In what is an incredibly unsurprising decision by the Orange County Superior Court, newly rehabbed Whitney Houston has been granted custody of her 14 year-old-daughter Bobbi Kristina from her marriage with sometimes R&B singer, Bobby Brown.

Here’s the story from The New York Post:

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — Whitney Houston’s 14-year marriage to Bobby Brown will officially end this month, and she will get custody of their teenage daughter, a judge ruled Wednesday. The singer dabbed her eyes with a tissue as Orange County Superior Court Judge Franz E. Miller ruled that the divorce will become final April 24. Brown did not attend the hearing.

In court, Houston testified that she did not need spousal or child support and that the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, could not depend on Brown.

“He’s unreliable,” Houston told the judge. “If he says he’s going to come, sometimes he does. Usually he doesn’t.”

I’m glad Whitney finally seems to be getting her life back together after her marriage to Brown. I missed the ultra glam 90’s Whitney (yes, I know The Bodyguard wasn’t exactly A Star is Born, but by George she did look good in that movie) and it would be good to have her bring back an album after so many rubbish wannabe singers are entering the charts nowadays. It doesn’t look like Brown is going to give up this decision without a fight, though:

Brown’s attorney, Ram Cogan, said he will seek to overturn the judge’s decision.

I don’t know whether Brown would really seek to overturn this decision. Judging by the fact that he was not in court and he had difficulty baliling himself out of jail (after failing to pay child support payments to his child from a previous relationship), I think the chances of him actually showing up to fight the decision look marginal at best.

Singer Howie Day’s publicist was more than willing to tell Page Six that he was the bloke seen playing tennis with the bald mother of two at the high priced Promises rehab facility. The British rags were quick to claim that Britney was seen romping and groping in the bushes with her tennis partner that day, and now Life & Style says they’re a new item.

I think they paired off to play tennis together, that the British papers made up that makeout session, and that Life & Style based their article on that dubious romp among the shrubbery, but it’s Britney so anything is possible. They also say that Britney is planning to bring Day to her cousin’s wedding in two months. If they’re still together, that is:

The detoxed “Toxic” star is dating musician Howie Day, according to the new issue of Life & Style.

Spears met Day while the two were at rehabbing at Promises in Malibu “and fell hard for him” reports the mag, which claims that she’s going to bring him as her date when she attends her cousin Erin’s wedding on June 2.

“Britney just lights up and seems back to her old self when she talks to Howie or tells people about him,” an “insider” tells the mag. “She thinks he’s very talented — and says he’s the best kisser ever!”

But not everyone is thrilled about the romance. Spears’ mother, Lynne, is concerned about Day’s past: he’s been arrested twice and was sent to rehab as part of his probation.

“Lynne wants Britney to be with someone outside the music industry,” says the Spears family insider. “Howie is always on the road and exposed to influences that are discouraged in rehab.”

I actually know who Howie Day is as he opened up for Tori Amos when I saw her tour in the fall of 2002. He’s a good musician and I liked him enough to buy his debut album at the time. He’s a kind of soulful singer with a catchy pop alternative sound. You can listen to samples of his music through Amazon.

I’m not really buying this romance. I think the two met in rehab and if they were dating we would have seen them out together already considering how much the paparazzi stalk Britney. They may have played tennis together, but I don’t really think they even made out afterwards. This wedding is far enough out in the future that Life & Style won’t really be held accountable if Britney doesn’t go or bring this guy as her date.

Page Six is reporting that there’s a good reason why all the tabloids are running stories about how Angelina and Brad’s relationship is in trouble now that she’s adopting with abandon and jetting around for her career. Angelina bypassed all the rags and went straight to People with the exclusive photos of newly-adopted Pax.

The Post repeats the questionable story from Britain’s News of the World that Angelina is about to adopt a one year-old African girl from Chad to “balance the races” in her family and give Zahara another African Jolie-Pitt playmate.

If that happens and Angelina does adopt another baby girl, they say, she better be more generous with the pictures or the tabloids will continue to skewer her. They also say that Angelina puts the kids in daycare despite having four nannies at home and that she placed a ban on cellphones in the facility so that no one takes pictures of her children:

If Angelina Jolie adopts a fifth child from Chad as expected, maybe she should let some other publication besides People run exclusive photos of the child.

