holmes' secret pregnancy with ex-boyfriend [Popbytes]
Eva Longoria In Electric Blue [A Socialite's Life]
Clay Aiken’s Blond Moment [Just Jared]
"Scandalous" Miley Cyrus Bikini Pictures Leaked [Egotastic!]
Scarlett Johansson sings, too [Lifeline Live]
VIRAL VID OF THE DAY: Homosexuwhales [Best Week Ever]

Heath Ledger?s private funeral to be held today

Heath Ledger’s funeral will be held today. His family has flown into New York from Australia for the private service. They’ve made no plans for a public memorial, so unless someone else plans one, it appears that Heath’s fans will make do with the mountains of flowers, letters, and candles that they’ve left outside his Soho apartment.

Services for Heath Ledger will remain private, a rep for the late actor said in a statement Friday. Various reports have said Ledger would be buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia, but no official plans have been announced.

"At this time, we will not be releasing any information," the rep says. "There are no plans for a public service."

Ledger, 28, was found dead in his SoHo apartment Tuesday and his family is set to arrive in Manhattan Friday for his funeral.

[From People]

Some of Heath’s fans have expressed some annoyance that there won’t be a public memorial. I think it’s important to remember that as sad as it is for the public, there’s really no way it compares to the sadness his family feels. They loved him as a son, brother, and father, not as an actor, and they deserve to deal with this privately. It seems like sometimes we think that because someone is a public figure, we “own” them or “have a right to them,” which really isn’t the case.

Heath’s family wrote a little in the death notices section of the “West Australian” today.

How do we describe our sudden and tragic loss? You were the most amazing individual "old soul" in a young man's body.

You so loved us, as we dearly loved you. As a close knit and very private family unit we have observed you so determined yet quietly travelling in your self-styled path in life, nothing would get in your way no mountain too tall, no river too wide.

You dreamed your dreams and lived them with passion and intelligent commitment. We have been privileged to accompany you on a ride through life that has simply been amazing and through it all, we have loved each other beyond imagination.

Your true legacy lives on in beautiful little Matilda, who will always remain in the greatest of care. Our hearts are broken.

[From People]

In the media, once the funeral is held the attention dies down and the story tends to wrap up. There will be a little more attention once the autopsy results come back, and some notes here and there, but for the most part everyone moves on. For Heath’s family, this is just starting. We keep them in our thoughts.

PICTURE NOTE BY CELEBITCHY: photos of the memorial outside Heath Ledger's apartment thanks to PRPhotos.

Josh Hartnett and Kirsten Dunst caught making out

It never ceases to amaze me the celebrity couple combinations that are possible. In a way it seems like a massive incestuous free-for-all, but maybe that's because there are only so many famous people in that age bracket along with the fact that the tabloids like to act like two people of the opposite sex are together whenever they talk to each other at an event.

I was trying to figure out if Josh Harnett and Kirsten Dunst were ever supposedly together, and they did play lovers in the 2000 film The Virgin Suicides along with being spotted making out over three years ago at a club. Everything old is new again, or at least smooch-worthy, because Josh and Kirsten were seen swapping spit at a Sundance party:

Josh Hartnett - showed up at Hyde-Sundance with his old Virgin Suicides co-star Kirsten Dunst on his arm. The two took over a couch in the lounge and proceeded to make out like crazy! They remained in an almost-perpetual liplock until 4 a.m.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Hollywood After Dark section, February 4, 2008]

Making out on a couch for hours at a club strikes me as either something you'd do when you lived with your parents or were cheating on your live-in significant other. You would also presumably not have the time or money to rent a room. So these two have little or no excuse apart from inebriation, laziness, and/or exhibitionist tendencies. Just go to the hotel already. Or not, so we can gossip about how you carried on in public. Horny bastards.

Kirsten Dunst is shown having lunch with friends on 1/17/08. Josh Hartnett is shown in Park City, Utah on 1/23/08. Thanks to Splash News.

Adnan Ghalib reviewed male sex products for website (update: spam)

I think there’s a really good chance Britney Spears is only using Adnan Ghalib for his sexual prowess. It’s long been rumored that Britney is insatiable in the sack. Supposedly she wanted a threesome with K-Fed and another girl, which freaked K-Fed out – as he was worried Brit would be more into the other girl. Doesn’t speak highly of K-Fed, but whatever. Other persistent rumors are that Brit has a locked room full of costumes and sex toys. Obviously the girl needs a man that can keep up. And who better that a male enhancement product reviewer? That’s right ladies, line on up for Adnan Ghalib, who just so happens to be on the test review panel of a sex product review site. The auspicious site notes:

This site was initially started because I was tired of being bombarded with print, TV and online ads for male enhancement products. After trying a few products that I ordered online and over the phone I felt like I each one was more of a hoax than the other. So I started a little site to share my experience with many other men in the world who are in my “situation”. My “situation” involves not being too old but being overwhelmed with stress, work, poor diet, and life draining me in general. The unfortunate part is that I was being drained where it hurts the most (many of you know which part that is).

[From spamming site]

I’m sorry, what part is that? I’m totally unclear. Well thank goodness this sex pioneer rounded up 12 of the best horny guys out there and probably did all sorts of wacky things to their junk. And the always upstanding Adnan Ghalib just happens to be the third test reviewer on the website. Here’s Adnan’s bio (which also features a stunningly sexy headshot featuring is crazy facial hair).

Name: Adnan G.
Age: 28
Current Occupation: Filmmaker
Tell Us a Little Something About Yourself: I work in "the" industry in Los Angeles and I know many of my friends use these products. Thought this would be an interesting opportunity to reveal the truth to many men worldwide.

[From spamming site]

You know Adnan and all his fertile sexiness can’t be constrained to a mere sex product review site. The internet can’t hold all that hotness. Thank God Britney Spears is hornier than the entire internet, and has taken Adnan on. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell which products Adnan personally tested and reviewed, but we’re going to assume it’s the “Big Kahuna,” “Scent of Eros,” and the “Arouser” – which features an odd drawing of vegetables on the label. Because nothing says sexy like Britney Spears and a really big squash.

Thanks to Mary and John for the tip!

UPDATE BY CELEBITCHY: These fuckers spammed all the gossip sites today with a very convincing e-mail that fooled quite a few of us, including popcrunch, Websters is My Bitch, and Daily Stab. Here's the e-mail they sent out to all of us:

Hey,
My husband and I are a big fan of your site, even though he hates to admit it . Recently he did reveal his true gossip queen side. He showed me an interesting thing he found on a site that he asked me to confirm. The site is called (site name removed) and it has britney's paparazzi boyfriend adnan as one of its product reviewers. Maybe this was something that he was doing on the side before he got all the media attention? I always thought that he was a sell-out, but this is going to a whole new level. Was he or is he still really a test monkey for a male enhancement review site? I wonder how much they paid him? Is there any way that you can verify wether it is true or not?

Here is the link to where his info is:
(link removed)

I know you have a lot of e-mails to reply to, but please let me know if you find out anything more about this

P.S.- My husband was really excited when he found out that I was going to email you about this because he feels like he is contributing to the gossip community.

Thanks.
Mary & John

I think I speak for all of us when I say: well played, you assholes.

Jessica Simpson was cheated on by Tony Romo, who plans to marry other woman

Jessica Simpson had her lawyer send a screeching cease and desist over to OK! Magazine for the article that we reported on about how she was dumped by quarterback Tony Romo. It's written in a pseudo intellectually superior and whiny tone and is one of the more amusing threatening legal letters we've read. It sounds like the lawyer took lessons on how to sound like an authority from those prison dudes on In Living Color. Remember them? Here are some highlights from the PDF file available on TMZ:

As I am disinclined to dignify OK!'s unfounded accusations through repetition, I will not respond to each of the Article's baseless assertions, although my failure to do so should not be construed as acquiescence in the same, which it most assuredly is not. To avoid any lingering misapprehension on the issue, however, I hereby confirm, on the behalf of Ms. Simpson, that the contents of the Article are entirely without basis. In that regard, albeit without limitation, (1) Mr. Romo and Ms. Simpson have not broken off their romatic relationship; and (2) Ashlee Simpson has made no effort to "distance herself" from her sister, Jessica, with whom she remains extremely close.

Your publication's effort to damage Ms. Simpson's romantic and familial relationships and erode her public standing through dissemination of un-attributed and false rumor is not only unseemly, it is actionable as defamation per se, as it tends to "expose [Ms. Simpson] to public contempt, ridicule, aversion or disgrace."

[From letter from Simpson's lawyer found on TMZ.com]

Maybe celebrities need to do this so that magazines stop making shit up about them, but when it involves a story that isn't a huge deal they're better off putting up a blog post on myspace or their official website instead of paying some lawyer to send letters like this. It's cheaper and better PR for a celebrity to personally clear the air, but maybe Simpson wants to scare OK! into not reporting negatively about her in the future.

It isn't just OK! that's saying Jessica got dumped by Tony. The National Enquirer is reporting it too, and they add the bombshell that Tony was cheating on Simpson the entire time with his college sweetheart. What's more is that he supposedly plans to propose to the other woman on Valentine's Day!

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has dumped Jessica Simpson and is going to propose marriage on Valentine's Day to his college sweetheart, the Enquirer has learned exclusively.

And here's a shocker for Jessica: The entire time Tony was dating her, he was two-timing her with Crystal Kasper - a 25-year-old optometrist he first fell for during his student days at Eastern Illinois University.

"If you could see Tony's phone bill from all the calls and text messages he sends Crystal, you'd be stunned," said an insider close to the quarterback.

"They couldn't hook up much during the season. She was finishing her doctoral studies in Florida. But I know Tony flew Crystal to a game in Chicago where they spent time together.

"Tony's family is happy because he's dumped Jessica and the Hollywood scene."

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, February 4, 2008]

The article goes on to say that building is almost complete on Tony's $1.4 million home on the lake in his hometown of Burlington, WI, and that he wants Crystal to move in with him. He's going to have a housewarming party on Valentine's day and plans to propose to her then. Guess it won't be a surprise after this.

How stupid is Jessica Simpson going to feel if her ex gets engaged to another woman right after she threatened OK! Magazine for reporting that they broke up?

Details of Eddie Murphy & Tracey Edmonds? wedding debacle

We’ve heard plenty of embarrassing stories about what went down in the bizarre pseudo-wedding ceremony between Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds. There have been several reports that their families bickered like crazy. The stories ranged from everything from their mothers going at each other to their kids bickering fiercely. According to the National Enquirer, Tracey and her family all thought they were better than the Murphy’s, and Tracey accused the entire family of being “too ghetto.”

"The families hated each other from the beginning,” a close family friend told The Enquirer. "There were actual screaming matches between relatives." And it didn't take long before both Eddie and Tracey were knee-deep in the fray. "Eddie told Tracey that she and her family should stop with the superior attitude, and she fired back criticizing his kin for being too 'ghetto,'" continued the friend. "Eddie bit his lip thought the entire ceremony - he was steaming about the low blow.

[From the National Enquirer, print edition Feb. 4, 2008]

The Enquirer also says the real problem was Tracey’s money-grubbing family.

"The entire wedding was a fiasco, and it brought to light just how incompatible Tracey and Eddie really are." Things went from bad to worse after the ceremony, when Tracey and her family members seemed more interested in striking business deals than the wedding, says an insider. "Her mother was pressuring Eddie to buy a new multimillion-dollar Malibu mansion with her as the Realtor - so she'd get the whopping commission. "Then her brother, who's [sic] a rep for a watch company, put on a full-court press to get Eddie to serve as spokesman for his line."

[From the National Enquirer, print edition Feb. 4, 2008]

Apparently the biggest problem was Tracey’s brother Michael. According to the anonymous insider, Michael brokered some deal with Jimmy Choo that required getting a bunch of pictures of the bridesmaids in Choo’s shoes, and Michael turned into a bit of a diva in his attempt to make sure the Choos got enough photos.

"Everyone in Tracey's family, including Tracey, seemed to be trying to work a deal around the wedding and Eddie's celebrity. And he saw greed instead of love," said the insider, and eyewitness. "Tracey's brother Michael was by far the worst of the group. He'd obviously cut a bunch of deals on the side. For instance, the bridesmaids were a walking advertisement for Jimmy Choo shoes. Michael was ordering the wedding photographer to make sure he got all the trademark clothing in the shots. And he was coaching the guests on how to pose in photos. Michael was saying: 'The Choos! Remember to get the Jimmy Choos in the pictures or else we won't get our free shopping spree!'” That was the final straw for Eddie.

[From the National Enquirer, print edition Feb. 4, 2008]

That sounds like a pretty contrived quote. “Remember to get the Jimmy Choos in the pictures or else we won't get our free shopping spree!'” Who talks like that? I’m going to assume it’s paraphrased. Unless Michael was saying it in jest. Seriously, if that’s true it’s super tacky. The story is pretty biased towards Eddie Murphy, so it should all be taken with a gain of salt. Murphy has long been reported to be a domineering control freak, so I find it kind of hard to believe that he’s the innocent victim in all this. It sounds like he and Tracey were definitely a bad match. In the scheme of things, it sounds like they really narrowly avoided a big disaster. How much closer can you get than marrying the wrong person but not making it legal? According to E! News, Tracey’s been all over Sundance having a wonderful time. So it looks like everyone managed to escape unscathed.

Brad Renfro wanted to marry the mother of his son

The past two weeks have been pretty tragic in terms of unexpected deaths of young celebrity men. Between the death of Brad Renfro, 25, and Heath Ledger, 28, there’s been a lot of drama and sadness. Since Brad’s funeral, it’s come to light that he had a son, listed on in his obituary as “Y Renfro.” Us Weekly reports that Brad’s son’s name is Yamato, he’s four years old, and he lives in Japan with his mother. They also say Brad was seriously considering marrying Y’s mother, and had a longing for family.

… a week before his death he visited his family in Knoxville, Tennessee. "In other years, we had to babysit him," his cousin Jesse Hasek told Us. "This time, he was like, 'I've got it figured out.' It was the happiest I've seen him." In Knoxville, Renfro glowed about his 4-year-old son, Yamato, who lives in Japan full-time with his mom. (Yamato was "unplanned," Hasek told Us, and his mother is "a friend he had over there.")

"He asked me, 'Do you think I should marry her? I like the feeling of family,'" Hasek recalled. "It crushed Brad that his kid lived on the other side of the world. He was saying, 'I should bring them over permanently and be a part of their lives.'"

[From Us Weekly]

Us also reports that Brad’s roommates were letting him live with them rent free to help him stay off of drugs. They report that Samantha Pearson, Brad’s on-and-off girlfriend spoke with him 12 hours before his body was found, and said he was drunk. She said he was has happy and laughing, and she asked him to please be careful. Toxicology reports still aren’t back from the lab, so we have no official confirmation of how Renfro died. It sounds like he was in a bit of a two steps forward, one step back place in his life, but he was generally working on his issues. It’s a sad end for Brad and his family and especially his young son.

Anderson Cooper says there will be no more Heath Ledger coverage

So much of what’s been reported about Heath Ledger’s death has been speculation. In our speedy society where we need all the information right away, people just don’t seem to be able to wait. But death investigations take a lot time, from the police to the coroner to the toxicologist. Since people are so eager for information and answers right away, a lot of local and major news networks have been reporting a great deal of speculation – and not always clearly citing it as such. Though it’s rare, in this particular instance it seems like bloggers have been more restrained and ethical than traditional media. When we’ve written things that were speculation, we tried to make it very clear that’s all it was, and we were in no way reporting facts. For the time being, there is not much left to this story. Heath’s funeral will take place, and there won’t be much information until the toxicology results are back. Because people are so interested, news networks seem to keep rehashing the story over and over again, and report on every possible detail. CNN’s Anderson Cooper finally had enough, and wrote on his blog that there would be no more Ledger coverage on 360.

For the last two nights we have reported on actor Heath Ledger. His shocking death is clearly a story a lot of people are interested in, but tonight we will not be reporting more on it. The truth is there is not really anything new to report.

The full results of the various tests done on Mr. Ledger will not be ready for perhaps a few weeks and there is very little new information. I have no doubt other networks will spend a lot of time tonight discussing his death and the various rumors about what might have caused it, but I am not a fan of speculation, so unless there is something really new to discuss we probably won't be covering it anymore anytime soon.

[From CNN.com]

I think that part of the human condition is a difficulty in letting go, especially when someone has died. There’s this feeling that you aren’t honoring someone if you go back to business as usual. But rehashing the same old thing over and over doesn’t do anyone any good, and reporting on gossip and speculation is downright detrimental. Even Star Jones has said enough is enough – and hopefully other reporters will jump on the bandwagon. It’s not disrespectful for the rest of us to move on – and it will give Heath’s family time to grieve in private.

