For some reason I’ve always been oddly interested in the Olsen twins, but lately that interest has started turning to disdain. I think it’s the absolute insistence on excess – take a gander at the pictures below if you need more evidence. They each weight what, 86 pounds dripping wet? They’ve got to be schlepping at least 200 pounds worth of baggage.

And it annoys me how they try to emphasize how tiny they are. They don’t seem to try to emphasize thin or svelte; they want to look tiny. Like they’re little girls and they’re trying to disappear. Why else are they lugging around all that baggage? Are we really supposed to believe they don’t have ten handlers to do that? They just knew it get them a lot of press because they look so little next to all those suitcases. Bravo, you’re media maestros, the both of you.

It seems like they’re always up to something new, and earlier today Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen arrived at London’s Heathrow International Airport.

The “Full House” hotties emerged from the main terminal with a ridiculous amount of luggage loaded onto twin carts as they headed for their chauffeured car while trying to ignore the paparazzi.

And while they’re both big fans of recreational world travel, this time the trip is for business, rather than pleasure.

The Olsens are overseas for the big launch of yet another line of clothing called The Row, making stops in the UK and Paris.

[From the Gossip Girls]

Just in case they don’t get enough press from their luggage-to-twin ratio (5 to 2, if you’re wondering), Mary-Kate has made sure to have one of her many fur coats prominently displayed. Because everyone knows once you passive aggressively tell PETA to f off, you’ve really made it.

Here’s Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen arriving at Heathrow airport in London today. Images thanks to Bauer-Griffin .

While Heath Ledger’s family has settled the late actor’s estate recently, leaving it entirely to his 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, the life insurance company that underwrote his $10 Million policy isn’t moving so quickly. Though Ledger’s death was ruled accidental, ReliaStar Life Insurance Company is saying that his death could have been a suicide- in which case, the policy is null and void. And now, lawyers acting on behalf of Matilda Ledger are suing the company.

The company that wrote Heath Ledger’s $10 million life insurance policy is being sued after claiming the actor’s death might have been a suicide, even though officials concluded it was accidental. Lawyers for Ledger’s daughter say it’s a transparent ploy to avoid paying the money.

ReliaStar Life Insurance Company wrote the policy in June 2007 — six months before Ledger died. The beneficiary of the policy is a trustee who would hold the money for 2-year-old Matilda.

Instead of paying the $10 mil, ReliaStar set out to investigate whether Ledger took his own life, despite the fact that the New York City Medical Examiner ruled the death accidental.

TMZ has obtained a lawsuit, filed by Matilda’s trustee, claiming ReliaStar (owned by ING Americas) has acted in bad faith by not promptly paying the $10 million and by wrongfully prying into the life of Heath Ledger after his death.

Sources say lawyers for the insurance company have claimed Ledger’s death was “suspicious” — possibly suicide, which would nullify the policy. The company alleges in its answer to the lawsuit, “ReliaStar is entitled to investigate Plaintiff’s claim to determine if the ‘Suicide’ provision is applicable.” That provision states, “If the Insured commits suicide … we will pay only the amount of premiums paid to us.”

ReliaStar’s lawyers have informed Matilda’s lawyers they intend to take the depositions of Mary-Kate Olsen, as well as the masseuse who was at Ledger’s home when he died, Ledger’s colleagues on his last film, his agents, doctors, psychologists and others. Lawyers for Matilda believe the insurance company is trying to scare and shame them into submission. They believe ReliaStar is trying to drag the process out, for what could be years, to avoid paying the money.

We’re also told ReliaStar believes Ledger may have lied on two questions on his insurance application — specifically, whether he was taking prescription drugs when he filled out the application and whether he ever used illegal drugs.

In its answer to the lawsuit, ReliaStar claims it can contest the policy if Ledger lied on the application and it was a “material misrepresentation.” Sources tell us Ledger had a prescription for Ambien when he filled out the application, but Ambien was not in his system when he died, nor were any illegal drugs.

