This story in US Weekly irked me. I don’t know if I’m more annoyed at how rude the story is, or if it’s the fact that I’m defending Demi Moore. As you may know, Ashton Kutcher showed up with his new girlfriend at the Oscar after party thrown by Madonna and Guy Oseary. This was the same party that Ashton’s estranged wife, Demi Moore, co-hosted for the last two years. Except Demi was away at rehab at the time and Ashton knew he wouldn’t run into her. By going there with his new piece, Ashton was ensuring that Demi knew about his new girlfriend directly from her friends. It was a cheap move, and he could have easily gone to a different party that wasn’t sure to have so many of his and Demi’s mutual friends. Anyway here’s the story, which makes Demi out to be the desperate one. She may well be, but it’s not her fault for asking about Ashton after he did this.

“She spiraled after her split with Ashton and knew she needed help to get back on track,” says an insider of Moore, who was rushed to the ER January 23 for convulsing after doing whip-its at her Beverly Hills home. “Rehab was the only thing she could do.”

Yet for all her recent progress, a source says Moore… is still obsessing over her estranged hubby. After [Ashton] was spotted at a party in L.A. February 25, Moore demanded details about his date, screenwriter Lorene Scarfaria, 33. “She had a friend ask a party guest, ‘Was he with that girl Lorene?’” says the source. “She was asking about it like we were in middle school.

[From Us Weekly, print edition, March 19, 2012]

Demi and Ashton first started dating in 2003 and they were married in September, 2005. So Ashton has been Demi’s partner for about nine years, and they were trying to work things out up until October of last year. Technically they’ve only been separated for about four months. Yet somehow when Demi asks for details of a date that Ashton brought around her friends, Demi is the one who is being immature. In no way do I find Demi mature by any stretch, but it’s really normal to ask for details of your ex husband’s new girlfriend, even years after a divorce. A good friend would have told Demi and not cut her down for it behind her back. I don’t think any “friend” told US this story thought, I think it comes straight from Ashton’s camp. Ashton is the one behaving like a douche here and yet Demi is the one getting blamed. I only hope she sees how much better off she is without him and is able to move on.

Demi returned to L.A. over the weekend after successfully completing rehab at an undisclosed location. She also took a few days to unwind with a tropical vacation at Parrot Cay in Turks and Caicos. Ashton is said to have visited Demi in rehab, and I’m sure he did it out of the goodness of his heart and not because his image was taking a hit because he was partying so much while she was in crisis. I don’t like either of these people, and I don’t think Ashton owed it to Demi to see her, or that he’s helping her by giving her any hope that they might reconcile. It’s just that his article is not sitting right with me and sounds like negative spin.

Demi is shown in September and October. Ashton is shown in December. Credit: WENN and Fame

Ashton’s soon-to-be ex wife (if they were ever married) is still in an undisclosed rehab facility, where she’s reportedly doing well. So that must be convenient for Ashton, to be able to frequent the same haunts and parties that he used to go to with his wife and not to have to worry about running into her at all. And he can of course bring his new girlfriend along, a chick he denied dating over the holidays back when the news came out that they’d taken a trip to Europe together.

The Two and a Half Men star stepped out on Oscar night with a gorgeous brunette as his date, but it wasn’t his estranged wife Demi Moore.

Lorene Scafaria, the Demi Moore look-alike who Ashton was spotted partying with in Europe over the holidays, was his date to Madonna and Guy Oseary’s Oscar after party and they were definitely acting like a couple.

The A-list party was attended by Cameron Diaz, Diddy, Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ashton’s rep previously said the two were just friends, but on Feb. 25 they were reportedly spotted canoodling at the X Prize charity party.

“They were affectionate,” a source told Us magazine. “They held hands, and she rubbed his back and neck.”

[From Radar]

I know a lot of you will disagree with me on this, but I think this was a cold and calculated move by Ashton to stick it to Demi. Demi co-hosted this same Oscars party along with Madonna for the last two years. Ashton used to go to this exact same party with Demi. He knew that if he took a new chick there that the news would get back to Demi at the very least, if not publicized. He’s a star on a hit TV show and he knows plenty of people. He could have easily picked another venue to party at on Oscar night. The news still would have leaked, but at least he wouldn’t have sounded like as much of a douche.

