True or False?

A couple of weeks or so ago, I reported that Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Norton were seen canoodling around New York City together. Well, guess that's gone up in flames, because Evan publicly announced that she is with Billy Elliott star, Jamie Bell: "I think it's obvious [that we're dating], so I'm not really going to say anything ... We've made a public appearance together so that's why it's obvious. It's kind of pointless to deny it ... I think Jamie is awesome. And it's even better when you know him because he's just a completely different person on screen." The two met while filming Green Day's video for "Wake Me Up When September Ends." [Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Movies]

Lionel Richie has been telling people that daughter Nicole and Adam Goldberg are set to marry again -- and he'll be providing the entertainment. But rumor has it they recently split. Who's telling the truth?

If anyone has a clue who Courtney Peldon is, I have some strange, strange news for you. She confirmed at the premiere of HBO documentary Dealing in Dogs that she is engaged to Crispin Glover. Erf!?

A pedestrian caught Brandon Davis outside Hyde in Hollywood and had some choice words for Brandon regarding Lindsay Lohan, though she called her a "stupid little girl." You can watch the video (and Brandon's reaction to it) here. I love the ridiculous "glare" he gives her, although it wasn't the most mature thing she could've done.

The teaser trailer for Talan Torriero's film debut Driftwood can be found here. It looks ... er, crappy. Or, at the very least, poorly edited.

The National Enquirer is saying that Kristin Cavallari has been bad-mouthing Jessica Simpson. A "friend" of hers told the tabloid that Kristin thinks Jessica Simpson is pathetic and delusional because she is wearing her wedding ring on her necklace and that Jessica should move on because Nick is "soooo over Jessica." Patrons in a restaurant overheard Kris trash-talking when she was more than a little loud at dindin with the mother. She was overheard calling Jessica a terrible actress. I wouldn't be surprised if this were true, but let's hope not.

Lauren Conrad appeared on Last Call With Carson Daly on May 19th, but you can catch it here if you missed it. She previews a clip from her upcoming show, The Hills. Similarly, she will be a guest on MTV's TRL on May 31st, the day The Hills premieres. Check your local listings for precise times.

Lastly, if you feel like vegging out in front of the television this weekend, you have a perfect excuse -- a fourteen hour marathon of Laguna Beach! On Saturday, the 27th, you can relive all the drama on MTV, starting at 8am. Eastern time, I'd assume, but again, check your local listings. And enjoy.

Updates will be spotty, if at all existent, between now and mid-June. Finals and a bit of traveling before I return to the good ole US of A, you see. Enjoy the premiere of The Hills -- I'm going to have SO much to catch up on when I return!

... and now The Real Real O.C.

Massive Laguna Beach update.

Lauren Conrad describes to People magazine the differences between Laguna Beach and The Hills: "On Laguna, the girls would fight with their boyfriends ... Now we fight with out bosses. The drama on this show is real problems, like, [am I] going to get fired." She adds that "I'm not very good at paying bills ... I always like, forget, and they just keep adding up." "When [Laguna Beach] ended, it was kind of like, weird, going back to no cameras ... it's sort of normal for me." Apparently, "[Jason Wahler and Lauren are] pretty serious now ... He recently moved into my apartment. We used to go out a lot, but we don't really anymore. We're homebodies -- we watch movies on the couch." Hmm. Does that mean Heidi Montag's out of her apartment? Aww ... And she's still giving Kristin Cavallari the cold shoulder, despite KCav's many peace offerings through the press: "Kristin and I have been to the same events, but we don't necessarily say hi ... She's getting what she wanted [attention]. I don't want to be in [magazines] every week, going to clubs. I just want to be in the fashion industry and I want to find a job that I really like." [Photo courtesy of The Real O.C. boards]

Lauren tells M magazine that "You'll see me...working! I'll be working at a magazine while going to school. There'll be more drama, but it won't be just a rumor being spread about me. Now it will be a big assignment at work and a final exam in the same week." Finally. A glimpse into the academic lives of our favorite beach bums. That will make me college students across the nation feel a helluva lot better. I know I will.

Babyfaced Stephen Colletti reveals that he wasn't always such a stud-muffin: "I was in the sixth grade, and I went to science camp one summer. We were doing science tests at the river, and I walked over to this girl and sat down beside her. I had a banana, and she had two banana peels next to her. I just wanted to talk to her, so my pick-up line was, 'You like bananas, too!' Things were good, but when we got back from the trip, I found out that she had a boyfriend. So she denied me!" Ouch. Science camp!? Explains the socks-with-shorts thing.

Alex Murrel gave M magazine the "scoop" on her new album: "It's all about the cycle of love. 'Best Friend is my first single, and it's about having a guy friend, and then having feelings for him. But you don't want to ruin the friendship. It's not about anyone from Laguna Beach, but it's definitely happened to me before!"

Here's a video of Kristin and a friend having a good time at a Lakers game.

In other news, Ashlee Simpson is a witty little one. Star reports that when her boyfriend Braxton Olita left her to use the men's room at a recent Dodgers game, she found herself bombarded with questions such as, "Why did your sister Jessica dump Nick?" ... "Did she cheat on him?" She called security, who arrived just as Braxton returned with a bag of peanuts. She declined his offer for the savory snack, saying, "No thanks. I've had all the nuts I need for one night!"

Lindsay Lohan can't seem to decide which Greek shipping heir (and Paris Hilton leftover) she wants -- Paris Latsis or Stavros Niarchos. I guess she really wanted her revenge on Hilton, because she was spotted with Nacho Man at New York City's Butter on Monday night, where they openly "kissed and held hands". A spy told The Daily News that "Lindsay went back with him that night to his hotel room ... He was staying at Soho House, but her room was crosstown at the Mercer."

