Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman on set

A couple of days ago, we heard that Jennifer Aniston had a “life coach” in the form of her long term acting coach, who was now advising her on major life decisions, like who to tell the tabloids she was dating. The “life coach” sounds like more of a good friend to me, and if Aniston likes getting her advice then more power to her. Sometimes I wish I had someone wise advising me on important matters too, but I think the real issue is that I’d rather have Aniston’s problems than my own. It would be nice to be worried about what multi-million three month long contract to take and which Brazilian tile to use in the guest house bathroom.

This week’s Star, and again I said Star, is reporting that Aniston’s good friend and yoga instructor, Mandy Ingber, is going to move into her newly renovated Beverly Hills mansion. Aniston is going to get a roommate! The best friends are “planning pool parties and barbeques” this summer and are looking forward to spending some quality time together. Ingber was recently seen in Hawaii, where Aniston flew her to the set of her movie Just Go With It, presumably to help her work out.

Jen has invited Mandy to move into her mansion back home in Beverly Hills, Star has learned exclusively.

After several failed relationships with men and with no new prospects on the horizon, Jen’s ready to make a change. “I think she thought, living with men hasn’t worked out for her in the past, so why not try a close friend?” says an insider. “Jen’s been wanting companionship.”…

Finally she asked 42-year-old Mandy, who is also single, to share her Zen-inspired home. She and Jen spend loads of time together as it is – not only do they hang out as friends, but Mandy also regularly travels with Jen on film shoots and vacations to guide her daily yoga session. “Jen offered Mandy a bedroom with her own bathroom,” says another insider. “She sees her as a friend, a sister, a confidante. Jen has cried on Mandy’s shoulder a lot of hte years, so she would do anything for her. Jen trusts Mandy implicitly.”

And Mandy certainly doesn’t mind the perks of living with the A-listers. “She loves it there because there’s a staff to take care of everything, like buying groceries and doing the laundry. It’s like a hotel,” adds the insider.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, May 17, 2010]

You know that the inevitable, “Aniston has a girlfriend” rumors will start to fly if this story is true. Aniston has always been close to her female friends, and I remember her telling David Letterman that she had about ten good girlfriends. She said back in December, 2008 that she realized as she got older that she didn’t have as much time for her friends. “There’s always those ten good solids [friends]. As you get older, the number gets smaller and you realize… you just don’t have enough time. Time is precious.”

That’s nice that she offered a place to Mandy and that they’ll soon be living together. They won’t have the typical roommate issues either like “Did you drink my entire bottle of 1987 Pinot Noir?” Aniston’s staff will make sure that the wine cellar and fridge are stocked while those two are off doing yoga, getting pedicures and gossiping.

When I looking for photos of Aniston and Mandy together I checked Mandy’s website. On her press section she includes the covers of all the magazines that have mentioned her, including tabloids which feature Jennifer Aniston and have titles like “Obsessed with Angie” and “Jen Gets Revenge.”

Update: Aniston’s rep has denied this report, and said “Mandy is not moving into Jen’s house.”

Mandy Ingber is shown below on 10/25/09. It’s not a flattering picture of her but is the only one I could find. Credit: WENN.com

After a commercial for The Late Show aired on Super Bowl Sunday, many were surprised. The commercial featured Letterman, of course, and Oprah (which is kind of cool that they’re now friends) and shockingly, Jay Leno. Leno has spent the past month or so taking a much-needed beating in the press, so it’s perfectly possible Leno was just trying to change the subject or simply do something weird. But still, very surprising.

Anyway, both Leno and Letterman spoke about the odd meeting on their shows last night. Letterman kept it jokey, telling his audience that the commercial confused his mom: “My mom called and said, ‘David, who was the guy with Oprah and Jay?’” Letterman also joked: “People thought it was really hot stuff. So I’d like to thank the actors who played Oprah and Jay Leno.” Meanwhile, Leno got a bit emotional talking about the meeting:

Whatever hard feelings exist between Jay Leno and David Letterman melted away last Tuesday when the two old friends — plus Oprah Winfrey — gathered in New York to shoot a much buzzed-about Super Bowl commercial. Both comedians talked about the ad on their respective shows Monday night, but it was Leno who spoke on a personal level about the meeting.

