I don’t like Tori Spelling, but she has a few fans who take me to task whenever I make fun of her for the dumb sh*t she says and does. Like when Tori and Dean held a recommitment ceremony after a whole four years of marriage, they put out meaningful items to represent their identities and deep abiding love. Tori made a display involving lucite boxes with shoes, along with a book on June Carter and Johnny Cash, calling them “an inspiration – a couple that were both married before and then found each other.” I thought that was ridiculous, but there were a couple of people who were like “I love them, leave them alone!”

Yes, Tori and Dean were both married to other people when they “found each other.” Tori was married for a year and Dean was in the process of adopting a special needs baby with his wife of 12 years, who wrote candidly about how it made her feel when Dean dumped her after knowing Tori a whole 3 weeks. Now that Tori and Dean are inevitably having trouble, Tori no longer seems to be inspired by infidelity. She admits to People that she’s afraid that Dean will end up cheating on her, too. You know what they say, “once a cheater…”

Tori Spelling thinks her husband Dean McDermott will cheat on her! The star of Oxygen’s Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood admits to People magazine that things in her marriage have been really rough!

“We’re a loving couple, but were human and definitely not perfect,” says Tori. “Given our history I often get worried that Dean is going to cheat on me. If the phone rings and it’s a girl’s voice I have to ask if he’s having an affair.”

Even though Tori has no proof that Dean is cheating on her she says she can’t help but think these horrible thoughts!

“Dean has never been anything but devoted, and he tells me over and over again that he would never do that,” says Tori.”Deep down I believe him. But I can’t stop myself. For some reason I’m compelled to accuse him of cheating.”

Tori realizes there have been several rumors saying she was in a “loveless” marriage and she says this is wrong BUT there are definitely problems.

“Last autumn was hard,” she says. “We were in an ebb.”

The mom of two kids, Liam, 3, and Stella, 2, tells People that Dean doesn’t spend much time at home anymore.

“I apologize to Dean constantly and it drives him crazy and rightfully so,” says Tori. “Dean isn’t around to witness most of my efforts to build my business … he’s riding motorcycles … I’ve become a workaholic and Dean has become a motorcycle-aholic … if Dean has a day off he’s off to the race track.”

“Better to love and get hurt than to have anger and no love,” says Tori.

[From Hollywood Life]

There’s an alternative that Tori seems to be missing. She could have chosen a partner with a history of fidelity, then she wouldn’t have had to worry so much about whether history would repeat and she would get cheated on, too. Then again, she presumably had that with husband no. 1 and threw it away for true love with Dean. Does she know how it feels now? I doubt it.

Tori and Dean are shown out on 4/6/10. Credit: Fame Pictures

This week’s In Touch has a story painting Renee Zellweger as this desperate needy girlfriend driving Bradly Cooper away with her demands. Because aren’t all unmarried women over 40 pathetic creatures clinging to their men hoping they’ll propose and rescue them from a life of loneliness? It doesn’t matter if they’re richer than whole countries combined and fitter than some world class athletes, they’re still sad empty people looking for men to fulfill them. I could go on, but I’ll spare you. This sounds like total B.S. from In Touch, but here it is. Kaiser tells me it’s B.S. because Cooper isn’t that interested in the ladies, but she often thinks guys are gay that don’t seem like it to me. (I’ve dated plenty of metrosexuals, and maybe some of those guys will come out someday, but they were straight when I was with them.) Renee seems to love those maybe in the closet/maybe just sensitive types, doesn’t she? Bradley doesn’t mind the rumors that he’s gay and once called it “fantastic” that he was linked with Victor Garber.

Renee Zellweger doesn’t have a part in her boyfriend Bradley Cooper’s new movie. Yet she’s clocked so much time on the set, the cast and crew have a running joke that she should be listed in the credits. “She can be a bit smothering,” reveals her friend, who says that when Renee is not visiting Bradley on the set of The Dark Fields, she’s calling or texting him – and she’s also spent a lot of time bonding with his mother. “Renee’s trying to prove she’ll be the perfect wife. She’s 100 percent ready to marry Bradley and she’s been more than vocal about it.”

