There’s trouble in paradise for Nicole Richie and baby daddy Joel Madden. Though to be fair, it doesn’t exactly sound like Nicole has considered her life to be like paradise for a while. Nonetheless, you’ve got to ask yourself, what kind of a trampy, trashy, harlot skank would come between a new father and the mother of his child? Why none other than Nicole Richie’s “supposed” good friend, Lindsay Lohan. Leave it to the Lohan to be the skankiest person in any given situation.

While Nicole Richie was home caring for her baby, her fiancé Joel Madden spent a boozy night partying with Lindsay Lohan. Needless to say, Nicole was crushed. The trouble started for the new mom after she decided to stay home with their 4-month-old daughter, Harlow, while Joel deejayed at Hornitos’ Cinco de Mayo party at Crown Bar in L.A. However, while there, the Good Charlotte rocker seemed more interested in a seductive Lindsay than in spinning records.

“Their heads were practically touching, and he had his leg over hers,” says one onlooker. “Joel has a flirtatious side, and he definitely wasn’t turning her away.” Nicole was immediately alerted to the situation by her arch-frenemy Paris Hilton, who sent her a devastating text message: Lindsay was all over Joel!

Making the situation worse, Nicole frantically tried to call Joel, but he wasn’t answering his phone. “He was so zeroed in on Lindsay, he never heard his cell ring,” a friend of the couple tells Star. “Nicole felt so incredibly helpless and upset that she threw her phone against the wall in a rage.”

[From Star]

It sounds like it could be friendly or somewhat innocent behavior on Joel’s part, but I never assume Lindsay Lohan has good intentions. That troll lives for drama. And what’s more dramatic than breaking up the relationship between your good friend – who just had a baby a few months ago – and her boyfriend? And what the hell else does Lohan have to do these days? Her career is nonexistent. She spends most of her days getting her hair done and making her body look orange. I don’t really like Nicole Richie, but I hope she throws a shit fit and bans Lohan from her life.

Here’s Amy Joel Madden and Benji Madden at Hornitos Tequila celebration of the ultimate ‘Cinco de Mayo’ experience at Crown Bar where the flirtation took place. Header of Joel and Nicole not looking too happy on May 9th. Images thanks to WENN.

Nicole Richie, Joel Madden and their baby Harlow, who will be four months old in a few days, appear in a new photo spread in Harper’s Bazaar. It features Joel and Nicole in couture looking privileged along with Harlow in her own cute clothing. Nicole’s dad pop singer Lionel Richie also appears, looking very much the proud Grandfather. The shoot reminds me of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s first baby spread in People with more focus on the newborn and less haughty expressions.

Extra TV has details of the accompanying interview with Nicole, and she’s outspoken about her love for her daughter and the way Harlow has changed her life and her circle of friends. She says that Joel is very helpful with the baby and changes more diapers than she does:

Richie tells “Extra” that she is the first in her circle of friends to have a baby. She elaborated, “I feel like my group of five to ten friends, they really love her, like she’s theirs… my friends never go outside for smoke breaks anymore, they don’t curse, they are definitely more demure. It’s actually been really interesting.”

As for how new dad and fiancé Joel Madden handles diaper duty, Richie admitted, “Joel actually changes more diapers than I do… It’s his time with her. He sings to her… he laughs with her, plays with her. It’s amazing.” Richie revealed that her father, Lionel, hasn’t offered her any parenting advice, but that “he comes from a father standpoint. He gives Joel a lot of advice.”

[From ExtraTV.com]

Nicole also says that she finds the paparazzi scary and doesn’t want that kind of circus around her daughter. She calls herself “the luckiest girl alive” and says she has “nothing to complain about.”

Nicole and Joel got some slight heat for making appearances at events and parties in the month after their daughter’s birth. That was during the Grammy events, though, and it was important that Joel attend some parties for his job. They seemed to have reigned it in though, and although they still go out it’s not like they’re partying it up every weekend. We reported a story from Star earlier in the week that speculated that “Nicole is torn between being a mommy and being a party girl” and wanted some freedom but didn’t want to leave her baby.

Nicole certainly seems like a great mom. Compare her actions to the way that Jennifer Lopez is behaving - talking about competing in a triathalon to make her babies proud and heading out to every event to show the world how well her fitness program is working.

Doesn’t Harlow look like she has so much personality already? I love her expressions, she’s a little weisenheimer you can tell.

