Despite all the sort-of bump pictures and the breathy gossip columns citing “multiple insiders,” I still don’t believe that Nicole Kidman is pregnant this time around. There have been too many close calls with her, and she often wears loose clothing and looks like she could be in the early stages of pregnancy. Page Six and the British papers are really pushing the pregnancy, but the trashy ones that are often right, Star and The National Enquirer, didn’t say anything about Kidman this week. My pregnancy-dar isn’t always accurate, but it’s just not going off for Kidman. I hope I’m wrong though, because she has said so many times that she wants a baby.

Page Six claims that Kidman has quit an upcoming film to make time for her much-anticipated arrival. It couldn’t be over the writer’s strike or creative differences or anything like that, because they have “extremely well-placed sources:”

Page Six has heard from extremely well-placed sources that the Oscar-winning Aussie - who’s suffered miscarriages in the past - not only has a bun in the oven but is so concerned about the welfare of her unborn child that she’s taking a break from her film career and has dropped out of director Stephen Daldry’s post-World War II Germany drama “The Reader,” which she was supposed to start shooting this month…

Kidman’s rep, Catherine Olim, didn’t return our calls or e-mail. Weinstein flack Matthew Frankel said: “I am being told that the status on ‘The Reader’ has not changed.” He declined to be more specific.

On Friday, a reporter for Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia, asked Kidman point blank whether she was in the family way. She “refused to answer,” the paper said. But our insider said: “Of course, everyone knows she’s pregnant and lying about it.”

Another source told us a Vanity Fair editor was recently overheard talking about pushing up Kidman’s photo shoot for the magazine’s annual Hollywood issue. “It’s because the costumes she’s set to wear won’t fit her much longer,” the spy said.

[From Page Six]

IMDB lists The Reader as being in “filming” status, so presumably it’s already written and won’t suffer too much from the writer’s strike, but maybe the script isn’t complete or needs edits and Kidman isn’t willing to work under those circumstances. It’s also very interesting that the setting of the film, Nazi Germany, is similar to Kidman’s ex Tom Cruise’s upcoming film, Valkyrie. Valkyrie has a release date of October 3, 2008, while The Reader is listed with a release date of December 12, 2008. Maybe Kidman wasn’t willing to make a film that was similar to another high-profile movie starring her ex and coming out two months ahead of hers. Or maybe she’s pregnant like everyone is saying. It just seems like there are plenty of other reasons for her to back out of that film other than a pregnancy.

Nicole Kidman is shown out having brunch with girlfriends on 1/6/07 in Sydney, Australia. There are no pictures of her standing up that I can find, so those billowy dress photos that came out a few days ago can’t be verified or disproved. Thanks to WENN for these photos.

A photo of Britney and Adnan from December
Britney on vacation with photographer
Britney Spears is with photographer and new boyfriend Adnan Ghalib in Palm Desert, California, where she drinking champagne for breakfast and he’s presumably getting plenty of exclusive shots of the world’s most-watched fallen celebrity. There was a story this weekend that Ghalib approached British papers with intimate photos of Britney that weren’t that revealing and wanted an astonishing $5 million for his story and the photos. The snaps were said to just show Britney on the couch with Ghalib with her hand on his knee, and he should have aimed lower or had more compromising photos. We’ve all seen Britney’s kitty on multiple occasions so it’s not like photos of her relaxing in one of the many hotels she frequents are going to bring much on the open market. There are also a ton of stories floating around about her many exploits, told by the guys who were along for the ride, so one more is not going to shock anyone.

Dr. Phil overstated his visit with Britney, violated hospital policy
Britney managed to sneak away from Cedars-Sinai hospital, where she was placed on a medical hold and released earlier than the standard 72 hour wait time, without being photographed. Dr. Phil claims to have counseled her for a full hour before she left, and will surely bring in huge ratings for having her folks on his show on Tuesday. He of course wanted to have Britney on too, but she wasn’t having any of that. TMZ has a story that contradicts Dr. Phil’s statement in which they say that Dr. Phil showed up after Britney was released, tried to talk to her for 15 minutes, and was summarily dismissed. They also say the TV psychologist didn’t walk her to her car as he claims, either. Given that it’s Britney and she won’t listen to anyone, it seems like TMZ has the right story.

