Fallen country star Mindy McCready’s interview with 20/20 aired on Friday. We’ve previously heard segments in which she defended the fact that she kidnapped her son from his grandmother, the boy’s legal guardian, by claiming that he was her property since she gave birth to him. (That’s pretty much what she said, but not in those exact words.) She also made some vague allegations of abuse against her mother. In the full interview, I didn’t get a better impression of Mindy at all. She seemed just as defensive and in the wrong as she has in the past. However I sort-of believed her story about her mother potentially abusing Zander. It was hard to tell if she was telling the truth or not.

On how the police response to her kidnapping her son was overkill
“It was a swat team. They had riot gear. Assault rifles. Zander saw all of it.”

On if she was hiding in the closet with Zander when the cops came
“We were sitting on the couch. I think that [the closet version] just makes a better story.”

On how Zander saved her life
“I couldn’t imagine loving something so much that instead of wanting to just lay down and die I wanted to stand up and fight… I lived for Zander, and I live for him still.”

On why she kidnapped Zander from Florida
“I have tried to comply (air quotes). I have tried to follow the rules of the court. I have tried to be heard through the system. I did what the system told me to do in overabundance… for four years. After four years, do you know what I got, nothing. I didn’t even get unsupervised visitation.”

On if she worried about the risk by taking Zander
“No. I’m his mother, I would risk anything, my life, my freedom. I would risk anything for my child.”

On if she knowingly broke the law
“I do not, and will not ever think that me taking my child that I carried for nine months that I gave birth to in the hospital by myself would ever be breaking the law. What I did is to protect my child.”

On her mother, Zander’s guardian
“That sweet grandmother is not sweet at all. He says that nana is so mean that her heart is black, and that she’s so mean she doesn’t know how to be nice anymore.”

Mindy’s grandmother issued an affidavit that her daughter (Mindy’s mom) abused Zander.
They showed an affidavit from Mindy’s grandmother claiming that she witnessed harsh discipline from the grandmother to Zander involving him being “jerked by the arm” and “hit with a wooden spoon.” She wrote that “I feared Zander would be physically harmed permanently.”

Mindy on her son’s scars from his grandmother
“There are scars on Zander’s back, there are scars on his bottom and his legs from the spoon.”

On her mom’s cult religion, “treasures of the snow.”
“My mother believes that she is a prophet sent from God. They see dead people in their home all the time, spirits, ghosts.”

On her own rough upbringing
“I grew up where I suffered every day, where I suffered every night. The mental and physical abuse never ended.”

Mindy’s mom defends herself.
“I have been Zander’s guardian for four and a half years. There has been all kinds of scrutiny. He has never been abused in our care.”

Mindy on why she’ll be a good mom now
“I have vigorously gone out and tried to learn from my mistakes… There’s nobody that wants to be better at being me than me.”

Just because I find this woman narcissistic and distasteful doesn’t mean she’s not telling the truth about her son. However, that’s doesn’t change the fact that she kidnapped him cross country and is now complaining that the police response was overkill. (20/20 claimed that the police in Florida said that it wasn’t a crime. However if that was the case why were the US Marshalls there? It doesn’t add up.) That doesn’t change the fact that the court never granted her unsupervised visitation. This whole story is just sad for Zander. I don’t give a crap about Mindy.

Mindy would not reveal the Arkansas court’s ruling on Zander’s fate last week since it was sealed, but she said that Zander remains in Arkansas and that’s where he’ll stay. He’s currently with a foster family. Mindy claims to be six months pregnant with twins.

Mindy’s full interview with 20/20:

So last week there was a multi-state manhunt on for country star Mindy McCready and her five year-old son, Zander. Mindy took Zander from his court-appointed guardian, Mindy’s mother, in Florida. She went all the way to Arkansas, where US Marshalls and police officers found her hiding in a closet of a summer home with the boy. The home was owned by Mindy’s boyfriend. This woman has multiple DUI, drug and assault charges, and she’s claimed that she couldn’t have kidnapped the son she doesn’t have legal custody of because “it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me.” In a recent court hearing in Arkansas, Zander was allowed to stay in Arkansas, for now, with a temporary foster family. The court details were sealed so it’s unclear what the judge’s reasoning was or how long the ruling was for. Mindy considers it a victory of sorts.