Lawyers for Matilda’s trust claim ReliaStar is flagrantly violating California law, which prohibits insurance companies from re-examining insurance applications after the policyholder dies. In the lawsuit, Matilda’s lawyers say they received a letter from ReliaStar, asking them to identify “all physicians who attended to [Ledger] and all hospitals or institutions where [he] was treated since 1996.” Matilda’s lawyers say the request blatantly violates the law.

An official for ReliaStar told TMZ, “No decision has been made on the claim.” But lawyers for Matilda’s trust believe ReliaStar should have already paid and, according to the suit, is acting “maliciously, fraudulently and/or oppressively … depriving plaintiff of the insurance policy benefits.”

[From TMZ]

The way I see it, the insurance company is on shaky ground here if the cause of death was already ruled an accident. Maybe one of our esteemed commenters with a background in estate law can shed some light here. It seems obvious to me that the company is trying to get out of paying the policy (probably due to the latest economic woes affecting the insurance industry) and will do anything to avoid it- including dragging Ledger through the mud once again. It’s absolutely sickening.

Michelle Williams is shown at the premiere of ‘Wendy and Lucy’ during the New York Film Festival on 9/27/08. Michelle and Heath are shown out in NY on 3/30/06. Credit: WENN.

It’s been reported for a while that the Olsen twins have been fighting off and on. That’s certainly to be expected when you’re twins; it’s to be expected when you’re famous; and it’s to be expected when you work together. Put those three issues together and add in the fact that the girls often live in the same place and you could see how friction might arise.

Ashley and Mary-Kate have pretty different personalities. Ashley is more serious and career driven whereas Mary-Kate is more of a free-spirited partying type. She’s also had some personal issues (eating disorders, addiction – depending on who you believe) that are getting in the way of the twin’s joint work.

Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, 22, have spent their whole lives in synch, and together created their clothing lines, The Row and Elizabeth and James, but an insider says their work ethics don’t match anymore — causing a serious rift in their relationship.

“Ashley really wants to be a respected businesswoman and be taken seriously,” says the pal. “MK does too, but she hasn’t been willing to give up her lifestyle and act like an adult for their job.” So Ashley has taken a drastic step: distancing her twin from the couture end of their joint fashion empire. “

Ashley came to a difficult decision. She decided that MK should not be involved with The Row,” says the insider. “She asked her sister to step back from her current responsibilities until she has her personal life together.” Instead, MK will focus on their more affordable line, Elizabeth and James, for which their roles were always less hands-on. “It’s tough because The Row was so much of Mary-Kate’s idea,” says the insider. “Mary-Kate has a unique fashion sense,” notes an insider. “I just see myself more as a businessperson,” Ashley says.

[From In Touch]

I think it’d be a really good idea for Mary-Kate and Ashley to separate their lives a bit. I can’t imagine any two people – twins or not – that could be so intertwined in so many parts of their lives and do it without a good deal of fighting. And it doesn’t sound like the kind of petty sister fighting you grow out of. Business conflicts – especially within families – can go on indefinitely. And they do both have nearly opposite personalities in a lot of ways. They might be happier of they got to emphasize that more and spent a little less time as a unit.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are shown at the Costume Institute Gala on 5/5/08. Credit: Wild1/PRPhotos

The Olsen twins’ West Village neighbors are sick and tired of the skeletal twosome. They say that the twins’ self-centered lifestyle and ridiculously overdone security are changing the tone of the neighborhood for the worst. They have a litany of complaints, and they make it sound like the girls are pretty selfish.

Since then, it’s only gotten worse. One resident called the frail fashionistas “two spoiled brats” who “change the character of the neighborhood” by posting security guards outside. The goons have even rousted residents of the building from their perches on the brownstone’s stoop so the twins can climb the steps in privacy.

A block resident told us two giant GMC Denali trucks are parked outside the townhouse every night, with hired muscle who keep the engines idling for hours at a time. “You would think there was a government operation going on,” the resident said.

“It is a peaceful, quiet street,” the source added. “Plenty of other celebrities around this block [Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler, Gisele Bundchen and Julianne Moore] are good neighbors and blend in with the neighborhood – but these two are invaders.”… “The good news is that it’s only a rental,” said our source, “and we all hope it’s not a long-standing one.”

