Actress Jane Seymour, described by the townspeople of Bath, England as the “Neighbor from hell” has sold her palatial 700-year-old mansion despite winning a long court battle against town residents over the mansion’s 24-hour liquor license. Jane and her husband James Keach bought St Catherine’s Court in 1984 for about $700,000 (USD) and just sold it to a mystery buyer for a reported $20 million (USD). Not a bad profit. The couple purchased the house after Jane fell in love with it while filming a movie there. But Seymour and Keach live in Malibu and only spent about three months of the year at St. Catherine’s, choosing to rent it out for upscale parties during the other nine months. Unfortunately this didn’t sit well with the residents of Bath, who complained of being disturbed by loud parties and drunken revelers. When Seymour applied for a 240hour liquor license in May, residents stepped up their protestations, taking their complaints not just to the council but to the media too – and they did a pretty good job, getting national attention about the “neighbor from hell.” Though Seymour recently won the permit, apparently she’s soured on the home.

Jane Seymour has thrown in the towel and sold her country mansion after a long-running battle with villagers over late-night parties. The 56-year-old former Bond girl was described as ‘the absent neighbor from hell’ for the traffic and noise problems caused by revelers. Miss Seymour only lived at St Catherine’s Court near Bath for about three months of the year. At other times, she rented out the 13-bedroom Elizabethan manor house for private parties and corporate functions, which neighbors claim repeatedly disturbed their tranquility.

She has now sold the Grade I listed property through an agent for an undisclosed sum, despite recently winning a court fight with residents over her 24-hour alcohol license at the mansion. Precisely what prompted the sale remains unclear, but some believe that she may have tired of the dispute with locals.

[From the Daily Mail]

The neighbors had planned marches to Seymour’s home several times and left petitions with hundreds of signatures in an attempt to get her to stop with the loud parties. Makes it sounds like she’s a raucous teenager. Bath is a small, quaint, very old town that’s mostly paved with single lane cobblestone streets. The large influx of traffic from the parties snarled the roads and made it nearly impossible for residents to drive whenever a party was going on. Residents complained that Seymour ignored them, since she was never there to be inconvenienced. “St Catherine’s Valley residents plan a march on her home on Sunday to hand over a petition of hundreds of signatures.”

Jane Jones, 53, tells ThisisLondon: “She just ignores our letters and doesn’t answer the door. “They are the absent neighbors from hell. She will go back to America and just count the money while the rest of us have to live here and put up with the disruption.”

[From Monsters and Critics]

Seymour was probably wise to pack up and move out. It’s a shame, because St. Catherine’s is an absolutely stunning home. I’m a sucker for real estate. But when you piss off an entire town, it’s not going to be a pleasant, relaxing experience when you come for your annual vacation. And while it doesn’t exactly sound like there were rabid teenagers blaring their rock and roll from the open windows, it makes sense that being practically unable to leave your home and go about your regular activities because Jane Seymour wants to have a party isn’t really fair either.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s St. Catherine’s Court. Header image of Jane Seymour and husband James Keach at the Reservation Road Premiere on October 18th. Photos thanks to PR Photos.

I really relish the Amy Winehouse stories. You always need that person who is so messed up that you look like a saint in comparison. I could be having the worst day of my life, but I can still say, “Hey, at least I didn’t snort some blow and then walk around through the streets of London in the snow with no pants and a thong on my forehead like Amy Winehouse.” Okay technically Winehouse hasn’t done that yet, but that’s probably only because it hasn’t snowed yet in London this year. Give it a few more months, and I guarantee you it’ll happen. Though it’ll probably also somehow involve her bloody ballet slippers.

On Wednesday, Amy got dressed up all purdy to visit her husband in jail. And by dressed up, I mean some kind of pink halter top, that now-infamous red push-up bra she was wandering around wearing on the street a few days ago, and a surprisingly well-coiffed beehive. Home only half an hour later, she was crying, looking disheveled, and had lost her keys. Despite the throng of paparazzi outside her home, Amy thought it smart to lay on her back on the wet street (still in the aforementioned halter top) and slide under the gate. Because what celebrity doesn’t do that now and again?

