With the news last night that Ellen DeGeneres has quit "American Idol," and a TMZ report this morning that Kara DioGuardi has been "fired" from the show, the rumor mill has been running rampant this morning with speculation as to who will be on the panel of judges for this upcoming season of "Idol."
Various media outlets are now reporting that the "Idol" will be returning to a three-judge panel, and with Simon Cowell leaving for "X Factor," Ellen DeGeneres quitting, and Kara DioGuardi being fired, that leaves only Randy Jackson as the only judge from the original panel.
Earlier this week, it was reported that former producer Nigel Lythgoe -- creator & judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" -- has returned to the show, and that he has preferred the "nuclear option" of starting over with a new panel of judges. Lythgoe reportedly felt that the focus had shifted from the performers to the judges, and that ratings and quality of "Idol" suffered.
Reports this morning have Jackson being joined by Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler and Latin pop star Jennifer Lopez.
Lopez was a guest mentor during a Latin-themed week in April 2007 (right), and has been a guest performer on both "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance."
Other names that have been linked to the vacant seats have included Howard Stern, Bret Michaels, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr., Jessica Simpson, among others.
It is expected that Fox will make the official announcement next week at the 2010 Television Critics
Association's summer press tour.
What do you think of the rumored lineup of judges: Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez?
"American Idol" has more than just Simon Cowell's shoes to fill. Ellen DeGeneres's first year on the show was also her last. In a statement, DeGeneres said, "A couple months ago, I let Fox and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for." DeGeneres added, "I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on Idol and I am very grateful for the year I had, I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be." Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller said in the same statement, “I loved Ellen’s passion for the artists and her nurturing skills. She brought honesty and optimism to our judging panel and I will miss her greatly."
• • •
The show's former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is all but
certain to return to the show for its 10th season, taking the reins back from Fuller. Lythgoe remarked last
spring that he favored what's being called the "nuclear option," replacing all the judges,
despite multi-year contracts signed by remaining judges Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. A source said, "The network's dream scenario"
would be to make the changes over the weekend and then "make a splashy
announcement" during Fox’s presentation Monday at the 2010 Television Critics
Association's summer press tour. The source added, "They’d be the
talk of TCA, and the message to other networks would essentially be,
'Follow that!'"
• • •
Could a new Idol judges panel include Jessica Simpson, whose latest CD was less than a stunning success? Simpson met with Idol
producers recently. "I’m not sure whether her people approached Idol or
if it was the other way around," a source told Entertainment Weekly. Simpson is
reportedly just one of "dozens" of candidates who have been considered
to replace Simon Cowell on the panel when the show returns to the air in
January 2011. Representatives of Justin Timberlake and Elton John have
reportedly been interviewed; Bret Michaels has said he wants the job and
even Diddy says, "Once I heard what Simon makes …
[I] would love the job. I’ve got six kids. If I would get the
same check Simon gets … we would have a ball."
• • •
George Clooney's girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, is "distraught" by reports that link her to cocaine use at nightclubs, a socialite who knows both Canelis and Clooney tell E! News. "I have heard that Elisabetta is distraught but that George is standing by
her," Milanese socialite Francesca Biagini said. "In Milan, everyone
is talking about this. It's a huge scandal and we think more celebrities will be
named." Biaglini said that while she often routinely saw Canalis in nightclubs, she never never saw her engage in any illicit behavior. "I never saw her
doing cocaine, but she's always the life and soul of the party," said Biaglini. "She's a fun
girl." But the respected Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports that 26-year-old Karima Menad told Italian prosecutors that she and Canalis used cocaine in 2007 at The Club. "I remember taking cocaine with Elisabetta Canalis and two others," Menad
told investigators in 2008, according to documents obtained by the newspaper.
• • •Dina Lohan says her daughter Lindsay is not getting special treatment in at the Lynwood Correctional Facility, but is being "treated like a common criminal." Dina Lohan says she and daughter Ali must use phone receivers to speak with Lindsay through a glass partition. Dina Lohan also she denies reports that Lindsay has access to a cell phone. "She doesn’t have cell phone privileges, that’s absurd. She doesn’t even have
a pillow to sleep on," Dina told RadarOnline.com. She said, "I talk to her through glass. There’s a phone and we put her on speaker, but I
can’t even hug my daughter. She’s treated like a common criminal."