Well now Mindy is on 20/20 defending herself. Good Morning America had a preview today and she was just as defensive and haughty about her actions as you would expect. She also claimed that poor Zander was screaming and pleading with the police with drawn guns who found them. Mindy claims Zander said “Please don’t touch me, please don’t touch me, please don’t touch my mommy …. I want to be with my mommy!” She’s complaining about how her son was traumatized by a situation that she created. The kid is five years old. Of course he wants to be with his mom, but a judge ruled that she was an unfit parent. Her reasoning for seizing Zander was the same we’ve heard from her before: she gave birth to him, so she pretty much owns him.

“What I did was to protect my child,” she said, “and there’s not a person in the world who will tell me I am wrong.”

The country singer, 36, said when authorities found she and her son at her boyfriend David Wilson’s Arkansas lake house Friday, the boy began screaming and crying for his mother.

“Please don’t touch me, please don’t touch me, please don’t touch my mommy …. I want to be with my mommy!” McCready said Zander, 5, was screaming.

McCready’s mother, Gayle Inge, has had custody of her son since 2007, but the country singer says she feels taking him was not illegal.

“I do not, and will not ever think, that the child who I carried for nine months, who I gave birth to in the hospital by myself … that that would ever be breaking the law,” she said…

Zander has been in foster care in Arkansas since Friday night; after her most recent court appearance Monday, McCready said things in the sealed case were moving in the right direction.

[From Radar]

The details of why McCready took her son were not revealed in this teaser clip, but the interviewer said McCready “reveals some of her family’s deepest, darkest secrets and they were shocking.” Given how she justifies taking him by claiming that she gave birth to him, I would bet that she doesn’t need much of an excuse. We’ve heard that she’s accused her mother of abusing Zander, but no specifics have yet been given and she’s spent a lot of time defending herself and claiming that the boy is hers anyway. If he were being abused, you would think that she would lead with those details instead of continuing to insist that he’s her property. If she has specific details and evidence that Zander was abused though, I’ll gladly eat my words. If she did have that, why would she have stolen the child in the first place?

Also, the reporter said that McCready is six months’ pregnant with twins. Last week McCready told the AP she was seven months pregnant, and her rep told People she was five months pregnant.

Country singer Mindy McCready attended a court hearing yesterday to find out the fate of her son, Zander, who was recovered by police over the weekend after Mindy absconded with the boy from Florida to Arkansas. Following a scheduled visit last week, Mindy was supposed to return Zander to his legal guardian, his grandmother, who has had custody of him since 2007. Instead she fled with the boy cross country, leading to a missing persons report and a multi-state manhunt. US Marshalls and police eventually found Mindy and Zander cowering in the closet of an empty summer home in Arkansas owned by Mindy’s boyfriend. Zander was put in foster care temporarily before a judge could rule on his fate.

After the custody hearing yesterday, Mindy was smiling broadly and said that she just loved the judge. (You can see video of Mindy outside of court, above.) The court details are sealed, but it’s known that Zander will remain in Arkansas with a foster family for now.

“I can’t talk about it, but I can tell you all I’m a happy girl,” the 36-year-old McCready said after the proceeding in Izard County Court.

While she didn’t disclose exactly what was decided in the closed-door session, the troubled entertainer did heap praise on Judge Lee Harrod.

“I love Judge Harrod, I’ll tell you that. I love that man. He’s a good man,” she also told the gaggle of media before driving away.

Later that evening, according to ABC News, McCready texted HLN’s Jane Valez Mitchell, which the host read on the air.

WE WON!!! ZAN STAYS,” wrote the I’m Still Here singer. “Court details sealed but we love Judge Lee W. Harrod.”

