It gives you a chill to hear about all the celebrity women who have faced breast cancer, many of whom take years to discuss their private battle with the illness. About two weeks ago Sex and The City star Cynthia Nixon went public with the fact that she underwent a lumpectomy and radiation in 2006 at the age of 40 after doctors found a small cancerous lump on a routine mammogram. Nixon is the new spokesperson for the Susan J Komen breast cancer foundation and emphasizes the importance of regular checkups with a gynecologist.

Now Sopranos star Edie Falco is talking more about the fact that she too underwent treatment for breast cancer while she was working on the popular series. She says she didn’t tell anyone at work because she didn’t want them to be worried about her. It sounds like she was undergoing chemo and that it was very difficult for her:

WHEN Edie Falco was battling breast cancer in 2003, she never told any of her “The Sopranos” co-stars. She tells the new issue of Health magazine: “I kept my diagnosis under the radar, even from the cast and crew, because well-meaning people would have driven me crazy asking, ‘How are you feeling?’ I would have wanted to say, ‘I’m scared, I don’t feel so good, and my hair is falling out!’ I bucked up, put on my Carmela fingernails, and was ready to work.” Meanwhile, Falco recently adopted her second child, a baby girl, reports In Touch.

[From Page Six]

Falco did come out with the news earlier. In August, 2004 she revealed that she was given the “all clear” by doctors after completing treatment some five months prior.

Other celebrity breast cancer survivors include Sheryl Crowe, Melissa Etheridge, Kylie Minogue, Gloria Steinem, Kate Jackson, Olivia Newton John, Jaclyn Smith, Suzanne Somers, Rue McClanahan, and Lynn Redgrave. About 1 in every 8 women worldwide will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Survival rates for all ages are from 81 - 86%.

Edie Falco is shown at the premiere of Tenessee at the Tribeca Film Festival on 4/26/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

US Weekly has an article with a diet created by Madonna’s trainer, Tracy Anderson. I’ve always followed diets in which you eat at least 1200 calories in small meals throughout the day, and that’s about the lowest I can go without freaking out and binging on carbs in the afternoon. It’s uncomfortable for me, though, and I prefer to stick to around 1500 calories when I’m trying to lose weight.

Madonna’s trainer recommends a diet at under 800 calories a day, which is about 1/2 the recommend amount for women. Most experts say that 1200 calories is the absolute lowest a woman can go without feeling lethargic and deprived. A diet of 1500 calories a day is considered healthier and safer for women, and you can even eat 1,800 calories a day, exercise and lose weight safely.

So US Weekly is printing a diet that falls well under 1,000 calories a day, with some days less than 700 calories, along with recommending 2 freaking hours of exercise 6 days a week. Supposedly you can lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks with this diet. That’s insane and counter productive. Here’s the diet, along with what I’ve calculated are the calories for each from FitDay.com. (which I highly recommend if you’re counting calories - it’s free.)

WEEK ONE
Sunday
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi cereal, with ½ cup plain — or vanilla — nonfat rice milk [262 calories]
Lunch
3 oz grilled chicken breast — or fresh turkey breast (no deli meat!) — with ½ cup each of chopped cucumber and tomatoes [189 calories]
Snack
1 cup mixed berries (try raspberries, blackberries and blueberries) [45 calories]
Dinner
1 cup organic pasta with ½ cup steamed spinach [330 calories]
[Total: 826 calories]

Monday
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi cereal, with ½ cup plain—or vanilla—nonfat rice milk [262 calories]
Lunch
2 hardboiled eggs with ½ cup each of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes [194 calories]
Dinner
3 to 5 oz grilled sea bass with ½ cup steamed spinach [240 calories]
[Total: 696 calories]

[Diet from US Weekly, calories calculated at FitDay.com]

I could eat twice that, still lose weight, feel normal and content that I’m eating healthy. It really pisses me off that a diet that can fall under 700 calories a day is touted as healthy by some celebrity trainer and that’s somehow ok.

A much healthier diet is the one that Janet Jackson follows which consists of five meals a day of around 250 calories. You can even eat 6 to 7 meals at 250 calories and it’s still healthy and will help you lose plenty of weight. You should eat a mix of carbs and protein, either at each meal or at separate meals if you prefer to separate. But please - don’t go under 1200 calories a day. You’ll end up losing weight in the short run, but how are you going to keep up that diet? It could also slow down your metabolism. I’m so glad I don’t have to starve myself like that for my job. It just seems outrageous to me, especially combined with 2 hours of exercise. I’m super hungry if I eat 1200 calories a day and do an hour of hard exercise, can you imagine following this starvation diet?

