Spears turns herself in to L.A. police

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears is no stranger to being photographed, but it's not often she has her fingerprints taken at the same time.

On Monday night, Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.

Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.

"She was fine, cooperative," Lopez said. "She did her business and came out."

Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly.

"They were nice," she said of police. She told the station she was wearing the sunglasses because she had pinkeye.

The charges stem from an Aug. 6 wreck during which paparazzi filmed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

The owner of the other car, Kim Robard-Rifkin, filed a police report three days later.

Spears had been ordered to report for booking ahead of an Oct. 25 court appearance.

She has been spending considerable time dealing with legal issues lately. On Oct. 1, a court commissioner ordered her to temporarily relinquish custody of her two young sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline, citing concerns over Spears' drug and alcohol use.

She was in court last week to appeal the order and was granted one overnight stay a week with her boys, but the visits must be monitored.

Lindsay Lohan files counter suit in 2005 car crash case

Washington, Oct 16 : Rehabbed actress Lindsay Lohan has filed a counter suit against the man who charged her with negligence in the 2005 car crash case, blaming him for the mishap.

The complainant Raymundo Ortega, who was involved in the crash, had accused Lohan of being drunk when she rammed her Mercedes into his van on October 5th that year.

Ortega has also sued Lohan for 200,000 dollars in damages.

Exactly a month ago, a judge rejected Lohan’s plea to dismiss Raymond Ortega’s suit completely, reports E! Online.

Lohan has filed her own suit against Ortega in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging Ortega and his unidentified team of defendants for causing the accident.

The 21-year-old is seeking 75,000 dollars for the cost of the repairs to her black Mercedes-Benz and cash renting other vehicles and to cover her hospital expenses

The starlet’s court papers say that Ortega is using the drunken-driving accusation ‘to force a settlement’.

A report filed by the California Highway Patrol on the day of the accident backs Lohan's claims and said that along with alcohol, Ortega was also to blame for the incident.

In her new court papers, Lohan said that when she was heading north at the permitted speed limit of 30 mph, Ortega made an illegal U-turn in front of her.

A trial for both lawsuits has been set for Apr. 7, 2008. (ANI)

Ryan Gosling on 'Lars and the Real Girl'

Memo to Gene Wilder: If you are reading this, contact Ryan Gosling. The 26-year-old Canadian actor nominated this year for his haunting turn as a strung-out schoolteacher in "Half Nelson" really wants to work with you. His dream, he says, is "just to work with (Wilder) in any way."

Wilder's name comes up, along with James Stewart's, at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Gosling is supporting his latest movie, "Lars and the Real Girl," which opens Friday. In it, he plays the title character, a withdrawn and socially awkward young man, fearful of human interaction and yet craving it, who orders an anatomically correct sex doll over the Internet and introduces her to everyone as his new girlfriend, Bianca. That may sound like the premise of a dirty joke, but as the tiny, snowbound town heeds a doctor's advice to humor Lars' delusion and welcomes Bianca into their community, the drama that develops is the farthest thing from that.

"It's like 'The Velveteen Rabbit' or something," Gosling observes. "It kind of reminded me of 'Harvey,' too, which was one of my favorite films as a kid. When I read it, I thought, 'Oh, that's 'Harvey.' "

But while the story brought to mind James Stewart and one of his signature roles, that of Elwood P. Dowd, the small-town drunk who pals around with an 8-foot-tall invisible rabbit, there was only one living person that Gosling thought could do Lars justice - and his name was not Ryan Gosling.

"Gene Wilder is like my Marlon Brando. I just think that he completely redefined acting for me," Gosling says, noting that one of his favorite Wilder movies is Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex," in which Wilder's character, like Lars, finds love with an inappropriate partner.

"When I read (the script), the whole time I was reading it, I thought, 'I wish Gene Wilder could do this.' I just thought that this was something only he could do and obviously he wasn't going to do it, so it was mine, my attempt at something in the vicinity of what he would do. In trying to, I might have failed horribly, but if you're going to idolize somebody, I think he's the guy."

It was not hard for Gosling to burrow inside the character, feeling a kinship with him that leaped off the pages of "Six Feet Under" scribe Nancy Oliver's screenplay. "I identify with Lars more than with any other character I've ever played," he confesses. "I feel that awkward, too. I feel a separation between who I think I am, who I actually am and how I'm perceived to be. It's hard to truly connect with people. He wants to connect, but he doesn't feel that he has the tools to do it. I don't think it's just me. I think there's a little bit of Lars in all of us."

Paul Schneider, who plays Lars' brother Gus, would reduce him to helpless laughter with his improvisations, ruining takes. ("He knows that he could be less funny to help you, but once he's got you, he'll push it," Gosling says. "He'll put you on the ropes.") The actor had no such difficulties with Bianca, whom he found to be a generous collaborator.

"I found it quite relaxing in the end to work on scenes with her, because she has a very calming presence," he says. "We formed a bond, in a weird way, because it was just her and I. When they said, 'Action!' - it was just the two of us. I bonded to her and I would kind of cling to her for moral support in scenes."

Next up for Gosling is the role of the grieving, vengeful father in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-seller "The Lovely Bones." After that, he hopes to direct his first feature, on location in Africa. Moved by a visit to Chad, where he shot documentary footage of Darfur refugee camps, he is developing a drama about child soldiers in northern Uganda, called "The Lord's Resistance."

"Making movies is all I know how to do," he says. "I've been doing this since I was a kid. The only way that I can really collaborate with anybody is with film."

Perhaps surprisingly for someone who has forged such a serious career with an emphasis on high-quality projects, Gosling did not always look at it this way. He began training as a dancer as a child, mainly as a way to get out of school, and caught his first break at 13 in 1993 when, along with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell, he became a Mouseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club." He turned to acting when he realized that it offered a more promising career path than dancing, and he took whatever job came his way. He was miserable.

"When I was a kid, nobody in my family did what they loved to do for a living. It didn't even occur to me that you could, so I never thought of it that way," he says.

He credits his mother and writer-director Henry Bean for changing the course of his career. It was his mom who suggested that he quit taking jobs for money, since he was so unhappy, and concentrate on finding something that would give him satisfaction.

He started looking more closely at scripts, and when a friend was auditioning for Bean's "The Believer," a stunning character portrait of a neo-Nazi skinhead who is actually Jewish, he realized that the role was something he could do. He got the part, garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination (he won the award this year for "Half Nelson") and changed the course of his career.

"Acting was a job, and then I did 'The Believer' and it was not a job at that point," he says. "I would have done it for free. I never had that feeling before. (Henry Bean) gift wrapped me a career. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for that film."

He knows where he is now. He is grateful for the career that he has been able to build and for opportunities like "Lars and the Real Girl," even if he felt a lot of pressure making the movie, much of it self-imposed. "It's the kind of script that you dream about as an actor," he says. "You read so much stuff that's so recycled and you break your neck trying to find something in it. Then there's this; it's marinating in originality. All you can do is try to live up to its expectations."

Eric Clapton Releases His Autobiography

NEW YORK — Back in the 1960s, when London graffiti proclaimed "Clapton is God," the brilliant British guitarist was descending into a personal hell. Eric Clapton traded a heroin addiction for alcoholism, suffered disastrous love affairs, contemplated suicide while armed with a bottle of vodka, a gram of blow and a shotgun.

The guitar deity has long since surrendered to a higher power; at 62, Clapton has 20 years of sobriety, a happy marriage and three young daughters. It's a good time to consider an extraordinary life, as the rock Hall of Famer does with "Clapton: The Autobiography."

Unlike many rock star efforts, this one includes no Zeppelin-esque tales of debauched groupies or ghostwritten revisions of musical and personal history. Clapton delivers a brutally honest and unsparing look at his life, near-death and recovery, interspersed with tales from an unparalleled music career.

Clapton, sipping a bottle of water in an office at National Public Radio before doing a radio show, said he deliberately shied away from the usual type of celebrity memoir.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin, to do that," Clapton explains. "I don't even know what that means, to be honest with you. Celebrity has lost whatever meaning it did have. I really tried to find out for myself where I'd been."

