14 year-old child actress Dakota Fanning made an appearance at a ball for Lupus LA yesterday and she looked years older than the last time I remember seeing her. She has her braces off and she’s absolutely beautiful. The last event photos I could find of Fanning were from about a year ago and she looked like a little girl at that point.

Fanning has quite a few movies coming up, only one of which is in pre-production. She has Winged Creatures, Push, The Secret Life of Bees, and Coraline due for release and it’s possible she still looks like a little girl in those films since they’ve already been shot. In Coraline, which is in post production and is due out in February of next year, she plays a girl who discovers “an alternate version of her life,” and in The Secret Life of Bees she plays a 14 year-old girl who runs away from home and is befriended by a group of beekeeping women in 1960s South Carolina. That’s due out in October.

I guess that’s what happens when teenagers grow up, but it’s amazing to see the transformation in her. She’s sure to be taking on more teen roles. Fanning seems like a smart girl who has a lot of hobbies. Wikipedia lists her interests as knitting, swimming, piano, violin, ballet, and horseback riding. Hopefully she’ll stay involved with extra curricular activities and won’t let the cesspool of Hollywood suck her in as she gets older.

Dakota Fanning on 5/1/08

Dakota Fanning on 3/31/07

Unlike a lot of celebrities of late, R&B singer Usher actually has some integrity – at least when it comes to selling his kid. Usher says he won’t be “pimping” out his son to magazines for some quick cash. Lately seeing how much you can get for your baby has become quite the high priced, obsessive competition amongst celebrities. Diva Christina Aguilera was said to be pissed that her kid didn’t fetch as much as Nicole Richie’s.

Usher says that he doesn’t view his son that way, and won’t be selling him to the tabloids.

Finally, there’s one celebrity who refuses to cash in on parenthood by selling baby pictures to a magazine. “In no way would I ever pimp out my child for money,” Usher told Page Six. The pop singer - upset by rumors he was trying to sell photos of his infant son, Usher Raymond V, and eager to defend his wife, Tameka, and his upcoming album, “Here I Stand” - wants to set the record straight.

“I am livid that people talk about my child,” Usher told us. In fact, he has posed - for free - with his son for an “incredible” Father’s Day cover for Essence magazine.

“What makes you a man more than being a father to your child? I recognize I gave anonymity away when I became an artist, but to have people try to paint a horrible picture of what’s so beautiful - it’s obvious someone is trying to stop something so beautiful.”

[From Page Six]

Good for him. Last week Diane Clehane, a writer for the Huffington Post, wrote a very persuasive article blasting celebrities for looking at their new babies as paydays. She criticized J-Lo, Aguilera, and Richie for making exorbitant demands for the exclusive rights to photographs their infant.

Clehane noted that some couples conducted themselves with a great deal of dignity. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes all either offered photo ops for free, or donated the entire proceeds to charities. Hopefully Usher’s comments might sway other celebs to behave in a more dignified manner.

Here’s Usher and Tameka Foster leaving a party thrown by the Beckhams at Via Veneto restaurant in Santa Monica on April 20th. Images thanks to WENN.

Hulk Hogan was hosting the NBC competition American Gladiators when he attempted to entertain the crowd in a break between filming. He put on one of his daughter Brooke’s music videos and was met with boos and calls from the audience to shut it off.

“American Gladiators” host Hulk Hogan bored his studio audience… when he showed them his daughter’s latest music video.

“Boo! Make it stop - please!”

That was the general sentiment of rowdy audience members at the April 13 taping of the NBC show when Brooke’s video played on the jumbo screen during a break.

“We though we’d be entertained by some of the sexy gladiators during breaks in filming, but instead, we got a snooze fest,” grumbled an audience member.

“This horrible music started playing, and then the video of this ‘wannabe Britney’ appeared on the jumbo screen. Everyone in the place looked confused….