Joe Simpson seems absolutely intent on wrecking as much of his daughters’ lives as he possibly can. Truly, if he sat down with a marker, paper, and poster board and drew out some type of chart titled, “Ways to Interfere with/Mess Up Offspring & Impede All Forms of Happiness,” he could not have done a better job. Which is why I’m pretty sure he’s planned this all out. Because any quasi-sane, loving parent would have stepped off by now and said, “You know what? Whatever I touch, I ruin. Maybe I should stop touching things.” And I mean that exactly how it sounds, Joe Simpson. Perv.

Anyway, Joe has decided he wasn’t satisfied just ruining daughter Jessica’s life with his domineering, interfering ways while filming the Newlyweds with now ex-husband Nick Lachey. There’s a reason Nick’s an ex, and it rhymes with and looks just like Papa Joe. Simpson has decided (seemingly without involving his daughter in the decision) that Ashley and new fiancé Pete Wentz are going to do their own Newlyweds show. Because why wreck just one marriage when you can wreck two?

Get yourself ready for the return of MTV’s Newlyweds — with a twist! Instead of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, it’s Simpson version 2.0 is coming your way, with Jessica’s little sister, Ashlee Simpson, 23, and fiancé, Pete Wentz, 28, set to appear as the couple in the hit MTV format — at least if Joe Simpson gets his way!

Never one to miss a money-making opportunity, Ashlee’s dad and manager Joe seems determined to turn this idea into a reality. “He knows that no one cared about Jessica before her reality show, and he’s hoping a show for Ashlee will have the same effect,” a source close to the singer tells OK!.

With a wedding on the horizon, a baby on the way and a famous rocker fiancé, Ashlee’s life has all the ingredients for a reality show. (Ashlee and Pete’s publicist tells OK! they are not set to appear in Newlyweds.) If the program comes off, let’s hope the Bittersweet World singer’s love story doesn’t end the same way as her sister’s failed marriage.

[From OK!]

Touché, OK. Touché. Never did I think I could wholeheartedly agree with anything that came from the printing press of OK Magazine, but they’re pretty much right on the ball on this one. The Simpson girls clearly don’t have the spine to stand up to their father. I was hoping one of their spouses would have, but if I were a betting woman, I would have gone with Nick Lachey long before I could imagine Pete Wentz standing up to Papa Joe. And I think he’s a little too busy sharpening his eyeliner pencil to be bothered. The sad thing is, I’d probably watch this show, if only to yell at Joe Simpson.

Here’s Pete and Ashley at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 26th. Images thanks to WENN.

Uma Thurman’s parents and employees have been testifying this week in Manhattan State Supreme Court in the case against her stalker, Jack Jordan. Jordan is a diagnosed as schizophrenic with bipolar disorder who stalked and harassed Thurman and her family members from early 2005 – September 2007. He was arrested this past October. Both Thurman’s housekeeper Dorota Janas and former personal assistant Samara Koffler testified that Jordan would hang out on the stoop her Greenwich Village home, ring the doorbell multiple times a day, and leave creepy letters.

Thurman’s housekeeper Dorota Janas testified on the second day of Jack Jordan’s trial that he rang the bell at the actress’ Greenwich Village town house at least twice a day for at least 10 days last summer…Janas, testifying through a Polish interpreter, said she saw Jordan sitting on the front stoop a few days before another employee called police. Some time later, she retrieved a letter Jordan had left for Thurman on the stoop.

Samara Koffler, a film producer who was Thurman’s former personal assistant, testified that she returned from the Bahamas in August 2007 and saw the letter Janas had found. She read part of it in court. “Dear Uma,” Koffler read, “I love you completely. Unless rousted, I’ll spend the night in front of (Thurman’s address).” At another point, she read: “Ask your assistant to let me wait inside until you return. I feel afraid that if I see you with another man I’ll kill myself.”

Koffler said she told Thurman about the letter and called 911 and told police “an unstable man” was hanging around the house.

