Test For You: Lindsay Lohan's Lovers

As part of her recent stint in rehab, Lindsay Lohan apparently had to write down a list of all her former lovers.  Perhaps predictably, that list has now leaked to the public. 

Seeing THIS headline in the New York Daily News,  about how many of the names on it were Hollywood celebrities, suddenly confronted me with an unexpected test that would give me insight on my very soul. Do I click on that link to view the photograph of the actual list, handwritten by Lindsay Lohan herself? 

There are two types of people in the world, I think: those who eagerly view a purloined list like that (hoping for a scandalously long list of famous names), and those others who don't bother, who genuinely don't care.

Which type are you?

What's More Unlikely?

 What's more unlikely?

That back in the 1980s, Al Sharpton was a confidential informant for the FBI who used a specially designed briefcase to record conversations with New York-based mobsters that ultimately led to the downfall of, among others, Genovese crime boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante?

Or that, before he became famous, Rodney Dangerfield had worked as a door-to-door aluminum siding salesman, and in 1955 was busted for fraudulently taking out loans in the names of his customers?

Women Auditioned To Be Tom Cruise's Next Wife

Vanity Fair magazine is reporting that the Church of Scientology once embarked on a 'top secret project' to find Tom Cruise a wife before he married Katie Holmes in which, "actresses who were already Scientology members were called in." 

In 2004, an actress was selected for this "very important mission." But Tom Cruise allegedly grew tired of her. She was banished to a Scientology facility in Florida and forced to do manual labor.

You can watch a 3 minute segment about these revelations from NBC's Today show HERE.

Want To Feel Old?

Harrison Ford, of Han Solo and Indiana Jones fame, turns 70 today, according to THIS article in The Washington Post.

Man With 15 "Miley Cyrus" Tattoos

A 39 year old British man apparently has adorned his body with 15 tattoos related to the teenage singer Miley Cyrus. You can see a photo of him on MSNBC HERE.  (My favorite is the way he has her name written across his chest in that 'gangster-gothic' font.)

How Do Scientologists Divorce?

News that Katie Holmes has filed for divorce from Tom Cruise spurred THIS Good Morning America article analyzing how the Church of Scientology handles divorce.

"The Church of Scientology, however, is much clearer on the rituals and practices of marriage than it is on divorce, according to experts and the church's own official website. Rather than focus on divorce, the church concentrates on improving couples' relationships through therapy.

"'There's no real annulment in the church. Many members have been divorced, even founder L. Ron Hubbard was married three times,' Kent said. The church does not allow members to have contact with disconnected, or excommunicated members of the faith, making divorce inevitable sometimes when one spouse wants to continue in the faith and another wants to leave the church, according to Kent. 'If one person wants to stay in church, he can't have contact with someone who holds doubts or criticism of the group. The doubter is called a PTS, potential trouble source.'"

"Shoe Queen" Sued For Hiding Shoes

"Daniel Shak claims Beth Shak never told him about her stockpile of 1,200 pairs of designer shoes when they divorced three years ago.The finance titan, who had shared a Fifth Avenue pad with Beth, claims that she hid the collection from him — possibly in a 'secret room' — and that its value may entitle him to hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their divorce settlement.

"Beth is known as one of the world’s top footwear aficionados. Her collection has been featured in media outlets from The Post to MTV’s Cribs. She even has an image of a Christian Louboutin stiletto tattooed on a private area of her body.

“I’m shaking my head over this whole thing,” Beth said. “He is saying he didn’t know the closet in our master bedroom existed.”

You can read more in the New York Post HERE.

Whitney Houston's Body Like Michael Jackson's

While flipping TV channels yesterday, I stumbled on a report about some personal details in Whitney Houston's autopsy.  Her autopsy report was apparently released back in April.  (You can read about it on the ABC News website HERE.)  But some of this was news to me.

In addition to the widely reported details about the indicia of long-term cocaine abuse, the report apparently also noted that Houston wore a wig, had dentures (perhaps as a result of drug abuse), and had had multiple plastic surgeries, including breast implants.

I immediately thought of Michael Jackson, and wondered whether some of the forces that caused him to die as an emaciated, drug-addicted, wig wearing shell of his former self, disfigured by years of plastic surgery, might have been industry-related (and/or tied to our modern 'culture of celebrity') and not just personal demons stemming in part from a lost childhood.

More Allegations About Travolta Emerge

I've been surprised that the recent spate of stories about John Travolta's alleged pattern of 'harassing' male massage therapists over a number of years hasn't made more news.  Maybe this new story, about a six year affair he allegedly had with his male pilot, might break more into the mainstream. You can read it in the New York Post HERE.

I'd like to think that this story hasn't made much mainstream news to date because the allegations are unconfirmed, and so it's a shining example of journalistic ethics.  But I wonder whether the story's relatively  low profile may really be an indication of  how Travolta's star has faded in recent years.

