Fox News’ Roger Friedman has a pretty good track record with exclusive stories, and he’s reporting that David Duchovny wasn’t technically cheating on Téa Leoni, his wife of 11 years. Many people speculated that there must have been some infidelity involved since Duchovny is in rehab for a sex addiction. According to a source quoted by Friedman, Duchovny was addicted to online porn, and was spending a lot of time in sexy cyber fantasy land. Duchovny made the decision to announce the situation because someone in rehab was able to tell the press that Duchovny was getting treatment there. Friedman also reports that the couple does plan to move to Manhattan once Duchovny is out of sex rehab:

“X Files” star David Duchovny’s announcement that was he was in rehab for sex addiction sparked a lot of rumors. One of them was that he’d been caught having an affair with his tennis instructor (a woman) and that he was undergoing rehab to save his marriage.

Alas, it isn’t so, says a close friend. Duchovny did not check in because of an extramarital fling. That much the friend is certain of. Even more so: Duchovny’s problem has been longstanding. His wife, Tea Leoni, was aware of it for some time. It had just reached a point where it had to be treated.

I have inferred from my conversation with Duchovny’s friend that this has something to do with an addiction to pornography, probably on the internet. It’s the sex equivalent of a gambling addiction, where the person is just hopelessly trapped in chat rooms…

By the way, I’m told that David issued that press statement about his rehab because the tabloids were about to issue their own story. What happened: A fellow patient “dropped a dime” on David to make some extra coin. Nice confidentiality!

Duchovny is not having the greatest summer. His “X Files: I Want to Believe” has been a bust, with just $20 million in the till after a month in release. Waiting ten years for a sequel has proved to be a mistake. The audience simply moved on.

When Duchovny is done with the rehab, I’m also told that he and Tea and their kids will complete their move to Manhattan’s Upper East Side from Hollywood. They will be very welcome here, as Tea is much in demand work-wise. Duchovny will have more “Californication” and plenty of offers. New York doesn’t solve all your problems, but it’s a much more realistic place to live than Los Angeles.

[From Fox News via Huffington Post]

People Magazine reports that Téa Leoni has canceled her appearance at the Toronto Film Festival, which starts Thursday, where she was due to promote her film Ghost Town.

If all this is true, and Duchovny was just addicted to Internet porn, it seems like something that’s a personal matter and that he’s dealing with it and shouldn’t have received as much flack as he did.

Is it cheating to get off with someone other than your spouse online? Where do you draw the line? Looking at porn, like movies or photos, is pretty common and seems harmless, but what if your spouse was text-chatting and having cyber sex with someone else? Is it cheating if there’s voice chat or a webcam involved? There are so many ways to connect with people now, and I’ve heard a lot of stories of people leaving their spouses for someone they’ve met online. It’s just a fantasy, though, and when cheating husbands and wives take it to the next level and shack up with the person they met online (or at work) they often find out that once reality sets in they’re no better off with their new partner than they were with their last. At least Duchovny didn’t go that far, if this report is to be believed.

David Duchovny is shown at the X Files – I want to believe premiere in London on 7/30/08. Credit: WENN

High end shoe retailer Johnston & Murphy has made the decision to no longer display in-store ads featuring new spokeman X-Files star David Duchovny, 48. Duchovny announced last week that he was suffering from a sex addiction and was currently in rehab for treatment. The actor has two children and has been married for 11 years to actress Téa Leoni. According to the NY Post, the NY store on Madison Ave. is no longer displaying the Duchovny ads, with a store employee saying that “We got the call from corporate this morning to take him down.”

Duchovny’s campaign was a new one for the retailer, and their press releases ahead of the August launch touted the actor’s image and even tied him to the brand, using the tagline, Johnston, Murphy & Duchovny:

The X-Files: I Want to Believe opened in an underwhelming fourth place among the top ten movies this past weekend, but actor David Duchovny is No. 1 at men’s sportswear, footwear and accessories company Johnston & Murphy, where he will star in a national campaign breaking in August.

The effort, via Toth Brand Imaging, Cambridge, Mass., is anchored by a print campaign that will launch in September issues of such publications as Esquire, Forbes, Fortune and Men’s Health. Support includes Internet and POP. Spend for the campaign was not disclosed.

The ads show Duchovny, with a pensive look on his face, wearing Johnston & Murphy sportswear and shoes and, in some creative, accompanied by accessories such as a briefcase and other leather goods. Text reads: “Johnston, Murphy & Duchovny.”

The effort is part of the company’s recent strategy to rejuvenate the 157-year-old brand “by portraying a fresher, more dynamic and relevant image in the marketplace, as well as promote emerging categories such as luggage, small leather goods and outerwear.” Former ads have featured musician Ziggy Marley, BMX rider Mat Hoffman and football star Tiki Barber.

