Star magazine is claiming that Katie Holmes wants a trial separation of sorts from Tom Cruise. And really, could you blame the poor dear? By Star’s account, Katie has finally had it with Tom and his maniacally controlling ways. I’m guessing her shopping budget just isn’t enough to compensate for being married to a crazy person anymore. Star is still claiming that Katie is in final negotiations to star in All My Sons on Broadway, and wants to move to Manhattan as part of a trial separation. Tom has told her it’s fine if she goes – but he’s coming with her.

Star also says that part of the reason Katie wants a separation is that she and Tom have been locked in a power struggle over how to raise Suri. Tom wants to make all the rules –which doesn’t sound like any big surprise.

… According to our sources, Katie, who was offered a role on Broadway, is trying to break away from her controlled life under the watchful eyes of her husband and move to Manhattan in what will be a sort of trial separation.

“She desperately needs to be on her own for a while, but there’s no way Tom is going to let her take Suri away,” an insider tells Star. “There’s no way he’ll allow it. He just doesn’t want Katie — or Suri — out of his sight for long. He told her that if she goes to New York, fine, but he goes with her.”

[From Star]

As much as I’d love this to be true, it sounds like complete B.S. Celebitchy pointed out that the tabloids are always quick to write a “marriage in trouble” story whenever a couple so much as takes a vacation apart. Star is one of the worst offenders. The Daily News noted today that although Tom and Katie are staying in different states right now, everything seems to be fine with the couple.

Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes have been living apart, we hear, but not because of any marital discord. Sources say the renovation at their L.A. manse has given Holmes and daughter Suri an excuse to visit the couple’s Telluride villa. Cruise, who has to stay in town for work, is said to be decamped to his luxe quarters at the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre.

[From Rush & Molloy]

So the more reliable parties are saying everything is fine and dandy in TomKat land. I had my hopes up, but really, thinking wifebot Katie Holmes would grow a pair and leave Tom Cruise is probably too much to hope for.

Here’s Katie Holmes leaving Joan’s on Third after lunch on March 16th. Images thanks to WENN.

Reports that Johnny Depp was offered $10 million to be the front man for Trojans Magnum condom range recently hit the gossip press. Oh yes, we all believe Johnny could fill the role. (Pun intended.)

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, 44, would be expected to appear in a series of offbeat TV commercials for the company’s new Magnum range, according to the Star

Sadly despite U.K.’s Daily Star and Fox News stories on the marriage of dirty pirate hotness and big boy prophylactics, it is not true. It is a damn shame. The rumor stated that the slogan ad executives were toying with was “Stand up with Johnny for Safer Sex.” Kinda lame, but cheers for the safe sex angle.

Sources close to Johnny stated that he was considering the job, but his reps vehemently deny his involvement with bthe rand. Depp is known for his humanitarian efforts and finds the promotion of safe sex to be vital and a positive influence. Yet there seems to be a lack of fact checking on someone’s part.

“There is no truth to this,” says the spokeswoman, Robin Baum. “He has not been approached.”

[Mixed Media]

Why don’t they just print Johnny’s face on the condoms? That should cause a demand for them that exceeds the cost of a potential lawsuit. Oh, come on! We all have the Jack Sparrow shivering-our-timbers fantasy.

I guess I’m an old lady, because I barely know who JC Chasez is, and have absolutely no idea who this Chace Crawford person is. All I know is, he has a soap opera name and he is prettier than most girls I know. Anyway, these two marginally famous pretty boys insist that they are nothing more than straight friends, despite rumors circulating to the contrary.

Get it straight: JC Chasez and Chace Crawford aren’t dating.

The former NSYNC singer, 31, debunked Internet rumors linking him to the Gossip Girl hottie, 22, on Kiss-FM 104.7 on Wednesday.

“For the record, we’re both straight,” Chasez declared. “We’re not dating.”

Chasez — who called Crawford a “super nice guy” — said he understands why people may think they’re an item.

