Oprah sure is having some problems with her mom. In August Celebitchy reported that her mother, 73-year-old Vernita Lee, was having trouble taking care of herself. She’s diabetic with eye problems. Oprah was trying to convince her to move into a nearby assisted living facility, but Vernita wasn’t having it.

Now it’s been revealed that Vernita has been sued by high-end clothing store Valentina for an outstanding $155,000 bill. Vernita has countersued the store, claiming that they should never have extended her credit in the first place. This is the second time she’s had trouble with Valentina – she also ran up a bill of 174,285 in 2002.

Oprah Winfrey’s mom is refusing to pay back a $155K bill to a clothing store, and her defense is basically to play dumb.

Vernita Lee claims she shouldn’t have to pay the gigantic bill to Valentina, a boutique in Wisconsin, because they took advantage of her “lack of knowledge … and/or capacity” when they opened the account, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. What’s more, her lawyer says the store didn’t disclose finance charges prominently enough.

And to think, this could all go away with the change lying around Oprah’s chintz-covered cushions.

[From TMZ]

The story is a little more complicated than TMZ makes it out to be. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the terms of Vernita’s earlier lawsuit with Valentina required them not to extend her credit in the future. But two years later they issued her another card. So she does seem to have a legitimate case against them. Why in the world they would WANT to do that for a client they’d had to sue in the past is beyond me. They shouldn’t be all that surprised that the same thing happened again.

Oprah must be one of the best money managers around. I have no idea where Vernita gets her money, but I’d think that if she’s given credit like that Oprah must help her out a bit. It seems like she is having trouble managing some of her responsibilities. Hopefully now she’ll consider moving into that assisted living facility Oprah was so fond of, and cut up her credit cards.

Vernita Lee

Alex Rodriguez’s annoyed wife Cynthia did jet off to Paris, but maybe it had more to do with spending her estranged husband’s money than meeting with her rumored lover, rocker Lenny Kravitz. The NY Daily News reports that she took off to the French city, paying for first class tickets for herself, two friends and their daughter. Once there she had spa treatments, ate at exclusive restaurants, and had a grand time all on her husband’s credit card. She’s also hired four different lawyers and Alex’s legal team claims she’s deliberately keeping him from his two daughters, Natasha, 3, and Ella, 11 weeks.

Spurned spouse Cynthia Rodriguez used the Yankee slugger’s credit card to the tune of $100,000 to punish him for a dalliance with Madonna that both he and the Material Girl deny, an A-Rod pal said.

“She’s been spending wildly,” the friend said. “She spent close to $100,000 on her jaunt to Paris.”

Cynthia flew the godparents of her daughters, Dodd and Sabina Romero, and their older daughter, first-class to the City of Light, the friend said.

There, Cynthia “had spa treatments, she went to the best restaurants,” the A-Rod friend said. “She originally was going to head to Spain, where Lenny Kravitz was touring.”

In addition to embarrassing Rodriguez and feeding false rumors that she and the rocker were an item, Cynthia gave A-Rod a taste of the gouging to come, the friend said.

“She needs four lawyers in two different states?” asked the friend. “That’s not the dream team, it’s the greed team.”

Also, the pal said, Cynthia has deliberately kept A-Rod from his daughters while tarring him as an absentee father.

“Alex desperately wanted to see his children while she was in Paris,” the friend said. “She blocked him. She said, ‘You cannot see them.’”

[From NY Daily News]

The News notes that A-Rod’s legal team is releasing this information in response to the many stories from Cynthia’s side about his questionable relationship with pop star Madonna. Yesterday her lawyer clarified an earlier statement and Alex’s alledged infidelity, calling his dalliance with Madonna” an affair of the heart” and not “sexual infidelity.” It sounds like A-Rod was doing some late night Kabbalah study at Madonna’s place. His former trainer called Rodriguez “brainwashed” by the singer, and said that he got all wistful and faraway whenever her songs were playing.

The Daily News had another story yesterday that revealed the lengths to which Madonna and Rodriguez went to keep their “friendship” secret. They claim that he frequently took the back service elevator at Madonna’s apartment complex - which led straight to her bedroom. Madonna has denied an affair with Rodriguez, and blamed the media and its gullible consumers for believing the reports about their affair. TMZ claims that she has timed the stories about the trouble in her seven year marriage and is postponing her divorce for maximum press coverage in advance of her European tour later this summer.

