Johnny Depp realized that his two Rottweiler dogs, Red and Blue, might pose a threat to his children and put them up in a posh pet resort two years ago at a cost of $2k per month per dog. That’s more than most people pay in rent.

One of the dogs bit an employee at the facility, so it was probably a good idea for Depp to make sure they were no longer around his children:

Two years ago, [Johnny Depp] sent this two Rottweilers, Red and Blue, to the Crossroads County Club Pet Resort in Anaheim, California, because they were too aggressive to keep around his two young children…

“Johnny can’t bring himself to have them put down,” a source told The Enquirer. “So he pays $2,000 a month on each dog for them to be kept at a kennel.”

“At first, Red and Blue had the run of the kennel. But then, after one of them bit an employee, they were kept locked in cages.”

An employee at Crossroads confirmed: “Johnny Depp’s dogs, Red and Blue, are here. They’ve been here a couple of years.”

[From the National Enquirer print edition, August 13, 2007]

Depp has two children, son Jack, who turns 5 tomorrow, and daughter Lily-Rose, 8. This story just confirms what everyone already knows: that Depp’s a good guy who puts his family first but still obviously cares for his pets.

In other Johnny Depp news, he is involved in two projects that are coming up, an adaptation of Hunter S Thompson’s autobiography, The Rum Diaries, and the big screen version of the campy gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Depp was just named the third most bankable actor. He was behind Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, and was placed third in a tie with Vince Vaughn. I would have thought he would be at first or second easily.

Update: A lot of commentors are outraged that Depp boards his Rottweilers, saying that being in a cage all day is exceptionally cruel. I agree, and I assumed that although the dogs may be caged part of the time that this article must not be correct. According to the website for the kennel, dogs get one-on-one time twice a day and there is an option where they can go out to the park once a day. Since Depp is paying so much for their care, I assume he paid for this level of service and that the dogs do get out. It does look like a top notch kennel, although commentors are probably right that it can’t compare to a loving home.

A man was found dead in Ving Rhames’ yard on Friday, and it was believed he had been killed by Rhames’ dogs. The actor owns three 200 pound mastiffs and an English bulldog, and the man, Jacob Adams, 40, was their caretaker. He was found on the front lawn with bite marks. Most news agencies are still reporting this is a dog mauling, however a few are mentioning the possibility that Adams actually died of a heart attack.

“Two mastiffs, each weighing about 200 pounds, apparently attacked Adams, whose body had numerous bite marks when it was found on the front lawn by officers, police have said.

“Adams might have been mauled to death, but he also might have died of heart failure during the attack, coroner’s officials said Friday.

“Three bull mastiffs and an English bulldog were seized by animal services following the attack, police said.

“Rhames, 46, an action star who appeared in the ‘Mission Impossible’ series of films, was not home at the time of the attack.”

[From the Associated Press]

Forty is an incredibly young age to die of a heart attack, but it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility. TMZ has more information from police on the incident.

Police tell TMZ that the victim of the dog attack at Ving Rhames’ home could have had a heart attack, since none of the wounds — on his arms and legs only — appear to have been life threatening. They speculate that he was possibly running for his life after a confrontation with the dogs. TMZ has learned the 40-year-old caretaker lived at the house and had been an employee of the actor for two years. Tragically, police say the man fed and cared for the animals on a daily basis. In a press conference today, a police spokesman said the victim appears to have jumped the fence to try to get away from the dogs, and died sometime early this morning. Cops say the dogs are very friendly, and as we reported, police are not aware of any previous problems. They do not anticipate charging Rhames with a crime, as this appears to have been a “pure accident.” The animals have been quarantined and will be held over the weekend at an undisclosed shelter. Blood samples will be taken to determine if they have rabies or other dangerous diseases.

[From TMZ]

US Weekly has an article which references an interview Rhames gave in 1999 to the Los Angeles Times where he mentions his dog Kong, a 170-pound Fila Brasileiro. “’The dog was actually bred to guard slaves,’ Rhames said. ‘It was the only dog they found that had the temperament to guard a slave. It could be around you every day, but if you tried to run away, it would deal with you like it never saw you before.’” Whatever happened to Jacob Adams, it’s an incredibly sad story. It sounds like most of what’s being written right now is still a lot of conjecture, so it will be interesting to see how this story plays out. Rhames is out of the country filming a movie, and hasn’t made any public comments, even through a spokesperson.

Images thanks to PRPhotos.

