Pop Stand

It started with this almost immediate YouTube mashup of President Obama's health care speech and Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at Sunday's VMAs:

And then the wildly creative minds of the Internets took over. From Kanye interrupting the flag-raising on Iwo Jima:

 To advertising:

And finally, the Kanye interruption is making its way into the real world:

See more at http://kanyegate.tumblr.com. Have a great weekend, but remember, yo, Beyonce had one of the best weekends of all time!

-- Anne Neville

 

With assistance from her oldest son, who is 8, Nadya Suleman took all eight of her babies to a park near her home, where she posed for photoswith the two girls and six boys in their two strollers and on a blanket. The two girls, Nariah and Maliah, wore pink Minnie Mouse onesies, while all six of their brothers, Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Josiah and Macai, wore green Winnie the Pooh outfits. All looked fat, if not exactly happy -- one of the boys grimaced as he was squashed between his brothers for the blanket photo, and Elijah, 8, looked less than thrilled as he held a bottle for a crying infant.

• • •

Madonna's once-close brother, Christopher Ciccone, who burned a lot of bridges with his tell-all 2008 memoir, "Life With My Sister Madonna," says she"looked like Rachel Zoe gone horribly wrong!" when she appeared at the beginning of the MTV VMZs with a long speech about how much Michael Jackson was like Her Madgesty. Zoe is an influential celebrity stylist who has worked with some of Hollywood's roundest-faced, thinnest stars, including Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Kiera Knightley, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway.

• • •

Avril Lavigne and husband Deryck Whibley, frontman for the band Sum 41, are divorcing after just over two years of marriage. On her blog, Lavigne wrote, "I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship. I admire Deryck and have a great amount of respect for him. He is the most amazing person I know and I love him with all my heart. Deryck and I are separating and moving forward on a positive note."

• • •

Court documents released Thursday show that Katherine Jackson and her grandchildren aren't hurtingfinancially while they wait for Michael's estate to be probated. Katherine is getting $26,804 a month, while the three kids are getting $60,000 a month, according to TMZ.com.

• • •

Singer Chris Brown has thrown himself into his court-ordered community labor in his home of Richmond, Va., first picking up roadside trash and then pulling weeds at the police horse stable and then clipping hedges, both times with his safety vest on over clean-out-the-garage clothing. After work, he shed thew vest to show off his ripped abs. He has to work for 180 hours as part of his sentence for battering then-girlfriend Rihanna on Feb. 8.

• • •

Proving again that she has a lot more class than certain other people, Taylor Swift dropped a 40 percent tipat a restaurant where she dined Monday night. On a bill of $60 for herself and Emma Stone, the country singer paid the check and left a tip of $24, TMZ.com says. Maybe Kanye should jump in and comment on whether Beyonce usually tips better.

• • •

His publicist was pretty tight-lipped about Burt Reynolds' recent release from rehab, where he was treated for an addiction to painkillers, but the National Enquirer is reporting that he was admitted in late August after he was found in a pool of his own blood at his Florida house by a member of his staff. Reynolds, who had cut himself in the fall, was treated at an emergency room and then moved to a psych ward because he was "behaving strangely." He was later moved to rehab, reportedly after the hospital where he was being treated insisted on it.

• • •

  Samantha Burke, who became pregnant with Jude Law's daughter after a brief fling, is said to be looking for the highest-paying magazine deal for exclusive first photos of their baby, who is due Oct. 6. Sophia is due to arrive just as her dad, who ended his brief relationship with Burker before the pregnancy was announced, opens in "Hamlet" on Broadway. "She will talk openly about her relationship with Jude -- and he's not getting rave reviews" for his behavior, a source told the New York Post. "While Jude has promised to provide for Sophia, Samantha doesn't feel like his behavior towards her was entirely chivalrous."

