As we reported a few weeks ago, Mia Farrow went on a planned three-week hunger strike to raise awareness about the current situation in Darfur. Unfortunately, Mia was left too weak to complete the full three-week hunger strike, and her doctor order her to eat after 12 days. Billionaire “rebel” and Virgin airline honcho Richard Branson stepped up to finish Mia’s awareness-raising stunt. Branson vowed to do a three-day hunger strike, starting this past Friday. So it should be over by now, and there’s no word on whether Branson finished it. I suspect he did.

Mia’s aim was always to bring more light on the current situation in Darfur, in the power base of Khartoum, and the refugee camps on Sudan and Chad’s borders. Since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, all hell has broken loose in Saudan, and not in a good way. President al-Bashir has pretty much declared war on the UN agencies in the region, as well as the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) trying to pick up UN slack:

Mia Farrow, who is ailing after almost two weeks on a hunger strike, announced on Friday that Richard Branson would take over her protest in solidarity with people in Sudan’s conflict-torn Darfur region.

A spokesman for the actress said her health had deteriorated in the past few days and her doctor requested that she end the liquids-only fast that she began 12 days ago to protest Khartoum’s expulsion of more than a dozen aid agencies from Darfur.

Farrow asked Branson to take over the fast, her statement said, adding that the British entrepreneur had accepted and would begin a three-day hunger strike on Friday.

“We all need to stand up and demand that international aid is restored and that the people of Darfur are protected and given the chance to live in peace,” Branson was quoted as saying in the statement.

Farrow’s spokesman said last month that her doctor expected the slightly built actress could not fast for more than three weeks.

Farrow, who was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the UN children’s agency Unicef in 2000, has been campaigning for years to raise funds and awareness for children in conflict zones like Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Chad and Nigeria.

The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, in March, charging him with masterminding mass killings and deportations in Darfur in western Sudan.

Since then, Sudan has expelled 13 foreign and three domestic humanitarian aid agencies, accusing them of collaborating with The Hague-based ICC.

UN officials say that as many as 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.7 million driven from their homes in Darfur in almost six years of ethnic and political violence.

Khartoum, however, says 10,000 people have died. Some 4.7 million people rely on humanitarian aid in Darfur.

[From The Telegraph]

It’s sad that Mia couldn’t complete her hunger strike, people really were paying attention. It’s cool that Branson stepped up to do a three-day strike, but it would be even better if more celebrities got involved and vowed to complete the original 21-day strike. Yes, it would be a stunt, but more people would pay attention if people like George Clooney and Matt Damon got involved. What if all of those celebrities who don the “Save Darfur Now” shirts actually did their own publicly-announced three-day hunger strikes? Very little would actually change in Darfur, but the coverage of Darfur would change in the mainstream Western media. Hey, it’s got to start somewhere.

Photo Credit: PRPhotos

I just love when a couple divorces – wait, don’t judge me yet – and then they trade up. I’m so happy that they’ve met someone new, with a little bit of revenge factor in it for their ex. For example, Angelina Jolie splitting with Billy Bob Thornton and getting together with Brad Pitt is definitely trading up.

When it comes to the Natalie Imbruglia divorce from Daniel Johns, I’m not sure if her new man is an improvement. Daniel Johns is sexy and talented and they share a passion for music, but Sam Branson would have to be one of the most eligible bachelors in England. The thing is, he’s 23 while Natalie is 33.

Natalie Imbruglia is reportedly romancing Sir Richard Branson’s son.

The ‘Torn’ singer – who recently split from husband Daniel Johns – was seen canoodling with the Virgin tycoon’s son Sam during a bash at London’s Kensington Roof Gardens.

The £100,000 ski-themed party was held to celebrate Sam – who at 23 is 10 years Natalie’s junior – leaving to go on an Arctic expedition.

An onlooker said: “They are pretty besotted with each other and Natalie is even talking about meeting him in the Arctic.”

Sydney Morning Herald

Natalie was last linked to Razorlight rocker Johnny Borell. He managed to get hold of her phone number and called ‘constantly’, according to the Daily Mail. How does this guy meet all these beautiful women? He’s been linked to Kirsten Dunst and Emma Watson too – what do they see in him?

Natalie went on holiday last month with fellow Australian and Neighbours alumni Kylie Minogue. They traveled to Maritius, where they had a girlie good time, with massage and beauty therapy. That sounds like a fabulous idea, but at £3,000-a-night maybe it’s a little out of my reach. I’ll just go take a bubble bath.

Note by Celebitchy: Picture of Sam Branson from 2/8/07. Natalie Imbruglia is shown on 12/5/07.

Let me just let you know right now that there is not yet video online that I could find of this incident. I looked on just about every online video sharing service I could find. Some douche even put the keywords Branson and Colbert together on YouTube, but it’s not this video. Anyway maybe Branson just didn’t get Colbert’s truthiness, or maybe he’s just a dick, but Colbert didn’t let him plug one of his new low-cost airline services in an appearance on his show and Branson got pissed and threw water on him. Colbert asked for some water, sat there and waited, and when someone delivered it he reciprocated by dousing Branson.

I guess Branson even named a plane after Colbert, so that could be one of the reasons he took it so personally. Please let there be video of this soon:

I haven’t posted a recap anywhere else, but I’ll spill it here first. Branson was apparently upset that he wasn’t able to give a direct plug to the new Virgin service and doused Colbert with his guest mug of water. Stephen was DRENCHED. He took a beat, then signalled for his own “ammunition” for about twenty seconds until Alison (Silverman) ran and gave him her bottle of water, and Stephen retaliated. The two of them sat for a VERY uncomfortable second looking like two wet cats. Then Stephen thanked him for coming. I really don’t think it was planned, since Stephen had another bit to introduce (the American Samoa Better Know a Protectorate) and a full interview left to do. They had to get him a new jacket and even broke out a blowdryer. Everyone in the crew had a “WTF?” reaction.

