I have always wondered what happens when you are filming a movie in a hospital and you get sick. Thanks to Ashley Judd’s sudden bout of appendicitis, I now know what happens.

The actress was shooting new movie Helen in Vancouver, Canada when an acute attack of the illness led to a collapse on set at Ridge Meadows Hospital on 25 November (07).

Judd was immediately admitted to the same medical centre and underwent emergency surgery to remove her diseased appendix.

A source tells the National Enquirer, “Luckily, the cast and crew were filming at a real hospital, so when paramedics arrived, they simply put Ashley on a stretcher and wheeled her into an operating room nearby.” While Judd recovers, production on Helen has been halted.

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But when you film at a real hospital, what happens to the real patients? I guess they just get moved out of the way into other wards.

Ashley is the latest celebrity to release an el cheapo clothing range, for U.S. department store Goody’s.

Ashley says: “At first, I wasn’t interested. In my view there is already enough stuff in the world, but when they told me it would raise funds for schools, I changed my mind. “Our schools are in dire need. With my eco-friendly, moderately priced clothes, Goody’s will give away a half a million dollars to schools in need. And that’s just the first year.”

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Isn’t Ashley Judd almost the least likely candidate to design a clothing line? Her only real connection to fashion is that yes, she wears clothes. I’d hardly call her a style icon in the same vein as Sarah Jessica Parker or Kate Moss. Just about anyone can put out a range of clothes now, so I’m getting hopeful maybe I could put out my own range. Probably not unless I sew it myself.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Ashley Judd is shown with Padma Lakshi at the YouthAIDS Gala: Faces of India benefit on 11/2/07, thanks to WENN. Her face looks really pinched to me.

In this month’s issue of Glamour, Ashley Judd did her duty as a B-list celebrity and revealed potentially embarrassing details about her personal life. She said that she underwent in-patient treatment for depression after succumbing to pressure from employees at the facility that was treating her sister, country star Winona Judd, for a food addiction:

We all have issues that could benefit from therapy, and I enjoyed nice outpatient visits with a kind woman who usually took my side when I told stories about my lousy ex-boyfriend. It sounds like Judd was sold a bill of goods, though. Listen to how she explains “therapy:”
“My behaviors were treated like addictions. And those behaviors were killing me spiritually, the same as someone who is sitting on a corner with a bottle in a brown paper bag.”

This sounds like an oversimplified way to view one’s issues. There are lots of different schools of thought and accompanying therapies that can be effective, but treating everything like an addiction doesn’t seem like a very constructive way to work through one’s emotional issues.

If it worked for Judd that’s great though, and she deserves credit for being open and honest about what she went through.

Here is Ashley Judd at a Cartier party in early June with Salma Hayek, and at the Indianapolis 500 celebration in late May with her husband, Scottish racecar driver Dario Franchitti. Judd, 38, has been married to Franchitti, 33, since 1999. The couple divides their time between Tennessee and Scotland.

Elizabeth Hurley, Ashley Judd, breast cancer survivor Anastacia, and Elton John and his partner David Furnish were among the attendees at “The Very Hot Pink Party” in New York last night. Proceeds went to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Elton John and Tony Bennett performed.

Elizabeth Hurley is launching her own line of swimsuits and has just signed up to represent the handbag firm, Lancel.

Elton John has done a lot of charity work recently. He cleaned out his closets to donate more than 10,000 items with the proceeds to benefit his Aids foundation.

Here are the photos from the benefit. Ashley Judd is shown with her husband of five years, Italian racecar driver Dario Francitti. Elton John’s partner David Furnish escorted Elizabeth Hurley to the event.

Update: pictures from the ribbon cutting on Elton John’s closet.