Renee, 41, and Bradley, 35, have been dating since last July, and things got serious very quickly. “They were talking marriage before their third date,” says the friend, adding that Bradley was initially starstruck by Renee. “He was hardly a household name and couldn’t believe his luck that he was dating Renee.”

But now, less than a year into their relationship, Bradley feels suffocated by Renees clinginess. “They are still together, but he’s pulling back a lot,” says his friend, who adds the actor’s failed marriage to Jennifer Esposito has made him hesitant about taking the plunge again. “They were talking marriage and kids, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke things off sooner rather than later.”

[From In Touch, print edition, May 31, 2010]

Maybe Renee and Bradley are just in love, and maybe he really wants to be with her. Imagine that. If you believe In Touch Renee dazzled Bradley with her superstardom and then dragged him down with her smothering and whininess. Renee is a weird one, but these two seem like the real deal to me. It’s kind of like how we all came to accept Reese and Jake after we were all convinced for the first few months that it was a publicity stunt. Reese and Jake eventually broke up, though, and I forsee a similar fate for this couple. I don’t think there’s marriage or an extended partnership in their future, but I could be wrong. We don’t really know Cooper apart from the parts he plays and Renee is really guarded about her privacy. Maybe they’re both crazy about each other. Or maybe they’ll break up next week.

Renee is shown out in Beverly Hills that one outfit she always wears on 5/18/10. She’s also shown at an event on 5/1/10. Renee and Bradley are shown together at the movies on 12/21/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

Both the National Enquirer and In Touch are running stories this week claiming Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson are having trouble in their marriage of less than two years. The rumors seem primarily based on the fact that the two are spending time apart due to their work schedules and haven’t been photographed together in months. Scarlett, 25, recently told In Style that she finds marriage comforting and that she enjoys cooking for Ryan. “You’re married and suddenly you have your own family. There’s a nice comfort in that. That part of your life is certain, in a way. You’ve got your home in that other person.” Does Scarlett still feel at home with Ryan or are their careers and bickering getting in the way? Here are what the tabloids are reporting.

In Touch: Struggling to make it work
Scarlett Johansson had a cute date at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C>, but it wasn’t her husband, Ryan Reynolds. “Scarlett brought her brother,” an insider tells In Touch. And the absence of her significant other was a topic of conversation. “She was overheard saying that she has issues lately with Ryan because they haven’t seen each other,” explains the insider about the actress. “They’ve been arguing about scheduling. She feels they don’t spend as much time together as other married couples do.”

Enquirer: Trouble in Paradise
Now that the honeymoon is over, sources say the stars have little in common and are so career-driven, they don’t see each other enough.

“Sadly, it looks like they have been growing apart for months,” reveals an insider. “There are very real fears they are headed for divorce.”

Ryan has recently been spending a lot of time in New Orleans while filming “Green Lantern,” while Scarlett has been in Los Angeles. The couple had a brief vacation together in Vancouver in DEcember, but apart from that, they have barely had enough time to see each other, says the source…

When they do get together, it only reinforces their differences in such simple matters as Ryan taking phone calls in the bedroom while Scarlett tries to sleep late, said a source.

[Print editions, May 24, 2010]

In Touch takes it a step further by insinuating that Ryan might be having an affair with his attractive Green Lantern co-star, Blake Lively. They write that Ryan “seems to have plenty of time for his sexy co-star, Blake Lively, 22. They spend long days filming Green Lantern, but still like to hang out after work. Ryan and Blake even had dinner together in New Orleans on April 24.” Blake was also linked to Ben Affleck when she was working with him, but I don’t think there was much to those rumors. The tabloids just like to match up costars when they’re both young and attractive. If there’s a potential cheating scandal there, all the better.

So are Ryan and Scarlett having trouble? Ryan always seemed like an insufferable douche to me and I’ve heard plenty of stories about how difficult and demanding he can be. I like Scarlett and find her smart intellectually, but a little naive. I would be surprised if these two lasted long term, but for now all we have is conjecture.