• • •

 Lindsay Lohan, who has had several stints in rehab and visits to hospital emergency rooms,
used Twitter early Thursday morningto deny rumors that she's been hospitalized. "Hahahaha my publicist just called me & said she heard I was in a psych ward!!!! Hahaha WHAT IS WRONG with people???? I'm working lol," tweeted Lohan, 23. "...That's one I've NEVER heard about myself before!" Lohan continued. "New ones r always interesting huh? There's SO much more going on in the world! Wake up." Lohan's rep told People that the actress is currently in Texas shooting the upcoming thriller "Machete," also starring Robert DeNiro and Jessica Alba. After last week's Twitter range, she is again sending friendly public messages to on-again, off-again girlfriend Samantha Ronson.

• • •

Maybe LiLo is happy because a man has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into her Hollywood Hills home in August. Nicholas Prugo, 18, is accused of one count of burglary, and is also suspected of breaking into the home of Audrina Partridge. Security cameras captured images of several people in each case.

• • •

Although there's been no sign of Jessica Simpson's maltipoo Daisy since Monday night, when she was snatched by a hungry coyote, Jessica tweets that she hasn't given up. "Still holding out hope despite the a--holes that say is it a dumb thing to do. Daisy is my baby ... why would I stop searching? I'm a mom," she wrote on Twitter. At 8:13 p.m. Monday night, Simpson, 29, Tweeted that her dog has been snatched by a coyote, apparently while she was in the yard with the dog. "My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR!" she tweeted. "We are searching. Hoping. Please help!" A dog-finding service, FindToto.com, started making calls to some 1,000 of her neighbors asking if they'd spotted any sign of the missing Daisy, with no results. -- Anne Neville

Former Gosselin family nanny Stephanie Santoro is telling InTouch Weekly that she had an affair with Jon Gosselin during the month that she was employed by the family as a nanny. Santoro was the nanny that caused Kate Gosselin to flip out and call police when she was denied access to the family home during a period of Jon's custody. The cover story headline shouts claims that they had sex while the kids slept, that Jon smoked marijuana and threatened suicide.

The mother of the nanny, Marci Santoro, tells RadarOnline that she overheard Gosselin make suicidal statements. "He said that everybody would be better off without him and that his children would be better off if he wasn’t around anymore,” Santoro told RadarOnline.com. “He said to her, ‘I’m just going to kill myself, I’m just going to end it all.’” She also says that Gosselin told her daughter that he had a vasectomy after the sextuplets were born and that she didn't need to worry about getting pregnant.

• • •

Gosselin has retained a new lawyer this week who says that the Santoros have violated a privacy agreement required by the production company to work with the family. "The content of the story is shocking," attorney Mark Heller says. "Especially in light of the fact that a nondisclosure agreement purportedly prepared by the production company had been signed by the nanny before she started working with the Gosselin family."

• • •

Jon Gosselin's new lifestyle, meanwhile, is not working for his German shepherd puppies, Shoka and Nala. Gosselin will be returning them to the breeder he purchased them from because Kate refuses to care for them when she is with the children as part of their split care-taking arrangement. "It's not fair to the dogs to not be wanted in their own home," Jon said. 

• • •

Speaking of Jon Gosselin and dogs... Former Gosselin girlfriend Kate Major also thinks he is a dog, and now says that she now "despises" him. The former tabloid writer now says that her fling with Gosselin was a big mistake. She says that she was not 'in love,' but more like 'in lust' with Gosselin, and says that they were intimate, despite his repeated denials that they were ever physical. "I will take a lie detector test and I would love for Jon to take a lie detector test because for him to say there was no romance is a complete lie," Major said.

• • •

Folk singer Mary Travers of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary died Wednesday in a Connecticut hospital after battling leukemia for years. Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that Travers battled the disease with "great dignity and without restraint." Noel 'Paul' Stookey said "I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career." Travers was 72.

• • •

Burt Reynolds is going public with his painkiller addiction hoping that his battle can help others. Reynolds started prescription pain pills after back surgery and developed a dependency. "After a recent back surgery, Mr. Reynolds felt like he was going through hell and after a while, realized he was a prisoner of prescription pain pills," Reynold's manager Erik Kritzer said. In the 1980's Reynolds publicly acknowledged that he had a dependency to the sleeping pill Halcion.

