About a year ago a joke book came out called The Nicole Richie Cookbook. It was sixty some pages long, and each page was blank. Haha, Nicole doesn’t eat. Mildly funny at best. Now what’s a much funnier idea is Nicole Richie actually writing a cookbook herself. Which is just what she wants to do, if you believe her friends that chat with OK! Magazine. Apparently Nicole is just knee-deep in domestic bliss, and wants to share her happiness – or at least her recipes – with the rest of us.

Move over Rachael Ray, there’s another cute cook in the kitchen! The Simple Life star Nicole Richie took up cooking in order to become the perfect partner and mom. Now, she’s gotten so good at it she wants to publish her own cookbook!

“She keeps a box full of recipes handwritten on index cards,” a pal of Nicole,26, tells OK!. “She has mac and cheese down to a fine science!”

But when it comes to whipping up meals for fiance Joel Madden,29, Nicole, who is mom to their 5-month old daughter Harlow, looks to the lighter side.

Says the source, “She keeps things low-fat to help her and Joel watch their weight!”

[From OK! Magazine]

Well yeah, because they’re such fatties. Watching their weight should be a big priority for the both of them. Actually Joel seems to have gone through a pudgy phase or two – as has Nicole, now that I think about it. But they’ve both been looking pretty trim for the past couple years. In fact Nicole’s got it down to a science.

Although celeb ass-kissy OK! claims that the two are super domestic and blissfully happy, People quotes Joel as saying they have no plans to get married. They’ve often been referred to as each other’s fiance (see the OK! article above), but in terms of taking a walk down the aisle, it sounds like Joel would rather saunter the other way.

“We don’t have any plans for that right now,” Madden told PEOPLE on Wednesday. “We’re just happy, and we’re being a family, and that’s where we’re at right now. But marriage means something different to everyone.”

“Right now we’re really happy,” the Good Charlotte frontman says, “and we’re concentrating on our family, and that’s what is making us happy right now. We’re moving at our own pace.”

[From People]

It’s funny because you can tell Joel is just barely holding back from screaming “Don’t rush me!” to the reporter. I think there may have been a “F*#% you” muttered under his breath. Joel clearly had a little line all rehearsed and ready to go, since he basically said the same thing twice. We get it, you’re supposedly happy and don’t want to be tied to Nicole Richie or her low fat for the rest of your life. I’m not sure many people could blame you.

Here’s Nicole at the Cartier Charity Love Bracelet Launch in Los Angeles on June 18th. Images thanks to WENN. Header of 23 Nicole and Joel going for a walk in Hollywood on May 18th. Images thanks to Splash.

Star Trek icon Leonard Nimoy counts poetry and photography among his lifelong hobbies. He recently put out a coffee table photography book that features larger women without airbrushing or clothing called The Full Body Project. He’s hopes to get the message out that the images of models in the media are unrealistic and not even close to the size of average women. Some of his models are part of the “fat acceptance” movement, which promotes understanding and equal opportunity in society for people who are larger-sized. Nimoy says the use of super thin women in ads is a cheap ploy to make women feel inferior and buy unneeded products:

In his provocative new book, photographer and actor Leonard Nimoy captures images of full-bodied women, some of whom are involved in what is known as the “fat acceptance” movement. “The average American woman,” Nimoy writes, “weighs 25 percent more than the models selling the clothes. There is a huge industry built up around selling women ways to get their bodies closer to the fantasy ideal. Pills, diets, surgery, workout programs. . . . The message is You don’t look right. If you buy our product, you can get there.’”

[From Amazon.com, thanks to The National Enquirer, print edition, for the tip]

We’ve had a lot of discussion here about this issue after the recent controversy over gorgeous model Karolina Kurkova being called “fat” on the runway. I mentioned in the comments that I don’t want to see super skinny women modeling clothing because it’s not going to make me interested in a product line. Some people applauded Kurkova for not falling for pressure to be pin thin while others said it’s her job to look unrealistically skinny and she isn’t doing it by gaining some essential weight.