Criticism of Dr. Phil for entering Britney’s room without patient permission
There’s also a story that Dr. Phil’s visit violated hospital policy in that he entered a patient’s room without it being cleared with her. TMZ consulted medical experts who say this is highly unprofessional and that Cedars-Sinai must have been starstruck by Dr. Phil, because his unannounced visit violated the patient’s rights and would typically not be allowed.

For his part Dr. Phil says that the family requested that he be involved and that he spoke to Britney’s mother, father, and her older brother before going to the hospital. Britney’s family was worried that she wasn’t going to be held longer, according to Dr. Phil.

Rumors and false stories in the case
It seems like this outrageous story is opening the floodgates for papers to make even more incredible claims about the situation in order to move copies. News of The World ran a story that would be laughable if the subject hadn’t already defied all belief. They claimed that Britney had a gun the night of the police standoff, that she offered Federline $100 million to hand over custody of the children to her, and that she took over 100 pills that night. It was also K-Fed who called the cops, not the court-appointed monitor, according to their account.

The LAPD has denied that there were any firearms involved, and I think we can safely assume that the majority of that story was fabricated.

PageSix reported that Spears’ “cousin” and assistant, Alli Sims, used a hammer to break down the bathroom door where Britney was holed up with her youngest child, Jayden James. This contradicts earlier reports that had all the staff leaving at least an hour before Britney was escorted out. Indeed, Sims denies that she broke down the door and says that she wasn’t even threre.

Was Britney’s drug test really negative and was she on something or just off the deep end?
Many of you have said that there’s no way Britney’s toxicology tests could have come back as soon as the report in Life & Style that all her drug tests were clean. Some commentors mention a rumor that Spears’ camp is leaking these false stories to the press in order to clear her name.

Courteney Love has speculated that Spears is taking too much Adderall, an ADHD prescription medication that has speed-like properties and can cause erratic behavior at high doses. Another report has her on Clenbuterol, a dangerous horse steroid that is being abused as a quick-fix diet drug.

Whatever happened to Britney, she’s dominating the news again. Surely she’s mentally ill, but she seems aware enough to realize that her episode has managed to take the focus off her young sister’s pregnancy. Many are pointing that out, while others are saying it’s just not fair to hold a mentally disturbed person to the same standards as the rest of us who just watch in disbelief.

Drew Barrymore is said to be pushing her “Get a Mac” boyfriend, Justin Long, to propose despite her bad track record with marriages and the fact that she’s only been dating Long for five months. 32 year-old Drew was married to LA bartender Jeremy Thomas from March, 1994 to February, 1995. She was just 19 at the time. Her next marriage, to obnoxious comic Tom Green, lasted from July, 2001 to October, 2002. That’s how long the marriages officially lasted, but she split with both husbands well before their divorces were final of course. The National Enquirer points out that her two marriages lasted less than six months combined.

Drew Barrymore - who’s weathered two divorces - is determined to marry her new boyfriend Justin Long even though they’ve dated for only five months, her pals reveal…

“Drew knows she can make a marriage work - and she thinks Justin is the one,” a friend told the Enquirer. “She kidded Justin that his New Year’s resolution is for him to ask her for her hand in marriage…

“Drew has been pushing him to pop the question to her around her birthday in February,” revealed the insider.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 14, 2008]

Justin took Drew to Thanksgiving with his family in Connecticut, and it sounds like these two are getting serious while managing to avoid the spotlight. They also took a nice vacation together in Florida right before Christmas. Star reports that they checked into “the Delgano hotel in Miami Beach on December 19th after spending the weekend in the Florida Keys.”

Justin has a decent career ahead of him. Although he’s best known at the Mac guy in those commercials, he also stars as the voice of Alvin in the Alvin and The Chipmunks movie. Justin and Drew met this summer on the set of the upcoming film she’s producing, He’s Just Not That Into You, in which he stars.

There was a big deal made out of a night Drew had out with friends in Toronto in early November. She was photographed drinking a beer (shocker) and talking to some guy at a bar. She looked like she was whispering in his ear but maybe she had to yell because the music was too loud and that’s why she was so close to him. We haven’t heard much about Drew since so it sounds like she’s settling into a nice routine with her boyfriend and that they’ve managed not to go shopping at high end boutiques or eat at the paparazzi-swarmed restaurants.