• • •

Singer Pink has a separated shoulder, likely injured during a rehearsal of her aerial & trapeze-heavy show. While she says "it hurts," she will not cancel any shows, for now. 

• • •

Actress Megan Fox says in a new Rolling Stone interview that she was a 'cutter,' and suffered from extreme 'self-loathing.' She tells RS: "I'm really insecure about everything. I never think I'm worthy of anything.I have a sick feeling about being mocked all the time."

-- Dave Valenzuela

Buffalo-born supermodel Jessica White must like the bad boys. First she was involved with Terrell Owens, now she has been spotted canoodling with hothead Sean Penn. White, who has modeled for Victoria's Secret and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, was last seen getting cozy with Owens on the episode of "The T.O. Show" that aired Aug. 17. Friday night, White, 25, and Penn, 49, who is getting divorced from Robin Wright Penn after 13 yeas, "were holding hands" and "seemed really into each other," while having dinner, a source told People. The next night, the couple went to a birthday party for a fellow model together. They met at a party at Kid Rock's house last month, and now "are together all the time," the source says. "They are pretty serious together."

• • •

After Taylor Swift said during Tuesday's appearance on "The View" that Kanye West had not apologized to her for jumping on stage at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards and saying Beyonce should have won the moonman Swift was holding, West phoned her and apologized. "Kanye did call me, and he was very sincere in his apology, and I accepted that apology," Swift told a radio interviewer. Meanwhile, fallout for West's classless move continued, with rapper 50 Cent saying he wished Kanye would interrupt him while he was accepting an award so 50 could "black his eye in front of everybody." The two have clashed before over who would sell the most records. But even people who didn't have a beef with Kanye spoke up: Donald Trump called him "a disgrace" and asked people to boycott his work, Katy Perry said his actions were like "stepping on a kitten," and even President Obama called West a "jackass" in remarks that he thought were off the record.

• • •

Check out Swift's moment-by-moment description on "The View" of her thoughts: “Wow, I can’t believe I won. This is awesome! Don't trip and fall. I'm going to get to thank the fans, this is so cool. Oh, Kanye West is here! Cool haircut What are you doing there? And then, 'Ouch,' and then 'I guess I'm not going to get to thank the fans!'”

• • •

 Jessica Simpson's beloved maltipoo, Daisy, was grabbed and carried off by a coyote, the singer
posted on her Twitter account Monday night. "My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR! We are searchin. Hoping. Please help," she Tweeted. Daisy was a gift from Nick Lachey in 2005 before the "Newlyweds" couple split. Simpson, 29, posted posters around her Calabasas, Calif., neighborhood offering a reward to anyone who can reunite her with Daisy. Although Simpson did not say where or when Daisy was taken, a neighbor heard screaming from Simpson's back yard Monday night. Daisy was Simpson's sole and constant companion, unlike such celebs as Paris Hilton, who once said she had 17 dogs -- and later denied reports that coyotes had killed two of them last year.

• • •

Less than a week before the season premiere of "Dancing With the Stars," former House speaker Tom DeLay has injured his foot. The Texas politician posted to his Twitter page, "Old age is catching up to me. May have a stress fracture in my foot. No worries, it’ll take more than that to keep me off the dance floor.” A doctor later said told DeLay that the injury was a "pre-stress fracture." Because of injuries to other participants, rehearsals have been limited to five hours a day.

• • •

A personal chef who says Simon Cowell's girlfriend Terri Seymour refused to return her shoes, which contained $500 orthopedic insoles, after she put on a clean pair to try out for a cooking gig at Cowell's house, settled her lawsuit for her shoes, $75 in court costs and $9 in gas money. The chef, who was not named, said she was told to put on clean sneakers when she entered the house, and left her shoes behind. She was not unhappy with the small settlement, though, telling TMZ, "I got my shoes back ... yayyyyyy!"