Daily Mail attacks Eva Longoria?s disgusting knees

The Daily Mail cracks me up. Whenever they can’t find something decent to write about, they just pick apart people’s bodies. Which is probably better than making up stories. It’s definitely funnier, though more at the Daily Mail’s expense than the celebrities’. Earlier this week they picked apart Kelly Osbourne - showing her one day with blemished skin and the next day looking perfectly airbrushed – under the title “Kelly Osbourne transforms from spotty to spectacular in just 24 hours.” Today they attacked Paul McCartney’s bedraggled look in an article with the confusing title, “Macca's hard day's night as he wears the same outfit the morning after the night before.” Not content to just criticize one celeb a day, they moved on to Eva Longoria, who apparently has “rather unsightly knees.”

The Desperate Housewives star has clocked up an impressive six outfits in just two days since arriving from LA to promote her new film Over Her Dead Body.

But despite her array of frocks, it was her often her unsightly knobbly knees that really caught the attention of onlookers.

[From the Daily Mail]

The article goes on to pick Eva apart. While I am by no means her biggest fan – come on! They’re knees! Does anyone have a good looking pair of knees? I’m a firm believer that God was not paying attention to aesthetics when he came up with knees. Same goes for elbows. Aside from airbrushed models, have you ever seen a knee that made you say, “I must have him/her right now! Look at that sexy patella!” The Daily Mail also has a hysterical photo collection at the bottom of the article where they zoom in on Eva’s knees and outline them in red circles. Because otherwise we couldn’t find them and truly appreciate how disgusting they are.

Picture note by Jaybird: Eva Longoria doing publicity in London on Thursday and Friday. The last photo is Eva at the Mandarin Hotel in Miami on 1/18/08. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Kelly Osbourne helps Amy Winehouse move into rehab

It seems like Amy Winehouse doesn’t believe in hiring a bunch of people to do all her errands for her. Which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your view. The woman has never had a driver, instead preferring to be photographed hailing cabs in bloody ballet shoes. We’ve seen her carting furniture home from stores with the help of friends, and moving her belongings from one home to the next with the assistance of family and a U-haul. On the one hand it’s nice to see a celebrity who doesn’t have a team of hired hands. On the other, it might prevent so many of Amy’s bizarre antics from reaching the front page of The Sun.

Kelly Osbourne, one of Amy’s good friends, has publicly said that she’s there to help Amy whenever she’s ready for rehab, and apparently she meant it. Kelly was seen carting Amy’s belongings into the Marylebone treatment facility with the help of Amy’s ever-present father Mitch.

Along with Amy's father Mitch, Kelly arrived laden down with Amy's belongings, which she'd collected for her from her flat in Bow, east London.

She brought two suitcases and two large holdalls, suggesting that Winehouse, 24, might be staying at the centre for quite some time.

[From the Daily Mail]

The article goes on to say that one of the reasons Amy finally agreed to go into rehab was that Mitch Winehouse told her he’d looked into getting her sectioned under the Mental Health Act. However Amy didn’t qualify – but apparently hearing that her parents were willing to go to such lengths was part of her impetus to finally go to rehab.

He said psychiatric help was "something we have looked at, and Amy is no way near in a position to be sectioned". He added: "But unless she wants to do it of her own accord, it's pointless. You can't lock the key and say 'you can't come out before you're better'. That's called abduction."

Mr Winehouse described the pictures from the drugs video as "horrible", adding: "Her intake had been much reduced, but there are people around her which I have no control of. I can't physically remove them. She doesn't think she's got a problem. She thinks she can do what she does recreationally and get on with her life."

Mr Winehouse called a family meeting last night to discuss keeping a close eye on Amy to try to save her from self destruction.

[From the Daily Mail]

Well at least she’s in rehab. It is worrisome that she appears to have gone mostly at the urging of her family and the perhaps threatening of her record label. Unless Amy really admits that she’s got a problem, rehab won’t do much. But you never know if at some point in the process, she may realize it. It seems like things certainly can’t get worse by going to rehab. She’ll be away for her loser husband and hopefully the group of ne're-do-well friends her father rightfully despises.

I wonder if she’ll ever sing her hit "Rehab" in concert again?

Picture note by Jaybird: Amy Winehouse will do her rehab stint at Cappio Nightingale Hospital in London's Marylebone according to WENN. Photos of Amy and her father Mitch Winehouse leaving the Universal Records office after attending a 2 1/2 hour meeting with Amy's record company yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

Morocco, where bloggers can write about anything...almost (AFP)

RABAT (AFP) - It may be a far cry from the millions of blogs active in the West, but Moroccos blogosphere has taken off as the liveliest free-speech zone in largely conservative Muslim North Africa.

The Moroccan "Blogoma", as it is called, is home to at least 30,000 sites.

Inspired by bloggers elsewhere in the Arab world, Moroccans quickly saw these personal websites as a way to circumvent censorship while debating taboo or touchy subjects -- like the monarchy, Islam or the disputed Western Sahara.

"It is a genuine revolution because everyone can comment freely on such sensitive topics," said veteran blogger Larbi El Hilali, who set up Larbi.org.

His more than 450 posts since his blog began in late 2004 have encouraged 18,000 replies. He now gets 3,500 visitors per day, with much discussion on the constitution -- which some feel gives too much power to the king, and press freedom -- in a country where journalists have been slammed with fines or suspended sentences for "defamation against Islam and the monarchy".

Though Moroccos own national press union SNPM concedes that press freedom has improved, it and global watchdogs say there are still attempts to gag the media.

But El Hilalis blog has found that "opinions are sharply divided and many people defend the status quo," he said.

"The Blogoma is like a friendly cafe," said Mehdi7, whose site weaves light-hearted news and "gossip" from the sidelines of royal visits with more serious reports on prostitution and cannabis cultivation -- which the government is trying to eradicate to end a flourishing illegal drug trade.

Morocco today counts 30,000 blogs for four million Internet subscribers. "Thats not much compared to the 1.7 million blogs in France but its a lot more than in our neighbors," El Hilali said.

Algeria, next door, has five times fewer, according to DZblog.com, the Algerian umbrella which has counted 5,892 blogs, two million visitors and seven million page impressions since January 2006.

Tunisia is barely breaking the thousand threshold.

Blogs in Tunisia and Egypt are more akin to citizen journalism sites, but with fewer residents online they draw less attention than in Morocco. About 1.6 million Tunisians surf the web while in Egypt they number only one in 10.

User-generated web technology, however, is making an impact in the region. Wael Abbas, a 33-year-old Egyptian blogger, was decorated in November by the Washington-based International Centre for Journalists after his site was credited with getting two policemen accused of torture sentenced to three-year prison terms.

But blogs in North Africa are not without risk. Karim Amer, 22, landed four years detention last year on charges of criticising Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Islam on his blog, Al Azhar.

And in 2002, Tunisian blogger Zouhair Yahyaoui was given a two-year sentence on charges of "publishing false information" about alleged human rights violations but released on bail a year later after three hunger strikes. He has since died.

Mehdi7 contends that "Morocco is a country where you can still run a good blog.

"Ive not yet heard of a blog that has been censored in Morocco, in which case the whole blogosphere here would mobilise," he said.

Global Voices Advocacy, however, a non-governmental agency that fights against censorship on the web, highlighted 17 countries on its "Access Denied Map", seven of which were Arab states including Morocco.

In May, Rabat blocked access to the video sharing website YouTube for six days after it aired videos considered insulting to King Mohammed VI. In June, Live Journal, an overseas platform hosting two million blogs, was also shut down internally after airing material seen as backing Polisario Front rebels, who are fighting Moroccan forces in the Western Sahara.

"The authorities end up looking ridiculous if they believe they can impose censorship on sites because anyone can get round these obstacles," said Citoyen Hmida, the prolific "doyen" of Moroccos Blogoma.

Arab bloggers -- whose language varies from Arabic to English, French and local dialects -- have sought to uphold independence from the powers that be. In the Muslim-ruled Gulf monarchy of Bahrain, for instance, the blogging community resolutely backed three chat forum moderators arrested in 2005, openly announcing the time and place of demonstrations in their support.

In Morocco, "certain political groups have tried to infiltrate the Blogoma but it has shown a remarkable capacity for self-preservation," said Moroccan web consultant Othmane Boummalif.

"These blogs are like taking a regular temperature, distinct and localised, of the daily reality," said Mehdi7.

Philips partners with Rhapsody for digital music (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Dutch electronics group Philips is forming an alliance with digital media company RealNetworks to offer online music using Philips music players, the two companies said on Sunday.

Philips, which is redefining its consumer businesses as a broad "lifestyle" company, said it would start selling portable and home audio devices compatible with the Rhapsody subscription service early this year.

Rhapsody, a joint venture between RealNetworks and Viacoms MTV Networks, is a distant rival to Apple Incs iTunes online music store. It also faces competition from Microsofts Corps Zune Marketplace.

Philips joins SanDisk Corp, Nokia Oyj and Chinas Haier Group

in making portable music players that work with Rhapsodys subscription service, which starts at 12.99 a month and includes personal recommendations and themed playlists.

"We have identified an opportunity to deliver high quality music content to consumers both at home and on the go," said Wiebo Vaartjes, General Manager, Audio & Multimedia Applications at Philips Consumer Electronics.

Apple, which has sold more than 100 million iPods since its launch in 2001, dominates the MP3 digital music player market with a share of about 80 percent.

Still, about three out of four households do not yet own a digital music player, leaving room for rivals.

Philips is previewing its new, Rhapsody-compatible GoGear portable music players and Streamium home audio products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which gets underway on Sunday.

The Dutch company recently wrapped its struggling consumer-electronics business together with its home-appliances unit to form a new division called Consumer Lifestyle. Its other main businesses are lighting and hospital equipment.

On Sunday, Philips -- the last remaining major European consumer-electronics maker -- also launched a new line of TVs and video and audio players designed to appeal to consumers fed up with the technology-dominated feel of many appliances.

The minimalist "Design Collection" features curved lines and light materials, and will include products in all price ranges.

"Consumers are frustrated and confused by the so-called sea of similarity, where all products look alike -- masculine, technical and monotonous," said Andrea Ragnetti, chief executive of Philips Consumer Lifestyle division.

Philips Consumer Lifestyle Chief Technology Officer Johan van de Ven told Reuters: "We want to give ourselves a different face in the market."

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Another Baby For The Blacks

Comedian Jack Black and wife Tanya Haden are expecting their second child.  During a press conference for his upcoming film "Be kind rewind" in Los Angeles yesterday, Jack grinned "Yes, she's expecting" and went on to say:

"I've been told that two children is three times as hard as one child, but then strangely, three children is easier than one."

The Blacks already have a 19-month-old son, Samuel Jason Haden.

Toshiba HD DVD sales hit 1 mln in North America (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Japans Toshiba Corp said on Sunday it sold 1 million HD DVD digital video recorders in North America last year, driven by demand for Internet-delivered content.

Toshiba, reeling from Warner Bros studios announcement that it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs using the rival Blu-ray format instead of Toshibas HD DVD technology, sought to stress instead the potential of its recent alliance with Sharp Corp on TV panels.

Toshiba executives made the comments at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The high-stakes DVD format battle has made consumers hesitant about buying DVD players and has acted as a damper on an industry now hit by declining sales of traditional DVDs.

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi, editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Broadcasters gear up for cell-phone TV (AP)

LAS VEGAS - U.S. TV broadcasters will be ready to start transmitting signals for portable electronics like cell phones next year, the developers of the technology, LG Electronics Inc. and Harris Corp., said Sunday.

The technology represents a chance for broadcasters to challenge cell-phone carriers, who are trying to sew up the market for mobile TV with their own transmissions.

"This is going to let broadcasters get back in the game," said Howard Lance, chairman and chief executive of Harris, which makes broadcasting equipment.

But it's doubtful that the Mobile Pedestrian Handheld, or MPH, receivers developed by LG will make it into cell phones in the U.S. market, which is tightly controlled by the carriers.

LG's president and chief technology officer, Woo Paik, said MPH is also suitable for other portable devices, like media players, navigation devices and laptops. The cost to build TV reception capabilities into these would be "minimal," Paik said at a news conference ahead of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Broadcasters "realize the great opportunity out there in reaching customers who are now more and more on the move," Lance said.

Harris has conducted field trials of MPH in Chicago and Washington. Expanded trials will be conducted this year, and broad coverage is planned for 2009, Lance said.

MPH uses an available part of the digital TV broadcast spectrum, and the necessary equipment is easily added to existing TV towers, LG and Harris said.

Competing technologies include MediaFLO, developed by Qualcomm Inc. and deployed by Verizon Wireless, and DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld), championed by Nokia Corp. and adopted overseas.

Las Vegas consumer show unveils smart cars and robotic massages (AFP)

LAS VEGAS (AFP) - The worlds top consumer electronics show informally got under way in Las Vegas with an early glimpse at smart cars, robotic massages and other innovations.

"This is where the gadgets are, and the people that like gadgets," Nate Nelson of Zagg Inc. told AFP on Saturday as he pitched military-grade plastic coating for handheld devices at a Consumer Electronics Show preview dubbed "Unveiled."

A wheeled robot called "Rovio" equipped with a camera rolled past, sending live video wirelessly to a laptop computer being used by its controller, Davin Sufer of Canadian firm WowWee.

The toaster-sized robot can "learn" its way around homes and be dispatched on command to different spots.

"You can send it in to check on the kids," Sufer said as he maneuvered Rovio through the crowd. "There is a real need to stream video from the home onto the Internet."

Rovios miniature robotic sibling, named "Tri-bot" for the three wheels it uses to get about, entertained passersby with wise cracks and sassy comments.

"People say robots lack personality," Sufer said. "Well, we gave this robot character."

Nearby, people took turns being kneaded and rubbed by a Human Touch lounge chair that combines zero-gravity positioning with robotic massage.

The chair eases folks into a reclining "zero gravity" position that astronauts assume when blasting into space, and then scans bodies to determine which muscles are knotted from stresses or strains.

Machinery in the 4,000-dollar (US) chair then uses massage and acupressure to relax muscles.

"People finally get to see that a chair can be a high-tech device," Andrew Corkill of Human Touch told AFP. "There is a robot in that chair that mimics the hands and expertise of a massage therapist.

Among wireless technology offerings from France-based Parrot were ways to beam digital music about homes, workplaces, cars and even into motorcycle helmets.

"We ditched the compact discs," said Berthilde Goupy of Parrot. "To us, CDs are dead."

US company Celestron used satellite positioning technology for a handheld SkyScout viewer that anyone curious about the heavens can aim into the night sky and be told precisely what stars they are peering at.

"When I was a boy I wanted a telescope but didnt get it," said Victor Anicetu of Celestron. "Now, I dont need one."

On a more earthbound note, Australian company MTech showed off devices that can be dropped in car or truck fuel tanks to improve fuel efficiency by as much as 20 percent.

"It basically makes fuel burn a lot better," said George Souris of MTech. "This is the year that CES is going green, so we want this to be our contribution to that goal."

Car maker Continental demonstrated technology that lets vehicles guage conditions and even communicate with each other to help drivers avoid crashes.

Energy-saving devices, hyper-efficient batteries, and computer-controlled homes that sip instead of guzzle power will be featured as CES displays an environmentally-sensitive side.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will give a keynote speech Sunday, on the eve of the official opening of the worlds largest consumer electronics tradeshow.

Consumer electronics trends, opportunities and creations will be highlighted and scrutinized in more than a score of "TechZones" and industry experts will discuss hot topics in conference sessions continuing until the show ends January 10.

Electronics makers vying for the CES spotlight will tout new products and resort to the time-proven tactic of bringing in actors, musicians, magicians, comedians or sports stars.

Hilary Duff Role Based On Britney Spears?

Sunday, January 06, 2008

HILARY DUFF ROLE BASED ON BRITNEY SPEARS?



While she's quietly been building a relationship with hockey star Mike Comrie over the past few months, Hilary Duff spent Saturday night on an evening out with the girls.

The Lizzie Maguire actress appeared in high spirits as she left Central nightclub in Hollywood, where she enjoyed time with her older sister Haylie and a few friends.

As far as her professional life is concerned, Duff stars alongside John Cusack in War, Inc., which is scheduled to premiere at Sundance this month.

Speaking to press about Hilary's character in the film, Cusack recently told the Sun Times: "She plays a very slutty pop star, which is the real joke. The idea of Hilary, who is so classy and wholesome, playing a slut is funny."

Interestingly enough, it looks as if the role is actually modeled on troubled pop tart Britney Spears, as Cusack teased: "In our movie, she's a slutty singer who wants to be like one the girls in the headlines now, although we don't need to name names."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Hilary out clubbing last night (January 5).

Jessica Alba?s Motherly Duties

Sunday, January 06, 2008

JESSICA ALBA'S MOTHERLY DUTIES



Preparing for her little bundle of joy, Jessica Alba was spotted out shopping for a new crib with fiance Cash Warren on Saturday (January 5).

The hot couple made their way to The Little Seed organic store in Los Angeles, browsing the shop's selection with the help of a female employee.