Rapper DMX has been ordered to pay a whopping $242,000 to Amusing Diversions Inc, which makes fancy dog clothes. True story. DMX signed a contract with the company saying that he would promote a line of dog clothing that was named for his dog Boomer 129. The line included all of the doggie essentials: raincoats, caps, bomber jackets and scarves. Apparently things started off alright, but DMX never really fulfilled his end of the contract – he just took the company’s money. He was supposed to endorse the Boomer 129 line at his concerts, TV, and public appearances. Not only did DMX not do that, but he actually promoted the line’s competitors instead, resulting in a severe financial loss for Amusing Diversions.

“The 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was ordered to pay a $242,000 judgment to Amusing Diversions Inc., a company that produced and marketed the canine clothing line, named for his dog Boomer 129.”

[From Fox News]

I was kind of confused or why in the world this company would want DMX to promote their brand. I could see Snoop Dogg, because, well it’d be awesome. But what the hell does DMX have to do with dogs? He has one? That makes 70% of the country eligible to promote doggie wear. Well according to the judge, there’s a very good reason, and she’s hip enough to know it. I am not.

“’DMX, it appears, is known for his growl and bark and is called Pit Bull (which according to the evidence … he has tattooed on his back),’” noted Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Jane Goodman’s ruling, announced Tuesday.

[From the Associated Press]

If that’s all it takes to get an endorsement deal, I’m going to get an iPod tattooed on my back. And a box of Wheaties. Then between the two deals, I’ll be set for life. Plus I’ll be able to listen to my music wherever I go.

Note by Celebitchy: DMX’s tattoo on his back is in honor of his pitbull Boomer, who was killed by a car. The tattoo says “One Love Boomer.” Aww. In 2003, DMX was said to be working on a Saturday morning cartoon in honor of Boomer, but I’m not sure if anything happened with that as I could find only references to it being in the works.

Picture above is by Michael Schreiber and was found at Altpick.com. Other photos are of DMX performing on 7/26/2006 at the House of Blues, thanks to PRPhotos.

Salma Hayek’s dog saved her from what could have been a tragedy. She was sleeping on the couch after coming down and woke up to her dog frantically tugging at her arm. It turns out the gas was on, which may have explained her headache. If her pooch didn’t wake her up she could have died:

Salma Hayek’s dog saved her life on the day of the Golden Globe Awards, The Insider’s Pat O’Brien reports.

The Ugly Betty creator explains that she “had a headache and went to lie down” and was awakened from her nap by her dog, Diva, grabbing at her sleeve and trying to pull her out of the house. The 40-year-old actress then realized that the gas was on in her house.

Hayek credits Diva as being the reason she was there to celebrate with the rest of the Ugly Betty cast later that night. The ABC series won two Golden Globes on Monday, including best television comedy and best actress in a TV comedy for its breakout star, America Ferrera.

My dad has a similar story from his childhood about a dog pulling him out of an old truck he was sleeping in to save him from a fire in a field. Us is asking people if they’ve ever had a pet save them, so I’ll be unoriginal and ask you guys if something similar has happened to you.

Here’s a clip of Salma taking off her top on Ugly Betty, which you’ve probably already seen.

Fans sent six live potbellied pigs to George Clooney’s house after the news got out that he lost his beloved pet, Max, at the age of 19. Doctors were amazed that old Max lived so long, a full four years past his life expectancy. Max suffered from arthritis and was partially blind in his old age. In 2001 Clooney’s friend Tommy Hinkley ran over the pig, which seemed to recover well from the accident, and suffered just cuts on his back and a squashed nose.

Clooney kind of admitted that Max was the closest he’d get to a long term relationship, and the pig even slept in the same room as him. At the time of Max’s death, though, he said he wouldn’t get another pig. Clooney made sure that all the pigs sent to his house were adopted by loving families:

George Clooney’s grateful to fans who’ve overwhelmed him with condolences over the death of Max, his pet pobellied porker - but please, folks, stop sending replacements! Incredibly, six LIVE potbellied oinkers were delivered to his home by overzelous fans! George adored all the piggies, says an insider, but had to find loving homes for them all.

[From The National Enquirer print edition. Mike Walker’s column. January 22, 2007]

That’s kind of cute.

Here’s a picture of some potbellied piglets from the North American potbellied pig association. They urge people to be responsible when considering whether they want to take a potbellied pig into their home. It is usually a 15 year commitment, pigs require patience and caring, and the pig should be purchased from a reputable dealer. Potbellied pigs are considered to be affectionate and intelligent pets.

Word is that Paris Hilton wants her own convenient accessory children to tote around for the paparazzi that follow her. That way, she can mix it up and won’t have to keep switching friends to get coverage.

The partying heiress says that hanging around with her new best friend, Britney Spears, and Spears’ two tykes has made her want to reproduce.

“It’s been my dream to have four babies by 30,” the 25-year-old heiress announced, reports Life & Style Weekly. And Hilton thinks she’s highly qualified for motherhood, explaining: “I look after animals, so I’d have a lot to give my kids.”

