Radar Online has a kind of heartwarming article about Britney Spears and how she’s grateful to her father for stepping in and saving her career and life with that conservatorship following her breakdown. It’s a nice reminder of how far Britney has come since she was carted away by ambulance in early 2008 and placed on a 5150 hold. I was blogging back then and I remember following her bizarre behavior closely. She was overmedicated, in my office chair physician’s opinion, and she needed someone to make sure she was on the right dosage and drugs for her condition. Her most talked about incidents at the time were when she shaved her head and later went after a paparazzo with an umbrella, but she also just used to drive around aimlessly, speak in a British accent and sit on the curb outside her house crying and fight with that evil dude who was trying to control her, Sam Lutfi.

After Britney’s dad took over there were plenty of stories that she resented it and just wanted some freedom, but she supposedly now knows that it was the best thing for her. Radar also reports that Britney’s beau, Jason Trawick, wants to propose but is waiting for the right time. The conservatorship could be lifted next year. Here’s more:

Jamie became Britney’s conservator almost three years ago, after a series of very public meltdowns by his troubled daughter, who has since turned her life around and is back on track and back on top.

“Britney now recognizes that if her father hadn’t stepped in and taken the action that he had, well…. Britney is now crediting Jamie for saving her life,” an insider tells RadarOnline.com. “Britney is on top of the world right now. She is getting ready for the next leg of her world tour, which will be on September 22 in Moscow. Her father will be with her for some of the European performances, along with her mom.

“Britney’s relationship with her dad is in a very, very good place now. She was extremely emotional backstage before leaving for the VMAs and kept telling her daddy how much she loves him.”

Three years ago, Britney had a now infamous and much ridiculed performance at the VMAs in which she appeared out of shape and unable to perform her signature dance moves.

“Britney always knew she would have a comeback. She just didn’t know it was going to be on this level,” the source reveals.

Meanwhile, there will be a routine hearing for Britney’s conservatorship on Tuesday morning to deal with accounting issues. “After Britney’s tour concludes, which will be at the end of this year, her doctors and advisers are going to meet and confer about how much longer the conservatorship should go on for,” the source tells RadarOnline.com.

“There is a very good chance that a decision could be made to pull the plug in early 2012.

“It’s likely that Britney’s business affairs will still remain under control of the conservatorship though, even if they determine that she no longer needs it for herself personally. The idea is that this will be a gradual transition for Britney to return to her life, on her own.”

Britney might also have another reason to celebrate in the new year.

“Jason (Trawick) is very, very serious about Britney,” the source shares. “Jason has made it known that he wants to marry Britney. It’s just a matter of timing of the engagement — and if the conservatorship is lifted off Britney personally, well, it makes it a lot easier for Jason to propose. He doesn’t want her to feel pressured, it will happen when the time is right.”

[From Radar Online]

Does she really need to remarry? I mean I’m happy for her and everything but maybe she should be on her own, legally, for some time before she takes on another husband. Given Britney and Jason’s storied history, it just doesn’t seem like a great idea for them to marry, or for Britney to marry in general.

Getting back to the conservatorship issue, it’s so nice to see Britney doing well and having completed two successful big tours after her very serious, very publicized problems. I would actually love to see Lindsay Lohan get clean and have a minor comeback of sorts. (Nothing too major, just enough to show she’s sober and totally embarrassed about her past.) Yes she’s awful and entitled and addicted, but it’s sad that there’s no one in her life who would help her, like Britney’s dad did, to get sober without trying to exploit her.

photo credit: WENN.com

Catherine Zeta-Jones and her bipolar disorder have taken the cover of this week’s People Magazine. I would imagine that this will likely be one of People’s best-selling issues, not just because big stars “in crisis” always sell, but because Catherine seems to be giving her story exclusively to People, and this cover story includes Catherine’s first interview since the announcement about her disorder. Here’s an excerpt:

When Catherine Zeta-Jones received a recent diagnosis of bipolar II disorder, a mental illness marked by prolonged periods of depression alternating with episodes of mild mania, she didn’t hesitate to step forward with the news.

“This is a disorder that affects millions of people and I am one of them,” the actress, 41, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement in this week’s cover story. “If my revelation of having bipolar II has encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it. There is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help.”