In light of Cynthia Rodriguez’s shopping spree, here’s Blu Cantrell doing “Hit ‘Em Up Style” from 2001. (There might be a commercial ahead of the video. Sorry but this is only embeddable version I could find:)

Photo Credit: Alex and Cynthia Rodriguez are shown at the “Grand opening of The 40/40 Club, a new sports bar and lounge located inside The Palazzo Hotel” in Las Vegas on 12/30/07, thanks to Chris Connor for WENN. They are shown below with daughter Natasha Rodriguez at FAO Schwarz as Alex reads from his book ‘Out of the Ballpark’ on 7/20/07, thanks to PNP for WENN.

The Cruise-Holmes at an LA Galaxy game with Suri and co. on 5/10/08, thanks to Splash
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes sent upscale baby boutique Petit Trésor a cease and desist letter asking them to no longer use their names in promotional materials or leak any alleged details of their shopping habits at the store to the press. The Holmes-Cruises took issue with an “on the record” quote from representatives of the store to Life & Style that they spent $350,000 to $400,000 there in the two years since Suri was born. Lawyers for the cult-loving couple say that claim is false and that it also violates their confidentiality. The letter demands that no further details be leaked to the press:

This firm represents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. It has come to our attention that representatives of Petit Trésor falsely informed Life & Style - on the record - that Mr. Cruise and Ms. Holmes have spent $350,000 - $400,000 at your stores on their daughter in the past two years. Not only does this statement violate our clients’ confidentiality, but it is simply false. We also understand that you have informed other tabloids that our clients have purchased various items at your stores that they have not in fact purchased, and that they have shopped there at times that they have not.

It appears that Petit Trésor has “leaked” this false information to the tabloids for the purpose of enhancing its image and obtaining a commercial advantage. This conduct violates our clients’ rights of privacy and rights of publicity. Accordingly, we hereby request that you no longer use our clients as part of your public relations and marketing efforts.

Please do not say anything (whether true or false) about Mr. Cruise and Ms. Holmes’ shopping habits.

[Excerpt of letter sent to Petit Trésor from Cruise’s lawyers, posted on TMZ]

Although I hate to admit it, I have to side with the Holmes-Cruise Suri team on this one. How’s a girl to escape mind-numbing auditing sessions and hours spent holding metal cylinders if she can’t even shop in privacy for the toddler she fears losing? Stores should be content to have Katie and Tom spend tens to hundreds of thousands on clothing and accessories their child will wear for a fraction of a day in her well-documented life. Petit Trésor is just ruining it by getting greedy and trying to rope in more customers by using them for publicity. You think they would know better than to talk constantly about their celebrity customers, but maybe the resulting upturn in business more than makes up for the occasional nasty letter and one or two big-spending customers lost.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were seen shopping at Toys R Us in Cannes Nice, France today. They browsed the aisles while wearing sunglasses and casual clothing and looked annoyed at the paparazzi trailing them.

What interests me about these photos is that even have Toys R Us in France. We used to live in Switzerland on the border of France and I loved shopping there because it was pretty close to the excellent shopping in America. You do not realize how convenient it is to shop for just about everything in America until you live somewhere where even the grocery stores close at 6:00. But I don’t think my kid could stand it if he went into a whole Toy ‘R Us and was presented with so many options. Maybe that’s why Brad and Angelina left the kids at home - to reduce the begging factor.

Brad and Angelina may be shopping for Shiloh’s birthday. She turns two on May 27th, and celebrated her first birthday in Prague, where Angelina was filming Wanted. Thanks to Splash for these photos.

Jamie Lynn Spears spent her 17th birthday partying it up in a manner more fitting big sister Britney: shopping at Walmart and going to dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Apparently the Spears family does little to combat the stereotypes of the south (what with Britney’s old “I can drive with my kid on my lap, I’m country, that’s what we do). Jaime Lynn’s trying to keep it simple, and you can’t really fault her for that. She spent the afternoon shopping at her local Walmart with baby daddy Casey Aldridge, then the pair hit up Ruby Tuesdays for a romantic dinner. While I’ve never actually set foot inside a Ruby Tuesdays, from glancing in the window I can tell you with some confidence that a plastic carnation in a grocery store vase does not equal a romantic setting. But if you want a mediocre steak at a good price, it’s the place to be.