Entrepreneur and all around opportunist Katie Price, better known as Jordan, put out a lingerie line and featured models of all sizes wearing her bras and undies at a photo call. She had a line up of women that included thin, average-sized and one woman who could be considered obese. It was a smart move because it got her a lot of publicity along with showing that her underwear fits women who range from small to very big-breasted.

The Dove “campaign for real beauty” ads include women that are average-sized and mildly overweight and proclaim that we should feel beautiful at all sizes. By bucking the trend of showing super fit models Dove has received a lot of attention and press. Some people criticize the ads, because the woman may be larger than we’re accustomed to seeing but they’re still all gorgeous and airbrushed. Others pointed to the hypocrisy of parent company Unilever, which also has the arguably sexist Axe ad campaign featuring perfect, sex-starved beauties fawning over the men who use their body care products.

The choice to use small, average and/or large models in an ad campaign is ultimately a business decision. It seems logical, as Dr. Mr. Spock would put it, to chose women with bodies across the spectrum in order to show that your product or clothing item has wide appeal. Nothing drives frivolous purchase decisions quite like emotion, though, and that’s why they use tiny barely post-adolescent girls to sell luxury items. You may never be that thin in your life again unless you take drastic measures - and you’ll never be that young - but it’s easy enough to plop down the money if you have it.

Here’s 77 year-old Leonard Nimoy looking cute at “16th Annual Grand Slam: Sci-Fi Summit Day Three” in Burbank, CA on 4/13/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Update: This is the first I’ve heard of Nimoy’s book, and the news is in the National Enquirer this week. Many of you note that the book is old. Amazon.com has it with a publication date of December, 2007.

We’ve seen the head shaving, the vag-flashing, the busted weave, the 5150 holds, the custody loss and of course, the Brown Boots of Mental Illness. But what we didn’t know is that over the last two years of insanity, Britney Spears has been the subject of an upcoming biography by writer Ian Halperin. In the notes for his book, Halperin reveals that the star was in an even worse mental state than we thought- and talked often of ending her life.

Troubled pop star Britney Spears tried to kill herself on two separate occasions, according to a new unauthorised biography.

Investigative journalist Ian Halperin makes the claim in his yet-to-be-released book, which he researched over 18 months as an undercover photographer.

In an interview with American magazine Life & Style, Halperin, who has written biographies on Kurt Cobain and Celine Dion among others, says: ‘I spoke with her many times and went to her house. I will say the suicide attempts are true. I know all the details about both of them.’

An Britney family insider confirmed to the publication that the singer regularly hinted at suicide, and revealed her suicidal tendencies began after the birth of her second son Jayden James in September 2006.

The source says: ‘It really became an issue once Jayden was born and it became clear Britney’s marriage to Kevin was crumbling.

‘That’s when she began to say things like “I wish I was dead” or “It’d be better if I could go to sleep and never wake up” on a regular basis.’

‘It really seemed like the suicide option was a comfort to her, an escape route in case life became too much to handle.’

Britney’s well-documented erratic behaviour has calmed in recent months under the watch of her father and conservator Jamie, but the author believes she’s still at risk.

He says: ‘I think she’s in danger of a catastrophic relapse. Britney herself warned me that with her, it’s always two steps forward, one step back.’

Adds the insider: ‘She’s on major medications. And she’s being micro-managed and controlled to the extreme by her parents, the courts and a huge team of doctors and handlers.’

‘She’s like a zombie now. She’s a shell of her old self.’

[From the Daily Mail]

Ian Halperin is no slouch in the investigative journalism department, even if his books are highly sensationalized. He won a Rolling Stone award for Investigative Journalism, and has written two books about the life and death of Kurt Cobain, an expose on James Taylor and one on Celine Dion. His most recent expose was on the Church of Scientology, titled “Hollywood Undercover,” for which he posed as a Scientologist and infiltrated the Church, gaining access to some of the highest levels of it. When the book came out, Halperin had to go into hiding due to death threats. There’s still no word on when this Britney Spears biography is due to hit shelves, but given what we already know about her, it’s sure to be a doozy.

Britney is shown yesterday flying out of LAX, thanks to Splash News.

