After all the speculation and stories that Tom Cruise was setting up house in NY and wasn’t allowing his wide-eyed bride Katie Holmes any time to herself, Katie flew to NY alone ahead of her Broadway debut. It’s unknown if she’s still alone doing preparation for her play, All My Sons, but she probably had at least a day or two without her husband and daughter Suri, 2.

Katie Holmes is asserting her independence: She flew off by herself to New York to prepare for a play, say sources…

On May 19, said the pal, she left 45-year-old Tom behind and flew by private plane from California to the East Coast…

Tom had no problem with Katie, 29, taking to the stage - but he made it clear he’d be right by her side in New York.

“Katie told Tom she was going alone right now because she needed to shop, check on plans for a family home and meet with producers,” said the source.

“But Tom said he’d pack up daughter Suri and they’d go as a family.”

That’s when Katie told Tom he could join her later, says the source, but for now she was heading out alone!

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 2, 2008]

It’s hard to tell from that story if Katie brought Suri with her, because she’s not mentioned and they only say that she “left Tom behind.” Either way, it’s a means for Katie to strike out on her own without Tom and try to resurrect (or create, depending on your perspective) her career with hard work.

The show is due to premiere in September, with an official opening in October. Katie won’t be in NY for long. According to the print edition of In Touch, Tom and Katie are planning a huge housewarming party for their $35 million recently renovated and decorated mansion in Beverly Hills on May 31.

Photos are from the Costume Institute Gala on 5/5/08, thanks to WENN. We haven’t seen any photos of them in a while, so maybe it’s true that they’re apart for a short time.

Britney Spears went out to celebrity favorite restaurant Il Sole last night. She was accompanied by George Maloof, Jr. the owner of the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Billionaire Maloof also owns basketball teams Sacramento Kings and Sacramento Monarchs. At some points last night Maloof held Britney’s hand, but it was probably to help her get through the paparazzi swarm. It was most likely a business dinner and not a date. Maloof has known Britney for years, and according to Wikipedia, he had dinner with her back in 2004 right before her short-lived marriage to Jason Alexander. He also dined with her earlier this month, sparking rumors that she was planning for a Vegas comeback.

This week’s National Enquirer reports that Britney is indeed planning a “multi million-dollar stage production she hopes will jump-start her career”:

“Britney is working very hard to get in shape and hopes to make a splashy comeback in Las Vegas,” revealed an insider.

“She wants the show to be full of high energy and flashy costume changes.”

Britney, 26, is negotiating to perform six shows with a payday that will be around $10 million, added the insider. If these shows sell out, she hopes the Palms will sign her to a longer stint.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 26, 2008]

Maybe that will work out better for her than her set of gigs at House of Blues locations around the states. I don’t know if she’s ready for it, but at least it will give her something to aim for, and you can see a well-produced show with Britney in Vegas selling out. There are still plenty of people who are interested in her.

Britney’s father Jamie just received an additional $10,000 in back pay for serving as the conservator of her estate. He receives $10,000 a month, according to court papers, and will receive the back pay as compensation for having to give up his job as a caterer and private chef. It’s doubtful he made $10k a month as a caterer.

Thanks to WENN for these photos and The Gossip Girls for identifying Britney’s date. In one photo it looks like Britney’s tan is peeling, but it may be an effect of the flash.

You have to hand it to Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s managed to skirt the fine line between getting press for giving somewhat revealing comments and not telling us anything that’s incredibly personal. And in the interviews I’ve watched with her, she doesn’t look like she’s full of herself or of shit. She’s launched her comeback with the incredibly successful Iron Man, and now it’s on to a film called Two Lovers which is in competition at Cannes. As long as she able to walk those tottering shoes away from the spotlight after she’s done promoting these films, she’s poised to win back the good will of the public. If she keeps talking and showing up at every event she’s surely going to ruin it.

