I really don’t think we have enough animal stories here at Celebitchy. And we definitely don’t have enough “when animals attack” type stories. Now to be fair, we’re a celebrity site. And animals don’t attack celebrities nearly as much as they ought to. So it leaves us searching. But once in a while the stars align just right and a monkey grabs an actress’s left boob. Okay by once in a while I mean once ever. But it’s pretty funny nonetheless. It seems that actress Christina Ricci has a longstanding fear of monkeys. Though to be fair, most people are hideously afraid of monkeys. They’re like spiders and snakes. Wait, that’s backwards. Monkeys are freaking adorable. I wouldn’t want one living in my bathroom or anything, but a monkey as a concept is pretty appealing to me. But Christina Ricci and I don’t share this opinion. It’s one of the many things we’re always fighting about. On the first day of filming for her new movie “Penelope,” Christina got attacked by a monkey. A pervert boob-grabbing monkey.

“I’m afraid of monkeys but I had decided not to be afraid of this monkey because no one else is: ‘Everyone else thinks he’s awesome so just be cool.’ It’s the first day of shooting and I have this kitchen scene where I’m sitting down and the monkey is sitting right next to me. Of course it freaks out during the take and grabs my left breast and will not let go, and he’s so strong. I’m thinking, ‘This thing is gonna rip it’s hand away and I will no longer have a boob there!’

“I’m so freaked out and the whole rest of the actors are turned around so no one sees that this has happened to me and I’m like, ‘Help, help’ as quietly and calmly as possible so this thing does not freak out any further.

“Finally they got him off me but my fear is completely validated and I did not go near him for the rest of the shoot… Monkeys are crazy and you never what they’ll grab onto; I don’t like unpredictable animals.”

[From Starpulse]

Something tells me Chim Chim the monkey doesn’t like you much either, or he wouldn’t have been trying to rip your boob off. In the animal kingdom, boob grabbery is considered the greatest of insults. It’s like giving the finger, except it hurts a lot more. Clearly Chim Chim thought Christina’s face was kina odd looking. But being the gentleman that he is, instead of scratching her eyes out he went for the boob. That’s one classy monkey.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Christina Ricci at the Palazzo Las Vegas Grand Opening on January 17th. No specific photos were available, but her left boob appears to be in good working order. Images thanks to PR Photos.

The ever-diligent journalists at the UK’s Daily Star are reporting that druggie/rocker/crazy person Pete Doherty is planning on opening up an animal sanctuary… quite possibly in his house. Pete was once famously photographed giving crack to a kitten, so it didn’t exactly seem like he was the biggest animal welfare advocate. But apparently that’s all changed, thanks to the love of a three-legged hedgehog. No I’m not being sarcastic. Pete Doherty really did rescue a three-legged hedgehog that he found in the road. As an aside, I’m pretty sure the fact that hedgehogs run around in the wild is the greatest thing about England. They’re freaking adorable. Anyway, Pete named the little pig Mrs. Tiggg-Winkle, after Beatrix Potter’s famed hedgehog. And apparently his life has been forever changed.

An insider said: “Pete rescued the hedgehog. It had a leg missing and he felt sorry for it.

“He made sure it got the proper help it needed from a vet and set up a special section for it in his garden.

“Pete has a big heart. He also loves rats and is looking after one with no tail.

“He has lots of kittens, too, and hopes that by the end of the year he will be able to open his pet rescue centre at Marlborough to local schools so they can educate children about animals.”

[From the Daily Star]

Well this sounds like an all-out fabulous idea. You’ve got a three-legged hedgehog. You’ve got a rat without a tail. You’ve got kittens upon kittens. Really, what more do you need to educate children about animals? This is what I imagine Pete Doherty’s tour will sound like. “Here’s a broken spiny thing. Here’s my crack pipe. Here’s a broken pointy-nosed thing that ought to have a tail. Here’s some cats mating. That makes more cats. Here’s my collection of bongs. Don’t touch the glass one. Here, play with the plastic one.” It’ll be very informative. And what parents in their right mind wouldn’t want to take their kids over to Pete Doherty’s to hang out with some animals and acid? That’s right, boring ones. Pete Doherty’s had a lot of bad ideas. Throwing a vial of his own blood on a camera. Dating Kate Moss. But an animal sanctuary has got to be the absolute worst.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Pete performing with Babyshambles in Concert at Olympia Hall in Paris - January 14, 2008. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Update: Video:
Here’s part of the video that I mentioned below of the polar bear Vera who didn’t kill her cubs. This cub was eventually taken away from her after another polar bear mother in the same zoo is presumed to have eaten her young, as described below. The video that I saw on the news showed the bear being dropped repeatedly and it looked more deliberate than in this footage.