In 2004, Marc Anthony secured a quickie divorce in the Dominican Republic from his wife of over three years and mother of two of his children, former miss Universe Dayanara Torres, 33. He was married to Jennifer Lopez within a few months. When Anthony left Torres amid rumors that he was cheating with his former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, with whom he was collaborating, Torres says she was devastated and couldn’t get out of bed for days. Torres refuses to talk poorly about Anthony or to denounce his behavior in the press. She has a new book out, Married to Me: How Committing to Myself Led to Triumph After Divorce, in which she chronicles her recovery from the pain of an unexpected split and divorce. In an interview in this week’s People Magazine she discusses the very difficult time she went through when Anthony left her, but doesn’t address the story that he was cheating on her with Lopez or bad mouth him in any way:

[Dayanara Torres’ story] is a fair tale with a happy, if hard-earned, ending. Now living in L.A. with the sons she had with Anthony, Cristian, 7, and Ryan, 4, Torres has rarely spoken publicly about the split. “You get mad,” she says. “But I took the high road.” As she reveals in Married to Me, the new self-help book she cowrote with her sister Jeannette to inspire divorcées, the journy hasn’t been easy. “You want to move on as quick as possible… But you realize time is your friend. You have to get through to the other side.

She went through more than her share. After Anthony left, she found herself barely able to get out of bed. “You go through hell,” she says, her blue eyes soft. “I cried until there were no tears left - until I was numb. I didn’t want to eat; I didn’t care to get dressed or take a shower. I just wanted to like there.” But after a few months, she got a wake up call from another man in her life. “One day Cristian walked in and said ‘You’re crying again?’ I felt embarassed that they saw their mother being weak. I woke up. I realized I’d been crying for all the wrong reasons.”

She pulled herself together and tried to make things right. “I didn’t want them to choose sides,” says Torres, who keeps photos of Anthony throughout her home for the boy’s sake. “He’s not someone we need to hide - he’ll always be their father. And to this day, I don’t think they’ve seen our divorce as a bad thing.”

[From People Magazine, print edition, June 23, 2008]

People has details of Torres’ book, and say that she advises women fresh out of a divorce to “Let yourself feel the pain, Let go of regret,” and not to rush into another relationship until they’re ready. As for her husband’s new marriage, Torres talks about how happy her sons were to learn about their half-brother and sister, twins Max and Emme, nearly four months. She says “They love them! It’s cute to see.”

Torres is moving on with her life and says she’s “happy, and I don’t pin my happiness on anybody else.” She used to date Amaury Nolasco, Fernando from Prison Break, but they are “taking a break” now and she says he’s “a great guy.” She calls her life a new adventure and says she’s got healthy kids and great friends.

She deserves a lot of credit for not talking smack about Anthony or Lopez after they so obviously hooked up while he was still married with kids. She’s getting her digs in subtly by just focusing on how she suffered but not discussing her husband’s infidelity. And she continues to look like the more responsible, and wronged, party. Hopefully her new book will be a success.

Dayanara Torres is shown at “People en Espanol Celebrates its 12th Annual ‘50 Most Beautiful’ Issue” in NY on 5/14/08, thanks to WENN.

William Shatner with his current wife, Elizabeth Anderson Martin, at the Primetime Emmy Awards on 9/16/07
William Shatner’s new memoir, “Up Til Now,” gives some details about the accidental drowning death of his late wife, Nerine. However, a family member of Nerine’s is now issuing a tell-all book of his own about the Star Trek icon, saying that he was not a caring husband and was more concerned about himself than her- right up until the day she died.

According to The Globe, Boston Legal star William Shatner will not be happy to learn that his deceased wife Nerine’s brother is writing a tell-all book about his sister’s mysterious death in 1999, and he’s calling Shatner a liar. William Shatner’s wife Nerine was an alcoholic who was in and out of rehab, and her AA sponsor had warned Bill never to leave her alone. Shatner left her with a housekeeper one day and returned to find her on the bottom of their pool. He called 911 instead of diving in to pull her out. The brother claims that Shatner didn’t jump in the pool because he was wearing a new $25,000 toupee and didn’t want to ruin it! The former brother.-in-law insists “The normal reaction is to pull the person out of the pool and start CPR.” He’s got a point there.