Lying on her back on a wet pavement and in a flood of tears troubled Amy Winehouse has certainly lost something. But on this occasion, however, the only thing the fallen star noticed was missing was the keys to her house. Amy, 24, today returned to the property she shared with locked-up husband Blake Fielder-Civil after moving out on Monday claiming it held “too many memories”.

After a 30-minute visit to the jailbird in London’s Pentonville Prison earlier this afternoon the crying jazz singer realised she had no way of getting in. However, never one to eschew drama, Amy decided the best way of getting inside would be to crawl under the courtyard gates. So, with the waiting crowd of paparazzi who have become a daily feature of her life, she lay down on the wet pavement and wriggled through.

The extraordinary gate scenes are the latest example of the star’s increasingly erratic behaviour recently. At 4.15am this morning she was pictured making a dash to a 24 hour store in Bow to pick up a giant box of ice pops.

[From the Daily Mail]

At what point does someone get declared legally insane in England? Because I’m pretty sure that – whatever that point is – Amy is well beyond it. I think she may be crazier than Britney Spears. She’s just not endangering the lives of innocent little children, thank God. Amy is so off her rocker that I can’t really tell if she’s trying to get attention, or is just so out of it that she doesn’t notice – or care – that the paparazzi is photographing her wandering around without shoes at two in the morning… which happened not once but several times last week. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to agree with what a lot of our commenters are saying… if she keeps this up, she’s not going to be around for much longer.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Amy right before she slid under her gate. You can see photos of her actually sliding under on the Daily Mail’s website. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Jack Nicholson is one of those actors whose appeal I’ve never been able to understand. I think it’s the eyebrows – he has very evil eyebrows. And the sneer. Regardless, the rest of the world seems to think he’s awesome, with the exception of Anjelica Huston. The two were together for fifteen years, until Jack cheated on her in 1989 with actress Rebecca Broussard – who he got pregnant.

I was in a quandary,” Jack quietly explains to PARADE’s Dotson Rader. “I knew having a child was a boon to my life, but I was in a wonderful relationship with Anjelica. It was as good as it gets. I immediately told her what was up, and she made the decision for us.” The public presumed that Nicholson had dumped Huston for Broussard, a younger woman. The truth is the opposite. “Anjelica’s first response was, ‘You have to support this woman,’ ” Nicholson says. “Her second response was to come down to my job and beat the hell out of me. She really beat me up, I tell you. Anjelica can punch! Meanwhile, Rebecca didn’t want me to separate from Anjelica. Well, they both have good taste,” he says laughing.

[From the Huffington Post]

It takes a pretty big man to admit he got beaten up by a woman. Not that I blame her. Physical violence I never okay, but I can understand the anger. Aside from beating the crap out of Jack, it sounds like Huston handled that news in a fairly mature way – she told him to leave and support the mother of his child. Not a lot of women could be so big. Can’t blame her for wanting to hit, though.

Jack also gave an interesting analysis of women. It’s either nonsensical or over my head.

“These issues between men and women are not psychological. Look, remember what a gland is. Most of these are glandular issues. A gland is what allows that mother to lift that truck off a child. Whatever intelligent design is, it’s not going to leave the continuation of the human species up to fashion-crazy, flitting mentalities. It’s in those glands. The infatuation cycle of 18 months hasn’t changed a lot since the monkeys. Look at the numbers. Eighteen months is nine months doubled. A woman’s entire system is set so that when you’re having that procreative act with a woman, you’re dealing with a being whose actual cycle is nine months. It doesn’t have to do with her brain. It has to do with her entire bodily system, which is there to overcome the brain. We don’t legislate this stuff. We don’t out-think it. You cannot change these fundamental things that we are as human beings–but you can adjust to it.”