• • •
Administrators from two rehab facilities visited with Lohan over the weekend in jail, but two court-appointed psychiatrists will decide which facility she enters when she completes her jail sentence. Lohan will enter rehab for a mandatory 90-day stay either right after she is freed from jail or within 24 hours.
• • •
Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, who recently married secretly, have a baby on the way, a source tells Us Weekly. "She's definitely pregnant ... Miranda's thrilled," says a source
close to Kerr, a Victoria's Secret model who met Bloom a month before the pair announced their engagement on June 21. "She's telling all her friends, mostly other models,
about it."
-- Anne Neville
TMZ reports this morning that the domestic assault case continues and that Grigorieva has "third party" witnesses who observed the alleged punch thrown by Gibson. The witnesses have not yet spoken to the Los Angeles sheriff's department investigators working the domestic assault case, but that they will come forward soon. The site says that one witness is a person who has worked with Grigorieva in her music career, while another person is said to have witnessed Gibson pull a hand gun on Grigorieva after the assault.
Los Angeles sheriff's department investigators are also studying the details
of Mel Gibson's mediation hearings with ex-girlfriend Oksana
Grigorieva, looking for evidence that supports Gibson's claim of
extortion. Sources tell TMZ that during the course of the mediation
hearings, neither Grigorieva or her attorneys, submitted the photos
depicting broken teeth or black eyes. Gibson's side believes that is
evidence that Grigorieva's side was withholding them as a blackmailing
tactic. The mediation resulted in a $15 million settlement, which
Grigorieva first accepted, but later said did not satisfy her.
E! News, meanwhile, says that there are more tapes on the way
at RadarOnline. E! News talked to David Perel of RadarOnline, who said
that the tapes have been a bonanza for the site, as far as web traffic,
but also has been a boon to television shows covering the story as well. E! says that there are rumored to be more tapes -- Gibson reportedly called 30 times in one night alone -- but that Perel wasn't
sure how many the site would be releasing. "The exact number of
recordings has not been released or reported yet. Obviously,
RadarOnline.com has quite a few audio tapes and yes, we do have more. We
will be posting them on the site as we continue to report on the Mel
Gibson story," Perel said.
The release of the tapes have damaged Gibson's reputation with fans, says the folks at the Dan Brown Index, which measures a celebrity's likability. The Dan Brown Index claims to have a 4.5 million-member research panel, which "evaluates
a celebrity’s awareness, appeal and relevance to a brand’s image." E!
News says that Gibson has dropped 15 points on the scale, and ranks him
as No. 2494 out of the 2,540 celebrities the site tracks. Other celebs
in Gibson's range include Rosie O'Donnell, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen
and Andy Dick.
• • •
Lindsay Lohan is surviving her prison ordeal
with a little help from licorice. Attorney Shawn Chapman Holley told
People magazine that Twizzlers have been Lohan's comfort food. "She's
good. She's eating some Twizzlers," Holley said. Lohan may be released
as early as Sunday or Monday, and has been using her time productively,
says Holley. "She's writing a lot. She's creating art. She's a
beautiful, talented, creative woman, and she's going to
come out and surprise you all!," Holley said.
Fans of Lohan, however, believe that the actress has served more than enough time. TMZ reports that there is a planned protest for outside the Lynwood Correctional Facility where Lohan has been serving her time for probation violations.
• • •
Chris Klein, who was arrested in June after a second DUI, has been in rehab for the last 30 days, and has decided to extend his stay. The 'American Pie' actor was admitted to the Cirque Lodge rehab center in Sundance, Utah, on June 21 and has spent 30 days receiving counseling for his addictions. "Chris, along with his support team, has decided to extend his treatment.
He is doing fantastic and is optimistic about his future. He thanks
everyone for their continued support," said Klein's rep, Jaime Primak. Klein was stopped on the Hollywood Freeway on June 17, where his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit of .08.
• • •
TMZ reports that seven doctors under investigation for their treatment of Michael Jackson have been cleared and will not face any charges. California Attorney General Jerry Brown started an investigation into doctors who had prescribed medication to Jackson over the years, but has concluded that the doctor's actions did not warrant criminal charges. TMZ reports that one of those doctors has been reported to California Medical Board for prescribing medication to one of Jackson's aliases, however. Dr. Conrad Murray is the only doctor charged with criminal wrong-doing in the pop star's death.