The Sin City actress and her man, who plan to marry after giving birth, expect their first child in late spring/early summer.

Alba and Warren met on the set of Fantastic Four in 2004, where 28-year-old Warren was working as a director's assistant. The two split in July of 2007, but quickly patched things up just one month later.

Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of Jessica and Cash out shopping in Hollywood (January 5).

'Treasure' digs up $20M more in gold (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Nicolas Cage may be running out of storage room for his loot. Disney's "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," with Cage as a history buff on the trail of a lost city of gold, was the No. 1 box office draw for the third straight weekend with $20.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Three other hits crowded behind: Will Smith's sci-fi smash for Warner Bros., "I Am Legend," with $16.4 million; Fox Searchlight's teen-pregnancy comedy "Juno" with $16.2 million; and 20th Century Fox's family tale "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with $16 million.

"Book of Secrets" raised its domestic total to $171 million in three weeks, putting it just $2 million shy of the total that 2004's "National Treasure" rang up during its entire run.

"I Am Legend" has grossed $228.7 million, while "Alvin and the Chipmunks" has taken in $176.7 million.

The weekend's only new wide release, the Warner Bros. fright flick "One Missed Call," managed to pull in the horror-movie crowd despite universal loathing by critics. Starring Edward Burns and Shannyn Sossamon in a tale of people whose gruesome deaths are preceded by cell phone messages recording their final moments, the movie debuted at No. 5 with $13.5 million.

The first weekend of 2008 was promising for Hollywood, continuing a holiday box office surge that followed a weak fall season. The top 12 movies took in $123.9 million, up 18.5 percent from the first weekend of 2007.

Featuring a star-making turn from Ellen Page as a whip-smart pregnant teen, "Juno" has emerged as an independent film sensation, grabbing critical praise and building momentum as Hollywood's awards season progresses.

"It's the coolest little success story coming out of 2007," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "It's playing like a mini-blockbuster right now."

The film has three nominations for Sunday's Golden Globes, among them best musical or comedy and an acting honor for Page.

With $52 million already in the bank, "Juno" is on its way to becoming Fox Searchlight's biggest hit ever, approaching "Little Miss Sunshine" at $59.9 million and "Sideways" at $71.5 million.

"Juno" started off in larger cities but now has caught fire in smaller towns such as Columbus, Ohio, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Peter Rice, Fox Searchlight president.

"The middle of the country has really embraced the movie. And I think the time of year has had a magnifying effect. All the top 10 lists," Rice said. "When the press writes that it's one of the best movies of the year combined with a movie people love, I think those are the defining factors."

Breaking into the top 10 as it expanded to more theaters was Focus Features' tragic romance "Atonement," which came in at No. 10 with $5.1 million.

"Atonement" leads the Golden Globe field with seven nominations, among them best drama and acting honors for Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," $20.2 million.

2. "I Am Legend," $16.4 million.

3. "Juno," $16.2 million.

4. "Alvin and the Chipmunks," $16 million.

5. "One Missed Call," $13.5 million.

6. "Charlie Wilson's War," $8.2 million.

7. "P.S. I Love You," $8 million.

8. "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," $6.3 million.

9. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," $5.4 million.

10. "Atonement," $5.1 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Zac and Vanessa Hit the Palm Springs Film Festival

Sunday, January 06, 2008

ZAC AND VANESSA HIT THE PALM SPRINGS FILM FESTIVAL



It was red carpet time for Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, as the Disney duo attended the Palm Springs Film Festival on Saturday night (January 5).

While Vanessa was there for moral support, Zac and his Hairspray co-stars picked up the festival's Ensemble Performance Award.

According to The Desert Sun news, "Five female friends and cousins wore white T-shirts spelling out the word "Hairspray" in hopes of seeing teen hearthrob Zac Efron. Michele Reyes of Coachella said she was ready for the rain with a jacket and umbrella. But a few folks down, Lisa Weller and Bekah Hoesterey said they didn't care if it rains. Good thing, because they came in only sweatshirts and the hope of also catching Efron's eye."

"I almost hope it rains, I love it when (Efron's) wet," Bekah, 16, of La Quinta told The Desert Sun.

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Zanessa at the Palm Springs Film Festival (January 5).

TO SEE THE ENTIRE GALLERY FROM THE PALM SPRINGS FILM FESTIVAL - CLICK HERE!

The Beckham?s London Fine Dining

Sunday, January 06, 2008

THE BECKHAM'S LONDON FINE DINING



Enjoying their time back in London, David and Victoria Beckham got all dressed up and spent Saturday night out to eat at St. Albans restaurant.

After finishing their meal, the couple made no attempt to avoid the cluster of photogs - leaving through the front door of the popular eatery, which "serves contemporary European cuisine, with a typical main meal costing around only $40.00!"

Meanwhile, Posh recently spoke to press about her sadness over finishing the Spice Girls reunion tour, saying that she will have to return to her "lonely" life.

Victoria said: "I'll really miss the tour when it's over. I didn't realize how much I'd missed all the girls until we were back together and I think it can be quite lonely when I've lived abroad for so many years. I've really missed the girls."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of David and Victoria's night on the town (January 5-6).

Nigella Makes Snowballs Hip Again

 

Once popular in the 70's the cocktail called the "Snowball" has been hitting the UK Christmas party circuits this year simply because it was endorsed by Nigella Lawson, Celeb chef and domestic goddess.

The drink, whose main ingredient is Advocaat, a liqueur with egg yolk, brandy, vanilla and sugar, was flying off the shelves in London liquor shops (after 20 plus years of obscurity), as were Snowballs' other ingredients, cherry and apricot brandy and creme de menthe.

Warner's Blu-ray Endorsement Boosts the Buzz at CES (PC World)

The decision by Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?

Long Skirmish

Since both formats launched they have been locked in a battle that pitted some of the industrys biggest consumer electronics companies against each other. Backing Blu-ray Disc has been Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while HD DVDs main supporters have been Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel.

The battle also divided Hollywood and left consumers with a difficult choice: their favorite movies were likely split between the two formats and there was a risk the player they bought would become irrelevant. As a result consumers kept away from the formats and sales have been sluggish.

Warners decision will give Blu-ray Disc an advantage in terms of content. With the move, five of the big seven Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc with only two, Paramount and Universal, backing HD DVD.

The Warner announcement certainly put the HD DVD Promotion Groups CES plans in disarray. Within hours of the announcement, the group cancelled its scheduled Sunday-evening news conference and subsequent media interviews at CES.

Consumer Benefit?

"Theyre definitely regrouping and considering their options at the moment, this could be extremely important," said Tom Coughlin, a storage analyst at Coughlin Associates. "This could be the beginning of a major pivotal turning point in the high-def format war, which if we could define the format which is going to win would be extremely important for the industry because this would free up consumers to start making decisions on the purchase of their systems."

Better sales would help consumer electronics manufacturers increase production and that would in turn lead to lower prices, said Coughlin. Those lower prices would then lead to better sales and that would help the entire industry, he said.

Warner touched on the format battles impact on the consumer electronics industry in a statement announcing its move.

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warners home entertainment group in a statement.

Whether or not the fight is really over remains to be seen.

Toshiba said it was "quite surprised" by the announcement from Warner "despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD."

"We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer," Toshiba said in a statement.

Just The Latest Win

For some, the Warner decision marks the end of the format battle.

"I think the war is over. HD DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors," said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group. "The basic issue is not technology. Its about distribution, its about marketing, its about content and Blu-ray has been winning the content war for sometime. I dont know why [Toshiba] keeps pouring money into it, its time to stop."

Harris credited Sonys inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the PlayStation 3 with being one of the instrumental moves in winning the fight for Blu-ray Disc.

"I think Sonys brilliant move and one of the few they have made in this effort is putting Blu-ray into PS3," he said. "Even though PS3 hasnt sold so well in the console wars, in terms of being a platform for Blu-ray distribution its been a success for them and I think thats what really put Blu-ray over the top."

The praise comes as Sony has finally started to see PlayStation 3 sales pick-up after a year of sluggish sales. Ironically the company has been often criticized by analysts and the media for the inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the device as that contributed to a high price that put many consumers off buying the high-def games console.

See PC Worlds ongoing coverage of the Consumer Electronics show at the CES InfoCenter.

Thailand shuts down political Web site (AP)

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai authorities have shut down a political Web site that spoke out against the monarchy, the site's operator said Sunday, in another move to punish critics of Thailand's most revered institution.

Visitors posted comments on the sameskybooks.com bulletin board, questioning claims in the Thai media that the entire country was in mourning over the death Wednesday of Princess Galyani Vadhana -- King Bhumibol Adulyadej's older sister -- and criticizing official calls for the public to wear black as a sign of mourning, said Thanapol Eiwsakul, who operated the site.

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry threatened local Internet provider Netservice with closure unless it took the action against sameskybooks.com, which was closed Friday, Thanapol said.

"I received a letter from Netservice that the ministry pressured them to shut down our Web site or it would shut down Netservice," he said.

No one from the ministry could be immediately reached for comment Sunday, and sameskybooks.com remained inaccessible. Netservice could not be contacted.

Thanapol said he did not know if he would face charges or if he would be allowed to reopen his site. He said he was considering legal action against the government because it had not sought a court order before closing the site.

He said he hoped to find a foreign Internet provider that would allow him to continue operating the site.

"I think we're one of the few sites posting remarks against the monarchy," Thanapol told The Nation newspaper. "This is the price we are paying."

The Thai government routinely blocks Web sites, mostly because of offensive sexual or political content deemed sympathetic to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a coup in September 2006. Police say some 32,000 Web sites have been blocked to Thai Internet users since 2002.

It also takes a hard line against anyone who criticizes Bhumibol, who celebrated his 80th birthday in December and is the world's longest serving monarch.

Last year, Thailand blocked the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube for four months because of clips it deemed offensive to the king. The ban was lifted after YouTube's owner, Google Inc., agreed to not allow videos that break Thai laws or offend the Thai people.

In March, a Swiss national Oliver Rudolf Jufer became the first foreigner convicted in at least a decade for offending the monarch, under Thailand's strict lese majeste laws. Surveillance cameras caught Jufer spraying black paint across five posters of the king in the northern city of Chiang Mai where he lived. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail, but was deported to Switzerland in April.

The Celebrity Apprentice Debuts

 

After the success of the (original) Apprentice, followed by the L.A. then Martha stint which failed to get the ratings back up again, Mark Burnett and The Donald have now teamed up again for another version of the show, this time with " Celebrities" (some of whom you may know, others not) and with the money going to charity. The new show premiered Thursday to mixed reviews.

Of the the "celebrity" apprentices, the mens team includes Kiss' Gene Simmons and boxer Lennox Lewis.  Ladies include ex-Taxi star, now health buff Marilu Henner and season one's abrasive Omarosa.

Sarkozy to marry girlfriend Bruni: report (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to marry his new girlfriend, the former model turned singer Carla Bruni, a French newspaper reported Sunday, claiming a wedding was "imminent".

Citing several anonymous sources, the Journal du Dimanche said the couple, currently on a private visit to Jordan at the invitation of King Abdullah II, are believed to have set a wedding date for either February 8 or 9.

Presidential spokesman David Martinon declined to comment on the front-page story.

Sarkozy, 52, and Bruni, 39, were photographed on Saturday touring the rose-red city of Petra in southern Jordan, the president carrying Brunis young son Aurelien on his shoulders.

During a Christmas trip to Egypt, the recently-divorced president reportedly gave Bruni an engagement ring -- a pink diamond heart -- while Bruni gave him a luxury Swiss watch in grey steel.

Sarkozy and Bruni -- heiress to a tyre fortune whose former boyfriends include rock stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton -- have been trailed by a swarm of paparazzi since their romance was first publicised in mid-December.

Bruni may accompany Sarkozy on an official trip to India late this month, according to local media, which said the government of the morally conservative country was struggling to find the right protocol to greet her.

The French president and his second wife Cecilia announced their divorce in October after 11 years of a tumultuous marriage. Sarkozy has a 10-year-old son with Cecilia, as well two grown sons from a previous marriage.

Brunis mother Marisa Tedeschi Bruni was quoted in the Italian press last month saying the president had asked for her daughters hand in marriage.

Sarkozy, who has yet to comment publicly on his new relationship, is to answer questions on the subject at a New Years press conference Tuesday, as a poll showed his confidence rating slipping seven points -- a drop blamed in part on voter concerns about his relationship.

According to a CSA poll in Le Parisien, 48 percent of voters say they trust the president to tackle Frances problems, compared to 55 percent last month. Forty-five percent said they did not trust him, compared to 38 a month before.

CSA director Stephane Rozes said the slip chiefly reflected fears about the economy, and falling disposable incomes, but probably also unease among older voters -- he fell 15 percent among the over-60s -- about his highly-publicised romance.

Sony's Blu-ray seen winning DVD format war: Japanese media (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) - The Blu-ray format has gained the upper hand in the battle for next-generation DVD supremacy, Japanese press said Sunday, after Warner Bros. said it would only support the technology developed by Sony.

The announcement dealt a hard blow to the HD-DVD format, promoted by a group led by Japanese electronics giant Toshiba, which the press said may now be hard-pressed to regain momentum among consumers.

"With Warner Bros siding with the Blu-ray group, the battle over the next generation DVD standard is gradually becoming a one-sided game," said the Asahi Shimbun.

Warner Bros., which previously supported both formats, announced on Friday that it would release its films exclusively in Blu-ray beginning later this year, "in response to consumer demand".

Blu-ray will enjoy exclusive support from four of the six major Hollywood movie studios, with only Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures supporting HD-DVD.

The battle between the two incompatible DVD formats is often dubbed as a "replay" of the VHS-Betamax battle between two types of video cassette tape in the late 1970s.

Warner Bros. said the competition has confused consumers, who grew reluctant to purchase next-generation machines, causing DVD firms to miss out on potentially lucrative opportunities.

Toshiba is now expected to further promote installation of HD-DVD drives in personal computers, targeting users who watch movies on their PCs, the Nikkei business daily said.

"The core of its turn-around plan is to capture those who watch DVDs on personal computers, a popular practice in the United States," the newspaper said.

Along with Warner, the Blu-ray camps major supporters include Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, as well as US movie rental leader Blockbuster, Japanese electronics firm Panasonic and South Korean giant Samsung.

HD-DVD receives support from DreamWorks Animation and various high-tech firms including Microsoft and Intel.

Sears IT Practices Called Into Question (TechWeb)

Sears IT practices have come under fire from spyware researcher Benjamin Edelman, who alleges that Sears is installing online tracking software from ComScore without adequate consent and that Sears is exposing its customers purchase histories in violation of its privacy policy.

In two reports published this week, Edelman, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School and noted spyware researcher, said that Sears installation of online tracking software from ComScore falls short of the standards established by the Federal Trade Commission.

"The FTC requires that software makers and distributors provide clear, prominent, unavoidable notice of the key terms," said Edelman in his Jan. 1 report. Sears Holding Co.s "installation of comScore did nothing of the kind."

Benjamin Googins, a researcher at security company CA, leveled similar charges in December. "Sears.com is distributing spyware that tracks all your Internet usage -- including banking logins, e-mail, and all other forms of Internet usage -- all in the name of community participation, " he said in a blog post.

Sears Holding Co. VP Rob Harles disputed Googins assertions in a lengthy rebuttal that stated in part, "With regard to informed consent, I strongly disagree with Mr. Googins claims that there is a lack of informed consent relating to the members who have explicitly agreed to be tracked. My SHC Community goes to great lengths to describe the tracking aspect for those members who receive an invitation."

Edelman said he emphatically disagrees with Harles assessment of Sears practices.

In an e-mailed statement, a spokesperson for Sears echoed Harles. "The My SHC Community goes to great lengths to describe the tracking aspect for those members who receive an invitation," the spokesperson said. "Clear notice appears in the invitation. It also appears on the first signup page, in the privacy policy, and user licensing agreement. We provide additional notice of the tracking feature in the form of a welcome e-mail that is sent to everyone after they become a member."

In a report published Friday, Edelman demonstrated how Sears Manage My Home site allows anyone to view what Sears customers have purchased. "Sears offers no security whatsoever to prevent a Manage My Home user from retrieving another persons purchase history by entering that persons name, phone number, and address," he said, noting that this violates the companys privacy policy.

Edelman concedes that Sears Manage My Home site offers some useful services but chides Sears IT staff for not recognizing the need to authenticate users following their decision to make purchase data available online.

"Did Searss staff fail to notice the problem?" Edelman asked. "Decide to ignore it when they couldnt devise an easy solution to protect users purchase histories? Resolve to argue that purchase history merits no better protection than the current system provides?"

In fact, Sears has noticed the problem. "We take our customers privacy concerns very seriously," the company said in an e-mailed statement. "As a result, we have turned off the ability to view a customers purchase history on Manage My Home until we can implement a validation process that will restrict access by unauthorized third parties."