[From the Huffington Post]

Okay… I’m kind of confused about my glands right now. I wonder what glands Jack is referring to. I have strep throat right now and my lymph glands are swollen – do you think that could factor into my ability to lift a truck off a child right now, if I needed to? Would that make it easier or harder? I’m confused. I was trying to figure out what the hell Jack was talking about, and if he literally meant glands or was using it for some kind of a metaphor that I just can’t understand because it’s three in the morning. Based on the gland thing, Jack Nicholson is either a total moron or incredibly profound.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Anjelica Huston at the Oceana Salutes Former Vice President Al Gore event on October 6th. Header of Jack at designer daughter Jennifer Nicholson’s show at fashion week on March 22. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Though it was reported that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were BFFs by about half the entertainment websites out there, the other half are reporting that Britney is threatening to release a lesbian sex video tape of Paris and one of her friends – unless Paris becomes a nicer person. While we reported that Paris gave Britney some career advice at her birthday party this past weekend, according to several other sources, the two didn’t rekindle their friendship at all, but instead had another falling out.

Britney Spears has threatened to release video footage of one-time friend Paris Hilton in a lesbian romp with a mutual pal, according to reports. Brit has demanded that the heiress stop being rude to her and members of her entourage. The troubled star has reportedly threatened to leak the footage, which shows Hilton in a compromising position with another woman, unless her attitude changes.

A source said: “The letter warns Paris that if she continues being rude to people, the footage will be leaked online.” Australian newspaper The Sydney Daily Telegraph reports the former friends fell out at Spears’ 26th birthday parties in Hollywood last weekend. But a source close to Hilton said: “It’s obvious Britney and her bratty pals are being silly. Paris laughed when she got the letter and said it was c**p.”

[From The Sun]

So they’re either best friends again, or total enemies. Take your pick. It definitely doesn’t seem like Brit shunned Paris on her birthday – there are tons of photos of the two together, and they look happy and normal (in that fake, plastic way they both do). This article is all over the internet. Most everyone is sourcing The Sun, whose article sources the Sydney Daily Telegraph, whose article sources The Daily Mail. Strangely when I search the Daily Mail’s website, I can’t find any mention of Paris and Britney in the same article that’s more recent than the end of November – and the party in question took place this past weekend. So just in case you were all stressed and worried and freaking out about the possibility of a Paris Hilton lesbian sex tape, I think this might just be one of those unsubstantiated internet rumors. But then again I thought that about “One Night in Paris” too.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Britney Spears, wearing a pink wig and drinking what appears to be a mimosa, (along with some cigarettes) with her Realtor at the Four Seasons hotel on Wednesday. My mom is a Realtor, so I have it on good authority that they do insist their clients wear neon acrylic wigs whenever they take them to look at homes valued over $2 million. And it’s totally normal to get your clients drunk afterwards. Image thanks to WENN. Header of Paris hosting the Wednesdays Party at Mansion Nightclub in South Beach last night. Image thanks to Splash Photos.

Angelina and Madonna have supposedly put aside their differences. Madonna is said to have called Angelina to offer her support after Zahara’s birth mother started talking to the press last month. The conversation so touched each of them that they wept bitterly over how difficult it is to be a super famous privileged person adopting an African infant whose impoverished family could not afford to keep them. *cough* bullshit *cough*

Madonna publicly dissed Angelina last year when a Time reporter asked her if she was “jumping on a bandwagon” by adopting an African baby. She said “Look, I could have joined the U.N. and become an ambassador and visited various countries and just kind of showed up and smiled and looked concerned. But that’s not getting to the root of the problem.” Instead she decided to set up orphanages to help indoctrinate Malawian children into her cult religion, which she considers superior to working with the U.N.

In January Angelina made a dig back at Madonna, telling a French magazine that she “would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal,” but quickly adding that she’s “been horrified by the attacks [Madonna’s] been subjected to [for adopting Davie].” Angelina’s rep said that the article omitted many more positive comments that she made about Madonna in that same interview.