• • •

Brittany "Bre" Scullark faces charges of disorderly conduct after a scrap over a laptop in a Manhattan Starbucks. TMZ.com reports. Scullark, who was a semifinalist in Cycle 5 of "America's Next Top Model," picked up a laptop she apparently thought belonged to a relative and would not return it. When the manager intervened, Scullark swore at her. She was taken into police custody and issued a court summons.

• • •

Director Stephen Soderbergh says Michael Douglas "amazed" him by his portrayal of Liberace during preparations for an upcoming film biography of the campy musical performer. Matt Damon will play Liberace's longtime lover, Soderbergh said. "We've already done some costume and wardrobe tests on Michael, and they're very, very, very good." Soderbergh told a French newspaper at the Deauville Film Festival. "I swear to you, Michael amazed me" The elaborately costumed, flamboyant Liberace was an institution on television and on Las Vegas stages until his death from AIDS in 1987.

-- Anne Neville

Patrick Swayze has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, dying Monday with his family at his side. Battling the disease for 20 months, Swayze continued to work on his A&E show The Beast despite he grim prognosis. His Hollywood peers have begun to react. Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey reacted saying, "When I think of him, I think of being in his arms when we were kids, dancing, practicing the lift in the freezing lake, having a blast doing this tiny little movie we thought no one would ever see. ... Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace." Other co-stars, including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell reacted as well.

• • •

Kanye West appeared on Jay Leno's new NBC talk show last night and said that he is "ashamed" of the way he acted at the MTV Video Music Awards. West interrupted winner Taylor Swift as she accepted an award during the ceremony on Sunday night, declaring that Beyonce Knowles' video was better and deserved the win. But on Leno, West tried to show his remorse for the incident. "My entire life, I've only wanted to give and do something that I felt was right. And I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong, and it wasn't a spectacle or just -- you know, it's actually someone's emotions, you know, that I stepped on. ... And it was very … rude, period. And, you know, I'd like to be able to apologize to her in person."

West says he knew he erred when he handed the microphone back and Swift didn't continue her speech. But if he didn't know then, he knew when he came off stage and Taylor Swift's mother lit into him. Andrea Swift demanded to see West after the incident and proceeded to chew him out for his stunt. Reports say that even as Swift's mother ripped him, he defiantly maintained Beyonce should have won. Only until hours later did West show any contrition and admitted that Swift's mom "said the same thing my mother would have said." Fortunately, Beyonce's father was also backstage, where upon hearing the confrontation, brokered the moment for Swift to join Beyonce on stage later in the telecast to continue her speech.

• • •

Kate Gosselin's appearance on The View may allow her to move into a talk show of her own, according to some. Telepictures, the production company behind shows by Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, thinks Gosselin might be right for an ensemble show similar to The View, which also would include cooking maven Paula Deen. "They're looking around and casting for other women to be on the show with them. But they want all the women to be moms," a source told E! News.

• • •

Elton John may be turned down in his bid to adopt a boy from a Ukranian orphanage that specializes in children with HIV. Ukranian law currently forbids foreign adoptions to unmarried couples, and although John married his partner David Furnish in 2005, gay marriage is not recognized in the country. John said the boy, Lev, had "stolen his heart," but the ministry of family says of John "does not have the right to do it because there are certain obstacles which cannot be overcome."

• • •

Actor Colin Farrell confirms that he and girlfriend Alicja Bachleda are expecting a baby. It would be the couple's first child, but Farrell has a son already with model Kim Bordenave."Yeah, I'm going to be a father again. I'm very excited man! Very! There is nothing more exciting really," Farrell said.

• • •

Kathryn Joosten, who plays nosy neighbor Mrs.McClusky on Desperate Housewives, says that her lung cancer has returned after years of remission.

Also suffering a cancer return is Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn. After 3 months of chemotherapy, Zohn was given the bad news that his Hodgkin's disease had returned.