A rep for the Olsens denied that security has ever asked anyone to leave the stoop and told Page Six, “If there were significant issues, you would think that the neighbors would address Ashley or Mary-Kate directly, rather than calling the media.”

[From Page Six]

Well you’d think if there were any truth to the ridiculously overprotective nature of the twins’ security, it might not be possible for their neighbors to address them directly. Perhaps their only recourse is the media.

This isn’t the first time West Village residents have complained about the Olsens. In May everyone from their local Starbucks barista to people that live down the block had a bone to pick with the girls. There is an amount of security that is necessary, and then there’s an amount that is self-indulgent and simply meant to keep every single person away. We all have to interact with other people, like it or not. It’s like Mary-Kate and Ashley have hired someone so they don’t even have to interact with their neighbors on the front stoop. Clearly living a completely isolated existence is much more important than being considerate of anyone else.

Here’s Mary-Kate at the “Stand Up For A Cure” benefit hosted by Julia Roberts in New York City on Wednesday. Images thanks to Fame.

Yesterday I mentioned that there are some couplings that are just so beyond the realm of psychological comprehension that our brains actually block them out. Then we were talking about Michael Jackson and Pamela Anderson. Today it’s a slightly less famous – though equally creepy – hookup.

According to the National Enquirer, Mary-Kate Olsen cheated on her boyfriend Nate Lowman by going on a date with “Superbad” actor Jonah Hill. They give an interesting account of the evening which I guess could be interpreted either way, depending on how you wanted to see it.

Mary-Kate Olsen is two-timing her boyfriend with a surprising new guy – chubby “Knocked Up” star Jonah Hill, the Enquirer has learned exclusively. The unlikely couple cozied up to one another at Los Angeles’ Chatuea Marmont hotel on Aug. 26 – just one night after the stick-thing actress stepped out to a rock concert with steady beau Nate Lowman.

“It was a shock to see Mary-Kate together with, of all people, geeky Jonah,” an eyewitness told The Enquirer. “They were on a double date with another couple, dining at the hotel around 10 p.m. Mary-Kate and Jonah sat close together and seemed totally into each other. They were both wearing plaid shirts that almost matched. It was the cutest thing.”

“From what I saw at the Chateau Marmont,” said another source, “Mary-Kate had forgotten about Nate and seemed totally enamored of Jonah. And he couldn’t keep his eyes off her, either.”

[From the National Enquirer, Sept. 15 2008, print ed.]

The magazine goes on to say how it appears that they were both genuinely into each other even though Mary-Kate went to a Radiohead concert with her boyfriend the night before. The Enquirer also repeatedly refers to Jonah’s size as “chubby,” “tubby,” etc, while referring to Mary-Kate’s diminutive size a lot too. While it does conjure quite the mental image – and leave a lot of questions about the physics of the thing, it sounds like the date could have been harmless or could have been a real date.

At one point in the evening Jonah saw friend Jason Segal and went over to talk to him. Supposedly Segal was genuinely surprised to see the two together and asked Hill how he got Olsen to agree to go on a date. Hill responded that all he did was ask her. Assuming the story is correct, it sounds like it could have been a date, but that doesn’t mean Mary-Kate was cheating on her boyfriend. They could have an open relationship, they could have quietly broken up, or it could have just been a friendly evening.

Here’s Mary-Kate Olsen leaving the Radiohead concert the night before her date with Jonah – wearing what I hope to God is her only plaid shirt. Header of Jonah Hill at Crown Lounge on August 27. Images thanks to WENN.

Something tells me the relationship between Joel Madden and Nicole Richie is no walk in the park. The two are clearly very different sorts, and despite hearing a lot of press about how much Nicole has changed (thanks to Joel) it’s hard not to notice the implication that there was a lot to change… to be more like Joel. It’s one thing if Nicole wanted to be a better person or a better mother on her own, but it seems more like she’s pretending to morph into this happy homemaker to keep her relationship together. Somehow you can just tell regular old Nicole is still under there.

Now I found regular old Nicole annoying as hell and totally rude. But I get the feeling she’s changed only for Joel, which is about as effective as an alcoholic going into rehab because someone else tells them to. The change won’t be real if you don’t really want it.