The National Enquirer is reporting that Madonna and Angelina tearfully bonded over their mutual adoption problems and bisexual pasts but that sounds highly unlikely to me:

Madonna, upset by reports that yet another woman claiming to be the mother of Angelina’s adopted tot Zahara had popped up, phoned [her] and told her to hang in - that she’d had a similar problem when the African father of her adopted son David suddenly claimed he hadn’t understood the word “adopt.” What was supposed to be a brief call turned into an emotional sob-fest that lasted more than an hour - and ended when the moms promised to call each other once a week for support. Delighted Madonna told pals: “I have a new confidante in Angie.”

Of course I added that bonding over their bisexual pasts part, but it’s probably just as true as this is. Maybe I’m wrong and Madonna and Angelina really did pour out their hearts to each other over the phone, realizing that they’re kindred spirits. They’re both haughty highly successful women who think they have the answers to everything. They could either hate or love each other, although most signs point to hate.

I made that header image back in January and could not resist using it again.

Kanye West, 30, plans to marry his fiance Alexis Phifer, 31, after the holidays. The self-important rapper faced the devastating loss of his mother, Dr. Donda West, 58, last month. Dr. West passed after complications from plastic surgery that have yet to be determined. Her plastic surgeon was recommended to her by Oprah but was the subject of multiple malpractice lawsuits and has acted less than innocent following her death. Kanye is doing his best to continue working and moving forward with his life, and plans to make it official with Alexis soon. He has realized how fleeting life is, and knows that his mother would have approved:

Kanye West has a heart-rending final tribute planned for his late mother - he intends to marry longtime fiancee Alexis Phifer right after the holidays.

“His mother’s sudden death brought into focus just how short life really is. Kanye doesn’t want to wait any longer to make Alexis his wife,” a family friend told The Enquirer.

“He believes that this is what his mom would want him to do…”

“Kanye knew how much his mother loved Alexis and how she was looking forward to seeing them get married,” continued the source.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, December 10, 2007]

The Enquirer reports that Kanye and Alexis first met in 2002 and that they “got back together in 2004,” implying that they separated for a while or weren’t serious at first. They have been engaged since August of 2006, so it sounds like it’s time for them to marry.

Do you think Kanye will go for a big ostentatious wedding or a quiet affair with friends and family? Initial impressions point to an over-the-top ceremony and reception. When you consider how modern and understated Kanye’s house is, which Bazaar says has a lot to do with fashion designer Phifer’s influence, they will probably have a luxurious but tasteful wedding. And it’s doubtful that Oprah will be invited.

Alexis has been married once before and has an 11 year-old son with football player Roman Phifer.

Update: Thanks to the commentors for pointing out that Oprah did not recommend Dr. Jan Adams to Kanye’s mother, he was just featured on Oprah’s show in a segment on plastic surgery.

Kanye and Alexis are shown at the MTV Video Music Awards on 9/9/07, and at Rolling Stone’s 40th Anniversary on 9/8/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

I don’t know if it’s a fluke or just my warped perception, but it seems like there’s an extra amount of Hollywood drunken-while-drivingness lately. Ray Liotta was arrested in February after he drunkenly hit not one, but two parked cars. That takes talent. It takes a certain level of skill just to hit one parked car. What with it just sitting there, taunting you. But then to go after another… that guy must have been really hammered. Though if you ask him, he just had an unfortunate interaction between two medications. I’m guessing it was more like two medications and the twelve beers he washed them down with, but whatever. Technicalities I suppose.

Ray’s been given a pretty lenient sentence, compared with a few of our jail-serving celebrity friends.

Actor Ray Liotta has pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge after police say he drove into two parked cars. Liotta initially was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He could have faced up to six months in jail if convicted of that charge, Mateljan said.

“Ray had some unexpected drowsiness from the interaction of some medications prescribed by his doctor,” said his attorney, Blair Berk. Under the terms of his plea, Liotta was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to enter a 12-hour alcohol education program, according to court documents.

Liotta was arrested in February following the non-injury crash in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles. He will have to pay $1,328 in restitution and fines and pay the owners of the damaged vehicles, the court papers said.