“The only time people usually see us together is in some type of photograph, so they just assume that it’s like that,” he said.

“If I’m dating a girl and I’m standing next to another girl, I’m having an affair,” Chasez went on.

“So now, since there hasn’t been any of that smoke out there, if I’m hanging out with a guy, they’re going to make up a rumor.

“It’s just stupid.”

[From Us Weekly]

I’ve never seen Chasez standing next to a girl– unless you count Justin Timberlake. Anyway, Chace’s relationship with beard- uh, American Idol Carrie Underwood, is over.

Carrie Underwood and Chace Crawford have split, sources confirm to Usmagazine.com.

The American Idol winner, 25, and the Gossip Girl star, 22, had been dating since last July, but did not go public with their romance until October.

Underwood had spent Thanksgiving at his parents’ home in Dallas and part of her Christmas break with his relatives.

An insider told Us Weekly in December, “His parents are fond of her… they believe ‘Carrie Crawford’ would be a great addition to the family!”

“She’s a classy girl,” Crawford told Us in October.

[From Us Weekly]

I’m sure all of you in CelebitchyLand will sleep better tonight knowing that these two are straight, and that Chace is, in fact, available. Here’s my question: how in the world did these two meet- at a day spa or something? Also: when did anyone start caring about either of them? I can’t remember the last time JC Chasez did anything relevant, and this Chace kid is on a brand new CW show that I’ve never even heard of.

While most celebrities claim to hate gossip and say they never visit celebrity websites or read anything in the papers, a few will admit to what we suspect a lot of them suffer from: a gossip addiction, just like the rest of us. Last fall Kanye West said he was a big fan of our friends Bossip, and then started his own blog a few days later. Now even ice queen Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she follows the tabloids and is just as addicted as the rest of us.

“There’s obviously an appetite for gossip,” she told Britain’s Daily Mail Weekend Magazine. “It’s very addictive to see what people are doing and wearing and saying – and who is breaking up.”

The actress went on to describe the outrage of an unnamed friend who had been dating another celebrity and read an inaccurate item about the romance in a New York tabloid.

“Then he turned the page of the same newspaper and said, ‘My God, have you seen who’s together?’” she told the magazine. “So we’re all at it, aren’t we?”

[From People]

Gwyneth has been the subject of a good deal of gossip over the years, and not just for her ice queeny nature. She’s not often photographed with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, leading many to speculate that their marriage is in trouble. But Gwyneth reassures us all is okay – it’s just that she doesn’t like to be seen with her husband in public. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t consider that a sign of the most healthy relationship. Paltrow also says she wants to have two more children in rapid succession a few years down the line.

But Paltrow, 35, is quick to quash rumors of any trouble in her marriage to Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Although they are rarely photographed out and about, she explained, “We’re not into doing stuff in public together.”

Away from the cameras though, she insisted, it’s a different story.

“I love the house,” Paltrow said of the North London home the couple bought from fellow actress Kate Winslet and her husband, director Sam Mendes. Paltrow – mother to daughter Apple, 3, and son Moses, 1 – also admitted she’s thinking of expanding her family. In four years, she dreams of having “two-in-a-row, really quick again,” while Martin would like to adopt.

So which will it be? The actress, who recently finished filming The Good Night with her brother Jake, told the Mail, “I’m open to anything.”

[From People]

What a free-flowing, easy spirit you are Gwyneth Paltrow. You never change, just like your hair. Gwyneth claims her marriage is in good working order, and it very well may be. People have been speculating for years that there’s trouble, and yet the two have remained together. For some odd reason, it may very well be that she doesn’t like to be seen in public with Martin much. Maybe she thinks it keeps photographers away? I’d speculate that it makes them follower her more, and makes gossips speculate negatively about her. Maybe she should lighten up, if for no other reason than to show her kids that daddy’s not a pariah.

Picture note by Jaybird: Okay even I have to admit that these photos are way too adorable. Here’s Gwyneth playing with Moses in Barcelona on October 24th. Images thanks to PR Photos.