Gwyneth revealed last month that she suffered post partum depression after the birth of her son, Moses. She also told us that Iron Man was her first paycheck in six years. Now she’s talking about what’s really behind this press blitz - her career was floundering after she took time off to raise her two kids:

“I really did not know if there would be a place for me,” said Paltrow. “Jodie Foster was right, especially if you are a woman and especially if you are not 25. Hollywood is pretty cutthroat, and everybody has a short memory. There is always someone who is younger or hotter or prettier.”

In terms of her own career, “I was very realistic of that fact there would not be room for me,” said Paltrow. “I definitely knew I had lost my place.”

She considers Two Lovers, a romantic drama set in Brooklyn, a shot in the vocational arm.

“It has given me a lifeline, because I had taken a long time off work,” said Paltrow. “Going from being a mother at home for a long time, which was the greatest time in my life, but also feel like an artist again … that was a gift for me.”

[From People]

While that’s true, her image was also suffering from comments she made on multiple occasions which were perceived as anti-American. I don’t know whether that affected her ability to get roles, and it seems like she made a conscious decision to step away from Hollywood for a while.

What Gwyneth doesn’t mention is that even if she never had another job, she had 1) earned enough at that point in her life to retire if she lived within her vast means and 2) has a husband who is among the most successful rock stars in the world. She had the option to stop working and many mothers don’t, but good for her for talking about it. She’s in a much more cutthroat business than most of us can imagine.

You can’t expect her to acknowledge how good she has it in this brief sound byte, and she has stated that she has a great nanny who helps her immensely. Somehow Gwyneth has managed to touch on yet another issue that a lot of women have trouble with and to talk about it in a way that makes her look vulnerable, but in a completely normal, non-embarrassing way.

Gwyneth shows one of her boobs in the film Two Lovers and it’s deliberate and for several seconds. She has appeared topless and fully nude in several films, so it’s nothing the public hasn’t seen before. Gwyneth controls exactly how much she’s willing to reveal but somehow makes her calculated moves seem intimate. It’s kind of like her fashion - risky but well planned.

Thanks to WENN for these photos from the Two Lovers photocall earlier today.

These two are probably just friends who have multiple arrests, music, nationality and a love of drugs in common, but look how the two drunken singers are hanging onto each other outside of Amy’s house. She has an opening for a new leech after her husband, Blake Fielder Civil, took up with a blond ex girlfriend who started visiting him in prison. She’s been auditioning various guys these past few weeks, and Doherty seems just her type unfortunately.

Amy and Pete were seen in a half-hearted hug or trying to keep each other from falling flat on their faces back at her place after a gig by Pete’s band, Babyshambles. Judging from their hug, they’re probably just friends, and they’re both pictured with other people that night. They look like they could be brother and sister.

NME reports that Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse are rumored to be recording a single duet to come out this summer. That can only increase his credibility and diminish hers:

According to the Daily Star Doherty’s Babyshambles bandmate, Mik Whitnall, has held a series of songwriting sessions with Winehouse in preparation for a single release this summer.

The newspaper claims that the supposed single will also feature on the next Babyshambles album, and that Doherty said: “Mick and Amy have a great relationship. They have been working on material while I was in prison.

“When I came out I went straight to the recording studio. I just want to get going.”

[From NME.com]

Producer Mark Ronson recently revealed that Amy won’t be recording the theme song for the upcoming Bond movie because she’s just not ready to work at this point. I hope for Amy’s sake this Pete Doherty duet story is fake, because she should be focusing on her own music at this point.

There’s someone else who is disappointed that Winehouse won’t be featured on the soundtrack for the Bond film Quantum of Solace. Bond Star Daniel Craig is quoted as saying “she’s got an amazing voice and it think it would lend itself beautifully to this but we’ll see.”

In related Winehouse news that we didn’t get to because there are just too many stories about her, one of her male friends was arrested in her garage on Monday night. Kristian Marr went to visit her at home, and when she wasn’t there he holed up in her garage for the night. The police came and had him ejected.