Maybe the third time will be the charm for Drew and she’ll achieve a life of domestic tranquility away from the flashbulbs. She seems to realize what she needs to do so that people won’t needlessly speculate about her, with this recent minor exception.

Justin is shown at the premiere of “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” in which he plays George Harrison. on 12/12/07.The tattoo on his next is not permanent and is reportedly for a role. Drew is shown at The Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Awards on 2/8/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

I just got an e-mail about a potential Adriana Lima sex tape. In case you’re not familiar with her, she’s a 26 year-old Brazilian supermodel and Victoria’s Secret model who claimed in an interview in early 2006 to be a virgin. Whether that’s still true or was even true at the time is up to debate, but it’s certainly not her in a highly-produced porn clip that’s being marketed as her. She did star in a photoshoot for GQ magazine that looked like a gang bang scene, but in the clip the woman’s face only slightly resembles hers. There are also two guys in the film, not just the one she’s banging. Another man’s black socks are visible on the bed in some shots. Plus the camera is moving around, so there’s someone controlling it, and it looks like standard porn. Celebrity sex tapes typically involve two people and a stable camera.

What’s more is that, like Eva Longoria’s rumored sex tape, this one is being used to market a porn site under the domain AdrianaLimaSexTape.net. So it seems someone is capitalizing on Adriana’s still somewhat-good name with a decent, but not convincing lookalike. Here’s a link to a very NSFW or under-18 clip of the supposed film. Thanks to blogofhilarity for the heads up.

Star Magazine has a pretty interesting before and after comparison of celebrities in an article this week titled “Before they Had Stylists,” but it could alternately be called “Before They Had Surgeons.” Take a look at Grey’s Anatomy star, the newly-married Kate Walsh, back in 1999. You can barely recognize her with that nose and hair.

Thanks to Televionista for the before pictures and PR Photos for the after pictures. Also thanks to that Star Magazine article, which featured this nearly-unrecognizable photo of Walsh.

Michael C Hall stars as a serial killer with a conscience in the dramatic series Dexter, which recently completed its second season on Showtime. Dexter’s day job is as a forensic blood expert with the Miami police department where he works with his sister, Debra Morgan, an up and coming homicide detective. On screen the two play siblings who have playful camaraderie and help each other out, and offscreen they’re said to have been dating for around four months:

[Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter] “have been seeing each other secretly for some time,” a source tells Star. “They were keeping it quiet because Michael is still married.” The former Six Feet Under star, 36, filed for divorce from his wife of four years, actress Amy Spanger, in 2006. Although it’s still pending, Michael and Jennifer, 28, finally decided that four months of sneaking around was enough!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, January 14, 2008]

I’ve only seen the first season of Dexter as I live overseas and don’t have access to the second season yet, but I’m looking forward to it. It took me a while to get into the show as the premise is so odd, but once I watched a couple of episodes I was hooked and my husband loves it two.

Dexter and Deb are just brother and sister by adoption on the show as Deb’s father, a homicide detective, adopted Dexter. I won’t give away much more of the plot as it’s a worthy series to rent and watch in its entirety. Considering that these two play siblings by adoption it might be a little easier for them to step out of their characters and fall in love. Hopefully they aren’t too burdened by the plot of the show. It seems outlandish enough not to be taken seriously by the people who work on it, although it sucks you in, kind of like Prison Break.

Michael C Hall is a talented actor and Six Feet Under is one of my favorite shows of all time. It’s nice to see him finding success again on Dexter.

Images are promotional photos for Dexter season one and two. It’s confirmed that it has been picked up for a third season by Showtime, although it’s likely to be delayed by the writer’s strike.

Update: The first season of Dexter will air on CBS on Sundays starting 2/17. It will be edited for to meet broadcast TV standards. [via ONTD]

While most celebrities claim to hate gossip and say they never visit celebrity websites or read anything in the papers, a few will admit to what we suspect a lot of them suffer from: a gossip addiction, just like the rest of us. Last fall Kanye West said he was a big fan of our friends Bossip, and then started his own blog a few days later. Now even ice queen Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she follows the tabloids and is just as addicted as the rest of us.

“There’s obviously an appetite for gossip,” she told Britain’s Daily Mail Weekend Magazine. “It’s very addictive to see what people are doing and wearing and saying – and who is breaking up.”