-- Dave Valenzuela

Madonna unexpectedly opened the MTV Video Music Awards show Sunday night with a personal speech about Michael Jackson, but all anyone can talk about today is the latest look-at-me spectacle from Kanye West. The notoriously poor loser jumped onstage as Taylor Swift was accepting her Best Female Video award and said Beyonce deserved to win for "Single Ladies." Beyonce, in the audience, looked stunned. Later, when Beyonce did win Video of the Year, she invited Taylor Swift back onstage to finish her speech, and the 19-year-old obliged. Later, Kanye apologized on his blog: "I'M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD'VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED!" There were also the usual crude jokes from host Russell Brand -- his voice was muted several times -- and a "Carrie"-style onstage bloodbath from Lady GaGa.

• • •

Before Kanye stole the show, Madonna gave a with a lengthy, personal speech about Michael Jackson, first drawing the comparisons between them -- they were born in the same month and year, each had eight siblings and grew up in the suburbs of the midwest. At age 6, she said, she lost her mother and he lost his childhood to stardom. "I think he got the shorter end of the stick," she said. Madonna said she took Jackson to dinner in 1991 and when he shyly took her hand as they watched a movie later, she sensed "he was looking for a friend rather than a romance." She finished by calling him a hero and saying, "Michael Jackson was a human being, but damn it, he was a king. Long live the king!" To a montage of Jackson's hits, dancers dressed in some of his iconic costumes took the stage, joined by Janet Jackson's tribute.

• • •

First, Megan Fox compared "Transformers" director Michael Bay to Napoleon and Hitler on the sets, saying "he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. ... So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward." Three loyal (anonymous) members of Bay's crew counterattacked, in an open letter that has since been removed from the "Transformers" web site, calling Fox "dumb as a rock," "thankless, classless, graceless," and "queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star." Bay pulled the scathing letter down (luckily Perez Hilton saved a copy!) and said he condoned neither the crew's attack nor Fox's "outlandish quotes. But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm."

• • •

Elton John has put aside his longstanding opposition to having a family with partner David Furnish, but changed his mind after meeting a Ukrainian toddler named Lev. Furnish and John toured the orphanage, which houses many children whose parents have died of AIDS, as part of John's foundation's support. John said Furnish had always wanted to adopt, but, he said, "I always said 'no' because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child. But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today." It's not clear whether it would be possible for the pair to adopt the child. Photos show John holding Lev, a chubby, smiling 14-month-old boy wearing a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt.

• • •

The San Diego District Attorney's office has closed the case against Shawne Merriman, whom reality TV star Tila Tequlia accused of choking her, but she says justice has not been done and she will pursue a civil case against the Chargers star. "The San Diego District Attorney's decision not to press charges against Shawne Merriman for the battering of Tila Tequila demonstrates an unconscionable negligence in the discharging of their public duties," her rep told TMZ. "We strongly feel that justice has not been served in this matter." Photos of Tila's bruised arms were widely circulated over the weekend.

• • •

John Travolta, wife Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella Bleu made their first public appearance since the death of the Travoltas' son Jett, 16, in January. The family appeared at the D23 Expo in Anaheim to promote their new Disney film, "Old Dogs,"  in which all three appear. It is Ella's screen debut. The AP reported that Travolta told the crowd, "I always appreciate the audience's love for me," and added, "I hope they love 'Old Dogs' and much as we do, because I've got my baby in it."

• • •

It was a weekend for celebrity weddings, with 3 Doors Down singer Brad Arnold tying the knot on Saturday with Jennifer Sanderfordin their hometown of Escatawpa, Miss. according to People. The childhood friends, who reconnected after Arnold and his first wife separated, wed before 120 guests.

• • •

It was a second ceremony for opera singer Denyce Graves and transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery, who married Saturday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. She wore a traditional white silk gown by Donna Langman, while he donned a black Scottish kilt. The couple said their first set of vows Aug. 18 in the Masai Mara village in Kenya.

• • •

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady finally announced what was becoming too obvious to ignore -- his new wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, is expecting their first child. The pair married secretly not once but twice-- in a church wedding Feb. 26, then in a more casual affair in Costa Rica in April. The new Brady is due in December. Brady has a son, Jack, 2, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.

-- Anne Neville

Remember the Dramatic Chipmunk?