RadarOnline, which has been airing the recordings Oksana Grigorieva secretly made made of phone calls with Mel Gibson, has now published four photos of deep bruises around her eye she says she suffered when he struck her twice in the face Jan. 6. The web site previously reported that Grigorieva's doctor diagnosed her with a concussion after the event. Gibson is being investigated on domestic violence charges after Grigorieva said he hit her in the mouth, breaking the veneers on two of her teeth, and in the temple during an argument while she was holding their baby, Lucia. The photos were taken the morning after the confrontation, the day after her broken teeth were photographed. Although Gibson seemed to admit striking Grigorieva in a phone conversation, saying, "You f------ deserved it!" his attorneys have told police she tried to extort money from him. And if you thought the February tree-planting ceremony that honored the birth of their daughter -- and which ended in a huge blowup when Gibson accused Grigorieva of smiling at a gardener -- was unusual, how about this: with the roots of the fir tree, Gibson buried the placenta of then 3-month-old Lucia. It's a ceremony he carried out for all seven of his older children, a source says.
• • •
Gibson and his attorney spent Sunday meeting with detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department about his the whole mess. But while they talked about his charges that Grigorieva tried to extort money from him in exchange for not releasing the conversations and photos, they did not discuss possible domestic violence charges against Gibson. Spokesman Steve Whitmore said the meeting "was not for the domestic violence investigation, it was just for the extortion."
• • •
What's this world coming to if you can't put on a military hat, mime a mustache under your nose and raise the other hand without somebody accusing you of making a Nazi salute? (Jesse James may not be the best guy to ask.) Paris Hilton's spokesman says she was just dancing .. and scratching her face .. and wearing a "captain's hat from a club" when she was photographed frolicking on a yacht in St. Tropez. The spokesman added, "Half of her family is Jewish and many of her friends are as well." A source told EOnline, "If she was making a joke, people would be looking at her," but others in the photo are looking away. And the source says Hilton would never act inappropriately with the paparazzi around, unlike her topless photos from a week ago. "One of the guys with her even flipped off the paparazzi," the source says. "Clearly if she knew they were there, she wouldn't do something so offensive to be caught on camera."
• • •
Lindsay Lohan will be free in less than a week, and her attorney says Lohan is now worrying that she will have to go straight to her mandatory three-month rehab stay without spending time with her family. "She’s a little upset right now," attorney Shawn Chapman Holley said after visiting the actress Tuesday. "She'd like to spend some time with her family, and there’s at least some question as to whether or not she’ll have to go directly to rehab." Lohan will probably be released from jail Monday, and the judge granted her 24 hours of freedom to get her arrangements made, but Holley says, "There's a push now for her to go directly to rehab from jail." The attorney says she will make the case that Lohan deserves a few hours of freedom. "I think it would only be fair for her to spend some time with her family and that’s what she’d like for me to emphasize to judge," says Holley.
• • •
Heidi Montag's dad says Heidi didn't call him during his recent illness and he intends to travel to Los Angeles and visit his daughter, who has basically gone into seclusion. Bill Montag, a Colorado rancher, told RadarOnline that the last time they spoke was in March, before he suffered a serious bacterial infection, from which he has now recovered. "I still haven’t heard anything from my daughter so I don’t know what is going on with her," said Bill Montag, seen at left with his daughter before her extensive plastic surgery. "I need to go out there and visit her and I will."
-- Anne Neville
Lindsay Lohan will not be released this week, according to the spokeman for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Lohan's lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, told reporters that she hoped that over-crowding might cause the sheriff's department to release Lohan sometime late this week. But sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said, "Nothing has changed. When she was incarcerated I said a
couple of weeks and it hasn't been a couple of weeks. That turns out to
be the first part of next week. It could be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
something like that."
Lohan had a relatively lonely weekend, according to People Magazine. The Century Regional Detention Facility only permits a certain number of visits a week, and Lohan burned through that count before the weekend arrived. She was left with only her lawyer as a visitor this weekend, which was a downer for the troubled actress. "It was hard for her not to see her family over the weekend. She obviously
wants to see her family," attorney Shawn Chapman Holley told the magazine. But no fear, Monday afternoon her mother Dina and sister Ali arrived for visitation with Lindsay.