The actress went on to describe the outrage of an unnamed friend who had been dating another celebrity and read an inaccurate item about the romance in a New York tabloid.

“Then he turned the page of the same newspaper and said, ‘My God, have you seen who’s together?’” she told the magazine. “So we’re all at it, aren’t we?”

[From People]

Gwyneth has been the subject of a good deal of gossip over the years, and not just for her ice queeny nature. She’s not often photographed with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, leading many to speculate that their marriage is in trouble. But Gwyneth reassures us all is okay – it’s just that she doesn’t like to be seen with her husband in public. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t consider that a sign of the most healthy relationship. Paltrow also says she wants to have two more children in rapid succession a few years down the line.

But Paltrow, 35, is quick to quash rumors of any trouble in her marriage to Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Although they are rarely photographed out and about, she explained, “We’re not into doing stuff in public together.”

Away from the cameras though, she insisted, it’s a different story.

“I love the house,” Paltrow said of the North London home the couple bought from fellow actress Kate Winslet and her husband, director Sam Mendes. Paltrow – mother to daughter Apple, 3, and son Moses, 1 – also admitted she’s thinking of expanding her family. In four years, she dreams of having “two-in-a-row, really quick again,” while Martin would like to adopt.

So which will it be? The actress, who recently finished filming The Good Night with her brother Jake, told the Mail, “I’m open to anything.”

[From People]

What a free-flowing, easy spirit you are Gwyneth Paltrow. You never change, just like your hair. Gwyneth claims her marriage is in good working order, and it very well may be. People have been speculating for years that there’s trouble, and yet the two have remained together. For some odd reason, it may very well be that she doesn’t like to be seen in public with Martin much. Maybe she thinks it keeps photographers away? I’d speculate that it makes them follower her more, and makes gossips speculate negatively about her. Maybe she should lighten up, if for no other reason than to show her kids that daddy’s not a pariah.

Picture note by Jaybird: Okay even I have to admit that these photos are way too adorable. Here’s Gwyneth playing with Moses in Barcelona on October 24th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Just like the strikes in the olden days, the WGA strike is leaving people scrambling for guests. Wait, no. The strikes in olden days left people scrambling for food, not actors. It’s close, though, and certainly every bit as frightening. Human beings can live for months without food, but can only live for a maximum of seven days without Brad Pitt. Around day 5 your kidneys shut down, and the liver tends to go around day 6. The hosts of late night television, back on the air but without any actor guests, have been scrambling to fill their vacant spots in a desperate attempt to save keep us alive. The Screen Actors Guild has cruelly forbade any of its members from appearing on any non-WGA sanctioned shows. That effectively means they can only show up for David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, whose production company Worldwide Pants has come to its own agreement with the WGA. So what’s a late night host to do? Bring in other late night hosts as guests of course!

The talk-show hosts, who both returned to the airwaves last Wednesday without their respective writing teams and with picketers outside their respective studios, are turning into unlikely allies in the late-night race, with both agreeing to appear as guests on each other’s shows next Thursday, in the wake of a writers’ strike-induced guest drought.

“If Jay and I can come together and guest on each other’s shows, surely there is hope for peace in the Middle East,” Kimmel said in a joint statement released by ABC and NBC Sunday morning.

“There are only a few people in the world who know how tough this job is,” Leno said. “Jimmy is one of them. It will be fun to discuss who’s a good guest, who’s a difficult guest and everything else that comes with sitting behind these desks.” The mutual back scratching will help fill not only headlines but what’s proving to be hard-to-populate guest slots for the late-night shows since their return to air.

[From E! News]

I’m no expert, but it seems to me that writers and actors are incredibly loyal to their unions. And something tells me they have long memories. Jimmy Kimmel seems to have done himself quite the disservice recently by voicing his opposition to the writer’s strike.

And while Leno has teetered on the brink of violating guild rules since returning to the air, penning his own monologue jokes, despite supposedly standing in solidarity as a striking writer, Kimmel himself has voiced disapproval of the strict code and unwavering solidarity he’s meant to display with his unemployed wordsmiths.

“I don’t want to depart too much from the party line, but I think it’s ridiculous,” he said on his first night back of the strike and SAG’s insistence that members avoid the late-night shows that did not score a WGA-sanctioned agreement. “Jay Leno, he paid his staff while they were out. Conan did the same thing. I don’t know. I just think at a certain point you back off a little bit.”