Life & Style’s cover story this week is all about how Kendra’s sex tape is probably going to destroy her marriage. I know a lot of you don’t really care for Kendra, but I find myself feeling genuine sympathy for her, and I do think she and her husband Hank are probably very embarrassed about the situation. L&S claims that Hank is “so angry” with Kendra, and he’s worried about what his teammates will say about it.

A month shy of their wedding anniversary, Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett are struggling to hold their marriage together after being rocked by Vivid Entertainments announcement to release Kendra Exposed, featuring the blond bombshell and an ex.

“Hank is totally upset and embarrassed,” an E! insider reveals to Life & Style. “He’s so angry.”

More infuriating is that the she tried to sell the intimate footage herself in November 2008, soon after Hank had proposed.

“Kendra’s sex tape was shopped to me two years ago,” celeb sex-tape broker Kevin Blatt tells Life & Style. “It was done by a person who said he was Kendra’s manager.” Which won’t sit well with her hubby.

“I know Hank will be pretty upset,” Hugh Hefner’s former girlfriend Karissa Shannon tells Life & Style.

While Hank continues to play the supportive husband, Kendra’s sex tapes have him reeling — and may hurt his livelihood.

“The main reason he’s embarrassed is his team’s [possible] reaction,” the E! insider explains to Life & Style. “He needs to concentrate on his career right now, and this just creates more distractions for him.”

[From Life & Style]

Well, I hope they stay together. They seem to really care about each other (and I’m not joking) and they have that baby to think about. Meanwhile, Radar has more details about the actual sex tape. No confirmation about whether the tape shows a gang bang, a claim which I’m starting to doubt. Radar reports that Kendra’s partner in the tape is her ex-boyfriend, a dude named Justin. Justin was her boyfriend before she met Hef. Radar’s timeline: “Sources confirm that Kendra and Justin were in a committed relationship from the time Kendra graduated high school in spring 2003 to the time she moved into the Playboy Mansion. Hugh Hefner first discovered Kendra at his 78th birthday party in April 2004 where she was one of the hired “painted girls” who were nude except for painted-on accessories. Shortly after, Hefner asked Kendra to be one of his girlfriends and she moved into the Playboy Mansion…Now, sources confirm that Kendra’s team was in talks with Justin and his representatives at the time regarding the tape, which Justin had in his possession.”

Life & Style cover courtesy of CoverAwards.

Yikes! One of my favorite undercover couples may be on the verge of splitting up! A very, very gossipy “source” close to Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts went to Radar and basically wouldn’t shut up about all of the problems they’re having. Naomi and Liev have two sons together – Alexander (or Sasha) who will be three years old in July, and Samuel (Sammy), who is about 16 months old. Liev and Naomi have been together since the spring of 2005, and although I really thought they were married, it looks like they never did make it official. Naomi admited last year that Liev had given her a ring, but that they weren’t too concerned with getting hitched.

As far as Radar’s source, and whether or not this source is just talking out of his or her ass (I think it’s a her, because the source seems to be identifying with Naomi and bashing Liev), I’ll let you be the judge. I think there might be something here, though:

Rumors have been swirling for years about whether Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts are married or not. But it seems that any speculation surrounding their relationship could soon be moot, as a source tells RadarOnline.com exclusively that the New York based couple, who have two sons together, are going through a rough patch.

“Liev is kind of arrogant and snobby,” a source close to the situation tells RadarOnline.com. “And it grates on him that Naomi has the higher profile, bigger, better career and higher earnings.

“Despite the rumors that are out there, they are not married, and they haven’t talked marriage plans in a good two years.”

“They’ve already been through two real relationship crisis’s, in January 2008 when Heath Ledger died and then last Spring/Summer time, and they came extremely close to splitting but they decided to go to couples’ counseling and work it out for the sake of the kids. When Heath died it really rocked Naomi’s world and she totally withdrew. Liev just isn’t the kind of guy who will hold Naomi’s hand to get her through a tough period. Instead he acts like he doesn’t need the relationship and can walk out at anytime. But he better be careful because if he keeps it up he could lose Naomi and I do think that would devastate him.”

“But, it looks like they’re slowly deteriorating, and finding themselves back in a bad place once again. Basically, it’s a total clash of the egos between the two of them. It’s always tough to make a relationship work when it’s between an actor and actress. Both tend to be self-obsessed to a degree, and Naomi and Liev fit that description to a T.”