See original article on InformationWeek.com

China cracks down on 'vulgar' video (AP)

BEIJING - China is launching a nationwide crackdown on sexually suggestive video and audio products, in the latest effort by government censors to curb content considered to be in bad taste.

During the three-month campaign, audio and video producers should stop making "vulgar" products and recall those that are already on the market, China's General Administration of Press and Publication said.

"Some of the video and audio products are coarsely made, containing materials of bad taste," the regulator said in a notice on its Web site.

The questionable material includes suggestive language and partially nude images used to promote sales, it said.

Spot checks will be conducted throughout the country and companies that continue to make and sell the prohibited products will be punished, it said.

No other details of the punishment or campaign were given.

Last week, Beijing pulled a movie already censored for its sexually explicit scenes from theaters and banned its producer for two years. The order against "Lost in Beijing" said the movie -- about deteriorating morals amid China's rapid economic growth -- was promoted with "unhealthy, improper" advertisements.

Days before, regulators issued a new warning about pornography and a requirement that video sharing Web sites apply for permits.

The order about pornography said some movie companies and Web site operators had illegally broadcast pornography and "inflicted significant harm on youth audiences."

Under the online video sharing restrictions, only state-controlled sites are allowed to post any videos, including those shared by users. Internet providers are also required to delete and report a variety of improper content.

In recent months, China has also issued new rules for talent and reality shows which have also been deemed vulgar by authorities.

Spears, strike loom over film gala (AP)

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Britney Spears' hospitalization and concerns over whether the continuing Hollywood writers strike would keep next week's Golden Globes ceremony off the air dominated red-carpet chatter at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival gala.

As honorees made their way through the media gauntlet Saturday at the year's first major entertainment-award event, many initially chirpy interviews quickly careened into talk about prospects for next week's Golden Globes broadcast.

"It's always sad when a program may have to be canceled," John Travolta, who was honored with an Ensemble Performance Award, told AP Television. "If it doesn't happen, we'll postpone it and do it another time."

A Globes telecast became increasingly unlikely after Friday's announcement by the Screen Actors Guild that its nominated members would not cross the Writers Guild of America's planned picket lines to get to the event.

The actors guild, which represents most of the Globes' 72 acting-category contenders, made its announcement after the writers guild failed to reach a a so-called "interim agreement" with the award show's producers.

The fate of the Globes telecast should be clearer Monday, following a scheduled announcement by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the awards and hosts the show.

Many Globe nominees were in Palm Springs collecting statuettes from the film festival, including Daniel Day-Lewis (Desert Palm Achievement Award), Ellen Page (Chairman's Vanguard Award) and Travolta's "Hairspray" co-star Nikki Blonsky (Rising Star Award).

Blonsky said she was hoping and preparing for a last-minute resolution that would permit actors to attend the Globes.

"A girl's gotta cover her back and have a dress, just in case," she said.

French actress Marion Cotillard said she would not cross the picket line although she is not an actor's guild member because she believes writers deserve a greater share of the proceeds from productions they work on.

"I think that everyone involved in a project should share the benefit of it," said Cotillard, who received Palm Springs' Breakthrough Performance Award and is a Globe nominee for her performance in "La Vie en Rose."

The fate of Britney Spears was the other red-hot topic on the Palm Springs red carpet. The troubled pop star was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by paramedics Thursday night after police were called to her home because of a dispute involving her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Television show psychologist "Dr. Phil" McGraw said Spears was released from a hospital Saturday but still needs psychological help, according to syndicated celebrity news programs "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider."

"I feel bad, you know, because everyone kind of judges her and splatters her business everywhere," said Page, who appeared in the film "Juno." "No one goes, 'Why is this happening?' They just judge and judge and judge. It's too bad."

Amanda Bynes, who acted in "Hairspray" and TV's "What I Like About You," said she sympathized with Spears.

"I think that this business just does weird things to people, and I think that it's sad," Bynes said. "They get wrapped up in the hoopla and the hair and the makeup, the shopping, the paparazzi and the trying to be famous. That's not what it's about. It's about doing what you love."

Other Palm Springs honorees in attendance included Sean Penn (Director of the Year), Halle Berry (Desert Palm Achievement Award) and "Into the Wild" actor Emile Hirsch (Rising Star Award). The 19th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival continues through Jan. 14.

Gwen Stefani and Family?s Winter Wonderland Outing

Saturday, January 05, 2008

GWEN STEFANI AND FAMILY'S WINTER WONDERLAND OUTING



If you happened to be at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park today, you may have been treated to a very fun celebrity sighting - Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale!

The "Hey Baby" singer and her rocker husband had themselves a good old fashioned family outing, taking their son Kingston out to enjoy the wintry weather.

Never one to be ignored, Gwen wore a very noticeable black-and-white houndstooth coat, along with her platinum tresses and some big black sunglasses.

And Gavin stuck to the basics, with a pair of dark trousers and a black winter coat, complete with tobogganing hat as he carried their son around the park's grounds.

From the looks of it, Gwen even braved some of the kids' rides herself, proving that even hot mommies need to have a little fun.

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Gwen, Gavin and Kingston out at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park (January 5).

Report: Spears released from hospital (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Television's "Dr. Phil" McGraw said Britney Spears was released from a hospital Saturday but still needs psychological help, the syndicated programs "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" reported in a press release.

The troubled pop star was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by paramedics Thursday night after police were called to her home because of a dispute involving the two sons she had with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

"My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention," McGraw told the programs.

"She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her," he said.

McGraw planned to talk more about Spears on his daytime talk show this week, the press release said.

Responding to an e-mail request for further comment from McGraw, a "Dr. Phil" publicist referred The Associated Press to his statement posted on the etonline.com Web site.

Medical center officials have had no comment on Spears, and authorities have given no full explanation of why she was hospitalized.

The incident at Spears' home lasted several hours. A Los Angeles police spokeswoman said Friday that officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why.

A message seeking comment from Spears' attorneys at the law firm Trope and Trope was not immediately returned Saturday.

At an emergency hearing Friday, a court commissioner suspended Spears' right to visit sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1. The commissioner also gave sole physical and legal custody to Federline.

Previously, Federline had temporary custody and Spears had court-monitored visitation.

The court set another hearing for Jan. 14.

Spears and Federline married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

NGO demands details of Saudi blogger's arrest (AFP)

RIYADH (AFP) - A Saudi human rights group on Saturday demanded the interior ministry explain why an Internet blogger who called for political reforms has been imprisoned.

Saudi Human Rights Association vice president Meflah al-Qahtani said his organisation had sent an official message to the interior ministry "asking for clarification of why Fouad al-Farhan was arrested and for assurances regarding his human rights."

He said the group also wanted assurances he would be allowed to see a lawyer. His family and friends say they do not know where he is being held.

"The release of a person held because of their political opinions, like Farhan, is a question of principle, " Qahtani added.

"But if that is not possible, we must at least make sure they are provided with their legal rights," he said.

The demand comes ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush to US ally Saudi Arabia on January 14 and 15, part of a tour of the Middle East.

The United States said on Thursday it raised the arrest with the authorities in the ultra-conservative kingdom underlining Washingtons committment to freedom of expression.

Farhan was arrested in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on December 10, though it was reported only on Tuesday by the English-language daily Arab News, the only Saudi newspaper to have spoken about his detention.

He was being held for "interrogation for violating non-security regulations," interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told the daily.

Saudi bloggers launched a campaign calling for Farhans release backed by appeals from international and Saudi NGOs, including the Arabic Network for Human Rights, Reporters sans Frontiers (Reporters without Borders) and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A smiling Farhan (which means joyful in Arabic) declared on his blog (www.alfarhan.org) that he is pursuing "freedom, dignity, justice, equality, shura (consultation) and other missing Islamic values."

U.S. video game industry growth seen slowing (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - U.S. video game industry sales growth is expected to slow in 2008 as accelerated demand for software is tempered by a decline in hardware revenue, the Consumer Electronics Association said on Saturday.

Overall U.S. industry sales are seen rising to 17.9 billion in 2008, up 13 percent from an estimated 15.8 billion in 2007, the CEA said. That compares with a 22 percent increase from 2006 to 2007.

The expected decline in growth comes as the industry moves beyond the initial phase of the introduction of new gaming consoles made by rivals Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Sony Corp (6758.T) and Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS).

Microsofts Xbox 360, launched two years ago, competes against Nintendos Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3 consoles, both on the market for just over one year -- for dominance in a global video game industry thought to have approached 40 billion in revenue in 2007.

Video game industry hardware sales jumped 50 percent to 6.6 billion in 2007, but are anticipated to shrink to 6.4 billion in 2008.

Now that all of the major consoles are established, hardware sales are expected to moderate, while demand for related software is expected to jump, as game owners beef up their libraries of new titles.

"Software (in 2007 had) phenomenal growth, riding the wave of hugely successful title launches such as (Microsofts) Halo 3, (Activision Incs (ATVI.O)) Guitar Hero III and (Electronic Arts Incs) (ERTS.O) Rock Band. In fact, the focus for 2008 will be in the software category, where CEA estimates a 26 percent increase in sales over 2007," said CEA spokeswoman Jennifer Bemisderfer.

Software sales are expected to rise to 11.5 billion in 2008, up from 9.1 billion in 2007. That was a 7.6 percent increase from 2006, the CEA said.

The CEA released the data ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this weekend, when Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer and others are expected to give glimpses into the future of their gaming products.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Britney Spears leaves hospital: reports (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Britney Spears checked out of a Los Angeles hospital Saturday, a day after the troubled singer was stripped of access to her two children following a late-night medical drama, reports said.

Spears, who was admitted to Cedars Sinai Hospital late Thursday, left the facility after officials determined she was no longer a danger to herself, celebrity website TMZ.com reported, citing unidentified sources.

The website of syndicated US television show Entertainment Tonight reported that Spears had left the hospital via an underground tunnel, avoiding throngs of paparazzi photographers keeping vigil outside the hospital.

TMZ and Entertainment Tonight reported that Spears left the center after a visit from US television therapist Dr. Phil McGraw.

A Cedars-Sinai spokesperson declined to comment on the reports citing patient confidentiality rules.

Spears release came after the latest setback to the pop stars turbulent life, which began late Thursday when she was wheeled out of her home on a stretcher and taken to hospital for evaluation.

The drama came after Spears refused to hand over her sons, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, to the bodyguard of ex-husband Kevin Federline under a court-ordered visitation agreement.

On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner ordered the children to be placed in the sole care of Federline, suspending the pop stars visitation rights until "further order of the court."

A hearing has been set for January 14 which will determine how their bitter custody battle is to proceed.

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt Party in Vegas

Saturday, January 05, 2008

HEIDI MONTAG AND SPENCER PRATT PARTY IN VEGAS



Despite recently calling off their wedding plans, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have kept up their party-hopping, red carpet kissing ways.

The Hills co-stars were spotted out last night at a function being held at Jet nightclub, inside The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Meanwhile, Heidi recently posted her New Years resolution on her MySpace blog - which, surprisingly, is "to be kind to everyone and not be judgmental".

"I just hope everyone is starting 2008 with a fresh clean slate like I amI know at least I am going to try to start as hard as possible even when people don't deserve kindnessI am still going to give them kindness!" Heidi writes.

As for the MTV duo's relationship, Pratt spoke to press and claims to be happy about their current status as boyfriend and girlfriend.

"I need to accept that Heidi wants her princess wedding and that she is the boss," Pratt told Us, adding that "going back to dating isn't so bad, as that was the time when our relationship was flawless."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Heidi and Spencer at Jet last night (January 4).

Britney Released from Hospital (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - So much for a 72-hour hold.

After a little more than 24 hours at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, E! News has confirmed that Britney Spears has been released from the hospital, despite previous reports that she was to be held under a minimum three-day lockdown.

Shortly after her admittance via ambulance just after midnight Thursday, the singer was placed on a 5150 hold, meaning medical workers had determined she posed a danger either to herself or others. As a result, she was to be held for 72 hours, during which time she was to undergo a battery of physical and psychological tests.

However, medical officials have the authority to lift the hold at any time during a patients stay, should they be determined to no longer pose a threat. Spears early release indicates she was granted the medical and psychological all-clear.

According to The Insider, Spears made her exit from Cedars-Sinai early Saturday morning via an underground tunnel at the facility. The show also reports that none other than Dr. Phil McGraw was on hand to escort the singer off the premises.

My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention, the TV doctor told Entertainment Tonight, adding that his being at the hospital when she was released was merely coincidence.

She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car.

Spears is now back at her Studio City home with father Jamie Spears.

News of her release comes in the wake of confirmation from Spears pal Sam Lutfi that the 26-year-old was doing much better than she had been during the precipitating hours-long custody standoff.

She is doing a lot better than Thursday night, shes reached out to her mom and Jamie Lynn and theyve been in constant contactthey have shown wonderful support, Lufti told E! News Jason Kennedy exclusively Friday night, adding that Spears would not be at the hospital for any longer than the hold required of her.

Its unclear if any of Spears supportive family members were on hand for her release early Saturday.

Father Jamie is the only official family member to be caught by paparazzi entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which he did early Friday morning, along with Lutfi. According to People, her mother Lynne and sister Jamie Lynn have remained in their hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana.

While Kevin Federline was also present at the hospital when his 26-year-old ex-wife was first being admitted for a battery of physical and psychological tests, Lutfi made clear that Federline was only there to check on his children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, the latter of whom was also briefly checked out by doctors--as is standard for children in the wake of such a traumatic experience--before given the medical okay.

He was not, as has been reported, there to visit Spears. When asked if the 29-year-old father had seen or spoken to the singer since Thursday nights incident, Lutfi gave E! News a quite adamant, No!

As for what specifically went down Thursday night, Lutfi offered no new specifics on the standoff that culminated in Spears locking herself in a room with one-year-old son Jayden and ended with the Gimme More singer being transported via ambulance to Cedars-Sinai.

However, he did say that he believed the media and legal circus that resulted from the evening was mishandled but that he did not begrudge the LAPD for following protocal, saying the officers remained at the Studio City home for so long because they wanted to make sure they were following proper procedure and abiding by the court documents.

Still, he said he wished that the whole situation was handled better.

No More Privacy For Vanessa Hudgens

Saturday, January 05, 2008

NO MORE PRIVACY FOR VANESSA HUDGENS



Now that the holiday season has died down, and we're well into 2008, Vanessa Hudgens is getting back to life as usual. She was spotted yesterday with her mother Gina, running her usual errands around Los Angeles, California.

And as previously reported by the Gossip Girls, the High School Musical beauty has definitely learned a lesson or two about how quickly things get blown up in Tinseltown.

She told and interviewer, "With the Internet these days, you don't have a personal life. Nothing is private. Everyone knows everything, and they can find out everything about you. You're not as safe as you think you are, and you have to be aware of the people you're around."

Vanessa continued, "I tell girls all the time: Don't post your private business for the world to see...Why do that when you can call someone, and go hang out with them--rather than sit on your computer, which is a complete waste of time...Hours will go by, and you're still sitting there, when you could be outside doing anything else."

Hudgens cautioned her fans, "Something bad can happen from [posting things online]--it usually does. You just have to be careful. I had MySpace and Facebook profiles a long time ago, but I shut them down as quickly as I could."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Vanessa out running errands with mom (January 4).

Britney Spears Gets Released From Hospital

Saturday, January 05, 2008

BRITNEY SPEARS GETS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL



Believe it or not, after the hours-long fiasco that landed Britney Spears in the mental ward of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, she's been released.

Apparently the "5150" hold wasn't mandatory after all. And there have been a plethora of reports that the "Gimme More" singer was hellacious to the point that Dr. Phil (yes the bald guy with his own TV show) was brought in.

Britney reportedly tore out her IV, screamed and ranted at the hospital staff, and refused to be subdued during her short stay at the hospital. Doctors said that she has what appears to be a form of bipolar disorder, which cannot keep her at the hospital against her will.

A source reports, "Even though there is significant evidence that Brit has a bipolar disorder, Cedars cannot hold her against her will to treat such a problem. If doctors determine she is no longer a danger, they must let her go."

Back to Dr. Phil- reportedly he showed up and escorted Britney out of the facility by way of an underground tunnel. And rumor has it that there's a "Britney Spears Special" coming our way via the Dr. Phil show this coming week. The "Piece of Me" singer may even show up on the set.

Celebrity Gossip

Snipes' attorneys file appeal (AP)

OCALA, Fla. - Wesley Snipes is trying again to have his federal tax-evasion trial moved from this central Florida city.

Snipes' lawyer, Robert Barnes, filed a motion with a federal appeals court in Atlanta on Friday, arguing that U.S. District Judge William T. Hodges erred last month when he denied Snipes' motions to relocate and postpone the trial.

The actor's legal team argued Snipes cannot get a fair trial in Ocala, located about 80 miles north of Orlando. Snipes previously filed two motions to dismiss or transfer the trial because of racial prejudices.