“When we realized Hulk was just trying to promote Brooke’s new record, people started shouting, ‘Stop the music, Hulk. Please turn it off!’” said a source.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 12, 2008]

The news came out last week that Brooke Hogan was denied admission to three universities in Florida over concerns that her “Hogan Knows Best” reality show would be filming on campus. At least she has her music career to fall back if she has trouble getting an education.

Here’s one of Brooke Hogan’s music videos, “Everything To Me.” It may not be the one that angered the American Gladiator crowd, but it’s pretty painful:

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Brooke Hogan and Ashley Menendez at the BBF (Broker Boxing Federation) Miami at Mansion nightclub in Miami Beach on April 10th. Images thanks to WENN.

I don’t know how it happened, but it seems that someone’s gotten to Tom Cruise – and I’m going to guess it’s someone in PR. Though it boggles my mind, Tom actually gave a reasonably normal and rational (at least for him) interview with Oprah – and from Us Weekly’s excerpts, it seems that the two got along well, though Oprah admitted to being a little hesitant at first.

Tom explains that he jumped on Oprah’s couch because he was just “so in love” with Katie Holmes, and he didn’t know how else to express it. As delusional as he can be, he seems to at least be able to understand that the results weren’t a great thing for his career.

Cruise tells Winfrey, “I just felt that way, and I feel that way about her. I can’t even articulate it, to be honest,” he adds. “That feeling, that connection. Just who she is and what she means to me.”

Of the negative response to his couch jumping, Cruise says, “It just kind of kept going. Those things I kind of go, ‘You just have to take in stride.’ It just kind of became a confluence of things.”

[From Us Magazine]

Tom even goes on to say that he’s relaxed his views about psychiatric medication a little bit. He had freaked out on Matt Lauer about the issue a few weeks following the Oprah couch jumping. Tom obviously still doesn’t support it, but is at least smart enough to say that it should be a parent’s decision.

Tom also says that he regretted criticizing Brooke Shields, who admitted to taking Paxil for post-partum depression. He doesn’t say he thinks she made a good decision, but says he regrets mentioning her in any way.

“I was feeling pressed in the interview with Matt Lauer,” Cruise says. “For me, my issue was really about child drugging. It’s not like it is today, like people are really kind of openly talking about this.”

(Cruise now says of medicating children, “I think the parent should be able to and should make that decision.”)

[From Us Magazine]

Tom glosses over some issues, like whether he thinks he’s targeted more for being a Scientologist, the reasons he and Katie waited so long to “debut” Suri, and the insinuation that his marriage to Katie Holmes is fake. But he actually does admit that he’s made some mistakes and could have done some things better.

It’s hard to tell if he really means it, but at least he’s got some better PR advice and knows to say it. In the past Tom has been so egocentric that he couldn’t seem to even understand how poorly he was coming across. It’ll be really interesting to see the interview in its entirety, which airs this afternoon.

Header photo of Tom and Katie at the LACMA’s Opening Celebration of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles on February 2nd. Images thanks to PR Photos.