“Liev would like Naomi to take more of a back seat when it comes to her career, he wants to be the major star and breadwinner and he would like her to be more of a stay at home mom. But Naomi knows that her movie making days are running out fast and she wants to capitalize on her looks and fame while she still can – while she’s still young enough.”

“Plus she loves being an actress, and loves the validation she gets from the fans and the critics. They’re kind of in a no win situation and basically at a stalemate, neither side wants to budge or compromise. I really don’t see how they are going to work this one out and reach a resolution that keeps both sides happy.”

“I know for a fact that if they didn’t have the kids they would of split a long time ago. It seems that now, the only thing holding them together is their two sons, who they both love very dearly. Unfortunately, it seems that they no longer love each other very dearly though.”

[From Radar]

I always wondered how Liev felt about his girlfriend/partner being so devastated at the loss of her former boyfriend. I have no doubt that Naomi was distraught when Heath died, and I also would think that Liev’s ego would take a hit. Still, I like them so much as a couple, and I really want to believe that Liev can handle his girlfriend’s fame and career, and that he’s wants a partnership of equals. Maybe not though.

Quite honestly, my first thoughts when I skimmed the article for the first time was that Liev was screwing around. My first guess was Angelina Jolie – Jolie and Schreiber worked together last year on Salt, but the tabloid gossip about any hookup between them ended pretty quickly. Now, Liev has been on Broadway with Scarlett Johansson the past few months… what do you think? I little ScarJo-Liev action? That would be juicy. And tragic. But juicy!

Here’s Liev and ScarJo. It could be happening:

And here are some cute photos of Liev with his sons, out and about in New York on Friday. Those boys really take after their mom, don’t they?

Ha! This story just struck me as ridiculously funny, and I know that admitting that makes me a horrible person. Apparently, there’s a rumor going around Palm Beach, Florida that Donald Trump and his third wife, Melania, are having some relationship problems. The whole thing might stem from the fact that Donald seems to be spending more and more time alone in Palm Beach while Melania stays in New York with their nearly four-year-old son (I know, I keep thinking their kid is just a baby, but he’s turns four in March, despite this report claiming Barron is five). The Donald has already denied the alleged relationship trouble, but his hilarious denial kind of just added fuel to the fire when he claimed that Melania had to stay in New York with the kid because of school on Friday evenings. Seriously!

The Palm Beach Daily News which isn’t exactly known for wild speculation reported earlier this week that the marriage of Donald Trump is in trouble. The Donald says that just isn’t true and he told the newspaper that also. “There was a report in the Palm Beach Daily News that Melania and I are having problems, and it is 100% false, as I told them.”

The rumors started because Donald has been spending weekends alone in Palm Beach while his family stays behind in New York. His explanation for this is “Melania used to come with me to Palm Beach every weekend, but now that we have a young son, his school comes first.”

He went on to say that their five year old son has school on Friday evenings so the family has to stay in New York. OK, first things first here. I’m sure there are kids who have school in the evenings. But Friday evenings? Really? He is five. That part doesn’t make any sense. Second of all, if he is so enamored of his family why don’t they fly to Palm Beach after school ends? It isn’t like Donald is flying commercial. The plane leaves when he wants it to leave. The kid is five. How late is he staying in school at night? Finally, why is he going down every weekend? Stay at home with your family. Just because he is in school Friday evenings still leaves Saturdays and Sundays that the family could be together. I smell lots of trouble here.

[From Crazy Days and Nights via Gossip Rocks]

School on Friday evenings! Hilarious. When I was in college, it was difficult for me to make it to class on Thursday mornings, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if classes were held on Friday evenings. Regardless of the “Friday evening school” shenanigans for a three-year-old (for real!), what do you think? Is there trouble is gold-plated paradise? I think there’s something there!