Meet his photogenic cousin, the Crasher Squirrel.

Usually when on-again, off-again lovers Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan fight, it's in person. But LiLo took to Twitter -- the most public forum of all -- with a multi-Tweet rant directed at SamRo but of course, visible to anyone following her. "I have FINALLY deserved just to cry myself to sleep with your cheats, errors, and thank you...for being a friend before a sell-out.." LiLo tweeted. Later, in response to a private message from Ronson, she replied publicly, "BUT YOU DID perform to her..you JUST told me that your friends are worth more than i am 2 your family & that i'm gross*thx."

• • •In her first interview after being named to replace Paula Abdul at the "American Idol" judges' table, Ellen DeGeneres told Ryan Seacrest that she hopes to provide a "compassionate" judging voice, and will confront fellow judge Simon Cowell when his comments cross the line. "I’ll tell him the same thing [I tell him when] he’s on [my] show, that he’s mean,” she says.  “I think you can be honest in a pretty kind way. I hope to be that compassionate person. That’s the one thing Paula did bring, that compassion.” Paula, on her Twitter page, said "I think Ellen will b a gr8 judge on Idol. She is wildly funny, talented and I wish her the best of luck!" Kara DioGuardi, who joined the show last season, said she was "completely ecstatic," and Randy Jackson said "Idol" "reached out [to Ellen] a little bit," and called her "mad cool."

• • •

Other reaction to the unexpected pick of DeGeneres has been mixed. Sharon Osborne, of "America's Got Talent," said Ellen will be "a complete breath of fresh air," rather than a predictable singer such as J.Lo or Janet Jackson. "With Ellen, you've got someone who knows about entertaining, and everything that goes into it, which also speaks for the people," she said. Nick Cannon, host of "America's Got Talent," agreed, saying DeGeneres "knows how to have fun." But MJ Santilli, founder of the 'Idol" blog, MJsBigBlog.com, pointed out that DeGeneres was "awkward and unfunny when she guest-judged on ["So You Think You Can Dance"] ... so I hope that she brushes up on her skills between now and November." On Twitter, Samantha Ronson posted, "Ellen seems confident about replacing Paula but, I don't know, she's got some pretty big prescriptions to fill."

• • •

Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards, already pretty glittery, have added some star power. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys will perform their new duet, "Empire State of Mind," and Eminem will make an appearance. Also expected to present awards are Jennifer Lopez, Megan Fox, Shakira, Jack Black, 50 Cent, Andy Samberg, Jimmy Fallon, Kristin Cavallari, Pete Wentz, Gerard Butler, Tracy Morgan, Adam Brody, Alexa Chung and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. They join already announced Ne-Yo, Nelly Furtado, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Chace Crawford, Leighton Meester and Miranda Cosgrove. Brisih comedian Russell Brand will hosting the 26th annual show, which will include Janet Jackson's tribute to her brother Michael and performances by Beyoncé, Pink, Lady Gaga, Green Day, Taylor Swift and Muse. Also shown will be the trailer for the much-anticipated Michael Jackson documentary, "This is It," and an extended trailer for "New Moon," the second film in the "Twilight" series.

• • •

   Katherine Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley are adopting a 10-month-old special-needs baby from Korea. "She was actually born the day before me in November, which I thought was really serendipitous and just kind of like a sign, Heigl said during an interview to air today on the Ellen DeGeneres show. "I realized just recently that I basically forfeited my birthday for the rest of my life." They plan to call the girl Naleigh,"after my mother and sister Nancy [and] Leigh." Heigl's sister Meg also was adopted from Korea.

• • •

Katherine Jackson says that unlike Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole and Chris Brown, she will attend the gala tribute concert to her son Michael in Vienna. She got the wrong date when she said she'd attend Jermaine's extravaganza, but presumably somebody will set her straight. She and other relatives were originally said to be upset that Jermaine planned a star-studded concert in a city where Michael had no ties. Meanwhile, movers have started to clear out the rented Holmby Hills mansion where Michael Jackson died, with one truck arriving for property inside the house and another to pick up the cars.