In early April, the Oscar-winning wife of actor Michael Douglas, 66, and mom to son Dylan, 10, and daughter Carys, 8, checked in to Silver Hill Hospital, a mental-health facility in New Canaan, Conn.

Shaken by Douglas’s battle with throat cancer, Zeta-Jones was privately struggling, a friend says. As Douglas recovered, Zeta-Jones didn’t – and with her new movie, the romantic comedy Playing the Field, slated to start shooting in Louisiana, the actress realized she needed help in the face of mounting depression.

“The simple things would just seem overwhelming, like going out to dinner,” says the close friend. “There was just a little piece of her chipped away. It was hard to watch because I knew how hard she was trying.”

[From People]

I agree with everything being said here – there are millions of people with bipolar disorders, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and people should actively seek treatment. What does interest me, on a celebrity-gossip level, is the how, why and “why now?” of this. Catherine checked herself into a mental health facility a few weeks ago and stayed for less than a week, I believe. I also believe that Catherine wouldn’t have come out and aired her (admittedly private) business if it not for an exclusive scoop that the National Enquirer got last week – only the Enquirer’s story was about Catherine’s problems with drugs and alcohol, which admittedly could have been bipolar-related. While I do think that whatever she’s going through is private, and that she’s taking steps to handle it and be a responsible adult about the situation, I also think that there’s more to the story than what Catherine is handing to People Magazine.

Covers courtesy of CoverAwards, People. Additional pics by WENN.

Yesterday, many of us were stunned at the news that Catherine Zeta Jones is bipolar, and that she was being treated for the disorder at a mental health clinic. I said yesterday that I hadn’t heard a whiff of anything regarding Zeta, but some of you reminded me that I had, in fact, heard a few stories. Nothing too bad, and nothing that I didn’t explain away at the time as simple “Oh, she’s on vacation” or “She must be tired.” But yes, over the past year, we’ve had lots of photos of Catherine chain-smoking and looking pretty drunk and out-of-it, and yes, looking back on some of the stories of her being “tired” and “out of it” were probably bipolar-related. Anyway, People Magazine – who broke the story – has another article up about Zeta and Michael:

Walking the red carpet at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art this week, Michael Douglas was feeling grateful for all the well wishes he’d received from friends and fans as he battled cancer.

“I feel great!” the actor, 66, told PEOPLE at Tuesday night’s event to celebrate Carnegie Hall’s 120th anniversary. “I feel a tremendous amount of support from so many people.”

Absent from the event was his biggest supporter: wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. Hours later, it was revealed that she has quietly sought healing of her own. Her rep says the actress recently checked into a facility for a few days to treat her bipolar II disorder.

The revelation was surprising to many, not least because the Oscar-winning actress and mom-of-two stayed steadfastly positive in public while sticking by Douglas’s side through a grueling six-month battle with cancer.

But behind the scenes, those close to the actress say she felt the strain. Her rep acknowledged the timing of Zeta-Jones, 41, seeking treatment was in part connected to “the stress of the past year.”

Adds a friend, “Catherine has had to deal with Michael’s illness, and that’s been hard.”

A Famous Example

In sharing her experience, the actress put a very public face on a mental illness experienced by millions. The key indicator of bipolar II, experts say, is a cycle of high and low moods, often with episodes of depression.

Zeta-Jones herself has described her bouts with melancholy, telling The Sunday Times in the U.K. that “I’m lucky. … But that’s not to say I don’t get down on myself. I try and stay positive, being negative isn’t good for my personality. I don’t just bring myself down, I bring everyone around me down. It’s like a dark cloud, ‘Uh oh, here we go’, and I have to snap out of it.”

Dr. David Miklowitz, professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine, says stress “definitely can play a role” in triggering depression or what doctors call hypomania, short periods of mild manias.

“Certain life events, changes, particularly those that affect the sleep cycle, can trigger symptoms,” says Miklowitz. “An event like a loss experience or family conflict can be a cause or a trigger of bipolar episodes.”

Carrie Fisher

Another celebrity knows the feeling. Carrie Fisher, who has laid bare own battles with weight, drugs and alcohol, and also revealed that several years ago she was diagnosed with bipolar II, has described the challenges of the mood swings that come with it.

“A manic phase is not predictable,” Fisher has said, according to USA Today. “The last time, I hacked off my hair, got a tattoo, and wanted to convert to Judaism.”