I swear, there’s only one picture out of the whole bunch where Sarah Jessica Parker isn’t draped on her husband Matthew Broderick. Which, you know, is fine I guess. But the weird thing is that Matthew looks like he wants to be anywhere but there. Is this rude? Of course it is. It’s perfectly possible that Matthew Broderick just looks like this always, that he always looks bored and over it, which, in all fairness, he probably is because he’s been famous for decades. Lainey summed it up be calling Sarah Jessica Parker “Always Grateful”:

It’s Photo Assumption, sure, but doesn’t she seem it? Like, super appreciative to be gifted with his attention? Maybe it’s just me…

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick attended the Broadway opening of Present Laughter last night. Funny I don’t remember him at the New York premiere of Did You Hear About the Morgans. He was likely busy. With the twins. Or something.

There’s nothing wrong with a desperate wanting to please, and being desperately pleased when wanted. Just… I wonder how often he wants her. What? Look at him. That is a man who wants his wife all the time. Never mind Photo Assumption. It means nothing. Even when the photos assume it over and over, it totally means nothing.

[From Lainey Gossip]

Sigh… this makes me feel sorry for Sarah Jessica, and I know I shouldn’t. She’s got a pretty good life with her kids and her thriving Sex and the Retirement Community sequels and all of that. But I’m with Lainey, SJP and Broderick do not look like a happy couple.

In other SJP news, she was just named the new president of Halston. A lot of critics are complaining that this was a boneheaded, Lindsay Lohan-esque move for the House of Halston, but I don‘t hate it. It‘s not like Halston is Oscar de la Renta or anything – Halston makes pretty cocktail dresses, slinky gowns and generally very cute, wearable clothes. SJP might be a natural. About her appointment as president, SJP says: “I think this is a brand new kind of business model, and it illustrates how serious I am about this position. I think it’s wonderful to feel invested in something. I tend not to just endorse something. I like feeling the stakes.”

SJP also admits that she came to the company in a “rather unorthodox way” but that unorthodox isn’t really bad, so whatever. As for what she brings to the table at Halston? “Good manners, a point of view that is inspiring, that is hopefully smart, and an incredible passion and excitement and enthusiasm, as well as some experience of what I know about women, that having been pretty much the focus of my role in ‘Sex and the City.” Oh, crap. She’s going to send of fashion lines based on Carrie Bradshaw? Halston is doomed.

Sarah Jessica and Matthew at the opening night of ‘Present Laughter’ in New York on January 21, 2010. Credit: WENN.

This may only interest me, but I find the royal family of Monaco fascinating, so we’re going to enter into the marriage of Princess Caroline and her third husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover. They’ve been married for 11 years, and from what I’ve read throughout the years, they’ve always been somewhat mismatched. Oh, did you know that Princess Caroline is a homewrecker? Prince Ernst was married to a nice Swedish Swiss woman when he and Caroline began their affair, and then he left his wife for Caroline, and he and Caroline went on to have a daughter. Since then, there have been tons of stories about the prince’s drinking, carousing and general unpleasantness.

There are always split rumors about Caroline and Ernst, but last fall the rumors seemed to be getting more serious. Still, no split came, and I haven’t heard anything about them for a while. Now it seems that they spent their holidays apart – Caroline went skiing with her kids, while Ernst spent time in Thailand with a lady friend. How do we know this? Because there are photos of Ernst with this lady friend! Scandal!

The already-tumultuous marriage of Monaco’s Princess Caroline and husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover appears to have hit a new bump with the publication Thursday of photos showing the 55-year-old Ernst August over the Christmas holiday walking the sand, sunbathing on a beach in Thailand and kissing in the surf – all with someone other than his wife, who was skiing with the couple’s children in Switzerland.

In a four-page photo spread headlined “Amorous Escapade in Thailand,” Thursday’s editions of France’s Paris-Match show Ernst August and an unidentified woman locked in an embrace. “The Prince and his friend,” the publication says, “only had eyes for each other.” Meanwhile, Germany’s Bunte also published the photos, declaring, “Monaco’s First Lady Is Being Publically Duped.”

The photos raise a new round of rumors concerning a possible divorce action by the thrice-married Her Royal Highness Caroline Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg, 52, the eldest child of the late Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly.