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Entertainmentwise is reporting what could be a new quote from Ben Affleck. He’s bitching about how his career tanked after he made the stupid decision to make a terrible movie with J. Lo, have an affair with her (and let’s face, she was married for a few weeks at that point) and show up at multiple events and premieres by her side. You would think he would avoid reminding us about that well publicized period in his life, but he says that showing up in J.Lo’s “Jenny from the Block” video was career-ending for him. Entertainment wise presents this quote from Ben as if it’s something he just said, but it’s probably from an older interview and they’re rehashing it:

He says, “If I have a big regret, it was doing the music video. But that happened years ago. I’ve moved on.”

But Affleck insists he isn’t blaming Lopez for his career nosedive: “It not only makes me look like a petulant fool (to blame Lopez), but it surely qualifies as ungentlemanly? For the record, did she hurt my career? No.”

[From Entertainmentwise]

Affleck appeared in a tank top in the video, with it’s catchy but annoyingly repetitive refrain assuring us that J.Lo is just like us despite the fact that she’s so rich and famous she can get guards to bring her cuticle cream in jail. He rubbed Lopez’s bikini-clad booty and seemed transfixed by it, which helped us understand how he got into that PR mess in the first place.

Ben talked about the effect of his relationship with Lopez on his career back in October when he was doing press for Gone Baby Gone. I hope for his sake that this quote is re-hashed reworded version of stuff he already said in order to promote his movie. He meant well and was just trying to be open about it. He should have released that, like his relationship with Lopez, things never quite end in the media and keep getting recycled and repeated ad naseum. At least he learned from his mistakes and ended up with a woman who made him sell his Bentley and doesn’t ignore her children.

Here’s a link to the video which features Ben and J.Lo generally laying around looking rich.

And here’s J.Lo making sure her twins are well cared for and not promoting the needless killing of animals at the Christian Dior show in NY yesterday, thanks to PRPhotos.

Yesterday Oprah had Tom Cruise on in front of her screaming studio audience in an attempt to remind us all why we fell in love with the crazy cult spokesperson in the first place. The show featured clips from Tom’s 25 years in film starting with Risky Business as well as taped celebrity tributes from his friends and coworkers. Oprah really laid it on thick with the audience, and emphasized how great Tom’s movies are as well as how normal and likable he is. I was skeptical at first, but she seems to have helped with Cruise’s image immensely. Oprah aired a full episode on Friday in which she visited Cruise’s Telluride home and asked him some semi-difficult questions about his “religion” and the couch jumping episode that aired in May, 2005. On Monday it was all about celebrating Cruise and welcoming him back into the good graces of public opinion. Maybe if Cruise continues distancing himself from his troubled cult he’ll be able to improve his image.

Scientology not mentioned at all; Katie and Suri were not in the audience and did not appear
I came away from the show feeling a little better about Cruise, but not one mention was made of Tom’s religion, Scientology, in the entire show, and you can assume he’s moving away from being so outspoken about it. Katie and Suri did not appear on stage or in the audience, despite a story from an audience member in In Touch yesterday that they came on stage at the end.

Tom launches very good PR website
The thing that really influenced my opinion of Cruise, and I’m not going to act like it didn’t, was his new super slick website, TomCruise.com. It has a well-produced montage of clips from his films, none of which feature his ex wife Nicole Kidman in their work together, set to music. The guy can really act. Jerry Maguire is one of my favorite movies of all time. No mention of Scientology or any apologies or explanations are offered on the site. They really handled it well by focusing on his career and accomplishments.

I wrote a more lengthy story on the entire show which follows, so I’ll just add a break here and let you know that all the videos are at the end of the post.

Then they showed a clip of Cruise on Risky Business at the age of 19 doing his thing singing “Old Time Rock and Roll.”

Oprah clarified that Cruise made up that dance. Tom waxed the floor on his hands and knees and decided to put his socks on to make the dance smoother.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith talk about what a great guy Tom is
The show featured segments with Tom’s celebrity friends talking about his films and their experiences with him. The first celebrities shown were Will Smith and Jada. Jada, with a bizarre mullet 80s cut, explained that she got to know Tom when they both worked on the film Collateral, in which he was trying to kill her. She said that was intense but that “to me, nothing he’s done professionally could hold a candle to who he is as a human being and that’s real.”

