It’s no surprise that a woman like Jennifer Lopez needs to have her ass kissed as much as possible. So any celebrity friendly magazine that wants to have a good relationship with her will probably bow to her wishes. That’s exactly what happened with Elle. The women’s mag was going to publish a story written by reporter Kevin Sessums – in which he described Lopez accurately and honestly – which at the time meant flu-ish and frazzled.

Lopez engaged in some major overshares and clearly immediately regretted the entire thing. Instead of doing the decent thing and just keeping her mouth shut, Lopez’s people had Sessums’ article squashed and it was instead replaced with a more celeb-friendly (i.e. ass kissy) version that appealed to Lopez’s ego.

ELLE magazine killed a touchy profile on Jennifer Lopez, but reporter Kevin Sessums got his piece posted on Tina Brown’s new Web site, The Daily Beast. Sessums, originally hired to write this month’s J.Lo cover story for Elle, was pulled from the assignment after his first interview “got much too personal” and the magazine put another writer, Peter Rubin, on the profile at the request of Lopez’s reps.

Elle’s article flatteringly focuses on Lopez as a fashion icon. But Sessums describes a flu-ridden Lopez: “Her unwashed hair is pulled severely back and there’s a halo of frizz around the crown of her head.” The bootylicious singer/actress also told Sessums she doesn’t breast-feed her newborn twins, is willing to put the kids in Scientology classes, and said she had “a kind of nervous breakdown” while filming “Enough” (2002). Lopez isn’t a Scientologist but she told Sessums her father is.

A rep for Lopez said of Sessums’ interview appearing on The Daily Beast, “We’re very unhappy about it, and think it was poor judgment on his part. As long as we have represented Jennifer, we have never heard her refer to having a breakdown of any sort.” One insider told us the photo shoot and interview were pitched to Lopez as “a fashion discussion about a woman who had new babies and was doing it all.”

The woman Sessums portrayed was a weepy, fragile new mother who admitted, “I did cry a lot [after the babies were born] because I was having so much trouble moving. I had a C-section.

“I couldn’t get up fast enough to feed the babies. It went on for about three days. [Husband] Marc [Anthony] was helping out a lot and I was crying and crying and going, ‘Oh, Papi, they’re going to know everybody more than me . . . They’re going to love everybody more than me!’ ”

Sessums and an Elle rep didn’t return calls.

[From Page Six]

The version published on The Daily Beast sure wasn’t flattering, but it certainly didn’t come off as malicious in any way. It seems like Sessums simply didn’t cover up for J-Lo, and wrote what she talked about. That’s pretty crappy of her to get his story thrown out for something she found more appealing, but certainly not surprising. In the original story makes her sound very self-involved and unaware. I don’t think she came off as a nutball or anything, just as someone who has no understanding of how she sounds to other people.

It’s hard to say to what extent the Scientology discussion played into the article. Lopez talked a lot about how they’re misunderstood and unnecessarily judged; and it’s clear she’s a Scientology sympathizer, if not an actual member. On Monday night she and Scientologist BFF Leah Remini were at the Elle Women in Hollywood Tribute and they acted more like each other’s dates than friends. Or more like giggly high school girls. No matter how much I love my friends, I manage not to hold their hands when we go to the bathroom together.

J-Lo clearly overshared and regretted it. I’m sure being sick didn’t help things. I’ve made bad decisions about Jennifer Lopez when I was sick too. Once, when I had one of the worst flues of my life, I watched The Cell and thought it was so great I had to own it. A few weeks later I watched it without the benefit of NyQuil or a high fever and realized just how much being sick can affect your judgment.

Here’s Jennifer with Leah Remini at the Elle’s “Women in Hollywood Event” at the Four Seasons Hotel in L.A. on Monday. Photographer: Nikki Nelson. Images thanks to WENN.

$14 million may seem like way too steep a price to pay for photos of newborn babies, but the Jolie-Pitts have four other kids and they stole the show in the super-expensive photo spread in People. Women’s Wear Daily reports that the high price tag was worth it for People, which split the cost with Hello. The issue sold 2.6 million copies, which is 1.1 million more than People normally sells and makes it the fourth highest selling issue ever. It was also on the racks longer than a normal issue, and was out two days earlier and was available for three weeks, up until today. People priced the magazine at .50 more than their current $3.99 an issue cost.