At his desk, Leno described walking into Letterman’s office at the Ed Sullivan Theater: “I see Dave and he puts his hand out and we shake hands … and you know, whatever happened in the last 18 years disappeared. It was great to see my old friend again.”

[From PopEater]

Well… that’s nice, I guess. I don’t know what game Leno is playing, honestly. Is he a guy who would rather bury the hatchet with David, or is he the cutthroat who would screw over anyone to get ahead? Is Leno the self-pitying hypocrite that we saw during the Conan O’Brien debacle, or was he just a guy who got stuck in a bad position by a corporation, and just fell on his sword? I can’t tell. Honestly.

It seems like people have been talking about a “Friends” reunion since before the show was even off the air. There have been all sorts of rumors about why it hasn’t happened; mostly having to do with which cast members weren’t on board. Supposedly there was always one holdout – Jennifer Aniston, perhaps? None of the other cast members would name names, but Jen has the biggest career of the six of them. Now Lisa Kudrow says the real hold outs are the show’s creators, who just don’t see any good coming from a “Friends” reunion.

Still hoping for a certain sextet to get back together for lattes, love and laughs at Central Perk?

The wait for a Friends reunion, sadly, might be forever.

Castmate Lisa Kudrow — a.k.a. Phoebe — broke the news to Usmagazine.com that “it doesn’t look like” a reunion for the blockbuster NBC sitcom will ever happen.

“Everyone is busy!” Kudrow explained at Sunday’s P.S. Arts Express Yourself event in Santa Monica, Calif.

The biggest objectors, Kudrow suggests, aren’t Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox or any of the actors, but the show’s original writer-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane. ” I guess they don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Not that Kudrow, 46, is completely sold, either: “It would be fun, but I don’t know. How? Why? Really?”

The highly-rated series — its six regulars ended up making $1 million per episode by the finale — ran from 1994 to 2004.

[From Us Weekly]

I really enjoyed the show when it was on and made sure I never had anything planned on Thursday nights as a result (sad, I know). But I agree with Lisa – how and why? They wrapped things up reasonably well, and their last few seasons were really good. There were some seasons in the middle that were absolutely awful, so it’s good that they got to go out on a high note. Why mess with that? People are going to be so critical of it, no matter what. The standards would be impossibly high.

I think the problem is that there are no traditional sitcoms left on the air that are any good. People miss the laugh track. Friends was reliable – even when it sucked, it was still better than most of the other stuff on television. It’s comforting and familiar, like that ex-boyfriend you migrate back to in between better guys. There’s nothing novel or interesting about it, but it can make a reappearance in your life every so often to fill in the gaps. That’s what reruns are for.

Here’s Lisa in Beverly Hills on November 3rd. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage in 1989. They were so hot! Credit: Gary Lewis/Bauergriffinonline

The National Enquirer has a story this week that could possibly be made up, but given Johnny Depp’s reputation as an all-around nice, generous guy I want to think it’s true. Nicolas Cage, who is now over six million in debt to the US government, is almost solely responsible for helping Johnny Depp get his start in show business. Johnny credits Cage with his phenomenal career because Cage is the person who first encouraged him to get into acting. The two were buddies in LA in early 80s, and Cage told Depp, then a musician, that he should give acting a try. The rest is history. According to the Enquirer, Depp heard about Cage’s money problems and gave him a call telling him he would help him out.

When bighearted Johnny, 46, learned of Nic’s troubles, he offered to give him “whatever he needs” to take care of his cash-flow woes, said a friend of Johnny’s.