And lastly, hopefully to tie loose strings together, Mischa Barton did an interview with Newsweek, putting rumors to rest. "It was the producers' [idea to kill Marissa off]. But I really think it's best to do movies now. I was also thinking of spending a month in London, living there and taking a course in acting." When the journalist commented that her voice was deeper than it seemed on television, she said, "I have a general transatlantic accent, I suppose. I'm nothing like my character. Are you kidding? I was born in London, raised in New York. She's crazy. I don't understand how anybody could be like her." Uh ... that doesn't even begin to make sense or correlate directly to his comment, but okay. Lastly, she hopes that Marissa won't be coming back in any otherworldly dream sequences: "That would be cheesy ... I was really excited that I get to die, to be honest. I've done pretty much everything else with the character. It was better than one of those lame farewells."

The Real O.C.

[Photo courtesy of teenangel87 on YouTube]
So now that the finale's aired and Marissa Cooper's death has been made known pretty much to every corner of Cyberspace, the backlash and speculation have begun.

Did Mischa Barton want off The O.C. or not? The show's creator, Josh Schwartz "revealed" in an interview with TV Guide following Thursday's show that "We didn't have a strained relationship. Mischa's never exhibited any kind of vindictive behavior before, so it would seem out of character. But I don't really know ... No, she never said that [she wanted to leave the show]. She was always 100 percent professional and ready to go and ready to work for the show and support the show. She was never misbehaving or "sicking out" or any of those kinds of rumors that were out there."

The real reason Marissa had to go, according to Josh, is "if you go back to the pilot episode of the show, tragedy is in the DNA of Marissa's character. When you first see her in the pilot, she's passed out drunk in the driveway of her house. Her dad's losing all of his money, and her boyfriend is cheating on her. This is a girl who attracted that kind of tragedy. And Ryan and Marissa, while they had some good times, were never really a happily ever-after couple. They were always the star-crossed lovers. So as we looked down the barrel at the end of the season, it just felt like that's where the show was pushing us. The show kind of paints you in a certain direction. And it was the kind of thing that will drive us into next season as the kind of cataclysmic event that will force some people to leave and some people will not be able to leave. It has a huge effect in terms of how it drives into next season."

And according to another source, the five different endings involved several different deaths to several different characters. If what Josh is saying is true (and, conversely, the rumor that different deaths were filmed), how did Mischa know Marissa was the one to die? I doubt that different characters' deaths were filmed, especially since when asked about how Mischa took the news of Marissa's death, Josh said: "She took it in stride. She handled it professionally and continued to do great work. However she felt about it personally, she was never anything but a professional when she was on set." I think Josh is just being sweet and diplomatic about the whole thing. It's pretty unwise to kill off one of the main characters of the show unless circumstances are especially extenuating. Regardless, Marissa's dead now (unless the fan uprising causes the show to reconsider the storyline and has her rise from the dead sort of à la Trey). Then again, the official episode guide sums up the conclusion of the episode with: "The car explodes and Ryan lays Marissa down on the pavement and rouses her. He tells her he’s going to get help, but she begs him to stay. And then she dies." Sweet.

But Josh is a little unhappy about one thing -- Mischa's revelation of the secret ending to Access Hollywood, which was aired the night of the season finale: "It was unfortunate," he said. "I don't really know what happened. It was definitely unfortunate, and I don't think Access Hollywood really handled it that well either."

IMDB reports that O.C. fans are no happier at Mischa. Oh well, seems like she had the last laugh.

Stupid Girls

Hmm. Somehow I managed to watch the season finale of The O.C. and was kind of disappointed with the anti-climaticness of the ending. That shot of the car on its back was a second too long and the death wasn't very convincing. Granted it was inevitable that she was going to die, Ryan could've easily stepped on the brakes really suddenly, and Volchok would've -- could've -- tumbled down the mountainside himself. Too bad. Still, I got a little more than teary-eyed knowing that she won't be back next season.

Laguna Beach's Casey Reinart has a part in Head Automatica's video for "Graduation Day." Lauren Conrad makes the cover of the very magazine she interned for -- Teen Vogue. Apparently, Kristin Cavallari has her eye on Stavros Niarchos. Star reports that her friends have said that “Kristin would die if she were photographed with someone who’s not famous, rich or hot!” Too bad Lindsay Lohan was seen snogging him at Bungalow 8 last night/early this morning.

Angel Carter announced on her and Alex Murrel's CoSpace (ha, new word I made up) that Alex's album is to release on August 30th, and her single "Best Friend" goes to radio in three weeks.

That is all. I feel sick. Don't ever attempt to bake Chewy Brownies if it calls for 1/2 part sugar, 1/3 butter and 1/6 part flour. That's my tip of the day.

Hollywood Biatches

Sorry for the blip on the updating map last night. It's finals period. So trust me, I feel your pain -- and then some.

Anyway, here are some juicy bits of gossip (Paul McCartney marriage troubles aside. Because I'm not sure we care that much about Paul McCartney, as big a deal as my mom thought it was when she shouted into the phone today that he and Heather were calling it quits) ...

