All That Glamour And Gossip

Yours truly is jetting off to France in a few hours and wanted to let you know there will be no juicy updates for the next week or so (and thus hoping nothing earth-shattering happens in Hollywoodland). My itinerary includes Nice and the Cote d’Azur and I was excited for a possible Brangelina & Co. sighting. But, of course, they pick this week of all weeks to relocate to Berlin…

While Papa Pitt is filming the new Quentin Tarantino war flick Inglorious Bastards, his family will play in their new 30,000 square feet Palais Parkschloss, complete with helicopter pad and boat dock on the lake. A German newspaper also reports that 14 security guards patrol the grounds.

The brood is expected to call the estate home until the end of the year. Perhaps they will come back Stateside for the holidays?

Alright, gang…until October, au revoir!

Photo: MSN.com

One of my favorite shows to watch late at night is E!’s The Girls Next Door. Holly, Bridget, and Kendra are hilarious and entertaining to watch, but the main appeal for many is to see how classic playboy Hugh Hefner lives with multiple girlfriends.

Well, if recent speculation is true, the girls may not be next door for much longer. When reports surfaced that Hef and the girls have broken up, E! went straight to the source himself. 

“The reality is the girls and I are all together,” Hef said. He does offer the fact that the relationships are “in transition” and goes on to say this:

“Are there going to be changes in the relationships, I’m sure there are going to be. I think that in the future, the girls are going to, in time, be dating others and moving out of the mansion, and when that happens we will not be keeping it a secret.” 

Well, duh. Though Holly, the main girlfriend, is often saying onscreen that she’s trying to get Hef to marry her, she’s been rumored to be seeing magician Criss Angel (who supposedly dated Cameron Diaz). Hef denies it, but he better pop out that ring if he wants to keep his doe-eyed blonde. 

The new season premieres on Oct. 5, and Hef says watch out for future spinoffs for his ladies!

Photo: E! Online

It seems to be a week for the stars to come out…of the closet, that is. 

First, Clay Aiken finally admits on the cover of this week’s People that he is, indeed, gay. Rumors have circulated for the past few years since his American Idol fame, but the singer never acknowledged it until now. Maybe it has something to do with being a father…

Perhaps he has inspired Lindsay Lohan to publicly confirm her relationship with Samantha Ronson? Not so. LiLo did recognize the obvious but was actually moved to do so from Sam’s good friend DJ AM’s recent near-death accident. 

During a radio call-in, Linds said she now knows it’s important to “treasure each moment.” 

The radio host, Stryker, took that as the perfect opportunity to question her about the relationship. He asked her who asked how long she and “your girl” Samantha “have been going out … like two years? One year? Five months? Two months?”

Lindsay answered with a giggle, “A very long time.” 

Well, there you have it ladies and gents! 

Photo: MSN.com

Hollywood has been abuzz this week with post-Emmys news and the aftermath of the tragedy that almost claimed the lives of Travis Barker and DJ AM.

The Blink 182 drummer and celebrity DJ were on their way back to L.A. from a free concert in South Carolina when their private jet crashed and burned, killing the four other passengers on board. The two survived by sliding down the wing of the plane even though they were literally on fire. Travis and AM, real name Adam Goldstein, are in critical condition but are expected to make a full recovery.

Meanwhile, the musicians’ famous exes have flown to the burn center in Georgia where they are hospitalized. Mandy Moore is supporting her ex-boyfriend Adam (also ex-fiance of Nicole Richie) as he recovers from surgery. A close friend of Travis and AM updated E! Online on AM’s status: “More than 50 percent of his body is burned and the worst is on his face.” He also reveals that Travis is burned from his waist down.

Travis’s ex-wife Shanna Moakler also rushed to his side and is trying to comfort him as he mourns the loss of his best friend and assistant, who died in the crash.

Photo: E! Online

We haven’t heard much about Brangelina lately since they’ve been holed up in the South of France. But one rumor that’s made its way into the American media is that the power couple has split up. Oh my!

This blind speculation started due to the lack of public appearances recently. So a shortage of tabloid pics = a breakup? Umm reality check…maybe it’s because Angelina just gave birth to twins?

While Angie is home playing super mom, Brad Pitt is jetting around the world promoting new flick Burn After Reading. Perhaps he is trying to squeeze all his work in before his other half sets off to promote her upcoming film, The Changeling, which is already generating Oscar buzz. Angelina will make her first public appearance at the red carpet premiere on Oct. 4th.

UsWeekly also reports that just yesterday, the whole Jolie-Pitt clan had breakfast together at their $70 million chateau in Southern France. Star (to be taken with a grain of salt) also adds that the manse is quite the “war zone” and “disgusting.” Well, that sounds normal when you have six kids.

 Angie’s rep also immediately shot down rumors, labeling the claims “absolutely not true.” Phew, so maybe there’s still a chance they’ll adopt me.

Photo: People.com

While the decline of Wall Street and the stock market capture headlines across the country today and this past weekend, get your fix of more frivolous-camera-smashing news right here.

Rewind back to Saturday for the season premiere of SNL with host Michael Phelps. And it’s official: the Olympian shouldn’t quit his day job. Tina Fey stole the show with her perfect Palin skit. And shout-out to Amy Poehler for portraying Hillary Clinton spot on!

MTV staple TRL is ending its 10 year run in November. I’m sorry it’s over, but it makes sense. Who watched after like 2002 anyways? The network says they are trying to recruit countdown favorites like Britney, The Backstreet Boys, Justin and N’SYNC, Eminem, and others for the finale celebration.  