While most young women turn their 17th birthday into a bawdy bash to remember, OK! can report that America’s most famous pregnant teen, Jamie Lynn Spears, who rang in her last year as a minor on Friday, chose to spend that special day relaxing with fiancé and father of her baby, Casey Aldridge.

Jamie Lynn and Casey spent most Friday relaxing in his hometown of Gloster, Miss., a short drive from the Spears family home in Kentwood, La. Sources tell OK! the lovebirds stayed indoors for most of the big day, emerging later that evening only to make a quick shopping trip to a Wal-Mart supercenter in McComb, where they spent about an hour inside the store. And for a few minutes, the small-town charm of McComb, with its population of 13,500, suddenly began to resemble Hollywood, as local police were called in to keep back photographers and fans. “Jamie Lynn looked super happy and kept smiling inside the Wal-Mart,” one shopper tells OK!.

[From OK!]

Everyone’s making jokes about how Jaime Lynn isn’t with Casey for his money after that meal. But I could kinda joke that he’s not with her for her money either: OK reports that Jaime Lynn went shopping for Casey and bought him several pairs of sneakers at Hibbits Sporting Goods Store – each one retailing for $7.98. No one seems to know what Jamie Lynn got for her birthday from the father of her child, but I’m guessing it was an extra large milkshake.

Here’s Jamie Lynn on her way to Ruby Tuesdays yesterday. Images thanks to Splash.

Britney Spears made a bizarre request at an exclusive boutique, asking that they recreate a dress from a different designer and have it ready by that evening. She got turned down, of course, but ended up with the consolation prize of a yellow wig that one of the mannequins was wearing:

She flummoxed staff at the Betsey Johnson on Melrose Ave. this month by turning up with a Dolce & Gabbana dress she wanted the store to copy - in all white - to be ready by that evening.

According to a witness, “the staff explained that they didn’t have a dressmaker on call who could do it in time.” Never mind that the frock she wanted copied wasn’t even their label.

“The only thing she wanted to buy in the store was the yellow wig on a mannequin in the window,” laughs the source. “The manager eventually agreed to offer it to her for $100.”

[From The NY Daily News]

This isn’t the first time that Britney has baffled employees at a designer boutique. This week’s National Enquirer reports that she went into top bridal designer Monique Lhuillier’s shop and said she was looking for a wedding gown.

Allowed to go on the Feb 16 shopping spree by her dad, the singer scouted Monique Lhuillier boutique for bridal attire. Britney told a clerk she dreams of getting married again in a big wedding - and wants a dress with a long train. Her assistant humored her, acting as if she was taking down info. The singer settled for a nice, brown dress, but instructed the sale staff to contact her when they receive the latest gowns.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 3, 2008]

I can see Britney just buying a wedding dress and wearing it out for attention. It would be a smarter ploy than trying to flash the paps for the tenth time.

In related Britney news, the LAPD has said they’re considering investigating whether she was drugged against her knowledge:

Police Capt. Kyle Jackon said in a statement Wednesday that the allegations “are being considered” by the Robbery-Homicide unit to determine if laws have been violated.

[From AP]

This is similar to a story reported by TMZ a little over a week ago saying that the investigation into Sam Lutfi’s drugging of Britney was “well underway” and that it has “been assigned to Robbery Homicide.” A police spokesperson denied that there was an investigation at that time.

Britney is shown out shopping on 2/26/08.

Britney Spears spent more money than some nations are worth in just a year and a half and has only ratty extensions, a couple of mansions and a bunch of overpriced dented cars in her garage to show for it. The National Enquirer reports that she spent $22 freaking million dollars in the last 18 months and that her family is pouring over receipts to see how much of that was bled out without her knowledge by the evil Svengali-like creep who had her in his grip, Osama “Sam” Lutfi. The Enquirer also claims that Britney’s family has turned evidence over to the police to show that Lutfi was spending Britney’s money, although she also seems to do a great job of that on her own:

The singer has blow through $22 million in just months. And the family charges Lutfi knew she was suffering from a mental illness - and pounced like a vulture.

They say he had access to all of Britney’s credit cards, her ATM card and submitted bills to her business manager for his “services.” And her mother Lynne believes he gave her pills…

Her parents’ call for a criminal investigation was sparked by dad Jamie’s close look at Britney’s finances, says the insider. He was shocked to learn that his daughter had expended a whopping $22 million in the year and a half since her split from ex-husband Kevin Federline…

A one-month American Express card bill for a staggering $225,000 alerted her dad to the massive hemorrhaging of money, revealed the source.