Paris Hilton made an official statement to her favorite whore, Perez Hilton, about the whole calling Lindsay Lohan a "fire crotch" thing: "The only thing I want to underscore is the person making the statements was not Paris Hilton," her PR said. "It is unfair to characterize Brandon [Davis]'s statements as being reflective of Paris' feelings about Lindsay. We're dealing with two different people. It was Brandon who was speaking, of course there are moments when Paris was laughing, but she never said anything. Brandon was speaking for himself not for her. Personally," he adds, "I found the incident unnecessary." [Photo courtesy of ONTD]

But what about Paris' whispering into Brandon's ear, followed by Brandon's belligerence? And her telling him after the whole schpeal that she loved him? (Check out the newest video, where all this and more goes down, here.) "Paris uses her cell phone as a defensive tool. Many times when you see her photographed in a crowd situation, she puts it up to her ear so she doesn't have to speak. In the cacophony and din of screaming, nobody could have had a telephone conversation. Reporters were asking her questions about Lindsay that she did not want to answer, so she put her cell phone up to her ear. Brandon was not speaking for Paris. Period." Um, no. She clearly had someone on the line and wanted that person to hear what was going on. Bitch.

In watching that unfortunate (but hilarious) video -- by the way, Brandon really crossed the line when he called Lindsay poor, I think -- I came across this hilarious Blind Date-style paparazzi vid of Mischa Barton trying to hail a cab in New York City. You know it ain't easy, especially when Mischa can't even get one.

Nicole Richie and Adam Goldberg are off again, or so Star reports.

The Jessica and Nick breakup may be the best thing's that's ever happened to Nick Lachey -- other than having met Jessica, of course. His album debuted at number two on the Billboard charts.

Howard Stern made another greasy man look every greasier when he got John Stamos to spill the beans on his previous relationships. Apparently, he and Denise Richards are "really good friends and when she was going through her divorce, I was there for her." And by there for her, he means, it was "just kind of a fast thing" even though "she was going through a hard time." Nice guy. Heather Locklear? "I met her one time and we got really drunk and she asked me to go up to her room with her. But I was a kid and she was getting me plastered, we were playing quarters and by the end I couldn’t even hit the quarter on the table. So she said why don’t you come up to my room in a few minutes, I’m going to take a shower, and I was like yeah, you know, I’m going to do this. The next thing I remember, I woke up with barf all over my room and security was pounding on the door because I had to get to the show. I was in my own room, I just missed the whole thing!" Um, a kid. I think he was probably in his late twenties ... Teri Hatcher!? "I actually saw her the other night, we were at that Ryan Seacrest thing and she came out and kept trying to kiss me in front of all of the cameras." Oh, poor thing. You are just a tool in a girl's manipulative plot. But really. There were some things I really didn't know. Like the barf part.

SPOILER ALERT
According to a post on Oh No They Didn't!, Mischa Barton has confirmed to Access Hollywood that her character Marissa Cooper will die tonight on The O.C.. However, it seems unclear how the season will ultimately end, as creator Josh Schwartz is said to have filmed five different endings and kept his choice a secret. And lastly, Willa Holland, little sister to the soon-to-be-late Marissa, is joining the cast as a permanent fixture in Newport Beach. Yay, hotter hottie to replace hottie! Even if she is only fifteen.

And to answer my own question: Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. It's a real toughie for me, since I dislike them for very different reasons.

Paris banks on her faux-ditziness and coos in that annoying baby voice; she's the head of the Young Hollywood cheerleading squad and thinks she has a right to be. She is not particularly attractive and not particularly talented. She has the sex appeal of a camel on bad days and a man on good ones. She seems to covet the spotlight and will step over people to stay in it -- including former best friends. It's annoying how overconfident she represents herself to be because under her chiselled features, I'm sure she has a slew of self-esteem issues. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so immature to people she doesn't like. The bottom line, though, is that for everything that she's known for, we really don't know all that much about the real Paris Hilton, and maybe that's why everyone's still so fascinated.

Lindsay, on the other hand, comes across as quite intelligent and surprisingly honest for someone in her circumstances. But for someone so acute, she sure can be dumb -- playing to Young Hollywood's high school game and giving into YH's very own mean girl, Paris. From being shut out and dissed by the likes of Paris and Nicky to sleeping with every other guy in Hollywood, it's pretty apparent that she just really wants everyone to like her. But she can be mean about it too -- she's a fiesty redhead after all, and all these years in the industry have molded her into a defensive little bitch. She namedrops a helluva lot and blurts out what she's not supposed to (can you say Karl Lagerfeld?). It's doubtless that she's talented and has her own brand of ... er, sexiness, though at times she seems a little awkward and childlike.

Damn, I made Lindsay sound better than I wanted her to. Nooo ... don't feel sorry for her! Her mom's a looney!

Er ... I guess ... Team Lindsay? I honestly look at them as two different types of celebrities and am fascinated by the two in very distinct ways. Paris I only really "like" when she displays emotion or does something surprisingly nice or surprisingly human. She's pretty much an ice queen to me on normal days. I "like" Lindsay when she does interviews, because she gets down to business and seems to really think about the questions and give honest answers. And she's pretty eloquent. But she makes far more blunders than Paris does, so she's an easier target. And that doesn't at all make me feel bad for her.

That's all. That was waaaayyy too drawn out.

Lovers and Haters

I hear many a teenybopper heart breaking. Okay, maybe not, because he was "The Little One" who looked like Mary-Kate and Ashley. But Zac Hanson ("The Little One") is set to marry longtime girlfriend Kathryn Tucker sometime next month in Atlanta, Georgia. The announcement appeared in The Tuscaloosa News, and said: Becky and Tom Tucker of Newnan, Ga., announce the engagement of their daughter Kathryn Rebecca Tucker of Newnan, to Zachary Walker Hanson of Tulsa, Okla., son of Diana and Walker Hanson of Tulsa. The wedding will be held in June in Atlanta. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Ruth and Ira Tucker of Northport and Rozene Copas and the late Gordon Cooper of Woodville. She is a 2002 graduate of Northgate High School and attends Georgia State University, where she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in finance. The prospective groom is the grandson of the late Jane and Clyde Lawyer of Tulsa, and the ate Bea and Clarke Hanson of Tulsa. He is a member of the band Hanson and co-founder/CEO of the record label 3CG Records.