“Johnny called Nic and basically told him, ‘Look, don’t worry. I’ll help you. You just let me know, all right?’” revealed the friend.

Nic, 4, was touched by the generous offer, but he has so far refused it.

“Johnny has always felt he owes a great debt to Nic, and now he’s ready to repay it – if Nic wants him to,” the source countinued.

Johnny was a down-on-his-luck guitar player with a rock ‘n roll band in the early ’80s when his first wife, a makeup artist, introduced him to Nic. Over a game of Monopoly, Nic suggested the struggling musician try acting.

Johnny later recalled in an interview: “I met (Nic’s) agent, and she sent me to read for a movie (“Nightmare on Elm street”) and they hired me.”…

“Johnny has never forgotten what Nic did for him,” added the source.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, November 23, 2009]

Cage could probably really use the help. Most of his luxury properties around the world are being auctioned off to pay his debts. TMZ reported yesterday that two of his homes in New Orleans are now up for auction.

In contrast to Cage’s lavish lifestyle, Johnny Depp lives a relatively low-key life with his longterm partner, Vanessa Paradis, and two children in the south of France. Depp has his share of high-end purchases, though. He owns a 45 acre island in the Bahamas and has wine-making facilities on his French estate. He can afford it. Depp made $72 million in 2007 alone.

Jessica and Ken Paves

One of the big stories yesterday was the alleged “date” between Gerard Butler and Jessica Simpson. Everything originated from Page Six, who had a source who claimed, “They were at a table with friends, but Jessica and Gerard, who sat next to each other, seemed to only be interested in each other and chatted for hours. They were laughing and flirting and eventually left together, along with Ken [Paves].” As many know, Ken Paves is totally Jessica’s gay BFF. I don’t mean that in any kind of coy frenemy way, I really do think Jessica and Ken love and adore each other, and I think they have a very genuine friendship. I’m not sure what it means for Jessica’s chances for getting laid, but I’d like to think that Ken would be able to read her signals and gracefully exit if it looked like she and Gerard needed some alone time.

Since Page Six broke the story, nearly every media outlet spent Thursday playing catch up and trying to through together as many anonymous quotes as possible. People Magazine had one of the bitchiest quotes, in my opinion. The “source” sounded like a woman scorned by Gerard. The source said: “I’m never surprised to hear that Gerard is with someone new. None of those relationships last. Certainly he’s not planning on settling down with Jessica Simpson … Gerard plays the field … and Jessica is lonely … and she lost weight and is looking good. Every time you hear about him out with someone, he’s flirting and ‘cozy’ with them and making googly eyes at them. Maybe that’s just what he does with everyone. Maybe that’s just how he is.” Bitchy, yes? I don’t know why the “source” didn’t just cut to the chase and say, “Gerard flirts with everyone, even fat girls like Jessica.” Which he does, by the way. Gerard is an equal opportunity horndog.

Other sources claimed some kind of variation on the “they’re probably just casual friends, I dunno, maybe sexy times?” Us Weekly’s “source close to Jessica” claims, “There is nothing romantic there at all.” Meanwhile, Radar had an interesting (and maybe true) take on the background of the dinner date. Radar claims that Gerard and Jessica were introduced through Jessica’s makeup artist Jeanna Robinette, who is apparently friends with Gerard (translation: he nailed her). Radar gives us this too: “They all had dinner together last week, too.” Hm… two dinners in two weeks. Interesting.

What’s their couple name, by the way? Gersica? Jessard? Or When Boobs Met Moobs? I have no idea. In any case, there’s some addition news on Gersica, separately. First, Jessica: In Touch Weekly has a nice little story about how Jessica is feeling really good about herself these days. She apparently told IT: “I am happy trying to get to know myself right now. No matter how much people try to bring me down, I am always getting back up. I don’t care what you say about me, I believe I’m beautiful.” Well, that’s nice. She’s not very bright, but she’s not nasty about anything. For the most part. And she and Ken Paves are also headed to India- home of lots of eligible bachelors who will probably be utterly charmed by Jessica’s ditziness.

