Okay, don’t hate me, but I had absolutely no idea that John Cusack was on Twitter. That makes me think highly of Twitter, honestly. I wouldn’t have thought that Cusack would be into it, but apparently he is, and apparently, he’s a horrible speller. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Cusack has birthed strange words like “breakfasy” and “hippocrite” and has given a more literary title to his new movie: “Hot Tub Tome Machine.”” Most people ignore his horrible spelling, but some people bitch and complain, writing things like “If you’re going to be political, maybe learn how to spell Pakistan, and all words in general.” This whole thing has become such a big deal (probably not) that the NYT interviewed John about the Grammar Police and how he feels about them (below is my edited version):

JOHN CUSACK tweets with his iPhone and, much like the characters he plays, his style is fast and loose. “I’m pretty new to it, and if there’s a spell check on an iPhone, I can’t find it,” he said by telephone. “So I basically get in the general ballpark and tweet it.”

“The vitriol was so intense that at first I didn’t think they were serious,” Mr. Cusack said. “Because, like, who would care?”

They do. A small but vocal subculture has emerged on Twitter of grammar and taste vigilantes who spend their time policing other people’s tweets — celebrities and nobodies alike. These are people who build their own algorithms to sniff out Twitter messages that are distasteful to them — tweets with typos or flawed grammar, or written in ALLCAPS — and then send scolding notes to the offenders. They see themselves as the guardians of an emerging behavior code: Twetiquette.

For his part, Mr. Cusack has refused to be silenced. In early April he issued an ultimatum, threatening to block from his account anyone who sniped at his spelling or grammar.

It didn’t work. The people he blocked would return with new account names, “and they’d behave like cranky, obsessive trolls,” Mr. Cusack said.

He has been trying a new strategy, he explained by e-mail: first, he spells things wrong on purpose to get the critics riled up, and then “I blockthem executioer style now with no warning!!”

[From The NYT]

Well… how do I put this mildly… TEAM CUSACK. I’m all for good grammar and everything, but I’m a horrible speller and when I’m writing, I often make grammatical errors and copyediting mistakes. Sometimes I pick up on them myself, sometimes one of you will point out a mistake. What bothers me is a Grammar Police person who is really snide about pointing out a mistake (of mine or anyone else). I don’t care if someone is like, “Hey, psst… it should be ‘convoluted’ not ‘convuhiuh’.” That’s fine, and thank you for pointing it out, and I correct it and it’s cool, everybody’s human. What I hate is the attitude of “Don’t you proofread you dumb bitch?” By the way, if you write that, I’m probably going to ban your cranky, obsessive troll ass, just like John.

This totally random report originated in Life & Style Magazine from what I can tell, but lots of sites are covering it now. Is it true? Or do we just cling to whatever little gossip nugget there is about everybody’s boyfriend John Cusack? Who knows? The basic gist is that Cusack is rumored to be dating Brooke Burns, she of Baywatch and Bruce Willis-dating fame. Oh, she was once married to Julian McMahon, that sexy beast. Damn, some girls get all the luck:

John Cusack is dating Bruce Willis’ former fiancée, Baywatch star Brooke Burns, according to a report. The High Fidelity actor has been romancing the 31-year-old beauty, who split from Willis in 2004, since the beginning of the year, reports Life & Style magazine.

A source tells the publication, “They’ve been going out seriously for more than a month. She’s super sweet and definitely has a type – she dates older men.”

The 43-year-old actor has never wed, while Burns was previously married to NIP/Tuck star Julian McMahon, the father of her nine-year-old daughter. After their 2001 divorce, she was later engaged to Willis, but the pair called off the engagement in 2004.

[From Starpulse]

I’ve always wanted to see John get back together with Minnie Driver. Or Lili Taylor. I would be happy with either, honestly. But Brooke is pretty, and it doesn’t look John is in any hurry to get married or have babies, so let him have fun, right? He’s 43 years old, and he’s one of those “always a bridesmaid” guys. Kind of like a lower-key George Clooney. The Undercover Heartthrob. Sigh… he’s too good for Brooke, damn it.

John on November 3, 2009 in LA, and November 8 in Germany. Brooke in LA on January 20, 2010 & December 31, 2009, credit: WENN.

Last week Star Magazine had advance details from Melissa Gilbert’s upcoming memoir, Prairie Tale. Gilbert writes that Shannen Doherty, her co-star on “Little House on the Prairie,”slept with her first husband, Bo Brinkman, when they were still married. Star has more juicy findings from the book, including the detail that Melissa cheated on then-fiance Rob Lowe in the 80s with hot commodity John Cusack – who just happened to be Lowe’s best friend. Lucky girl! It wasn’t a clear cut case of betrayal, though, because Lowe was stepping out on her too:

In her new autobiography, Melissa reveals she even slept with her fiance’s best friend – just to get back at him.