Barnes also filed a motion Friday to put the trial -- scheduled to begin Jan. 14 -- on hold until the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the change of venue request.

A telephone message left for Snipes' attorney was not returned.

Federal prosecutors have previously said there is "no basis in reality" for Snipes' claims.

A federal indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling almost $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The 45-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

Snipes allegedly conspired with American Rights Litigators' founder Eddie Ray Kahn and tax preparer Douglas P. Rosile Sr. to file false refund claims based on a bogus argument that only income from foreign sources was subject to taxation.

Lawyers argued Snipes had the right to a trial in New York, where he lived between October 2000 and April 2005 when the offenses allegedly occurred, or in Orlando, where he also has a home.

Britney Spears out of hospital: reports (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears left a hospital on Saturday where she was admitted following a confrontation at her home, which ended in a fit of hysterics by the troubled pop star, several media outlets reported.

A number of celebrity Web sites said Spears was visited Saturday by Dr. Phil McGraw, who counsels people on his popular television program, "The Dr. Phil Show."

A spokeswoman for the hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, declined comment citing patient confidentiality, and a representative for McGraw could not be reached.

Spears, 26, was hospitalized on Friday when trouble erupted between her and representatives of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, who went to Spears home to pick up their two young sons from a weekend visitation.

The pop singer, who spent much of 2007 in and out of alcohol and drug rehab and battling legal problems, became hysterical, was taken from her home on a stretcher and transported to Cedars-Sinai via ambulance, television and Web sites reported.

Federlines attorneys went to a Los Angeles family court on Friday and obtained a ruling that suspended Spears visitation rights to her two sons, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, until January 14.

On Saturday, celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported that Spears was demanding to leave the hospital, and that she might appear on "The Dr. Phil Show" on Monday.

Web sites for celebrity TV shows "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" reported that McGraw walked Spears to her car. The New York Posts PageSix.com cited a "family insider" as saying Spears had "a complete nervous breakdown."

None of the reports could be confirmed.

Spears lost primary custody of her sons to Federline after her life spun out of control following their divorce in November 2006.

Since then, she has spent time in rehab, been charged with hit-and-run driving and exhibited unusual behavior.

Spears is currently undergoing court-ordered random drug and alcohol tests and parenting lessons.

She became a teen pop phenomenon in the 1990s. In October, she made her musical comeback with the single, "Gimme More," and an album, "Blackout," that briefly hit No. 2 on the U.S. pop album charts.

Spears apparently remains hospitalized (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears was apparently spending a second day in a hospital Saturday, the result of a bizarre standoff that brought police to her house and led a judge to award ex-husband Kevin Federline custody of their two sons.

A court commissioner on Friday gave Federline sole physical and legal custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, and suspended Spears' visitation rights.

Commissioner Scott Gordon's ruling came a day after Spears was hauled away from her home by paramedics after police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit.

Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14.

Federline had previously been awarded temporary custody of the boys because the 26-year-old pop singer has defied court orders, resulting in limitations on her visitation.

"I'm not happy about any of these events," Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said when he left the closed-door emergency hearing Friday afternoon. "There's no winners here."

Kaplan said he went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after Spears was admitted, but he declined to provide any details about the pop star, her ex-husband or their sons.

Los Angeles police Officer Sara Faden said Saturday that Spears was hospitalized "for her own welfare," but that she had no additional details.

Cedars-Sinai spokeswoman Simi Singer refused comment Saturday, citing patient confidentiality rules.

The drama began around 8 p.m. Thursday when officers were called to her home to help resolve a dispute over her refusal to turn the children over to Federline as dictated by their custody agreement.

It took two to three hours to resolve the conflict, Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre said.

"Police resolved the conflict," Aguirre said. "Both children were turned over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody, and she was in fact taken to a local hospital for medical treatment."

Early police reports said officers thought Spears might have been under the influence of some substance, but Aguirre said there was no evidence of that.

"Our understanding is that was not the case," she said.

Officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why, she said.

"We're not aware of any type of injuries that she sustained" and she was not combative with authorities, Aguirre said.

Spears wasn't arrested in connection with the custody dispute, she said.

"There was no actual crime that was involved," Aguirre said.

Spears and Federline married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

She had hoped to regain her pop crown with a much-hyped performance at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, but it was universally panned by fans and critics.

Still, Spears latest album, "Blackout," earned positive reviews when it was released in October and brought Spears her first No. 1 hit in years, "Gimme More."

Amy Winehouse?s Barbados Holiday, Grammy Plans

Saturday, January 05, 2008

AMY WINEHOUSE'S BARBADOS HOLIDAY, GRAMMY PLANS



Drawing a close to a holiday in Barbados, Amy Winehouse was spotted on Saturday at the airport, readying for her flight back to London.

The Rehab singer is said to have "flown out last weekend with the hope that friends would join her in time for New Year's Eve this past Monday." But, according to reports, Amy was left by her lonesome.

A source told the Sun: "They didn't want to be with her unless she was serious about sorting herself out - and she didn't seem to be. She should have used the time to get clean and find new focus in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Instead she has just looked forward to getting home - and getting wasted."

As for her career, recent talk tells that Miss Winehouse plans on making her return to the stage on February 10th at the Grammy Awards. That is, if she can get into the States.

An insider informed the Daily Mirror, "Amy is really excited to be asked to perform at the Grammys. It's a huge event. She's planning to do some sort of soul and Motown medley, and is even weighing up the possibility of a duet with some U.S. stars - particularly Kanye West, who has spoken in the past of wanting to work with her. The only potential problem is that Amy will need a U.S. visa, so she is hoping that her recent arrest won't cause any problems."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Amy at the airport, heading home from her holiday (January 5).

Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo Heat Things Up

Saturday, January 05, 2008

JESSICA SIMPSON AND TONY ROMO HEAT THINGS UP



While the rest of the Western world goes into a time of deep freeze during the winter months, stars like Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo find refuge in the Mexican sunshine.

Though they spent New Year's Eve Stateside at a Dallas bar (an eyewitness reported, "Jessica was very touchy-feely, and he definitely didn't shy away from her,") the "With You" singer and her Dallas Cowboy beau retreated south of the border for a little rest and relaxation on a post-New Year's vacation.

And the paparazzi have been going crazy. Simpson and Romo have been spotted everywhere from snuggling together in the back of an SUV, to sunbathing on the patio of their luxurious beach digs.

And apparently Tony got the added bonus of hanging out with Mr. and Mrs. Simpson on the getaway. According to a source, "Jessica's parents Joe and Tina came with them on the trip, along with some of Tony's friends. They all got along great and had a lot of fun, with lots of exotic drinks and delicious food. Joe and Tina seem like they like Tony a lot."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Jessica, Tony and pals relaxing by the pool in Mexico (January 4).

Sony to add Skype Web phone function to PSP: Nikkei (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japans Sony Corp plans to add an Internet phone function to its PlayStation Portable (PSP) game player in cooperation with eBay unit Skype to stir up demand, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

The PSP has trailed Nintendo Co Ltds DS handheld gear in sales since their launches three years ago as DSs casual and innovative games proved a smashing success in gaming population expanding beyond young males to women and mature users.

By downloading Skypes software, which is expected to become available as early as this month, PSP users can make free Web-based phone calls with other PSP users and the users of PCs equipped with Skype software, the Nikkei said.

The new service is designed for the latest PSP model launched in September, the newspaper said.

Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka declined to comment on the report, but said the game unit of the electronics and entertainment conglomerate is studying ways to add value to the PSP.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Poppy Montgomery Traces Motherhood (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Poppy Montgomery spent her Christmas decking the halls of the maternity ward.

The Without a Trace star and longtime boyfriend Adam Kaufman welcomed their first child together Dec. 23, son Jackson Phillip Kaufman, the actress rep confirms to E! News.

The little one was born in Los Angeles, weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces, according to publicist Jennifer Shoucair.

This was the best Christmas present Poppy and Adam could have hoped for, she said. Both she and the baby are doing wonderfully.

The thespian couple, who met more than three years ago on the Mexico set of the indie film Between, currently cohabitate in L.A.

To explain the burgeoning belly bump, Montgomerys pregnancy was written into Without a Traces sixth-season plot line, with her due date to coincide with May sweeps.

But thanks to the ongoing writers strike, FBI agent Samantha Spade is expecting after a one-night stand with a bartender (played by Kaufman, incidentally)--and audiences are still expecting a resolution.

Production on the CBS crime procedural shut down in November and its anybodys guess when the current television season will get back on track.

Regardless, Montgomerys pending motherhood status was five months ahead of the show, according to tvguide.com, which first reported news of the birth. So the 35-year-old actress would have been sporting a prosthetic tummy in the future anyway.

Before joining the small-screen Missing Persons Unit in 2002, Montgomery made appearances in such dramatic fare as NYPD Blue, Party of Five and Silk Stalkings.

The native Australian also starred in the short-lived WB series Glory Days and in the 2005 TV movies Murder in the Hamptons and Snow Wonder.

Kaufmans credits include guest spots on Veronica Mars, Law & Order, Mad Men, CSI: NY, Monk and, playing a bartender whos been a little slow in signing those papers relinquishing his custodial rights, Without a Trace.

'Bounty Hunter' friend caught pants down (AP)

HONOLULU (AP) -- A sidekick of TV bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman turned himself in to authorities Friday after a shopping center security guard reported seeing him naked in his pickup truck, performing a lewd act, police said.

But Tim Chapman's lawyer insists his client spilled juice on himself and was just changing clothes Thursday night.

The guard told Chapman to put on his clothes and get out of the truck, police said. After dressing, Chapman started his truck and drove over a sidewalk, nearly hitting the guard, then drove off, police said.

The guard told police that he recognized Chapman from Duane Chapman's show "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and that he was performing an unspecified lewd act. Duane Chapman and Tim Chapman are not related.

Tim Chapman's attorney, Brook Hart, said it was all a misunderstanding.

"It was simply a man who wet his pants with orange juice inadvertently and was changing them, doing nothing wrong at all and believing he had sufficient privacy to do it," Hart said.

Police said they were investigating whether to charge Chapman, 42.

The A&E television network put the show on hold indefinitely in November after the release of a private phone conversation in which Duane Chapman repeatedly used a racial slur to describe his son's girlfriend. He has apologized repeatedly.

Spears loses custody of kids to K-Fed (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears was derailed yet again in her struggle to get her life back on track, losing custody of her two sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline. A court commissioner Friday gave sole physical and legal custody of the former couple's two little boys to Federline and suspended the troubled pop star's visitation rights.

Spears was hauled away from her home to a hospital by paramedics a day before, after police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit.

Commissioner Scott Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14.

Federline had previously been awarded temporary custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James because Spears has defied court orders, resulting in limitations on her visitation.

"I'm not happy about any of these events," Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said when he left a closed-door emergency hearing Friday afternoon. "There's no winners here."

Federline was not in court for the hearing, Kaplan said.

The attorney had said he did not expect the ruling to be released until Monday, but it was issued shortly after the hearing concluded.

Law professor Steve Cron, who is not involved in the Spears-Federline matter, predicted that Spears will face sanctions from the court for her behavior.

"My guess is that she won't be seeing her kids for a while," said Cron, who teaches at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Gordon has little option other than to further reduce the time Spears can legally spend with her children, Cron said, "at least for the time being until she gets some help. She's obviously a very troubled person."

The 26-year-old pop star remained hospitalized Friday.

Her latest troubles began around 8 p.m. Thursday when officers were called to her home to help resolve a dispute over her refusal to turn the children over to Federline, as dictated by their custody agreement.

It took two to three hours to resolve the conflict, said Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre.

"There was a time where she was within the residence and wasn't available to be speaking to the officers, apparently," she said. "There was no threat to the children."

"Police resolved the conflict," Aguirre said. "Both children were turned over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody, and she was in fact taken to a local hospital for medical treatment."

Early police reports said officers thought Spears might have been under the influence of some substance, but Aguirre said there was no evidence of that.

"Our understanding is that was not the case," she said.

Officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why, she said.

"We're not aware of any type of injuries that she sustained" and she was not combative with authorities, Aguirre said.

Spears wasn't arrested in connection with the custody dispute, Aguirre said.

"There was no actual crime that was involved," the police spokeswoman said.

Kaplan said he went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after Spears was admitted there, but he declined to provide any details about the pop star, her ex-husband, or their two sons.

Spears' mother, Lynne Spears, also would not disclose any information about her daughter's condition. "Just say prayers," she told the celebrity news show "Access Hollywood" by phone Friday.

Hospital spokeswoman Simi Singer wouldn't confirm or deny reports in entertainment media that Spears would be held for 72 hours for psychological evaluation. The reports didn't identify their sources.

Spears "needs an enormous amount of help to find out why the erratic behavior," said Ruth Schreibman, a marriage and family therapist who does not treat the pop star.

"Is she bipolar? Is she depressed? Is it postpartum depression? Is it drugs and alcohol?" she said. "There's just so much attention and it's such an accelerated speed of life that how can there be any normalcy?"

Spears and Federline were married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out of control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

She had hoped to regain her pop crown with a much-hyped performance at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, but it was universally panned by fans and critics.

Still, Spears' latest album, "Blackout," earned positive reviews when it was released in October and brought Spears her first No. 1 hit in years, "Gimme More."

However, Spears remains a paparazzi target for her bizarre antics, which include frequent stops at gas-station bathrooms and holing up in a hotel room with a paparazzo.

Her 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, made headlines last month when she announced that she is pregnant.

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Associated Press writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report. Raquel Maria Dillon contributed for the AP.

Britney Spears in hospital, may lose child visits (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for Kevin Federline, ex-husband of pop star Britney Spears, went to court on Friday seeking to strip the troubled singer of visitation rights to their sons hours after she was hospitalized following a fit of hysterics.

In the latest twist in Spears year-long personal meltdown, police and ambulances were called to her Los Angeles house on Thursday night, police said.

Television reports showed Spears, 26, being taken out of her home on a gurney early on Friday and driven to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance.

Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee said Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance and was being detained and evaluated in the hospital. Lee said no injuries were reported.

Lawyers for Federline met in private with the judge handling the child custody dispute on Friday morning and were due back in court in the afternoon to discuss the Spears incident.

According to celebrity news Web sites, Spears locked herself in a room with one of her children and went into hysterics when aides of Federline arrived to pick up sons Sean Preston, 2 and Jayden James, 1, from a court-authorized visit.

TMZ.com said Spears was expected to remain hospitalized under evaluation for her mental state for at least 48 hours.

Us magazine, citing a hospital source, said Spears had been designated a "special needs" patient and was under constant watch. Another source told the magazine that in the ambulance Spears had to be restrained like a mental patient and that she "was going between laughing and hysterics."

Cedars-Sinai declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.

Spears lost primary custody of the boys in October to Federline after her life spun out of control following their divorce, her stints in rehab, a bizarre head-shaving episode and reports of drinking and drug use.

She is currently undergoing court-ordered random drug and alcohol tests and has court-monitored visits with her children three times a week.

Spears, who became a teen pop phenomenon nine years ago, has rarely been out of the news since her split with Federline in November 2006 after two years of marriage.

She made her musical comeback in October with a new single, "Gimme More," and an album, "Blackout," that played strongly on radio and digital download charts and briefly hit No. 2 on the U.S. pop album charts.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)

Mom apologizes for Hannah Montana essay (AP)

GARLAND, Texas - A woman apologized Friday for a "bad decision" in helping her 6-year-old daughter win tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed the girl's father died in Iraq.

Priscilla Ceballos said she hadn't intended to mislead the contest sponsor but got caught up in helping her daughter "realize her dream of seeing Hannah Montana."

"Instead I brought so much negative attention to my family," Ceballos said, reading a statement on NBC's "Today" show. "Please accept my heartfelt apology and please do not punish my child for my mistake."

Ceballos apologized specifically to the military and military families for falsely claiming the girl's father died in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

"I just wanted to help my daughter write a compelling story," she said. "There is no more compelling story than the struggle and sacrifices of our military and their families."

Officials with Chicago-based chain Club Libby Lu surprised the girl with the tickets and a makeover Dec. 28 at a store in a suburban Dallas mall. Club Libby Lu sells clothes, accessories and games for young girls.

The essay won her the grand prize: airfare for four to Albany, N.Y., and four tickets to the sold-out Hannah Montana concert Jan. 9. The opening line in the essay was: "My daddy died this year in Iraq."

Ceballos admitted later in the day to store officials that the essay and the military information she provided about her daughter's father were untrue.

Club Libby Lu withdrew the prize the next day and awarded it to another unnamed contestant.

"I meant no disrespect," Ceballos said on the "Today" show. "I just made a bad decision which I sincerely regret."

___

On the Net:

NBC:

http://www.today.msnbc.com/

Britney Detained, "Evaluated" after Cops Make House Call (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - When it rains, it pours.