[From the Huffington Post]

Thurman’s parents Birgitte and Robert Thurman testified as well. They received multiple emails and phone calls from Jordan at their Woodstock, New York home – further indication of just how far Jordan was willing to go to be with Thurman.

Her father, Robert Thurman, said his reaction after reading e-mails from Jordan was to try to remember the FBI’s telephone number. He said in court Tuesday he was seeing Jordan for the first time.

Her mother, Birgitte “Nena” Thurman, testified that she believed Jordan “was someone who would benefit from medical attention.” She said the first time she spoke to the defendant was in 2005 when he called her home in Woodstock, N.Y., and told her that he “and my daughter had a predestination to be together.” She said he asked her to relay that message.

“I tried to assure him in no uncertain terms that this was just a fantasy and he was projecting,” Thurman said, and that her daughter had no interest in him.

[From the Huffington Post]

One of my friends works for the Manhattan D.A.’s office and sat in on the trial for a few hours on Monday morning. She said Jack Jordan wasn’t one of those visibly crazy people that gives you the chills just looking at him. He looks normal, like a guy you could pass on the street. No odd behaviors or anything in court. She also said that he carries a large backpack with him wherever he goes in the courthouse and the courtroom, which is unusual.

The defense’s arguments so far are just that Jordan is a guy in love. With a side of crazy. But apparently they’re focusing on the love, and saying he needs mental help but not jail time.

Here’s Uma before her taping of The Late Show with David Letterman on April 16. Images thanks to PR Photos.

People Magazine used to have fifty “Most Beautiful People” every year. Apparently the population of Hollywood has just gotten too damn attractive, because now we’re up to 100. The thing is, there aren’t 100 hot people in Hollywood that haven’t been in the magazine before, so People ends up recycling the same people every couple of years, and that gets a little dull. Yes we know Clooney and Pitt are hot, can we move on please? There’s really nothing new to say about their hotness.

This year, the most beautiful woman is Kate Hudson. I don’t really see it though. She’s certainly not ugly – she’s got a nice face and a great body. But I don’t think there’s anything unusually gorgeous about her. And after staring at the People cover long enough, I’ve decided that her jaw line leaves something to be desired.

Heading the list of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People is a 29-year-old mother remarkably short on her beauty sleep – for which she lovingly credits her active 4-year-old son. The beautiful, sleep-deprived mom? Kate Hudson, People reveals in its special issue, which goes on sale Friday.

Was she always such a head-turner? Admits the actress: “I was a tomboy. I had three brothers. I was the girl with the dress on that always came back in the house filthy with scrapes and bruises. But I was always very girly. I had to be able to twirl so that my underwear showed.”

Her best time for looking good, she says, comes “at the end of the night, when everything’s soaked in and I’m still up. I like the leftover makeup in the morning. You’ve got to wash your face but there’s always the leftover eye makeup, I love that.”

[From People]

Alright, so some deep thoughts from Kate Hudson there. According to People, Kate will also be talking about Owen Wilson in the article – which isn’t on newsstands until Friday. Something tells me whatever revealing tidbit they have will be something along the lines of, “He’s wonderful/we’re just really great friends.”

E! gives a breakdown of some of the more interesting stats on some of the Most Beautiful.

* Age range: 67-year-old Raquel Welch tops the list in one direction, while 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, who’s probably preparing an apology as we speak for being so darn lovely, caps the other side
* Making her record 12th appearance on the list: Halle Berry
* Musicians/singers: 18
* Athletes: 5
* Career models: 1 (Go Iman!)
* Hot by association: George Clooney girlfriend Sarah Larson; Sean Combs ex Kim Porter; Jessica Alba baby daddy Cash Warren; rock-and-roll muses Pattie Boyd (George Harrison and Eric Clapton), Marisol Thomas (hubby Rob Thomas) and Vanessa Marcil (Prince’s “Most Beautiful” girl in the world)
* Made even hotter because of how funny they are: Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Ellen Page, Isla Fisher, Heidi Montag (although that last one might be unintentional)
* People singled out just for their neck tattoos: 12, including Kelly Osbourne and Pink

[From E! News]

I didn’t realize neck tattoos were such a big things – certainly not to the point of twelve percent of the Most Beautiful People having them. Maybe that’s what I’m missing. Alright, well I’m off to the tattoo parlor, where I’ll be reading about beautiful people and feeling really, really inadequate.