Melissa was engaged to Rob Lowe when he went off to make the movie The Hotel New Hampshire in Canada, she writes in Prairie Tale, according to a publishing insider faimliar with the book.

“Rob asked his pal John Cusack to look after Melissa while he was away,” says the source. But it wasn’t long before Melissa learned that Rob was having a torrid affair with his costar Nastassja Kinski. “So, out of revenge, Melissa had a fling with John!”

Melissa and Rob’s whole relationship was on and off. “She writes that she was deeply in love with him and was devastated when they split,” says the source. “She started dating a wonderful guy she adored, but then Rob reappeared and proposed to her.”

Melissa broke up with her new man, and everything was great with Rob – until she found she was pregnant, says the source. “Rob was young and began freaking out, and he and Melissa broke up for good. Melissa reveals that she ended up having a miscarriage.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, June 8, 2009]

How sad that Lowe dumped Gilbert when he found out she was pregnant! They were obviously having other problems in their relationship, but that must have been heartbreaking to lose the baby afterwards.

Gilbert is a busy Twitterer, and she’s very gracious about answering her fans’ questions. She said in answer to a question if she was getting nervous about her book release on June 9 that she was “Kind of freaked out. I’m re-reading it and it’s just so personal…yikes!” Gilbert also said that she had to clean her house for a People Magazine photo shoot so we can expect to see a nice spread with her ahead of the book release. I would bet this book is a big success for Melissa. She sure put enough dirt in there to earn a lot of headlines when she’s promoting it.

Photo below is of Cusack in 2002 thanks to PRPhotos. Photo above is thanks to Life Magazine and is from 1984

Perhaps most girls who were born around a certain time feel the same collective warmth whenever John Cusack’s name is mentioned. There’s something about the combination of intellect, jet black hair, Say Anything, Grosse Point Blank, a penchant for privacy, family love, radical politics and that tall, lanky body that all girls secretly swoon for. Or is it just me?

I find it surprising whenever John Cusack’s love life gets press. He plays all of the personal stuff very close to the vest, and has never said one word about most of the famous women he’s rumored to have romanced over the years. Among his rumored conquests are Neve Campbell, Lili Taylor, Claire Forlani, Minnie Driver, Allison Eastwood (daughter of Clint) and Hillary Duff, though I don’t believe that last one.

I had no idea he was dating actress Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, and now Star is reporting that the two have broken up over a disagreement whether to marry. O’Keefe is on “Prison Break”, and judging solely from her pictures, she’s very pretty. But come on, who is she? Does this girl really think she’s going to be the one to get Cusack down the aisle? Get real, “Jodi Lyn” if that is your real name (just checked Wikipedia, it is her birth name)… John Cusack is waiting for me! Star Magazine has more:

A girl can’t wait around forever!

With John Cusack — her on-again, off-again beau since 2003 — dragging his feet about proposing, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe finally decided to call it quits for good.

“She desperately wanted to spend the rest of her life with John,” says an insider. “But he’s never felt the need to get married. She hoped for years he’d change his mind, but she’s done wasting her energy.”

The Prison Break babe gave John one last chance — in early January, the two took a Florida beach vacation to try and work things out. But a witness tells Star that after they returned to L.A., “they were really cold to each other, bickering a lot.”

Jodi ended it soon after, and since the split, adds the insider, “she’s been dating and trying to have fun. Anything to get over John!”

From Star Magazine

I too have felt overwhelming ambivalence about marriage, too, John! Pick me! But let’s play a game. Let’s say you’re a pretty actress who got some luck on a hit television show called Prison Break. Let’s say you meet eternal heartthrob Lloyd Dobler… oops, I mean John Cusack. Let’s say John asks you out, you date, start living together, and the whole time you know that John Cusack simply doesn’t want to get married because he’s not that guy. Would you stay or would you go? I would stay. And I don’t understand a woman who wouldn’t. But, hey, at least John Cusack is single again!

Jodi Lyn O’Keefe is shown on 2/22/09, 9/21/08 and 9/8/08. John Cusack is shown on 9/13/08. Credit: PRPhotos

Emily Leatherman was arrested in March outside John Cusack’s home for allegedly stalking the actor and has been in jail since. She was in court Wednesday to enter a plea and get released but the judge determined she was not entering into the plea freely and denied the deal.

On Wednesday, Leatherman appeared in court and was subdued at first, answering a prosecutor’s questions simply and politely.

Her demeanor was drastically different from an August court hearing, during which Leatherman berated Judge Susan M. Speer. The judge had just found her competent to stand trial, but not to act as her own attorney.

But during Wednesday’s hearing she accused her attorney, Brent Merritt, of using scare tactics to get her to agree to the deal. Merritt, who was appointed against Leatherman’s wishes, denied the allegation in court.