Initially, Clapton planned to sit down for a series of interviews about his life, leaving a collaborator to handle the tweaking and organization. But a perusal of the first manuscript led the guitarist to get more hands-on.

"I realized this was not what I wanted to do at all," Clapton says. "So I rewrote that, and then I thought, `I'll have to write this myself.'"

Clapton's six-string inspiration, Robert Johnson, sang of a single hellhound on his trail; Clapton had a whole pack nipping at his heels until a second trip through rehab changed his life in 1987. Johnson was dead by age 27, and there was a time when Clapton was convinced his life wouldn't last much beyond that.

"I entertained that notion when I was young and I was trying to identify with those guys," Clapton says of Johnson and other legendary bluesmen. "That is kind of a built-in fantasy that goes along with addiction, a way of justifying my need to get stoned: `Well, that's what my heroes did.'"

Through it all, Clapton created an indelible musical legacy that spanned genres while inspiring generations. The autobiography's chapter titles provide a roadmap through his life's work:

"The Yardbirds."

"Cream."

"Blind Faith."

"Derek and the Dominos."

Clapton, from his early days with the John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, quickly assumed a position in the center of the music universe. He hung out with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, jammed with Muddy Waters and Duane Allman, influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan, Derek Trucks and untold thousands of other guitarists.

He confesses, without embarrassment, that he can't remember all of what happened.

"My memory of the late '60s right through the early '80s is severely hampered," Clapton says. "I wrote from what I could remember, and I needed nudging, too."

Clapton's book is not totally devoid of tabloid-worthy material. He recounts how Mick Jagger once stole his girlfriend — an Italian model — setting off homicidal fantasies in the late 1980s.

"I went on a rampage, mentally," Clapton recalls. "I wanted to kill him. I spent quite a long time plotting ways to undermine or just do away with (him) — the kind of mad fantasies a drunk in recovery can have."

He also delves into his romance with Pattie Boyd, who wound up with Clapton after her split with Beatle George Harrison. Their star-crossed affair made her the muse for some of Clapton's most memorable songs, including "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight," before the romance gave way to recriminations.

Clapton recalled a recent Sunday morning trip to his local grocery store, where Boyd's new memoir, "Wonderful Tonight," was excerpted in the British press. The page one headline jumped out as he grabbed the paper: "ERIC CLAPTON'S DRINKING KILLED MY MARRIAGE."

"The headline editor chose to castigate me quite strongly," Clapton says with more than a touch of British understatement. "I'm in the local shop, and I'm thinking, 'Are the neighbors watching me read?'"

Clapton greets his guest alone, without an entourage or stylists or publicists. He wears glasses, and his hearing is failing. His hair is cut short, with a bristle of beard rising from his face. In a T-shirt and jeans, Clapton is unpretentious and open — reflective in one instant, laughing in the next.

In his writing, he referred to diaries that he'd kept during the '80s. The musings, squirreled away in an attic for years, brought back painful memories. Clapton recalled that most of his writing came with a pen in one hand and a drink in the other.

"I was having delusions of grandeur," he says with a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought I had something worth saying. That's what drink can do — give a deluded view of my self-importance.

"So once I got fueled up on my amount of alcohol for the day, it would have been easy for me to devote of couple of hours writing down mad thoughts. These days, I don't think I would give myself the time."

These days, his time is otherwise occupied. Besides family life, Clapton remains involved with the Crossroads treatment center that he founded nearly a decade ago in Antigua — a huge benefit concert was held this past summer. And while he plans to cut back on live shows, Clapton has no plans for retirement.

"I can't stop touring, and I won't," he says emphatically. "I believe I have a responsibility to play for people."

Over the decades, Clapton has seen an assortment of friends and colleagues die, from Jimi Hendrix to George Harrison, from Duane Allman to Bob Marley, from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Muddy Waters. Asked how he managed to survive, Clapton has a ready answer.

"I've always assumed it was really because I hadn't gotten my act together," he replies, laughing loudly. "Maybe I'd better not get it too good, because then it will be time for me to check out.

"I'm glad it worked out that way. I still don't feel like I've got it right. I'm still working on my sound."

What? Eric Clapton is still working on hitting the right notes?

"Yeah," he replies, his laugh filling the room. "Still trying to get the right amp."

Julia Roberts is content with life

The Oscar winner said that she is the most ‘proud wife and mother of three amazing kids’, and that she owes it all to her hubby, without whom she will be very lonely.


Actress Julia Roberts has claimed that she has all that she ‘could ever ask for.’

The Oscar winner, who welcomed her third child three months ago, said that she is the most ‘proud wife and mother of three amazing kids’, and that she owes it all to her hubby Danny Moder, without whom she will be very lonely.

“More than anything I am just the most proud wife and mother to three of the most amazing children,. And the widening of my life, and my hips, is really just the true gift of my husband Danny (Moder), who I would be so lonely without,’ People Magazine quoted her, as saying at the American Cinematheque event that honoured the actress.

Presenting her with an award, Denzel Washington showered praise on the actress saying that she does everything ‘extraordinary well’.

“You do an extraordinary job, extraordinarily well. (You) said the line in the Bruce Springsteen song 'Thunder Road' where the Boss says, 'You ain't a beauty, but you're all right.' Well Julia, beauty may fade, may fade, but all right lasts forever,’ he said.

Twice-Oscar winner Tom Hanks also hailed Roberts’ role as a wife and a mother.

"Knowledge that no matter how good of shape you are in, no matter how good of a haircut you are sporting, Julia Roberts is, at the end of the day, going home to a husband way better looking than you will ever be,’ Hanks said.

"Everybody loves Julia, everybody, everybody," he added.

Small victory for Britney in child custody battle

Washington, Oct 12: Britney Spears has notched a small victory in her child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, by winning the modified visitation rules, that allow her two sons to spend the night with her once a week, as long as they are accompanied by a court-sanctioned monitor.

Spears made her first court appearance on Oct 11, pleading with a Los Angeles judge to be granted more time with her two sons.

Spears` attorney had filed an emergency motion on Oct 10 seeking to expand the singer`s visitation rights. Mark Vincent Kaplan, the lawyer for Kevin Federline, said he "voluntarily agreed" to allow the elongated visit but refused to offer any other specifics.

The ‘Toxic’ singer made an in-person appeal two hours after Los Angeles Court Commissioner Scott Gordon initially refused to change the custody arrangements. Spears spent an hour answering the judge`s questions, following which Gordon apparently had a change of heart, as reported.

Under Gordon`s current order, Spears is required to have a monitor with her at all times when she is in the presence of her sons. If the supervisor determines that any behaviour Spears exhibits endanger her children or be simply inappropriate, her visits may be cut short.

Both Spears and Federline must appear in court together at a further hearing on October 26, Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said. Gordon, who had earlier deemed Spears a "habitual, frequent and continuous user" of alcohol and controlled substances, temporarily stripped her of custody last week after she failed to abide by his terms, including submitting to random drug testing and showing proof of a California driver`s license.

Since then, Spears has passed both drug tests and her driver`s license exam and was counting on that to expand her visitation rights.

Jennifer-lopez:-yes-she's-pregnant

Jennifer Lopez has kept her glossy pink lips sealed during recent public appearances, dancing around questions from interviewers wanting to know if she's singing for two.

But her bump speaks loud and clear.

After Lopez made an appearance on MTV's "Total Request Live" on October 8 to promote her new CD, "Brave," cohost Damien Fahey told Us that her condition was obvious.

"I've been around a lot of pregnant women. She walked around like a pregnant woman, sat like a pregnant woman, and stood like a pregnant woman," he says. "If I were a betting man, I'd definitely bet she was pregnant."

Indeed, Us has confirmed from multiple sources that Lopez is about four months pregnant with her first child. Or children -- a source tells Us Lopez's mother, Guadalupe, 61, "is proudly telling people she's having twins."

The 38-year-old singer-actress, who has long expressed her desire to have both career and kids, is ecstatic about the news.

"It's a dream come true," a Lopez source tells Us. "She and Marc are over the moon."

Pregnancy news is especially sweet for Lopez, whom insiders believed was unable to carry a child at all. "[Conceiving] was a struggle for her," says a source.