---

This is huge news in Germany today where I live. Two five week-old polar bear cubs have died after their mother presumably ate her babies. Two polar bears at the Nuremberg zoo, Vera and Wilma, gave birth to an unknown number of cubs just two weeks apart. Wilma had her two cubs three weeks ago and Vera had her cub five weeks ago. Vera’s cub was often heard crying pitifully by zoo visitors but was ignored by the zoo staff, who stubbornly insisted to let nature take its course. The keepers decided to let the newborn bear starve and hope that the mother would eventually care for him instead of hand feeding him like Knut, who became an international sensation at the Berlin zoo after his mother rejected him. Zoo officials specifically cited the Knut case as a reason not to rescue the cubs from either mother.

Vera was seen throwing her cub in a video that’s being shown repeatedly on the news. Now the two three week-old cubs from the other mother Wilma are missing and presumed eaten, as mother polar bears do in the wild when their young are ill. Zookeepers have finally pledged to hand raise Vera’s cub after saying they would wait and see what happened to avoid another Knut situation.

There is a lot of confusion over how many cubs were born, and in a Reuters news report they say that they can’t be sure how many cubs there were. An article in The Guardian reports that six cubs were born. Another Reuters story claims that each polar bear mother gave birth to just one cub, and German source Spiegel says that three cubs were born, two of which are missing and one of which has been removed from the other mother for safety after it was being seeing tossed around. It’s hard to tell what happened exactly, but it sounds like two three-week-old polar bear cubs were killed by their mother, Wilma, and that one remains from the other mother.

A zoo in southern Germany today came under fire for refusing to save the lives of two polar bear cubs who were apparently eaten by their mother, in order to avoid a sequel of “Knut mania”.

Nuremberg zoo, in Bavaria, southern Germany, refused demands to rear the vulnerable cubs by hand as Berlin zoo famously did a year ago.

Knut, Berlin’s polar bear cub, was whisked to safety from its mother’s enclosure in a fishing net in December 2006, subsequently becoming internationally famous.

However, Nuremberg zoo chiefs said nature should take its course in the case of the cubs that polar bear Vilma gave birth to five weeks ago.

“We wanted to avoid a repeat of the stupid Knut mania and not rear the animal by hand,” Helmut Mägdefrau, the deputy director of the zoo, said.

Despite evidence that Vilma was failing to feed her young, keepers decided to leave them to their own devices. On Monday, they approached the polar bear enclosure after being alerted by the disturbed behaviour of another bear, Vera. They discovered that the cubs could not be found.

“We could not find the remains of the little ones, so we cannot determine the cause of death,” Mr Mägdefrau said, adding: “We’re very sad”.

Despite his assurance that they had died, keepers had been unable to enter Vilma’s cave by yesterday evening to see for themselves.

Mr Mägdefrau said it was not clear whether Vilma had killed her young because they were sick - a not untypical reaction of polar bears in the wild - or had let them die for the same reason and then consumed them.

However, politicians and animal rights activists were quick to condemn the zoo, accusing it of neglect.

“You cannot just dump them in an artificial environment and then treat them as if they’re living in the wild,” Berthold Merkel, the president of Bavaria’s Animal Protection Association, said.

The affair reignited the row of a year ago, when an animal rights activist provoked an international outcry by arguing that Knut should have been allowed to die after being rejected by his mother rather than being unnaturally reared by humans.

However, supporters of the efforts to save Knut said it was a zoo’s duty to conserve animals, and that it was nonsense to treat them as if they were in the wild.

Attention is now focused on polar bear Vera, who also recently gave birth. Reacting to the public outcry, the zoo yesterday announced it would be rearing her [one remaining] cub by hand.

[From Guardian.co.uk]

There is footage of Vera looking like she’s tossing her cub in a deliberate effort to kill it. It’s been all over the news today and I haven’t been able to find it yet online. I first saw it while out having lunch and other people at the restaurant were exclaiming loudly how awful it was.