“Several charges on the bill are thought to be Sam’s doing since Britney hasn’t had the card in her possession in months. Sam took control of her finances.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 3, 2008]

Among Britney’s expenditures noted in the article include rental cars, sometimes three at a time, and high-end hotel stays. Her house cost $7.2 million, and although she bought it furnished the Enquirer notes that she had it redecorated before Christmas, and that she spent $200,000 on chandeliers alone. She even has one in her garage.

There was a theft at Britney’s house right after she was committed for the second time. Chandeliers were reported missing by her parents as well as jewelry, a flat screen tv, and camera equipment. It is thought that Lutfi had a hand in it, as he had the keys to Britney’s place.

Lutfi’s spokesperson of course denies that he stole anything or wasted the pop star’s money while he was drugging and controlling her, but Britney’s family also has copies of “outrageous invoices and contracts” he sent to her business manager, according to The Enquirer.

Yesterday the court was finally able to serve Lutfi with the restraining order that states he is to have no contact with Britney. The period in which he was supposed to be served with papers before the order became had already run out a day before. A judge ruled that they’re still legally binding, and has extended the restraining order until March 17.

Lutfi’s spokesperson and the LAPD deny that there is any criminal investigation into his activities while he was Britney’s “manager,” but TMZ claims to have an insider source who says that the investigation is very much on.

Lindsay Lohan and Courtenay Semel in December, 2007
Remember that chick Lohan was hanging out and living with for a couple of weeks, the rich daughter of the Yahoo! CEO? It predictably didn’t work out between the two of them, not that anyone noticed. Star Magazine reports that Courtenay Semel, who was seen out shopping and hanging around with Lohan late last year, packed up and moved out of the home they were sharing in Hollywood. She was said to be jealous of Lohan’s other female “friends.”

An insider close to Lindsay tells Star that hard-partying Courtenay, 28, whose dad is Yahoo! Chairman Terry Semel - moved out of the three-bedroom, two-bath Hollywood Hills home in a moment of anger.

“I think it was a jealousy issue,” says the insider.

“Every time Lindsay had a girlfirend around the house, Courtenay started acting all weird. She’d go up to her bedroom and start texting Lindsay - even though they were in the same house! It was like Courtenay wanted Lindsay all to herself.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, February 4, 2008]

Lindsay is now living at the Beverly Hills Hotel and she has a sober companion staying in the next room, claims Star. They also say she is about to move back to that home she was renting with Courtenay with a new rommate, a model named Alex who “has a boyfriend who really likes to drink.”

Lohan is also said to have given away her “coke purse,” which has bad memories for her of the time oh-so-long ago that she was hiding her drugs in it. The bag she so easily discarded is a Chanel purse worth $2,000.

It’s no wonder Lohan is rumored to be broke if she’s giving away designer purses. In order to hold on to her dwindling cash, she’s said to be on a $1,000 a day shopping budget. It’s unknown who put the 1k a day limit on Lindsay, which would be incredibly generous by most people’s standards and exceeds the average household income in America by over $300,0000.

In Touch reports that she’s been forced to put clothes aside because she reached her limit for the day:

Lindsay Lohan now has a $1,000-a-day shopping budget. “She shops so much, she would spend all her money,” says an insider. She was spotted putting items on hold at American Rag on January 13. “She picked out two dresses and said she would be back tomorrow,” an employee says. “It’s because the next day, her limit of $1,000″ is restored.”

[From In Touch, print edition, February 4, 2008]

The fact that a girl who wears primarily leggings and t-shirts can manage to spend over $1,000 a day is incredible to me. It must be the purses and shoes, or maybe those tight things she wears are really expensive and she has like 100 of them.

Lohan is shown below shopping for shoes in mid December, thanks to WENN.

Britney Spears jetted off to Atlanta this past weekend, for some spur-of-the-moment shopping. Two thoughts here: wouldn’t it be nice to have so much money that you could just jet off to the other coast for some last minute shopping? And the other thought… if you had that money, is Atlanta really where you should go? I’m not trying to slam or anything, but I never think of Atlanta and think “Great shopping.” Though to be fair, I never think of Britney Spears and think “Great taste” so she can probably find something to wear in the janitor’s bucket at Ross Dress for Less.