I will admit that I have no idea what went on in Demi and Ashton’s relationship apart from rumors. As far as people behaving badly post-split, this is a classic petty move. Take the new chick to the bar you used to go to with your ex wife, on a night you know she won’t be there.

Here’s Ashton’s new woman, Lorene Scafaria, with her then-boyfriend Adam Brody in August, 2010. Ashton is a step way down from Adam. Maybe I’m confusing Adam with his awesome OC character, but seems like he would be a great boyfriend.

Also lol at this dude who got caught in the shot.

Photo of Lorene and Adam credit: Greg Tidwell/PacificCoastNews.com. Other photos are of Ashton outside a Lakers game on 1-3-12. Credit: LRR/FameFlynet Pictures

Two seconds after Us Weekly sent us their exclusive story about Ashton Kutcher’s alleged new girlfriend, Gossip Cop sent us the official denial from Ashton’s people. Here’s what we know for sure: Ashton Kutcher is/was in Italy with a group of friends. One of those friends was a woman named Lorene Scafaria, who is 33 years old, the same age as Ashton. Scafaria is a screenwriter – she wrote the screenplay for Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist, and the just-completed Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Ashton tweeted a photo of himself and Lorene in Rome (with another person), and Us Weekly has exclusive photos of Ashton and Lorene walking together too – see them here. So… first, here’s Us Weekly’s story:

Ashton Kutcher is flaunting a new woman — and sources say he hooked up with her prior to splitting from wife Demi Moore last month. The actor, 33, spent Christmas in Italy with screenwriter Lorene Scafaria — who, until recently, was dating The OC actor Adam Brody.

In exclusive Us Weekly photos, the duo were snapped checking out the sights in Italy, including the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa over the Christmas holiday.

During their private sojourn, the couple tooled around in a Porsche Carrera Sports 2011 and holed up at a private pad. During a romantic lunch at Pizzeria Trattoria Toscana in Pisa on Christmas Eve, they “held hands,” witness Alex Thorpe tells Us. “They shared spaghetti, and he paid.”

(Kutcher tweeted about the trip, sharing a photo of himself with Scafaria and his Katalyst business partner, Matt Mazzant: “Roman holiday with homies…have an amazing new year!”)

Meanwhile Moore, 49, kept a low-profile, spending her holidays with family — including daughter Rumer Willis — in Parrot Cay. “She’s doing really well,” a source tells Us. “[She's] waiting for all of her stuff to come out in the new year [including] her Lifetime show that she’s executive producing.”

Despite 33-year-old Scafaria’s romance with Brody and Kutcher’s marriage to Moore, a source says they have been stoking a romance since meeting in February, when Kutcher tried out for a film she wrote. (Steve Carell ended up getting the part for the film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.)

“Ashton started seeing her while each was in a relationship,” says a source. Reps for both Kutcher and Scafaria deny this and tell Us “They’re just friends.”

And it wasn’t the first field trip for the duo — on Dec. 9 and 10, they cozied up at Yellowstone Club ski resort (snowboarding and playing shuffleboard) in Montana.

Kutcher’s ex Moore, of course, announced their plans to divorce in late November following his revealed affair with a different woman, 22-year-old Sara Leal, in September.

[From Us Weekly]

She was dating Adam Brody? She and Ashton might have had an affair? Ugh. My initial reaction was – “Well, they’re probably not ‘dating’ but I bet they’re sleeping together.” Now I’m wondering if they actually are seeing each other, and if Lorene knows what the hell she’s getting into.

But, as I said, Ashton’s rep is denying this story to anyone who will listen, telling Gossip Cop directly: “They are not dating. They’re friends.” Gossip Cop also got an “exclusive” from an unnamed “source close to Ashton” who said that this Italian trip “is tied to them working together on a film project that involves an Italian soccer team.” For what’s it worth, even with the official denials, People Magazine is reporting this story as “Ashton possibly dating this chick.”

Photos courtesy of WENN, Ashton’s Twitter.