These photos are from Harper’s Bazaar’s website, where there are many more.

According to Star magazine, Nicole Richie’s life is getting REALLY hard to balance. Before daughter Harlow was born, all Nicole had to balance was shopping and partying. I’m not being sarcastic, according to the mag, that really was about all she did. I guess she occasionally dodged Paris Hilton and randomly recorded a terrible pop song here and there, but that was about it. Now Nicole has a baby – but she still wants to have her old life too. And no matter where she is or what she’s doing, she feels like she should be doing something else. The life of a socialite is sooooooo hard.

Though she says life’s been “beyond amazing” since giving birth to her daughter in January, the diaper-duty demands of motherhood leave Nicole Richie pining for her old party days, according to Star magazine.

“Nicole is torn between being a mommy and being a party girl,” an insider told the publication. “She wants to go out and have fun, but when she does, she’s like, ‘Uh-oh, Harlow needs me.’”

The dramatic lifestyle change is catching to the new mom, said another source. “Nicole really misses her carefree life. Before Harlow came along, Nicole never had to worry about anything. All she did was party with her friends and go shopping. Now she’s totally overwhelmed by her new responsibility, even though she adores her daughter. Nicole still can’t figure out if she’s happier when she’s home with the baby or hitting the town with her friends!”

[From MSNBC]

Okay sarcasm aside, being a new mom is obviously incredibly overwhelming. I doubt anyone thinks, “Wow, I am really kicking ass at this.” But complaining because you have to stay home with your kid instead of going shopping and partying makes it pretty hard to be sympathetic. It doesn’t matter if Nicole can’t “figure out if she’s happier when she’s home with the baby or hitting the town with her friends!” (by the way, that quote makes me ill). When you’re debating over spending every night club hopping or staying home and taking care of your new baby now and then, there’s no debate. It isn’t about figuring out which one is more fun.

Every parent needs some time away, and deserves to go out and have some fun. But it needs to be a rational amount. Nicole is “totally overwhelmed by her new responsibility” because she’s never had any responsibilities before. So of course she doesn’t know how to handle it. If you haven’t learned how to juggle the different commitments in your life, it’s going to be hard to figure out how to prioritize. Now would be a great to figure that out.

Here’s Nicole Richie and Joel Madden outside their shop DCMA on Melrose Avenue on April 29th. Images thanks to WENN.

Paris Hilton is on tour with her boyfriend Benji Madden’s band Good Charlotte, but the fiance of his twin brother and band mate is stuck home with their newborn baby. That may be her choice, but Star Magazine says it’s not and that Nicole Richie is super pissed that frenemy Paris gets to tag along while she’s left holding the baby:

Sources confirm to Star that Nicole was devastated when Joel informed her she would not be coming on the tour. She previously hit the road with the band, even while heavily pregnant, so she assumed this time was no different. She had even begun interviewing nannies to help her with daughter Harlow.

“Nicole begged Joel to let her tag along, but he refused to put the baby through that much traveling,” says a friend of hers. “He thinks a rock tour is no place for a newborn and has put his foot down.”

One insider says Nicole tried to make her case for coming by insisting she was nervous about being away from Joel, 29, for so long and that she was worried about caring for Harlow without his help.

But another source says Nicole, 26, is really just upset that Paris Hilton - who has been dating Joel’s twin brother, Benji, since February - is crashing the tour. And Nicole knows that wherever Paris, 27, goes, there’s usually trouble. “Nicole is livid!” says another source. “The thought of Paris on the road influencing Joel makes her skin crawl. Nicole doesn’t trust Paris as far as she can throw her.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, April 7, 2008]

You can see this being the case even if Star Magazine’s sources all happen to be staffers. It’s got to be hard to be apart from your partner right after you have a baby, and going on tour with a nanny seems preferable to staying home. It’s possible that Benji and Joel didn’t really talk about the fact that Paris was tagging along and that Joel decided that Nicole should stay home before he realized that Paris would be stealing his band’s thunder.

When my husband and I were watching “Wetten, Das?” with Paris on Saturday, he asked “isn’t it bad publicity for Good Charlotte to be associated with Paris Hilton? Like doesn’t that demean their integrity as a band?” It kind of does. They may not be sleeping with tons of groupies but we know at least one of them thinks with his dick.

Paris Hilton is shown clutching her chin after she took a fall earlier in the day on the cobblestones in Prague. The story is that “they were mobbed by fans and photographers, calling Paris to fall to the ground.” Thanks to WENN for these photos.