Speaking of the Britster (sorry, I can’t help it), the mom threw her boys a joint birthday party this weekend with an A-list guest list. According to E! News, Sean Preston and Jayden’s newborn cousin Maddie made an appearance along with Gwen Stefani and Kingston, and Jenny McCarthy with son Evan. 

It must have been a weekend of celeb baby birthdays. After Gwen and Kingston partied with Brit’s offspring, they headed over to Heidi Klum’s bash for son Henry. Victoria Beckham and Debra Messing also brought their little ones to the costumed affair.

Brad and Angelina donated $2 million from their Jolie-Pitt Foundation to the Global Health Committee for the establishment of a center to aid diseased children in Ethiopia. The center will be named after Zahara, who was adopted from the African country over two years ago.  It’s probably acts like this that inspired Guinness World Records to name them Most Powerful Actor and Actress this year. No surprise there.

Happy Monday!

Photo: People.com

Everyone knows I love Victoria Beckham. I love her style, her accent, her sense of humor, her husband…

But I was not thrilled when I was perusing photos of the Marc Jacobs Spring 2009 fashion show and saw Victoria’s new haircut. Sure, the pixie cut worked for Halle Berry and Sharon Stone, but Posh Spice should really stick to her signature cropped coif. I hope it grows on me.

She must be feeling adventurous lately. In addition to showing off a new do, Posh also debuted a high-end dress line at New York’s Fashion Week. The pieces are actually quite beautiful - very feminine and classic, yet body conscious. In short, exactly what you would picture Posh Spice to wear. See the whole spring collection here.  

Now as for all the rumors that Victoria is anorexic and only eats lettuce, digest this: she’s opening up a restaurant in L.A. with celeb chef pal Gordon Ramsay (of Hell’s Kitchen). The menu? Why, Brit specialities like fish ‘n chips, bangers ‘n mash, and pudding, mate! Cheerio!

Photos: Popsugar and People.com

Sorry, I have been a bit slow in posting the past week. But, I have a good excuse. I have been working on the Fashion Rocks, a celebration of music and fashion presented by the Conde Nast Media Group (which owns top mags like Vogue, GQ, Glamour, Lucky…). 

I was a market assistant, which means I helped call in and prepare all the looks worn by models in the fashion segments of the concert. One big perk of working on this project was watching the dress rehearsal last Friday (they rehearsed merely hours before the taping, which is not live). This year’s line-up included Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Fergie, Mariah Carey, Pussycat Dolls, Kid Rock, One Republic, Mary J Blige, among many others!

It was so much fun to watch these soon-to-become-singing-legends rehearse. Beyonce’s voice is just as amazing in real life, Justin is just as cute, and everyone is so much skinnier in person! Here’s a blurry shot I took of Justin and Beyonce’s duet during rehearsal:

A definite highlight of the show was the special rendition of “Stand Up,” a song written for the Stand Up to Cancer benefit. The industry’s best female vocalists turned out to collaborate for this - Mariah, Beyonce, Rihanna, Mary J, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Natasha Bedingfield, Duffy, Miley Cyrus, Ciara, Nicole Scherzinger…

Catch it tonight at 9 pm on CBS. Sorry for the short notice, but I promise you’ll love it!

The VMAs were almost laughable. And I’m not talking about the host Russell Brand (Russell who?). 

Now is it me or are the VMAs on a steady decline downhill? This year’s MTV Awards were held last night at the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. Sounds kinda cool huh? But the stage where the actual awards were given out was small and unremarkable. Most of the hyped performances were out on the lot and some of them were cut short by commercials, including Katy Perry’s rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” 

British comedian host Russell Brand made many cracks at celebs, but he seemed to be stuck on the Jonas Brothers and their purity rings. American Idol Jordin Sparks finally defended their - and her - position on abstinence until marriage when she presented on stage: “I just wanna say, it’s not bad to wear a promise ring, because not every guy and girl wants to be a slut, okay?” You go, girl. 

So what was the best part of the evening? Britney Spears finally won a moonman! Actually, three to be exact. After 16 previous nominations and no wins, Brit finally swept all the categories she was nominated for, including Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, and the biggest honor, Video of the Year, all for “Piece of Me.” And the girl looked amaaazing!!

Good thing she won too or everyone would be all over the fact that her “opening” was not what it was built up to be. She spoke a total of four sentences with the mic blocking her lower face before Rihanna opened with a futuristic/goth performance (and probably the best one of the night).

The rest of the night was a snoozer.

Photo: E! Online

The CW Network is having a good week so far. Its most hyped shows finally premiered to pretty great ratings - for the CW. Gossip Girl is back, just in time for those experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and reeled in 3.4 million gossip lovers. Best witty line of the night: Damn that motherchucker!

Last night, 90210 also debuted to 5 million viewers, making it the highest-rated scripted show for the network. I suspect the ratings are this high due to the much anticipated reunion of Kelly and Brenda, which didn’t even get enough airtime. Loved seeing good ol’ Nat though!

On the surface, the remake was as glossy as The O.C. (with uglier wardrobes), but definitely lacked some meat that the original Beverly Hills, 90210 had. The storyline was predictable and kinda cheesy. Aside from this, other irksome qualities also presided over the two hours. Maybe it was the fact that high school students don’t talk like mature adults. Or maybe it’s that the new kids from the Midwest are befriended by the popular crowd in a blink of the eye. Or maybe it’s that the modernized Peach Pit lacks the nostalgia I was hoping for. And is it just me, or is rich queen bee Naomi a dead ringer for Jessie from Saved by the Bell?

I’ll give it one more chance next Tuesday, but if it still disappoints, my loyalty goes back to Greek.