The Brangelina twins were the highest selling People issue in the past seven years, and the fourth in the magazine’s 35 year history. It was only topped by issues that covered the early deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr. and the tragedy of 9/11.

The issue is the biggest seller in seven years, and is the fourth highest newsstand seller in the magazine’s 35-year history, behind the Sept. 11 issue (4.1 million single copies), the issue covering Princess Diana’s death (3 million) and the one covering the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. (2.8 million). The June 19, 2006 issue with the exclusive baby pictures of Brad and Angelina’s first daughter, Shiloh, moved 2.2 million newsstand copies (perhaps the extra Pitt-Jolie baby provided a bigger draw this time).

The issue’s 2.6 million newsstand sale is way above People’s average weekly newsstand sale of 1.5 million copies, but the issue has been on newsstands longer than a typical one. People released the issue on Aug. 4, two days before its regular newsstand drop date, and the issue will stay on stands for three weeks through Aug. 25. But People also raised its cover price for the special issue, to $4.49, or 50 cents more than its regular price. Along with the 2.6 million copies the issue is projecting to sell on newsstands, the babies also reached 2.3 million People subscribers, according to first-half numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

[From WWD]

Shiloh wasn’t a slouch herself if she sold 2.2 million copies. The money for the twin photos will go to charity and most of us can agree that’s a good thing despite some people’s insistence that it be donated right now and not when the Jolie-Pitt Foundation finds a suitable way to distribute it among worthy causes. I thought the interview was pretty candid and worth reading and the photos were gorgeous. It was really cute to see their other kids cradling the twins and my favorite photo was the one of Maddox and Pax each holding one of the babies with Brad in the middle with his arms around them both. One of the newborns was yawning as a blue-mohawked Maddox looked on curiously and you just got a sense that the boys were trying to be careful. It was worth the price of the magazine.

Here’s a Playgirl cover from 1987. We had to go back that far to find one that was SFW.

You know how the old timers (and by “old timers,” I mean me) are always bemoaning the way print media is dying a slow death? Well sad news today. One of the greats is ditching the printing press for WordPress. Nope, not the New York Times, though I bet that’s coming. We’re talking about Playgirl. One of the greatest nude magazines (ostensibly) for women has decided to abandon the sinking ship that is glossy pages of perfectly coifed male bushes and oiled up abs for what will now be an entirely internet-based operation.

Nicole Caldwell, Playgirl’s editor-in-chief, just emailed confirmation that the magazine is indeed shuttering its print operation.

“Playgirl is going all-Web. The last print issue will be the Jan/Feb 2009 magazine, which comes out Nov. 18,” Caldwell writes.

Details of the site’s look are scarce, but it will feature more videos and pictorials and less editorial content. In other words, just like Playboy’s site.

[From MediaBistro]

Finally. Nudity and pornography catch up to the twenty first century and figure out it’s time to consider the internet. Imagine how much money could have been made if pornography had been available on the internet since its inception? Playgirl is really on the ball here; but frankly I’m surprised it’s taken so long. For years – years! – I have been telling everyone that would listen that the ONE thing the internet doesn’t have is enough exposed genitalia.

Thankfully that will soon be rectified, as Playgirl brazenly forges the way into this unknown territory. Who knows if there’s money to be made in internet porn? Something tells me that – most likely – people really won’t be all that interested, and will go back to CNN and icanhascheezburger. But I’m guessing that for a select niche, this will really be a great, previously untapped form of internet entertainment.

Michelle Obama is the 44 year-old wife of the presumptive Democratic nominee for President. She has degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law School and is a working mom who has raised two daughters. She grew up on the South side of Chicago, where her mom was a secretary and her dad worked for the water company. She’s worked as an associate dean at the University of Chicago and as VP for community affairs for The University of Chicago Hospitals. Michelle says that her children are a priority and that she’s trying to raise them with as much normalcy as possible given her family’s schedule as Barack runs for president. She’s been married to Barack Obama, her first husband, for 16 years.

Tyra Banks is a 34 year-old model, talk show host and reality show producer who grew up in LA, has never been married, has no children, and focused on her modeling career instead of going to college. Banks enjoys talking about herself all the time, humiliating guests on her talk show under false pretenses, and staging publicity stunts disguised as female empowerment rituals. She once pretended to be a homeless person for a day and then claimed to understand what it was like for people in that situation.