White House Crasher's New "Journey"

Do you remember when Michaele and Tareq Salahi made big news in 2009 by crashing a White House state dinner? Well, they made some news again last night.  According to THIS article from CNN, on Tuesday Tareq called police and reported his wife missing, presumed kidnapped. It turns out, however (you can not make this up), that she had run away with the guitarist for 1980s rock band Journey, Neal Schon.

Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Memorabilia For Sale

What is Debbie Reynolds most famous for?  Her own movie stardom?  That Elizabeth Taylor famously broke up her marriage to Eddie Fisher?  That she is the mother of Carrie ("Princess Leia") Fisher?  The answer may depend on your age.

What few know is that Debbie Reynolds also owns one of the largest and most prestigious collections of Hollywood memorabilia in the world.  (Yes "owns": she's still alive.) According to the 3 minute segment below from the Today show,  it's all going up for auction now, however. In this clip Debbie Reynolds shows the reporter some of the amazing pieces she's acquired over the years. It really is astounding. 

I've actually seen her collection before.  Back in the mid-1990s it was housed for a few brief years at the "Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel & Casino" in Las Vegas.  That is, until 1997, when the casino was forced to declare bankruptcy and the building was sold to the World Wrestling Federation, who wanted to establish their own theme casino. (This goes unmentioned in the Today show segment, for whatever reason.)

I went there several times in 1996 and 1997.   I'm not a gambler.  So when I've found myself in Las Vegas over the years, I've made pilgrimages to almost every non-gambling attraction there.  Much like the Liberace Museum, which was located in this little strip mall well off the Las Vegas Strip, I was initially shocked that the interior of "The Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel & Casino," housing this much-ballyhooed collection of movie memorabilia (including, ironically, several impressive pieces from Elizabeth Taylor's 1963 film Cleopatra), was, to put it bluntly, tired and shabby. It was surprising and a little off-putting to be walking around looking at all these elaborate pieces of Hollywood history, many of them famous and perhaps 'priceless,' all left relatively unguarded in this dimly lit (and largely empty) second rate casino.  You can watch a 5 minute clip of what it was like in 1996 HERE. If you watch the clip below from the Today show first, it's interesting to then view this clip from 1996 and see how these multi-million dollar pieces of memorabilia were displayed just 15 years ago in Las Vegas.

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CHiPs Star Charged With Securities Fraud

Do you remember the 1970s TV show about two California Highway Patrolmen called "CHiPs"?  It was huge in its day, and ended up running from 1977-1983. Erik Estrada (at left in that photo), who played "Ponch," became the much bigger star of the two.  


The actor who played "Jon,"  Larry Wilcox (right), has just been charged with securities fraud. He is alleged to have been involved in a classic 'pump and dump' scheme involving penny stocks, among other things. You can read more about it on the Wall Street Journal website HERE. 


The quote they pulled from the website of Larry Wilcox's own company was pretty bemusing.  The UC Hub Group, "is currently focused on Precious Metals, Gems and the Oil and Gas Industry. The Company is also focused to [sic] increase the value for shareholders by doing the proper due diligence to prove economic validity for the acquisition of the target systems, operations, company or companies."

When I was in college 20 years ago, a friend of mine swore that he once saw Larry Wilcox scalping tickets to a football game outside the LA Coliseum.  I had been sure that was a case of mistaken identity.

More From Mel Gibson (Crazed Or Crazy?)

Another clip of a telephone conversation between Mel Gibson and his estranged girlfriend was released today by Radar Online. You can listen to it HERE. Mel Gibson sounds in this 8 minute clip like he has totally lost control of himself.  He's screaming at her and ranting until he's breathless.   


The headline-making part comes at the very end, when Mel Gibson seems to acknowledge that he had hit her in the face previously while she was holding their child in her arms.  ("You deserved it.") But I found another exchange perhaps as revealing.  When she asserts that he needs medication, Mel spits back, "Medication?!?  I don't need medication! You need a f**king bat to the side of the head!"  


At the risk of getting a bat to the side of the head, I must admit that I, too, think he sounds in this clip like he needs some medication.

Listen To Mel Gibson's "Explosive, Racist Rant"

Mel Gibson's career in Hollywood might now be over in light of recent revelations that in conversations with his estranged girlfriend (which she taped), Gibson admitted hitting her ("because you deserved it") and then spouted a stream of threats and abuse at her including racial slurs. You can listen to a 2 minute segment of this taped conversation released just last night by Radar Online HERE. It's pretty shocking.  This is all on top of the anti-semitic remarks he admitted making when he was arrested for DUI in  2006.


I really loved the Road Warrior movies a kid, as well as the Lethal Weapon films. In 2003, Mel Gibson was actually set to star in a fourth Road Warrior movie to be called Fury Road. I was really looking forward to that.  But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan preempted the filming, which was to start in Namibia, because of heightened security concerns.  And then Gibson went on to make The Passion of the Christ instead and never looked back. I had held out hope that he just might go back and do that film now, as a way to restore his public image.  