Later, he stripped his opinions of all party-line vestiges, saying flat out, “I’m pissed off, I’ll be honest with you.”

[From E! News]

I’m pretty sure Jimmy Kimmel is going to find concrete in his shoes within the next three days. Wait, these are writers… so he’s probably going to find ink in his shoes. Maybe a few random letters stripped off his computer’s keyboard. Nothing teaches you to shut up like some blue ink stains and your favorite S and A keys smashed to pieces.

The British dude Britney is dating now seems like he’s predictably telling someone where to find them and setting up clear shots . Somehow CelebTV.com has two “exclusive” videos of Britney out with Adnan Ghalib, the photographer she hooked up with after she left the hospital, and it sounds like there’s just one photographer taking shots, which are sure to be worth a mint.

Ghalib was said to have tried to sell photos of Britney as well as his story of how they met for $5 million, but he has so far been unsuccessful. He will probably have much more luck making money with these latest exclusive photos and videos, which are set to air on Extra! tonight.

Britney out getting Starbucks with Adnan in Santa Barbara

Britney on a hotel balcony wearing a shirt and no pants, sharing a lollipop with Adnan

This guy seems like he’s using Britney, but do you think she cares? He’s giving her some much-needed attention and she often tips of paparazzi as to her whereabouts. It’s not like she’s trying too hard to hide out if she’s out getting Starbucks and leaving the curtains to her room open. If Ghalib is being kind her to and hanging out with her that’s probably all that matters to Britney. It’s likely she’s aware that he tipped at least one photographer off on where to find them and maybe he’s even giving her a cut of the profits. At least these videos show that she’s doing relatively ok.

The Sun today reports that Ghalib is a smooth talking Englishman who was raised in a family of practicing Muslims near Birmingham. He left the UK over ten years ago to pursue a career in the states. Ghalib is married but is said to be currently separated from his wife.

Britney has so far rejected pleas by her family to get treatment in a mental health facility, which is thought to be her only chance of regaining custody rights for her children. It could be true that she tested negative for illegal drugs as Life and Style originally reported. People confirms that her drug test came back negative.

via ONTD.

Sometimes when I read stories about Amy Winehouse, I just want to yell at her, “Amy, stop being so damn cautious! You need to stop being so hesitant and thinking things through so much, just let go and live a little!” It seems that Amy his finally taken my advice and decided to throw caution to the wind. Actually despite my sarcasm, I’m pretty pleased about the manner in which she’s chosen to throw her caution, so to speak. While Amy has always been unhealthily and codependently attached to loser jailbird husband Blake Fielder-Civil, it appears that she’s finally breaking away a little bit. While Blake’s been “languishing” in prison for attempting to bribe a witness in his upcoming assault trial, Amy has finally cleared a little time in her visiting-Blake-eight-times-a-week schedule to go on vacation… with her ex-boyfriend.

The furious husband of troubled star Amy Winehouse is demanding and explanation after discovering that she jetted off for a break in the sun with her ex while he languished behind bars. The 24-year-old singer has been relishing the sand and surf with her former flame, music manager George Roberts, during her winter holiday in the sun-drenched Caribbean. The news of their holiday apparently made husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, furious.

Blake, 25, who is on remand in Pentonville prison for alleged assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, was already said to be jealous of Amy’s close relationship with George. Amy prepares for a tearful reunion with her husband as she jets back to England but a friend of the Balke said: “He is furious she was with George while he was locked up.

“She has lapped up the sun while he’s been on his own feeling miserable. He doesn’t like her friendship with George as it is. Being in jail, he feels more and more detached from Amy. He also wants an explanation, but he’s desperate not to lose her.”

[From the Daily Mail]

He should be desperate not to lose her. Blake’s got nothing going for him – no education, no talent, and no career. All he’s done is leach off of Amy. The two have been incredibly bad for each other, and have enabled the other’s addictions. Everyone’s been begging Amy to get away from Blake, and it appears that she might actually be doing that. These pictures of Amy returning from vacation on Saturday are pretty good too: Amy looks (relatively) healthy and happy - for her. It even appears that she might have gained a few much-needed pounds. Hopefully this is an indication that she’s starting to break away.