Seconds another, "This pregnancy is a miracle."

Anthony, 39, who has three children from prior relationships, has been equally eager to expand his brood.

When Anthony was recently asked to imagine his response to his wife being pregnant, he said, "It's going to be me in handcuffs, because I will run down the street, screaming like a madman."

For more details on J.Lo's pregnancy, check out the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

Pam Anderson marries Paris Hilton's ex

Pamela Anderson has wed Paris Hilton's [Images] sex tape partner Rick Salomon, just days after denying that she was planning to tie the knot again.



Anderson and Salomon, who have been friends for over 15 years, exchanged vows on October 6 at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas [Images] in front of a small gathering that included Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas and magician Hans Klok.



The wedding took place in between two magic shows and the Baywatch beauty immediately got back to work and broke the news on the show.



'Hello, I just got married... I did, I'm distracted. It's a big day. A big day at the office,' People magazine quoted her, as saying.



Last week, reports of the mum of two planning to walk down the aisle for the third time were rife after Salmon and she applied for a marriage license.



A source revealed that that the actress and Salomon are 'head over heels in love'.



'They are head over heels in love. They are really close. They have a relationship already and they have the license,' the source said.



'Rick is always with her. He's backstage when she does her show all the time,' another source added.

Spearheading trouble

Britney Spears faces bankruptcy, and may even lose the custody of her dogs

Pop diva Britney Spears is in trouble again — this time she’s facing bankruptcy. After spending over one-third of her fortune, the Toxic pop star has very little money left to pay for her own counselling and drug-testing, (ordered by a US court), before she could claim custody of her two children. “People are very worried about Britney because she is running out of money.

Her perfume didn’t do well. She has no cash flow coming in and she’s spending money like water,” one of her friends told the US media.

Moreover, Spears, who lost custody of her sons last week, is also on the verge of losing the custody of her dogs.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has urged her former husband Kevin Federline to take away the animals from her.

For the sake of your children and the animals who are at risk while in Ms Spears’ custody, we hope that you will do the right and best thing for all involved and pursue a custody order for the animals so that your sons can continue to have the company of the animals they’ve grown to adore,” PETA President Ingrid E Newkirk reportedly wrote to Federline.

Lindsay is out after Rehabilitation

Lindsay Lohan, the ‘Mean Girls’ star who was undergoing exclusive detoxification since August has reportedly checked out of the Cirque Lodge Treatment Centre in Utah on Friday.

Her father, Michael Lohan, was seen carrying her suitcases as she left the clinic. "I will be there in her life as best I can but from here on she's going to have a lot of decisions to make on her own," he said. "Now that she is going out into the world, I can only hope for the best."

A source revealed that she had extended her stay at least once, and may return for outpatient treatment.

Lindsay's mother, Dina said she was proud of her daughter. "She's moving ahead with her life. Things were getting out of control. She took action. She took responsibility. She really needed to heal."

Rehabilitation of the actress also involved a reunion with her estranged father. Lindsay, who had been at odds with her father, was due to spend five days with him at a remote lodge in the Utah Mountains as part of her recovery.

The Dad-daughter had reportedly met twice while LiLo was at the Utah center, during her third stint of rehab this year. In early September, People’s magazine reported that the actress had recently seen her dad for the first time since he was released from prison in March.

Only two weeks after leaving a rehab centre, the 21-year-old actress was arrested on July 24 this year for drunken driving and suspicion of drug possession following a wild car chase through Santa Monica, Calif.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one day in jail; 10 hours of community work and to complete a drug-treatment program. LiLo, on probation for 36 months, is required to complete an 18-month alcohol-education program.

She has also been fined hundreds of dollars in fines and has been ordered to visit a morgue and talk to victims of drunken drivers. She will not have to stand trial.

Resuming work, the actress is to start filming ‘Dare to Love Me’ in Los Angeles on Oct. 15.

"Lindsay will start her life over," said a source. "She's gotten rid of the people around her who were bad influences."

Prince William and Kate dating again

London: For the first time since their break-up this summer, Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton were caught dating in public as the couple enjoyed an alcohol-fuelled night out at their favourite club, Boujis.



A happy-looking Kate and a rather bleary-looking William walked out of the South Kensington club hand in hand at early morning hours on Friday but bumbed straight into awaiting paparazzi.

Cameras flashed and the duo was snapped together for the first time since their split up in April, though romance rekindled between them just six weeks later.

Until now they have gone to great lengths to avoid being seen in public together. But the couple allowed themselves to be snapped by the paparazzi going home in the same car — a move which is bound to fuel speculation about their future.

William, second in line to the crown, and Miss Middleton arrived separately at the club after Kate had dined with some of her friends at Brinkley's restaurant in Fulham. They had arranged to meet at Boujis at around 11 pm in what appeared to be a very boozy night.

Nothing they do is left to chance — if they are feeling relaxed enough to be seen enjoying a night out together, royal observers feel that they may be being more open about their relationship.

The pair, both 25, were keen to keep the relationship under wraps ever since romance between them resurfaced.

In August 2007, after meeting up at a party in Oxfordshire thrown by mutual friends, Kate and William decided to go on holiday together to the isolated island of Desroches — the moments they described as "the best ever".

The couple enjoyed a week of complete privacy on the island in the Seychelles. They booked out almost the whole Indian Ocean Island resort at a cost of £20,000 so as to keep the outing a secret.

Britney’s Loss, Their Gain

AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday when a judge with less tolerance for her antics than the public took away custody, at least temporarily, of her two young sons. The stern ruling lent her saga a dose of poignancy. For all her recent bizarre, unexplainable behavior, Ms. Spears is now a mother in danger of losing permanent custody of her two toddlers, age 2 and 1.

But the latest installment also showed that the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame.

Who won and who lost in the latest twists of the Britney story?

A Gusher for the Web

When it comes to traffic, “Britney is Old Faithful,” said Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com, one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears, though he declined to give exact figures. Since the custody ruling Monday, which was followed by an order that allows Ms. Spears monitored visits every other day, the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway.

The site heaps ridicule upon Ms. Spears — mimicking her “y’all” in most items that track her comings and goings, including when she checked into a Beverly Hills hotel the day she turned over her children, smiling and causing a paparazzi commotion.

Mr. Levin said interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity among TMZ’s users. “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.”

Yesterday’s News

TMZ.com and other paparazzi sites like X17online.com have owned the story; certainly they were able to move faster than celebrity magazines. Neither Us Weekly nor People, which arrive on newsstands Wednesday and Thursday, gave over its cover this week to the Spears story, citing the saturation of news already available.

But a competitor in the crowded celebrity glossy field, OK!, did play the story big on the cover (with the headline “Goodbye Mommy”), in no small part because of the fond memory of a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies (compared with recent average sales of about 930,000), the magazine’s representatives said.

No. 3 With a Bullet

Staying in the public eye, even scandalously, has generated a high amount of interest in Ms. Spears’s artistic comeback. Despite her lethargic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, derided by critics and viewers, her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly. It has been the No. 1 singles download on iTunes and sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week on sale on digital services. Largely as a result of those sales, the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 in the week ending Sunday, Sept. 30, on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which tracks sales, radio airplay and other types of demand.

Ms. Spears's record company released a video of "Gimme More'' on Friday, which quickly moved into the top five downloads on iTunes.

Is controversy good for sales? Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts, said the strong sales of “Gimme More” reflected pent-up demand since the single only recently became available after weeks of radio play. He and others in the music industry said it remained to be seen how all the attention Ms. Spears is getting for her personal life will affect sales of the album, which, they noted, must appeal musically if it is to sell well.

But one way her personal troubles are undermining a comeback is the time they take away from her ability to promote her music. “Without a doubt, her personal life has prevented her from keeping the focus on the video, the song and everything that should accompany the release of a worldwide superstar’s record,” Jeff Rabhan said.

Michael Pagnotta, a music manager and publicist who most recently represented the Olsen twins, said Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers, risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.”

Sympathy for Ex-Devil

Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears’s former husband, who at one point was one of her backup dancers, was the subject not long ago of much derision for his own questionable behavior.

AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday when a judge with less tolerance for her antics than the public took away custody, at least temporarily, of her two young sons. The stern ruling lent her saga a dose of poignancy. For all her recent bizarre, unexplainable behavior, Ms. Spears is now a mother in danger of losing permanent custody of her two toddlers, age 2 and 1.

But the latest installment also showed that the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame.

Who won and who lost in the latest twists of the Britney story?

A Gusher for the Web

When it comes to traffic, “Britney is Old Faithful,” said Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com, one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears, though he declined to give exact figures. Since the custody ruling Monday, which was followed by an order that allows Ms. Spears monitored visits every other day, the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway.

The site heaps ridicule upon Ms. Spears — mimicking her “y’all” in most items that track her comings and goings, including when she checked into a Beverly Hills hotel the day she turned over her children, smiling and causing a paparazzi commotion.

Mr. Levin said interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity among TMZ’s users. “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.”

Yesterday’s News

TMZ.com and other paparazzi sites like X17online.com have owned the story; certainly they were able to move faster than celebrity magazines. Neither Us Weekly nor People, which arrive on newsstands Wednesday and Thursday, gave over its cover this week to the Spears story, citing the saturation of news already available.

But a competitor in the crowded celebrity glossy field, OK!, did play the story big on the cover (with the headline “Goodbye Mommy”), in no small part because of the fond memory of a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies (compared with recent average sales of about 930,000), the magazine’s representatives said.

No. 3 With a Bullet

Staying in the public eye, even scandalously, has generated a high amount of interest in Ms. Spears’s artistic comeback. Despite her lethargic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, derided by critics and viewers, her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly. It has been the No. 1 singles download on iTunes and sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week on sale on digital services. Largely as a result of those sales, the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 in the week ending Sunday, Sept. 30, on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which tracks sales, radio airplay and other types of demand.

Ms. Spears's record company released a video of "Gimme More'' on Friday, which quickly moved into the top five downloads on iTunes.

Is controversy good for sales? Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts, said the strong sales of “Gimme More” reflected pent-up demand since the single only recently became available after weeks of radio play. He and others in the music industry said it remained to be seen how all the attention Ms. Spears is getting for her personal life will affect sales of the album, which, they noted, must appeal musically if it is to sell well.

But one way her personal troubles are undermining a comeback is the time they take away from her ability to promote her music. “Without a doubt, her personal life has prevented her from keeping the focus on the video, the song and everything that should accompany the release of a worldwide superstar’s record,” Jeff Rabhan said.

Michael Pagnotta, a music manager and publicist who most recently represented the Olsen twins, said Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers, risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.”

Sympathy for Ex-Devil

Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears’s former husband, who at one point was one of her backup dancers, was the subject not long ago of much derision for his own questionable behavior.

After the judge in the custody case declared Ms. Spears a habitual user of drugs and alcohol and ordered regular testing, Mr. Federline is looking like the responsible parent. Some instant polls on the Web show that many people favor him for full custody.

Right after Ms. Spears’s MTV appearance, Chris Crocker, a fan (above right), made a two-minute video for YouTube in which he rails against Ms. Spears’s detractors while sobbing. The “Leave Britney Alone!” video has become one of the site’s most viewed entries of all time, with more than 10.8 million viewers, and Mr. Crocker is making appearances on national talk shows.

A former bodyguard, Tony Barretto, who worked for Ms. Spears from March to May, hired the media-savvy lawyer Gloria Allred to inject himself into the custody case (and onto television news shows), by reporting that he had seen Ms. Spears snorting cocaine at a nightclub and driving unsafely with the kids, among other transgressions. On Wednesday, Mr. Barretto met with officials from the Department of Children and Family Services for about two hours and asked for an investigation of Ms. Spears’s behavior.

Ms. Allred said her client, the father of two young children, was motivated by concern over the well-being of Ms. Spears’ children, not personal gain.

The New Social Workers?

It appears that the 24/7 coverage of Ms. Spears worked to her disadvantage in recent days. TMZ says lawyers for Mr. Federline subpoenaed one of its videos showing the pop star driving with her children last weekend without a valid license, in direct violation of an order by the judge presiding over the custody case.

Janice Min, editor in chief of US Weekly, said, “I’m not sure that the change in custody would have occurred so quickly had the press not actually been so closely following her role as a mother.”

Mr. Levin of TMZ said Ms. Spears needed “a wake-up call.”

“It’s not a frivolous story anymore,” he said. “This is a woman who loves her kids who doesn’t have her kids. It’s now taken tragic elements.”

Lindsay took tango lessons in rehab

Lohan began learning the dance form before checking into the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah in July this year.


Actress Lindsay Lohan was kept on her toes during her stint in rehab - for the actress learnt the tango dance there.

Lohan began learning the dance form before checking into the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah in July this year.

The 21-year-old star’s stint in rehab, however, did not come in the way of her dance classes, for her Los Angeles-based dance teacher, Gloria Otero regularly flew in to teach her.

Otero revealed that he visited the rehab facility every weekend to teach ‘the Mean Girls’ star how to tango and has admitted that she has become a great dancer.

"I have been going to Utah for the past three weeks. We practice on Fridays and Saturdays. It's been really good working with her... She has become a great dancer," Contactmusic quoted Otero, as telling In Touch Weekly magazine.

Kylie’s ‘suit’ably catty

Kylie Minogue will be seen in a figure-hugging black latex catsuit in her next video

Pop princess Kylie Minogue has turned into a drag queen for her latest video after trawling London's ultra camp scene for inspiration .

She has been on a series of nights out to London clubs and befriended a gang of outrageous cross-dressers .

In her most shocking shoot ever, Kylie glams it up in a latex black catsuit, poisonous red lips, and big blonde curly hair. An insider at the shoot at Shepperton Studios in London last Friday said: "It's just visually amazing. It's like nothing you've ever seen Kylie do before .

Kylie vamps it up in a black latex catsuit that's so tight and figure-hugging , you can clearly see the shape of her bum. And it looks great. Then she writhes on the floor provocatively and cavorts on a grand piano."

The new look comes after her stylist William Baker said it would be a good idea to make her new video "more authentic" . So, ever the professional, Kylie hit the drag clubs with gusto and instantly hit it off with queens Tasty Tim and Princess Julia.

They've been giving Kylie advice on what to wear, how to strut down the stage and how to pout. Kylie also took advice from her pal Boy George, who designed the famous B-Rude baggy pant outfit for her Showgirls tour and is a regular on the drag circuit. Kylie's album X will be out on November 26.

Longoria: 'I'm too square for sex tape'

Eva Longoria has denied that she has ever made a sex tape with her new husband Tony Parker, and has insisted that they are "too square" to film themselves in bed together.

The Desperate Housewives actress was rumoured to have appeared in a home-made movie with her basketball player partner.

But she has claimed that the only sex tape she has ever starred in is a spoof that she shot with comedian Perry Hilton for a website.

Longoria said: "Everybody was calling me (when the story broke) going, 'Oh my God...'.

"We never made a tape... We're very square, boring people."

She said of the spoof film: "It's like the non-sex video because we don't have sex... It's so funny... Tony thought it was so freakin' hilarious... But it's a skit."

Should Britney Lose Custody?

The February 2006 photo of Britney Spears steering her SUV out of a Starbucks parking lot in Malibu, Calif., with her infant son, Sean Preston, slumped on her lap was the first sign for many of us that the young mom might not be ready for parenthood. By the time a Los Angeles judge temporarily stripped the pop singer of custody of Sean, now 2, and Jayden James, 1, on Monday, Spears had provided dozens more images that suggest she is unable to care for two young children. From her impromptu head-shaving to her trips to rehab to her recent listless shuffle around the MTV Video Music Awards stage, Spears, 26, seems incapable of taking care of herself. Today she and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, will face a judge to determine the next step in this increasingly ugly custody battle.

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The judge, L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, didn't make public his reasons for separating Spears from her sons Monday, but family law experts say such a dramatic move is rare. "A change of custody is very difficult," says Muriel Savikas, a divorce mediator and child psychologist in Manhattan Beach, Calif. "The courts don't normally do that without some real concerns about safety."