Perhaps most important, though, is that sufferers can – and many do – manage the disorder effectively, many times with various medications. Now that she’s checked out of treatment, Zeta-Jones can get back to her everyday life – being an actress. She has two new movies coming up, including Playing the Field, currently in production in Louisiana with Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel, and Lay the Favorite.

Adds the friend, Zeta-Jones’s decision to seek treatment was a positive step that will allow her to perform at the best of her ability.

“She went in for a few days because she’s about to start working, and to make sure she’s in top form,” says the friend, “which she is.”

[From People]

Um… Catherine Zeta-Jones is in Playing the Field? With Gerard Butler?!? I’m calling it: Gerard Butler instigated this current breakdown, probably after he and Zeta had some kind of torrid one night stand. My theory is solid. (Except I don’t think they’ve worked together yet, but nevermind!)

A note about the photos on this post and yesterday’s: I swear to God, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just using some of the most recent photos we have of Catherine. Her eyes take on a different meaning in retrospect.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Shocking news: Catherine Zeta Jones is bipolar. Did anyone else know that? I didn’t. Zeta’s rep just confirmed to People Magazine that CZJ has checked herself into a “mental health facility” to treat her “bipolar II disorder”. Apparently, the stress of the past year – with Michael Douglas’s cancer fight and all – triggered something in Catherine:

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who has been by husband Michael Douglas’s side during his cancer fight, has sought mental health treatment for herself, her rep says.

“After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her bipolar II disorder,” the rep says in a statement. “She’s feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week on her two upcoming films.”

Zeta-Jones, 41, spent about five days in the unidentified facility, a friend tells PEOPLE.

“There’s no question it’s been a stressful year,” the friend says. “Catherine has had deal with Michael’s illness and that’s been hard. She went in for a few days because she’s about to start working, and wanted to make sure she’s in top form, which she is.”

Douglas, 66, announced in January he was declared free of cancer after what he called a “wild six-month ride” of chemotherapy and radiation for a tumor on his tongue.

[From People]

From a PR standpoint, this is very well executed. The news is stunning because I’m not aware of even a whiff of this kind of thing around Catherine, and it’s not like she’s had any kind of public meltdown or scandals lately or ever. It seems like a situation where Catherine wasn’t doing very well in private, and she and her family simply took time out to acknowledge the problem and help her get treatment. In other words, everyone is behaving in everybody’s best interests and Catherine is going to get the best help money can buy, and all will be well. Good for them!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

In the current issue of Star Magazine, there’s an article about Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy’s break-up. Although I haven’t seen it confirmed, I think Star Mag might have known about Jim and Jenny’s breakup before they announced it, and Star was prepared to run a story about it, and that’s why Jenny and Jim suddenly announced their split late one afternoon last week. Basically, I’m saying that Star Mag might have nailed this story, to the point where Jim and Jenny were trying to do some early damage control.

Now, at the time, my thoughts were only that the breakup was very sad and that they seemed to be a good match. However, it only took a few days for the rumors to start, and the rumors seemed to revolve around Jim’s mental health, and his battle with depression (or manic depression, say some sources). This is the reason Star Magazine gives for the split. Various unnamed sources tell the magazine, “Jim is not easy to be with. He has a lot of problems with depression.” Jim himself admitted that he was on Prozac in 2004, but also said that “at a certain point” he had to go off his meds and deal with the “peaks and valleys” of life. Star claims that towards the end of their relationship, Jenny was distraught that Jim refused to take his medication, even when those peaks and valleys became “crazy highs and ugly lows.”

A source also told Star: “It was such an emotional roller coaster for her. When he’d get down, he’s just disappear. He would hide out in a hotel or one of his homes, not answering her calls.” It got to be too much for Jenny and she “told friends she needed more support from her man.”

I believe this. I believe Jim Carrey is one dark motherf-cker, a man who probably sinks into very deep, intense depressions. I also believe he’s probably very, very smart, and he thinks he’s too smart to stay medicated, a common problem. Some manic depressives can’t deal with how their medication slows everything down – some miss the crazy highs and lows of their imbalance. I find it very sad, but I totally get why Jenny wanted and needed to get out of there. Ultimately, she has to take care of herself and her son first.

But now even People Magazine is running a piece about Jim’s sanity. They quote him (from his Twitter) as saying “I’m not having a breakdown.” Which could be just a standard-issue People Mag suck-up, only check out how they wrote this piece:

Jim Carrey’s relationship with Jenny McCarthy isn’t the only thing that’s in the past. So too, he says, is a part of himself he’s happy to shed.

