Why is Miley Cyrus always in the news?

Happy Tuesday to you all! Its been a pretty slow news day over all, unless you're obsessed with The Hills, Miley Cyrus, Hillary Duff or Dancing With The Stars. Unfortunately, I am not obsessed with any of those topics, but since that seems to be all there is in the gossip world today, I guess that's what this post will be about. Who knew I would one day long for Britney and Lindsay to be up to their old ways or be dying to hear about Paris' latest party? That's how unimpressed I am about the news today. Well, here it goes.

Of course, the biggest news today (well, actually yesterday, but who's counting?) was the whole Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair photo debacle. Miley issued an apology yesterday for some photos that were taken for the June issue of Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz. Now these photos are slightly more provocative than the usual Hannah Montana fare, but they're hardly Playboy material. You can look at them here and here and probably almost anywhere Google will take you.
Now, my problem isn't the fact that she felt the need to apologize for pictures that are more innocent than the candid ones that made their way to the web last week or the fact that she took them at all. My complaint is the unrelenting coverage this story is getting. Every B list and has been celebrity is putting their two cents in on this whole thing. Here's some examples:

Not everyone is bashing Miley Cyrus for stripping down for Vanity Fair. "I think she’s a young girl in Hollywood, and she’s just having fun," Heidi Montag told Extra. "[She]'s exploring herself.” Added beau Spencer Pratt, “I didn’t think it was that bad. Supposedly, she’s wearing a top underneath. It’s artistic.” Seems he and Lauren Conrad may finally have something to agree on. When asked about the racy pics, Conrad said, “I found it a bit silly. I thought she looked beautiful in the pictures. I didn’t find it that inappropriate. (source US WEEKLY)

And:

Rosie O'Donnell has Miley Cyrus's back. She's taken to her blog to defend the Disney star after her controversial Vanity Fair photographs set off a surge of criticism. "Leave Miley Cyrus alone," O'Donnell says in a video posted Monday night. "Disney [is] making her apologize. Ay yi yi." While some have described the portraits as too risqué – and PEOPLE.com readers deemed them "inappropriate" for a 15-year-old – O'Donnell finds them beautiful, she says, explaining that working with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz can be an intimidating experience. (source People.com)

And don't forget:

Hilary Duff, who knows better than most what it's like to be in the public eye at a young age, is not passing judgment on Miley Cyrus for the risqu´ photos for Vanity Fair
"Everyone goes through things and takes their own path," Duff said Monday a press event for her new movie War Inc. "Who am I to judge decisions that she made?"
Still, Duff says she would not have chosen the same path for herself. "People are pushing you to do something, and if you want to do it, that's your choice, you know?" added the singer-actress. "It's not what I would choose to do, but if she did then that's fine. That's her choice." (source People.com)

While its hardly surprising that the cast of The Hills felt the need to comment on this debacle, after all, they're famous for doing nothing, if they don't stay in the public eye people will forget about them. And Rosie O'Donnell is always sticking her nose in places it doesn't belong (I still love her though. I totally loved her talk show and though she made The View almost interesting.) As for Hillary Duff, well, as another survivor of a Disney Channel show, she's always asked for her opinion on Miley by the press and she's promoting a movie right now, so go figure. The whole thing is just ridiculous. Next thing you know, the President is going to be commenting on the situation. Though that's not too far fetched considering some of the things he's done in the name of pop culture.

On to other topics (though that one story knocked out three of my topics in one swoop), the current season of Dancing With the Stars has been an injury packed one, but the injuries were mainly focused on the pros. This week, the epidemic moved on to the "stars" in the "competition:

Despite his initial on-air diagnosis, Cristián de la Fuente's dancing injury may have been more serious than just a muscle cramp.
An ABC rep has confirmed to E! News that the Latin hot-stepper is paying a visit to a specialist this morning in advance of tonight's Dancing With the Stars results show—a trip that will not only reveal the true extent of his injury and whether surgery will be required but also determine whether he'll be able to continue on in the competition.
The injury brought his samba with pro partner Cheryl Burke to a near-screeching halt Monday, rendering his left arm lifeless and resulting in Tom Bergeron sending viewers to a premature commercial break.
After receiving his scores from the judges—sevens across the board—which he heard while holding an ice pack on his forearm, de la Fuente was moved on to a gurney and transported via ambulance to the hospital. (Source E Online)

Poor guy. It must suck to be selling out, I mean putting all of your energy into something just to get people to realize who you are I mean, learn something new and really challenging yourself, only to be cut down in your prime by an injury. For his sake, I hope it really is only a muscle cramp, though I doubt an arm injury would really dampen his appeal to the masses. Somehow, I don't think most of America is rooting for him because of his ballroom skills.

I could go on to talk about other Dancing With The Stars news, but I might fall asleep if I do, so I'm going to move on to one more little gossip tidbit before calling it a day.