In fact, looking after kiddies has become so appealing to Hilton that she recently cut short a night out with Spears, announcing to friends, “We’re going home to the babies. We miss them.”

Since when is Paris a competent pet owner? She complained about having to take a limo with her many pets for a six hour drive when an airplane barred her from bringing her goat on a plane. In news that was likely fabricated, she was also said to want a baby kangaroo too, but was discouraged from buying one when she was told they can grow up to be violent animals. She even had a monkey taken away from her after it bit her repeatedly.

She would make a fabulous parent. She should call up Madonna and ask for tips on how to fast-track an adoption of the cutest kid available by mail order. With Britney as her role model for motherhood, is it any wonder she thinks it’s a good idea?

The site was down for a while today. You can blame Britney for the meteoric rise in the popularity of gossip blogs. As a stop gap measure I had to add pop-up comments instead of on-page comments for now. None of your comments are lost and if you made comments on the page they will still appear. All discussions will have to be in the pop-up windows using Haloscan for now, though. I’m sorry about that and I personally prefer on-page comments.

There are also just 10 posts on the main page now instead of 18. You can see older posts in the headline view by choosing the page links at the bottom.

I’m going to try to move the site to Drupal as it is supposedly better for high-volume sites than Wordpress. If anyone has any warnings or advice about this, please comment on this post or e-mail me at info at celebitchy.com. Tomorrow, though, I’m just going to focus on the gossip to clear my head.

Header image is adorable cat Farrusko from the Infinite Cat Project. If you’re ever looking for some stress relief just scroll through the cat images there backwards.

TMZ is running a story on this not super-titillating gossip day (it’s pretty average from my experience, but may seem like a lull in comparison to the Reese and Britney split days) with the title “Felicity (Huffman) Adopts a Black… Puppy.” They make a silly comparison to Madonna’s recent baby-snatching, saying that Felicity managed to adopt without controversy.

A screenshot is above because chances are they’ll pull it or retitle the article once they realize the blunder.

Initial commentors are focusing on the fact that they’re comparing a dog to an African infant:

1. Are you people comparing a BLACK puppy to a BLACK innocent child? I guess you think that’s cute. Shame on you TMZ! - Offended
3. Ok…there are plenty of other things in this world that could offend me…but I do think this was in pretty bad taste. Get it together guys! You usually entertain me through my humdrum work day…but this is just wrong. Just the heading alone is going to piss people off. I am a person with an easygoing spirit (and a black woman!) so I can forgive it…but alot of other people are not going to like this! - In bad taste

From my perspective, they could have just titled the dumb non-article “Felicity adopts… a puppy.”

It would never occur to me to point out that the puppy happens to be black. You could simply compare adoptions without noting the dog’s color. What’s the point?

I get miffed when fellow gossip writers point out someone’s race when it’s obvious who they’re talking about. Like when someone says “Check out that black guy in the background,” and there’s one guy. Why make a reference to his race? If you need an adjective, say “surprised.” To me, it’s not being PC so much as sensible. There’s no reason to make race - or dog color - an issue.

Is everyone else as over Jennifer Aniston as I am? These shots of her walking a bunch of dogs on the beach kind of capture it all for me. It’s the end of summer and she’s got a great body but is otherwise forgettable in a white tank top and old cut off shorts.

She was ranked number one in People’s best dressed list, but it must have been judged by Simon Cowell because all she ever wears is drab black.

Next month she’s going to appear with other stars in a one-day Broadway benefit with the proceeds to go to bringing the arts to underprivileged NY City kids. Despite what some commentors claim, this is the first I’ve heard of her doing charity work.

What is with all the dogs here? Are they all hers or is she puppy-sitting? She got a new dog just a few weeks ago, and it looks like she has added to the pack.

I got this caption idea from Hot Momma Drama, and the pictures are from Lime-Light.

I wrote Snopes.com to ask them to fact check this story, because it sounds like complete bullshit to me, but Paris Hilton is said to have purchased a cemetary plot next to Marilyn Monroe for a “Billy Hilton,” which was initially thought to be a poorly named deceased relative. It turned out that Billy was her goat. Someone made this shit up, but it’s pretty funny:

This simply can’t be true. I did a half-assed google search, and it seems to have originated with a press release, which also claimed that Paris booked a gospel choir to perform at a funeral. Just like the rumor that Will Ferrell died in a freak para-gliding accident, someone cooked up a joke press release and now the dumber news services are picking it up.

Paris might have a whole zoo full of animals, but it’s doubtful she loves her goat this much, or even knows where Marilyn Monroe is buried.