“We’re thrilled to have David Duchovny as part of our ad campaign,” Jason Dasal, vp-marketing at Johnston & Murphy, Nashville, Tenn., said in a statement. “David embodies success and confidence, along with a great sense of style, communicating the ideal image for the Johnston & Murphy brand.”

[From Brandweek]

I wonder if Duchovny’s contract had any stipulations about his personal life. You can see why the brand wouldn’t want to be associated with him after this, and I bet the person who came up with that pitch is kicking themselves for tying it so closely to Duchovny’s character. At least he has his legs crossed in the ads, although he looks kind of skeevy to me now considering what I know about him.

David Duchovny, 48 but looking 10 years younger and acting 20 years younger, has entered rehab for sex addiction. The X-Files actor has been the rumored subject of several blind items this summer, and has apparently been cheating on his wife of 11 years, Tea Leoni. The couple has two children, Madelaine, 9, and Kyd, 6.

David Duchovny has entered a rehabilitation center for sex addiction, his lawyer, Stanton “Larry” Stein, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“I have voluntarily entered a facility for the treatment of sex addiction,” the actor says in an exclusive statement. “I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family.”

[From People.com]

Is sex rehab what some couples do instead of breaking up or going to counseling? There are a lot of examples of people being addicted to sex to the degree that it interferes with their ability to function, and particularly with their long term relationships. On one side I hope he gets help and is able to work out whatever issues he has with Leoni. On the other I want to tell Tea to kick his cheating ass out and take half his assets.

Here are two blind items that came out recently that may point to Duchovny:

Which married TV star whose big summer movie just bombed is sleeping with his tennis instructor on the side? His wife has no idea her hubby is scoring on and off the court.

[Star Magazine, print edition, August 18, 2008 via Jezebel]

Which star of an upcoming blockbuster flick is a huge cad despite his image as a family man? Word is the actor is getting a little too touchy-feely with the ladies.

[NY Daily News, May 14, 2008]

Duchovny also gave an interview to Best Life, published in May, 2008 in which he briefly talked about infidelity and about his past inability to stay in a committed relationship:

“Men are so scared and ashamed of the feelings they have sometimes,” says Duchovny. “The worst thing a man can admit is ‘I’m not 100 percent fulfilled by my family.’ But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love his family. I love my family, but I still want to work, I still want challenges. It took me a while to fall in love with the responsibility of family life, and it was a deep thing when I did. But I also want to run back to the cave sometimes. Forever…

“Twelve years ago, I would have been hard-pressed to understand why I’d want to be involved sexually with one person this long,” he says, cracking off a piece of carob-pecan cookie. “Before Téa, the longest my intense sexual interest would last would be maybe two years. But the thing men don’t realize is, that initial rush you get from sex gives way to something else. A lot of guys run with fear when that intensity starts to fade, but the real rewards of a relationship come after you’ve been together a while. That’s where Téa and I are lucky. It keeps getting deeper. It’s kind of exciting. I’m as surprised as anybody.”

A sudden hush seems to fall over the restaurant, as if everyone is straining to hear the follow-up to this sex talk. I quietly ask him the famous Jimmy Carter question about whether he lusts in his heart for other women. “I’m not running for president, so I don’t have to answer that question, but there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the panoply of life’s rich experience,” he says. “And if my wife were sitting here, she’d say the same thing. The only thing that matters is your word and whether you live up to it or not. You can’t control your mind. Why would you want to? You can’t feel guilty about being alive, about being a man, about feeling attracted. You can only control your actions.”

Duchovny sits in silence. He never knows when he’s said too much. There was the time he confessed to a reporter about his fascination with hotel porn (“I like to watch other people f–k” was the exact quote) and rumors swirled that he was a sex addict. He’s not. Then he said something about “400 inches of rain a day” in Vancouver, where The X-Files was shooting at the time, and half of Canada wanted him deported.

[From BestLifeOnline via orlybb on ONTD]

Duchovny also said in that same interview that Tea was planning a move for the family from LA to NY in September of this year. I wonder if that’s still happening now that her husband is in rehab right around the time they were supposed to move.

The second season of Duchovny’s Showtime series, ironically titled Californication, premieres on September 26.

Here are David Duchovny and Tea Leoni out to dinner on 9/28/07. They are seen charging their electric car! That’s cool. Credit: Fame Pictures. Duchovny is also shown at the X-Files premiere in London on 7/30/08. Credit: WENN, and the premiere in LA on 7/23/08, credit: Fame

The X-Files Gillian Anderson makes pregnancy sound pretty sweet. According to her, she spends most of her time laying around on her butt and eating. Which makes the morning sickness sound significantly less awful. Though I think a lot of us do that without being pregnant too… sad. Gillian has been doing a lot of promotion for the X-Files moved I Want to Believe. Which I can imagine can be pretty strenuous, especially when you’re pregnant. But she seems to have held up pretty well, and is just enjoying her pregnancy and keeping it pretty stress-free.