[From Janet Charlton’s Hollywood]

While numerous stories about the size of his ego have been circulating for decades, I think I’m going to have to side with Shartner on this one. It seems way out of line for this brother to be slamming his former brother-in-law over what was ruled an accident by police. I also don’t think it was Shatner’s responsibility to make sure that a grown woman was never left alone. If she was really in that bad of shape, she should have been in an in-patient rehab facility, not a mansion with a pool. It sounds to me like this brother is trying to make a buck off Shatner’s name while people still remember his wife’s death. Shatner has since remarried.

Here’s a bad idea for you: raise three kids, two of whom are known worldwide for their mistakes – and then release a parenting book. If you’re Lynne Spears, you might just be delusional enough to think that’s a good idea. Once Jamie Lynn got pregnant, Lynn put the project on hold. Since then, it sounds like the concept has been reworked. The publisher is no longer calling it a parenting book – instead it’s being peddled as a memoir. Much smarter idea.

Lynne Spears’s memoir about raising her famous daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn will be released this fall, the publisher confirms to PEOPLE.

“When Jamie Lynn got pregnant, it was put on hold,” says a spokesman for Thomas Nelson, which publishes inspirational books and Bibles. “Lynne never stopped working on it because she wants to express her love for her children and tell their stories through a mother’s eyes.” Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World” is likely to be released in September, says the spokesman.

“Lynne has had a dramatic life. People will be be very surprised to find out the kind of person she really is,” says Lorilee Craker, who worked with Spears on the project. “Lynne has been incredible to work with.” Spears’s manuscript “will not be a parenting book,” Nelson says. “It’s her story of what it was like being a mom and raising two very famous people. It’s a memoir.”

[From People]

It’ll be interesting to see if Lynne defends her parenting, admits to her mistakes, or just glosses over them. It’s been widely reported that she let Britney get breast implants at 16 and encouraged her to overtly exploit her sexuality for the sake of her career. Jamie Lynn got pregnant at 16. Her oldest child, Brian, lives in New York and isn’t involved in show business. He’s arguably the kid that’s turned out the best – though if nothing else, Jamie Lynn is still very young and despite the pregnancy could still turn out great. So could Britney, to be fair.

Lynne Spears doesn’t seem as delusional as someone like Dina Lohan, but she’s still got some explaining to do. Depending on how she handles tough issues in her book, it could drastically sway people’s opinion about her. If she fesses up to her mistakes, it could make you feel some empathy for a mother that tried and failed. But if she spends too much time defending her decisions, it could cause a serious backlash.

Here are some pictures of Lynne Spears with her daughters over the last year. Images thanks to WENN.

Madonna has a younger brother, Christopher Ciccone, who worked with her on the Blonde Ambition and Girlie Show tours, and her Truth or Dare film. Lately the two haven’t been close, possibly because he’s trying to hide from her while he writes her unauthorized biography.

Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, is writing a memoir about his sister to be released in mid-July by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the publisher says.

The imprint, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, had been promoting a celebrity memoir for July without identifying the author or contents. Life With My Sister Madonna will have a first printing of 350,000. Financial details were not disclosed.

“Ciccone’s extraordinary memoir is based on his life and 47 years of growing up with and working with his sister - the most famous woman in the world,” the publisher said in a statement on Wednesday.

The West Australian

Madonna’s publicist initially had no comment, but later stated that “Madonna has not cooperated with any biography about herself”.

This is not the first time a biography has been written about the Queen of Pop, I think it’s fair to say there have been dozens of them, but this is the first time family members have been talking. They are brave people - have you seen her arms? She’s could take you.

No details of the biography have been leaked, but since it’s by her brother I think it will deal with her childhood, loss of her mother, and relationship with her father and stepmother. Those are all things Madonna has spoken about before. I have a 1991 issue of Rolling Stone where she talks to Carrie Fisher about her difficult life. (It also has Arnold Schwarzenegger on the cover saying he’s not interested in entering politics.)