“I have freed Truman at long last!,” Carrey wrote in an explosion of post-breakup Tweets, referring to his alter-ego from The Truman Show whose entire life was surreptitiously filmed for a reality show.

“I am grateful for my avatar’s many yrs of dedicated service, but no one has ever won the Tour De France while back peddling. … so I killed him,” he wrote late Sunday night. “I do not plan 2 bow to expectations or to be confined by the fear of losing altitude in the ‘statusphere’! (my word).”

It has freed him to comment on such delicate matters as the Tiger Woods scandal and make a passing reference to Sandra Bullock’s marital crisis.

Acknowledging that “some folks out there are worried that I stay up too late,” he insists, “This is no breakdown! It’s a breakthrough! And if you’ll just loosen these straps, I’ll show you the difference!”

[From People]

I read this and I thought, “Jesus, this guy is off his meds.” Is that the response People Mag wanted to elicit? Out of curiosity, I looked at Jim’s Twitter feed to see all of what he’s been writing since he got publicly slammed for writing that Elin Woods was a “willing participant” in Tiger’s affairs. He’s been tweeting a lot the past few days… I think I’ll call them “manic tweets”. Different from crack tweets or rage tweets. Manic tweets are when your mental illness reveals itself through a flurry of crazed tweets about subjects only you care about. This sh-t is not good.

Life and Style is reporting that Lindsay Lohan may have finally taken an important step towards not dying. I’m not going to say towards getting her life back together because that’s a long road for her. But she may have at least decided to take an important first step: according to the magazine, she’s in counseling. They also claim that Michael Lohan releasing all those mortifying tapes of Lindsay is what got her to do something. And they’re giving him credit. A truly chilling thought.

Lindsay Lohan’s father has won the battle to get his daughter into counseling – the actress is reportedly meeting with a mentor up to three times a week.

Michael Lohan leaked taped recordings of phone calls he’d had with his daughter in a last-ditch bid to get her to enter rehab and kick an alleged addiction to prescription drugs. The plan backfired when Lohan and his ex-wife Dina staged a public campaign to vilify the worried dad for his actions. He has since promised not to leak anymore recordings.

However, it seems his efforts have driven Lindsay to a counselor.

A source tells Life & Style magazine, “She goes two, sometimes three times a week. This is not a program or substance-abuse counselor or police officer watching over her; it’s someone to talk to in a confidential state.”

“She knows, and everyone knows, this is a huge stepping-stone for her – get in there, talk to someone, figure out what’s going on and then try to fix it. First comes the diagnosis.”

[From Starpulse]

I can give you a diagnosis right now: cray-to-the-Z. I wonder what axis that goes on in the DSM-IV? There’s probably a whole separate Lohan section in there. If this story is true – and let’s keep in mind, the original source is Life and Style, so it should be taken with a grain of salt – but if it’s true, it’s hard to wonder if it was worth it. There are so many better, more mature, parental, rationale, supportive ways to get your messed up child some help. Publicly embarrassing her and releasing all sorts of super private information is not the way to do it. The relationship between Lindsay and Michael – whatever it was – will never be healed now. It likely never would have been anyway, but now there’s no chance. He’s proven without a doubt that there is nothing he won’t do.

But if Lindsay is in counseling, at least that’s something. I’m not saying in any way that Michael did what was right or what he had to do. It’s inexcusable. So I’m going to pretend that if Lindsay’s in rehab, it’s because she came to some realizations all on her own, completely apart from Michael. Because he absolutely should not get what he wants as a reward for behaving that way.

Aren’t these pictures cute? Sparkles Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have taken their New Moon promotional duties to Paris for interviews and this photo call. Sparkles looks like he just woke up, doesn’t he? And his rat’s nest hair looks… deflated. Limp, if you will. I hate myself for saying this… but Sparkles looks better with big hair. I’ve gotten used to see his hair really, really high and looking like a rat’s nest, and seeing him so deflated is a bit disconcerting. Poor Sparkles. But doesn’t Kristen Stewart look gorgeous? I love that dress! She looks very ladylike and Sparkles probably busted something when he saw her. And by “busted something” I mean “he sparkled in his pants”.