You probably didn't care, but now you know.

Sources are saying that Nicole Richie, who was photographed leaving a plastic surgeon's office on Tuesday, was on the market for a rhinoplasty. But "insiders" say that the surgeon "thought that Nicole had body dysmorphic disorder, and it's a policy that surgeons can not perform surgery on people with that disorder." Maybe she was visiting Ashlee Simpson?

In Touch is reporting that, just days after Brody Jenner was spotted canoodling with her, Kristin Cavallari is secretly dating Sean Stewart,
brother of Kim. If this is true, that's two Stewarts for two Laguna kids -- who had previously hooked up with one another. How incestuous. [Photo courtesy of lime-light.org]

Kristin made Maxim's Hot 100 list, coming in at an impressive number twenty-three. She beat out the likes of Kate Moss, Mandy Moore, Natalie Portman, Sienna Miller and, thank goodness, Paris Hilton.

Apparently Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, our two top story-makers here, got into a spat at Hyde nightclub on Friday night. TMZ says there was a lot of trash talking (what the two know how to do best). Paris' rep, Elliot Mintz, says that "Lindsay approached [Paris'] table and at that moment Paris felt she was being interrupted and didn't wish to speak to Lindsay ... A couple of words were exchanged and Lindsay went back to her table ... I can understand how other patrons in the club could have thought it had been a bigger deal than it actually was." But TMZ thinks it's because Lindsay's been namedropping and Paris didn't want Lindsay to use her name to further her career. Here's a video of the Hiltons and Brandon Davis joking about poor Ms. Lohan.

Okay, poll. Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan? And why. Go!

Just Her Luck

News travels fast. So does Lindsay Lohan. She reportedly spent last night at Paris Latsis' place in Beverly Hills. Yes, that's Latsis, not Hilton. That would make the second Hilton-ex she's been ... er, hanging out with. The two are planning to meet up at the Cannes Film Festival later this week. Last week it was that Jamie Burke dude, now Latsis? She can run all she wants from guy to guy, but she can't hide!


[Photo courtesy of PosterWire.com]
After a professional shoot for Just My Luck, the studio thought a paparazzi shot of Lindsay taken over a year ago was more appropriate. Everyone unanimously agreed that it also suited the film's tagline "Everything changed in the wink of an eye." Too bad it didn't help the movie at the box office.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Just My Luck came in at number four in this weekend's results, with "a weak $5.5 mil. Lohan has only ever starred in six movies, and 'Just My Luck' ranking last among them in the opening week, trailing the feeble $9.4 million that 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen' earned in 2004."

Other happenings in our little world ...

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell gave birth to a baby girl last night in London and did not allow the father to be present.

Britney Spears has been avidly working on her next album, although her rep is hesitant to name even a tentative release date. Her (and it seems hubby K Fed's) producer, Jonathan Rotem said of the new material: it's "in the vein of [Rihanna's] 'S.O.S.' " And she raps! "Not rap rap, but talk rap," Rotem had to clarify.

Happy Mother's Day

[Photos courtesy of The Real O.C. boards]
Happy Mother's Day! Here's a photo of Kristin Cavallari and her mother, Judith, out to din din. It also looks like she and Brody Jenner are back on -- again. Will this turn into another Stephen-Kristin saga of on-and-offness? Only time will tell ... The video that corresponds to the Kristin and Brody photo can be found here.

Lauren Conrad recently visited Carson Daly on his show Last Call. The episode is said to air on May 19th, but check your local listings for the exact time. His show is a late, late one -- at least in New York it is. If you haven't seen it for yourself yet, check out the new trailer for The Hills. It looks juicy ...

More rumors are circulating that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have wed in Nambia, but their reps are denying the story. Life & Style said specifically that they "were part of a traditional Himba wedding ceremony." A source was quoted in The National Ledger as having said that the marriage wouldn't have been legal by U.S. standards, so they'd have to get married again in the U.S. anyway. Good to know.

Lindsay Lohan's mom Dina lashed out against rumors that she's a "party mom": "The first misconception people have of me, which is really funny, is that I go out with my teenage child ... It's completely untrue. We will go to dinners together and events, of course, but I don't go out with my daughter when she's going out with her college friends. It's just silly." O-tay. I believe you.

At last, Mandy Moore comments on the whole Wilmer Valderrama-Howard Stern schpeal. She tells ELLE in the current issue that she thought what Wilmer said was "utterly tacky, not even true, and it hurt my feelings because I like him ..." If you've already forgotten what was said, it went along the lines of ... hmm ... ELLE wraps it up in a nice euphemism: "she was deflowered by celebrity lothario Wilmer Valderrama." Many wonder at whether she'll ever return to singing after making a small name for herself on the big screen. Well, she wants to: "I don't know. It's depressing. Maybe it will come out this year? Maybe next? I think my label is expecting a poppier, mainstream-type thing from me. It's been so long since I was singing 'Candy' and driving in a green Beetle. But I know there's so much of, like, middle America that still thinks of me that way."

That's way harsh, Mandy. Even people in middle America go to the movies and visit the record store every once in a while ...

Scandalous.

Okay, so this dumb story made headline news on Yahoo!: Paris Hilton, who made an appearance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo to promote her new video game "Paris Hilton's Jewel Jam," introduced it as "Diamondquest" instead. Oops. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm really excited to have my new video game, 'Diamondquest.' Thank you all for coming, and you can download the game." Okay, so she's dumb. Is that all? This isn't news.