Madonna also talked about her mother’s death and Warren Beatty in her Truth or Dare film.

What hasn’t really been discussed much are her children (although, her whole Ray of Light album is all about motherhood). Also her relationship with Guy Richie has always been pretty private, probably because it’s not very interesting. I get the feeling that Madonna in her 40s and in her marriage is just boring and normal like the rest of us - staying at home and having a cup of tea in the evenings with Guy, while the kids are sleeping.

It’s a shame that Madonna has lost touch with her brother, but she has three kids and lives in another country from her family. It takes a lot of work to communicate with people across different timezones, and I get the feeling that Madonna only has one item on her agenda: Madonna. And that may be exactly what her brother’s book claims.

Christopher Ciccone is shown on 3/25/07 at a party, thanks to Splash News. Madonna is shown outside her gym house on 6/6/08, thanks to WENN.

There are some celebrities that have really earned their fame. And there are some that have lived amazing lives, overcome adversity, or have become immensely powerful and influential. I’m thinking of the Oprahs of the world. But there are lots of famous people who have something to say. Yet it seems like the ones who should shut the crap up are the most likely not to be able to shut their bovine-esq jaws. That’s right, I’m talking about Heather Mills. You know whenever I reference a cow chewing its cud, we’re talking about Heather.

The former Mrs. Paul McCartney – who has neither earned her fame nor lived an amazing life – is writing a lifestyle book, packed with helpful tips so you, too, can be just as successful, happy, and respected as Heather.

Heather Mills has taken her promotion of veganism to another level in her new book, a healthy living manual.

In the 64-page book entitled Get Healthy with Heather, the 40-year-old former wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney dispenses advice on how to live a stress-free life, including swapping to a vegan diet.

Heather said: “Spring is in the air and this is a time for change, regeneration and new beginnings. We all know sometimes that life’s problems can be quite overwhelming so it’s really important we learn to relax properly and iron out those everyday stresses and strains.”

Packed with motivational quotes and tips from Heather, the book advises on the best way to move to a vegan diet.

[From Stuff]

No word on whether Heather will disclose her secret explanation of how she unhinges her jaw at that angle to make that face of hers. I understand where Heather in coming from, in terms of the vegan thing. The English countryside is filled with pastures. Cow-filled pastures, in fact. What if Heather happened to be ambling along one day, just talking - not even chewing, but talking – and some ravenous meat-eater saw her gaping maw and mistook her for cattle? Her life could be in serious jeopardy. Heather’s often said she’s afraid for her safety; I think we’ve likely figured out why. She’s just trying to save her own hide. Or face.

Here’s Heather’s mouth at the Farm Sanctuary Gala 2008 at Cipriani’s Wall Street in New York on Saturday. Images thanks to WENN.

77 year-old former Star Trek star William Shatner has an autobiography out called Up Till Now that the publisher promises is “touching and very funny.” Among the anecdotes Shatner provides in his book is the fact that a lot of female Star Trek fans wanted to sleep with Captain Kirk, not him. He also hinted that those kind of situations didn’t do much for him in the performance department:

[William Shatner] insists he couldn’t enjoy flings with the series’ most devoted followers because he was so turned off by their bizarre bedroom behaviour.

In his new autobiography, Up Till Now, Shatner explains how women would pretend they were being “beamed up” by the Starship Enterprise commander, shrieking: “So, this is what it’s like to
be in bed with Captain Kirk!”

He writes: “You can’t imagine how much of a downer that is in every sense of the word.”

[From Contact Music via Fark]

Captain Kirk on the Star Trek TV series was hot. He was always wearing that tight yellow uniform shirt and seducing the 60s minx female aliens. I could see asking him to pretend he was Kirk in bed. You want to get with the guy with the piercing eyes who saves the day, not the actor who does bad cover versions of hit songs.

Among Shatner’s other relevations in his autobiography is the fact that the actress who played Lt Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, told him she hated him. Their interracial kiss on Star Trek in 1968 was a big deal at the time. Nichols jokingly told Shatner during his Comedy Central roast “Let’s make TV history again… and you can kiss my black ass!”