It’s never any big surprise to hear that things aren’t going well between Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. Frankly, it’s a big surprise to hear otherwise. The two had an infamous falling out in 2005, supposedly after Nicole screened a copy of Paris’ sex tape “One Night In Paris” on a big screen TV. Though they eventually reconciled, they clearly haven’t been as tight since then. Paris is now dating Benji Madden, twin brother of Nicole’s boyfriend Joel Madden. Though several stories have claimed Nicole set up the pair to get Benji out of her hair, it seems that’s the last thing from the truth. Apparently Nicole can barely stand Paris, and having her date Benji just increases the time she has to spend with her.

Feud 2.0 is all about the whirlwind relationship between Nicole’s future brother-in-law, Benji Madden, and Paris, a hookup that’s left Nicole fuming with her friend. “Nicole has made it clear to Paris that she doesn’t like her seeing (Benji),” an insider told Star. “She thinks Paris is a total nightmare to be around and just wants her to go away. She isn’t happy about Paris once again crashing what is now her picture-perfect life.”

So why does Nicole suddenly see her BFF as a big burden? Allegedly it all goes back to Benji’s breakup with her other pal Sophie Monk. Sophie and Benji were engaged, but split up in February. While no one’s accusing Paris of stealing him away, Nicole doesn’t like the timing.

“She feels that Paris screwed Sophie over by coming on to Benji so quickly,” the source revealed to the magazine. “Her allegiance is definitely with Sophie — she doesn’t trust Paris one bit.” Apparently Nicole’s plan is to wait it out and hope for, well, the worst. “Nicole is just hoping Paris’ relationship with Benji goes down the toilet as quickly as most of her other relationships have. She just wants to get on with her life without Paris.”

[From MSNBC]

I wonder how this kind of gossip plays out at home. I couldn’t be around someone who’d said something like that about me – but if most celebs paid attention to all the gossip about them, they’d be in a constant state of bickering with nearly everyone they knew. Somehow these two ladies are so petty and empty that it wouldn’t surprise me if Nicole had said this type of thing about Paris – and it wouldn’t surprise me if Paris was just dating Benji to piss off Nicole. Either way, dating the brother of your supposed best friend is probably a little too close for comfort. But I’m guessing Nicole’s prediction will be correct, and Paris will be bored of Benji in under a month.

Here’s Nicole at the DCMA Collective Flagship Store Grand Opening on March 14th. Paris is pictured at the Kim Vo Salon and Spa Grand Opening at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on March 7th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Nicole Richie praised her baby daddy’s twin brother in her People interview, and revealed that Benji Madden is always willing to babysit her now seven week-old daughter, Harlow. Nicole also said that Harlow smiled for the first time at her uncle. According to ever-reliable Star Magazine, Benji is more of a nuisance than a help, and Nicole and Joel are said to have set him up with Paris in order to get him out of their house.

A source tells Star the 28-year-old Good Charlotte guitarist has holed up in his Glendale, California home, which he shares with his twin brother, Joel. Joe’s fiancée, Nicole Richie, and their new baby, Harlow. As a result, he “barges in on them all the time,” says the source. “Nicole insists that Joel lock their bedroom door at night because she’s afraid of Benji walking in on them.” The new arrangement is driving Joel and Nicole so crazy that they’re trying to set Benji up, adds the source!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, March 10, 2008]

According to Nicole’s People interview, Benji lives down the street, not in the same house, but he’s probably over there all the time. Who knows if this is true, but considering that Benji is with Paris now someone has to have a problem with him if they didn’t at least warn him against hooking up with her.

Benji’s ex girlfriend Sophie Monk spoke out earlier this week about rumors that the rocker left her for the heirhead. She wished her ex well, and made it clear that their breakup was mutual:

“Benji and I did not break up badly or anything like that. We both decided, as adults, our relationship had run its course and decided to move on.”

She also said: “I feel no animosity towards Benji and Paris at all and am very happy with life at the moment.”

[From RTE.ie]

How embarrassing it must be to see your ex cavorting around with Paris Hilton in “notice me!” lookalike clothing. These two immediately hit all the paparazzi targets to let the world know they were together. People are speculating that he did it to make Sophie jealous after their breakup.

Meanwhile Star Magazine notes in the article we mentioned above that gorgeous Monk was seen out having brunch with a hunky video game director, James Rubin, on February 15. It looks like she’s moved on to someone more her speed while Benji has been reduced to playing tag along with Paris Hilton.