Apparently Nicole’s old jealous ways boiled to the surface after Joel admitted to spending some time with her old friend Mary-Kate Olsen. Even though it sounded fairly innocent, Nicole wasn’t having it.

A source said: “During the dinner, Mary-Kate was very playful with Joel. It was all fun and games, but with the Olsens nothing is as simple as that. Nicole exploded at Joel and demanded that they leave the party. Afterward, Nicole warned him to stay away from Mary-Kate.” Mary-Kate, 22, went to watch the rocker perform in New York last week, further angering Nicole – who gave birth to the couple’s first child, daughter Harlow, in January – by hanging out with the band after the show.

The source added to Life and Style magazine: “After the concert, Joel invited her back to see the tour bus. He showed her some baby photos of Harlow. Joel isn’t one to lie or hide things from Nicole, so the next day he told her about it on the phone. Nicole freaked out. Joel thought she’d respect the fact that he was trying to be honest – after all, he and Mary-Kate are just friends – but Nicole was hurt and angry. He couldn’t deal with it, so he hung up, and she kept texting him after that.”

The argument is said to be the latest in a series of rows between the couple, resulting in them putting off setting a date for their wedding. The insider claimed: “They’re having their usual ups and downs. I think they’re madly in love and want to get married. But I also think it’s moments like this that will continue to keep their wedding on hold.”

[From Hollywood Rag]

I give this relationship another year, tops. And that isn’t because I don’t think either of them haven’t or won’t try hard enough. The problem is that they seem so different, and Joel seems to have required Nicole to settle down in a way she’s not ready for, and thus it isn’t going to take. If there’s any time a person needs to become mature and responsible it’s when they have a kid. But somehow it just seems like Nicole’s done it only for Joel, and it’s not a real change. She’s still indulging in petty teenage drama like this. If Mary-Kate Olsen’s mere presence can cause this level of a freak out, things probably weren’t that solid in the first place.

Note by Celebitchy: I see these two lasting for some reason and hope JayBird isn’t right. They have a daughter together and Nicole’s changes seem more than superficial to me. We’ll have to see though.

Here’s Nicole doing her best Mary-Kate impression on July 25th. Images thanks to WENN.

My favorite gossip rag, the National Enquirer, has a new cover story featuring inside stories of Mary-Kate Olsen’s excesses from one of her ex bodyguards. It’s pretty much what you’d expect given the stories that have been floating about her and the many photos of the scruffier twin drunk off her ass. Mary-Kate likes to smoke pot, drink to the point where she has to be carried, and hangs out with people who do harder drugs like cocaine and ecstasy. It sounds like all the bodyguard is personally attesting to is Mary-Kate smoking pot and drinking way more than her tiny body can take. She also wouldn’t eat when she was a teenager and would just drink a lot of clear booze mixed with fruit juice:

“About two years ago, I watched Mary-Kate smoke a marijuana joint and pass it on to friends when they were all at a party together,” the bodyguard told The Enquirer.

“Then there were her friends who definitely did drugs. I especially remember three hangers-on, two guys and a girl. I would call them drug dealers.

“I saw them with cocaine, and they also tried to provide it to other people. I also saw them with ‘Pures,’ which are tablets like Ecstasy…

“Because she’s so tiny, a little booze would have a big effect on her,” the bodyguard revealed.

“Colleagues told me that on at least two occasions she had so much to drink that she had to be carried to her car.”…

“Even in high school, she liked to drink vodka with fruit juice or mixer. Mary-Kate would get so blasted that her sister Ashley would pull her aside and tell her to stop,” a close friend divulged.

“When she was 16, her weight dropped below 80 pounds… I remember Ashley telling me at the time ‘Mary-Kate just won’t eat. My family is going nuts! We didn’t know what to do, so we put her in the hospital.’

“We’d try to get her to eat, but she’d only get mad and growl, ‘Just leave me alone! If I’m not hungry, I’m not hungry.’