Michelle Obama dresses well, favoring preppy clothing, and is fit and attractive. She’s received a lot of attention for her smart appearance and straightforward manner, and while some have criticized her for her matter of fact demeanor she’s gracious and well spoken.

Someone at Harpers Bazaar thought it was a good idea to dress Tyra Banks as Michelle Obama and feature her on the cover of the magazine, maybe in a misguided attempt to show how influential Michelle’s style and persona are. If I were Michelle Obama, I would find this almost as insulting as that stupid New Yorker cover depicting her and her husband in Muslim garb.

TYRA Banks – the mastermind of gimmicks – is at it again. Banks – who once had her breasts examined on TV to show everybody they were “real” – is now dressing up as Michelle Obama for the September cover of Harper’s Bazaar. “It’s a full makeover,” said one spy. “You know how Tyra likes to do that stuff. And she’ll get a lot of press off it.” A rep for Banks didn’t return calls.

[From The NY Post]

I hope this isn’t true or they realize it’s a dumb idea to feature Tyra as Michelle on the cover. Why don’t they just call up Michelle Obama and get her to pose for photos and grant an interview? You would think she would sell more covers than Tyra pulling another stupid stunt in which she tries to assume depth by changing her appearance. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Michelle at first, but after I saw her onThe View and read a few interviews I like her and think she’ll make a great first lady. She doesn’t seem to deserve most of the ire that’s lobbed at her while Tyra could be brought down quite a few pegs instead of being groomed to imitate a woman with more grace and integrity than she could ever hope to have. Maybe that’s the point of the whole cover though, and we’ll have to see if Tyra is covertly mocked.

Michelle Obama is shown giving the keynote address at the ‘Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Gala’ in NY on 6/26/08. Credit: Anthony Dixon / WENN. Tyra Banks is shown at the Daytime Emmy Awards on 6/20/08. Credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures

Women’s Wear Daily confirms Just Jared’s scoop that the first photos of Brad and Angelina’s twins Knox and Vivienne will appear in People Magazine. They say that a source confirmed the story and the dollar amount range, which is reported to be $10-$15 million. The photos will also appear in UK celebrity publication Hello!, and People and Hello! are presumed to have split the hefty price tag. WWD speculates that it will be well worth the price for the glossies, which will likely recoup it in increased sales:

Brangelina sure love People magazine — or at least the checks the weekly keeps writing the celebrity couple. The title has again scored the exclusive North American rights to photos of Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s latest children — new twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline. On Tuesday night, JustJared.com reported People will publish the photos, and a source close to the deal confirmed the news Thursday night. Hello bought the international rights. People and Hello will unveil the photos on Monday, two days earlier than People’s usual newsstand drop day. The price for the photos was a reported $10 million to $15 million, which, assumably, People and Hello will split in some manner.

But what are the chances the large investment in the pictures will pay off?

Though People likely didn’t foot the whole bill for the photos, a payment of $5 million — or half of the low end of the estimated cost — is equal to moving 1.3 million newsstand copies, providing its newsstand price remains $3.99. That’s a low hurdle for People, which averages 1.5 million copies weekly. Baby photos send even more issues off the racks — the June 19, 2006 issue with the exclusive baby pictures of Brad and Angelina’s first daughter, Shiloh, moved 2.2 million newsstand copies, or $8.8 million worth of issues — and that was just for one kid. People reportedly paid $4 million for those pictures in a deal, which was also brokered with Hello.

More recently, People sold more than 2 million copies, or $8 million worth, of its March 31 edition when it featured exclusive photographs of Jennifer Lopez’s twins, Max and Emme; the magazine reportedly also paid $4 million for those pictures. Its March 10 issue sold 1.7 million copies, or $6.8 million worth, when it featured Nicole Richie’s daughter, Harlow (the magazine is said to have paid $1 million for the snaps since Nicole is no Brad or Angelina). Sources close to the magazine said none of the dollar amounts are accurate.