Here’s Kate Hudson with Matthew McConaughey at the “Fool’s Gold” London premiere on April 10th. She’s definitely cute and spunky, I’ll give her that. Images thanks to PR Photos.

- Some of the greatest pictures ever: Which one is Sharon Stone and which is Clay Aiken? [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
- Rumer Willis Is One Of The Beautiful People. Huh. [Dlisted]
- Jennifer Hudson was spotted at LAX airport yesterday. Seeing stars at the airport is always a great way to find out what they really look like [Bossip]
- Helen Hunt makes her feature-film directing debut with Then She Found Me, which also offers her a starring role for which she’s particularly well suited [Pajiba]
- A TSA agent drunk on power versus Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg [Defamer]
- Emmy Rossum looking gorgeous at the Scarlet Series launch party in Hollywood [Celebslam]
- Britney Spears was photographed meandering around a hotel gym yesterday barefoot and in nothing but a towel. Let’s hear it for ring worm and athlete’s foot! [Yeeeah!]
- Chris Brown Is The New Usher [I'm Not Obsessed]
- Kim & Khloe Kardashian @ Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. I can’t tell if Khloe is as ugly as I think [The Bastardly]
- Us Weekly reports in its latest issue that Jessica Simpson is calling Tony Romo her “future husband.” That might not be wise [In Case You Didn't Know]
- More of Amy Smart’s black taped nipples (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
- Benji Madden has written a love song for Paris Hilton. The Good Charlotte rocker penned ‘Shine Your Light’ in tribute to his girlfriend, who he has been dating for two months. Gross. Just ’cause it’s Paris [Hollywood Rag]
- Michael Bay Rebuffs Uwe Boll’s Romantic Gestures [Agent Bedhead]
- New York City Leads World in Pot Arrests [Cityrag]
- Did you know Disney sells lingerie? And it’s more than a little creepy [Crazy Days and Nights]
- Dina Lohan Does Enough Partying For the Whole Family. Dina was partying and dancing all night long after the Made of Honor premiere on Monday [Popsugar]
- Tori Spelling, husband Dean McDermott & son Liam Run Errands In West Hollywood [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
- New pictures from yesterday of Halle Berry, and as you can tell, something about her has changed since she had a baby [WWTDD]
- Run for Your Lives! There’s a Lion On the Loose in NYC!!! (Or what we call a Sarah Jessica Parker) [Websters is my Bitch]
- Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst are dating. Kiki just got outta rehab. Word is, they’re inseparable to the point that she’s now bringing him with her to 12 step meetings [Lainey Gossip]
- Other than the awful potato sack of a dress, Liv Tyler looks lovely as usual. But that sack dress trend needs to end [The Skinny]
- Brace yourself for this one. Useless Heidi Montag is defending Miley Cyrus’ topless photoshoot [Derek Hail]
- Amazing State-By-State American Idol Breakdown [Best Week Ever]
- If you thought horndog sitcom star Charlie Sheen had sworn off hookers many years ago, you’re wrong, according to a former Los Angeles madam [Mollygood]
- Christina Ricci looks like a cult member with her crazy eyes and white coat ensemble [Jezebel]
- Carrie Underwood has the smile of the year [Popbytes]

David Blaine astonishingly broke the world record for breath holding today on Oprah. Suspended in the same sphere he used at Lincoln center two years ago for his week long stint underwater, he held out for 17 minutes and 4 seconds, a full 1/2 minute longer than the last record set less than three months ago by Swiss free diver Peter Colat.

Part of Blaine’s preparation for the stunt involved sleeping in a low-oxygen tent for a month. The tent replicates a high altitude environment and helps build red blood cells and increase oxygen transport throughout the body. He also went to the Caymen Islands and practiced free diving, which is where you swim deeply into the water without a mask. He helped his body to endure for so long without air by breathing pure oxygen for up to a half hour before he went underwater, which is allowed under Guinness rules.

The AP Reports that he told Oprah it was “A lifelong dream” after he emerged from the tank. He added: “I can’t believe I did that.”