Lindsay Lohan's people are being fined for "hiring a request company ... to jack TRL for Lindsay … Guys this is a no win situation how should I respond...there is no airplay we have been pursuing…” And that is a direct quote from an alleged memo. Whoa. Universal Music Group is being fined 12 million big ones ... apparently, the same tactic was used to promote Dream way back when.


[Photo courtesy of ONTD]
It's said that Tom Cruise didn't invite Katie's family to see baby Suri until he was back home in Los Angeles so he could "monitor the baby's first visit with her maternal grandparents." Suri was born on April 17th, and it was not until May 4 -- two and a half weeks later -- that Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa Martin got to get a glimpse of her. But guess what? All of Tom's immediate family -- mother and sisters -- were there for the delivery. Wonderful.

SPOILER ALERT. If you don't want to your season finale of The O.C. to be ruined, don't read!

According to Just Jared, the recent encoded TV Guide spoiler was decoded. A devoted fan revealed, "Your O.C. teaser last week was very clever. I think the secret words are 'Peter Callaghan', which means that Sandy is the one hovering near death. 'Peter Callaghan' was the character 'Peter Gallagher' played in my favorite movie While You Were Sleeping ..."

Hmm. That's tragic. What are they going to do with Mischa?

No bravery, no sympathy.

Tim Rice-Oxley of the British band Keane had this to say about Paris Hilton, after having appeared on Saturday Night Live when Paris hosted last year: "I basically have three enduring memories of that experience. First, her stupid little dog kept running into our dressing room and we kept on booting it out, and second, she had a man, a security guard, whose only job was to carry her dog around. The other one was that she was completely unable to pronounce the name of our band. They had to dress-rehearse, like, six times: 'Ladies and gentlemen, Keanie!' Just on and on. I mean, there's no reason she should know who we are, but it's not that difficult ... And at the end, when we had the big sort of group hug, in my attempt to be kind of cool about the thing, I trod on her foot." I would like to extend my personal gratitude to this man for representin'.

Christina Aguilera announced that her next album will be titled "Back to Basics" and will be released on August 15th. It's a "modern take on vintage jazz, soul and blues from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s" and features "Ain't No Other Man," her first single, which she will premiere at the MTV Movie Awards on June 8th. I prefer Christina to Britney, but this just brings me back to Britney premiering "I'm A Slave For You" at the MTV Video Music Awards. I can't help it!

And some Laguna news, at last. Alex Murrel's MySpace is reporting a June 13th release of the Season Two DVD set, as well as her debut album, although Lauren Conrad's site is still reporting a July 25th release of the set. Lauren's website has been revamped to prepare for the premiere of The Hills. It looks just as sketchy as it did before. Boo.

I don't normally do this, but these are just too cute to pass up. Some photos of the delightfully good-looking Stephen Colletti with girlfriend Hayden Panettiere, courtesy of the stalkers at The Real O.C. boards ;).

Jessica Simpson's "longtime" personal assistant and best friend CaCee Cobb has quit. She celebrated with Jessica at Morton's in Los Angeles, where Jessica is said to have toasted, "You are my best friend. I will be your best friend forever." Hmm. Unless she's a hundred percent sure of that, I think she meant, "I hope I will be your best friend forever."

Billy Bush, host of Access Hollywood, recently blogged about Lindsay Lohan. He said that, "She came, the interview went decently, and I left realizing this about her: She is very tainted by press interviews and now instinctively feels like everybody's out to get her. She's been through a lot for a 19-year-old... one who made almost 8 million dollars for her current film, 'Just My Luck.' One step towards getting press people to lay off might be to keep them in the dark about how much money you're making - it only makes you less real and harder to truly accept." Mmm. No. Still no sympathy here, although I completely agree with him.

Seriously ... who isn't against Lindsay these days? When she appeared on TRL several days ago, her poor publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnick threw a fit backstage just moments before Lindsay was to appear on camera, demanding to switch VJ Vanessa Minnillo for Damien Fahey. Unfortunately, the show went on with Vanessa hosting -- with supposedly awkward conversation, "unwelcome mic jabbing" and "Lindsay's accusatory tone." And unfortunately for Ms. Sloane Zelnick, she represents both women.

The tumultuous life of Lindsay Lohan.

Nick Lachey, whose album drops today in the U.S., appears on Access Hollywood and opens up about his marriage/divorce: "I don't think I could ever hate her," he said of Jessica Simpson. "I think it was more of a hate of the situation ... I don't think I could say that I've completely let go, but I think it's a process that you have to go through in this." On whether he's looking to marry again in the future, Lachey said, "For me, a phase was certainly going through that emotion saying, 'I just can't imagine doing this again.' ... But for me, I'm a romantic heart ... I don't want to be a 'serial marrier,' but at the same time, I just can't imagine not being married again." He knocked down rumors of having a steady gal: "My girlie has been my work, which has been a real blessing through this." Yes. There really is no need for him to "open up about his marriage" on TV -- his album is chock full of depressing odes to his former marriage.

Jake Gyllenhaal is, for the time being, dispelling rumors of being gay -- he is now dating Gretchen Bleiler, an Olympic snowboarder. According to Us Weekly heir relationship is serious enough that Bleiler is moving from Colorado to Los Angeles for him. Jakey's people said when asked for comment, "Thank you for inquiring but we do not comment on his personal life." Read: Thank you for not asking us if he's gay or not.