It seems that Vivid Entertainment,those classy folks who brought us the Pamela Anderson sex tape (Pam just became a U.S. citizen. American plastic surgeons have been seen celebrating in the streets.), are about to release a Jimi Hendrix sex tape filmed forty years ago. Here's the info:

Vivid Entertainment, the company that brought you the X-rated shenanigans of Pamela Anderson and Kim Kardashian, among others, announced it has acquired from a memorabilia collector a sex tape featuring the late guitar god and plans to release it. According to a statement from Vivid, the Hendrix footage was filmed in a hotel room in the late 1960s, doesn't consist of any sound and has poor lighting. But it purportedly features the Axis: Bold as Love axman sporting a bandana over his Afro and getting it on with two foxy ladies. The Los Angeles-based porn distributor is marketing the 11-minute footage as part of a 45-minute DVD, Jimi Hendrix the Sex Tape, which will also include flashbacks of the rock legend's stellar career and retail for $39.95 in stores and via download. (Vivid did not obtain music licenses so the video will not have a Hendrix soundtrack.) (source E Online)

Can I just say a) Ew! and b) who in their right mind wants a sex tape of a dude who's been dead for a very long time? Assuming this tape is real, which experts are saying its not (are these experts on Jimi or sex tapes?), what is the attraction to this particular item? I realize there are some die hard Hendrix fans out there who would pay lots of money for a lock of his hair, but a sex tape? Really? I guess I don't understand the whole sex tape attraction. Every time I hear about one, I'm disinterested and slightly nauseous. At least those people are alive though. It just seems disrespectful in a way to sell a sex tape of someone who can't even sue over it. Maybe that's the appeal. Though I'm sure his estate's going to have something to say about it.

Okay, I'm done. I can't rant anymore without being completely exhausted and I've still got work to do. I should be back to rant again on Friday.

Later.

Slow day in the Gossip World

So its been a pretty slow day in the gossip world as you can tell by the title of this post. Either there's been a rush of well being amongst the usual gossip staples or just a really big sale at Kitson. Who knows? But across the pond, there has been a bit going on with Amy Winehouse. Yesterday on my show, I read this story about how she head butted a guy in front of a bar while he was trying to hail her a cab. It seems that the London police don't look too kindly on people head butting others, because a 24 year old woman has been arrested on assault charges for this crime. Here's what E Online has to say about it:

Forget rehab, the London Metropolitan police may try to make Amy Winehouse go to jail, jail, jail. The Grammy-winning singer was officially arrested after voluntarily showing up for questioning at the fuzz's Holborn station today over her highly publicized head-butting of a fellow bar patron Wednesday morning. Scotland Yard confirmed to E! News that a 24-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assault after attending an appointment at the central London station today, but has yet to confirm by name that Winehouse was the arrestee. British police do not name suspects until they are formally charged. The singer remains in police custody. If convicted, Winehouse faces up to six months in jail. (Source E Online)

While this is unfortunate news for Amy, its hardly surprising to the rest of the world, considering her past erratic behavior. And while Amy was possibly getting arrested, her already jailed husband "Blake Incarcerated" (as she called him at the Grammy's) was in court getting some unhappy news:

Amy Winehouse's husband Blake Fielder-Civil will remain in jail at least until June 9, a London judge ruled Friday. Fielder-Civil was due to be released in May. But he and three of his co-defendants will remain in jail because "the trial can't be heard within those custody time limits," said Judge David Radford. His trial on charges stemming from a pub brawl begins June 2, and is could to continue for six weeks. Lawyers expect Fielder-Civil will have to remain in jail throughout the trial. (source People.com)

This is more bad news for the Winehouse family, that has already struggled a lot this year. To add to the struggle, PEOPLE Magazine noticed some strange doings at the hearing:

[Winehouse] did not appear at the hearing in London's Snaresbrook Crown Court. Nor did his [Civil's] mother, Georgette Civil, a fixture at his court dates. Instead Fielder-Civil was supported by his father and 21-year-old Sophie Schandorff, a pretty blonde woman who later identified herself to PEOPLE as Fielder-Civil's "best friend."During his 90 minutes in court, Fielder-Civil – sporting close-cropped hair and a New York Jets t-shirt – whispered and laughed with Schandorff, who was seated across the courtroom. Finally the court clerk put a stop to their chatting. As he was leaving, Fielder-Civil and Schandorff mouthed "I love yous." Oh really? "As a friend," Schandorff clarified to PEOPLE. She said she'd known Fielder-Civil for 2 and a half years, but had not yet been to see him in London's Pentonville Prison. During the proceedings, however, the two made plans for a jail house visit. "Hopefully tomorrow," she said. "But he has to call me." When asked where Winehouse was, Schanforff said simply, "I don't know." She then left to chat with Fielder-Civil's attorney. (source People.com)

Oh really? Maybe the happy couple aren't quite so happy after all. I mean, having your spouse in jail for that amount of time has to take its toll on the marriage. I had previously ignored various reports that have been going around the web about Amy stepping out on Blake while he was behind bars, but maybe its a mutual thing. Maybe they've got more of an open marriage. Especially when in jail. All I know is that Blake has always seemed like a shady character who preys on Amy's weaknesses (i.e. being a crazy, messed up drug addict) and enjoys the perks of being a famous woman's husband without really doing much to support her. I mean, have you seen the pictures of their brawls? Ew!