Meanwhile, TMZ reports that a pair of attorneys representing a class action lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office wants Lindsay to give a deposition about her experience of being booked into the Lynwood Correctional Facility. The class action lawsuit argues that female prisoners are forced to strip naked in an unsanitary parking lot, visible to others, and are subjected to strip & cavity searches in plain view of others. Sheriff's officials have said that Lohan was treated like any other prisoner, so they want to know whether she was subjected to the same treatment.
• • •
Mel Gibson's taped rants against ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva may have put him into a little hot water with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The San Diego Minutemen, who campaign against illegal immigration, have reported Gibson to the agency after hearing the actor refer to a nanny in one of the audio tapes as a derogatory term frequently used against illegal Mexican immigrants. The Minutemen wonder if the nanny, or any other Gibson employee, is an illegal immigrant, and they've been told by ICE that an investigation will be opened against Gibson.
A seventh tape has been released, according to People magazine, in which Gibson tells Grigorieva that he regrets that he ever had a child with her, and tells her to return to her ex-boyfriend, actor Timothy Dalton, if he is such a great father compared to Gibson.
Speaking of those now infamous rants, TMZ reports that alcohol did not play a part in Gibson's mood on those tapes. In custody hearings, both sides have acknowledged that Gibson has been completely sober since his 2006 DUI arrest.
• • •
The custody battle between Jon and Kate Gosselin appears to have been settled. TMZ reports that the estranged reality couple have reached a confidential agreement, according to legal papers in Pennsylvania. In April, Jon Gosselin filed papers in Pennsylvania court seeking full custody of the eight Gosselin children, and sought changes to his child support obligations. A TMZ source says of he settlement: "An official agreement between Jon and Kate has been reached and they will be working
together for the benefit of their children."
• • •
Charlie Sheen will be back on the set of 'Two and a Half Men' according to a TMZ source, who tells the site that a plea agreement is in place which would allow the actor to work as soon as next week. The show is set to resume taping on August 6th, and although a plea deal has not been finalized, Sheen is reportedly expected at the set for those tapings. Sheen has a date in Aspen court on August 12th for his ongoing domestic violence case.
Officials at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif., say Lindsay Lohan isn't getting any special treatment except that required for security reasons. But still, a relative of another prisoner says her presence is affecting everyone and "all the inmates are sick of Lindsay." Maria Medina, a relative of an inmate at the same jail, says, "She's not treated like if it was anyone else going to jail. Like, if they even want to bring her new clothes or bring her anything, they put the whole facility on lockdown. It happens all the time. Like if she even moves, they put the whole facility on lockdown. It happens all the time. ... Lindsay had to go to the mini-clinic, and the whole place was on lockdown again." Los Angeles Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore denied Medina's complaint. "It's business as usual. Lindsay's getting no special treatment," he said, adding that there is no such thing as "lockdown." Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, says that although Lohan's mother Dina and sister Ali, as well as ex Samantha Ronson, were seen visiting during the week, that step was taken to eliminate disruption of other regularly scheduled weekend visits. Holley says Lohan's family is "not allowed any more visits this week." Holley, who like all attorneys can visit prisoners anytime, did visit Lohan twice over the weekend, as seen above, and says her client is more emotionally stable than she was soon after she was jailed. "She's doing well, she's doing fine," Holley says. "Her outlook is definitely more positive."
• • •
Lohan's former next-cell neighbor, reality star Alexis Neiers, is back home after serving 30 days of a 180-day sentence for being part of the youthful gang that burglarized Orlando Bloom's house. Neiers says being free feels "like I'm in a dream a little bit, it feels like I am going to wake up and be back there." Neiers says she did catch a glimpse of Lohan, "I did see her ... no words. She had an officer with her at all times," said Neiers. "She was in the cell next to me but in a separate pod. We're in protective custody, so it's not like anyone can get near you, I just saw her a couple times and I really wish her the best." Neiers said, "She looked a little down, but you're in prison, you're in jail, ya know?"