Los Angeles police were called to Britney Spears gated Studio City, California, home Thursday night to resolve what authorities have deemed a custodial dispute involving her and Kevin Federlines two children, after which the troubled pop star was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

LAPD spokesman Officer Jason Lee said that Spears was detained and taken in for evaluation after police arrived at her house and found her to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

Spears arrived at L.A.s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just before 12:30 a.m., and is on medical hold, i.e. being detained, while docs of the physical and psychological variety check her out.

A second ambulance, reportedly containg a child, left Spears house shortly after the first one and was headed in the same direction.

Theres no immediate word on whether charges will be filed.

The cops were called at 8 p.m. and were still there at 10:30 p.m. when several other police cars, two ambulances, a firetruck, a police chopper and, of course, the press rolled up behind them.

A handful of paramedics were inside the house as of 11 p.m. and were said to be treating the 26-year-old singer, but no specific injuries have been reported.

Medics were seen rolling a gurney and other equipment into the house.

Lee couldnt say who originally called the police but did say the call was in reference to a family custodial dispute that we are trying to peacefully resolve. He later said that the children were turned over to Federlines camp at about 10:50 p.m., just as the medical cavalry was arriving, after police reviewed a court order stipulating that it was time for the toddlers father to be in charge.

K-Feds attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, was spotted arriving at the Spears home shortly before 8 p.m. this evening, but was seen leaving before the big to-do. Its unclear whether the court documents on hand were courtesy of Kaplan.

Us Weekly reported that the clash in question occurred when Federlines bodyguards arrived at Spears house this evening to retrieve two-year-old Sean Preston and year-old Jayden James, and Spears refused to hand over the boys.

In a normal case, when someone shows up with a certified court order saying the kids need to be somewhere else, the police see to it that the order is obeyed. But that is in a normal case, Spears soon-to-be former family attorney told Us. The Beverly Hills lawyer filed a motion Wednesday to have himself relieved as Spears counsel, citing a breakdown in communication.

The beleaguered songstress gets supervised visits with her sons three times a week under the terms of her current arrangement with Federline. She lost custody to her ex in October after defying a judges order not to drive the boys around without a valid license and insurance.

Also per court order, Spears is supposed to log several hours a week with a parenting coach and undergo twice-weekly random drug testing, a provision her lawyers have fought, but to no avail.

Earlier Thursday, Spears was about 90 minutes late for her appointment to be deposed by Federlines legal camp. Thanks to her tardiness, Kaplan was only able to question the Toxic singer for 14 minutes.

(Originally published Jan. 3, 2008 at 10:28 p.m. PT)

2008 CES: More Tech Than You Can Handle (PC World)

Las Vegas this week becomes the tech capital of the world as the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show and an estimated 140,000 conventioneers take over Sin City.

This giant tech confab features an estimated 27,000 gadgets that range from a cell-phone-sized projector from Microvision and sleek OLED displays from Samsung, to dueling wireless technologies (WirelessHD and Wireless USB) that aim to eliminate all those wires behind your HDTV.

Pre-show events start tomorrow. The show floor opens Monday.

Whats new this year? For one this years CES is billed as the greenest ever with vendors touting power-saving hard-disk drives to other gadget firms showing off green-designed gear built with a reduced amount of nasty toxins like lead.

Also new will be a strong showing of in-car gadgets that go beyond GPS navigation systems. CES representatives say this years show will have 250,000 square feet of in-car gadgets.

Goodbye To Bill Gates

It will also be the last time Microsofts Bill Gates delivers his annual CES keynote addresses. But dont get to teary-eyed. There will be plenty of cool technologies on display to distract anyone from worrying about what Gates post-CES plans are.

This years CES will cover nearly 1.85 million square feet of exhibition space that spans across the huge Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as the Sands Expo and Convention Center, as well as the Las Vegas Hilton and Venetian hotels.

Gadget World

Theres going to be lots to see at CES. For one, we are interested in Pinnacle Systems Pinnacle Transfer Video gizmo and whether it lives up to its promise of allowing you to record analog video onto your iPod sans the need for a PC. Pinnacle announced its video capture device early and will be showing it for the first time at CES.

Another pre-announced CES gadget were interested in seeing in Vegas is Sling Medias SlingPlayer Mobile software for the BlackBerry. The software is supposed to allow you to watch live TV streamed from any Slingbox model to a 3G wireless or Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry smartphone.

Motorola also pre-announced one of its CES gadgets as well. It will show its Motorola DH01 portable television that allows you to watch broadcast TV on a 4.3-inch screen and also functions as a digital video recorder. Eat your heart out TiVo.

Notebooks Get Flashy For Vegas

CES will feature laptops with more pizzazz and entertainment features. Bill Gates at his Sunday night keynote kicking off CES will reportedly be holding a PC "fashion show" with celebrity judge Nigel Barker of "Americas Next Top Model" to see which notebook maker has the snazziest design.

Expect to see a slew of other notebooks featured at CES outfitted with high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) ports. These ports help turn notebooks into quasi-home theater components allowing you to connect say a notebooks Blu-ray disc drive to a HDTV.

On the other end of the notebook spectrum, look for ultraportables and UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs) to have a significant presence CES as well. Vendors will show off tiny new notebooks that are faster and cheaper, and able to eke out better battery life.

Keep Cell Phone Expectations Low

Where are the wireless handsets at CES? Phone vendors dont go wild at CES--many hold off for the giant 3GSM exposition a month later in Barcelona, Spain. But Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia will all have booths at CES, and probably a few new handsets as well.

Qualcomm, the huge wireless chipmaker, will also have a major presence. And expect also to see a slew of iPod and iPhone accessories, from cases to car adapters. (For any new iPhone or iPod announcements, though, youll have to wait another week for MacWorld in San Francisco.)

GPS At CES

GPS vendors who will show off their wares include Garmin, Mio, and TomTom. Expect to see all sorts of new features that enhance basic navigation: Garmins new Nuvi 800, for example, adds speech recognition to enable hands-free operation of the popular car navigation system. Garmin is also introducing a new series of Nuvis, the 5000 series, with oversize 5.2-inch touchscreen displays.

Mapping software veteran DeLorme, meanwhile, will show off the ability to enhance geocaching with photographs using a digital camera with its Topo USA 7.0 topographical mapping software and its Earthmate PN-20 handheld GPS device.

Attack Of The Set-Top Boxes

When it comes to set-top boxes at CES, weve heard the same promise for years. This year, we expect to hear more from set-top box makers beyond the standard pledge of bringing Internet video and other content to the TV. Expect the same promise, but this time (fingers crossed), maybe well see some real progress.

Well be anxious to see a just-announced set-top box from Netflix and LG capable of delivering on-demand movies to Netflix subscriber homes. The device will become available to the companys 7 million consumers in the second half of 2008.

Other set-top box makers at CES will be talking about high-definition (HD) content this year. HD is nothing new, but companies are constantly working on delivering higher quality video using less bandwidth. Well be hunting down Motorolas just announced set-top boxes that use the very efficient video compression standard MPEG-4.

For the first time, were seeing more than a few set-top box makers adding audio capability to their equipment with some even offering support for surround-sound speaker systems. This years models will include a lot move video storage space on their on-board digital video recorders (DVRs), so well be able to store whole seasons of shows without having to erase old episodes or movies to make room.

Hewlett-Packard will be showing off its MediaSmart Receiver x280N, which can stream a wide variety of audio (MP3, WMA, WMA-Pro, WAV, AAC/m4a) from a PC to your home entertainment center via its wireless 802.11a/b/g/n connection. The HP box also streams video (MPEG-2, DivX, WMV, WMV-HD, and H.264/MP4 files) and can display images (JPEG, BMP, GIF, and PNG photos).

In short, youre not likely to see genre-busting announcements (remember Apple TV?) at CES this year, but you will see a bunch of new boxes that do more with the Internet, use less bandwidth, sound better, and store more content for viewing on-demand.

CES Serves Up Home Servers

Home servers should have a breakthrough year at CES. Microsoft released its own home server platform last year and other companies are expected to follow suit. Networking company 2Wire, for instance, is touting its "intelligent home server" (because after all, you wouldnt want a stupid one). The idea is to collect all of your different media--music, photos and video--and then serve it out to devices like PCs, video game consoles and TVs in your home and mobile phones while youre on the go--all without forcing you to think about file formats and codecs. Itll be great if they can make it work.

Displays Get Bigger, Sharper, Cheaper

In terms of HDTV technology showcased at CES we dont expect to be wowed. Its just the standard progression of technology. More ports, smaller components, and cheaper price. However we are excited about LCD monitors to be shown at CES. Dell has announced a sexy Crystal LCD display featuring the new DisplayPort connection.

DVD Politics

The Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD camps typically use CES as a battleground to sway opinion and sling propaganda. This year will be no different.

We expect the Blu-ray camp to tout players with a new feature called BD Live Internet-connected functionality. Expect to see studios demonstrate how future BD Live titles connect your Blu-ray DVD player to the Internet for content related to the DVD title. Meanwhile the HD DVD camp has been quiet in the lead-up to the show. Perhaps its got something up its sleeve?

The show will also be used as a promotion tool for competing wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wireless USB. This year, a new wireless technology called WirelessHD, backed by Sony and Toshiba, will also enter the wireless fray. Each of these competing technologies are vying to reduce or eliminate the need for cords snaking behind your HDTV or home entertainment center.

Here are some facts about the show from the shows sponsor, theConsumer Electronics Association:

* CES is the largest trade show in North America.
* An estimated 27,000 new gadgets will be shown.
* 140,000 people are expected to attend.
* 2,700 exhibitors from across the world will be showing lthe atest tech.
* There are 1.85 million square feet of exhibition space.
* New focus on autos results in 250,000 square feet of in-car gadgets.
* 4,500 journalists from around the world are registered to cover the show.
* CES leaves a 20,000-ton carbon footprint.

For more CES coverage, check out the constantly updated PC World CES Info Center.

Imbruglia Marriage Down Under (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Natalie Imbruglias marriage is, as her biggest hit goes, torn.

The Aussie popster has split from her rocker husband, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, after four years of couplehood.

They announced the demise of their marriage in a joint statement Friday, chalking up the breakup to career demands.

While we are very sad that our marriage has ended, we want to make it clear that our parting is amicable, and we remain friends, they said. This mutual decision has not been taken lightly or quickly.

However, our career demands and our lives in different parts of the world have brought us to the point where unfortunately this difficult decision was necessary for both of us.

We have simply grown apart through not being able to spend enough time together.

Apparently, it didnt help matters that Imbruglia, 32, primarily resides in England, while Johns and his band are headquartered Down Under.

The couple married in their native Australia on New Years Eve in 2003 in Queensland before an all-star audience of Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Virgin boss Richard Branson.

Imbruglia, who has never been able to repeat the success of her 1997 Grammy-nominated international smash Left of the Middle and its inescapable single, Torn, and Johns, whose band scored a major hit with its 1995 debut, Frogstomp, asked that the tabs lay off.

We will not be making any further public statements whatsoever in regard to this very private matter [and] politely ask that people respect our sincere wishes in this regard.

Royal officials reveal Prince Charles', Camilla's gift list (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) - What do you give a couple who seem to have everything? For Britains Prince Charles and his second wife Camilla, the answer is jewels, carpets, an Arabian stallion -- and a shopping bag.

The gifts were among 274 individual items the couple received from foreign dignitaries and members of the public on official overseas tours in the last 12 months, according to a list made public Saturday by royal officials.

During a trip to the Gulf states in February, Camilla was given a necklace, a brooch and a belt from the Kuwaiti royal family. The Qatari royal family gave her another necklace and four glass bottles of perfume.

She was also presented with two black abayas -- full-length Islamic robes and veils worn by Muslim women.

In Bahrain, royals there gave her a watch, bracelet and a silver box with a pearl inset while the couple was also given a jewel-encrusted ceremonial Arabic sword.

Charles came away with a watch from Kuwait and a pistol from the commandant of Kuwaits Military Staff College. An unnamed individual gave him an Arabian stallion -- the second he has received in as many years.

He also received a Whirling Dervish hat from the mayor of Konya on a visit to Turkey in November.

Some gifts were similar: the couple received six model dhows, a couple of carpets, 68 books and three walking sticks.

Other presents were less extravagant: on a trip to the United States in January, the couple received a signed American football, two baseball caps, a shopping bag, chutney, maple syrup and some honey.

Official gifts can be worn or used but by convention are not considered the royals personal property. They cannot be sold or exchanged but eventually become part of the Royal Collection, which is held in trust by the monarch.

The total cost of the gifts was not disclosed.

Britney Spears child custody suspended after hospital drama (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Britney Spears was barred from access to her two baby children here Friday, a day after the troubled singer was rushed to hospital on a stretcher amid fears for her health.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Spears children to be placed in the sole care of the singers ex-husband Kevin Federline, suspending the pop stars visitation rights until "further order of the court."

A hearing has been set for January 14 which will determine how the bitter custody battle is to proceed.

The court ruling came after a dramatic 24 hours for Spears, the fallen pop princess who has rarely been out of the tabloid headlines over the past year following a string of bizarre incidents.

On Thursday she was wheeled out of her Los Angeles mansion on a stretcher and taken to the Cedars Sinai hospital for evaluation following a three-hour custody standoff.

Spears had reportedly refused to release her two children, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one to Federlines bodyguard.

Video footage of the aftermath of the incident showed Spears alternately smiling and looking distraught as she was lifted into an ambulance.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jason Lee said Spears was being detained and evaluated in hospital because officers had found her under the influence of an unknown substance.

People magazine reported on its website Friday that Spears had been placed under a 72-hour lock down for evaluation at Cedars Sinai known as a "5150".

Spears, one of the most successful pop stars of her generation, has been embroiled in a toxic custody battle with Federline ever since the couple separated in late 2006.

A judge limited the pop stars access to her children in October after she failed to submit to random drug testing as demanded at an earlier hearing where the court ruled Spears was a "habitual and continuous" drug user."

Earlier Thursday, Spears began a court-ordered deposition in the custody case after missing several appointments to do so, but appeared for questioning by Federlines lawyer so late that it lasted only 13 minutes, US magazine reported.

The day before, her lawyers had requested to leave her case, citing "a breakdown in communications" with Spears that made "further representation of her interests impossible."

The court-room drama rumbled throughout a difficult year for Spears that saw her in the news for all the wrong reasons.

She was repeatedly photographed in nightspots wearing no underwear and was also captured bizarrely shaving her head in a hair salon and attacking a photographers car with an umbrella.

Those episodes were followed by a stint in a rehabilitation treatment center.

In September Spears attempted to resurrect her career but suffered a critical savaging after a live performance at the Video Music Awards.

Nevertheless the release of her first album in four years in October, "Blackout," offered Spears some encouragement with critics broadly hailing the work as a success.

But Spears family was back in the headlines again last month when it emerged that the singers 16-year-old sister, the star of a popular US television childrens show, was pregnant.

Spears shot to superstardom in late 1998, with her smash-hit debut album "Baby One More Time" which she followed with another chart-topping success the following year, "Oops! ... I Did It Again."

According to Time magazine, Spears has sold over 76 million records worldwide, and her 31 million albums sold in the United States make her the eighth best-selling female artist in US music history.

Hamill being treated for breast cancer (AP)

BALTIMORE - Olympic gold medalist Dorothy Hamill is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Hamill said in a statement Friday that she is being treated at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. The prognosis is favorable, but the 51-year-old Hamill said she will miss some of the "Broadway on Ice" tour while she is having treatment.

Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, one of Hamill's good friends, will fill in for her, beginning Saturday night in Sarasota, Fla. Hamill said she hopes to rejoin the tour in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where it has shows Jan. 16-17.

Then 19, Hamill became America's sweetheart and a fashion icon when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. Her bright smile and bubbly personality made her a marketing dream -- she was once listed as the "Most Trusted Sports Figure in America" by Ladies Home Journal -- and her trademark wedge haircut sent girls across the country flocking to the hairdresser.

Hamill is one of seven U.S. women to win the Olympic gold medal. She also was a three-time U.S. champion and won the world title in 1976, and she has been inducted into both the U.S. and World Figure Skating halls of fame.

Hamill turned professional after winning the 1976 world championships. She joined the Ice Capades in 1977, and headlined that tour for eight years.

Hamill isn't the first Olympic champion to have cancer. Peggy Fleming, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist, also had breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 1998, but is now cancer free and is an advocate for research and awareness. Scott Hamilton, the 1984 men's champion, was treated for testicular cancer in 1997.

"No Winners," as Court Strips Spears Custody (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - With Britney Spears locked down in a hospital following her bizarre late-night standoff, a Los Angeles court commissioner has granted Kevin Federline sole custody of the ex-couples two young sons.

Im not happy about any of these events, said K-Fed lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan upon exiting the courthouse following the brief closed-door afternoon session.

There are no winners here.