[From Yahoo! News]

I have to tell you, while I understand extreme sleepiness, if it were that bad, I’d pull over. If you’re so tired that you’re swerving into parked cars, I imagine the only thing on your mind would be finding a parking space. Hitting one car, and then going on to hit another, probably won’t get you home into bed any faster. I’m continually amazed at how many celebrities drink and drive. If broke college students can manage to get it together and call a cab, I think you can too. Seriously, when you can now legitimately be compared to Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan, wouldn’t it have been better to just pull over and take a nap in the gutter?

Picture note by Jaybird: Header image of Ray and his daughter at the “Bee Movie” premiere on October 28th. thanks to PR Photos.

Carrie Underwood has slimmed down considerably since her days as an American Idol contestant. Carrie has admitted that she was aware of some of the negative things people said about her weight on the internet, and that she made the choice to slim down as a result.

Carrie Underwood recently shared some of her secrets for staying fit with People magazine: everything in moderation (except maybe cheese) with a lot of cardio. Carrie says when some American Idol viewers were candid in their online postings about her weight, she decided to slim down but didn’t change her diet or fitness routine radically to do so.

“I do work out, but not with a trainer,” she says. “I just do lots of cardio.” And yet, after a whirlwind year (which included lots of awards and a second CD, Carnival Ride), Carrie is in better shape than ever. A longtime vegetarian, she says she watches what she eats but also admits to a weakness for cheese. “I can eat a pound of it,” she says. “It’s a real problem.”

Carrie says she also keeps a snack tucked in her red carpet bags at all times. “I carry [whole-grain] Kashi bars everywhere.”

[From Great American Country]

Underwood also told people that she’s a bit obsessive when it comes to watching what she eats. The way she phrases it (using the word “obsessive) makes it sound like she has some food issues, however when she says she’s “obsessive” she’s referring to writing down everything she eats. Food journaling is a cornerstone of many well-regarded diet plans like Weight Watchers. It serves to remind you what you’ve eaten.

American Idol winner and US chart topper Carrie Underwood’s apparently has a great diet tip - and it involves a pen and paper! “I’m slightly obsessive-compulsive about what I eat, more than I should be. I write down everything I eat,” the 24-year-old singer tells Glamour magazine in its January issue. “I started doing it last year. And the last year is when I’ve gotten more healthy and lost weight.”

[From This Is Nottingham]

To be honest I’d never noticed anything about Carrie’s weight on American Idol. They’ve had a wide variety of body styles over the years, which has been refreshing to see. Simon Cowell’s nasty remarks about contestant’s weight weren’t so great, but it’s good that people of all shapes and sizes were succeeding on the show. There have been some rumblings that Underwood has gotten too thin. Compared to some of the shrinking stars we’ve seen in the last few years, she seems alright. Like anything, the issue is knowing when to stop. She seems to have maintained her current weight for a while now, and is definitely drop-dead gorgeous.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Carrie at the 2005 Country Music Festival about three weeks after she won American Idol. I’m not sure what people were talking about in terms of her weight at the time, though she is definitely much thinner now. Header image at the Conde Nast Media Group Presents “2007 Movie Rocks” on December 2nd. Images thanks to PR Photos.

After hearing all the stories about Marilyn Manson over the years – the type urban legends are made from, only true – nothing should really shock us about him anymore. It’s gotta suck for Manson. What in the world could he possibly say anymore that would be interesting? What’s as morbidly fascinating as finding out (through legal documents no less, so you know it’s gotta be true) that he has the skeleton of a Chinese man that he keeps in an old wheelchair? Well nothing is. But it is somewhat interesting to find out that baboons seem to play quite the reoccurring theme in Manson’s life. Manson was on the BBC’s “Graham Norton Show” last night, where he told the story of taking some ecstasy and at the zoo and ending up in a baboon’s cage.