Blaine became known for his on-the-spot magic tricks in his David Blaine: Street Magic show which aired 10 years ago on ABC. He has since moved on to public endurance feats including being suspended in a spinning sphere for two days in 2007, living in a water globe in Lincoln Center for a week in 2006, going without food in a Lucite box over the Thames River in London for 44 days in 2003, getting enclosed in a block of ice for three days in 2000, and buried in a coffin for a week in 1999. With this latest stunt he’s shown that he’s not just a masochist exhibitionist and that he really has the chops to break a very difficult world record.

I didn’t believe Blaine would be able to do this as he seemed to make it his mission just a few months ago, but he pulled through. As Ali G would say: “Respect.”

Here’s a quick video without sound. I’ll update the post with a better one that includes his remarks to Oprah as soon as it’s available. There are also two video blogs on YouTube which explain his preparation.

Update: Here’s the video of Blaine completing the challenge. His heart beat was raised throughout, and his doctor was worried that he wouldn’t be able to finish because he was using up more oxygen by not being able to lower his heart rate. Toward the end his heart rate slowed and started beating irregularly:

David Blaine is shown at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Redbelt premiere on 4/25/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

As nice as it must be to be famous and wealthy, I really think I’d rather be a platypus than Katie Holmesbot. Which is ironic, because Tom Cruise tends to treat his wife the way I imagine a wayward platypus should be treated. Katie has been forced to go to Scientology “boot camp” according to Star magazine. Though boot camp sounds a lot more like what cult experts call “reprogramming.” Apparently Katie had an original, independent thought, and that freaked Tom out. So he shipped her off to have her circuits rewired – though we’re not sure if she’s as good as new yet.

In the new issue of Star, we report exclusively on how Katie was recently secluded for three days at Gold Base, the remote, supersecret Scientology compound in Hemet, Calif., where she was put through a demanding schedule.

“It included various tests, confession sessions, tons of reading and physically challenging purification processes,” a Scientology insider reveals. “Tom insists that auditing and purification practices are incredibly beneficial to Scientologists at all levels.”

Katie’s intensive Scientology training and treatments have been accelerated in recent weeks, says another source, because she wanted to go to New York City without Tom to star in a Broadway play. But Tom stepped in and put the kibosh on her plans. And now Katie’s been going in for a series of intensive auditing sessions, some which have lasted for 36 hours straight — with little sleep or food.

[From Star]

I’m pretty sure that along with her GPS tracking chip, Tom also had some kind of Frankenstein-esq nodules installed onto Katie’s neck while she was at “Gold Base.” He can hook her up whenever he wants, charge her batteries, and reprogram her wiring to revert Katie to her factory default settings of “Blank.” And then fill her with whatever information or personality he wants. Though from recent interviews, it seems like she must be low on disk space or something, because Tom hasn’t installed much personality onto Holmesbot. Luckily she’s been reprogrammed, so I’m guessing that whole New York thing isn’t going to happen.

Header photo thanks to Popbytes.

Billy Bob Thornton’s 14-year-old son Willie has been dating – and involved in a sexual relationship – with a 22-year-old woman, according to TMZ. The website reports that the woman’s ex-boyfriend got jealous of their relationship and reported it to the Los Angeles Police Department. Regardless of the motivation, that was definitely the right thing for the guy to do.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Billy Bob Thornton’s son is at the center of a criminal investigation — the alleged victim of “unlawful sex.”

Here’s what we know. Willie Thornton, age 14, was dating a 22-year-old woman. Her ex-boyfriend apparently became jealous. Sources say the ex called the LAPD, informing them his former GF was having sex with a minor.

Law enforcement sources tell us there is an “active investigation” into the crime of “unlawful sex” — translated, an adult having sex with someone under 18. We’re told Willie is cooperating with the sex crimes unit. And, we’re told, cops have also interviewed Billy Bob.

[From TMZ]

This is definitely pedophilia, at least according to the ever-prestigious Dateline definition. The woman is 8 years Thornton’s senior. Whenever an older woman seduces a younger boy (think of all those teachers you see on television for sleeping with students in the last few years) a lot of people joke about how lucky that guy is. But let’s be honest – a 14-year-old boy is not capable of making smart decisions about relationships or sex. Something like this could have a lasting, negative psychological impact on Thornton. It seems like police are taking this case seriously – and hopefully will pursue charges.

Photos of Billy Bob Thornton with girlfriend Connie Angland at the Astronaut Farmer Los Angeles premiere on February 20th, 2007. Images thanks to PR Photos.