Meanwhile, a new interview with Pattinson was just released in New Magazine. I don’t have the complete interview, only excerpts, and I just have to say… this kid needs a publicist. Badly. Because he’s starting to come across as some Megan Fox type, a guy how can’t shut up about all of his issues. Pattinson’s big revelation is that he’s “manic depressive”. I put that in quotes because he hasn’t really been diagnosed as a manic-depressive, he just thinks he is. Or he’s just saying he is. Either way, I kind of feel like slapping him.

Robert Pattinson has shocked his legions of female fans by uncovering his dark side – the actor suffers bouts of manic depression.

The Twilight hunk often endures mood swings and although he doesn’t have an official diagnosis, he’s convinced he suffers from the condition, also known as bipolar disorder.

Pattinson insists the problem, which is characterized by intense feelings of depression followed by swings of extreme happiness, often only shows itself when he is in a relationship.

He tells Britain’s New magazine, “You over-analyze everything – you analyze how if you say one thing, someone likes you, and if you say another, they don’t. You begin to experiment on people, which isn’t good for real life. I don’t think I’m very romantic any more – just manic depressive.”

[From New Magazine via Contact Music]

Now, here’s the thing. I could totally accept if Pattinson really was manic-depressive, if he had a real diagnosis. And it’s no laughing matter – true manic-depression is a very, very serious condition. And that’s just it – if Pattinson really was a manic depressive, I have doubts that he would be able to function. It sounds a lot like Megan Fox’s comment “I think I’m a borderline personality – or that I have bouts of mild schizophrenia.” I hate when these young celebrities throw around terms that don’t get.

On a lighter note, Sparkles also talked about how he’s dirty all the time. Gee, what a prince, right? Manic depression and he doesn’t shower or wash his clothes? Sign me up!

Robert Pattinson stinks. Literally.

The sought-after Twilight actor — romantically linked to Kristen Stewart, his face adorning the bedroom walls of millions of fans — warns would-be suitors to keep their distance or risk a certain aroma.

In an interview posted by UK’s New! magazine, Pattinson says that he rarely changes his clothes. “These jeans are a few days old,” he says. “But the top is probably fresh because it gets to the point where even I can’t stand the air around me. I don’t know, my personal hygiene – it’s so disgusting!” He explains that his constant travel schedule pares down his wardrobe quite a bit.

His career, if anything, has dampened his mojo: “Acting ruined my seduction techniques because you start to think everything is a ‘method.’”

Not that he isn’t still obsessed with women: “A lot of my ambitions are tied up with wanting pretty girls to like me,” he says. The self-deprecating Brit adds, “any girl I’ve ever really wanted to go out with in the past, I’ve always lost to someone else!”

[From Us Weekly]

Oh, for goodness sake. Take a valium and do some laundry. It’s not that f-cking difficult. And you know what? Sparkles has probably been living in hotels for months, and the hotels would easily wash his clothes for him! He’s so lazy, he won’t even call someone and have them pick up his stuff. Ugh.

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are shown at the Crillon Hotel in Paris, for a New Moon photo call on November 10, 2009. Credit: Eliot Press @ Bauer-Griffin.

Actress Glenn Close is speaking out about mental illness on behalf of her nonprofit organization, BringChange2Mind, which aims to decrease the social stigma associated with mental illness. Glenn’s sister Jessie has bipolar disorder but wasn’t diagnosed until she was 27, and Jessie’s son Calen has schizo-affective disorder. While Glenn is famous for having played some crazy characters, she says she never recognized the mental illness in her own family because they didn’t really have the vocabulary to even talk about it.

For more than 25 years, actress Glenn Close has wowed audiences with memorable performances. But her latest role in a public service announcement addressing the stigma of mental illness hits particularly close to home.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four adults in the United States have a diagnosable mental disorder. Close is speaking out for the first time on television about the legacy of mental illness in her own family. Her sister, Jessie Close, has bipolar disorder, and Jessie’s son Calen Pick, 28, has schizo-affective disorder.

“Mental illness is just part of the human condition,” the actress said today on “Good Morning America,” adding that her family hopes that the sisters’ campaign will help foster a dialogue about a condition that we should “talk about as openly as cancer or diabetes.”

Glenn Close, an Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony award winner and Oscar nominee currently starring in the series “Damages,” is also the creator of a nonprofit organization called BringChange2Mind, which she founded to raise awareness about mental illness and to provide support and information to the mentally ill and their families.