Given it’s a family matter and court documents are sealed, it’s unknown if, in fact, the judge granted the country star permanent custody or temporary custody, like allowing her to take her son back with her to Nashville, or whether he ordered Zander remanded to his grandparents.

An attorney for McCready was unavailable for comment, but her camp did issue a statement to E! News confirming that “Mindy and Zander both remain in Arkansas at this time” and that “Zander remains with a foster care family” there.

[From E! Online]

After fleeing with Zander, Mindy told the AP that she was seven months pregnant with twins, and then her rep confirmed to People that she was just five months’ pregnant with twins. In the video of her leaving the court room she’s wearing a big poncho and it’s hard to tell, but she doesn’t look seven months pregnant with twins. That was one of her excuses for not returning Zander. Another excuse was that he was her property and “it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me.” She also accused her mother of abuse. Mindy has a long and storied history with the law and with addiction. I’m thinking she would easily lie to get her way, since she had no problem breaking the law. Still, many of you commented that it’s not unlikely that Mindy’s mother could be abusing Zander. Look at how her own daughter turned out.

Second two photos above are from 2008. Credit: WENN

Country singer Mindy McCready, 36, made headlines for something other than a DUI or a drunken fight last week when she kidnapped her five year-old son, Zander, from the care of his legal guardian, Mindy’s mother. Instead of returning the boy after a scheduled visit last week, Mindy fled from Florida to Tennessee and then Arkansas. A missing person’s report went out for Zander and a court order was issued for him to be returned to his grandmother last Thursday. Mindy claimed she didn’t do anything wrong because her son was her property. She said “I did not steal my child, as it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me! There never was any missing persons report and never an Amber Alert.” There was definitely a missing person’s report but that didn’t seem to faze Mindy. Also, she claimed she couldn’t return Zander since she was either five or seven months pregnant with twins, depending on which outlet she was talking to. Well all that is over now because authorities found Mindy and Zander at her boyfriend’s home in Arkansas. When cops stormed the home, Mindy and the boy were hiding in a closet. Is anyone else getting Elian Gonzales flashbacks? Zander has been taken into custody and will be returned to his grandmother shortly.

Country music singer Mindy McCready was hiding in the closet with her son when authorities took the 5-year-old boy into custody in Arkansas, officials said early Saturday.

Authorities found Zander McCready and his mother in a home in Heber Springs, Arkansas, according to David Rahbany, the chief deputy U.S. Marshal in eastern Arkansas.

“The child appeared to be in good condition when we found him … he was in the closet with his mother,” Rahbany said.

Local sheriffs and marshals had placed the home — believed to belong to the singer’s boyfriend — under surveillance for hours before they found the boy late Friday, he said.

The boy is in the custody of the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services, who will make arrangements to take him to his legal guardian in Florida, his maternal grandmother.

Until recently, the boy has been living with Mindy McCready’s mother and stepfather, Gayle and Michael Inge, who have legal custody. The singer, who has fought a public battle against drug addiction, has visitation rights.

McCready took her son from her mother’s Florida home late last month and asked a court to restore custody to her out of concern over the boy’s safety.

A Florida judged signed an emergency “pickup order” Thursday authorizing law enforcement officers to get the boy.

McCready’s mother and stepfather said they are relieved.

“We feel sorrow for Zander because he’s traumatized, and for Mindy,” they said. “We just hope she does the right thing from here on out and that this is a wake-up call for her.”

McCready was not charged with a crime Friday, Rahbany said, adding it is unclear whether she faces any future charges.

[From CNN]

What an awful thing to do, and to put your child through. That kid is going to be upset and confused, and for the rest of his life he’ll remember being taken away by cops from his mom while she clung to him in a closet. Mindy doesn’t care though, because Zander is her property! He’s not a vulnerable little kid who needs love and guidance, he’s something she owns. It’s obvious why she doesn’t have custody of him. I hope authorities keep a close eye on those twins she claims to be having, but hopefully she’s lying about that too.