- Someone let Paris Hilton into a pet store again. You know how regular stores have signs that say, “No Food, No Drinks, No Animals?” I think pet stores should have a sign that says, “No Food, No Drinks, No Paris Hilton.” It’s important to the animals’ safety [Dlisted]
- Iron Man opens today, and has scored an incredibly impressive 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes [Lainey Gossip]
- Gwyneth Paltrow has No Love For Brad Pitt [Fafarazzi]
- Beyonce Knowles - who is worth a reported $100 million, has a prenup with Jay Z that’s worth $25 million [Bossip]
- Pajiba also thinks Iron Man is pretty kickass [Pajiba]
- Rumors are flying that America Ferrera is engaged to her long term, film maker boyfriend, Ryan Piers Williams [I'm Not Obsessed]
- Melissa Joan Hart brought her boys Mason, 2, and Braydon, 7 weeks, to the Motherhood Begins Now event launch for Pregnancy Awareness Month yesterday in LA [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
- Producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show made a last-minute attempt at blocking today’s Rosie O’Donnell-themed episode of The Rachael Ray Show. Very mature [Defamer]
- Pregnant Alessandra Ambrosio with her boyfriend and sister shopping at Kitson Boutique and Kitson Kids in L.A [Hollywood Rag]
- Victoria Silvstedt @ A Lebanese Children Benefit Event in Monaco. That woman has one hell of a scary face [The Bastardly]
- Britney Spears has her bikini body back and visiting time with her boys [CityRag]
- Vince Vaughn: The Black Suit May Obscure the Weight Gain, But Check Out the Eye Baggage [Websters is my Bitch]
- Lily Allen seems to feel the need to bare her nipples on her 23rd birthday (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
- Jenna Jameson on drugs? Say it ain’t so [The Blemish]
- Mariah Carey Got Married Without A Prenup [Yeeeah!]
- Lindsay Lohan’s close friend Samantha Ronson has filed a lawsuit against her former attorneys, after the firm sued her for unpaid legal fees [In Case You Didn't Know]
- Madonna gets her pimp look on. It’s easily one of the top 100 scariest Madonna looks I’ve ever seen [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
- John Mayer’s latest entry is devoted to the number one love of his life - no, not Jennifer Aniston. His hair. [Agent Bedhead]
- Katie Holmes Says A Bad Word in an interview with Vanity Fair. Are Scientologists allowed to do that? [Crazy Days and Nights]
- Mary-Kate Olsen cheered animatedly from her rinkside seat at last night’s New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins playoff game at Madison Square Garden. Supposedly, she even bared her teeth, or what the rest of us call “smiling.” [Popsugar]
- Ignition interlocks: A good idea for Lindsay Lohan [WWTDD]
- New pictures of Heidi Montag looking all plastic and preening for the cameras recently at the David Letterman show in NYC [The Skinny]
- Joss Stone and Cat Deeley are friendly [Derek Hail]
- Most Awkward Video of the Week: Bill O’Reilly Vs. Bob Costas [Best Week Ever]
- Pete Doherty is being released from prison after serving 29 days of a 98-day sentence for parole violations [Mollygood]
- Hilary Swank Deals With Low Cloud Cover [Jezebel]
- More not-so-attractive pics of Lily Allen Celebrating Her 23rd Birthday [Popbytes]
- Lindsay Lohan Back in Talks with Ugly Betty [ShowHype]

American Pie star Jason Biggs eloped on April 23rd with his girlfriend Jenny Mollen. The two met while filming the movie My Best Friend’s Girl, and apparently fell madly in love pretty quickly. According to OK! Magazine, this past October Biggs, 29, said in an interview, “I am in love for the first time. I wanna put a baby in her belly.” That’s quite the statement to make, especially so publicly. So far, nothing’s been said indicating Biggs has already put a baby in Mollen’s belly – but I’m sure that, given his proclamation, rumors will start swirling pretty soon.

American Pie star Jason Biggs can now call Jenny Mollen his wife. A rep for the actor tells OK!, “The two eloped in a private, intimate ceremony on Wednesday, April 23, in Los Angeles.”

Though Jason and Jenny still plan on having a proper wedding ceremony with family and friends in July in Napa, Calif., the couple chose this path to keep the distractions out. “It is the real deal,” a friend of the newlyweds tells OK! “I have never known two people more in love.”

And right from the beginning of their relationship, Jason, 29, didn’t hesitate to let the world know his feelings about his sweetheart. In an Oct. 2007 interview, he announced, “I am in love for the first time. I wanna put a baby in her belly.”

The couple met on the set of their movie My Best Friend’s Girl and became engaged shortly after. For the sake of their marriage, let’s hope there was a wedding cake at the reception — and not an apple pie!