Controversial rocker Marilyn Manson ended up sharing a cage with a baboon after taking an ecstasy pill. Manson found himself face to face with the ape after taking the drug in a zoo in Florida. He said: “It was the first time I saw a baboon face to face. They said whatever you do don’t look him in the eye so that’s all I could do. They actually let me in. Some irresponsible bastard said lets put Marilyn Manson on ecstasy in a cage with a red arse baboon.”

[From Showbizspy]

That’s definitely in one of the top three bizarre drug stories I’ve ever heard. Really, that could only happen to a select few, because how many people have access to a baboon? Marilyn didn’t give any indication of when this interaction took place. However he has also stated that he’s in a legal custody war with ex-wife Dita Von Teese over their collection of taxidermied animals – which includes four baboons. I can’t help but wonder which came first: the ecstasy or the taxidermy? Talk about a question for the ages.

While on the “Graham Norton Show,” Manson also informed the host that he’s hoping to get a tattoo on his penis.

He said: “I wanted to put a tattoo, if I would get one there, that would say buyer beware.”

Manson sparked controversy by comparing troubled singer Amy Winehouse to a can of soured fermented herring. The Swedish delicacy has a pungent odor described as combining rotten eggs, rancid butter and vinegar. Manson said it was like “Amy Winehouse in a can” but quickly withdrew the harsh remark saying “I didn’t mean to say that” on the Graham Norton Show.

[From Showbizspy]

I don’t want to nitpick, but to look at him, Marilyn Manson doesn’t exactly strike me as someone who’s likely to smell of Polo Sport. He seems like one of those “bathing optional” types. Though all that thick white makeup must be hell on his skin. It seems a little odd that he’d take back his comment since the man thrives on shock and attention. Though frankly, until he made that derogatory comment, I would have thought Amy Winehouse was just his type.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Marilyn at the Nightmare Before Christmas 3D World Premiere last October. Images thanks to PR Photos. Header of Manson and Nigella Lawson on the ‘Graham Norton Show’ last night. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Solange Knowles in some very upsetting shoes [Bossip]
Tyra Banks looking flawless at the CNN Heroes event last night [Dlisted]
John Cusack’s “Grace is Gone” gets good review [Pajiba]
That $10,000 tip wasn’t Trump after all. Gee, Donald Trump isn’t generous to others? Shocker! [Celebslam]
Paris Sucks [Yeeeah!]
Elizabeth Hurley At The ‘Action On Addiction’ Charity [I'm Not Obsessed]
Anna Faris looking extra cute at the 2007 GQ Men of the Year Awards [The Bastardly]
Kate Hudson, Chris Robinson, & Ryder Russell Out in NYC [In Case You Didn't Know]
Alessandra Ambrosio looking stunning (site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
Angelina Jolie has topped a list of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars Ever [Hollywood Rag]
What is Tommy Lee doing to Michael Bay? Hint: it involves the tongue [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
Jack Black “horrified” by his own ass [Agent Bedhead]
No one likes Britney… not surprising, in and of itself [ href="http://theblemish.com/2007/12/no-one-likes-britney/">The Blemish]
Britney Spears Breasts cradle Kittens. This is officially my favorite thing ever [CityRag]
Is Matt Lauer’s Wife Anorexic? [Crazy Days and Nights]
Justin Timberlake’s Fascinating Year [Popsugar]
Lindsay Lohan Shops for Skimpy Thongs [The Grumpiest]
Lindsay and Paris Chase Stavros Niarchos [CelebNewsWire]
Nobody’s Watching Late-Night TV. Yeah reruns from 1995 tend to make that happen [Evil Beet]
Mischa Barton is a Giver. I won’t say of what. [CelebWarship]
Vanessa Hudgens Has To Pay Up [Glitterati Gossip]
Isla Fisher Out With Olive [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Rumer Willis Spends Some of Her Parents’ Money [A Socialite's Life]
Russell Simmons and Family Soak in the Sun [Just Jared]
Gloomy picture painted of strike talks [Lifeline Live]
Spencer and Heidi Officially Trotting Out Their Scripted Dramatardation For 4th Hills Season. Blech [Best Week Ever!]