Sources say Us Weekly, Star and other celebrity weeklies are so fed up with getting scooped by People, they’ve turned on Jolie and Brad Pitt with a vengeance…

When Jolie is in L.A., even though she has four full-time nannies, she leaves her three eldest kids at the $931-per-month preschool/day-care center on the Warner Bros. lot, Star reports, where other parents are upset with the special treatment Jolie gets. One flashpoint is a ban on cellphones because Jolie fears parents will take pictures of her kids.

As for what the tabloids are reporting, Radar Magazine has a good recap and I read the US Weekly article. All of the rags except US Weekly center on the speculation that Brad and Angelina are having serious trouble in their relationship. US Weekly focuses on how Angelina is looking like a hypocrite for not staying at home with the kids like she promised. They mention her one-day trip to Chicago alone to do test screening for a new film along with the fact that she has a boatload of work coming up.

US doesn’t miss the “trouble in Paradise” angle, though, and has an inset article claiming that Brad and Angelina have hit a rough patch. They cite a relationship expert who warns that they could have problems because of Angelina’s flightiness and warn that they’re expanding the family too fast and need to work on their relationship. Us also runs a full-page story with Angelina’s past exploits, below, reminding us how wild and dark she used to be.

Star Magazine has the headline “Angelina Walks Out,” but they said the same thing last week about how Katie Holmes was planning on leaving Tom Cruise and the article was just based on the fact that she wanted to go to Louisiana to film her new movie and Tom ended up tagging along. I’ll read the Star article once I have access to it and let you know what I think, but I bet that they’re either using the story that Angelina went to Vietnam without Brad or her one-day trip to Chicago as the basis for their claim.

According to Radar’s recap, Star says that Angelina is leaving the kids in daycare and pissing off the staff with her demands, which include that parents not look at her when she’s there to drop off and pick up.

OK! says that Brad wants a normal life and wants Angelina to stay home, and that he’s looking for a way out of the relationship.

Life & Style says that Brad is pleading with Angelina not to adopt again and say that Jennifer Aniston sent them a card and gift for Pax, which mightily pissed off Angelina.

I always think that these tabloids are making up the stories based on known facts and paparazzi photos and have little if any insider information. How much insight does it take to think that a couple, even one with a shitload of help, would be having trouble in their relationship with four young kids at home and constant travelling?

The way that People garnered Angelina’s good graces was by running puff pieces on her pediatrician and a favorite co-worker at the UN. She’s sure to blacklist all these tabs from future pictures now that they’re vilifying her.

Thanks to Sammie’s Effluvia and popbytes for these scans.

Celebrity shagger (if Paris Hilton counts as a “celebrity”) and head of “Girls Gone Wild” Joe Francis has been ordered back to prison to serve time for contempt of court, after narrowly avoiding jail a few days ago.

Francis was originally going to serve time for contempt of court last week after shouting obscenities and threatening legal action against the lawyers for seven women who had taken him to court over a “Girls Gone Wild” tape made in 2003. He was let off the hook a few days ago, but now faces more contempt charges for making drastic changes to a court agreement.

U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak found Francis in contempt of court last week after lawyers for seven women complained he shouted obscenities and threatened them during civil suit settlement negotiations.

The women were filmed on Panama City Beach during spring break in 2003 for a Francis video. His videos generally show young women baring their breasts and acting out other sexual situations.

Smoak had ordered Francis arrested Saturday if he did not reach a settlement in the case but suspended the order after learning that Francis had made an offer the plaintiffs later agreed to.

Plaintiffs’ attorney D. Ross McCloy told the judge during an emergency hearing Wednesday that he thought the case was resolved but later learned Francis had altered the conditions of the offer, making it unacceptable to his clients.

A mediator said the new offer included a payment plan that wouldn’t be completed for many years.

“He may have snookered us and gotten out Saturday,” Smoak said, “but he’s coming back.”

I am not a Joe Francis lover at all. I know everyone is expecting me to say that I find the “Girls Gone Wild” videos disgusting– because I am a woman– and therefore I must believe Joe Francis is a disgusting male by association. I don’t judge people and what business they are in, and if he chooses to makes his money recording girls and their “spontaneous” sexual exploits their consent (I use the word spontaneous loosely, I’ve seen enough of the “Girls Gone Wild” videos at frat parties to know that they are anything but), then more power to him for making a lot money out of a frankly degrading industry that still is undoubtedly very profitable.