Will said “I’ve met very few people who’ve made that commitment that when they leave they want the world to be better - period - because they’re here.”

When the camera cut back to Cruise, Oprah asked what the friendship with the Smiths meant to him and he said “everything, they’re just real true people and I love ‘em.” Yeah, they’re Scientologists too.

After the break Tom admitted that he sang his song from Top Gun, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” to Katie at their wedding after Oprah asked him specifically about it.

He said the best thing about making Top Gun was flying in the F15s, but that he’s been interested in airplanes his whole life.

Renee Zellweger calls Tom magical
They showed a clip from Jerry Maguire, and Renee Zellweger explained the “You Had Me At Hello” scene. She said Tom brought something with him that day. As for his personality she says that he has a heartfelt laugh. “You can’t dissect what makes Tom Cruise special. He just is. Hi Tom Cruise… I know that you’re a really good person. Congratulations.”

Cruise called Zellweger genuine. Oprah then threw him a super soft curveball and asked “What makes Tom Cruise nervous?”

He said that he gets excited, not nervous, making movies, and feels like he belongs there.

Victoria and David Beckham say one of their first dates was to Jerry Maguire
Victoria and David Beckham said that Jerry Maguire was special to them because it was one of their first dates. They said that Tom sent them the jacket he wore in the film and Victoria joked that David “hasn’t taken it off since.”

Jamie Foxx says Cruise came to him for advice, is bothered by stories about him
Foxx talked about “Born on the Fourth of July,” in which he says Tom departed from his movie style. He said “You saw how wide his acting muscle was.” He says Collateral changed his life. He joked that when his car crashed in the film people on set were more worried about Tom Cruise than him.

As for Tom’s past few years, he said “All the stuff that’s gone one the past couple years, it does affect him. He does feel it. Sometimes he will question ‘why’s it happening to me?’ you know. I said ‘you just keep being you, you keep being Tom Cruise and then you see him going through the worst of it and come out of it beautifully because he stays true to himself.”

Oprah asked about “Born on the Fourth of July” and Cruise’s Oscar nomination. He said people told him that it was a bad role choice and would ruin his career.

Dustin Hoffman distances himself from Tom
Hoffman was on for his segment and said that he farted in a closed phone booth while they were filming Rainman in 1988, and that they made it part of the scene. He said that it was his favorite scene in any movie he’s ever done.

Then Hoffman was slurping soup and joking that he had to eat lunch. He said “It’s a tribute that they thought you handsome enough to be my brother in the film. We were quote ‘brothers in the film’ but we were also brothers in life. It’s been extraordinarily painful experience for me not seeing you more often in these 20 years… We haven’t really connected. I hope you understand I’ve had to learn to cope.”

He kind of redeemed it by pretending to eat soup with a cut out version of Tom and saying they were going to go skydiving together, but despite the humor in the clip you can be sure that he’s making it clear that he’s not tight with Tom.

Dakota Fanning and Steven Spielberg pay tribute
Dakota Fanning was on and talked about being starstruck working with Cruise in War of the Worlds. She said he was very friendly to everyone and was always bumping fists. She said that Tom called her in the years after the film wrapped to “encourage or support me, or just to say hello” and that it meant a lot to her.

Oprah talked about how nice he is and how kind he is to the staff on his fims.

Steven Spielberg said that if he had to pick his favorite role of Toms, he wouldn’t pick one of his own films as that would be biased. He said Magnolia is “the deepest I’ve seen Tom go.” He said that Tom compels us to pay attention to him and “is a magnet”

The end part: laying it on thick
Oprah: “We all remember these films. We all remember going to the theater seeing these films.”

They fielded a question from an audience member about how Tom would spend a day off, and he said playing games with his family, going for a ride in his airplane and/or a hike, and having dinner at home and watching a movie.

Oprah: “They’re very normal. Lots going on at the same time.”