Spears remains on a minimum 72-hour hold at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center while undergoing psychological and physical testing. The Friday court ruling means that even if she gets out as scheduled on Sunday, she wont have any contact with sons Sean Preston or Jayden James at least until Jan. 14, when Court Commissioner Scott Gordon has scheduled the next custody hearing.

Kaplan called for Fridays emergency session following Spears meltdown. He and Spears attorney Tara Scott initially met with Gordon for 20 minutes in the morning and returned at 1:30 p.m. to continue proceedings.

At the request of another Spears attorney, Anne Kiley, Gordon agreed to close the afternoon session and cleared the courtroom at 1:50. It took just a half-hour before Gordon to reach his decision.

[Federline] is awarded sole legal custody and sole physical custody of the minor children, Gordon ruled. [Spears] visitation with minor children is suspended pending further order of the court.

Although Kaplan earlier said Federline may testify if its absolutely necessary, he did not appear in court.

There was no further comment from either side following the ruling.

The 29-year-old Federline already had primary physical custody of Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, with Spears allowed a handful of visits with the boys during the week, under the watchful eye of a court-appointed monitor.

Spears joint custody of the boys was first downgraded last October after she failed to comply with Gordons orders, which included a series of random drug tests.

Late Thursday, Spears refused to return the boys to Federlines bodyguards, locking herself in a room with her youngest son. Police were called to the scene and, although she was judged at the time to be under the influence of an unknown substance, authorities said Friday that there was no evidence of that.

There was no actual crime that was involved and Spears has not been arrested, LAPD spokeswoman Officer Ana Aguirre said, adding that no threat was posed to Sean or Jayden at the house.

The singer was detained by police and then transported via ambulance to Cedars-Sinai. She remains under a 5150 hold, which, per the medical code, is enforced when any person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled.

A source close to Spears tells E! Online senior editor Marc Malkin that the family fears she is suffering from bipolar disoder and has not been following doctors orders.

This was going on before the head shaving, the souce said. She wouldnt listen to anyone. She said she knew what she was doing. She needs major help. Lets hope she will finally get it.

Although the singer has already received visits from father Jamie Spears and pal Sam Lutfi, her mother, Lynne Spears, is the only inner-circle member to have spoken publicly since the incident transpired.

In a teary phone call to Access Hollywood, Lynne simply implored, Just say prayers.

Both Kiley and Scott are attorneys with the firm of Trope & Trope, which on Wednesday filed court documents seeking to be released as the singers counsel, citing a breakdown in communication.

There was no indication Friday how much longer the firm would represent Spears.

Britney Spears taken to hospital after custody standoff (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for Kevin Federline, ex-husband of pop star Britney Spears, went to court on Friday seeking to strip the troubled singer of visitation rights to their sons hours after she was hospitalized following a fit of hysterics.

In the latest twist in Spears year-long personal meltdown, police and ambulances were called to her Los Angeles house on Thursday night, police said.

Television reports showed Spears, 26, being taken out of her home on a gurney early on Friday and driven to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance.

Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee said Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance and was being detained and evaluated in the hospital. Lee said no injuries were reported.

Lawyers for Federline met in private with the judge handling the child custody dispute on Friday morning and were due back in court in the afternoon to discuss the Spears incident.

According to celebrity news Web sites, Spears locked herself in a room with one of her children and went into hysterics when aides of Federline arrived to pick up sons Sean Preston, 2 and Jayden James, 1, from a court-authorized visit.

TMZ.com said Spears was expected to remain hospitalized under evaluation for her mental state for at least 48 hours.

Us magazine, citing a hospital source, said Spears had been designated a "special needs" patient and was under constant watch. Another source told the magazine that in the ambulance Spears had to be restrained like a mental patient and that she "was going between laughing and hysterics."

Cedars-Sinai declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.

Spears lost primary custody of the boys in October to Federline after her life spun out of control following their divorce, her stints in rehab, a bizarre head-shaving episode and reports of drinking and drug use.

She is currently undergoing court-ordered random drug and alcohol tests and has court-monitored visits with her children three times a week.

Spears, who became a teen pop phenomenon nine years ago, has rarely been out of the news since her split with Federline in November 2006 after two years of marriage.

She made her musical comeback in October with a new single, "Gimme More," and an album, "Blackout," that played strongly on radio and digital download charts and briefly hit No. 2 on the U.S. pop album charts.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)

Owner of JDate Web site considers sale: source (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Spark Networks, home to popular Jewish online dating site JDate.com, is looking for a buyer and talking to leading social networks and Web dating communities, a source familiar with the talks said on Friday.

Spark shares rose more than 14 percent to 5.56 after the New York Times reported earlier in the day that the company could fetch as much as 185 million, based on analysts estimates. That would represent a premium of nearly 40 percent to its closing price on Thursday.

The newspaper, citing people close to the auction, said Spark Networks was in early talks with companies including Yahoo Incs eHarmony and News Corps MySpace, as well as IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns Match.com.

The source confirmed for Reuters that Spark was in talks with several potential bidders.

Officials for Spark, MySpace and IAC could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for eHarmony declined comment

Spark also owns AmericanSingles.com for people looking to a wider audience and HurryDate.com, as well as sites oriented to specific communities like BlackSingles.com and CatholicMingle.com.

Online dating has been an area of consistent growth on the Internet. Match.com has contributed to double-digit earnings growth for IACs membership and subscriptions unit.

But Spark Networks posted a 5 percent drop in revenue for the first nine months of 2007 to 49.2 million as its Web sites geared to a wider audience lost ground to larger rivals.

About half of the revenue came from its Jewish Networks division, which rose 5 percent in the period.

Spark reported more than 208,000 total paying subscribers in the third quarter, down from nearly 241,000 in the year earlier period. About 95,000 subscribers belonged to its Jewish Networks unit.

(Reporting by Michele Gershberg and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Derek Caney, Toni Reinhold)

Red Hat CEO targets Oracle, Microsoft (AP)

RALEIGH, N.C. - Software maker Red Hat Inc. CEO Jim Whitehurst said Friday -- his fourth day on the job -- that he's angling for a showdown with much larger Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp. over leadership in open source products.

Moving beyond defending a company as he did as an executive at Delta Air Lines Inc., Whitehurst is ready to go on the offensive as he builds Raleigh-based Red Hat.

"A lot of work at an established company like Delta is about preserving market share and defending against incumbents," said Whitehurst, who helped guide the airline out of bankruptcy before leaving in August.

"Here, we are the attacker. If you listen to all the squealing that Microsoft and Oracle do about us, clearly they're worried about us."

Microsoft has put its weight behind the open-source software platform peddled by Novell Inc.

Oracle has been even more aggressive, announcing more than a year ago that it would sell maintenance service for Red Hat's product -- essentially copying the company's business and offering a lower price.

Whitehurst said anything short of success in the skirmishes with Oracle and Microsoft would endanger the open-source industry and the free flow of information -- though he acknowledged that competing against those two "very large and very wealthy" rivals will be difficult.

"We are working to democratize information," Whitehurst said. "A lot of people don't see the importance of that. But, ultimately, it is about information freedom and making sure information's accessible.

"If we don't fight those battles now, our entrenched competitors will lock up file formats, force you to use their software or force royalties," he added. "Then the information stored in those formats will no longer be free."

Unlike Microsoft, which keeps the code for its Windows operating system and its software secret, Red Hat collaborates with outsiders to develop its product and then gives away the software, allowing users to copy, distribute and modify it.

The company makes money by selling technical support services.

Red Hat's software core Linux brand operates the back room servers of many companies and government agencies around the world. The company estimates that the data center business overall is worth $100 billion, and it has only tapped a small portion of that.

Whitehurst also hopes to expand into software applications and onto desktop computers. But he wasn't sure that will happen immediately: "I just found the bathroom and coffee machine around here, so, we'll see."

A handful of analysts and observers questioned Whitehurst's appointment over more prominent tech-industry leaders. But the self-described "techie geek" said he is plenty qualified to handle the job.

He's a computer science graduate who runs Linux on his home computer and does programming in his spare time. And, he points out, Delta didn't exactly ignore high tech with a technology budget of about $400 million -- about equal to Red Hat's annual revenues.

Whitehurst said he passed up offers from private equity groups and others to help turn around struggling companies. He enjoyed the work at Delta -- a company he called "an institution that deserved to be saved" -- but he wanted a new job he could get excited about.

"I am absolutely passionate about what we do and the importance of what we do (at Red Hat)," Whitehurst said. "By doing well, we do good."

Former Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik, Red Hat's CEO since 1999, stepped down at the end of 2007 to deal with family health issues, he said. He will continue as chairman of the company's board of directors.

Red Hat shares were trading down 24 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $20.47 in midday trading Friday.

SAG: Actors likely to snub Golden Globes (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Golden Globe-nominated actors are expected to snub the awards in support of striking Hollywood writers, the actors union said Friday, jeopardizing one of the entertainment industry's signature showcases.

NBC, however, said it was sticking by its plans to air the Jan. 13 ceremony, despite the uncertainty about how much -- if any -- star power the Globes could muster.

"The network plans to move forward with the broadcast at this point," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said, adding that it has yet to be determined which actors will participate.

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg made the announcement after canvassing nominees during the past several weeks.

"There appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross" the picket lines to present or accept an award, he said in a prepared statement.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the awards, said it was wrestling with the "unfortunate predicament."

"We are making every effort to work out a solution that will permit the Golden Globes to take place with the creative community present to participate," Jorge Camara, the group's president, said in a statement.

The association hoped to announce a resolution Monday, Camara said.

The writers strike, which began Nov. 5, has broad implications for the way Hollywood does business. Whatever deal is struck by writers on payment for shows offered on the Internet could affect talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.

The Golden Globes show brings in a reported $5 million for the association and millions more in advertising revenue for NBC.

On Friday, a dozen publicity firms representing what they called a majority of Golden Globe-nominated actors, writers and directors, as well as many stars invited to appear as presenters, released a letter sent to NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

"After much discussion with our clients, we have concluded the vast majority of the talent we represent are not comfortable crossing a picket line," the letter said.

The stars would appear only if NBC and dick clark productions, which produces the show, reaches an interim agreement with the writers guild, the publicists told Zucker.

The Clark company lashed out at the guild in a statement Friday, citing repeated efforts to reach an interim agreement akin to the union deal with another independent company, Worldwide Pants, which produces David Letterman's show.

"We are disappointed that the WGA has refused to bargain with us in good faith. It is apparent that we are being treated differently from similarly situated production companies," the Clark company said.

An e-mail request for guild comment was not immediately answered.

Meanwhile, writers guild President Patric M. Verrone lauded the move by actors and said the "entire awards show season is being put in jeopardy by the intransigence of a few big media corporations."

In his statement, Verrone urged studios to resume talks that broke off Dec. 7.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in negotiations, did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

The Writers Guild of America had refused to grant a waiver to allow its members to work on the Globes, the People's Choice Awards and the prestigious Academy Awards.

A total of 72 actors are among this year's Golden Globe nominees. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has repeatedly tried to seek the blessing of the writers guild.

The actors union said previously that the choice to attend was a personal one that its members would make for themselves.

In his statement Friday, Rosenberg also weighed in on the late-night talk shows, which are back on the air. Some are working without writers, while others made deals with the writers guild.

Rosenberg stopped short of pressing actors to skip the picketed shows, like Jay Leno's "Tonight."

"We urge our members to appear on the two programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, 'The Late Show with David Letterman' and `Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,'" he said.

Actors who appear on other shows have to cross picket lines, he said.

That creates "the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the Golden Globes," Rosenberg said.

K-Fed Courts Change to Spears' Custody (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - In the wake of Britney Spears bizarre late-night custody standoff and subsequent lockdown at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, its nice to know there are some activities we can always count on going off without a hitch.

Like Mark Vincent Kaplan appearing at Los Angeles Superior Court for the requisite emergency hearing in Kevin Federlines ongoing custody battle with Spears.

Hours after Spears was placed on a minimum 72-hour hold at the Los Angeles hospital to undergo psychological and physical testing, K-Feds attorney was back in court, reportedly seeking to strip the troubled mother of two of her remaining custody and visitation rights.

Kaplan and Spears attorney Tara Scott met with Court Commissioner Scott Gordon in a closed-door session for just 20 minutes this morning and are expected to return at 1:30 p.m. to continue proceedings.

Exactly what those proceedings will be remains to be seen, however, as Kaplan publicist Michael Sands informed the press that the attorney would not be issuing any statements whatsoever on the Spears matter.

He feels at this time it would be inappropriate for him to speak to the media, and Im sorry, but we will not be doing any press today, Sands said outside the courthouse.

While he did confirm that Kaplan was at the hospital early Friday morning, he refused to answer questions pertaining to Spears, the Federline children, whether Kaplan was, as widely reported, at Spears Studio City home last night or any specific legal action Kaplan may seek or has already sought.

I cant confirm anything, he said. Thats the best I can do for anyone.

He did, however, comment on the state of mind of at least one of the sagas players.

Marks fine. Mark is a real pro. He has to do what he has to do.

In court to defend Spears, or at least represent her, was Scott, a family attorney at Trope & Trope, which on Wednesday filed court documents seeking to be released as the singers counsel, citing a breakdown in communication.

The 29-year-old Federline already has primary physical custody of Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, with Spears allowed a handful of visits with the boys during the week, under the watchful eye of a court-appointed monitor.

Spears joint custody of the boys was first downgraded last October after she failed to comply with Gordons orders, which included a series of random drug tests.

Late Thursday, Spears refused to return the boys to Federlines bodyguards, locking herself in a room with youngest son Jayden. Police were called to the scene and determined her to be under the influence of an unknown substance

Spears was detained by police and then transported via ambulance to Cedars-Sinai. She remains under a 5150 hold, which, per the medical code, is enforced when any person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled.

Per authorities, Spears will remain at the hospital for at least three days while she undergoes evaluation.

The Mobile Internet, Other Technologies Sing Viva Las Vegas (Investor's Business Daily)

Mobile Internet devices, next-generation high-definition TVs and new and improved systems for watching video entertainment from the Internet on your living room TV are among the buzz-worthy products to be shown at this years Consumer Electronics Show.

The giant high-tech conference, known as CES, officially starts Monday and runs through Thursday in Las Vegas. CES is expected to draw 140,000 attendees and 2,700 exhibitors. Its the worlds largest consumer technology trade show and North Americas largest annual trade show of any kind.

Industry analysts say Internet-connected mobile devices will be one major focus of the show. Chipmaker Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC - News) will be touting its platform for mobile Internet devices, or MIDs. Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini is giving a keynote speech on Monday, when hes expected to discuss microprocessors optimized for handheld communications, ultramobile PCs and more.

"All kinds of mobile devices are taking center stage," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies. "One big theme (of the show) is the Internet in your pocket."

Smart phones, GPS navigation devices and portable media players are getting wireless Internet access. And location-based services are becoming a more common feature in phones and navigation devices.

Cell phone maker Motorola (NYSE:MOT - News) plans to show off a mobile video player. The device has a 4.3-inch screen and shows live TV, on-demand video clips and programming saved on digital video recorders.

Handset makers will roll out their answer to Apples (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News) hit iPhone. Some might introduce phones running Googles (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) Android mobile phone software.

Consumer electronics firms, including Sony (NYSE:SNE - News) and Matsushita Electric Industrials (NYSE:MC - News) Panasonic, will flaunt super-size high-definition TV sets to show their technological prowess and give a glimpse of whats ahead.

At this years CES, liquid crystal displays will take a victory lap, says Marjorie Costello, editor and publisher of Consumer Electronics Online News. Flat-panel LCD TVs are outselling plasma TVs by a large margin. And rear-projection TVs are disappearing from the market.

"Its pretty clear which display format has won," she said. "CES will put the exclamation point 14 how LCD rules."

LCD TV makers will trot out thinner models and larger screen sizes at the show, says Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group. Some will feature faster screen refresh rates for improved picture quality.

Waiting in the wings to give LCD a run for its money are organic light-emitting diode TVs. OLED TVs are whisper-thin, low-power displays that beat LCDs on color, contrast and side viewing angles.

But OLED TVs are small and expensive. Sony is selling an 11-inch OLED TV in Japan for $1,800. At last years CES, Sony displayed a 27-inch prototype OLED TV.

Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil a 31-inch OLED TV and a 40-inch prototype at the show.

Mitsubishi Electric will premiere its Laser TV. The technology promises crisper images and more accurate colors. Its targeted at the large-screen home theater market.

Also, PC firms such as Dell (NasdaqGS:DELL - News) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - News) will be showing off fashionable computers to entice consumers. These include bright-colored notebook PCs and all-in-one, sleek desktop designs.

Chinas Lenovo Group will be unveiling its first consumer PCs. The company, best known for its ThinkPad business notebook PCs, has branded its consumer notebooks under the IdeaPad name.

Taiwans Asus Computer International will take the wraps off a notebook PC with 1 terabyte of data storage, the first such device.