• • •
In addition to the enraged Mel Gibson conversations Oksana Grigorieva taped, she also apparently has a slew of voicemails he left for her, but they are reportedly not as sensational as the conversations, which were released over several days by RadarOnline but were reportedly all recorded on Feb. 18, after the couple had a huge argument. The day started with the family and friends gathering to plant a tree in honor of Gibson and Grigorieva's daughter Lucia at his estate and ended in rage as Gibson accused Grigorieva of being too friendly with one of the landscapers on hand to plant the tree. Mel reportedly left the voicemails the same night as the conversations were recorded.
• • •
Mold found in the home with Brittany Murphy and her husband Simon Monjack both died of pneumonia a few months apart is now being investigated by the California Department of Public Health, TMZ says. Mold was found in the house the pair shared with Brittany's mother, Sharon, after Brittany's death, but Sharon refused to let public health investigators in to test it. Now she has agreed to let them in. Toxic mold can affect breathing.
• • •
Amanda Bynes, left, who said a month ago that she was retiring from show business because "if I don't love something anymore, I stop doing it," has changed her mind and unretired. The 24-year-old Tweeted, "I've unretired." Back in June she was fed up and wrote, "Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," Bynes wrote in June. "If I don't love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don't love acting anymore, so I've stopped doing it. ... I know 24 is a young age to retire ... I've never written the movies and tv shows I've been a part of. I've only acted like the characters the producers or directors wanted me to play." Bynes will appear Sept. 17 in the comedy "Easy A."
-- Anne Neville
Two days into her jail term and by all accounts Lindsay Lohan is adjusting okay. People.com has a report this morning that Lohan's mother Dina, and sister Ali attempted to visit the prison to see Lindsay, but it was unclear whether they were able to see the troubled actress. Visiting hours at Century Regional Detention Facility are on weekends for family and friends, however, the prison can make some exceptions. But the magazine's source said that they left the prison "stone-faced" and without comment, leaving it unclear as to whether they were allowed visitation.
But sources inside the prison have indicated that Lohan is a model inmate through two days of her 90-day sentence. (Lohan could be released at as early as two weeks, according to some legal observers, if she remains cooperative with prison authorities.) The magazine's insider says that Lohan remains slightly concerned about mixing with other prisoners, but she has been repeatedly assured that she won't. But even those small concerns are not enough to disrupt her eating & sleeping.
The insider says that she has "devoured all the food served to her" since entering the prison, and has "slept soundly for most of her time in custody." Of course, the sleeping may be aided by a sleeping pill which the prison doctor approved for Lohan to take. The doctor also gave the green light for Lohan to take her ADHD and anxiety medications.
• • •
The Los Angeles sheriff's office has agreed to take up Mel Gibson's request to investigate estranged girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva for an alleged extortion scheme. The alleged extortion revolved around the nasty tapes that have been released weekly by RadarOnline. Sources tell E! News that Grigorieva was allegedly demanding $10 million from Gibson, or she would leak them to the media and ruin his already tarnished reputation.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Gibson's team is using a text message allegedly sent by Grigorieva to bolster their case that it was a shake-down. According to THR, in the text message from Grigorieva, the model tells Gibson that she recorded their phone conversations because "you broke your agreement with me."
Grigorieva's rep, however, denies that she is behind any extortion attempt telling E! News, "To specifically address the allegations, my client, Ms. Grigorieva, has
repeatedly stated that there is no credible evidence whatsoever of
extortion by her, and she stands steadfastly by that statement."
A bar in New York, meanwhile, is having a little fun at Gibson's expense. They have launched a drink named after Gibson which they call a "bipolar" cocktail. The drink features an ounce of gin, with a shot of vodka. But it isn't just any vodka, it is one named after Vincent van Gogh, the 19th century painter who suffered from manic depression, of which Gibson has stated in interviews that he has as well.
• • •
The Los Angeles coroner's office says that Simon Monjack died of the same ailments as his wife, actress Brittany Murphy. The coroner's report says that Monjack died from acute pneumonia and severe anemia. Officials say that while some prescription drugs were found in Monjack's system, they were not at levels that would be considered lethal.
Monjack died five months after Murphy, who passed in December 2009. The final coroner report on Murphy said that the actress died of acute pneumonia, but anemia and drugs were contributing factors.
Brittany's mother, Sharon Murphy, was glad to hear the findings. "It is with great relief that Simon's preliminary autopsy findings have
been released, so the media speculations can stop. As I
was sure of, just like my daughter Brittany, there was no kind of drug
overdose," Murphy told CNN.