Meanwhile, Gerry kind of announced that he will be taking a supporting role in a film version of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, with Ralph Fiennes as director and starring as Coriolanus. I saw this play many years ago at the Washington D.C. Shakespeare theatre and I loved it. I bet Ralph will do a good job with it, although he is a little too old for the lead. But whatever, two of my favorite men in the same movie! Hurray! William Hurt and Vanessa Redgrave have also signed on. Excellent. Jessica won’t get the story, though.

Header photo of Jessica and Ken Paves is from Jessica’s Twitter.

Rumors have resurfaced that a “Friends” movie, based on the hit NBC sitcom that ran for ten years, is in the works. “Friends” has been off the air for five years and it seems like we’ve been hearing stories of a big screen version ever since. Last year, The Daily Mail claimed that a Friends movie was forthcoming, and that it would be produced by Warner Brothers, a claim that Warner Brothers promptly denied. Now News of The World has a new interview with James Michael Tyler, who played cute bald barista Gunther at the show’s coffee house, Central Perk. Tyler allegedly confirms that a film is underway, and that everyone has signed on, including presumed holdout Jennifer Aniston:

Hugs all round – because we can reveal that Friends is back for a big-screen version of the hit sitcom.

Studio bosses have got together for an oversized mug of coffee to prepare a script for a film version of the series.

And they are ready to break the bank with a multi-million package to get the main cast on board.

In an exclusive interview with the News of the World, James Michael Tyler – who played Central Perk oddball Gunther – confirmed: “Friends: The Movie is definitely on. I still keep in touch with a lot of the cast and they say that they are really keen.”

The film comes in the wake of the big screen version of Sex And The City which took an astonishing $408,921,925 at the box office.

The cast have always made no secret about a desire to do a film and Lisa Kudrow said: “It would be so fun to be with all those people again.

“But our show was not like Sex and the City – ours was multi-camera, in front of a live audience.

“It’s a completely different feel. You’d have to bring the tone down, and I don’t know how it would be. I’ll just stay open.”

Meanwhile actor James, 47, who is in London for the launch of a Central Perk themed coffee shop in Soho, is keen to reprise his role as Gunther on the big screen.

He said: “The one thing I can tell you is that I am definitely on board to do the film.

“I really loved my time on the show and I am looking forward to meeting up with the old gang again.

“I just hope we can do justice to the show in a film.”

[From News of The World]

Jennifer Aniston is just about the only castmember who seems busy and successful enough to want to avoid a film version of “Friends.” She’s been gracious to the show that helped launch her career but has said several times that she’s moved on and doesn’t want to do a movie. Aniston has her own production company and according to IMDB she has three films in post production and a whopping seven films in development. I doubt she has the time or inclination to remind us yet again how well she plays Rachel Green. Courtney Cox has a new sitcom, “Cougar Town,” that premiered last week and is doing well in the ratings. (I saw it and thought it was goofy and trying too hard, but people seem to like it.) She isn’t that booked and would probably gladly do a “Friends” movie. The other cast members, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer, have all kind of floundered in their careers post-”Friends” and would probably love to a do a film.

That said, it’s possible that News of the World is either making this up (they’ve been known to fabricate entire interviews) or that they’re twisting Tyler’s words to make it sound like a movie is in the works when all he said was that he’d be open to it. It seems like all the latest films are based on old ideas and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in the works, but I won’t believe it until I hear confirmation from a reliable source. “Friends” was a great show, though, and I would definitely go see the movie if this is true.