They also show the latest in a chain of indiscretions that has made the couple’s 11-year marriage a royal soap opera starring Ernst August in incidents of public drunkenness, hospitalizations, scuffles, alleged infidelity and one all-too-well-documented episode of public urination at Expo 2000.

The couple – who were seen together on only three occasions in 2009 – have been living apart for some time. In September, photos allegedly revealed the Prince’s close friendship with a Parisian socialite. Days later, while Ernst was in Libya celebrating the 40th anniversary of Colonel Khaddafi’s reign, Caroline moved out of the family’s Fountainebleu home, taking their 10-year-old daughter Alexandra with her and resettling in Monaco.

A press spokesperson in Monaco told PEOPLE on Thursday that the Palace had “no comment” regarding the photographs.

Publication of his holiday snapshots couldn’t possibly have taken place at a less opportune moment for Ernst August. Next Wednesday, after months of negotiations, a court in Hanover is to hear testimony from a newly discovered eyewitness in Ernst’s appeal to have a 2000 battery assault conviction against him overturned.

That eyewitness is none other than his wife.

[From People]

It’s juicy, I think. I’m actually hoping Princess Caroline has had enough. My opinion – just from reading the odd Vanity Fair hit piece – is that Prince Ernst has always been a buffoon. A drunk baffoon. Of course, I think Caroline probably has some secrets she wants to keep hidden, and God knows she isn’t perfect. But she carries out her royal duties flawlessly, and she needs to rid herself of the dead weight, so to speak.

It sure was a shock to learn, just before Christmas, that Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were breaking up. Since their very brief announcement, the rumor mill has been running wild. A new article by a reporter from The Daily Beast, who has a long history of not-so-pleasant run-ins with the couple, suggests that the split may have been caused by Susan and Tim’s differences of opinion on political issues. Specifically, the report claims that Robbins has been quietly donating campaign money to Republicans (gasp!) while Susan has gone even further to the left. According to this report, even Susan’s own mom was surprised by the breakup.

It was their low-key, under-the-radar, one might even say boring approach to life in the big city that apparently allowed them to separate in the summer with zero publicity. Lenora Tomalin, Susan’s 86-year-old mother, says she was “shocked” when her daughter called last week to tell her about the split a day before the news broke. “It was perfect timing because the press couldn’t do much with it, because of Christmas and all the other news that would be in the forefront,” Tomalin told me over the Christmas weekend.

She recently saw Susan and Tim at a family wedding in New Jersey and says everything seemed normal. “My daughter was a little concerned about my hearing about it otherwise. It has affected me a lot, I’m still dealing with it,” Tomalin told me. “The way she was talking, it was very amicable. Tim is still in the picture because of the kids. I think they’re handling it beautifully. There’s no recrimination of any kind.”

Tomalin roundly dismissed published speculation that the 63-year-old Sarandon has taken up with 31-year-old Jonathan Bricklin, a business partner and co-investor in the Manhattan ping-pong club Spin. “Gracious, no!” Tomalin said, adding that she met Bricklin recently when he and Susan gave her a tour of the establishment. “He’s a gem. He has nothing to do with her other than as a business partner… If she was [seeing Bricklin romantically], Susan would be upfront about it.”

Tomalin added: “I’m fond of Tim even though I had that blowup with him years ago.”

That was back in early 2003, when I was writing The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column and Tomalin gave me an interview in which she identified herself as a staunch Republican and described the tension her political differences had caused between herself, Susan, and Tim. After the item appeared, Tim called her to angrily upbraid her for airing dirty laundry. She said she was devastated. Weeks later, when I ran into Robbins at a party in Los Angeles, he was still steamed—profanely putting me on notice that if I ever wrote about his family again, he would “find” and “hurt” me. Months later, he was still telling anyone who’d listen—like a lunchtime crowd at Washington’s National Press Club—that I am “a sadistic creep who writes, or rather, scratches, his column with his fingers in the dirt.”When it came to politics, Robbins and Sarandon tended to espouse and admonish rather than try to persuade. Either you were enlightened or just weren’t—either ideologically chaste or downright corrupt. “I am not, was not, a big Clinton fan,” Robbins told me back in 2002. “I hear he was a liberal. I hear people described as liberals all the time that I don’t tend to agree with. I think the rise of the Southern Democrats and the Democratic Leadership Council has pushed the definition of what’s a liberal farther and farther to the right.”