The Berlin Zoo director has openly disagreed with the way that the Nuremberg zoo officials handled the case of the cubs. He said “This is not some new fad. We hand-reared a bear in 1986 that now lives in Serbia. That is responsible breeding and care. We have no concerns for the welfare of Knut.”

It looks like the Nuremberg zoo will have another little Knut after all, and a lot of well-deserved negative publicity for not looking after the other cubs before they met untimely ends. They did mean well in that they hoped the mothers would care for their cubs, but it seems they waited too long.

I’m not able to read German well, but my husband told me that the Bild article says that officials at the Nuremberg zoo wanted to install cameras to monitor the state of however many cubs there were from the two mothers, but that the cameras did not arrive before the births and they didn’t want to disturb the cubs or their mothers at this crucial time. If animals raised in captivity have a tendency to kill their young because they feel that their young are not safe, shouldn’t their young be saved from the mothers before it’s too late?

Vera and her cub, which will be raised by humans

After hearing all the stories about Marilyn Manson over the years – the type urban legends are made from, only true – nothing should really shock us about him anymore. It’s gotta suck for Manson. What in the world could he possibly say anymore that would be interesting? What’s as morbidly fascinating as finding out (through legal documents no less, so you know it’s gotta be true) that he has the skeleton of a Chinese man that he keeps in an old wheelchair? Well nothing is. But it is somewhat interesting to find out that baboons seem to play quite the reoccurring theme in Manson’s life. Manson was on the BBC’s “Graham Norton Show” last night, where he told the story of taking some ecstasy and at the zoo and ending up in a baboon’s cage.

Controversial rocker Marilyn Manson ended up sharing a cage with a baboon after taking an ecstasy pill. Manson found himself face to face with the ape after taking the drug in a zoo in Florida. He said: “It was the first time I saw a baboon face to face. They said whatever you do don’t look him in the eye so that’s all I could do. They actually let me in. Some irresponsible bastard said lets put Marilyn Manson on ecstasy in a cage with a red arse baboon.”

[From Showbizspy]

That’s definitely in one of the top three bizarre drug stories I’ve ever heard. Really, that could only happen to a select few, because how many people have access to a baboon? Marilyn didn’t give any indication of when this interaction took place. However he has also stated that he’s in a legal custody war with ex-wife Dita Von Teese over their collection of taxidermied animals – which includes four baboons. I can’t help but wonder which came first: the ecstasy or the taxidermy? Talk about a question for the ages.

While on the “Graham Norton Show,” Manson also informed the host that he’s hoping to get a tattoo on his penis.

He said: “I wanted to put a tattoo, if I would get one there, that would say buyer beware.”

Manson sparked controversy by comparing troubled singer Amy Winehouse to a can of soured fermented herring. The Swedish delicacy has a pungent odor described as combining rotten eggs, rancid butter and vinegar. Manson said it was like “Amy Winehouse in a can” but quickly withdrew the harsh remark saying “I didn’t mean to say that” on the Graham Norton Show.

[From Showbizspy]

I don’t want to nitpick, but to look at him, Marilyn Manson doesn’t exactly strike me as someone who’s likely to smell of Polo Sport. He seems like one of those “bathing optional” types. Though all that thick white makeup must be hell on his skin. It seems a little odd that he’d take back his comment since the man thrives on shock and attention. Though frankly, until he made that derogatory comment, I would have thought Amy Winehouse was just his type.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Marilyn at the Nightmare Before Christmas 3D World Premiere last October. Images thanks to PR Photos. Header of Manson and Nigella Lawson on the ‘Graham Norton Show’ last night. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

I’ve said a lot of mean things about Paris Hilton. When you work for an entertainment blog, you actually have to sign a contract saying that you’re willing to do that. But of all the mean things I’ve said about her (vapid, bigfoot, herpes haven, etc) I never thought I’d be writing about the heiress’s love of the raccoons. That’s right, Paris loves some ring-tailed goodness.

Paris Hilton can add another talent to her already expanding list of skills such as ‘model’, ‘actress’, ’singer’ and ‘entrepreneur’. It’s ‘raccoon expert’. And it’ll probably be the only legitimate skill she can claim. Paris claims that her raccoon expertise, like the majority of her ‘talents’, is all thanks to her family inheritance. This time thanks to the genes of her dad, Rick Hilton. The 26-year-old explained all by launching into story that was slightly disturbing to hear from a grown woman.