Images are random Friends screencaps, with some credit FriendsCafe.org

Poor Jessica Simpson. We haven’t thrown a pity party for her in a while, but I just found a good enough reason for one. The National Enquirer is reporting (in Mike Walker’s gossip column) that no fewer than three of Jessica’s friends have admitted that Tony Romo hit on them and kissed them… while Tony and Jessica were still together. Oh… poor Jess. Apparently, it was like Tony’s “thing” to hit on all of Jess’s friends at parties – but it doesn’t sound any of them slept with Tony. Maybe they just kissed and drunkenly groped each other? Ew. That could not have been pleasant.

Girlfriends trying to “comfort” JESSICA SIMPSON post-breakup helpfully divulged that dog TONY ROMO hit on not one…not two…but THREE of them while he and Jess were still together!

One friend told her: “We were at a party when you were out of town and I ran into Tony. We were friendly, just talking. But the more he drank, the more friendly he got. Finally, he said, ‘You know, you and I should get together – Jessica doesn’t need to find out!’”

Others said Tony would get “all grabby and kissy-face,” but they’d push him away.

The girls never told Jessica, knowing she’d “kill the messenger…or confront Tony, who’d swear the girls were hitting on him, and a stupid war would start,” said the friend.

“This is tearing Jessica apart. Every guy she’s been with lately, like JOHN MAYER and Tony, have had womanizing issues. She’s picking ‘em worse, not better.”

[From the National Enquirer]

I was totally in love with a guy like this once. I mean, this guy was like my soul mate (in my mind) but he had a thing about flirting with my friends, and he even crossed the line with one of my roommates. It totally sucked – it destroyed both the friendship and the quasi-relationship I had with the guy. It’s devastating enough when a guy cheats on you – but when it’s with one of your friends, the anger and betrayal is intense. I tend to think Jessica already has horrible friends (just because good girlfriends would have told her to act differently a long time ago), but this should be Jess’s dealbreaker for friendship. Yes, Tony was a douche for cheating and trying to cheat… but good girlfriends don’t keep quiet about that stuff, and they definitely don’t kiss your boyfriend. They all need to go too.

Jessica and Tony are shown on 4/11/09. Credit: PRJ/Fame Pictures

As Madonna has taken her “Sticky & Sweet” tour to Europe, her little Brazilian boy toy has been at her side the whole time. Of course, according to sources, their relationship is more employee to employer at this point. Manny to mother of four, or perhaps Jesus represents Madge’s oldest child, the one prone to temper tantrums. We’ve already heard that Madonna and Guy are patching things up, reconnecting and maybe even getting back together (which I doubt). And now the Daily Mail is declaring an end to the spring-winter relationship of Jesus Luz and Madonna. Apparently, while on tour, Madonna sat Jesus down and gave him the “just friends” talk. If she said it in French, she would have gotten the Bradley Cooper Award.

It was only going to be a matter of time before Madonna tired of her latest plaything.

And I can now report that the Material Girl has ended her relationship with 22-year-old Brazilian model Jesus Luz after just seven months.

The 50-year-old has told Jesus, whose career was given a huge boost by the affair, that she ‘doesn’t have enough time for him’ now she is touring Europe.

A pal told me: ‘Jesus has been accompanying Madonna on tour but they have been staying in separate hotel rooms. Jesus is doing everything he can to persuade Madonna they should stay together. He’s hanging in there like a lost puppy.’

‘Chances are they will be seen out again together, as it’s good for both their images, but Madonna has made it clear it’s only a friendship.’

[From Daily Mail]

Madonna then told Jesus “It’s me, not you… I need to work on myself.” She then added “I’m just not in a relationship place right now.” She finished the lecture with, “But of course you get to keep all of your toys and modeling contracts.”

Some of us make a lot of jokes about Madonna, the Bingo-Winged One, but I always have to give her a shovel-full of grudging respect. It’s no surprise that Madge and Jesus didn’t last – but how else could it have ended? Only this way – with Madonna getting bored with Jesus, and him begging to stay. Well done, Madge. You hit it and quit it.