People has a new article chronicling Mindy’s problems through the years. She’s been a mess for a long time.

Most of these photos are from Facebook and I think that’s her current boyfriend. One photo below credit: WENN

Mindy McCready is a 36 year-old country music singer who made headlines in 2008 when she claimed to have had an affair, starting when she was 15, with baseball great Roger Clements. She later attempted to cash in on the affair by releasing a sex tape with a boyfriend. She has several thankfully failed suicides attempt in her past, and she spent a month in jail in 2008 for violating probation on multiple charges including assault on her mother, DUI and attempting to buy Oxycontin with a fake prescription. She also was on celebrity rehab in 2009 but then had a possible overdose in 2010. So McCready is an addict and a mess, basically, and her mother was awarded custody of her five year old son as a result.

In the latest Mindy McCready news, she took her five year old son, Zander, from her father’s house in Florida to Tennessee. A judge in Florida has ruled that she must return Zander to her mother, Zander’s grandmother, by Thursday because his grandmother has custody of him. According to McCready, everything is fine though, because the kid is hers, she owns him, and she skyped with the sheriff’s office to explain that. Also, McCready claims she can’t go back to Florida because she’s either five months or seven months pregnant with twins, depending on which outlet she’s talking to. The AP has an interview with her in which she says she’s nearly seven months while People Magazine talked to her rep who confirmed that she’s five months along. So according to McCready she was able to take the boy from Florida just last week, but she can’t return him this week since she’s pregnant. It doesn’t matter though since her son is her property anyway, and also because her mother was supposedly abusing Zander, which she denies.

Mindy McCready tells Access Hollywood that despite reports, she and her 5-year-old son are not missing.

“I am working with lawyers to try to get all this straightened out,” she told Access Hollywood in an e-mail on Wednesday. “I did not steal my child, as it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me! There never was any missing persons report and never an Amber Alert.”

According to the Associated Press, however, the Department of Children and Families said a missing persons report was filed in Florida on Tuesday.

The DCF told the AP that the report was filed after the singer took her son, Zander, from the singer’s father’s home. McCready’s mother reportedly has custody of the child.

A judge has ordered McCready to return Zander by Thursday, the AP reported. – Access Hollywood

---

Country singer Mindy McCready said Wednesday she will probably not be able to bring her 5-year-old son back to Florida to fulfill a judge’s order by Thursday afternoon— because she is nearly 7 months pregnant with twins. By not returning as ordered, she risks arrest.

Speaking exclusively to The Associated Press, McCready said that she and her mother have had a long custody battle in Florida over Zander. Her mother was awarded guardianship in 2007.

The battle became more public this week, when the Florida Department of Children and Families said a missing person report was filed with police after McCready took Zander from her father’s home. McCready was able to visit with the boy there under a court order and the 36-year-old singer said she had spent much of the past month with her son at the home. Her mother and father are divorced.

McCready alleges that her son suffered abuse while living at her mother’s home and that is one of the reasons why she left with the boy last week.

“I’m a mom first,” said McCready from Nashville, Tenn. “No matter what happens, I’m going to protect my kid. If I have to go to jail, so be it.”

When reached at her Lee County home Wednesday night, McCready’s mother, Gayle Inge, said the abuse allegations are “absolutely not true.”

During the interview with the AP, a tearful McCready recounted a messy and confusing tale of court custody battles and family fights. McCready is suing her mother and a tabloid newspaper for libel in a Palm Beach County court.

On Tuesday, DCF discovered that McCready and the boy were not at her father’s home and a judge ruled she must return him voluntarily by 5 p.m. Thursday or risk an arrest warrant.

According to Aimee McLaughlin of the Childrens Network of Southwest Florida, a case manager filed a missing person report with the Cape Coral Police on Tuesday. The DCF spokesman said Children’s Network of Southwest Florida is the Community-Based Care agency for the area.