• • •

Officials of Colony Capital, which owns Jackson's longtime home, Neverland Ranch, have filed trademark paperwork protecting the name of the ranch and securing the rights to operate a museum or theme park there, print books and post cards, make toys and clothing. But Joe Jackson told TMZ.com, "Colony Capital cannot do this without our permission.

-- Anne Neville

Here's a surprise nobody saw coming: Ellen DeGeneres announced during the taping of her talk show today that she will fill Paula Abdul's seat on the "American Idol" judge table! She said she's been negotiating this in secret for a few weeks, and was "dying" to spill, but had to keep it a secret from everyone. What are her qualifications, you ask? Well, she loves music, hasn't missed an episode of "Idol" since it started, and "I'm not looking at it in a critical way from the music producer's mind, I'm looking at it as a person who's going to buy that music." Ellen says she'll continue with her talk show after she joins "Idol," which has had a group of fill-in judges during auditions. "I'm going to have a day job and a night job," she said. In a statement, Fox said, "DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition." What about our girl Paula? She says she's working on some kind of a deal, to do something or other.

• • •

When Jon and Kate broke up, people had a lot of sympathy for the often-belittled Jon. But a series of really stupid movies have turned the tide of public opinion against him. Whether it's his constant cell-phone use while he's supposed to be spending time with his kids, his "soul mate" connection with 22-year-old Hailey Glassman or his new Mercedes SUV that seats five -- when he has eight kids -- the guy has shown us why Kate referred to him as "almost like a lame fish." His "Primetime: Family Secrets" appearance was no different. So Kate will cohost The View next week, and Jon gets grilled by Chris Cuomo.

• • •

Mary J. Blige is the second big performer to deny that she will appear in the star-studded tribute concert for Michael Jackson being organized by his brother Jermaine in Vienna later this month. After Jermaine announced that Chris Brown would perform, Chris's spokesman said it wasn't true.

• • •

Two years after he was severely injured in a car crash while Hulk Hogan's son, Nick Hogan Bollea, was at the wheel, John Graziano has been released from the veterans hospital. The 26-year-old Iraq War veteran will live with his mother, although he will still need 24-hour care due to paralysis and brain damage. Graziano's father, who is in jail on charges that he tried to hire someone to kill his estranged wife, Graziano's mother, expressed concern about her ability to care for him. Nick Bollea served five months in jail after being convicted of reckless driving.

• • •

Lindsay Lohan has been named the artistic adviser of much-lauded fashion line Emanuel Ungaro, according to E!Online. The starlet will be collaborating with the label's newly appointed chief designer, Estrella Archs, to put together the looks for the 2010 spring/summer collection, which will be shown Oct. 4 at Paris Fashion Week. "Lindsay is a world consumer with a clear eye for fashion," said Mounir Moufarrige, president of Emanuel Ungaro worldwide. Lindsay says she plans to immerse herself in the work. "When I'm involved in a project, I give my all to it," she says. "I've always played a big part in what I wear, the costumes. ... To be in a position where I'm working with a fashion house in Paris sets it apart from every other celebrity brand."

• • •

Hugh Hefner has filed for divorce from former Playmate Kimberly Conrad, from whom he has been separated since 1998. The pair have two sons together and all seemed well in their estrangement until Hef sold the house next to the Playboy Mansion where Conrad and their sons were living, and she sued him. Hefner told TMZ.com that that was the reason for the divorce, not that, as he was glad to share, she cheated on him early in the relationship. Documents filed with the court show that he pulls in $116,667 a month from Playboy, $121,099 from dividends and investments and (get this!) $1,869 in Social Security. He's worth more than $43 million, not counting his Playboy stock.

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 Brad Paisley, reigning Country Music Association male vocalist of the year, was re-nominated in that category and five others,leading the pack with the most nominations. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Jamey Johnson, George Strait and Zac Brown Band each received four nominations. Teenage sensation Swift was nominated for female vocalist of the year, as well as for the top award, entertainer of the year --  pitting her against Kenny Chesney, Strait, Paisley and Urban. Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are nominated for female vocalist of the year.The 43rd Annual CMA Awards will be held in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 11, and be broadcast on ABC.