…Loyal Dems would undoubtedly be gobsmacked to learn that, if Federal Election Commission records are to be believed, Robbins has not only donated regularly to Democratic candidates over the past 18 years, he also has written checks to conservative Republicans. In the 2006 election cycle, according to public records, the actor gave $5,000 to 10 Republican candidates for the House and Senate—including, most shocking of all, Minnesota’s resident wingnut, Rep. Michele Bachmann. Why such largesse to the enemy? Former GOP congressman J.D. Hayworth of Arizona, who lost in 2006 despite Robbins’ $500 donation, was baffled and surprised when I reached him over the weekend. “Maybe because I covered the Durham Bulls as a sports broadcaster in the late 1970s and early ’80s? Maybe because I used to frequently rent Bob Roberts back in the ’90s?” Hayworth wondered, mentioning two of Robbins’ starring vehicles. “All I can say is, ‘Thank you!’ I hope he enjoyed the Christmas card.” My efforts to reach Robbins to hear his explanation were unavailing, alas.

[From The Daily Beast]

But other sources are saying that the couple’s breakup was due to Susan’s flourishing relationship with a business partner who is 30 years her junior. Jonathan Bricklin, 31, is reportedly getting “touchy feely” with Sarandon, even though her rep, Jonathan’s rep, and Susan’s mom are all denying it.

Susan Sarandon and long-time lover Tim Robbins announced their split two days before Christmas, with their rep issuing a statement saying they “separated over the summer” and “no further comments will be made.”

Since then Sarandon, 63, has denied she is in a relationship with ping-pong club owner Jonathan Bricklin, 31, as has his rep.

But an inside source close to Bricklin tells Fox411.com that the two are spending a lot of quality time together.

“The way they touch each other, greet each other and spend so much time together, they are far more than friends,” said the source. “They are very comfortable with each other, very touchy-feely. You don’t touch a friend the way Jonathan and Susan do.”

The source, who has seen the two together since Sarandon and Robbins announced their split, added that “Susan looks great…. She’s been extremely busy over the holidays with her kids, the new club and Jonathan. She meets him at the club all the time in the middle of the day.”

The club in question is a new NYC ping-pong club called SPiN, in which they have both reportedly invested money.

Yes, we’ll say it again, a ping-pong club. (Only in New York…)

Anyway, the couple even apparently spent part of the New Year’s holiday together.

“Susan is always around [SPiN], she enjoys being with Jonathan, and they were together over the New Year last week,” said the insider.

While some eyes may widen at the couple’s 32-year age difference, the insider says the two look great together.

“She may be 63, but she is glowing. She hardly wears makeup and she still looks phenomenal,” the pal blabs. “Susan is too gorgeous to be single!”

The source adds that the May-November relationship wasn’t what ended the Sarandon/Robbins romance.

“[Sarandon and Robbins] have been separated for some time,” said the insider. “It was definitely not a rash decision, and Susan and Tim are very protective of all their children, especially their two boys.”

[From Fox News/Hollywood 411]

For a couple like Susan and Tim, who have long been very vocal and passionate about their political views, it makes sense that a change of opinion might be a deal-breaker. It’s too bad, because there are a lot of couples with differing political views who somehow find a way to make it work – look at Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. Maybe it was a combination of the two? Either way, I doubt that Tim or Susan are ever going to comment about it. But at least they are taking the high road and not talking smack about each other.

Methinks People Magazine is doing some damage control! People just released a new story on the Jake Gyllenhaal-Reese Witherspoon rumors that began yesterday, when People first reported Jake and Reese had split. According to People’s new article, they had a source who claimed Reese “told close friends around Thanksgiving that she and Gyllenhall… had broken up.” People Magazine also does a somewhat defensive timeline of how Reese has been solo the past few weeks, as if to say “Dude, they weren’t photographed together for two weeks! What were we supposed to think?”