The National Enquirer finally has something nice to say about someone! Too bad it's Lindsay Lohan. It reports that she's heading to Africa to help AIDS and poverty victims for the ONE campaign. The magazine quoted an insider as saying, "Lindsay truly does feel for those who are suffering from AIDS and who are poor -- and genuinely feels she needs to pay something back to the world for the fortunate life she's led ... At the same time, she wants to be taken seriously as a person, and she's well aware of her image as a fluffy party girl. She sees working in Africa as a means to shed her 'naughty girl' reputation." There's always a catch ... [Photo courtesy of ONTD]

When Lindsay appeared on Today, Matt Lauer brought up the Vanity Fair article -- and her dabbling in drugs. LiLo slammed the claims by saying, "I don't believe that was ever brought up. Yeah, everything's fine." Hmm ... are the drugs causing short-term memory loss already?

The paparazzi caught Lohan and model-musician James Burke sharing a moment on Sunday in New York City. People says, "The 20-year-old Burke was most recently linked to Lohan pal Kate Moss, with whom he took a ski vacation in January." Any bets on how long this one will last?

LL's mother Dina is being sued for fraud after signing a music deal with Antonio Almeida for Lindsay in 2002, with which Lindsay cut half an album with Emilio Estefan -- before she signed a deal with Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records. Oops. I remember when I used to read Lindsay's online journal on her official site -- when she actually updated her official site -- and she boasted about her five or six record deal with Estefan. I guess that all went down the drain when Aaron Carter two-timed on her and Duff and blew her to mega superstardom.

Cheaters

Chad Michael Murray wasn't allowed to attend his 18-year-old fiancée Kenzie Dalton's prom. Her school has a policy against admitting guests over the age of twenty, although they can petition to get in. Murray wasn't. So instead, he threw her and her friends an afterparty, where he unravelled a present for her -- a brand new Mercedes-Benz. [Photo courtesy of ONTD]

Pete Doherty has sunken to even lower depths of depravity? Apparently, he sold his phone to a stranger to get some money to buy drugs with. Funny thing is, he forgot to delete all the juicy info, like texts Kate Moss has been sending him where she calls him "my only love" and supposedly begs him to give heroin up so they can spend the summer together at her home in the Cotswolds. Messages from fans and photos of him partying were also left on the phone. Smart one he is.

American Idol winner Carrie Underwood picked up a BA in Mass Communications from Northeastern State University this past Saturday. She was only three credits away from graduating when she left to be on American Idol.

Britney Spears' acting coach is blabbing about her lack of talent ("an untalented, self-focused wannabe," to be precise): "Britney's no better or worse than an newcomer to acting. The big difference is, she's into shortcuts. She kept telling me to skip elements of the course she believed weren't necessary ... It was clear she really hadn't understood the concept of any of them. She came across as a spoilt child in the body of a young woman, who's not used to being told no." He must really have it in for her, because he added, "I can imagine her ruining a televised drama by suddenly staring straight into camera and either winking, shaking her boobs or blowing a bubble of gum. But not all at the same time -- that would be asking far too much of her." Not like we couldn't tell from those early Mickey Mouse Club days that she couldn't act ...

Is Jesse Metcalfe pulling a John Tucker? The title character of John Tucker Must Die has reportedly been seen with three girls of late, though he is supposedly steadily dating UK band Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle. But he's been seen around town with model Laura Shields and John Tucker costar Brittany Snow: "Jesse and Brittany attended the opening ... together and were later seen acting cozy at a club. [They] were acting every inch a couple as they posed for the cameras and then later on they were gazing into each other's eyes." A case of being too in character?

Life & Style is saying that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz are set to marry on Oahu, Hawaii soon. Yay.

My favorite story of the day -- David and Victoria Beckham invited royals Charles and Camilla to their pre-World Cup party at -- get this -- Beckingham Palace, but were declined. No kidding!

Out with the old, in with the new.

[Photo courtesy of AshleeSimpson.net]
Rumors have been floating around for a while now, but I didn't want to say anything until I saw it with my own eyes: Ashlee Simpson has gotten a nose job. She appeared for her first official event yesterday at SunFest in West Palm Beach, Florida. From the event's photos, it looks like she also lost herself a little bit of weight. I'm a little disappointed in her, not the least of reasons being that her nose was distinctive and was what made her look different.

Laguna Beach's Alexandra Murrel is now living with Angel Carter, sister to Nick and Aaron Carter, as well as former roommate Brittany. No word on Alex Hooser, though. Seems like Hooser was nixed -- hopefully no hard feelings? Alex M and Angel have combined forces and created a MySpace account to celebrate their newfound bff-ness, and you can add them here. Angel adds that the Carter family reality show will premiere on October 26th on E!, although it's probably too early to confirm anything of the sort. [Photo courtesy of The Real O.C. boards]

According to unnamed sources, it looks like Mischa Barton's heading out from The O.C.: "Mischa is definitely going. She hasn't been happy for a while and producers think its best she leaves. It is the perfect end to the current series." The show's creator, Josh Schwartz, has been hinting at the death of a major character for sometime now -- fans may have assumed it was Johnny -- but now people are speculating that Marissa may take her alcohol and drug problems to another level and overdose to the point of no return ... another good reason to bring Willa Holland back as Marissa's little sister Kaitlin.

Lindsay Lohan gets on another star's hit list -- because of a guy. At Los Angeles' new hotspot Shag, Cameron Diaz asked Lindsay to stop smoking in the shared VIP section. Star magazine concedes that it wasn't so much about the nasty habit, but about Jared Leto, Diaz's ex-fiance.

And according to Perez Hilton (who I would not trust with real-life matters), Nicole Richie confronted him at a Coffee Bean this morning, asking him, "Do I really have zombie hands? ... Call me anorexic to my face." Perez didn't go into much detail, saying that they "had a nice little convo and hugged it out. It felt good." I'll bet it did.

Gawd, I wish some celebrity would just give him a bitch slap and stop playing so nice with him. Nicole should've been the one ...