“My dad has a pet raccoon. He found it as a little baby and raised it. If you get to find them when they’re in the nest and still as babies they’ll open their eyes to you at first and they’ll think you’re their mother,” she enthused. But that’s not all, her raccoon knowledge was actually put to use during the making of her new film ‘Repo, A Genetic Opera’, which may be even worse than watching an entire series of ‘The Simple Life’ and about as convincing as her performance in ‘One Night in Paris.’ Director, Darren Lynn Bousman explained: “We had a family of raccoons on the set. We came back from lunch and they were sitting on chairs and on the actual monitors.” And probably doing a better job than the entire cast. “I wanted to hug them but Paris pointed out they had rabies, so I ran away.”

[From Holy Moly]

Paris is known for her irresponsible love of animals. I say irresponsible because she buys and discards them the way you or I might purchase a video game. She has a Kinkajou named Baby Luv, 2 ferrets (no not Brandon Davis, a real ferret), a self-described “big ass cat,” a chinchilla, and more dogs and cats than I can shake a litter box at. There’s even a website called “Tell Paris No!” (like you’d say to a bad dog, I’m assuming) who’s mission is to dissuade the heiress from collecting more exotic animals that she can’t care for. Something tells me we have Rick Hilton to thank for all of this. Just like Paris herself. Thanks, Rick. What other atrocities are you going to inflict on us?

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s a video of 2 of Paris’s dogs escaping from her menagerie. They had to be rescued by TMZ photographers. Oh indignity of indignities!

I love Ellen DeGeneres: to me she can do no wrong. But it’s starting to look like Ellen has a bit of a history with quick dog turnovers. There’s a story in Page Six today that talks about another dog Ellen re-gifted a few years ago. Additionally, Howard Stern accused Ellen of giving away as many as nine dogs previously. A lot of articles are repeating this accusation, but I haven’t been able to find the transcripts, so I don’t know under what context Stern said this, and what his information is. The particular incident we do have some information about concerns a producer, Kerri Randles, who gave Ellen a mutt named Stormy a few years ago.

ELLEN DeGeneres’ latest doggy dealing wasn’t the first time she’d passed along a pup she’d adopted, says a Los Angeles producer who gave the talk-show queen a pooch she quickly got rid of. Kerri Randles says she gave DeGeneres a male mutt named Stormy two years ago, only to find out less than two months later that fickle Ellen had re-gifted him to a member of her staff. “She may have had it for much less time than that. I only say two months because that’s when I called to check on the dog and found out she no longer had it,” Randles said. “I was totally shocked. I thought she was out of her mind.”

DeGeneres may have passed along several other dogs over the years. Howard Stern said on his Sirius show that he’d heard she had done this nine times before. Viewers were shocked Tuesday when DeGeneres tearfully told her viewers that the Mutts & Moms agency had gone to her hairdresser’s house and confiscated the dog Ellen had adopted from the stylist. Mutts & Moms said she had signed a contract agreeing to return the dog only to the agency if she no longer wanted to care for it. Randles said DeGeneres seemed a perfect pet owner at first, but she quickly discovered the daytime TV hostess was “neurotic and crazy.”

When Randles took Stormy to NBC studios to meet DeGeneres, she was “drilled” for four hours by the star, her assistants and the crew. “Everyone on the show and in her entourage got themselves all involved,” Randles told Page Six’s Marianne Garvey. “They were all coming into the dressing room, playing with the dog as if it were a new extension of Ellen.” DeGeneres finally decided to keep the dog for a few nights to see if he’d fit into her home. She suggested that Randles take the dressing room next door to “tell the dog privately that she’d be going home with Ellen. I told her I’d already had a talk with the dog. She didn’t get my jokes,” said Randles. When she called to check on the pup a few days later, DeGeneres told her she’d decided to keep it. “She acted like she was keeping it for life,” Randles recalled.

[From the New York Post]

I’m probably not the most un-biased person to write this story; I freaking love Ellen. This is obviously only one side of the story. I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to give someone a pet as a present. That’s really something a person needs to make their own decision about. I would guess that someone like Ellen, who’s known for being an intense animal lover, would probably be given animals more than an average person. In terms of the “nine other dogs” she’s supposedly given away over the years, it is possible that people gave her animals as a present, which I’m sure was well-meaning but maybe not practical. Most people can only have so many pets. It would be one thing if Ellen were constantly adopting and discarding dogs on her own account. The story above sounds very weird, and I’m not totally inclined to believe the accuracy of Kerri Randles’s account. But as I said, I’m kind of biased. First off, it sounds like Randles’ gave the dog away in the first place. It doesn’t seem like she adopted the dog specifically for Ellen. So if Ellen did the same thing, who is she to call her out on it?