One more test will be performed on Monjack's body before they release the final report, in approximately two weeks.
• • •
Kate Gosselin is not breaking any child labor laws, so says Pennsylvania's Department of Labor. The Department of Labor was pressed into investigating the reality TV mom after it received a letter from a state lawmaker. Rep. Thomas P. Murt sent a letter to the agency requesting an investigation into whether the show and cable network TLC had violated any of the state's child labor laws.
Murt pointed to a statute that permits children under the age of seven to perform temporarily in movies, but not on television shows. It is unclear how documentary-style reality television falls under that statute, but Murt wanted a ruling.
The agency said that they were "assured during its investigation, visit to the site, and issuance of
permits that protections applied to these children and that they were
not unlawfully exploited."
A previous investigation set a standard which the production company is following. The regulations stated that the Gosselin children "can only work between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except during the
summer; they cannot work more than four hours on a school day and no
more than 18 hours a week during the school year; and kids can't go
longer than five hours without a break."
The Department of Labor rep assured Murt that those standards were met, and that the children's interest were protected.
-- Dave Valenzuela
A source inside the Lynwood Correctional Facility, where Lindsay Lohan is being held, called her "polite, compliant and responsive," not weeping and doing well emotionally. Lohan spent her first night in jail, being strip-searched, donning an orange jumpsuit, smiling slightly in her mug shot, left, dining on turkey tetrazini before spending the night in her single-prisoner 12-by-8-foot cell. If she doesn't violate any jail rules, Lohan will serve only about two weeks of her 90-day sentence, says L.A. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. Nonviolent misdemeanor offenders are usually released early due to severe jail overcrowding, he says. An insider says she'll eat meals in her cell, where she will spend at least 22 hours a day, and she will not be permitted to smoke or have computer or Twitter access. She also was reportedly not permitted to bring into jail the copy of the book she was reading, Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." "Her family is working on getting her a copy so she can read it behind bars," a source said.
Lohan is in the same housing unit, or pod, where Paris Hilton briefly served time in 2007, but not the same cell. Strangely, Paris's old cell is being occupied by Alexis Neiers, 19, the star of the E reality series "Pretty Wild," who is serving six months for being part of a gabg that broke into the home of Orlando Bloom and targeted the residences of other celebs, including Audrina Patridge, Hilton and Lohan herself.
• • •
It was a great day in court for Sandra Bullock's ex-husband, Jesse James, who won a custody battle with his ex-wife over their daughter and, in a separate case, escaped a $6 million penalty that was being sought against him by a former business partner. In the custody case, a judge ruled that James can take Sunny, 6,his daughter with ex-porn star Janine Lindemulder, to live in Texas, near Bullock. After the judge in California made the ruling, Lindemulder sobbed, then shouted, "I'll move, I'll move!" The judge gave Lindemulder physical custody of Sunny until school starts in Texas. After the ruling, Lindemulder told TMZ that she could not compete with Jesse and Sandra and the "nice things they provide." She said she may let Sunny go to Texas early and hopes, "Someday I will be her mother again." In the civil lawsuit, James was ordered to pay Fortune Fashions Industry some $167,607.75, but was ruled not liable for the $6 million his fomer business partners wanted. Fortune Fashions claimed that James edged the company out of a deal with Walmart.
• • •
In the latest of the secretly recorded tapes, ex-girlfriend Oksana Griegorieva tells Mel Gibson that he struck their daughter when he physically attacked her Jan. 6. She says, "You hit me, and you hit her while she was in my hands! Mel, you’re losing your mind. You need medication." Rather than deny that he struck baby Lucia, who was 2 months old at the time, Gibson replies, "I want my child, and no one will believe you." Details of the January attack provided by Grigorieva's camp include reports that Gibson threatened to kill her, the children and himself. Grigorieva's 12-year-old son, Alexander, who was in the room when he says Gibson struck his mother, has already been interviewed by child protective services officials.