[From ABC News]

The interview with George Stephanopoulos is really interesting, and you can watch it in its entirety on ABC’s website. It’s so touching to watch Glenn interact with Jessie and see the compassion and empathy she has for her sister, instead of the judgment and ridicule people with mental illness often face. They also show the PSA, which has Glenn and Jessie wearing shirts that say “Sister” and “Bipolar” in the middle of Grand Central Station, along with other people and their family members wearing shirts that say the name of their illness. It helps us see their humanity, and remind us that they’re regular people deserving of respect, just like everyone else.

Stephanopoulos also talks a bit about the link between bipolar disorder (and mental illness in general) and creativity. Jessie, who’s a writer, admitted she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to work and would lose that part of herself, and her son felt the same. But she said she’s working better than ever now, and they showed an amazing self-portrait that Calen had recently completed.

It’s wonderful that Glenn and Jessie have joined forces on this, and hopefully they’ll bring some much needed attention to the truly important issues affecting not just those with mental illness but their families as well.

Here’s Glenn at the Emmys on September 20th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Here’s a strange story for you, courtesy of the folks at Radar. They like to get a lot of video interviews, which is nice. The thing is that, with the exception of some Z-list stars (remember their Octomom series?) they generally only get hooked up with the friends-of-friends of a celebrity. Or, best case scenario, the parents of friends of a celebrity. They’re almost always a few degrees removed. It’s still interesting to hear what they have to say, but so much is repeated “telephone-game” style that you have to wonder how accurate it is.

In this case, we’ve got Marci Santoro. What, haven’t heard of her? Strange. Well remember that babysitter Jon Gosselin hooked up with this summer, Stephanie Santoro? Marci is Stephanie’s mom. And for some reason, she’s passing on her exclusive knowledge of Jon Gosselin’s mental health – or lack thereof. Why we’re hearing about it now and why Marci is sharing at all is beyond me, aside from the two obvious answers: money and attention. She’s not going to get much of either, but here goes.

Marci claims that Jon was suicidally depressed. Not from her own first-hand knowledge but because she overheard a conversation between Stephanie and Jon in which he threatened to kill himself. Stephanie then relayed the whole thing to her mom, who was kind enough to relay it all to Radar.

Jon Gosselin may look calm and collected in photographs, but behind closed doors, the father-of-8 is a pressure cooker waiting to boil over says the mother of his babysitter and former lover, Stephanie Santoro.

In a shocking exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com, Marci Santoro confirmed her daughter’s sexual relationship with Jon and said Gosselin threatened to kill himself in a conversation with Stephanie.

“He said that everybody would be better off without him and that his children would be better off if he wasn’t around anymore,” Marci told RadarOnline.com. “He said to her, ‘I’m just going to kill myself, I’m just going to end it all.’”

Frightening words from Jon, who is weeks away from finalizing his divorce with wife Kate Gosselin. But the 32-year-old has been displaying erratic behavior at times, venting his rage at wife Kate on national TV and telling the world he “despises” her and dating a string of younger women and then denying most of the relationships.

Despite Jon’s public loyalty to current girlfriend Hailey Glassman, 22, other women (remember Kate Major?) have stepped out claiming they too dated Jon during his separation from his wife. And now Santoro confirms to RadarOnline.com that Stephanie also had a sexual relationship with Jon, which began right after he returned from France with Hailey.

“She told me that besides watching the children, they also started a relationship, and of course being a mother my first question was, ‘are you sleeping with him, did you have sex?’ and she said, ‘yeah.’” According to Santoro, Stephanie quit her jobs to babysit the Gosselin children in July.

[From Radar]

I’m not quite sure what to make of this. My initial impression from the phrasing of Jon’s statement about killing himself was that it seemed more an empty statement of self pity. There are the cries for help that should be taken very, very seriously. And there are the things that are just tossed out there. If there’s any truth to this story, that doesn’t mean that’s how Jon actually phrased it. Like I said, it’s being passed on through a long chain. And Marci is obviously putting her own inflection into it.

My gut instinct is it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Jon’s mental health checked out. Not because of this supposed incident – it’s just too vague and the fact that anyone would pass this on if it were true makes me question the accuracy of the source more than if they made it up. But Radar actually made some really good points about Jon’s bizarre behavior. And more than anything, the dramatic change in his personality. Most people think it’s an early midlife crisis, but sometimes major mental illnesses can be shockingly overlooked. It couldn’t hurt to make sure he’s okay.