The judge had ordered Spears to submit to twice-weekly drug and alcohol testing, undergo co-counseling with Federline and receive parent coaching. Spears' lawyer, Sorrell Trope, told People magazine the judge revoked custody after Spears failed to take a random drug test and provide a valid California driver's license. "That might do it, but probably not," says Orange County divorce attorney Jeffrey Lalloway. "California policy is to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents." (Trope was unavailable for comment). The ruling came after Spears' former bodyguard told the court and the Today show that he had seen her doing drugs, and it also followed Spears being charged with a hit-and-run and driving without a valid license for allegedly crashing into a parked car in August.

Celebrities enjoy — and sometimes suffer — their own unique version of justice. The press and public intensely scrutinize their cases and the best attorneys money can buy litigate them. Judges, meanwhile, may see an opportunity to make an example of a celebrity in trouble, as L.A. Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer apparently did in ensuring that Paris Hilton serve an atypical 23-day jail sentence for driving with a suspended a license. So is Spears and Federline's judge looking to make a statement about neglectful parenting? Odds are he's just being exceedingly cautious, says Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Hofstra University.

The worst case scenario for this judge is that Federline says his children are being harmed while in Spears' custody, the judge ignores the allegations and something happens to the kids, Grossman says. "Then everyone's going look to the judge and say why didn't you do something? We all knew she was on this downward spiral. We saw the pictures, we saw her performance on the VMAs, we all knew she was a terrible mother."

Spears is certainly not the first celebrity to be captured in a sub-par performance as a parent. Alec Baldwin recently called his 11-year-old daughter a "thoughtless little pig" in a voice mail; David Hasselhoff's 17-year-old daughter videotaped him lounging drunk on the floor of his Las Vegas hotel room, rambling and trying to eat a hamburger; and Michael Jackson dangled his child out a window to show off to fans. Baldwin's custody case is still pending but the other two men have retained custody of their children.

Spears, ultimately, may do the same. The fact that the judge took away custody as of 12 noon today, and scheduled a hearing for 1:30pm the same day suggests he isn't trying to separate this family permanently. "This is just a wakeup call for Britney," says Grossman, "to send a message to her that this is real, that you could really lose your kids because of the way you're behaving." Whether the wake-up call will be effective isn't certain. Spears' first stop after turning over her sons two days early on Monday was to a Bel-Air tanning salon.

Book a hotel room to spend night with Chelsy, cops to Harry

LONDON: Sleuths protecting Prince Harry have asked him to book a hotel room if he fancies a bit of royal rumpty with girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The reason: The protection officers say the Zimbabwean blonde's student dig in the rundown Hyde Park area near the University of Leeds is "unsafe" for the 23-year-old Prince to stay in overnight.

"There's no way Harry will ever be properly protected there. Officers will have no control over the comings and goings. He's been told a hotel is the best option," the 'News of the World' reported here today, quoting a source as saying.

Davy, who relocated to Britain to study law at Leeds, has recently moved into the student accommodation instead of opting to splash out on a luxury flat. She is sharing the dig, costing 55 pounds every week, with three of her mates.

Prince Harry has already got a taste of student life when he visited his girlfriend recently - by tucking into her homemade Spaghetti Bolognese.

In fact, the 21-year-old's decision to opt for a student accommodation followed reports that the girlfriend of Harry's brother Prince William was having a flutter over their love affair.

According to an earlier report published in the British tabloid, Kate Middleton fears that if she becomes a member of the Royal Family in future, she would not be able to match up to the expectations of snotty courtiers.

"Kate is just from a very normal middle-class family who have done exceptionally well for themselves. They don't live on a huge estate or have titles before their names," an unnamed friend was quoted as saying.

"It's one thing having an on-off relationship with Wills, it's quite another thing becoming Queen," another friend said.

Shilpa Shetty faces the music in Berlin

Monday, October 1, 2007: (Berlin):


Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is in Berlin, promoting her new musical Miss Bollywood.

At the press conference organized on Friday, she laughed and denied reports that she was arrested at immigration in India.

"You know I'm sometimes quite amused by the press because I was not arrested, and I went on the net and people were calling me and they were asking me if I was okay, and I was like, what's happened, I've just come to Berlin, I've just landed here, and they were like, we heard you got arrested.

"No, I was questioned at the airport because of that entire thing that happened with Richard, and the High Court had already quashed the case," said Shilpa Shetty, Actress.

In April Gere publicly kissed Shetty at an AIDS awareness event in India, sparking an outcry among conservative Hindus, who claimed they had violated the country's strict anti-obscenity laws.

A regional court issued arrest warrants against Gere and barred Shetty from leaving the country. The order was soon overturned by the Supreme Court.

"I just met him as a matter of fact, very recently at the Toronto Film Festival, and he was there to receive the One By One Difference Award, and it was my great privilege to give it to him, and we'd spoken, we just laughed about it, it's all okay now, he's a very good man," she said.

Shetty spoke to the press in Germany about the musical Miss Bollywood which opens this weekend in Berlin, Shetty plays the musical's lead role.

Pammie to wed Paris' tape partner?

The wedding is reportedly set to take place in Las Vegas, where the couple applied.


Reports that Pamela Anderson is heading for her third walk down the aisle have gathered storm after the actress applied for a marriage licence.

The man in question is Rick Salomon - Paris Hilton’s partner in her infamous sex-tape ‘One Night in Paris’.

Anderson and Solomon applied for, and were granted, a licence to wed.

The wedding is reportedly set to take place in Las Vegas, where the couple applied.

According to Access Hollywood, the news that the pair had gotten the licence was confirmed by their Las Vegas affiliate KVBC.

A source reveals that a marriage may very well be on the cards, for the former ‘Baywatch’ babe and her beau have been inseparable in Vegas, where has been performing with magician Hans Klok at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

"Rick is always with her. He's backstage when she does her show all the time," People quoted the source, as saying.

Anderson had earlier revealed to host Ellen DeGeneres that she was dating a new mystery man, who she fell in love with while paying off a poker debt with sexual favours.

"I paid off a poker debt with sexual favors, and I fell in love. It's so romantic. It's romance," she said.

However, she added at the time: "I'm not really engaged. I don't know what I am. We may never get that far. We're in love."

Anderson has previously been married to rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, while Solomon was married to Shannen Doherty.

Oprah leads all the way

Oprah Winfrey tops the list of highest paid stars on US television

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has topped a list of the highest paid stars on US television, earning £130 million between June 2006 and June 2007.

Coming in at a distant second was American Idol judge Simon Cowell, who pulled in £22.5 million thanks to the show and other projects.

The third spot on the list went to Judith Sheindlin, who raked in £15 million for her own syndicated court show, Judge Judy, reports the Daily Mail.
According to the list in the US issue of TV Guide magazine, the top five was rounded off by CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric and Scrubs star Zach Braff, who earned £7.5 million, and £3.15 million respectively.

The top five highest paid stars

1. Oprah Winfrey (The Oprah Winfrey Show): £130 mn
2. Simon Cowell (American Idol): £22.5 mn
3. Judge Sheindlin (Judge Judy): £15 mn
4. Katie Couric (CBS Evening News Anchor): £7.5 mn
5. Zach Braff (Scrubs): £3.15 mn

Oprah's pulling in over $700K a day

OPRAH still makes a boatload of money — more like a cruise shipload. The Queen of Daytime reeled in $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007, a new Forbes.com salary survey shows.

That's more than $700,000 a day.

Winfrey accumulated cash from her daytime show, her satellite radio program, women's service magazine and the Broadway show The Color Purple, which she produced. She also has stakes in Dr. Phil McGraw's and Rachael Ray's syndicated shows.

Meanwhile, she's producing two reality-TV programs, a move that's sure to help her maintain her stronghold in the industry.

No surprise, Winfrey proteges McGraw and Ray appear on the list, at No. 7 and No. 13, respectively.

Jerry Seinfeld, who pulled in $60 million in the same period from sales of reruns of his hit show, standup gigs and commercial endorsements, is No. 2.

The list includes other usual suspects such as Regis Philbin, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Matt Lauer and Donald Trump, who continues to make money hand over hair with The Apprentice.