Paris and Benji are shown in the header out at lunch yesterday and below out shopping on 2/25, thanks to Splash News.

New mom Nicole Richie is in talks to star as the lead in the Broadway musical Chicago, according to US Magazine. She has a lot on her plate right now with 6-week-old baby Harlow she told People Magazine that she has a perfume, maternity line, children’s line, and a jewelry line in the works. Sources tell US Magazine that she’s considering the role:

Nicole Richie has been offered the lead role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago, Us Weekly reports exclusively in its latest issue, on newsstands now.

Richie, 26, who welcomed daughter Harlow with Joel Madden on Jan. 12, is undecided.

“She’s definitely interested and weighing it out with the timing of the baby,” a Richie pal tells Us. “It is in the super early stages of discussions and no decision has been made yet.”

“It would give her a reason to really show her talent and to stay in the new place in NY Joel just got,” the source says. “It also shows people are really excited about Nicole right now.”

[From US Weekly]

Chicago originally ran on Broadway in 1975 for 936 performances. It has been running since 1996 in its current form, making it the longest running musical revival on Broadway.

Ashlee Simpson drew praise for her post nose job performance as Roxie Hart in London’s West End in the fall of 2006.

Other celebrities to play the role of Roxie Hart include Brooke Shields, Lisa Rinna, Melanie Griffith, Bebe Neuwirth and Rita Wilson. [Details from Wikipedia]

Richie is best known for reality television and showing up for stuff so can she act, sing and dance? She might be able to sing.

I remember hearing a song she did called Dandelion. She has a good voice and it doesn’t sound too heavily remastered. This is a cover from a few years back, and features photos of Richie set to the song. It’s not a video for the song.

Richie is shown out at the Opening Celebration of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum on 2/9/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

The new issue of People Magazine features Nicole Richie and 6 week-old baby Harlow on the cover. In the accompanying interview, Richie and her boyfriend, Joel Madden, talked about their experiences having a baby and how it changed their lives. Both Nicole and Joel said that the baby helped bring their family closer together, and that their parents and Joel’s brother are a big help. As for how her life has changed, she said that it’s like she doesn’t remember what it was like before, but it’s not like she “was in an opium den.”

Nicole admits that she struggles with her identity now that she’s had a baby. She said “I used to be fun! What if I’m not fun anymore?” She concedes that she’s still fun but just in a different way.

In terms of whether Nicole is going back to work, she said she has a lot of projects underway including a perfume, clothing line, maternity, children’s line and jewelry line:

What was the experience of going to jail like when you were pregnant?
Joel: For her and for me, it was just like, “Let’s just get this over with,” Nicole was just doing what she had to do, doing the right thing, going in and facing it and taking care of it. We wanted to close that chapter.
Nicole: And move on.

Do you feel healed? You said getting pregnant saved your life.
Nicole: Did I?
Joel: So dramatic

You said it to Diane Sawyer
Nicole: Now that I look back on it, I was a different person last year than I am now. And listen, sometimes I’ll be here and I’ll think to myself, “I used to be fun! What if I’m not fun anymore?” I have all these feelings. But you know what? I am who I am. I’m still fun, just not in that way.
Joel: People have this perception that Nicole was, like, in an opium den.
Nicole: And I wasn’t
Joel: She made some mistakes. But look at where we’re from. I’m in a rock and roll band. Nicole is who she is. It’s not like we had to give so much up because of the baby. It’s just time to be parents.

Do you plan to go back to work anytime soon?
Joel: She’s working on a perfume, she’s working on a clothing line.
Nicole: A maternity line and a children’s line. And a jewelry line. I’m doing it with Mouawad (Thanks KatyAlia for the designer name)

[From People Magazine, print edition, March 10, 2008, transcribed from scans available on PopSugar]

Nicole says earlier in the interview that she doesn’t have a nanny, and that she doesn’t deserve criticism for going out occasionally because Harlow is with family when she’s out and she’s with her all the time otherwise.

Do you have help at home?
We don’t have a nanny. We have our moms. They’ve helped us a lot.
Nicole: And we have to give credit to Benji. He lives six houses down. He babysits, like really babysits.
Joel: There was a day when I’d been at work all day and Nicole hadn’t left the house for 48 hours, and I was like “Let’s go to a restaurant down the street,” and Benji was with the baby. Then someone said they read somewhere that we were out all the time. It’s crazy. You leave the house for one hour and everyone’s like “She’s out! She’s leaving the baby!”