[WWD via We Smirch]

I’m assuming that the article means that the twins will make their debut this Monday, which is pretty soon. I know I’ll be buying an overpriced copy of Hello! in my quest to see the brand new Brangelina twins, and I hope they have plenty of happy photos of the family. I’d also like to see what the inside of that massive mansion in France looks like. For $10-$15 million, Brad and Angelina should give a glimpse of their interior design style too. I love seeing the inside of celebrity’s homes – and their babies.

Photos are of Brad and Angelina in Cannes on May 19. Credit: Splash. Thanks to WWD for reminding me of these pictures, which they also ran with their story

Famed nineties supermodel Christy Turlington is featured in on the cover of the upcoming issue of W Magazine (update: with Penelope Cruz on the cover), and looks beyond stunning. The model, who is married to actor/director/screenwriter Ed Burns, posed for a series of pictures described as “Greco-Roman warrior-goddess.” The magazine also referred to her as “iconic.” I wonder if models like that word. It’s a compliment, but it also implies age, which I’m under the impression they’re rather phobic about.

While we’re on the subject of the Supermodel Comeback – which we think will be in the news for a while yet – it’s worth pointing out Christy Turlington’s stunning new shoot in the August issue of W magazine, titled “Champion”. The 39-year-old knockout, who as we mentioned has been re-signed as the face of German fashion house Escada, poses as a “Greco-Roman warrior-goddess” for photog Michael Thompson in old-school black-and-white. Talk about classical beauty – obviously all that yoga and being married to Ed Burns agrees with her.

[From Luxist]

Christy has also been working hard on behalf of maternal health issues. She’s spent a good deal of her time lobbying for help for fistula survivors and other dangerous pregnancy issues that especially effect third world countries.

Christy Turlington is no stranger to using her supermodel status to raise awareness – and she is now turning her attention to the health issues surrounding motherhood.

The mum-of-two, who is married to actor Ed Burns, recently joined former Spice girl Geri Halliwell in Washington to lobby politicians for legislation to promote maternal health around the world – noting that one woman every minute dies during childbirth.

“I’m a mum, so maternal health is very important to me,” Turlington – an ambassador for humanitarian organisation CARE – tells Contactmusic.Com. “I’ve had safe deliveries for both my children because I have had access to skilled medical care. Yet for too many women in the developing world, pregnancy and childbirth is a serious life-and-death issue.”

[From UK Vogue]

Here are Christy’s photos from the W Magazine spread. I think they are some of the most gorgeous and stunning ones I’ve seen in a long time.

In a superbly lame-ass attempt to make amends, Maxim has declared Sarah Jessica Parker this year’s “unexpected crush.” Because that totally makes up for calling her the “unsexiest woman alive.” That’s like if the woman that called me fat today called me up in six months and said, “But you have nice hair.” And hung up. Damage totally erased!

Sarah Jessica Parker has been hailed this year’s unexpected crush by a men’s magazine bidding to make up with the actress after calling her the unsexiest woman alive.

The 43-year-old Sex and the City star was outraged last year when men’s publication Maxim bestowed her with the unsexy honor, insisting the insult was “brutal.”

And Parker’s outspoken opposition to the title seems to have worked.

The actress will receive her award in the August issue of the magazine.

[From NBC affiliate KGET]

I really hope she tells them to suck her mole. And then mails it to them. Seriously, having a list of the least sexy women was so unnecessary and stupid in the first place. And what a crap-ass way to atone for it.

In other SJP news, she’s denying that she had a molectomy. Yes I made that up. And I think it works just fine, thank you. Her rep told IMDB that “Nothing has been removed.” I assumed that she’d cop to it, but say it was pre-cancerous or something. There are a million ways to make a molectomy look like it was done out of medical necessity.

Note by Celebitchy: Sarah’s rep may have denied that she had the mole removed, but US Weekly and the AP quote a source that confirms it.

Here’s Sarah Jessica and husband Matthew Broderick shopping for a fridge on July 1st, according to Splash.. Images thanks to Splash.

Christina Ricci is on the cover of the latest issue of Hollywood Life magazine, and she looks absolutely stunning. Christina admitted to struggling with anorexia for many years, but it looks like she’s really gotten a handle on it. Her body looks much healthier than in recent months, and she’s absolutely stunning in the photographs.

Christina’s often been criticized for her somewhat unusual looks. She’s definitely sported some odd hairstyles and unconventional clothing in her time, but with the right hair and makeup she’s clearly gorgeous. Here are the pictures from the Spring issue of Hollywood Life.