McCready said she was under the impression that the Florida judge was transferring the custody case to Tennessee and that it wouldn’t be a problem if she brought him there.

McCready, who was born in Florida and found fame in Nashville as a singer in the 1990s, said she left with her son to the Tennessee city before Thanksgiving.

Both McCready and her mother agree that a Florida judge had heard testimony during court hearings at the end of October and early November regarding the singer regaining custody of Zander. Both women agree that the judge had not yet ruled and that he said for now, the boy should remain with his grandmother.

Cape Coral Police Lt. Tony Sizemore said McCready called the department via Skype on Wednesday. – AP

[From Access Hollywood and AP via Times News]

What the hell kind of mother talks about their kid like that? “I did not steal my child, as it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me.” She’s talking about her five year old son as if he’s some thing that she owns, like a coat she left somewhere. This woman is an addict and she’s twisting reality to suit her purposes. The sad thing is that she’s about to have two more kids to mess up, if it’s even true that she’s pregnant. It sounds like a detail she added to try and avoid prosecution.

Mindy is shown at a CMA meet and greet in June, 2010. Credit: WENN.com

If there is a poster child for bad decision making, I nominate country singer Mindy McCready. She’s a talented woman, but that’s not what she is known for. Instead, McCready is notorious for her underage affair with baseball star Roger Clemens, as well as a long history of drug abuse, arrests, domestic violence, suicide attempts, jail time, and even a sex tape featuring her and an ex-boyfriend. Of course, the sex tape also includes Mindy giving some details about her fling with Clemens, along with details of her relationship with Dean Cain and country star Alan Jackson. The tape is being marketed by Vivid Entertainment, and is coming out just as McCready has released a new album. Hmmm. Coincidence?

Mindy McCready will make her adult film debut, offering a narrative about her famous former lovers one of whom she says is baseball legend Roger Clemens.

“Mindy McCready, Baseball Mistress,” coming April 19, will feature the Celebrity Rehab star as the 34-year-old country singer “takes it off and gets it on with a boyfriend named ‘Peter’ in the tape that contains almost an hour of action,” says a news release from Vivid Entertainment (the same company that released Kim Kardashian’s sex tape).

On the video, McCready discusses ex-lovers, including ex-fiance Dean Cain, and her alleged relationship with country singer Alan Jackson. She says she “took a shower and had oral sex with Clemens when she was only 16 and he was 29,” and adds that Clemens was “good” in bed “when he could get it up.”

McCready told the New York Daily News in April 2008 that she had a long-term affair with Clemens.

Clemens, nicknamed “The Rocket,” is under investigation for perjury after he testified before Congress in 2008 that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, according to the Daily News.

A rep for Roger Clemens did not return a call for comment.

Vivid is also including a bonus sex video, Tom Sizemore Sex Scandal, featuring McCready’s Celebrity Rehab co-star, which was first released by Vivid in 2005.

According to a Fox News report, McCready also took a swipe at Oprah Winfrey, calling her a racist and saying she allegedly told her she should have been strong enough to escape an abusive relationship because she is white.

A call to Winfrey’s rep was also not immediately returned.

McCready was hospitalized in 2005 after being assaulted by ex-boyfriend Billy McKnight, who was charged with attempted homicide. She has had run-ins with the law on drug charges as well as probation violations and survived at least three suicide attempts.

The singer first arrived on the music scene at age 18 when her Ten Thousand Angels debut album sold 2 million copies. McCready’s new album, “I’m Still Here,” was released March 23.

[From OMG.Yahoo.com]

This woman is just so trashy. I don’t get why she thinks anyone would care about her affairs anymore. With so much porn to choose from, why would anyone want to buy this? It’s not like she’s having sex with any of these men she talks about in the video – it’s some nobody named Peter. Wonder how he felt about starring in this sex tape with Mindy while she blabbed about other dudes? Weird. Anyway, it remains to be seen if this will help boost her new CD’s sales. Entertainment Weeky reviewed the new disc, gave it a solid “B.” Why not focus on that instead of things that happened over a decade ago?