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Just days before the anniversary of Sept. 12, 1953 -- the day Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married into the Kennedy clan -- Life magazine has published a series of 20 never-before-seen photos of Jackie, on her wedding day, as a young mother, and at state events with her husband. The photos include an eerie one in which the president and his wife sit in an open car, three years before he was assassinated in Dallas.

-- Anne Neville

Jermaine Jackson grabbed headlines Tuesday morning with the announcement of a star-studded gala in Vienna to pay tribute to his brother Michael. But first a rep for Chris Brown, who Jermaine said would appear, says it's not true -- that the singer will not make the tribute his first public appearance since he was arrested in February for attacking Rihanna. Then TMZ.com reports that nobody in the Jackson family supports the concert and doesn't believe the first tribute to Michael should be held in a country where Michael had no particular links. Jermaine said some 25 artists who would perform at the imperial Schoenbrunn Palace before an expected crowd of 65,000 are Mary J. Blige, Akon, Natalie Cole, Sister Sledge and Angela Bassett, who played Katherine Jackson in a TV show about the family. Jermaine said he will also perform a virtual duet with Michael, which Jermaine called "magic moment for all who loved his music."

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Before that Michael Jackson tribute, we'll have the one performed by Janet Jackson at the MTV Video Awards Sunday night. The perfromance features 20 backup dancers who are putting in up to 15-hour rehearsal days. One of the dancers, Kryiss Grant, who was an usher at the memorial service, when the tribute concludes, "there won't be a dry eye in the house."

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Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy of "Dancing with the Stars," who first delayed their planned wedding, blaming it on their busy schedules, have now called it off, reports People.com. "I can confirm that this is true," Smirnoff's rep says. No reason was given and the rep says no further statement will be made. Smirnoff, 31, and Chmerkovskiy, 28, were together for about year and got engaged in December 2008.

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George Clooney may have gotten more of a reaction than he expected during a press conference in Venice for the premiere of his new movie, "Men Who Stare at Goats," when he announced his engagement, not to his new flame, Italian TV presenter Elisabetta Canalis, but to  "Goats" director Grant Heslov. "Grant and I are actually announcing our wedding while we are here," Clooney joked Tuesday. Also during the freewheeling press conference, a man in the crowd stripped down to his boxer shorts and necktie and shouted, "I'm gay, George. I want you, George! Come with me, George!" Clooney's reaction? "It's always embarrassing when you take one real big swing for the fences and it just falls flat!" Then he added, "You know, the tie looks good. And it's just long enough!"

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A video tribute that was reportedly played at Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein's memorial last week has been posted to YouTube. The heatwarming tribute to the DJ drew this tweet from Travis Barker, who, along with DJ AM, was the sole survivor of a fatal plane crash a year ago: ""This vid makes me smile from ear 2 ear and tear at the same time, miss u homie."

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Last week's announcement that two new comedians would join the cast of "Saturday Night
Live" has led to this week's surprise firings of featured players Michaela Watkins and Casey
Wilson after just one season. The new cast members, Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad, were announced last week by Executive Producer Lorne Michaels. "I had a GREAT time there," Watkins told The Comic's Comic, which broke the news. "Although it seems kinda crazy right now, this may shake out to make sense to everyone. Lorne isn't known for indulging in any lip-service and I feel very encouraged by his words last week." Watkins told EW.com that Michaels informed her "that he felt deep down that I should have my own show. And I agreed."

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R&B singer Christina Milian has married The Dream -- hip-hop music producer Terius Youngdell Nash -- in a ceremony in Las Vegas last Thursday at exactly 12 a.m., per the marriage certificate. The lovebirds, who announced their engagement in Juy, chose the Little White Wedding Chapel, the place Britney Spears commenced her 55-hour marriage to longtime friend Jason Alexander.

-- Anne Neville