My problem with Francis is that he is the kind of guy who goes on satellite radio and declares Tara Reid a bad lay, and although I don’t really rate Tara Reid, I think a man who goes on a radio station that millions of people listen to and publicly embarrasses a woman like that for entertainment is slime. After reading that he cursed out the lawyers for the seven women filing suit against him and that he tried to manipulate the court system to suit his own needs, I am glad he is getting his comeuppance. It’s obvious he doesn’t respect the ladies–maybe spending some time with men in prison will teach him respect altogether.

Picture note from Celebitchy: Here are some NSFW pictures of Joe with then-girlfriend and then-flat chested Paris Hilton, found on the ParisExposed site, which I’m still convinced Francis was responsible for.

Jennifer Lopez’s new Spanish-language album, “Como Ama Una Mujer,” is tanking in the sales rankings. It has sold less than 50,000 copies since it was released over a week ago and is at number 10 on the charts behind a collection of Elton John’s greatest hits.

What’s more is that her movie career is in jeopardy since her last two films are seen as flops and haven’t even come out yet.

The massive attempts to save Jennifer Lopez’s singing career — and even her acting pursuits — aren’t going too well.

This week, Lopez’s first Spanish album, “Como Ama Una Mujer,” sold a very measly 49,452 copies, according to hitsdailydouble.com. The album finished at No. 10 for the week, behind a repackaging of Elton John’s greatest hits.

On top of that, she started her film career by playing the murdered and much martyred Selena.

The failure of “Como” is alarming for many reasons, not the least of which is that Lopez’s already questionable recording career is now in severe jeopardy.

She was never a great singer in the first place, depending on backup vocalists like Ashanti to carry her through thin times. And Lopez’s last English album, “Get Right,” was a sales disaster.

But her movie career is also in need of resuscitation, if possible. Lopez is currently sitting on two unreleased duds: “Bordertown,” co-starring Antonio Banderas and directed by Gregory Nava, and “El Cantante,” which co-stars husband Marc Anthony as Hector Lavoe.

El Cantante is slated for release on August 1, but people are worrying about the Spanish title, which some say is misleading since the film is all in English. A distrubutor has not yet picked up Bordertown, which was met by boos when it was shown at the Berlin film festival. It is said to give a B-movie treatment to the serious subject of the unsolved murders of hundreds of young Mexican women.

Lopez has done away with the J.Lo moniker, saying that’s all part of her diva past. She went on to say that she identifies herself as a Puerto Rican woman, and that’s who she is now:

“I’m not J.Lo any more. That’s all gone with all the ridiculous stories about tantrums and Egyptian sheets. That’s all my past. I’m Jennifer Lopez.”

“I am incredibly proud of my culture and I think I am a woman who is totally defined by my culture. My temperament, my body shape, the way I am is all very much Puerto Rican.”

Maybe she should go back to demanding high thread count sheets because it doesn’t seem like embracing her roots is working out for her. Pictures below are of predicted flop El Cantante, co-starring her husband Marc Anthony, found at Allmoviephoto. There are also pictures of J.Lo in British Elle, thanks to Go-JLo.

British magazine Pop, which famously featured Courtney Love in various semi-nude poses (link NSFW) in its Winter, 2006 edition had no trouble convincing Lindsay Lohan, who showed up blitzed out of her mind to a photoshoot, to get her kit off. The 20 year-old raspy-voiced starlet insisted on going topless for the shoot, but she was so wasted that she didn’t cover her nipples and most of the pictures couldn’t be used.

In the few photos where Lindsay’s nipples weren’t visible, the famous firecrotch was on display. Her beleaguered publicist called up the magazine afterwards and threatened to sue if any of Lindsay’s bits were on display and the entire shoot had to be scrapped. I don’t know why Zelnick wouldn’t sanction some nude photos of Lindsay considering that we see her her boobs and/or shaven crotch just about every week.

You may notice that the current cover of ‘Pop’ magazine features a male model, but this was not meant to be the case. After all, the magazine had spent a small fortune on acquiring Lindsay Lohan (who was in that ‘Herbie’ movie, we believe) as a cover star.