In a January, 2008 interview with Details Magazine, Shatner said that after Star Trek ended in the early 70s he was going through an expensive divorce and had to live out of his pickup truck. He also talked about the painful loss of his third wife, Nerine Kidd, who drowned in 1999.

Shatner has played lawyer Denny Crane on ABC show Boston Legal since 2004. He told Details that it was a “stupid oversight” that JJ Abrams didn’t give him a cameo in the latest film version of Star Trek although Leonard Nimoy has a part. His future plans include ideas for a talk show and animated films. He has been married to his fourth wife, Elizabeth Anderson Martin, since 2001.

William Shatner and his wife Elizabeth are shown below at the “Star Trek: The Tour” Press Conference and Preview on 1/17/08, thanks to PRPhotos. You can learn more about “Star Trek: The Tour” on their website.

The National Enquirer has the details from Barbara Walters’ upcoming book, Audition: A Memoir, which includes all the affairs she had - when she was married, when she was single with married men, and when she was single with men you might consider fug who happened to be powerful. Walters promoted the book by confessing to Oprah of an affair 30 years ago with married US senator Edward Brooke. Brooke’s wife passed away 13 years ago, and The Enquirer reports that an insider claims “she hated Barbara Walters till the day she died” and blamed her for their divorce. Wikipedia says 88 year-old Brooke now lives in Miami with his second wife and has two daughters and a son. He has refused to comment about Walters’ memoir and their supposed affair.

78 year-old Walters figures she may as well open the floodgates on her past since no one else is going to cash in on it for her. She was married and divorced three times and has plenty of stories to tell. Other men she had relationships with include former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Bear Sterns CEO Alan Greenberg, and Virginia Senator John Warner. (Before he was a Senator.)

Here’s the Enquirer’s details of her affair with a married man. Although they don’t specify exact dates, if it was shortly after her first marriage ended she would have been around 30.

Next up [after her failed first marriage of three years] was a clandestine affair with a married man named Claude Phillippe, the head of catering at several Posh NY hotels.

“He knew all about wine, food, restaurants and was the epitome of sophistication. He started to call. I was thrilled. And so began two of the most romantic years of my life. I wasn’t thinking of marrying again, so his being married didn’t bother me…” says Barbara

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 19, 2008]

The Enquirer says that Barbara then met her second husband, theatrical producer Lee Gruber, on a blind date, and divorced him after 10 years. They adopted a baby daughter together in 1968, when Barbara was 39. Next was her affair with senator Brooke for several years.

After that affair came tumbling down, she moved on to Alan Greenspan, John Warner before he was a senator and again after his divorce from Liz Taylor, and Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg. In 1986, she was married for a third time to producer Merv Adelson. That marriage only last six years.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 19, 2008]

Maybe we can assume Walters had it the hardest for Brooke, since that’s who she’s talking about after all this time. The lady is 78 years old, though, and she gave marriage a try a few times. She cheated but she’s open about it. And it sounds like her last secret affair was with Brooke, and that was over 30 years ago.

As for Star Jones, who lit into Barbara for telling it like it is about the way Star lied about her gastric bypass surgery and got freebies for her wedding by mentioning sponsors on The View - Barbara says “Poor woman, she’s gone through so much.” I love it.

We created the inset image of some of Barbara’s lovers, but credit goes for the idea to The National Enquirer. Barbara Walters is shown in the header on at the 2008 AARP Inspire Awards on 12/3/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Update: I was wrong that the last time Walters cheated was with Brooke. The NY Post reports today that she was sleeping with the two Alans at the same time, and that before that she was cheating on Edward Brooke with Alan Greenberg. Edward Brooke had asked his wife of 30 years for a divorce so he could be with Barbara in the open, reports The Post, but she then dumped him after a Nixon cabinet member told her the affair was a liability to her career. Damn Barbara!

They quote a conservative media group as saying “Barbara has now sunk to the very level of other attention-starved celebrities such as Paris Hilton or even Steve-O from ‘Jackass.’ ”