As someone who worked in a vet clinic and has owned many animals over the years, I can say that certain pets don’t always work out, and sometimes you have to find a new home for them. I’ve seen a lot of cases of a new pet being too aggressive towards an old pet, and have had owners spend hundreds of dollars on behaviorists to no avail. Then a new home is found, and for some reason it’s a better mix and the animal is fine. Sometimes the reasons have to do more with other pets than with the humans. There’s clearly a lot more to this story than just what’s written here. I can’t emphasize enough that I hope this doesn’t turn people off from adopting shelter pets. It’s a wonderful way to save a life and bring some happiness into your home.

Picture note by Jaybird: That’s not really a picture of the dog in question.

The Ellen DeGeneres story about her dog is incredibly heart breaking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone melt down in such a raw, emotional way on television. It just made me ache for her, and anyone that would be so heartbroken. You can tell that she really is a good, honest, decent person to be so upset that she accidentally caused pain to children. I feel terribly for her. I also am pretty pissed off at the adoption agency she used. They sound disorganized, unethical, and incredibly vindictive. The lady who runs the adoption agency lied to the family Ellen gave the dog to. She told them she was just coming over to look at their house and make sure it was okay for the dog, but then called the cops and took the dog away. The only reason she was even able to do this was that the family did the right thing and filled out an adoption form online. And because DeGeneres has given the dog to a nice family, the lady was infuriated and vindictive and did what made her feel good instead of what was best for the dog or the family. Apparently she’s now getting death threats.

The attorney for Mutts & Moms tells “The Insider” that ELLEN DeGENERES’ formerly adopted dog has been placed in a new home. On her show Wednesday, Ellen addressed the importance of micro-chipping pets to insure proper ownership. She contends that the reason she cannot claim ownership of her adopted dog, IGGY, is because his identity chip was still registered to the rescue agency.

Sources tell ET that while the agency claims Ellen broke her contract by giving him away to a trusted co-worker, the Mutts & Moms owners themselves have not followed all the rules set by their company. They allegedly did not require Ellen or her partner PORTIA DeROSSI to fill out an application, nor did they change the registered owner information as they said they would. Additionally, it is said the contract in question does not contain an age clause, another reason given by Mutts & Moms for taking back the dog.

Our sources also tell us the family Ellen gave the dog to — her hairdresser, her husband and their two pre-teen daughters — did fill out an application online when the dog took up residence with them. It was at that time the agency said they would come out to inspect their property as part of the adoption process. Instead, they reclaimed the dog and calling the police. As Mutts & Moms were officially registered as the owners by the chip, authorities turned over custody to them.

[From the Insider]

This is so sad. I worked at a vet clinic for a year, and came across a lot of different people that dealt with animals. Though most of them were really nice and caring, there was this bizarre subset of people that were really stuck up and full of themselves and very, “I know what’s best for your dog, not you.” Like I said, there weren’t many of them, but they tended to be so rude and arrogant and similar to each other that they really stuck out.

When I adopted a cat a few years ago, the shelter explained to me that she had already been microchipped, and that they had a policy of not changing the name and address on the chip to the new owners. Their reasoning was that people move a lot and rarely remember to update Home Again (the microchip company) with their new address. Thus if the dog is lost and found, the chip is useless. The shelter’s logic was that they would keep the address in their name, so that if the cat was lost, she’d at least be returned to them instead of euthanized. And then, theoretically, I could call the shelter and get the cat back. Slightly convoluted logic, but it works. But they also made a point of telling me all of this, even thought it was in the very long contract I signed. They also made me sign that I wouldn’t give the cat away to anyone, but would bring it back to them. Again, because the contract was so long, they pointed out these important things so I knew them. It sounds like no one did that for Ellen, and why in the world would you know that if you don’t work with animals all day long? It’s just not something a person would think about; when you take on an animal as your responsibility, you naturally assume it’s your job to find them a new, good home if it comes to that.

I really hope this doesn’t turn people off from how great it is to adopt shelter pets. It is a wonderful thing to do, you’re saving a life and bringing something fluffy in to your home. Don’t let one bad place scare you off.