[From People Magazine, print edition, March 10, 2008, transcribed from scans available on PopSugar]

At one point Nicole is asked if Harlow has met Paris Hilton and you can almost see her roll her eyes when she answered “Yeah. They went to the Ivy. Just kidding.” She then talked in general terms about how her friends are reverent and careful around the baby, but didn’t mention Paris again.

It’s clear that a baby only changes you so much. It doesn’t take away your personality.

Congratulations to Nicole and Joel on their new arrival.

Nicole Richie appears on the cover of this week’s People with baby Harlow, and the little six week old is super cute and aware-looking.

In the excerpt of the article available on People’s website, Richie talks about breastfeeding and having to limit the type of foods she eats so that her baby isn’t colicky. In my experience and from what my friends report it’s true that what the mother eats affects the breastmilk, particularly in the first few weeks. This gradually goes away after a few months after which you can start adding foods back into your diet.

My son was very fussy until I cut out milk and bread. While some people say that it doesn’t matter what the mother eats and cite the spicy food and diets of different cultures, proteins from the mother’s diet do pass into the milk, especially in the first few weeks and months. I’m really glad that Richie mentioned this because it’s come up with several of my friends with their first babies and doesn’t get much attention.

“It’s almost like I don’t even remember what life was like before her. She gives life a whole new meaning and a whole new purpose.”

As for breastfeeding, “There’s just so much I can’t eat because she’s sensitive,” says the new mom, 26. “I eat really bland [food] – chicken noodle soup, vegetables, fish. I had to cut out milk, no tomatoes, no lettuce. You think you have to cut everything out when you’re pregnant, but you really have to cut everything out when you’re breastfeeding.”

And while Richie says, “I don’t know” how long she was in labor, “because I don’t know what time I actually went into labor, but I pushed for 10 minutes,” Madden, 28, said of his daughter: “She came out and she was crying. The doctor goes, ‘Well, it looks like you got a little girl!’ “

[From People.com]

The Journal of the American Medical Association says that pregnant and breastfeeding women should be careful not to eat peanuts because they can possibly cause peanut allergies in their children. From my anecdotal experience again, this is true. There were two women in my La Leche League meetings who had children with peanut allergies and said they frequently snacked on peanut butter sandwiches when their babies were little.

Congratulations to Joel and Nicole. Seeing that cute little one reminds me how quickly the time passes. Good for her for speaking candidly about breastfeeding and having to limit your diet. I know this made me lose weight quickly after my son was born as I subsisted on turkey, chicken and rice for a couple of months. I never quite got as thin as Nicole is now, though.

Paris Hilton is going to get another reality show after The Simple Life ended following way too long a run and her film career ran its course. It’s going to be a show that will air on either MTV or VH1 and will “be about her searching for a new best friend,” according to a source quoted on US Weekly’s website. The unnamed source goes on to add in a sentiment reminiscent of the social issues that plagued us in Jr. High that “Paris is tired of the haters and she’s looking for someone new. She’s looking for someone new and cool who she can trust.”

Of course a reality show will be the best venue for Paris to find a trustworthy buddy who will stick with her through thick and pharmacologically-maintained thin. It worked so well for her the last time.

Paris’ latest relationship sheds light on why she may need to turn to reality TV to find a fellow fame whore girlfriend. She’s been seen all over town with Benji Madden, the recently-single twin brother of Nicole Richie’s baby daddy, Joel Madden.

Paris and Nicole were said to have tentatively reunited after their long standing feud that had them filming scenes separately for the third season of The Simple Life. Their insincere make-up was caught on tape and used as promotion for the reality show, but it wasn’t too convincing. There were rumors that they were playing up their feud for publicity’s sake and were secretly staying friends behind the scenes, but it never seemed like there was much love lost between those two to me. Paris was a co-host at Nicole Richie’s baby shower, but was said to be miffed that Nicole supposedly gave away the expensive crib she gave her to charity.

Her new relationship with Benji Madden seems to be a dig at Nicole, but maybe Paris is just taking what she can get and using it for publicity. She seems to have made a very successful career out of doing that.

Paris Hilton and Benji Madden are shown out shopping yesterday at Fred Segal. These pictures are credited to the same day, but somehow Paris is wearing two different outfits. I’m sure they’re still the same day. Thanks to Splash.