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.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden (mostly Nicole) have received a lot of passive-aggressive criticism in the press for the amount of time they’ve spent attending social events since the birth of their daughter Harlow on January 11th. Several websites have called them “Part-time parents.” Today Page Six noted:

NICOLE Richie and Joel Madden’s nanny must be raking in some serious overtime to watch the Hollywood party couple’s new baby, Harlow Winter Kate Madden. During the Grammys weekend, the couple went to several parties each night for hours. Last weekend, Richie and Madden once again left their tot at home to spend some quality time with Joel’s brother Benji and Lindsay Lohan at Teddy’s in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. They didn’t rush home until the end of the evening - “It’s almost as if they aren’t parents,” said a spy.

[From Page Six]

Are they bad parents, or is the press being too hard on the couple? A lot of people speculated that Nicole wouldn’t make a good mother because of her wild-child ways. She certainly was a regular fixture on the party circuit, and didn’t have the reputation of being the kindest person. However she did seem to truly mellow once she became pregnant – which a lot of people attributed to Joel’s influence. Considering that Joel is in a band, I would think that making appearances around Grammy time is pretty important. Should the couple have stayed home regardless? Are they putting partying ahead of spending time with their daughter? It seems like they weren’t out getting drunk and club hopping – they were attending award parties.

I’ve always heard that it’s incredibly hard for most mothers to leave their newborns home with a sitter for the first time. Several articles have said Nicole seems to have no problem with it, considering she was out and about without Harlow two weeks after her birth. It’s hard to say if people’s expectations are unfair, or if they’re assuming the worst about Nicole because of her pre-baby days. In Hollywood it certainly is more the norm to leave your kids with a nanny. But the “spy’s” comment that “It’s almost as if they aren’t parents,” seems harsh and ridiculous. If they do anything that doesn’t involve their kid in the first month, that means they’re not parents? It’s safe to assume that Grammy parties are important for Joel’s job. Most dad’s don’t stay home from work for the first month of their kid’s life. I would bet that Harlow has gotten to spend more time with her parents than a lot of babies. And though I’m never one to defend Nicole Richie, it’d be alright if people backed off a bit. They’re allowed a little time for themselves too.

Here’s Nicole at the LACMA’s Opening Celebration of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum on February 9th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

It seems that the Madden brothers, Good Charlotte rockers Joel and Benji, can really attract hot women. Firstly there’s Sophie Monk, who is hot. I remember when she first came to the public’s attention in the girl group Bardot (link leads to video) – she was steamin’. The band was lame, Australia’s first fabricated band that was a complete Spice Girls rip off.

Now it seems, in bad news for single women everywhere, that she and Benji have split. The rumors first surfaced in December, and were denied by his rep, but now her rep has confirmed it.

“Sophie and Benji have officially split. The decision was mutual and they remain amicable,” Kim’s statement read. “This will be my only statement regarding this matter.”

Daily Telegraph

That’s kind of sad. They met in mid-2006 and got engaged six months later. Amicable is the usual publicists’ line, I think we can pretty safely assume that they have definitely parted permanently, not just ended their engagement.

However, things are going very well for Joel Madden and his sexy missus.

“It’s really hard being away from her. I think after having Harlow we are already in love with being parents,” he said. “It’s cool to watch Harlow with Nicole because they already have a real special bond. It’s cute. I have my own little bond with her too.”

As far as Madden’s bond with Richie, that’s stronger than ever too. “She’s a wonderful mother and she looks really hot already,” he said. “The girl is gifted, man. Women hate her because she looks good being pregnant and then has the baby and looks sexy. There’s something so attractive about her now. It’s a motherly glow.”

People

Aw, that’s such a nice thing to say. Nicole does look really good post-baby, a lot better than she did pre-pregnancy. Of course, it just raises the bar for all the other mummies out there who are more slummy then yummy. And that, Joel, is actually why we hate her. It makes more work for us!

Us Weekly are reporting that Joel and Nicole have gone to four parties in two days, although it seems on they just went out for a couple of hours each night. They didn’t even hire a sitter, but apparently relied on Grandma. Awww.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Benji Madden and Sophie Monk are shown out at lunch on at “Newsroom” in Beverly Hills, and heading to the parking lot afterwards. They definitely look like there’s something wrong in these pictures, but I didn’t realize until after I downloaded them that they’re a year old, from 2/5/07. Sorry about that, I saw February and assumed it was this year. Thanks to Splash News for these pictures.