[From OK! Magazine]

My Best Friend’s Girl is set to be released on September 20th. Given that, it doesn’t seem as though Biggs and Mollen have known each other all that long – but it’s certainly no Mariah Carey/Nick Cannon situation.

Whenever I imagine a couple eloping, I picture them jetting off to some exotic locale, or at least somewhere that involves taking a trip. Considering the couple lives in Los Angeles and got married there, it sounds less like an elopement and more like a quickie wedding. Either way, congratulations to the happy couple.

Here are Jenny Mollen and Jason Biggs at the “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” Los Angeles premiere on April 17th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Well the union between Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon appears to definitely be legit – the pair filed for a marriage license on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera, where Carey has a home, according to People magazine. It also appears that they wed at her estate on the exclusive island.

“Touch My Body” singer Mariah Carey, 38, got secretly hitched yesterday to her 27-year-old boyfriend after a one-month relationship, shocking the chart-topping songbird’s family and friends. Carey married TV actor Nick Cannon at the home she just bought in Eleuthera in the Bahamas, a source close to the singer said.

“They have been smitten with each other for days, weeks,” the friend said. “And she’s always had a crush on him.”

Carey and her boy toy had tongues wagging when she was seen sporting Cannon on her arm and a shiny ring on her finger at the Tribeca Film Festival. Asked what he loved about Carey, Cannon reportedly cooed “everything.”

“Everyone is happy to see her happy,” Carey’s friend told The Post. “And it could work out - some people know each other for five years and get divorced. Maybe this is true, instant love

[From the New York Post]

Well who could stand that feeling of being smitten for WEEKS? I mean that is just an intolerable length of time. The Post also says that Carey isn’t as dumb as we feared – she did get a quickie pre-nup. I didn’t know that was possible, but good for her for being somewhat smart while being fairly stupid. Linda Cannon – who People says is a relative of Nick’s, but doesn’t elaborate – says that after they married, Nick “called and told us all about it.”

While there’s still no official announcement, it seems like the pair probably did wed. My only suspicion was that Mariah was perhaps following the Ashlee Simpson school of thought (NEVER a good idea, no matter what the thought) of getting a lot of free press around the time of your CD release by starting a bunch of rumors you refuse to address. While that’s probably not what happened, the possibility is still sticking in my head, and I can’t help but wonder why Mariah chose to get married so quickly, and why right now.

Photos of Mariah showing off her 17-carat ring at the premiere of Tennessee at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Lisa Marie Presley won an apology from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, which implied that she was overweight and overeating. They published some very unflattering photos of Presley, which forced her to announce that she was actually pregnant – well before she planned on it. The Daily Mail didn’t just call Lisa Marie fat – they compared her to her father Elvis, who in his later years developed quite the voracious appetite.

Last month, Britain’s Daily Mail published a photo of Presley, dressed down and without makeup, eating with friends in Los Angeles, and the accompanying article said she was “growing just like her dad.”

Presley’s lawyers sued for libel, and on Friday the newspaper printed an apology. In fact, Presley, 40, felt forced to reveal her pregnancy secret two days after the article appeared. “I have had to show my cards and announce under the gun and under vicious personal attack that I am in fact pregnant,” she wrote on her MySpace Celebrity blog.

“My client is deeply upset and offended by this article, especially as it was widely published just as she and her family were meant to be celebrating her happy news,” her legal rep, Simon Smith, said at the time.

[From People]

I searched for the offending article, and it appears that the Daily Mail has removed it. Their apology is that typical terse stuff that somehow reads, “We’re technically apologizing for calling you fat, but only because we have to.”

On March 4, we published a photograph of Lisa Marie Presley while she was dining with friends. We suggested she might have an unhealthy appetite similar to her late father. We now accept that the suggestion is untrue and apologise to Ms Presley for any distress caused.

[From the Daily Mail]

Lisa Marie is believed to be expecting twins, but mom Priscilla was sort of tricked by a TMZ photog into answering the question. He asked, “How do you feel about Lisa having twins?” and she said “It feels great!”