Nicole Kidman usually gives very careful and controlled interviews in which she inevitably slips and reveals the cracks in her marriage. Or maybe she plans those little telling statements, letting out just enough information to let us know that she’s having trouble without making her comments seem deliberate.

Last October she made a very strange comment to Interview Magazine that she doesn’t ever say she’s happy in her marriage because “you never know where something is going” and that “People’s lives together are complicated and beautiful and that’s what they should stay.”

In an interview with Vogue, in which her tiny pregnant belly pokes out behind a couture dress on the cover, Kidman says that she and her husband of two years, country singer Keith Urban, were “two lonely people” who “fell into each other.” She also says in a roundabout way that she’s addicted to love. It doesn’t seem the wisest choice of words for a woman whose husband had a stint in rehab right after they got married:

On finding Keith after her marriage to Tom: “Keith and I, we’re more like, ‘Hey’ [she shrugs and smiles]. We just gently, gently sort of fell into each other. We were just two lonely people who went, ‘Ah, there you are.’ I’m so committed to this relationship, and so is he. I don’t have addiction problems, but love is a very powerful force in my life. It’s my fatal flaw and my virtue.”

[From Vogue via Huffington Post]

Kidman is thought to be due to have her first baby in July. She talked about how overwhelming it was to see the ultrasound and realize that there was a new life growing inside her:

On the new baby: “When I first saw the baby on the ultrasound, I started crying. I didn’t think I’d get to experience that in my lifetime. I like the unpredictable nature of it. To feel life growing with you is something very, very special, and I’m going to embrace that completely. I don’t believe in flittering around the edges of things. You’re either going to walk through life and experience it fully or you’re going to be a voyeur. And I’m not a voyeur.”

She often sounds full of shit to me and her statements are so contrived, but I hope that her baby is healthy and that she’s happy with Keith. Kidman said that she’s been relaxing at their farm in Tennesse and that she’s enjoying tending a vegetable garden for the first time in her life. Her epic film with Hugh Jackman, Australia, is due to be released in November of this year.

Nicole and Keith are shown at the Academy of Country Music Awards on 5/18/08, thanks to WENN. Other images are from the photo spread shot by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue. You can see a video of the shoot on Style.com.

People Magazine is taking a chance by featuring a relatively-unknown minor celebrity with a compelling story on the cover this week. The headline reads “From Meth Addict to Mom” and features a photo of a smiling angelic-faced Jodie Sweetin holding her open-mouthed seven-week-old baby, Zoie. 26 year-old Sweetin is best known for playing daughter Stephanie on the late 80s/early 90s sitcom Full House. Her life since the series ended has been difficult and marred by a drug addiction at the age of 22. She was married to her first husband, a police officer, when she first tried crystal meth.

Sweetin has since become sober and is married again with her new baby.

Best known for playing spunky middle child Stephanie on Full House from age 5 to 13, Sweetin then landed a real-life role that cast her against type: battling an addiction to crystal meth.

At 22, Sweetin was a college student married to LAPD officer Shaun Holguin and taking a break from acting when she first tried the drug. Six months later, she had developed a crippling daily habit that she kept secret from her husband. That is, until in 2005, when she was hospitalized after a night of partying.

Sweetin and Holguin divorced after she left treatment, while she was spending six months in sober living with people from rehab. She met Herpin, a film transportation coordinator, through friends, and the couple began dating in May 2007 – and wed just two months later.

When their whirlwind romance was quickly followed by a pregnancy, says Sweetin, “it was a blessing.”

[From People]

Jodie calls her newborn daughter “the most overwhelming, exciting thing I’ve ever done.”

Is People changing to a more tabloid format by featuring this former child actress and her sensational story? It is an interesting one, and maybe she deserves the resulting boost in fame for kicking an addiction and becoming a devoted mom. Still, you can’t help but think they’re exploiting her story somewhat. Maybe if this cover sells they’ll start to seek out former child actors who have battled drug addiction and had a rough life post fame. There certainly seem to be enough of them for the slow gossip weeks. People must know that there’s nothing like a sweet baby and a reformed mom to move magazines, though.

Header from Cover Awards via D-Listed.