Leatherman seemed unsure of the agreement at times, prompting a prosecutor to ask repeatedly her whether she wanted to accept the deal.

Her uncertainty led Speer to discard the deal and order jury selection to begin Friday morning, causing Leatherman to express a willingness to accept the plea deal.

“I want to take it,” Leatherman shouted before bailiffs led her off in handcuffs.

[From MSN.com]

Ms. Leatherman has to be predisposed to psychological issues to be a stalker in the first place, but her actions in court took it in another direction.  She was mocking and defiant to the court until she pushed it too far.  Now she’ll remain in jail and face a jury trial where there’s a real possibility she’ll be sent to state prison for up to four years.

Leatherman was charged with felony stalking after she defied a restraining order Cusack has secured against her.  She was arrested outside the actor’s home in late March. Cusack described Leatherman’s odd behavior in papers filed with the court:

Cusack, the star of “High Fidelity,” “Say Anything” and dozens of other movies, was granted a restraining order in July 2006 stipulating that Leatherman stay at least 500 feet away from him, his home, his car and offices or companies in which he does business.

In court papers, Cusack said Leatherman “is showing unusual interest by stalking, throwing long letters of interest over my fence in bags with rocks and screwdrivers inside, making unannounced visits to offices of people I work with in an attempt to meet with me and listing my address as her own during a recent arrest.”

County sheriff’s deputies were called to the actor’s home Sunday after a cab driver reported that a passenger refused to pay for the ride to get there. As the deputies were responding to the situation, Cusack flagged them down and told them that he recognized the woman and that she had been stalking him.

[From FOXnews.com]

Emily Leatherman maintains that she was just trying to get Cusack to help her convince the police that she had been drugged, raped and forced into sex trafficking.  A year previous, Leatherman was arrested outside Tom Cruise’s house, breaking a restraining order Cruise had on her, also. 

John Cusack is shown at the Igor premiere on 9/13/08. Credit: Starbux / WENN

John Cusack’s rosacea-suffering stalker, Emily Leatherman, 33, will be tried on several counts that include felony stalking, violating a restraining order and petty theft. Leatherman was arrested outside of Cusack’s house on March 30 after she took a cab hoping to find the object of her delusions. She didn’t have enough money to pay the fare, and Cusack recognized her as the woman that’s been stalking him for over a year and called police.

She was held on $150,000 bail at the time, and since the woman didn’t have enough money to pay for a taxi I think it’s safe to assume she’s been in jail since.

In a restraining order filed last year, Cusack says Leatherman threw a bag containing rocks, screwdrivers and love letters over his fence.

Yesterday a judge ruled that Leatherman would stand trial for her crimes, and she could get up to four years in jail if she’s found guilty.

Since Leatherman is accused of petty theft, I wonder what she stole and if she got access to any of Cusack’s stuff. Given her very crude M.O., she probably just took some of Cusack’s mail and/or garbage.

The LA Times report on this story included pretty specific information on where Cusack lives, saying that police were called to “the 24000 block of Malibu Road.” While it’s possible that more Cusack stalkers will emerge like crazed gophers on his lawn, it’s more likely that 30-something women like me will just slow down when they’re driving down his street, choosing to take detours on their way home from dropping the kids off at school.

[Details from OK! Magazine]

Move over, rehab. There’s a new fad among celebs- these days, you’re not anyone in Hollywood unless you’ve got your own personal, creepy stalker. Not one to be outdone by the likes of Tyra Banks, Pamela Anderson and Catherine Zeta Jones, “Say Anything” cutiepants John Cusack has a female stalker who likes to show up unannounced at his home. And no, she doesn’t stand outside holding a boom box over her head, playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” just in case you were wondering.

A woman who showed up Sunday outside John Cusack’s Malibu home — despite a restraining order barring her from approaching the actor — was arrested on suspicion of stalking, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Monday.

Deputies were called to the 24000 block of Malibu Road about 7 p.m. Sunday after a cab driver reported that a passenger was refusing to pay a fare for a ride to that area.

As deputies approached the scene, they were flagged down by Cusack, who told them that he recognized the woman in the cab and that she had been stalking him.

Emily Leatherman, 33, was booked on suspicion of felony stalking, violating a restraining order and petty theft. Leatherman, who was booked at the Malibu-Lost Hills station, was being held in lieu of $150,000 bail, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

“She was arrested and had violated a previous restraining order taken out against her by Mr. Cusack,” Whitmore said.

[From the LA Times]

She didn’t have a car, so she took a cab to John’s home- even though she didn’t have cab fare! That’s dedication right there. The mug shot of this chick is really creepy; her eyes look totally dead. John, if you need someone to keep you company and make sure the scary lady doesn’t come back, I’d be happy to help. I’m an excellent markswoman, and I make a mean meat loaf. Call me!