Another audience member asked Tom if he’d accomplished all his dreams. He said “I’m surprised how much I accomplished and I feel really privileged to be able to do what I do and I thank you all for allowing me to entertain you.” [Audience claps]

Oprah asked “25 years after Risky Business, isn’t it bigger than you’d ever dreamed?”

“Yes, as you go along you think ‘How can I keep challenging myself more?’ There’s always something else.’”

Oprah: “Do you feel most at home there? Like this is what you’re born to do?”

Tom: “I feel that this is what I’m supposed to do.”

Oprah: You Love It.

He says Suri calls him “Dada Cruise.”

Oprah gives the audience a boxed set of all of Tom’s 25 movies
Oprah: “Doesn’t this show make you want to go home and watch all of Tom’s movies.”

Then Oprah gave the audience a gift of all of Cruise’s movies and of course they screamed and yelled.

Here are the videos:

Part 1: Includes well wishes from Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.

Part 2: Includes segments with Renee Zellweger and Victoria and David Beckham offering congratulations.

Part 3: Includes segment with Jamie Foxx.

Part 4: Includes tribute from Dustin Hoffman

Part 5: Includes tributes from Dakota Fanning and Steven Spielberg

Part 6: Includes audience questions emphasizing how normal and grateful Cruise is for his success

Part 7: Oprah gives studio audience DVDs of all his movies.

Part 8: Cruise autographs box set for Nancy, his biggest fan

All photos courtesy of Oprah.com.

Amy Winehouse’s life has spun so completely out of control that she’s no longer able to work on her music anymore. At least if you ask her longtime producer and friend Mark Ronson. He worked on her Grammy-winning album “Back to Black,” and the pair had been in the studio off and on for the last month or so, trying to record the theme to the upcoming James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. However Mark had to scrap the plans, saying that Amy isn’t able to record music anymore.

Mark, 32, said: “We did work on it but we never finished it. I don’t think it will happen unless by some miracle it gets recorded and someone sings on it. I’m not sure Amy is ready to work on music yet.” The pair began collaborating on the track at Mark’s studio in Henley, Oxfordshire, last month but their sessions soon deteriorated.

Amy is upset that Mark, a key figure in her career who masterminded her second album Back To Black, has spoken publicly about their problems. And pals fear the rift will have long-term consequences for the troubled 24-year-old. One said: “Mark has always had a really good influence on Amy. He brought out the best in her and cared for her on a personal level.

“On a professional level he seems to be the only person who can get her into the studio. Without him encouraging her we’re worried.”

Amy’s spokesman said: “Mark presented a track to Amy, but she had other ideas about the direction it should take. We’re sure they will continue to make great music together.”

[From the Sun]

Everything else in Amy’s life has fallen apart. Until this most recent development, the only thing you could say Amy had going for herself was that at least she still had her music. Now that that’s no longer true… how much further does she have to fall before she officially reaches “rock bottom?” I’m not sure what’s left to get her to that point, except for more of the same.

When you list the things that normally bring a person to some sort of realization that things need to change, you normally think of things like overdoses, hospitalizations, fights, arrests, losing connections with family – all things Amy has gone through multiple times. Aside from the very worst, what else is left to happen here?

Here’s Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse performing at the Brit Awards on February 20th in London. Images thanks to WENN.

14 year-old child actress Dakota Fanning made an appearance at a ball for Lupus LA yesterday and she looked years older than the last time I remember seeing her. She has her braces off and she’s absolutely beautiful. The last event photos I could find of Fanning were from about a year ago and she looked like a little girl at that point.

Fanning has quite a few movies coming up, only one of which is in pre-production. She has Winged Creatures, Push, The Secret Life of Bees, and Coraline due for release and it’s possible she still looks like a little girl in those films since they’ve already been shot. In Coraline, which is in post production and is due out in February of next year, she plays a girl who discovers “an alternate version of her life,” and in The Secret Life of Bees she plays a 14 year-old girl who runs away from home and is befriended by a group of beekeeping women in 1960s South Carolina. That’s due out in October.