It’s not clear whether Mindy will make any money from this tape. The Fox news item quotes her rep, who states that her record company was unaware of the source of the “alleged film.” “We have been informed by legal counsel that any illegally-obtained property, and/or fabricated footage, will be dealt with swiftly, following proper legal procedure,” the company said. “We are awaiting a statement and direction from Mindy’s legal counsel and will issue an official response shortly.” That isn’t exactly a denial from Mindy – only her record company.

Photo above courtesy of Vivid.com – site is NSFW or under 18

Gray’s Anatomy heartthrob Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart are still angry about the “naked people hanging-out” tape of them distributed by celeb gossip site Gawker.com. In fact, they’re ready to take it to court. It’s been reported that the couple is filing a lawsuit against Gawker for more than $1 million in damages.

Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart are looking to settle the score with the website that published their naked non-sex threesome tape.

Dane and Gayheart filed a lawsuit today in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming Gawker.com had not only unlawfully posted almost 4 minutes of the private video that was shot behind closed doors, but “maliciously” distributed the video and included nude shots of the fabulous threesome — the third wheel was former beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche.

Dane and Gayheart want more than $1 million in damages. Their lawyer — legal pit bull Marty Singer — is also asking for an injunction to pull the plug on the video.

UPDATE: 5:30 PM ET: Gawker’s publisher, Nick Denton, just twittered his response to the lawsuit: “To quote the great Marty Singer — Eric Dane’s lawyer — if you don’t want a sex tape on the internet, ‘don’t make one!’”

[From TMZ]

It certainly is embarrassing, and I wouldn’t want video of me naked circulating the Internet. But $1 million? Really? Has this video hurt their careers that much? And what about Mindy McCready, who is rumored to be the one who stole the tape and sold it to Gawker in the first place- where does she fit into the law suit? It would have been hard for Gawker to post it if she hadn’t dangled it in front of them, right?

Anyway, it looks as though the couple may be getting their wish to start a family. Rebecca Gayheart was photographed running errands recently, sporting what appears to be an early second trimester baby bump. Unfortunately, the photos also show Rebecca smoking a cigarette. If she’s smoking, I’m kind of hoping she isn’t, in fact, pregnant. If she is pregnant, I hope she quits smoking quickly. I don’t think I need to go into the mountains of studies done on this topic – one only need look at the warning labels on the side of a pack of smokes to get the abridged version. Anyway, this couple has been through a lot lately, so I hope things start to look up for them.

Rebecca Gayheart is shown out after lunch on 9/23/09. Credit: WENN.com

Country singer Mindy McCready is the former roommate of Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart’s naked non-sex tape co-star, Kari Ann Peniche. Rumor had it that McCready was the one who leaked the tape, which she denied through her rep, who said “Her story will be told in due time. There’s a lot more to it than just the tape. She did not leak the tape.”

McCready is now reasserting her claim that she didn’t release the video along with making it clear that she really hates Peniche. She calls her “evil personified,” and in case that wasn’t strong enough McCready adds that Peniche “will hurt anyone she can to make money.” The way McCready phrases it makes it all sound a bit supernatural, as if Peniche has powers beyond us mere mortals. Maybe I’ve just been watching too much “True Blood”:

Mindy McCready apparently doesn’t have very fond memories of her Celebrity Rehab days, considering her roomie was the devil.
At least, that’s what the country singer called model Kari Ann Peniche, who’s now more famous for getting naked with Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart than for any solo success or foible.

“She is evil personified, she is evil in human form. She will hurt anyone she can to make money,” McCready told Access Hollywood in denying Peniche’s accusation that the troubled songbird was the one who leaked the graphic Dane-Gayheart-Peniche tape.

“I did not want to be dragged into all this,” McCready said. “I did not want to be a part of this.”

And neither did Peniche, who exclusively told E! News last week she is “not some swinger person or somebody you can pay to have sex with.”