People goes on to make it sound like Reese and Jake have broken up several times, the working (and unspoken) theory being that Reese and Jake did actually break up a few weeks ago, but might get back together yet again. Another claim: Jake wants to marry Reese (“Jake would marry her tomorrow”) but Reese is gun-shy about re-marriage and strictly adheres to a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy (“Jake can be a little overbearing at times, and Reese is really happy with life right now. Why screw that up or change a good thing?”).

While the precise status of the Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal relationship remains unclear – over the weekend a source close to the actress told PEOPLE the couple had split, a claim denied by their reps – the two have certainly had their share of highs and lows during their two-year relationship.

Witherspoon, 33, told close friends around Thanksgiving that she and Gyllenhall, also 33, had broken up, says the source. She was seen driving alone in Los Angeles over the weekend, then on Sunday she was spotted at the Whiskey Kitchen in Nashville – without Gyllenhaal.

As a couple, the last time they were seen together was two weeks ago, when they spent time in Philadelphia (where Reese is shooting a yet-to-be-titled movie with Oscar-winning director James L. Brooks) and in Pittsburgh (where Jake is shooting his new movie, Love and Other Drugs).

“As much as everyone thinks they’re right there, they’re really not near the whole marriage thing,” a source close to the couple told PEOPLE last spring. “Jake would marry her tomorrow, but Reese doesn’t want to go there yet, even though he would like to.”

The source adds: “There’s a huge attraction between them, and they’ve becomes a team, partners, but Jake can be a little overbearing at times, and Reese is really happy with life right now. Why screw that up or change a good thing?”

Then there are her children – daughter Ava, 10, and son Deacon, 6 – with former husband Ryan Phillippe to consider. “The kids are her first priority,” says the source. “They’re not ready for that, at least as far as Jake.”

The pair first met on the Morocco set of the movie Rendition in 2006. “Jake went and introduced himself to Reese,” a source close to both told PEOPLE. From there, “things slowly progressed, but it was never something she thought would happen from the start. She just kind of developed this little crush over time.”

But with Witherspoon’s divorce from Phillippe still pending at the time, the actress took a step back during the summer of 2007.

“They broke up. It’s totally and completely over,” a source in Witherspoon’s circle told PEOPLE at the time. “Reese was the one who had to do it. She just got out of a divorce and was so concerned with her family, she just didn’t have the time for him and he really demanded that.”

The divorce was finalized in June 2008, but moving on proved difficult for Witherspoon. “When people get in your face and say, ‘This will pass,’ you think: Are they crazy?” Witherspoon said in the April 2009 issue of Elle magazine, adding that the divorce was, “very humiliating and very isolating.”

Still, Witherspoon came to realize, “If it’s not painful, maybe it wasn’t the right decision to marry to begin with. Those are the appropriate emotions.”

Reuniting with Gyllenhaal in 2007, Witherspoon later said her beau was “really a fantastic guy.”

“He’s very supportive,” was she told Vogue last year. “Suffice it to say, I’m very happy in life, and I’m very lucky to have a lot of really supportive people around me who care very much for me, and, you know, that’s all you can hope for in life. I am very blessed in that way.”

Still, Witherspoon was hesitant to discuss the possibility of marrying again. Despite repeated rumors that the duo had gotten engaged, reps for the pair denied a proposal – and Witherspoon made it clear that she wasn’t ready.

“Family is all we have in life, but I don’t know how I feel about marriage,” she told Parade last year. “Obviously, I’m not far enough out of being married to think about doing it again. You sort of reconstitute your family. You find a family with people who come into your life for a reason.”

[From People]

Well, I think it’s perfectly reasonable that Reese would be rather “meh” on marriage after the chaos of being married to Ryan Phillippe. Excuse me, I mean “alleged” chaos. He was allegedly cheating on her all over the place, and I could see Reese having some big trust issues. It’s also interesting to hear that Jake is “a little overbearing” – I’m just happy to hear he’s not Mr. Perfect, although I do think it’s kind of sweet that he is the one who wants to get married and Reese is the commitment-phobic one. Good work, Reese!

Reese and Jake in New York on June 6, 2009. Also, Reese and Jake at the ‘Rendition’ premiere in Toronto on September 7, 2007. Credit: INF.