• • •
A mentally ill Pennsylvania man who drove cross-country to meet up with Jennifer Aniston -- with "a sharp object, a bag, a roll of duct tape and written messages," including some carved into the paint of his car, declaring his devotion to the star -- is being held under psychiatric orders. An application for a restraning order filed on Aniston's behalf says Jason Peyton "is an obsessed, mentally ill and delusional stalker—with a history of violence and criminal stalking—who drove cross-country in his delusional 'mission' to locate and marry [Aniston], with whom he believes he is in a relationship. A declaration from LAPD Det. John Gregozek says that in a previous interview, Peyton told him, "Jennifer communicated to me mentally that she wants me to come and marry her, and wants me to be the father of her children." Peyton has also told police that he's related to Oprah, Jay-Z, Bill and Melinda Gates, both George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, Donald Trump and Courtney Cox.
-- Anne Neville
Lindsay Lohan is expected to report to jail today to begin her 90-day sentence for probation violations, and its still unclear who will be representing her. High profile attorney Robert Shapiro seemed to take up Lohan's cause over the weekend when she agreed to enter a rehab facility which he co-owns, and with the understanding that she would comply with all of the judge's orders.
By Monday afternoon, TMZ reports, Shapiro had quit representing Lohan after a brief meeting with Judge Marsha Revel. Shapiro had no comment to any of the media outlets covering the case, instead saying that he will only speak in open court.
But Lohan, who loves Twitter, is still aloof about her fate, tweeting last night: "The only 'bookings' that I'm familiar with are Disney Films, never
thought that I'd be 'booking' into jail eeeks."But that is a far cry from her demeanor over the weekend, according to People. Sources to the mag say that Lohan was a "nervous fidgety mess" all weekend. "She has not been able to sleep and has barely been eating. All weekend,
Lindsay kept crying, chain smoking and chewing her nails," the source said.
It's unsure who will be by her side in Beverly Hills Superior Court this morning, but one thing is clear -- the details of her incarceration. TMZ reports that when Lohan enters Lynwood Correctional Facility she will have her own cell in a special area where inmates held in solitary are kept. Lohan will be unable to socialize with any other inmates while in jail, and will only be allowed to shower and exercise every other day. She will receive two hot meals and one cold meal a day, and she may only have limited access to prescription medicine.
• • •
Sandra Bullock's stalker is back. Thomas James Weldon has been stalking the Oscar-winning actress sporadically since 2003, but now he is back, according to a report from E! News. Weldon showed up last month in a Wyoming hospital where he told emergency room personnel that he had just driven from Tennessee to visit Bullock's home in Jackson Hole.
Bullock was back in court yesterday to get a temporary restraining order to bolster her growing list of protection orders against Weldon. This restraining order includes Bullock's adoptive son, Louis, as an additional person who Weldon must stay away from as well. Bullock was granted a permanent restraining order against Weldon in
2003, and later in 2006 it was extended. Bullock's attorney has said that Weldon is an "unmedicated schizophrenic."
• • •
Rachel Uchitel, one of Tiger Woods' mistresses, is trying to launch a reality television career. The former Vegas club manager will be joining the cast of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." According to E! News, Uchitel is battling a prescription pill addiction, and joins a cast which features actor Jeremy London, former teen heart throb Leif Garrett and model Janice Dickinson, among others.
One show she won't be joining is "The Celebrity Apprentice," which she was allegedly in the running to join. But Trump has fired her before she ever was cast. Trump was said to be serious about recruiting Uchitel, but now that she has joined 'Celebrity Rehab,' she is on the outs.
"We no longer have interest in Rachel," a member of Trump's team told E! News. A later statement, however, suggested that the demand to play the game made it a simple matter of numbers: "Rachel Uchitel very much wanted to be on 'Celebrity Apprentice.' She asked us, we did not ask her. We were considering it
but have 10 people vying for each and every spot."
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The much publicized and angry tapes of Mel Gibson berating and belittling girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva may not be admissible in court after all, according to TMZ. The gossip site reports the existence of text messages between the couple which could make them inadmissible. In California it is against the law to record a phone conversation without the other person's knowledge, unless the recording captures the admission of felony having been committed.
But TMZ says that the text messages Grigorieva sent Gibson indicate that she admitted that she recorded them because he failed to keep up on his side of a support deal. So even though he admits the assault on the tape, and throws countless slurs and insults at her, the tapes may never be heard in court, officially, if TMZ's report hold's true.