What could have gone wrong? It turned out to be a re-fuelling problem for the Hollywood starlet, who turned up to the photo shoot somewhat the worse for wear.

The shy, retiring young lady insisted on being topless in almost every shot, demanding that her bangers be photographed for posterity. A couple of hours later, photographers Mert and Marcus were left with a series of shots of Lohan’s lollipops and little else. Luckily, there were two shots in which the strumpet had failed to thrust her breasts into the lens and the pics were totally without nipples.

Unfortunately, those two shots contained rather graphic illustrations of the entrance to Lindsay’s womb. She is famously being fond of waving her lady bits to the camera, much as a family butcher takes pride in his neatly organised but undeniably meaty window display.

Damage limitation time. Lohan’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, (who also represents acting scarecrow Nicole Kidman) phoned the magazine the very next morning and told the editor that if any of these pictures saw the light of day, said editor would “never work in Hollywood again.”

Since Pop would have gladly published those photos, they must not have bothered to give Lindsay the scraps of clothing that their American counterpart publications routinely provide for her to wear in preening narcissistic photo spreads.

It’s probably all for the best that we don’t see Lindsay in a glossy nude spread. She might not be able to show her nips in sheer tops or lift up her skirt at clubs to the same effect.

Lindsay is going to be the face of Jill Stuart’s clothing line and will shoot the ads in Japan over the next ten days. She’ll definitely have to wear clothes for that gig.

Update: Header picture is of Lindsay Lohan’s new curly hair and was taken by Splash News and we actually licensed the image for once, which is why it’s watermarked.

The picture below is of Lohan covering her boob in a different photoshoot. Thanks to Egotastic for this picture.

- The Simpleton Life, starring Paris and Nicole [Gallery of the Absurd]
- Pete Doherty says he’s gonna pierce his penis. Watch out ladies [Agent Bedhead]
- Katie Holmes in bell bottoms [PopSugar]
- Justin Timberlake had his bare butt edited out of the sex scenes in Black Snake Moan [Socialite's Life]
- Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal really are getting hot and heavy supposedly [CelebWarship]
- Leonardo DiCaprio to star on Broadway! [I'm Not Obsessed]
- Britney Spears in a see-through top with stains on it [IDLYITW]
- Rosario Dawson and Rose McGowan on the cover of Rolling Stone [yeeeah]
- Avril Lavigne in Lucky [Derek Hail]
- Rosanna Arquette in a bikini [Drunken Stepfather
- Gina Glockson was voted off the Sanjaya show [DListed]
- Lauren Conrad from The Hills has a sex tape, will extend her 15 minutes [The Blemish]
- Jennifer Garner at the playground with her daughter [ICYDK]
- Russell Crowe vs. Michael Jackson [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
- Linda Hamilton looking fug [Bastardly]
- Celebrities smoking joints [CityRag]
- Don’t call Hayden Panettiere “Lindsay Lohan” [Egotastic]
- Halle Berry is going to go bald for her next movie [Gabsmash]
- America Ferrera in W Magazine [Lifeline Live]
- Britney didn’t drink at a recent restuarant visit, but the person who made reservations for her called ahead of time to make sure she would be denied alcohol [Celebslam]
- Salma Hayek said she felt deformed because she was so short [Haute Gossip]
- Hilary Duff in short shorts [The Skinny Website]
- Gwen Stefani on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
- Angelina Jolie rumored to be in next Sin City
- Christina Ricci in a creepy photoshoot [The Grumpiest]

John Travolta was forced to make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport, Ireland, when his private Boeing 707 jet was grounded due to ‘technical difficulties’.

The 53-year-old actor was flying himself from Germany, where he had been promoting his new film ‘Wild Hogs’, was shaken, although he still managed to hire another plane and continue to New York.

A source said last night: “If he hadn’t made it to Shannon, it could have been the end of him. You could tell that he was very relieved.”

The jet is still grounded while engineers try to fix the fault, but Travolta hired another plane to complete his journey.

An airport spokesman confirmed: “John Travolta was diverted to Shannon due to technical difficulties.”