“Mary Kate also smoked cigarettes constantly and she filled up on alcohol. She’d drink anything available – Jack Daniel’s, vodka, whatever.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, August 25, 2008]

The Enquirer goes on to say that Mary-Kate went to rehab at the age of 18 for a cocaine addiction along with anorexia and that she checked out early when her friends and family wanted her to stay for another month.

Olsen is now 22 and is guarding her privacy like those Starbucks cups she seems to be clutching in about half the photographs you see of her. She refused to testify in the federal investigation into Heath Ledger’s death without being granted immunity from prosecution, but the case was ultimately dropped and Mary-Kate was let off the hook. It’s telling that her bodyguard would only say he saw her do pot and drink and that it was her friends who were doing drugs. Maybe she wasn’t into the hard stuff or he wasn’t willing to say too much against her even though the interview was anonymous.

Mary-Kate still looks out of it in a lot of photos you see of her, but she’s not scary skinny anymore and that’s something.

Mary-Kate Olsen is shown arriving at LAX on 7/21/08. Credit: ISBP/MO/MATINGAS/bauergriffinonline.com

Mary-Kate Olsen is off the hook. The pint-sized starlet had been subpoenaed by a grand jury to testify in the DEA’s investigation of Heath Ledger’s death. She had previously refused to say a word unless she was given full immunity – however you can’t do that with a grand jury. I think a lot of people were irked that she was being so stubborn, considering pretty much everyone else was reported to have cooperated very willingly with the investigation. On the other hand, she could easily have just had a super cautious lawyer.

Now it won’t matter at all, as the feds have called off the investigation entirely. And according to some sources, they botched it.

Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkillers that contributed to his overdose death this year, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger’s system were obtained illegally. But the prosecutors have bowed out “because they don’t believe there’s a viable target,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have been filed.

The decision comes after recent reports that actress Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. Authorities say she was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old “Dark Knight” actor’s lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.

The DEA had obtained a subpoena that could have forced Olsen if she continued to hold out. But the subpoena, issued in April, is no longer valid because it was contingent upon prosecutors pursuing the case, the official said Wednesday. The official added that the case could still be revived if evidence of a crime emerges.

[From the Huffington Post]

You have to wonder who that “viable target” target was. It sounds like the investigation was pretty far reaching. TMZ has an interesting account from several anonymous sources. It’s TMZ, so you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt, but it sounds like their information could actually be legit.

Sources connected with the Heath Ledger investigation say the Drug Enforcement Administration set a new low for starf**king. People who have talked to TMZ off the record are now willing to go on record — still anonymously — about one of the most bizarre DEA power grabs ever.

How’s this for starters … no one we’ve spoken with connected with the case can point to a single DEA case where a massive investigation was launched over an accidental death in which no criminality was even hinted at.

We know the DEA went all over the country, in one case tracking down a guy in California who smoked a joint with Ledger in the ’90′s, telling him he had to testify in a Grand Jury probe. And how’s this for chutzpah … the DEA told the guy he would have to pay his own way to NYC to testify before the Grand Jury!

In another case, the DEA was nosing around a film set in Arizona looking for people who had information about possible Ledger drug connections.

[From TMZ]

There was also a lot of inter-agency rivalry between the NYPD and the DEA, according to TMZ. They claim the U.S. Attorney’s office was “appalled” by the “bogus” investigation, and basically shut it down as soon as they felt they could. So it probably didn’t have anything to do with Mary-Kate Olsen. Considering how quiet she is, I’m sure we’ll never know what she knows. And that’s pretty much the end of this case.

Heath Ledger is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, but his friends have mixed feelings about seeing the late actor in one of his last roles.

Mary-Kate Olsen, whose role in Heath’s death is reportedly being questioned by the DEA and was rumored to be casually dating Heath at the time of his death, made a low-key visit to see The Dark Knight in New York City on July 24.

Dressed entirely in black, wearing sunglasses and sipping her customary Starbucks drink, Mary-Kate, 22, caught the 7:30 p.m. show at NYC’s Battery Park….”She was keeping to herself,” an onlooker tells OK! “She shut off her phone before entering the theater and seemed somber.”