Along with Winfrey, the ladies proved they're an entertainment force to be reckoned with. Today co-anchor and former View member Meredith Vieira nabbed the No. 20 slot with $10 million; Diane Sawyer is No. 19 with $12 million; Barbara Walters, also with $12 million, is No. 18.

Additionally, Ellen DeGeneres, with the help of her daytime show and American Express paychecks, earned $15 million. Katie Couric left the Today show for the CBS Evening News and earned $15 million for her troubles.

And still going strong, Judge Judy Sheindlin is paid $30 million.

American Idol boss Simon Cowell comes in at No. 3 with $45 million thanks to his reality juggernaut which includes Idol, America's Got Talent and Celebrity Duets.

Jolie slams US spending in Iraq

The UN goodwill ambassador insisted that an entire UNICEF appeal for educational needs would cost only as much as eight hours’ spending in Iraq - and would help benefit 150,000 children.

Angelina Jolie has slammed the US government for spending millions on military operations in Iraq, insisting that the same would have been better utilised on education.

Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, an event organised by Bill Clinton to address the most pressing global concerns, Jolie urged the world to "priorities in order".

The UN goodwill ambassador insisted that an entire UNICEF appeal for educational needs would cost only as much as eight hours’ spending in Iraq - and would help benefit 150,000 children.

"The entire appeal equals about eight hours of current spending in Iraq. So just a few hours would send 150,000 children to school," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

"Nothing wins more hearts and minds and nothing gives more freedom than education; and nothing is a better deterrent for conflict than an educated child," she added.

Beckhams top overrated list

Friday, 28 September , 2007, 09:36

London : Celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham have topped a list to find out the most overrated people, places and things.

The poll was conducted by Radar magazine and the Beckhams came on top ahead of cupcakes, Botox and Brad Pitt, reports contactmusic.com.

The magazine called soccer star David "overpaid" and his wife Victoria "a pointless collection of body parts".

Others on the list include: blogging, sex with virgins, cocaine, Keira Knightley, Pilates, Ronald Reagan, The Dalai Lama, Jake Gyllenhaal and hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy".

Madge’s hands finally showing her age

The pop diva, who was spotted at London's Cecconi's restaurant, has maintained her youthful physique by vigorous exercise and careful diet.


Pop star Madonna might be able to give women half her age a run for their money in the body department, but her wrinkled and vein-ravaged hands are showing that age is taking its toll on her.

The pop diva, who was spotted at London's Cecconi's restaurant, has maintained her youthful physique by vigorous exercise and careful diet.

However, all the exercises won’t help her stay young, say plastic surgeons who revealed that hand skin is particularly susceptible to losing its plumpness over time and it is one of the parts of the body which reveal a person's age, reports the Daily Mail.

The 49-year-old star is planning to launch another world tour to mark her 50th birthday in August next year.

Madonna was recently in news for walking out of her 25-year deal with Warner Music and signing a 100 million dollar contract with tour promoter Live Nation.

Halle Berry receives racist death threats to her unborn baby

26 September 2007 - Halle Berry has received racist death threats to her unborn baby.

The Oscar-winning beauty - who recently announced she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Gabriel Aubry - has been forced to hire security guards after allegedly receiving several disturbing letters from an anonymous writer.

One note warned she and her child would be "cut into hundreds of pieces".

A source close to the actress - who has a white father and an African-American mother - told Britain's Daily Mirror: "Halle does not normally use security but she has taken on a couple of guys to make sure."

In 2002, Halle became the first woman of American African descent to win a best actress Oscar for her role in 'Monster's Ball'.

Despite the upsetting threats, Halle is enjoying her pregnancy, and her boyfriend Gabriel has revealed she is craving pickles and bread.

The 32-year-old model told People magazine: "She does crave pickles. And any bread. Doesn't matter, as long as it's salt and pickles."

Gabriel - who met 41-year-old Halle while shooting a Versace advert in November 2005 - also said he was pampering the mom-to-be.

He revealed: "She loves foot massages. I do all of that stuff."

George Clooney May Be Charged Over Motorcycle Crash

Lucky to be alive, Hollywood actor George Clooney could face dangerous driving charges in connection with the motorcycle crash he and his girlfriend were involved in on Friday.

According to Weehawken Police Sergeant Sean Kelly, Clooney might have caused his New Jersey accident by attempting to pass a car which tried to take a right hand turn from the left lane.

"It's a he-said, she-said right now, but you can't pass on the right in Weehawken or anywhere in Jersey," Kelly said.

"If he was passing on the right, that's a moving violation," Hudson County Prosecutor Ed Defazio said yesterday.

While the Mazda driver, identified as Sciancaledore, 27, insists it was Clooney’s fault, the actor’s publicist said "The car signaled left. George was riding to the right. The driver decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped George."

Sciancalepore was fined for not having his registration with him at the time of the accident, Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz said.

Clooney and his girlfriend, Sarah Larson, who was with him on the motorcycle at the time of the accident, were rushed to the Palisades Medical Center, across the Hudson River from Manhattan and released after being treated. The 46-year-old star suffered a fractured rib while his 28-year-old girlfriend, a former reality TV contestant and cocktail waitress, broke at least two tows.

"He was treated for a hairline fracture of a rib and road rash," Clooney’s spokesman Stan Rosenfield said, adding that "it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal." Other than that, Clooney is doing fine but according to sources from his entourage, he’s worried that the crash brought his girlfriend in the spotlight.

''What pains George more is how this whole thing will bring a lot of attention to his relationship with Sarah,'' a source was quoted by Chicago Sun Times as saying.

The two who met earlier this year in Las Vegas at the premier of Clooney’s "Ocean’s Thirteen," have been spotted together at the Venice Film Festival, earlier this month.

''George was attracted to Sarah right away, not just because she's great looking, but she shares his 'take-no-prisoners' sense of humor,'' the source added. ''She's not intimidated by that whole fame thing and isn't impressed by that. In itself, that's a turn-on for guys like George who constantly have to be on their guard against women who have an agenda.''

Spears ex-bodyguard opens the lid on her troubled life

London, Sept 23: Britney Spear’s former bodyguard Tony Barretto, who served as a secret witness in the singer’s ongoing custody battle with ex-hubby Kevin Federline, has opened the lid on her troubled life.

After Barretto's testimony last week, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon declared Britney as a 'habitual, frequent and continuous' user of drink and drugs, and ordered her to undergo random testing to get shared custody of her children.

Talking about his three-month stint as the singer’s bodyguard, Barretto said that within days of starting work with the singer, he realised that his duty was more about taking care of her kids.

“I was surprised to find how much the job involved looking after her kids,” the Daily Mail quoted Barretto as saying.

“She was always passing the kids along to us. If they were happy, she was happy. If they weren't happy, she was passing them on to the nanny or the security staff.

“She'd tell me, “We're going for a tan. Can you take the baby?” And then she'd walk off. She wouldn't really ask me; she'd just leave,” he added.

The 27-year-old also revealed some disturbing traits and bizarre behaviour the singer displayed.

“There was a time when I thought she was going to hurt the kids,” he said.

“She sent the nanny home. She sent her best friend and personal assistant, Alli Sims, home. Britney hates to be alone, so this was worrying. One of the bodyguards who had been with her longest said she was beginning to shut down as she had just before she shaved her head.”

“He said she'd been talking about suicide then, and this was the same. Britney was sobbing. She screamed.”

“(Sensing danger, his colleague said) ‘I'm worried about the kids. Don't let her go swimming with them.”

'Shocked, I asked, “Is she going to drown them?” He said, “I don't know.” I started to cry. How am I supposed to protect someone like that,” he said.

Barretto also spoke about a rehabbed Spears’ habitual drug and alcohol use.

“The first time she was at Teddy's nightclub in Hollywood in April, in a private booth. She asked me to hold the curtains up around it. After 20 minutes I looked over my shoulder, and she was snorting something out of her hand with a straw,” he said.

“One night I opened the restroom door after she'd been in there half an hour, and saw her snorting from a straw again.”

“She'd sneak out of the house on her own without security. Sometimes she'd be gone till the next morning. It was an unspoken subject, just as nobody ever asked her about drugs.”