Madonna and Jesus are shown out with designers Dolce and Gabbana in Milan on 7/14/09. Credit: INFPhoto.com

Cameron and Drew at Coachella in 2007. Credit: PRPhotos

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz met for the first time when Drew was casting Charlie’s Angels, more than a decade ago. Almost instantly, Drew and Cameron became friends, vacationing together, hanging out endlessly, and in general, just being each other’s total BFF. But something happened last year. Drew broke off her relationship with Justin Long while Cameron was getting hot and heavy with British model Paul Sculfor. Second, Drew started working on Grey Gardens, which she has since admitted threw her for a loop emotionally. Drew told W Magazine that she cut a lot of people out of her life while she was making that film, and that it took her months to shake the character of Little Edie. One of those people who allegedly got cut out was Cameron.

Since then, the old Drew has returned. She seemed like her old self when she described herself as a “good time gal” to David Letterman a few months ago. She got back together with Justin Long. But still, there have been persistent rumors that Drew and Cameron have failed to bury whatever hatchet ripped them apart. Until now!

Drew Barrymore recently rekindled her longtime friendship with Cameron Diaz, and it’s all thanks to her boyfriend, Justin Long.

Last summer, during “Drew’s dark period,” as one friend describes it, after she broke up with Justin, she also distanced herself from Cameron.

“She was going through some personal issues, and her friendships and relationships just weren’t her priority,” the friend says.

But Drew’s back to her old happy self again, so Justin, 31, suggested she extend an olive branch to Cameron.

“They’re friends again, not BFFs yet, but friends,” the friend adds. “It will take a while for things to get back to where they were, but it will happen.”

[From In Touch, print edition, July 27 2009]

I like Drew and Cameron as besties. They make sense together. To me, they both seem like ditzy, klutzy, giggly girly-girls. But I guess both of them are growing up, maturing, and maybe neither wants to have the same kind of friendship they used to have. I’m not sure if I buy that Justin Long is the one who convinced Drew to reconnect, but if he did, he’s a great guy. I hope they realize that they can go back to being best friends without being stuck each other’s backsides, you know? They don’t have to do everything together, but they can still be very close. Team Dremeron.

Cameron Diaz is shown outside The Daily Show on 6/25/09. Drew Barrymore is shown on the NY set of her film Going The Distance on 7/14/09. She is also shown filming with Justin Long, who co-stars, on 7/13/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

Good friends Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz went out to dinner last night in London. And to be honest, both of them sure looked the worse for wear. In fact they appeared utterly exhausted – to the point you couldn’t help but wonder why they’d left the house at all. The pair met when they costarred in the film “The Good Night” together last year.

Catching up with old friends is always a pleasure, but for Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz it seems to have left them exhausted. The actresses looked ready for bed as they left the upmarket Zuma restaurant in Knightsbridge last night.

Penelope rubbed her eyes as Gwyneth drove them home in her car, with no limousine driver in sight. And without their designer frocks and made-up faces the two were barely recognisable as the A-listers who stalk the red carpet.

The pair are old friends, and starred together in The Good Night last year. Spanish actress Penelope normally makes her home in Los Angeles, but often visits her family in Europe.

American actress Gwyneth, meanwhile, lives with her Coldplay frontman husband Chris Martin in London. This year she returned to work after taking a career break to raise children Apple, four, and Moses, two. At the time she admitted being apprehensive about going back into the cut-throat film industry.

[From the Daily Mail]

Penelope looks much more out of it than Gwyneth, who drove them both home. She looks like she wants to curl up in the backseat and fall asleep. If they weren’t two of the most beautiful, wealthy, and famous women in the world, I’d almost feel badly for them. Gwyneth doesn’t look super tired so much as she looks angry. Maybe they were just sick of the paparazzi and doing their best to ignore them. Let’s hope they had a nice meal, nonetheless.

Here’s Gwyneth and Penelope driving away from Zuma restaurant in Knightsbridge, London last night. Images thanks to Splash.