Besides Otellini, other prominent speakers at CES include Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) Chairman Bill Gates, Comcast (NasdaqGS:CMCSA - News) CEO Brian Roberts, General Motors (NYSE:GM - News) CEO Rick Wagoner and Yahoo (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News) CEO Jerry Yang.

One major company not at the show is Apple. Its saving its product announcements for the Macworld conference Jan. 14-18 in San Francisco. Analysts say Apple could announce an ultralight notebook PC with a touch screen and a refresh to its Apple TV set-top box, possibly with online movie rentals.

Hollywood movie studios and other content providers could make a splash at CES by announcing content deals with hardware makers, says Danielle Levitas, an analyst with research firm IDC.

Online movie rental service Netflix (NasdaqGS:NFLX - News) and hardware vendor LG Electronics announced Thursday they are joining forces to develop a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and other video from the Internet to HDTVs -- bypassing the need to use a PC.

Netflix says it expects to reach similar deals with other consumer electronic companies. LG plans to deliver its networked player in the second half of the year.

Two formats competing to be the high-definition successor to the DVD also will be touting their content at the show. The major movie studios are split between Toshibas HD DVD and Sonys Blu-ray Disc. But on Friday, Warner Bros. Entertainment said it would support the Blu-ray format exclusively.

Intel severs alliance with One Laptop Per Child (AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Computer chip giant Intel said Friday it has severed its alliance with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative aimed at getting computers into the hands of children in developing countries.

Intel said it parted ways with OLPC after the non-profit group insisted the US firm abandon its own low-cost laptop, the Classmate PC.

"We are still very much in alignment with the mission and objective of OLPC," Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy told AFP.

"We wish them well but because of a philosophical impasse we left their board of directors."

OLPC downplayed Intels importance to the coalition of firms devoted to the organizations mission and accuses Intel of violating a pact.

"We at OLPC have been disappointed that Intel did not deliver on any of the promises they made when they joined OLPC," OLPC said in a written statement.

"While we were hopeful for a positive, collaborative relationship, it never materialized."

Intel maintains that it honored all of its promises to OLPC and recently completed a prototype laptop based on its computer chips.

The fallout between Intel and OLPC is due to a demand that the chip maker commit itself exclusively to the organizations XO laptops, according to Mulloy.

Intel has licensed technology to a Taiwan company that makes Classmate PC laptops, which compete with OLPCs offering in the low-cost arena.

It is estimated that a billion affordable laptops are needed by children and teachers in poor and developing countries and Intel maintains that the goal will best be met by multiple marketplace offerings.

"For years we have said there is no single solution," Mulloy said.

"We agree with OLPC that the need is tremendous. The difference is how to deal with that need. It is not one size fits all. Our Classmate PC is an option and we think others will emerge this year."

Intel says that tens of thousands of Classmate PCs costing nearly 300 dollars each have been sold.

OLPC says it has sold approximately 300,000 XO laptops, priced at 188 dollars each and powered with chips from Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices.

OLPC accuses Intel of not working cooperatively on software development and coming up with an XO laptop design that was an expensive electricity guzzler.

"We view the children as a mission," OLPC said in its statement. "Intel views them as a market."

After criticism, Sears plugs Web site's privacy hole (InfoWorld)

San Francisco - Sears Holdings has taken part of its Managemyhome.com Web site offline following revelations that the site was making customers purchasing histories publicly available.

Sears disabled the sites "Find your products" section on Friday following criticism from privacy advocates, who said that fraudsters could use information provided by the site to scam Sears customers.

"We take our customers privacy concerns very seriously. As a result, we have turned off the ability to view a customers purchase history on Manage My Home until we can implement a validation process that will restrict access by unauthorized third parties," said Sears spokeswoman Kimberly Freely in an e-mail.

"We appreciate the efforts of those who brought the issue to our attention," she added. Customers with concerns can contact Sears directly at 1-800-803-6775.

The feature was supposed to be used by customers who wanted "easy access to useful information about products they have purchased," she added.

Manage My Home is a community portal where Sears shoppers can download product manuals, find product tips, and get home renovation ideas. However, "Find your products" would return purchase information history on any Sears customer, provided the search included the name, phone number, and address of the person.

This was a violation of Sears own online privacy policy, which does not allow the company to share users purchase history with the general public, according to Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who blogged about the issue on Friday.

"It seems like pulling the feature is the right decision at this point," Edelman said in an interview on Friday. But he warned it was "not immediately obvious" how Sears could bring it back without running into further privacy problems.

Sears, the third-largest retailer in the United States, has also been in hot water for its My SHC Community portal, which downloads invasive ComScore Web tracking software to some users.

Sears has defended its use of the tracking software, pointing out that users are notified of the softwares features before they download it, but researchers such as Edelman have said that the company doesnt do a good enough job of telling users what the software actually does.

According to Edelman, the privacy slip-ups may stem from logistical challenges posed by Sears 2005 merger with Kmart. "Theres a huge transition there," he said. "Getting that ship pointed in the right direction could deeply challenge IT. There are a whole lot of ways to do it wrong."

Wi-Fi startup to pick up where Google left off in SF (InfoWorld)

San Francisco - Wireless networking startup Meraki plans to deliver free wireless Internet access, supported by advertising, across San Francisco by the end of the year, it announced Friday.

An earlier attempt by Google and EarthLink to offer free city-wide Wi-Fi access in San Francisco foundered in August when EarthLink pulled out. They had planned a two-tier service, with faster, paid access provided by EarthLink and a more limited, advertising-funded service to be offered by Google. The search engine giant is also an investor in Meraki.

Meraki will base the service on an existing project covering parts of the city, Free the Net, which has signed up 40,000 users over an area of 5 square kilometers since it began last March.

To avoid the need for extensive cabling, Meraki will build the backbone of the network using a mesh network of solar-powered wireless repeaters installed on rooftops. The nodes will use some of their wireless capacity to offer Internet access to those nearby, and the rest to haul traffic back, via adjacent nodes, to the networks core.

The company is looking for city residents willing to put a repeater on their roof. Those hosting a repeater will get free access to the service -- but so will their neighbors -- although for them, the signal may not be as strong. Although devices are shared, Meraki aims to deliver data rates of around 1Mbps to each user.

Meraki will pay the cost of rolling out the service, and no public funds are involved, it said. Investors have offered the company an additional $20 million in venture capital to fund the move, it announced Friday.

Ozone in Paris offers a similar wireless Internet service based on a network of wireless repeaters. Its service is only free for those who host repeaters, though: others must pay EUR18 ($26) a month.

Amy Fisher, husband promote sex tape (AP)

NEW YORK - Former "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher is joining her husband in trying to market a sex tape, saying, "I always wanted to be No. 1 at something, but I didn't think it would be something like this."

Fisher said her husband, Louis Bellera, sold the sex tape to Red Light District video of Los Angeles in August when he and Fisher were divorcing. They have since reconciled, and Fisher said she took a six-figure payout rather than fight to have the video pulled from the Internet.

As a teenager, Fisher was sent to prison for seven years for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her former lover, Joey Buttafuoco. Buttafuoco, twice her age, served time for statutory rape for having sex with a 16-year-old.

Fisher, 33, has written two books and worked as a columnist for the Long Island Press. More recently, she has appeared as a celebrity guest at various clubs.

She admits explaining what she does and why she is famous will be hard to do when her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter get older.

Goldie Hawn says Aspen full of paparazzi (AP)

ASPEN, Colo. - Goldie Hawn says she can't go into Aspen from her nearby ranch because of aggressive paparazzi who pursue her car and stake out her home. "They've come into our little town and they really have done their job: They've shooed us out," the 62-year-old actress told The Aspen Times in Thursday's editions.

Hawn and longtime companion Kurt Russell have been part-time Aspen-area residents for 25 years. In the past, she said, she could wander Aspen freely because the town attracted few celebrity photographers, and they were discreet.

"But it ain't like the old days anymore," said Hawn, who won a supporting actress Oscar for the 1969 film "Cactus Flower."

"You find yourself running and dodging and jumping in your car," she said. "I can't go into my own town. I hurt for my children. It's not fair."

She said the paparazzi also stalk her 28-year-old daughter, Kate Hudson, who has starred in the films "Almost Famous" and "You, Me and Dupree."

Hawn said she spoke with Mayor Mick Ireland, who suggested she turn the tables and begin taking photos of the paparazzi.

Ireland told the Times the paparazzi pursuit was "abusive" and "inconsiderate" but said there is little the town can do.

"Anything we would do would just make it worse," he said. An ordinance limiting paparazzi would run up against defenders of the First Amendment, he said.

Aspen was once considered a refuge for celebrities, Ireland said, but no more.

"There's no safe haven," he said.

Montgomery gets Posthumous walk star (AP)

LOS ANGELES - A posthumous star honoring "Bewitched" star Elizabeth Montgomery was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a rainy Friday ceremony.

Montgomery "is probably in the heavens laughing at us as we stand in the rain," said honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant.

In the television show, Montgomery portrayed a witch trying to live as a housewife. The sitcom ran from 1964 into the early 1970s.

She died in 1995 at age 62. Among those attending the ceremony was her widower, actor Robert Foxworth.

"It is a great tribute to her that there are so many of you here," he said during the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard.

Amy Fisher promoting sex tape (AP)

NEW YORK - Former "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher is joining her husband in trying to market a sex tape, saying, "I always wanted to be No. 1 at something, but I didn't think it would be something like this."

Fisher said her husband, Louis Bellera, sold the sex tape to Red Light District video of Los Angeles in August when he and Fisher were divorcing. They have since reconciled, and Fisher said she took a six-figure payout rather than fight to have the video pulled from the Internet.

As a teenager, Fisher was sent to prison for seven years for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her former lover, Joey Buttafuoco. Buttafuoco, twice her age, served time for statutory rape for having sex with a 16-year-old.

Fisher, 33, has written two books and worked as a columnist for the Long Island Press. More recently, she has appeared as a celebrity guest at various clubs.

She admits explaining what she does and why she is famous will be hard to do when her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter get older.

Paris Hilton Reaches Out To Britney Spears

Friday, January 04, 2008

PARIS HILTON REACHES OUT TO BRITNEY SPEARS



Though she may not be the most likely person to help Britney Spears pull herself out of the current funk she finds herself in, Paris Hilton has reportedly sent her best wishes to the troubled singer.

The "Simple Life" starlet was spotted out at Teddy's bar in Hollywood, California last night, and upon her exit, she had a message for the "Gimme More" singer.

Paris said she was "hoping (Britney) will get better, get some help, and do better in 2008." She then flashed her trademark "Zoolander" face and hit the road.

However, given the earlier Gossip Girls report of Hilton's own late night antics, and the fact that she was spotted bumping and grinding on Spears' ex husband Kevin Federline, it may be unlikely that Brit will take Paris' words to heart.

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Paris and brother Barron out at Teddy's last night (January 3).

'Without a Trace' star welcomes baby boy (AP)

NEW YORK - Poppy Montgomery and her boyfriend, Adam Kaufman, welcomed a son, Jackson Phillip Kaufman, on Dec. 23.

The baby was born in Los Angeles and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, Montgomery's publicist, Jennifer Shoucair, said Friday. He is the couple's first child.

Montgomery, 32, plays FBI agent Samantha Spade on "Without a Trace." Kaufman, 33, has appeared on several episodes of the CBS drama.

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Britney Spears visitation rights suspended: court (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A Los Angeles judge on Friday suspended Britney Spears visitation rights to her children after the troubled pop star was rushed to hospital a day earlier, court officials said.

The judge in Spears custody case granted sole legal and physical custody of the singers children to ex-husband Kevin Federline until "further order of the court", documents cited by entertainment website TMZ.com said.

The order will remain in effect until a hearing on January 14.

SAG: Actors won't cross lines at Globes (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Golden Globe-nominated actors are expected to snub the awards in support of striking Hollywood writers, the actors union said Friday.

After canvassing nominees over the past several weeks, Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement, "there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross" the picket lines to present or accept an award.

It was unclear how the move might affect the awards set for broadcast on NBC on Jan. 13.

Michael Russell, a spokesman for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which stages the Golden Globes, did not immediately return telephone or e-mail requests for comment about the move by actors.

The Writers Guild of America had refused to grant a waiver to allow its members to work on the Globes, the People's Choice Awards and the prestigious Academy Awards.

A total of 72 actors are among this year's Golden Globe nominees. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has repeatedly tried to seek the blessing of the writers guild.

The actors' union said previously that the choice to attend or not was a personal one that its members would make for themselves.

In his statement Friday, Rosenberg referred to "considerable outreach" by the actors guild to nominees and their representatives in recent weeks.

The writers strike, which began Nov. 5, has broad implications for the way Hollywood does business, since whatever deal is struck by writers on payment for shows offered on the Internet could affect talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.

Rosenberg also weighed in on the late-night talks shows, which are back on the air. Some are working without writers after failing to strike deals with the writers guild.

Rosenberg stopped short of pressing actors to skip the picketed shows, like Jay Leno's "Tonight."

"We urge our members to appear on the two programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, `The Late Show with David Letterman' and `Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,'" he said.

Actors who appear on other shows have to cross picket lines, he said.

That creates "the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the Golden Globes," Rosenberg said.

Hospitalized Britney Spears loses child visitation (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A family court suspended Britney Spears visitation rights to her two young sons on Friday after the pop star was hospitalized in a fit of hysterics over their handover to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

The Los Angeles court commissioner handling the bitter custody dispute between Spears and Federline suspended the pop stars visitation rights at an emergency court hearing, a court document showed.

The document, first obtained by celebrity Web site TMZ.com, said Spears "visitation with the minor children is suspended pending further order of the court." It added that Federline was awarded "sole legal and physical custody" of the boys. The order is in effect until January 14.

The court order was issued as Spears, 26, spent the day in a Los Angeles hospital, apparently under mental evaluation. She lost custody of the boys in October 2007 but had been allowed court-monitored visits three times a week.

But at the end of their visit on Thursday night, police were called to her Los Angeles home when she refused to hand the boys back to Federlines representatives.

Television pictures showed Spears being taken out of her home on a stretcher and driven to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance after a four-hour standoff in which the pop singer reportedly locked herself in a bathroom.

Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee said Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance and was being detained and evaluated in the hospital.

UNDER CONSTANT WATCH

Us magazine, citing a source at Los Angeles Cedars Sinai Medical Center, said Spears had been designated a "special needs" patient and was under constant watch.

Another source told Us magazine that in the ambulance Spears had to be restrained like a mental patient and she "was going between laughing and hysterics."

Cedars-Sinai declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.

Federlines lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan declined to give details of Fridays closed door court hearing. Kaplan told reporters; "I am not happy about anything that has happened recently. There are no winners right now.

Spears mother Lynne told Access Hollywood: "Just say prayers."

Spears lost primary custody of Sean Preston, 2 and Jayden James, 1, to Federline after her life spun out of control following their divorce, her stints in rehab, a bizarre head-shaving episode and reports of drinking and drug use.

She is currently undergoing court-ordered random drug and alcohol tests and parenting lessons.

Spears became a teen pop phenomenon nine years ago. She made her musical comeback in October with a new single, "Gimme More," and an album, "Blackout," that played strongly on radio and digital download charts and briefly hit No. 2 on the U.S. pop album charts.

(Additional reporting by Justin Kroll; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Reese Witherspoon tops list of most-liked celebs (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Her latest movie "Rendition" flopped at box offices, but fans still love Reese Witherspoon.

The actress proved to be the most-liked celebrity among ten women who regularly found their way onto magazine covers and into gossip columns in 2007, according to a poll on Friday.

For its E-Score Celebrity survey, E-Poll Market Research asked more than 1,100 people ages 13 and older whom they found the most appealing, confident, glamorous, interesting and over-exposed, among other qualities.

Witherspoon, 30, who has been in the spotlight since winning an Oscar for playing country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," topped the list with a personal appeal rating of 74 percent, followed by former "Friends" TV star Jennifer Aniston at 70 percent.

The Oscar winner has not had any major movie hits since "Walk the Line," but has been the focus of numerous headlines and stories this year due to her divorce from actor Ryan Phillippe and subsequent involvement with Jake Gyllenhaal, her co-star in "Rendition."

That movie, an espionage thriller, has proved to be a major disappointment at box offices taking in only 17 million so far in global ticket sales.

Meanwhile Angelina Jolie, who is now the companion of Anistons ex-husband Brad Pitt, was the No. 3 most appealing celebrity at 53 percent.

Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was behind her with a 52 percent rating, while Katie Holmes followed at 32 percent and behind her was former Spice Girl Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham in the No. 6 position with a rating of 28 percent.

Troubled celebrities of 2007 -- Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears -- who all have battled drug and alcohol abuse and run into legal problems, rounded out the list with Hilton the least-liked.

She had a low 9 percent appeal rating, and was deemed to be the most over-exposed. Only one notch above Hilton was pop singer Spears with 11 percent likeability and a 68 percent over-exposed rating to Hiltons 75 percent.

Reuters