Not a high selling cover
Nicole Richie may have sent Christina Aguilera a note of encouragement as she labored two doors down at Cedars Sinai’s maternity ward, but that doesn’t mean Christina is about to let her baby, Max Bratman, share billing with little Harlow Madden. Talks between Christina and celeb-friendly glossy OK! Magazine fell through when they wouldn’t meet her high payment demands or promise her a full cover with Max. OK! was reluctant to off her the entire cover because her issues just don’t sell that well. Even her pregnant naked Marie Claire cover wasn’t that popular. There was also no way she was about to share the cover with Nicole Richie and her newborn, so she backed out of the deal:

Don’t expect to see a photo of Christina Aguilera’s baby on the cover of any magazines this week. Sources say that after months of negotiating, a deal between Aguilera and OK! magazine came to a halt because the magazine couldn’t guarantee a full-cover photo of Aguilera and baby boy, Max.

It might seem surprising that OK! wasn’t game to play by Aguilera’s rules, considering the mag ran Aguilera’s wedding photos, but a magazine insider points out that the singer performs well on stage, but not so much on newsstands. “The OK! wedding cover didn’t sell as well as they hoped, and even her recent Marie Claire cover underperformed, all things considered,” the source said.

An industry source added, “Christina has an inflated sense of her own value and seems to expect an extortionate amount of money for these baby pictures. I’m not sure OK! or much of the industry thinks is a dollar figure that’s worth it. … She hasn’t proven to be a real seller.”

Although a friend of Aguilera’s says another reason that the deal didn’t work is that the baby isn’t really “ready for prime time,” there might have been another sticking point.

According to a person familiar with Aguilera’s contract, the terms include a promise that a magazine that buys the Aguilera baby photos may not run photos of Nicole Richie’s new baby. “Christina can’t stand Nicole,” said a source who knows Aguilera. “Nothing would make her more upset than to see those two babies on the same cover, even if it wasn’t at the same time.”

[From MSNBC]

Marie Clare UK reports that both Christina and Nicole will receive over $1 million each for their first baby pictures. Nicole Richie is said to have received $1 million for an upcoming spread in People with baby Harlow. Christina Aguilera has yet settle on a magazine for Max’s debut, however. The article claims that a bidding war is going on between People and OK! Magazine, with the price currently set at $1.5 million. If talks broke down with OK! as this other story claims, that means that all that’s left is People and that Aguilera has a choice of either appearing in the same issue as Nicole and Harlow or waiting to show Max until a later issue. That’s got to piss her off. There’s always In Touch or Life & Style.

I will admit that I have bashed Nicole Richie. On several occasions. On “The Simple Life” I’ve seen her act in ways that I’ve considered downright rude and never amusing, mostly to kids. So the thought of her having her own kid to taunt seemed like a pretty bad idea to me. However her fiancé Joel Madden seems to have been a good influence on her. They started a joint children’s charity, for which they’ve been really active in just the six months its been around. Now according to a little blurb in Star, Richie was incredibly gracious to both the staff and other patients at the hospital where she recently gave birth to daughter Harlow.

There’s no doubt about it - nine out of 10 hospital nurses prefer Nicole Richie to Christina Aguilera! Both starlets had their babies at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in January, but only one of them made friends. “Nicole was a big hit with the nurses and the other women giving birth,” says a source. “She bought six other mothers having babies the same day ‘push gifts,’ including gift certificates to Target, teddy bears, balloons and a card wishing them luck. She also had all of the nurses in stitches with her wry humor” Meanwhile, Christina was not so nice, says the source. “The nurses were happy to see her go!”

[From Star, Feb. 11th 2008, print edition]

Somehow I would have expected the reverse to be true. Christina has the reputation of being a bit of a diva, and Nicole a bit of a bitch. But somehow I would have expected Christina to have been the classier of the two. Though to be fair, if I ever have to push a human being out of my body, I fully intend on being a raging bitch. Nicole has either really turned a new leaf or she’s at least hired an incredible publicist. I’ve heard almost nothing but good things about her in the last six months. Let’s hope she keeps it up and is a great mom.

Thanks to BuzzFoto for the header image.