Certainly good to know. Peniche told us she had no idea the tape was not in safekeeping until she got a call from Dane and his attorney asking, “You know the video we did? Somebody has it, and what to do we have to go to get it back?”

Dane, who was “obviously upset,” called her up and asked her something about McCready, as well, Peniche said.

Shortly after the tape hit the Internet, the swimsuit designer told TMZ.com that McCready vengefully stole her computer hard drive when the ladies were bunking together.

“If I was going to leak it, I would have done that a long time ago,” she told E! News. “If someone else was going to leak it, they would have done it a long time ago…I would never leak this tape.”

And by the way, she added: “There was no sex—he’s married! We were just having fun.”

Meanwhile, Dane and Gayheart opted to get out of town for the weekend. (Wonder why…)

The couple and their dogs drove up to Montecito, Calif., Friday for a stay at the luxurious San Ysidro Ranch. They returned to L.A. on Sunday.

[From E! Online]

That’s interesting that Peniche denies that she’s a prostitute, but doesn’t deny that she worked as a madam. Talk on the leaked tape reveals that Eric and Rebecca asked specifically for Peniche instead of one of her “girls.” The NY Daily News reported over the weekend that three sources were willing to go on the record and confirm that Peniche worked as a madam. McCready told the Daily News that it was true that Peniche ran a prostitution business. “Did she say she’d been a madam? She sure did.”

Another Daily News source, author Mark Ebner, revealed that he’s the one who gave the tape to Gawker and added that Peniche was a subcontractor for convicted Hollywood madam Michelle Braun. Were Dane and Gayheart just involved with the wrong sex broker? Is this leaked tape just an instance of someone using celebrities to try and take a Peniche down? Who else did Peniche service and will their names get leaked too? The LAPD confirmed last week that the tape is in their possession but state that they’re not yet sure if there will be a criminal investigation. It sounds like McCready certainly hates Peniche enough to tell the cops about her. Maybe she’s the one who gave them the DVD.

Mindy McCready is shown on 6/7/08. Kari Anne Peniche is shown on 7/15/08. Credit: WENN.com

Roger Clemens has taken beating after beating in the media since his unceremonious return to retirement from major league baseball. First, it was his lackluster return to the NY Yankees, then the allegations that Clemens was a steroid user- which he vigorously but not very convincingly denied – and now, his former mistress, whom he began a relationship with when she was only 16, is talking about their decade-long affair.

McCready, 32, told “Inside Edition” she met Clemens when she was 16, not 15, as reported by the Daily News last April. She told the news magazine they met in a karaoke bar, that her relationship with the pitcher didn’t turn sexual until several years later and the relationship lasted for a decade.

During their relationship, McCready says Clemens treated her “like a princess,” but that she still regrets the relationship with the married athlete.

“Carrying on a relationship with him is not something I’m proud of,” she said, according to a partial transcript released by the show.

Clemens in May denied having an affair with a 15-year-old but didn’t specifically address whether he had a romance with McCready. He issued a statement that “I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry.”

Clemens’ lawyer, Rusty Hardin, did not respond to an e-mail for comment Monday.

“We never had a meeting in secret. We went on vacations together. We went to Palm Springs. We went to Las Vegas, New York City,” McCready told “Inside Edition.” I wanted him to do right by me … and when he wouldn’t, I broke it off.”

But McCready, who was once engaged to “Superman” star Dean Cain, was quoted by the Daily News as saying: “I didn’t want to get married to him and I don’t want to get married now. He should have done right by his family — a person is unhappy in their marriage and spending all their personal time with someone else, you need to do right by your marriage. He should have just told Debbie and been honest with her. If he didn’t want to be with her and wanted to be with me, he should have told her.”

McCready regrets any hurt inflicted on Debbie Clemens’ the pitcher’s wife.

“I have nothing but remorse and nothing but sympathy for what she’s had to go through with this situation, and she has my utmost apology,” she told “Inside Edition.”