I guess that’s what happens when teenagers grow up, but it’s amazing to see the transformation in her. She’s sure to be taking on more teen roles. Fanning seems like a smart girl who has a lot of hobbies. Wikipedia lists her interests as knitting, swimming, piano, violin, ballet, and horseback riding. Hopefully she’ll stay involved with extra curricular activities and won’t let the cesspool of Hollywood suck her in as she gets older.

Dakota Fanning on 5/1/08

Dakota Fanning on 3/31/07

Kim Kardashian supports Barack Obama in his frustrating but noble bid for the presidency, and claims to have had dinner with him. Her reasoning for voting for the handsome senator from Illinois seems a bit shaky, but maybe she didn’t have a chance to properly explain herself. As for having dinner with Obama, she clarified to a confused E! reporter that she was at an event and it wasn’t like the two of them were alone, although it sounds like she wishes they were:

“I had dinner with him [Obama] once, and he just seemed very firm about the change, and that’s, like, his motto,” Kardashian said, referring to the slogan “Change We Can Believe In.”

Wait a second! Obama and Kardashian had dinner together?

Not exactly. When asked for more details, Kardashian quickly clarified, “It wasn’t just him and I. I was at an event.”

[From Marc Malkin's E! Online column]

Isn’t an endorsement from Kardashian like an endorsement from Heidi Montag? It’s not like they’re going to help get the word out or attract voters. Do they have fans that would be influenced by their political opinions? Because you can’t see those type of people actually voting. More power to them though I guess. We’re all for Obama here, which makes it more annoying that Kim Kardashian claims to have had dinner with him. I want to be the one to turn a fundraising dinner into a romantic evening alone by candlelight, fantasizing about America’s future as Obama speaks his sweet promises, reaching over the steak to lightly touch my hand.

In related Kim Kardashian news, the reality star is going to be “in a major studio film,” according to her own admission. It’s a comedy and E! Online reports that it’s “a spoof flick in the vein of Scary Movie.” Does that mean Kardashian is going to be playing herself? The film starts shooting in May in Louisiana. Look for less photos of Kim Kardashian shopping and tooling around LA during that time.

Kim Kardashian is shown on 4/10/08 at “National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many,” thanks to PRPhotos.

Countdown to drunken, paparazzi-courting, promiscuous shopaholic behavior justified by a massive sense of entitlement: Ali Lohan is about to appear in a film. The 14 year-old younger sister of Lindsay will play a role that’s similar to the teen characters her sister was known for before she got so much publicity for making out with various men and posing naked to support the arts.

The little Lohan also has a quote that makes you rub your eyes and hope she has enough sense to give herself the guidance she surely won’t get from her mother: she says she wants to “do what [Lindsay] does”:

Ali Lohan, Lindsay’s 14-year-old sister, has begun filming her first film project, Mostly Ghostly, in Los Angeles, PEOPLE has learned exclusively.

Ali’s role shares similarities with her older sister’s character in the 2004 film Mean Girls: She’ll play “a popular high school senior” in the film, says a source.

Ali told Teen Vogue in the April issue, “I grew up watching Lindsay. It made me want to do what she does. Just the whole vibe. Being there, being on camera, or onstage.”

The film, slated for release later this year, is based on the pre-teen book series Mostly Ghostly written by R.L. Stine, which centers on an 11-year-old boy who befriends two ghosts.

[From People.com]

I guess I shouldn’t really care about these people, but you can see the future for this girl and water bottles filled with vodka will be the least of her problems. She’s just 14, and you want to take her aside and give her some advice and a scholarship to a remote boarding school, but there’s only so much you can do. She wants to be like her older sister, but she can’t see that everyone is pointing and laughing at her sister, saying she looks and sounds like an old lady. Get emancipated from Dina, Ali, and stay away from your sister. You can carve out a meaningful life on your own terms, if only you realized how trapped you really are.

Ali Lohan is shown at a “youth center in Harlem where she was shooting scenes for the Livin’ Lohan reality show” on 3/27/08, thanks to Splash.