The Daily Mail can provide some good articles once in a while, and has decent coverage of Brittan’s bigger stars. But at least a few times a week they seem to run out of stories to cover, and instead of finding something useful they find a bunch of unflattering photographs and dissect people’s appearance. I’d love to say that this will stop them, but there were no financial penalties, so I doubt it. But at least Lisa won a moral victory.

Here’s Lisa Marie Presley leaving Madeo restaurant with her husband Michael Lockwood on April 7th. Images thanks to WENN.

Amy Winehouse’s life has spun so completely out of control that she’s no longer able to work on her music anymore. At least if you ask her longtime producer and friend Mark Ronson. He worked on her Grammy-winning album “Back to Black,” and the pair had been in the studio off and on for the last month or so, trying to record the theme to the upcoming James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. However Mark had to scrap the plans, saying that Amy isn’t able to record music anymore.

Mark, 32, said: “We did work on it but we never finished it. I don’t think it will happen unless by some miracle it gets recorded and someone sings on it. I’m not sure Amy is ready to work on music yet.” The pair began collaborating on the track at Mark’s studio in Henley, Oxfordshire, last month but their sessions soon deteriorated.

Amy is upset that Mark, a key figure in her career who masterminded her second album Back To Black, has spoken publicly about their problems. And pals fear the rift will have long-term consequences for the troubled 24-year-old. One said: “Mark has always had a really good influence on Amy. He brought out the best in her and cared for her on a personal level.

“On a professional level he seems to be the only person who can get her into the studio. Without him encouraging her we’re worried.”

Amy’s spokesman said: “Mark presented a track to Amy, but she had other ideas about the direction it should take. We’re sure they will continue to make great music together.”

[From the Sun]

Everything else in Amy’s life has fallen apart. Until this most recent development, the only thing you could say Amy had going for herself was that at least she still had her music. Now that that’s no longer true… how much further does she have to fall before she officially reaches “rock bottom?” I’m not sure what’s left to get her to that point, except for more of the same.

When you list the things that normally bring a person to some sort of realization that things need to change, you normally think of things like overdoses, hospitalizations, fights, arrests, losing connections with family – all things Amy has gone through multiple times. Aside from the very worst, what else is left to happen here?

Here’s Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse performing at the Brit Awards on February 20th in London. Images thanks to WENN.

Once in a while, some celebrity comes up with some really great but really obvious idea. Okay rarely does that actually happen. But there certainly are a few exceptionally entrepreneurial celebs out there – and Sean “Puffy” Combs is one of the biggest. Puffy was on Jimmy Kimmel’s show the night, and said he’s starting a chauffeur service for drunken celebrities, to keep them off the road. It’s hard to tell if he’s joking or not – Kimmel seems to think he’s teasing, but Puffy seems to be talking seriously. He stole my idea, but whatever. If it keeps Lindsay Lohan off the streets, I’m fine with it.

As he mentioned in the clip, P-whatever-name-he’s-calling-himself got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday, and told people that he’s ready to make his way into acting.

“I think that it’s important for me to mature and evolve as an artist,” Combs tells PEOPLE at the From Harlem to Hollywood! ceremony honoring his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “I’m trying to get my Black Bruce Willis on.”

Despite being accustomed to A-list treatment, he’s looking forward to starting at the bottom of the acting totem pole. “I’m trying to get Michael Bay to shoot me, have a hot soundtrack,” Combs said, “But I also realize I have a lot of work to do as an actor and I gotta prove myself.”

[From People]

I think “I’m trying to get my Black Bruce Willis on” is one of the single greatest quotes I’ve heard in months. Say what you want about the guy, he’s the personification of the entrepreneurial spirit. And pretty soon, he may be saving lives – and dozens of celebrities from jail time. Except for Screech. But I think we’re all okay with that.