Most girls go through that “I want a pony” stage at some point in their lives, and a lot of them get stuck there. I think kids have an animal begging hierarchy that goes something like this: goldfish, hamster/assorted small furry creatures, turtle, rabbit, cat, dog, pony. So you have to get pretty far along in the system to be begging for a pony, but most families have a cat or a dog, so it’s not a big leap. I never got beyond the goldfish, and eventually had to settle for a crap-ass hedgehog (my mom bribed an allergist to tell me I was allergic to fur), so begging for a pony never entered my mind. But I remember all those girls in school that would spend hours drawing ponies, focusing on their long manes and the intricacies of their legs. That job was a little quicker when drawing the hedgehog. Anyway, it seems Bruce Springsteen’s daughter is no exception in the pony loving, and with a dad like Bruce, you can get yourself a mighty fine equine. Just how fine? Well the cost of a luxurious house fine.

“Rock musician Bruce Springsteen and his wife are being sued by an Olympic equestrian for allegedly backing out of a contract to buy a horse worth $850,000 for their daughter. The Olympian, Todd Minikus, filed the breach of contract suit Thursday in West Palm Beach County, Fla. It claims Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa, reneged on a deal. The Springsteens were to purchase the horse from Minikus by paying him $650,000 and give him a horse they already own that was worth $200,000, according to the lawsuit.

“According to the lawsuit, the Springsteens - who live in Monmouth County and own Stone Hill Farm _ put a $25,000 deposit on the horse, named Pavarotti, in July. However, they later had second-thoughts about whether the animal was right for their teenage daughter, Jessica, the second of their three children. The suit describes the Springsteens’ daughter as ‘a budding young rider,’ and says she rode Pavarotti twice in a “schooling ring” in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Springsteens also had their vet examine the horse before signing the contract, the suit says.

“The sale was to be completed by Aug. 24, according to the suit, with the Springsteens paying Minikus the $625,000 balance before receiving Pavarotti and turning over a horse named Scarlett as part of the trade. Minikus is seeking damages, and compensation for the continued daily upkeep of Pavarotti. He claims the horse has diminished in value since the Pan Am Games, in part because the famous couple backed out of a deal to buy the animal.”

[From Newsday]

Oh man, to even have half of that money to spend on a house would make 99% of Americans pretty darn happy. But to have it to spend on a horse? I don’t know if they’re stupid for not just buying the damn thing (it’s probably like $38 would be to me and you) or really smart for not spending $850,000 on a horse. But like I said, I was never so advanced in my bargaining skills as to have a pet that didn’t lead to spiky pain. I wonder what would make a parent consider buying their teenager an $850,000 anything? I mean we’d be all over a celebrity for spending that much on their kid’s car (though I’m sure it’s happened). Yet somehow a horse is just so much quainter, that I don’t feel I should mock it. So here’s to you, Bruce Springsteen, for having the cojones to almost buy what I can only assume is a diamond-encrusted flying horse.

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s Bruce and Patti after performing on “The Late Show” on September 4th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

“Grey’s Anatomy” star T.R. Knight was on “Ellen” the other day, and told a very cute story about getting a puppy from Katherine Heigl. You don’t often hear about celebrity friendships – it seems like once every couple of years “People” will do a story on celebrity best friends, and it’ll surprise everyone because no one had any idea those two actors even knew each other. Katherine Heigl was a very vocal supporter of T.R. Knight during the whole Isaiah Washington “fag” incident – though I’m not sure if the two became best friends as a result, or if they were close from the beginning. Either way, they’re close enough that Heigl surprised Knight at his house with a puppy for his birthday, which he named Arrow. That’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.

“‘I had been talking about [getting a dog] for a while. I guess there’s a point – too much talk and not enough action,” Knight said. “So she made the decision. It was great, yeah, she showed up at my house with it.’”

[From People]

Knight does tell a story that kind of explains some of the things that are wrong with the press… but does so in a way that doesn’t make me want to kick him. It’s actually pretty funny… though quite the insult to Katherine Heigl’s mom, which I don’t think he realized.

“Although he may be happier, Knight insists that coming out hasn’t much affected his love life.

“‘Recently Kate [Heigl] and her fiancé Josh Kelley and me and her mom went out to dinner, and it was reported that it was with me and my new boyfriend. But that was her mom,’ he told DeGeneres.

“‘So I guess I’m dating Katherine’s mom right now,’ he joked.