Curvy is the new skinny.

So the new thing in Hollywood is to put on the pounds.

Lindsay Lohan's trying to do it too. She tells The Mirror that her stick-thing look doesn't suit her and wants to put on a few pounds: "You want to be called sexy, and you want to have tits and an ass ... I like food. I eat all types of things. I'd never be able to do the no carbs and no sugar thing. I just ordered a peanut and jelly sandwich. I like McDonald's and I love sushi. I do good stir-frys, but the meal I cooked the other night was grilled chicken parmesan, sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes."

We love the new Lohan news -- Page Six reported recently that at the annual Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this past Monday, Mary-Kate Olsen "looked like she wanted to die when she saw Lindsay. She hung back and refused to get close … She clearly did not want to be near Lindsay and made an effort to not get close. It was odd ... Lindsay always e-mails her. She is always trying to find out from others who she is dating - MK thinks she's creepy." Oh, roll loving memories of high school ...

Evan Rachel Wood is dating her co-star of Down in the Valley,Ed Norton!!! The two were spotted dining and canoodling around New York City by the people at Gawker. [Photo courtesy of ONTD]

MTV has finally put up a site for The Hills, but the site notes the premiere as May 31st, at 10pm EST instead of the previously announced May 24th. Click here to check it out.

The Paris Hilton drama ensues. Stavros Niarchos is dumb enough to want to get back with her -- according to the photographers at TMZ, he arrived at her house around 1am on Monday morning and spent an hour crying and ringing her doorbell. Around 2, she finally let him in -- and he began screaming, "Take me back ... I give you everything!" Matt Leinart's name was said to be mentioned. Finally, Paris told him to "Take it easy" and to "Go home and get some sleep." Wow, she almost seems to have a heart.

And celebrities.com reports that when Paris was asked about Matt Leinart, she gave a coy smile and thought for a moment before replying, "I'm single!"

Yeah, whatever.

Vanity Fair digs up the dirt.

Nicole Richie admits to Vanity Fair in their upcoming issue that ""I know I'm too thin right now, so I wouldn't want any young girl looking at me and saying, 'That's what I want to look like ... I do know that they will, which is another reason I really do need to do something about it. I'm not happy with the way I look right now." The magazine's Leslie Bennetts added that Nicole "dealt with that by not eating and her weight went down, which she couldn't afford at that point." Apparently she's working alongside a doctor, a psychiatrist, a nutritionist and a trainer, and gets weighted once a week. But still -- Nicole tells the magazine that she doesn't believe she's anorexic. "I have gained weight since I was my thinnest."

I don't know what she thinks anorexia nervosa is if she thinks not eating isn't it. But who knows with Vanity Fair, with all the commotion that was made when Lindsay Lohan "admitted" that she had an eating disorder to it a while back ...

Ashlee Simpson opens up about her current boyfriend, band member Braxton Olita: "He's (Olita) the yin to my yang. People call him my little Buddha. When he comes around, everything changes... I'm more peaceful and chilled out. I honestly couldn't be more content ... We live day-to-day. Marriage is definitely not on my mind. There's a lot of growing up you do in your 20s, and I definitely want to wait until my late 20s or 30s or whenever the time is right."

Laguna Beach's Stephen Colletti spoke to Canada's National Post about life after Laguna: "I still talk to Trey and Dieter, but that's about it. I haven't heard from Lauren and I hardly talk to Kristin." Did he ever date Paris Hilton? "No. ... I met her and there were photos taken and I was thinking, 'This is gonna be bad.'" He hopes to have a career like Tom Cruise's (WHY!?) -- "Top Gun is one of my favourite movies. Days of Thunder? Classic." But for now, he's taking acting classes in L.A. and "honing the craft."

And Adam Brody never ceases to say funny things. For his first leading role, he stars as a "young writer who has an affair with an older neighbor" in The Land of Women. The older woman is played by none other than Meg Ryan and Brody was "grossed out" by his first sex scene: "I've done pre and post-sex scenes, but I've never done the sex scene. It was nutty ... It really was. I've done countless make-out scenes, but I've never insinuated or pantomimed sex ... I saw it and I covered my eyes. I don't want to see me doing that! It's not graphic, but I grossed myself out." [Photo courtesy of Rachel-Bilson.net]

P.S. How could I forget!? The word on the street is that Mischa Barton will be leaving The O.C. with the end of this season, but may appear as a guest star in future seasons. Gasp!

Ça c'est le pompon.

Paris Hilton takes the cake today in celebrity news. Or, "Ça c'est le pompon," as the French would say.


[Photo courtesy of TMZ]
I guess the biggest news of all is that she's been spotted around town with Kristin Cavallari's leftovers, former USC football star Matt Leinart. The pair were photographed shopping at The Grove in Los Angeles, with Paris sporting a brown wig.

Speculation on why Paris and Stavros Niarchos split has come down to ... no surprise here -- Lindsay Lohan. According to Life & Style magazine, Stavros was spotted “sipping cocktails and dirty dancing” at Element with Lindsay. A bartender told the magazine that “Lindsay was all over Stavros ... At one point, he had his hand up her skirt!” And three days later, Stavros was seen leaving her room at the Chateau Marmont.

But Nick Lachey wouldn't be able to tell you why Stavros was there in the first place -- he recently said during a radio interview that "I can safely say that I don't have any interest in Lindsay Lohan ... Nor do I understand anyone else that does." OUCH. But I couldn't agree more.

Back to Paris. She thinks "Smoking is sexy." And according to the source, Female First, she likes the way she looks when she lights up. "It's like so cool how you all smoke everywhere in the UK."