Lindsay Lohan's new attorney, Robert Shapiro, says he will do everything he can to help Lohan conquer her disease, but she has to comply with Judge Marsha Revel's orders and report to jail tomorrow at the latest. "I have agreed to represent Ms. Lohan on the condition that she complies with all of the terms of her probation, including a requirement of jail time that was imposed by Judge Marsha Revel," said Shapiro, a member of the legal Dream Team that got O.J. Simpson acquitted of murder. Shapiro said, "Ms. Lohan is suffering from a disease that I am all too familiar with. Hopefully, I can be of assistance to Ms. Lohan and Judge Revel in implementing a treatment approach recommended by medical professionals for Ms. Lohan's long term recovery and sobriety." After Shapiro's son, Brent, died of an overdose, Shapiro opened the sober-living house, Pickford Lofts, where Lohan has stayed since last week. Meanwhile, Lohan's father Michael disagrees with Shapiro's recommendation that his daughter report to jail. "I don't know why Robert Shapiro did what he did, to be honest," he said. "If he's representing her -- ethically, as an attorney, he should have filed an appeal." Also reportedly disagreeing with Shapiro is Lohan herself, who is said to be in deep denial about actually having to go to jail Tuesday..
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Actor Jeremy London, whose tale of being abducted and forced to use drugs last month raised a few eyebrows and caused a rift with his family, has reportedly checked into Dr. Drew's rehab facility and is said to need far more care than the usual 21-day "Celebrity Rehab" program. Both London and his wife Melissa reportedly are going through drug withdrawal in the facility and will need months of treatment.
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As questions emerged about injuries to Oksana Grigorieva's face, with her dentist reportedly believing that she was struck in the temple, not the mouth, causing damage to her teeth, and some experts suggesting her injuries could have been self-inflicted, Grigorieva's spokesman lashed out at what he called "false claims." Stephen Jaffe told TMZ, "While Mr. Gibson's camp has floated a variety of false claims in the press to try to distract the public from the true facts at hand, it is telling that his camp has not once denied that it is Mr. Gibson's voice on the published recordings. ... It is common in such cases for those who perpetrate domestic violence to vilify the victim of that domestic violence. One would hope that those who are close to Mr. Gibson would take a more constructive approach."
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Zsa Zsa Gabor was hospitalized with a broken hip and possibly other broken bones after she fell out of bed Saturday night while reaching for the phone, her publicist said. John Blanchette said Gabor, who is 93, was watching "Jeopardy," her favorite Tv show, when the phone rang. Blanchette said,"She reached over to pick it up and fell." Gabor was listed in serious condition at UCLA Medical Center. Her husband, Prince Frédéric von Anhalt, told CNN that she broke her hip in the fall. The actress and socialite was partially paralyzed after a 2002 car accident and suffered a stroke in 2005 and Blanchette said she had been "pretty much bedridden and wheelchair-bound for the last eight years." He told the Los Angeles Times, "She's fragile, but she's still very bright—she still makes me laugh. ... Her faculties are intact, but her body's failing her."
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French newspapers and a press association are reporting that Paris Hilton was held briefly and then released Friday after less than a gram found in her purse as she was traveling from Paris, France, to the island of Corsica. Hilton was reportedly traveling on a private jet with "people close to power in Malaysia," and the party planned to travel by yacht to a luxury resort in Sardinia, Italy. The news sources said authorities briefly held Hilton, then released her without filing charges. Hilton took to Twitter to deny the reports: "Just to put an end to these rumors. The stories saying I have been arrested are completely false! I am having the best vacation of my life! ... Now let's move on and everyone focus and enjoy their own summer time! Love you guys! Xo Paris." It's the second time this month that Hilton was involved in a marijuana discovery while traveling -- she was also briefly detained during the World Cup in South Africa after a friend who was accompanying her took a marijuana cigarette to a match in Port Elizabeth.
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Sources tell TMZ that the cast of "Jersey Shore" is refusing to shoot scenes for the third season of the show due to a contract dispute. The cast was supposed to begin shooting "at home" scenes for season three, but reportedly JWoww, Ronnie, Sammi, Pauly D and Vinny told the crews they weren't shooting without new contracts. The two biggest stars on the series, Snooki and The Situation, are scheduled to shoot today, but were reportedly planning to refuse. The source says cast members have decided they can make more money doing appearances than filming at the current pay level.
-- Anne Neville