No working out for Gillian Anderson — who is expecting a child in October.

“The only thing I do when I’m pregnant is eat and sit on my butt!” the X-Files: I Want to Believe star, 39, told Usmagazine.com at the movie’s Hollywood premiere Wednesday. (The flick opens Friday.)

“I’m not really craving anything, but there’s the lazy part of me that thinks, ‘What’s the point in working out until I have the baby?’ Then we’ll actually do something!” she said.

“I know that’s not necessarily the right way to look at it,” she added, “but that’s just me.”

Anderson told Us besides having “a couple of films coming out later in the year that I’ll do some promotion for,” she plans on focusing her life on mommyhood.

She and beau Mark Griffiths are already parents to son Oscar, 20 months. She also has a daughter Piper, 13, from a prior marriage.

[From Us Weekly]

Anderson’s co-star David Duchovny made a bit of a stir by not showing up with his wife, Tea Leoni, at the premiere. He also claimed that he saw a UFO in 1982, but he was really stressed at the time. Which makes it rather unclear as to whether or not he thinks he saw a UFO.

Here’s Gillian and David at the premiere of “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” in Hollywood last night. Images thanks to PR Photos.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are filing a suit, claiming that the television show Californication infringes on their trademark and creates unfair competition between the band and television show.

“‘Californication’ is the signature CD, video and song of the band’s career,” band frontman Anthony Kiedis said in a statement. “For some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right.”

Named as defendants are Showtime Networks, Twilight Time Films, Aggressive Mediocrity and Tom Kapinos. They were not immediately available for comment.

U.S. Trademark Office records show that Showtime filed an application to trademark “Californication” as an ongoing television series, but the rights have not yet been granted. Federal registration is not essential to claim rights in a mark.

Band members want the show to stop using the name and to turn over any profits made by using it.

[From Billboard]

So, Californication is the signature tune of the band? I guess that kind of depends on how old you are, since for me it is definitely ‘Under the Bridge’, with that video clip featuring Anthony Keidis shirtless, running down the beach…Where was I?

Interestingly, “Californication wasn’t released as the lead single from the album, which is unusual as it is also the title track. It was actually the forth single from the album released, almost a year after the first, which was the grammy award-winning ‘Scar Tissue’.”

Still, the album has featured on a whole heap of surveys, like Rolling Stone’s 100 albums you should hear before you die, and topped FHM’s list of the best albums of the last ten years. The album also signaled the comeback of the Chili Peppers after their less than stellar effort on One Hot Minute, and got a rave review in Rolling Stone. All this reminds me how cool the album actually was.

This is not the first time a band has filed a suit against a television show because of the show’s title, Living Color sued the show In Living Color unsuccessfully, for similar reasons, which is how I predict this will pan out for the Chilis. After all, Californication is in the dictionary now, they can hardly claim to own the term. Unfortunately relentless googling hasn’t revealed who invented the term, but apparently the term was never trademarked by the band in 1999 when the album was released, and Showtime are trying to trademark the term for the show.

Here’s the definition of the term from the Urban Dictionary:

Californication definition: The spread and influence of western memes and culture, esp. that of California, across the world. Especially focusing on the selling of sex. Made of the words “California” and “fornication”

[From Urban Dictionary]

Additional information from Wikipedia.

The 90s are back, and with them comes the X-Files. Maybe. While out promoting his new television show Californication, David Duchovney said he and the female lead Gillian Anderson, as well as director Chris Carter were signed on. This isn’t the first time David has mentioned a sequel to the television series and movie, and no release date has been confirmed. The truth is out there. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

“I’m supposed to see a script next week,” he said during a session promoting his new Showtime show, Californication. “I’m actually supposed to see it next week. Before I would just say that because they told me.”

Duchovny reports that the Scully to his Mulder, Gillian Anderson, will reprise her FBI agent/skeptic role, and series creator Chris Carter is due back to direct and cowrite the film with series vet Frank Spotnitz.

“Chris is going to direct it. Gillian is on board and I’m on board,” he said. “I’ve been talking to Chris and he has been giving me progress reports. He actually called yesterday and said next week you should have something to read.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what he did.”

E! News

Like all the other X-Philes out there, I’m really hoping Mr X and Smoking Man make an appearance, and what happened to Mulder and Scully’s son William after he was adopted? Will Scully get cancer again? Will the sexual tension between the two agents reach a climax? This was the perfect show, combining sci-fi and soap opera.

According to the (very long and detailed) pages on Wikipedia, the show has a huge following even now. I remember when Gillian Anderson was such a sex symbol, around the same time Teri Hatcher was the most downloaded image when wearing just superman’s cape. All that suited steaminess, now we’ve just got Girls Gone Wild and crotch-baring celebrities.