You can watch the video of the interview here. And stop dating girls with mustache moms Jon. It never leads to anything good.

Here’s Jon Gosselin shopping at Banana Republic in SoHo yesterday with a known paparazzi acting as his bodyguard. Oddly enough the burly snapper is wearing a ‘Police’ t-shirt. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.

To paraphrase Eric Cartman, Gerard Butler is a dirty hippie. I’d never realized this before, and I’m one his most devoted fangirls. So what makes Gerry such a dirty, sexy, rotten hippie? He totally meditates with Deepak Chopra, and talks about his missing “spirituality” and how “the universe” rewards his “energy”. Of course the universe rewarded his energy. If I was the universe, I would spank his energy and nail it to the wall. The universe is horny for Gerry.

Anway, this new dirty hippie information comes to us via Gerry’s new, wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph. If you like him, I’d suggest reading the entire piece, it’s quite good. If not, here are some the highlights: Gerry compares himself to Spencer Tracy, talks about his single status, and how he’s gotten rid of his ego.

‘Gerry is the movie’s secret weapon,’ Karen McCullah Lutz, one of the film’s writers, says. ‘He’s the guy guys want to be and girls want to be with.’ Butler plays Mike Chadway, a handsome, grizzly-voiced chauvinist who becomes a guest commentator on a morning television show produced by the romantically challenged Abby (Heigl), sending its ratings through the roof.

When he takes it upon himself to help Abby find love, it has some very funny – and fairly predictable – consequences. Butler’s performance is witty and heart-warming. It’s Mel Gibson meets Cary Grant, where twink­ling masculinity and wry sensitivity collide.

‘I like to see myself more as a Spencer Tracy type,’ Butler says. ‘As an actor, I think I can tick several different genre boxes. At the moment, I just happen to be finding comedies kind of irresistible.’

‘When I started out, I’m not sure I was actually in it for the right reasons,’ Butler says. ‘I wanted very much to be famous. I did expect to succeed and I did have faith that I would. In reality, though, it has turned out to be something very different to what I wanted. It’s the work and not the adulation that has proved to be the most fulfilling.’

An inevitable by-product of his celebrity is romantic speculation: Butler has been linked to Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Naomi Campbell – all denied by him. He is currently single.

When he isn’t working, Butler struggles with himself. ‘The space in between the jobs is the hard part. I don’t know how to live a normal life and make it so full-on, so exciting. That’s what I want to learn to do.’

In true Hollywood style, Butler has devoted a great deal of time and energy to working on himself in recent years. ‘A couple of years ago, I realised that my career was going brilliantly and yet I wasn’t happy at all,’ he says. ‘I went into extreme analysis and I realised that what I was missing was a certain spirituality. I have spent so much of my life thinking, how am I doing? How am I being perceived? What’s my success level? And I needed to rid myself of that ego.’

He has received one-on-one meditation training from Deepak Chopra, spiritual guru to the stars, and been very influenced by the self-help phenomenon The Secret, a film and subsequent book whose central tenet is that there is a universal intelligence that responds to our desires. ‘Things began to turn around for me when I naturally started seeing myself in jobs,’ Butler says. ‘The universe rewarded that energy by matching it.’

[From Telegraph]

Dude, I believe in the power of visualization and positive thinking, and God knows I have deep breathing “meditatation” techiniques that I employ when I want to rip someone’s head off, but it’s a bit rich for Gerry to claim he owes his career to positive thinking or whatever. He’s a hard worker, he’s a professional, he’s a good actor, and he doesn’t take himself too seriously – that’s why he’s a success. But I do think it’s kind of cool that Gerry is concerned with his own spirituality. He’s not just concerned with nailing every woman he meets. Although there was this little tidbit in Pop Tarts’ “Seen & Heard” this morning: “Gerard Butler asking his manager to get the number of a hot redhead reporter in the lunch break of his press day for “The Ugly Truth” at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on Friday.” Damn it! I wish I were a redheaded hippie reporter, spanking Gerard Butler’s “universe”. Must. Visualize.

Here’s Gerald Butler filming a parade scene in Brooklyn for his new film “The Bounty” on Friday. Images thanks to Mavrix.