... turning now to TomKat. It's been reported that Katie Holmes' father, Martin Holmes complained about the fitness regime Katie is taking on to shed the weight she gained during her pregnancy: "My daughter needs rest, relaxation and recuperation. Katie is already doing exercises to build up her back and shoulders and I simply can't go along with what is happening." The so-called fitness instructor said that "Katie can and will do it. She has great motivation. She loves her fiance and was proud that Tom oversaw this programme ... He told her he wanted her to be the most beautiful bride ever. She was in tears when he said that." Kill me now.

And lastly, Tom and Katie have apparently signed a £22million prenup. (How much is that in U.S. dollars? Let's see ... $40.5 million. I'm just going to use pounds because I'm too lazy to convert all the figures. Just multiply the figure by two.) £8million has been put aside for Katie and Suri, whether TomKat marries or not. In addition to the 22 million pounds, if TomKat divorces Katie will receive an extra £14million. Maybe Katie's not as brainwashed as we all think she is. The couple is said to marry in July.

Oodles of gossip!

Follow-up on the Lindsay Lohan/Brett Ratner story: Page Six reported that Ratner gave Lohan the code to his house and told him to drop by whenever she well pleased. Well, when he didn't return any of his calls, she decided to take him up on his offer -- and found him in bed with model girlfriend Alina Puscau. Lindsay freaked out, as she has been known to do -- "They started screaming at each other and took the fight first into the living room and then out to the driveway while Brett hid in the bedroom ... Lindsay said she could get Alina deported and left. What she doesn't know is that Alina and Brett are so serious, he gave her a big diamond promise ring last November which she wears on her right hand. She doesn't care that he may cheat. She's got the big diamond ring." Ratner is quite the coward -- not telling Lindsay about his girlfriend, and hiding in his room.

Lindsay, who injured herself a short while back when she slipped on a staircase following a shower, has injured herself once again. "I was coming out of the shower yesterday morning and I slipped ... I have a hairline fracture in my foot. I can't wear heels though. That's the bad thing." And according to Zap2it.com, to prove that her injury wouldn't get the best of her, she "dropped to the floor at the end of her interview, crossed her bad ankleover the healthy one and did 12 push-ups." Okay, I know I said I wouldn't touch Lohan with a ten-foot pole, but that I wish I could've seen for myself. I might have even paid to see it.

Some sources have said that Jessica Simpson has announced that she and Dane Cook are a couple, but none of them are particularly reputable, so I'm going to leave it at that for now.

People is saying that Paris Hilton and Stavros Niarchos have finally called it quits.

E! recently announced that it is adding The Carters, a reality show featuring the infamous musical Carter family, as well as The Simple Life: Till Death Do Us Part, the last installment of the somewhat ill-fated show to its fall lineup. Carter versus Hilton, this should be fun ...

Kristin Cavallari has been chosen as one of Teen People's Top 25 Under 25. The issue should be on stands now.

The NY Post posted an article about The Hills today and revealed a few new "facts" about the show: it focuses on Lauren Conrad, of course, as well as her new pal Whitney (bottom, center). The creator of the show, Adam DiVello, said, "It's basically the Melrose Place to Laguna's Beverly Hills 90210." Er, okay. The producers took Lauren's suggestion to heart -- and cast one of her new neighbors, Audrina (top), a "luscious model/actress" as a series regular. But it was Heidi who instantly befriended Audrina after they met by the pool. Heidi told the producers, "Hey, there's this great girl in the building." Uh oh. Looks like LC's gonna be the Ugly Duckling of the group. That's what she gets for having such gorgeous friends ... [Photo courtesy of NYPost.com]

What the kids are up to ...

Since when did photographs of Lindsay Lohan and Brett Ratner leaving The Dime together constitute them being a couple? I must've missed something while I was gone, because that's what I've been hearing. Or, more correctly, that he's been cheating on her and that things have gone awry before they really ever went anywhere. Say what?

In promoting Laguna Beach in Canada recently, Stephen Colletti made some somewhat insightful comments about his experience with the show. "Having to deal with constant reminders of stuff that happened in high school, it's like, I've learned to deal with it really easily and so I think that's helped me grow up ... I think it's helped me to learn to be a lot more mature and ... be more smart about my actions." His advice for the Season Three cast is "Just don't try and be anybody you aren't ... I think the kids that you see in the show that come off looking bad or that just kind of are awkward to watch, you can tell when someone's not really being themself and it's like they're trying to act when they're not actors." He's currently with teen actress Hayden Panettiere -- when asked whether he was dating her, he smiled and said "My dating life is OK, I'll just say that." And on a potential romantic reunion with Kristin Cavallari, he said, "The answer is no ... It's funny because people are always asking about that. It's hard. It's overwhelming how much that question comes up." Gee, that kind of makes me sad.

Very dated photos, but I thought I'd put them out there for anyone who missed them: evidence Kristin and Nick Lachey were, at the very least, hanging out:

[Photo courtesy of The Laguna Beach Hook Up]

... and a few recent photos of Alex Murrel and Alex Hooser hanging out with the Carter twins (Aaron and Angel, Nick's younger siblings), courtesy of The Real O.C. boards:


... and an oldish but cute story: Mandy Moore was sort of horrified when she saw the headlines next to her face on the cover of this month's issue of Cosmopolitan magazine: "I'm very flattered to be on a magazine cover, but the horrifying part is my parent's have framed every magazine that I've ever been on from the beginning ... So there's a whole wall dedicated to that and it starts off with me at 14 and 'Mandy's favourite colour is pink!' and now Cosmo and my face and 'orgasms unlimited.' And my dad has to take it to the framer's to get it framed. It has nothing to do with me -- it's just an article [that appears in the magazine]!"