[NoFactZone via MediaBistro and Daily Mail]

And the original commentor who was in the audience clarified what happened, and this is said to be confirmed by other sources:

I forget what the “trigger” was exactly. Let me back up a bit and say that for the first part of the interview Stephen tried to get Branson to sign an IOU for $1 million. Branson was trying to squirm out of signing it. He made the big mistake of trying to appeal to the audience, like “Do you think someone like him really needs a million dollars?”, which made the crowd go BERSERK. Apparently, he was unaware that you don’t try to turn the Nation against Stephen.

I didn’t catch all of what he was saying before the water throw, but it was something along the lines of how he’d been sitting there all that time and didn’t get the chance to say why he was on the show, which confused us and Stephen a little, because it was pretty clear from the top that he was hawking Air Colbert as part of Virgin’s new American service.

[From No Fact Zone]

The Daily Mail, where I originally heard this news, says that the episode was going to be retaped, which kind of made me lose hope of ever seeing it. But it turns out that Comedy Central is going to air it after all, and that they know ratings gold when they see it. It’s going to air Wednesday, August 22.

Branson’s people have changed their tune about the incident. In the statement they gave to The Daily Mail they seemed to indicate that Branson was pissed. His rep said, “Richard did throw his water over Stephen. As most people know, Richard can be unpredictable.” But in their statement to MediaBistro they turned it into something comical, which it doesn’t sound like it was, “The segment was never intended to air live. Richard enjoyed his time with Stephen, and the splash was part of the fun.”

Richard Branson is worth $7.8 billion USD, according to Wikipedia. He owns all the Virgin airlines, Megastores, and the Virgin record label. I saw him on that short-lived Fox reality show that was supposed to compete with The Apprentice, The Rebel Billionaire, in 2004 and I honestly thought he was a decent guy. He came off as 90% less of a dick than Trump does on an average episode.

The United Kingdom issue of Cosmopolitan magazine has issued a list of eleven eligible, desirable men.

Why eleven? And who are they?

1. Orlando Bloom –Actor from Pirates of the Caribbean.
2. Wentworth Miller – That guy from Prison Break.
3. Prince Harry – British prince, not the one who’s going to be king.
4. Prince William – The other British prince who will be king of England.
5. Jude Law – If you don’t know who Jude Law is, rent Alfie and Closer.
6. Lewis Hamilton – Formula one driver
7. Robbie Williams – British pop star. Very tattooed and sexy.
8. Jason Orange – Used to be in a band with Robbie Williams. Who picked him?
9. Alex Zane – English actor.
10. Sam Branson – Richard Branson’s son.
11. David Gandy – Model.

For your viewing pleasure, click here to check them out.

Orlando Bloom secured 21% of the vote, and I’m guessing a lot of it is based on his Prince Charming role as Will turner in Pirates of the Caribbean, and less for his role as a long haired elf in Lord of the Rings.

If only the real princes, William and Harry, could be as attractive as Orlando. Every time a poll comes out of Britain those two seem to feature highly, but I wouldn’t describe them as sexy at all. Then again, the Cosmopolitan survey was ranking them on desirability, and royalty is perhaps desirable. I’m a little unsure about the family as a package though.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Pictures via the OMG, Orlando Bloom is hoooooot! thread on the JJB board, which has over 110 pages of people agreeing that Bloom is indeed hoooooot and posting picture proof.

In an upcoming interview with GQ magazine, Richard Branson tells of losing his mile high virginity.

“I was sitting in economy on a Freddie Laker flight, next to this very attractive lady, as we headed to Los Angeles,” said the boss of Virgin Atlantic.

“We got chatting and it went a bit further. And it was every man’s dream, to be honest. I was about 19,” the tycoon boasted.

“I remember getting off the plane and she turned to me and said, ‘Look, it’s slightly embarrassing but I am meeting my husband at arrivals, would you mind holding back a bit.’ But it was a memorable flight.

“The problem with plane loos generally is that they are very small, and the acrobatics can’t take too long because there’s no room and people start banging on the door,” Branson explained.

“What I remember vividly is seeing four handprints on the mirror as we finished, and thinking I’d better wipe them off.”

Sydney Morning Herald

Does this mean we have the okay to join the club on Virgin flights? Actually, I can see this being his next marketing campaign. Bigger toilets, complimentary condoms, separate toilets for people actually using them for the more traditional purpose, and little badges like you used to get as a kid to pin on your shirt. Remember the little set of wings you used to get, to show you were an airplane traveling veteran?

Paris had a bad week. Busted for DUI, caught making out with Travis Barker despite claimimg to have been with his lookalike friend, and now the victim of a clever prank by likable freewheeling billionaire Richard Branson.

Branson held a Mad-Hatter themed party Saturday night, and Paris asked if she could dress as Alice in Wonderland and be the belle of the ball. Branson agreed, but had as his servers dress as Alice too! When Paris showed, he asked her to fetch him a drink:

Oops Paris! The only way you can win is by staying in and keeping to yourself for a little while, but that’s not going to happen, is it?

Thanks to Fark for linking this story.

Here are some low-res pictures of Paris getting arrested for DUI. [via]