“She was supposed to be sober after rehab, but she loved her Jack Daniels and Coke.”

“She'd always drink it in a Styrofoam cup, so nobody could see what she was drinking. 'I'd order for her, and the waitress would hand me the drink. Britney would walk upstairs to a private restroom to drink it.”

“She'd have a pint glass filled with Jack Daniels and Coke. I hated it, because we had to go up and down those stairs all night so she could drink in secret.”

An emotional entanglement with rock ‘wildman’ Howie Day, who Britney had met in rehab, also sent her berserk.

“She was, in my opinion, close to an overdose,” said Barretto.

Spears fired Barretto in May this year, for not picking up her hat, after she asked him three times.

George Clooney Hurt in Motorcycle Crash

WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (AP) — George Clooney and a companion were injured on Friday when their motorcycle collided with a car on a narrow road across the Hudson River from New York City.

Clooney suffered a broken rib and scrapes while his passenger, Sarah Larson, broke her foot in the 3:30 p.m. collision. The two were treated at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen and released, Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said.

"He's doing fine," Rosenfield said. "He has a broken rib, it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal."

Clooney and Larson were traveling north and sped up to pass on the right of a 1999 Mazda Millenia that was preparing to make a right turn, said Weehawken police Sgt. Sean Kelly. Both were wearing helmets.

It wasn't known whether the Mazda's driver, whose identity was not immediately released, used a turn signal, Kelly said. The accident was under investigation.

"It's a he-said, she-said right now, but you can't pass on the right in Weehawken or anywhere in Jersey," Kelly said.

Rosenfield said the accident occurred when the vehicle signaled a left-hand turn, but turned right and struck Clooney's motorcycle.

"The car signaled left. George was riding to the right. The driver decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped George," he said.

The 46-year-old actor was in the New York area to film the dark comedy "Burn After Reading," co-starring Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand.

Clooney's recovery shouldn't interrupt the production's schedule, Rosenfield said.

Clooney's latest film, "Michael Clayton," will be released next month. He and Larson have been spotted together at several film festivals and movie premieres in recent weeks.

Britney Spears charged over car smash

NEW YORK: Pop diva Britney Spears was charged over a hit-and-run incident and for driving without a valid Californian licence, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Attorney's office has said.

The 25-year-old pop singer was caught on film dusting off a stationary vehicle on August six before she headed off. Following a complaint by the owner of the dented car, police decided to press the two charges against her, media reported on Saturday, quoting spokesperson Frank Mateljan as saying.

He said that Spears was notified of the charges by a letter and a hearing has been set for October ten. If she's convicted of the misdemeanour charges, the pop star could face up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

The charges came days after a judge had ordered Spears to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week in her child custody case with her former husband. He had also ordered both of them to undergo a parenting class.

It may be mentioned that the pop star had also been dropped by her management firm in the wake of her pathetic performance at a Las Vegas show recently.

"It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears. We have represented Britney for the past month. We believe Britney is enormously talented and has made a terrific record."

"But current circumstances have prevented us from doing our job. We wish Britney the best," her manager and owner of The Firm, Jeff Kwatinetz, was quoted as saying.

Brad Pitt turns outlaw in 'Assassination of Jesse James'

Toronto, Sept. 21 (AP): While news about Jesse James crawled its way across 19th century America _ compared to today's lightning-fast Internet _ the tone was uncannily comparable to today's celebrity coverage, Brad Pitt found in reading those old accounts.

``I will say, I was surprised to see how tabloid journalism was alive and well even then and operating in the same way, just sensationalizing a complete fabrication of untruths,'' said Brad Pitt, who stars as the legendary outlaw in ``The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.''

``There's just more of it today. There's more of it in quantity, but the execution's the same. In that day, when you only had a newspaper to get your information, that would have been the extent of it. But it doesn't seem to have changed at all,'' Pitt told The Associated Press at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Pitt and Angelina Jolie, stars of the 2005 hit ``Mr. and Mrs. Smith,'' have been the quarry of celebrity photographers and the object of incessant tabloid gossip since they hooked up amid the breakup of Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston. A media vigil preceded the birth of their daughter in Namibia last year, and crowds swelled during the Toronto festival everywhere they went.

In the late 1800s, James was able to move anonymously through America under a series of aliases, but his notoriety was unparalleled. James' image as a Robin Hood-style bandit of the people _ a myth he helped perpetuate himself _ had made him a folk hero to the public and a demon to the railroads.

Based on Ron Hansen's novel, ``Assassination of Jesse James'' dissects the James myth to present a charismatic man in the last year of his life, as his sense of security crumbles and he is overwhelmed by paranoia that associates are selling him out to the law.

Into James' inner circle comes young idolator Ford (Casey Affleck), who has grown up on romanticized stories of the outlaw's deeds. Initially an intimate, Ford later becomes an object of scorn for Pitt's increasingly unpredictable James.

Ford eventually feels compelled to become James' executioner, coming to believe it's almost a civic duty.

``I don't know what led to his idea, the need to destroy the very thing that he worshipped, but that's certainly what's going on here. You have a demoralized boy, a boy who's subject to humiliation, and in his quiet hours has this lust for the Jesse James celebrity, the Jesse James phenomenon,'' said Pitt, 43.

``Then at the point where he meets Jesse James, meets his idol, and his idol spurns him, it becomes that thing, needing to destroy the thing you love to become equal with it again.''

At two hours, 40 minutes, ``Assassination of Jesse James,'' which opens Friday, is a challenging tale, yet one that has drawn praise for the lyrical melancholy of its 19th century landscapes and for the key performances. The film earned the best-actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for Pitt, a previous supporting-actor Academy Awards nominee for ``Twelve Monkeys'' who could be in contention for a lead-actor Oscar this time.

The celebrity mystique that surrounds Pitt meshed well with the mythic nature of James, said Andrew Dominik, director of ``Assassination of Jesse James.''

``It was the sort of part that you could cast a movie star in and it would make sense,'' Dominik said. ``It wouldn't be miscasting Brad, who you never really feel like you know on-screen. He's always retained kind of an essential mystery. He's not a person people really identify with. He's more of an object to them. They aspire to be him, but they don't really identify with him.

``Those were really good qualities for Jesse. They're both enigmatic and charismatic.''

Pitt first caught widespread notice in a scene-stealing role in 1991's ``Thelma & Louise'' and went on to star in such films as ``Legends of the Fall,'' ``Spy Game,'' ``Troy'' and last year's acclaimed ``Babel,'' co-starring Cate Blanchett.

Blanchett and Pitt reunite for next year's ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' Pitt's third film with David Fincher, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's story about a man who is born old and ages backward toward infancy.

``He's just so open. He's a great player. Brad loves a good idea and a good conversation, and I think that extends to acting, really,'' Blanchett said. ``I think he's got a really good nose for what works, and I think people will be blown away by him in `Benjamin Button.'''

Pitt now is shooting the Coen brothers' dark comedy ``Burn After Reading'' with George Clooney, his partner in crime in ``Ocean's Eleven'' and its two sequels.

While Pitt looks for roles that offer fresh dramatic possibilities, finding good work companions such as Clooney has become crucial in his job choices.

``As I get older, it's the company I keep,'' Pitt said. ``It means something to me to have these friends out here and people I respect ... Most of the movie is spent when the camera's not rolling, and to work with these interesting people is really the most important thing to me.''

With his production company Plan B, Pitt also is active as a producer whose credits include Jolie's recent drama ``A Mighty Heart.'' (He also was a producer on ``Assassination of Jesse James.'')

Pitt jokes that the advantage of today's celebrity culture is that people are not carrying six-shooters around the way they did in James' day. Even so, as a new father, Pitt is mindful of the potential dangers that come with fame.

Along with their biological daughter, Pitt and Jolie have three children she adopted from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

``It's something that I want to be aware of and be cautious about, especially with the family, that everybody's protected,'' Pitt said. ``I mean it's rare, but there are imbalanced people out there. I've had break-ins in the house ... I've had some of these abnormal incidents that can be a bit frightening.''