“[Britney] was spotted shopping at Hot-lanta’s Intermix by a spy for the New York Post’s Page Six, who overheard Britney proclaim ‘I HATE L.A., I’m so sick of that town. I don’t want anyone to know I’m here in Atlanta.’ In keeping with this wish, Britney apparently did her best to go unnoticed. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Britney told a Juicy Couture assistant manager that she was in the southern city to de-stress and avoid paparazzi. ‘Unless you actually spoke to her for a minute, you wouldn’t have recognized her,’ the assistant manager told the paper. ‘She was very well put together and she was really quiet. The people with her were actually causing more commotion. After a while, it was like, “Oh, please. You’re nobody. Stop.’ ”

“Another clerk told People that Britney was on her best behavior, sweet and complimentary to most everyone she met. ‘She was looking for something to wear that night and spent way less than $1,000,’ the saleswoman said. ‘Really, she was just in a rush, trying to get in and out. She was done in about 20 minutes.’ Britney’s purchases included a purple dog carrier, a brown eyelet bikini from the sale rack and a shirt or two, the saleswoman said.

[From MSNBC]

Well it’s not exactly an earth-shattering story, but it’s nice to once in a while hear a “Britney wasn’t a total jerk” story. Not that she was out there feeding street urchins or neutering the cat population, but she wasn’t being terrible either, and that’s just about the same thing for Brit. If I had her address, I’d send her a Cheetos-flavored lollipop. I’ve heard that’s her favorite. I would never be naïve enough to hope that this means Britney’s become a better person, but if she is mostly crazy punctuated by a few days of normalcy, that’s improvement, and we’ll all have to take what we can get.

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s Britney in a public restroom again – because how often can you do that? Header image of Britney leaving a recording studio in Burbank today. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Paris Hilton launched her fashion line at L.A. boutique Kitson yesterday. Featuring bikinis made out of clothing the size of tea bags and underwear with a special herpes-preventing liner, the clothes were widely considered both classy and useful. Okay that’s not what was actually mentioned in the press release, and no I’m not there so I don’t know, but I’ve seen the way Paris dresses, and she said, “”It’s just from my closet to their closets,” so it stands to reason that the majority of the clothing line features herpes-protective liners.

“The heiress, author, singer, perfume designer and reality-TV star unveiled the line at Kitson, a boutique known for its celebrity clientele. The traffic lane was closed for pedestrians’ safety, a city spokesman said. Clad in a gold sequin minidress, Hilton, 26, emerged from a black sport utility vehicle to a throng of fans who spilled into the street Thursday. Inside the store, Hilton was all smiles.

“’It’s a dream come true to have my own clothing line,’” she said. “’It’s just Paris style: fun, bright and flashy.’”

[From the Associated Press]

Okay two things here. No one, including Paris herself, ever has the right to call her “bright.” I don’t care if she meant it in the color sense, it’s too easily mistaken. And flashy? I think you mean trashy, hon. My favorite part is referring to her as an “author” “singer” and “perfume designer.” Where’s “layabout” and “walking airbag?” I know PR people are supposed to put their client in the best light possible, but when your client is the biggest joke in show business, maybe you should lighten up and just be honest. “Convicted drunk driver,” and “Girl who dots all her ‘i’s with a heart,” gives us a much more accurate image of Paris.

“The collection, which Hilton described as ‘really comfortable’ and ‘really affordable,’ includes shoes, T-shirts and jeans. Hilton said she spent a year submitting and approving designs. She also discussed other newsy matters in her life: her pregnant pal, Nicole Richie (‘She’s going to be a great mom,’ Hilton said), and the pending sale of her Hollywood Hills home.

“’I’m going to miss my house because I love it. I really designed it to be my perfect taste,’ she said. ‘But too many people know where I live and I’d rather be in a gated community.’”

[From the Washington Post]

Maybe if you didn’t beg the paparazzi to follow you home and photograph you, fewer people would know where you live. I have a feeling Paris isn’t going to fit in so well with the gated community folk. I know she comes from wealth, but in her case money definitely does not equal class. How in the world is she going to get the paparazzi to follow her home now? Are they supposed to climb up and over the gate? I’m not saying they won’t, I’m just saying that’s a lot to ask of them. I have this image of her leaving a trail of plastic sequins to follow. Sort of like Hansel and Gretel, but sleazier.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Paris getting her makeup applied (again) at Kitson. Header image of Paris (wearing her “own” creation) arriving at their red carpet yesterday. Image thanks to WENN.