[From Fox News]

First Roger gets thrown under the bus by his trainer, then his best friend, fellow Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, and now his former mistress. It’s probably not a good time to be The Rocket right now.

For those of you following the strange saga of Mindy McCready, whose life is shaping up to be a doozy of a country song, the singer has been in and out of jail over the past couple of years on charges tracing back to her fraudulent use of prescription painkillers, alcohol abuse and domestic abuse charges – none of which involved the All-Star pitcher.

Roger Clemens is shown testifying about allegations of steroid use by professional ball players before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on 3/12/08. Mindy McCready is shown on 6/7/08. Credit: WENN

In January Dr. Phil received a lot of well-deserved flack for visiting Britney Spears in the hospital when she was on a mental health hold, and planning a special on his show around her, which was ultimately canceled. Phil was lambasted in the media for revealing details of Britney’s medical condition to the press, a clear violation of patient confidentiality, and Britney’s own family said that although they did ask Phil to get involved they didn’t give him permission to make public statements about her.

Then in April Dr. Phil and his producers showed incredibly poor judgment again by bailing out the ringleader in a brutal YouTube beating in which six teen girls in Florida lured a classmate to one of their homes and beat her unconscious, recording it all and posting it online. The Dr. Phil show paid over $30,000 to free the girl in order to secure an exclusive interview with her and her family. Instead of admitting their gross error in judgment, producers at the Dr. Phil show blamed the guy they sent down to Florida with the money, saying it was all his idea and he somehow went down there on his own with a lot of cash. That special was also scrapped due to media backlash.

Phil found yet another personal tragedy to exploit – his people arranged for Mindy McCready to go to rehab in exchange for all the salacious details of her breakdown. The 32 year-old country singer has faced a string of personal problems in the past few years including an addiction to painkillers that led her to forge prescriptions, abuse by an ex boyfriend, and multiple arrests. She was jailed from September to December of last year for violating probation and most recently overdosed on Ambien and vodka in an apparent suicide attempt. But Dr. Phil planned to fix everything for McCready by paying for her to go to rehab and putting her on his show to dish out his unique brand of homespun sound bites of wisdom. Luckily that’s not going to happen, though:

Mindy McCready is going back to rehab after trying to do herself in with her favorite swiggable and pharmaceutical — vodka and Ambien — and we hear Dr. Phil’s inserting himself in the whole she-bang.

TMZ has learned the troubled McCready went off the deep end late last week after getting dumped by her boyfriend and collapsed while on the phone with her mother. She downed a bottle of vods and pills in what we’re told was a “suicide attempt.”

She’s headed to Arizona for treatment, and a source says that was all Phil’s idea. We’re told he’s taken Mindy under his wing as a “personal project.” As for whether or not she’ll be on the show, time will tell.

[From TMZ]

Like his other attempts to use stories of personal tragedy to boost ratings, Dr. Phil has backed down from putting Mindy on his show. TMZ reports that reps for the show say Mindy won’t be on and state that “Dr. Phil has not treated patients one-on-one since his show went on air. Ms. McCready’s situation is private and we respect her right to privacy in a difficult time.” It’s been a while since I saw the Dr. Phil show, but he usually treats patients in groups and by dragging their families in too. It’s likely he planned to do something like that here so the defense is pretty weak.

TMZ doesn’t pull stories out of thin air like the gossip rags and they seem to have solid sources before they run with something. I would bet this was true and that Phil’s people realized they were about to enter another PR quagmire and backed down. At least McCready got free rehab out of it.

How much longer is Dr. Phil going to stay on the air? There were all sorts of stories after the Britney debacle that he was about to get canned because he had pissed off his boss, the all mighty Oprah.

Mindy McCready is shown below at “The Queen of Hearts Team participates in the 2008 WSOP Ladies Event at the Rio Hotel and Casino” on 6/8/08. She’s also shown the day before on 6/7/08. Credit: Judy Eddy / WENN. Dr. Phil is shown on 3/20/08. Credit: WENN