That is, until this morning.  After you listen to that audio, I think it's impossible to conceive of paying to see any future movie he appears in, or to believe him playing any such role. His talent agency, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, has also just dropped him following the release of this audio tape last night. 

007 Daniel Craig: Just Acting With The Bond Girls?

I've liked James Bond since childhood, and still do.  I grew up in the Roger Moore era, but like most people I still think Sean Connery was the best Bond. Though I've enjoyed almost all of the movies in the series no matter who starred. That's why this item in The National Enquirer HERE caught my eye this afternoon.  Apparently the current Bond, Daniel Craig, was spotted kissing another man recently in the parking lot of a Venice, California bar after a night of drinking and dancing with him.


Just last month, the production of the next James Bond movie was put on hold indefinitely because of financial trouble at MGM (see the article in Variety HERE).  What's the old saying about finding work for idle hands...

"Fergie" Sells Access To Prince Andrew For £500K

Have you seen the news that the Dutchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of England's Prince Andrew, has just been caught in a sting by a British tabloid accepting cash in exchange for access to her former (and unsuspecting) husband? 


The News of the World is published once a week and is the most popular newspaper in Britain.  When I lived in London years ago I would buy it each Sunday morning along with the Sunday Times.   You can imagine which paper my wife and I would both reach for first after I got home.  The News of the World is notorious for its ability to ensnare the rich and famous in these types of embarrassing (and sometimes criminal) hidden camera stings. 


You can watch an amazing 4 minute clip of Sarah Ferguson negotiating this dirty deal in a London hotel by clicking HERE.  Cigarette in one hand and a wine glass in the other, the Dutchess is clearly a long way from her days pitching Weight Watchers on TV here in the United States.  In one such clip from the Today show in 2006 (which you can see HERE), Fergie says to Al Roker with a smile at the start,  "I wake up and it's a bad day and I think, 'reach for the cookie jar.'  And Weight Watchers say 'no.'"  


I bet that she's grabbing for some cookies this morning.

Tiki Barber Has An "Intern Problem" Too

Tiki Barber: not you, too !?!  Six months ago who would have believed that both Tiger Woods and ex-New York Giant turned NBC broadcaster Tiki Barber would both be revealed to be cheating on their wives in some fairly extreme ways? After all, they had distinguished themselves by carefully cultivating these incredibly squeaky clean public personae as devoted family men.  


But 35 year-old Tiki Barber confirmed today that he has been having a long-term affair with a 23 year old NBC intern. (She had been telling her own family that she was merely babysitting his children, ages 6 and 7.) Barber also confirmed that he and his wife of 11 years are now splitting, despite the fact that she is 8 months pregnant with twins.  You can read the entire story in the New York Daily News HERE.

Tiger Woods Slept With Neighbor's Daughter

Oh no, Tiger. Say it aint so?  According to a report in today's New York Post that you can read HERE, in addition to the VIP cocktail waitresses and porn stars, Tiger Woods also slept with the college-age daughter of one of his neighbors down the street from his Florida home. The girl was 14 years old when they first met, reportedly, and is now 22.  Some of the details are too prurient for me to write here.  But you can easily read them by clicking on that link to the article.  


Here's a small sample of less dirty detail. "He began making out with Coudriet inside his SUV Escalade -- the same car he would crash in his driveway on Thanksgiving weekend when his life became unraveled -- just yards from his home in Isleworth, Fla. He then took the girl to his office so they could have some privacy."  Oh, and of course there are more dirty texts from him.....

And Tiger Woods Is Apparently Cheap, Too

In its next issue, Vanity Fair magazine will be publishing an expose probing deeper into the details of Tiger Woods' relationships with his various mistresses, and the enablers surrounding Tiger who made it all happen.  Vanity Fair has just put selected quotes from the upcoming article on their website, which you can read HERE.  There's some really amazing stuff in there.  The Today show did an 8 minute segment on this article this morning (revealing even more than is on the website), which I've embedded below.  Here's just a small bit of what's revealed:

• Several mistresses apparently said that Tiger Woods was, according to the article, "exceedingly cheap." One noted that the only meal he ever bought her was a sandwich from Subway.  A chicken wrap, in fact.  Tiger called her from the Subway and asked her what she wanted, she said. 
• Tiger had apparently become a big money gambler in La Vegas, and was sometimes seen in exclusive VIP lounges there which at times would be occupied by only he and Michael Jordan, each betting up to $30,000 a hand.

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Video Montage of Famous Public Apologies

Following Tiger Woods' 13 minute televised statement yesterday morning,  BBC World News America last night aired a 3 minute video montage of other famous public apologies over the last 20 years or so.  Strung together like this, it really is an amazing litany of tearful apologies by famous American men in the wake of various public scandals (mostly adultery), made all the more remarkable for their sameness when juxtaposed like this, one right after another.  Politicians. Athletes. Actors. They're all there. You can watch it by clicking HERE.