When Pitt or Jolie is working, the other takes time off to tend the children, who travel with them wherever they are filming.

``We just take turns and make sure we keep the family together,'' Pitt said.

Pitt is quick to acknowledge reporters' questions about his and Jolie's plans for more children.

``We're not done. They say, any plans for a fifth? And I say, `And a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth, and a ninth.' That's my answer. ...

``We also made a 9-foot-wide bed'' (nearly 3 meters wide) that can fit him, Jolie and all four children, Pitt said. ``Just big enough. One more and we'll have to go to 11 feet.''

Brad Pitt turns outlaw in 'Assassination of Jesse James'

Britney on a lawyer switching spree

Spears’ divorce attorney Laura Wasser stepped down on Sep 17, on the grounds that the singer was a 'problem client,’ following which she hired attorney Melvin Goldsman on Sep 19


It seems that Britney Spears is a habitual lawyer switcher, for she is set to fire the new legal counsel again, after just a day on the job.

Spears’ divorce attorney Laura Wasser stepped down on Sep 17, on the grounds that the singer was a 'problem client,’ following which she hired attorney Melvin Goldsman on Sep 19.

But the ‘Toxic’ singer is considering firing Goldsman, according to high-profile lawyer Sorrell Trope, who claims that he has been chosen as Spears’ new lawyer in Spears’ complicated custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Trope's office revealed that the firm was in the process of being retained by Spears.

"Yes, it's true Ms. Spears quit Melvin Goldsman's firm, but we haven't been officially retained yet. The paperwork has not been signed, and it has to have our firm's, Goldsman's and Ms. Spears' signatures. I anticipate it will be signed [Wednesday],” E! Online quoted Trope, as saying.

Meanwhile, in the latest court hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon ordered Spears to undergo twice-weekly random drugs testing.

Gordon said that based on evidence presented, he considered Spears to be a "habitual, frequent and continuous" user of controlled substances.

Miller touched by poem given by blind man

London, : Actress Sienna Miller was so touched by an old poem "Desiderata" given by a blind man in Guatemala that she got it engraved on an amulet that she carries with her all the time.
Miller admitted that she was initially shocked when the blind man asked her to take the poem saying it was all about her, reports contactmusic.com. But when she read the words she was shocked because she realised he was right.

She said: "He said, 'It's for you...' I was, like, okay, what is this?'

"The poem features the lines, 'You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe in unfolding as it should'."

Britney Faces Drug Testing & Parenting Evaluations

Spears must prove she’s a fit mother to keep her kids

Britney Spears gets to keep her kids, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, but she’s got to jump through some hoops to keep them.

Court documents released today from Monday’s hearing reveal a host of rules Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline must follow.

Here are the facts in a nutshell:



All hearings will continue as closed hearings.


"Each party is ordered to serve and file an Income and Expense Declaration... within ten days of this date."


Attorneys for Spears and Federline have been "unsuccessful" in agreeing on a Child Custody Evaluator. Federline's attorney submitted a list of potential evaluators and now Spears' attorney has 24 hours to come up with three of her own, and the Court will now decide.


”The Court declines to modify the existing custodial timeshare.”


Neither party can take the kids out of the state, without prior written consent of the other parent or prior order of the Court.


If they do take the kids out of state, they have to provide a full itinerary of the trip complete with addresses, phone number and travel arrangements.


"Each party is restrained from making derogatory remarks about the other party and the other party's family or significant other, either directly or indirectly to the minor children, and from allowing anyone else to do so. This includes any person employed by the parties."


Both Spears and Federline are ordered to complete a "PARENTING WITHOUT CONFLICT" program and verify their completion of said course to the Court.


"Each party is restrained from using corporal punishment with the minor children and from allowing anyone else to do so."


Spears and Federline are both ordered "to engage in joint co-parenting counseling", which they'll split the cost of. If they can't agree on a therapist for this, the Court will assign them one.


"Neither party shall consume alcohol, or other non-prescription controlled substance" within 12 hrs of having custody of the kids.


Spears and Federline need to alert one another within 48 hours if they change the status of their employees who handle the kids; they have 24 hours to report any NEW hires.


Any employee on either side who has charge of the kids must hold a valid certification in Red Cross Infant and Child CPR and Basic First Aid.


Spears is ordered to meet with a parenting coach at least eight hours a week, who will observe her interacting with the kids and evaluate her skills.


The parenting coach will file a written progress report on Oct. 22 and appear in court Nov. 26.


Spears is ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week. "Based on the Evidence presented, the Court finds that there is a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol by the Petitioner (Spears)."


The results of this testing will go directly to the Court and WILL NOT be released.


The next court date is Nov. 26 at 8:30 a.m.


"What the El" Editorial:

It is quite obvious from all of these stipulations by the court that the judge suspects she’s not a fit mother but there's not enough evidence to do something drastic like take the kids away.

This is a “give her enough rope to hang herself” situation.

She screws up even in the tiniest way, and those kids are going to live with K-Fed.

I’m glad she and Kevin have to take parenting classes!

I’m sad that she’s probably “on something” but maybe forcing her to undergo drug testing will clear her head enough to see that she’s completely screwing up her life and her career!

Dave Grohl Hates Courtney Love

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl hates Courtney Love more than anyone in the world.

The former Nirvana drummer - who has publicly feuded with Kurt Cobain's widow in the past, even previously calling her an "ugly f***ing b***h" live on stage - insists there is no one else he detests more.


Grohl said: "There are a lot of people that I've been angry with in my life, but the one that's most noted in Courtney. So it's pretty obvious to me that those correlations are going to pop up every now and again. I still remain little secretive about it all."


In new song 'Let It Die' - on the Foo Fighters latest album 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' - Grohl sings the line "A simple man and his blushing bride/Intravenous, intertwined", an apparent reference to Love and his Nirvana bandmate Cobain, who suffered from heroin addiction before
committing suicide in 1994.


Grohl also revealed now he is a father, to daughter Violet, he is not afraid to write ballads instead of hard rock songs.


He said: "Violet's the light at the end of my tunnel. I'm not afraid to write anything anymore. A lot of that has to do with the big picture - having a child and realising that life's too short to be afraid of a f**king piano ballad."

Play it again, Blunt

James Blunt will be in Toronto October 1 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St. For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.ca.


ALBUM REVIEW: All The Lost Souls - Rating 3 stars

Poor, poor James Blunt.

The pretty-boy British singer- songwriter must be feeling terribly anxious with the release of his sophomore album.

How does one live up to You're Beautiful -- one of the most simultaneously loved and reviled hits of 2006? How does one prove the success of their first album wasn't a fluke?

Well, by writing and recording an album that's very similar to the first, of course.

All the Lost Souls has all the Blunt trademarks that made Back to Bedlam the tremendous success that it was in 2005 and 2006. It has Blunt's unmistakably high (but not quite falsetto) voice, conveying a certain sensitivity that makes some women swoon. It has a sweet folky pop sensibility with songs like Shine On, which is sure to make certain listeners smile, turn up the volume and sing along. And then there are the few naughty bits that seem oddly out of place, but will fool fans into thinking they're listening to something edgier.

It's innocuous and fairly bland stuff, but also melodic and, at times, kind of catchy.

The opening track, 1973, is hard to ignore, with it easy touch-step beat (perfect for living room dancing) and its repetitive lyrics about the good times once had at a club. (The song was reportedly inspired by a club Blunt frequented while living and writing music in Ibiza.)

I'll Take Everything is another track that manages to stand out from the uniform sound on most of the other tracks. Blunt seems to be singing with legitimate conviction about getting the most out of life (did success bring with it an existential crisis, perhaps?).

Annie breaks out of the background tendencies of other songs on the album, but on closer listen, the lyrics appear to be just plain mean. The song is about a woman who has dreamed of being a famous star, but who will only make it into the spotlight by way of Blunt singing about her. And, just to insult her further, he sings, "But the walls came tumbling down down. Will you go down on me?" Not nice.

Blunt's sophomore effort is sure to satisfy his fans. And it will likely get significant pop radio play.

But, with the exception of a couple of songs, All the Lost Souls sounds like the product of someone on mood-stabilizers who is going through the motions of making another hit album.