[From OK! Weekly, print edition, August 11, 2008]

Shutting off her cell phone must be how Mary-Kate shows respect.

Heath’s Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal is still coping with his death and can’t bring himself to see The Dark Knight, even though his sister Maggie is also in the film.

“Jake is proud that Heath did such a great job and is getting rave reviews for his performance — even Oscar talk — but he can’t see it right now,” a source tells Star. “He’s still not over it.”

[From Star, print edition, August 11, 2008]

I imagine it would be difficult to see a recently departed friend in a powerful performance, especially in such a dark film. I didn’t know Heath, but I still can’t watch A Knight’s Tale when it’s shown on USA Network.

In lighter news, Jake is basking in his new role as buff stud in his latest film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and wants to show it off on the big screen. According to Star, he wants all his costumes to have the sleeves removed so his biceps can be seen.

“Jake has a lot of sword fighting scenes and wants to look strong and manly,” says an insider. Disney executives refused, but Jake insisted, so they compromised — 80 percent of the tops will have no sleeves.

[From Star, print edition, August 11, 2008]

Mathematically speaking, I don’t think 80/20 is a compromise, but if it results in gleaming biceps, I’m not going to argue. In fact, if Orlando Bloom, who was rumored to be up for the Prince of Persia lead, had made this demand, Kingdom of Heaven may have done better at the box office.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are shown at a press conference at the Toronto Film Festival for Brokeback Mountain on 9/10/05. Credit: Kevin Corkum / WENN

Mary-Kate Olsen has been legally compelled to testify in front of a grand jury in the Heath Ledger investigation. The NYPD has closed their case looking into the death of the 28 year-old actor, but the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency is trying to determine where Heath obtained the prescription medications that led to a fatal drug interaction. Mary-Kate requested immunity from prosecution before talking to the DEA, and many people thought that looked suspicious. Others with legal backgrounds have said that she might just be proceeding cautiously as her lawyer advises and that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

Mary-Kate has not been granted immunity and was served a subpoena to testify in front of a grand jury. A grand jury determines whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with a trial. The proceedings are private and closed to the public, and Mary-Kate does not have the right to have her attorney with her when she testifies. If the grand jury decides that there is enough evidence to go forward with a federal trial it could possibly be open to the public.

Access Hollywood is reporting this story, and while I don’t doubt that Mary-Kate was served a subpoena their facts differ from other reports. They claim Heath died from five medications, not six, and that there are two drugs he didn’t have prescriptions for. The official coroner’s report listed six drugs as the cause of death, and a story in the NY Daily News earlier this week said that the only drug Heath didn’t have a prescription for was Oxycontin. Access Hollywood says that he didn’t have prescriptions for either the Oxycontin or the Vicodin. Whatever happened, Mary-Kate is going to have to talk:

As the investigation surrounding Heath Ledger’s accidental overdose continues, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office in New York has confirmed to Access Hollywood that they have issued a subpoena that would force Mary-Kate Olsen to testify in front of a grand jury.

Five medications were found in Heath’s body at the time of his death, according to the DEA, three of which he’d obtained via doctors in Texas and Los Angeles. At the center of the investigation is how he acquired Oxycontin and Vicodin without a legal prescription.

The actress was the first person called by the masseuse who discovered Heath’s body after the “The Dark Knight” actor’s untimely death…

According to Benjamin Brafman, a high-profile defense attorney not associated with the case, seeking immunity is not the same as admitting guilt.

“It may not mean anything other than she’s getting good legal advice,” Brafman told Access.

“You don’t know what the DEA may suspect in this case and I think it’s a cautious way to proceed. I think it would be wrong to assume she’s done something criminal simply because she’s invoking her 5th amendment against self-incrimination.”

[Access Hollywood as found on omg.yahoo.com]

We can’t presume to know what Mary-Kate’s motivations were for seeking immunity, and it’s possible she was just taking her lawyer’s advice. Yesterday she denied supplying Heath drugs at all and her lawyer called the stories about it “inaccurate and incomplete.”

Mary-Kate Olsen is shown at a screening for The Wackness in NY on 6/25/08. Credit: WORKUM/bauergriffinonline.com