[From People]

Um, burn? Ouch! Katherine Heigl is beautiful, what must her mother look like to confuse the press into thinking she’s a gay man? I’m going to do my best to dig up some pictures of said mannish-looking mother. Knight also talked about the process of coming out under fire last year.

“‘I feel I’ve learned so much this past year, so, I’m grateful for that, so yeah, that changes you,’ he said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Thursday. Knight, 34, previously told DeGeneres that hearing his Grey’s Anatomy costar Isaiah Washington refer to him with a homophobic slur gave him the courage tell the world.

“Asked what he thinks about actors who do not come out of the closet, Knight said, ‘Everyone has their own path. You just have to respect that… It don’t think it’s right to force that. It’s impossible to know. There’s a lot of soul searching you have to do.’”

[From People]

What he says makes a lot of sense. We all have a lot of soul searching to do in our lives, and I imagine that it’s hard to guess what it’s like to be a gay person that’s trying to figure out what type of life, and how public a life, they want to live. I think it’s really good that Knight did ultimately come out, but it would have been nice if he did it in his own time and his own way.

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s T.R. with Kate Walsh at the Music and Lyrics premiere in February. Header image at Entertainment Weekly’s Pre-Emmy part on September 15th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Apparently “People” thinks flashing your armpits every chance you get is an indicator of high fashion, because they’ve named Beyonce as their best dressed celebrity of 2007. Britney Spears was also mentioned, though not for classy style (‘cuz glitter bikinis are always classy y’all!) – she was awarded the most shocking style moment award for shaving her head in an attempt to avoid a drug test.

“Beyonce, 26, was dubbed “The Showstopper,” while actress Cameron Diaz walked into the top 10 as “The Legs,” and actress Katie Holmes, who is married to Tom Cruise, graced the list as “The Classic.”

“‘Beyonce just looks amazing every time she goes out,’ assistant managing editor Cynthia Sanz told Reuters. ‘She likes to show off her curves and she is very glamorous.’ Beyonce has her own fashion line, ‘House of Dereon,’ that mixes hip hop influences with feminine touches like lace and ruffles that she launched with her mother, stylist Tina Knowles, in 2004.”

[From Reuters]

I’m not a fan of Beyonce’s clothing line since they use fur. Her mom has the kind of crazed, Cruella de Vil look that says, “I eat kittens when I’m bored” and that freaks me out. In other Beyonce news, she and Jay-Z are reportedly about to tie the knot… not be confused wit the other 374,472,094 times they were reportedly about to tie the knot.

“At a Las Vegas press conference to announce plans to open his third 40/40 Club at the Palazzo hotel, the 37-year-old rapper - who has been dating the 26-year-old singer for over four years - confirmed they will tie the knot in the very near future.

“Asked if they had set a date for the wedding, Jay-Z said: ‘One day soon - let’s leave it at that.’

“The hip-hop mogul went on to hint he may even choose the Palazzo as the wedding venue, if the hotel’s President Rob Goldstein buys Beyonce an expensive ring.

“He joked: ‘I don’t know if the wedding will be here… It’s kind of comfortable. If Rob throws in the ring, who knows?’”

[From Stuff]

I’m sure Beyonce’s mom could come up with a lovely ring made from a defenseless animal’s paw. Instead of the traditional bridal veil, Beyonce could wear a net made from the webs of innocent spiders. Wait, that one doesn’t work. But you get my point. Tina Knowles is evil. Beyonce seems to have a pretty good fashion sense, but only when her mother doesn’t dress her. Whenever reporters yell out that whole, “Who are you wearing?” line, when she says it’s something her mother designed, it’s always shiteous and bizarre looking. But Beyonce seems to have enough sense to know that, because she’s been dressing a lot better the last few years… and wearing clothes from real designers. Designers that don’t sprinkle puppy tears on their cereal in the morning like Tina Knowles probably does. And aren’t her real fur coats just to die for? Literally?

Picture note by Celebitchy Beyonce is shown at the VMAs, at the opening of Jay-Z’s 40-40 club in Vegas on 9/6/07, at the launch of Emporio Armani Diamonds Fragrance on 8/16/07, on The Early Show on 4/2/07, at Dreamgirls premieres on 12/4/06, 12/11/06, and 1/21/07, on 01/31/2007 at am AMFAR event, where she is actually wearing a gorgeous gown, and on 11/21/06 at the American Music Awards. Thanks to PRPhotos.