This is not the first time John has had an air emergency, in 1999 he lost an engine and made an emergency landing in Boston. Fortunately he has 5 private planes to fall back on, collected since John got his pilot’s licence in 1974. Can anyone say ‘carbon footprint’? One plane to fly an old guy, out promoting a movie about old guys?

Header Image from Johnny Jets. Image below from 707sim.com.

Note from Celebitchy: Please welcome another new blogger, Helen. She is a journalism student from New Zealand.

Avril Lavigne says she never talked all that smack about Britney that was reported in British rag The Sun. She was quoted as saying, “What’s happened to Britney is all down to who she is as a person. If you want a piece of this business you have to be able to deal with it. You can’t complain about pressures, the paparazzi, the madness because that’s the job.”

Avril said in an interview with an LA radio station that she never said that, but her denial isn’t that convincing to me:

“I didn’t say that,” Avril told Los Angeles radio duo Valentine and Lisa Foxx this morning. “I haven’t even been talking about her. People ask me about it all the time and I go, ‘You know what? I don’t know her.’”

It was all too easy to believe Avril would diss Britney like that, because she seems to say something arrogant everyt ime she opens her mouth. These quotes also came right after her obnoxious interview with Jane Magazine, in which she justified spitting on paparazzi in three separate incidents by saying they were “gross older men, like disgusting — scum of the earth” and that they loved getting spit on. She also proudly told a profanity-laden story about how she kneed a guy in the balls who talked back to her in a CD store. It’s not so much of stretch to think she would verbally bitch slap Britney.

Indeed, Avril has talked smack about Britney in interviews in the past, in a 2002 interview with Canadian music magazine Chart Attack, a then 17 year-old Avril essentially called Britney a hypocrite because she dressed like a “slut” onstage but claimed to be a virgin:

Just don’t expect her to be another Britney Spears. “I mean, the way she dresses — would you walk around the street in a fuckin’ bra?” she asks rhetorically. “I’m not trying to dis anyone, but with me, the clothes I wear onstage are the clothes I would wear to school or go shopping. I’m not gonna go up onstage and dress different. Britney Spears goes up onstage and dresses like a showgirl. She’s not being herself up there because she’s dancing like a ho. Is she ho? She says she’s a virgin. Y’know, it’s just not clicking. She’s doing one thing and saying another thing, y’know? It’s definitely not what I’m going to do.”

And in the recent Jane interview, Avril said her mother made her go to a Britney Spears concert when she was young and that she didn’t want to be subjected to it. There’s not a lot of love for Britney there.

Random older Avril looking drunk and flipping off the camera pictures from Avrilontheweb.com.

People Magazine is reporting that Britney Spears is having trouble finding a buyer for her marital home, and has dropped the price to a bargain $11.9 million.

Spears, 25, put the seven-bedroom, 1.53-acre estate on the market on Jan. 18 for $13.5 million. On March 28, the price dropped to $11.9 million, and it is still available at that price, real estate sources confirm to PEOPLE.

Spears bought the 9,000-sq.-ft home in October 2004, shortly after marrying Kevin Federline. The property, for which the singer reportedly paid $6.9 million, also includes a garden, pool with spa, tennis court and gym.

But the house, which is in the exclusive gated Serra Retreat area where such stars as Mel Gibson live, may have priced itself out of the market for the moment, according to Kurt Rappaport, president of Westside Real Estate Agency.

“The pricing was aggressive,” Rappaport tells PEOPLE. “It’s an expensive piece of property and sophisticated buyers are looking for the best price.”

In fact, says Rappaport, Spears’s celebrity could hurt her ability to sell the property. “Wealthy people don’t want tour buses stopping at their front door,” Rappaport said.

From People.

Sure, it might be that Britney’s house is overpriced, but it would be so much juicier if she was just cutting ex-husband Kevin Federline out of his divorce settlement? It does entitle him to 50% of the proceeds of sale. Britney is also rumoured to be giving Kevin $25,000 a month in child support and $250,000 for each year of their marriage, which would make a dent even in her comfortable financial situation.

Then again, even in Malibu, how many buyers are there for a house that costs that much? Perhaps we are all walking the streets, greeting closeted millionares. Although most people with that kind of wealth aren’t terribly shy about it…Maybe a lovely new house in the exclusive gated Serra Retreat area is just what they need?

Britney’s mansion picture from Access Hollywood.