Moving on to lighter news, Mariah Carey's had quite the week. Not only did her new album E=MC2 debut at number one on the Billboard charts and she's broken all sorts of records with it, now comes this tidbit:

Grammy-winner Mariah Carey – whose new No. 1 album, E = MC2, sold 463,000 copies in its first week – is hitting another high: This weekend the Empire State Building in New York City will be lit in lavendar, pink and white in her honor. One of the most successful female recording artists of all time, Carey, 39, recently surpassed Elvis Presley’s record of 17 No. 1 hits with her 18th, "Touch My Body." (source People.com)

Congrats to Mariah for another hit record. She's well on her way to being the best selling artist ever. I'm not really a fan of her music, but I've got to admire the way she came back from disaster (Glitter) and how she owns her diva-ness. It takes quite a woman to pull all that off. That said, I think lighting the Empire State Building in her favorite colors for an entire weekend may be a bit much. But that's just my opinion.

On to even lighter news (its Friday, I start with the downers and leave you with the fluffy stuff to start your weekend. You're welcome.) Tom Cruise is returning to The Oprah Winfrey Show:

Hold onto those sofa cushions: Tom Cruise is coming back to The Oprah Winfrey Show. “Tom will be doing the Oprah show,” Cruise’s rep Julie Polkes tells PEOPLE. “He is really looking forward to it.” The show, which will appear in two parts during May sweeps, will celebrate Cruise’s career since his breakout role 25 years ago in Risky Business. One part will be shot in-studio before a live audience. In the other, Cruise will show Winfrey around his Telluride mountain retreat and do a portion of the interview at the home. (Source People.com)

While I highly doubt that Tom is going to be jumping on Oprah's couch again, after all, he already married the woman he was so besotted with, I'm sure that she's got her squirt gun ready, just in case he should get too excited. I'll have to keep an eye out for this very special episode, it may end up to be comic gold!

Well, that's it, I'm gossiped out. I told you it was a slow new day, at least in the entertainment biz. Don't forget that today is the 12th annual Day of Silence. You can get more info here.

Have a good weekend all, I'll be back sometime next week.
Later.

Happy Earth Day Earthlings! The News is Slow.

Its Earth Day! The day when everyone remembers that we're killing our planet and resolves to be nicer to it, only to forget again tomorrow. I'm not judging, believe me, I'm just as bad as the next person, but lately I've been trying to be better and it didn't even take a holiday to remind me to do it, so I guess I'm feeling a bit smug. I'll take myself down a few notches now and just hope that everyone is having a good day and that we all at least think about being nicer to the planet today.
On to things less irritating than my opinions. Or maybe they're more irritating, depending on your views of pop culture. But if you aren't a fan of celebrity gossip, why are you reading this blog? That just seems redundant. (I really just wanted to work the word redundant into a sentence) So here we go, here's today's gossip update.

There isn't much today, but I haven't discussed Lindsay Lohan on this blog yet, because she's been pretty well behaved lately. I guess I was hoping she had turned her life around after this last rehab stint. I guess I was wrong. Reports are rampant on the web about her rather public fall of the wagon this past weekend:
Is Lindsay Lohan back to her hard-partying ways? The actress – who completed a stint in Cirque Lodge rehab last September – is raising eyebrows again after she was spotted on Saturday drinking Grey Goose and Red Bull cocktails at a party deejayed by pal Samantha Ronson. Lohan, 21, smoked cigarettes, chatted with friends and hit the dance floor at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in New York as Ronson spun tunes until 4 a.m. Lohan's rep was not immediately available for comment. (source: People)
Many of you will remember the this is not the first time LiLo has fallen off the wagon since her latest stint in rehab, but the last time was over three months ago, so I was hoping she'd gotten it out of her system. Maybe this time will be that time. I hope she gets back on the wagon again. It can't be easy to have the world watching your recovery, but I hope she sticks to it. Once upon a time she was talented, its sad what addiction has done to her.

On to other, happier news, it seems that the rumored marriage of Beyonce and Jay-Z may actually be true!
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are mum, but their paperwork is doing the talking for them: The couple filed their signed wedding license Friday in Scarsdale, N.Y., PEOPLE has confirmed exclusively. Scarsdale Town Clerk Donna Conkling tells PEOPLE the license – which lists the wedding date as April 4 – was received on Friday afternoon. The couple applied for the license just three days before the ceremony attended by friends and family, including Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, her father/manager Mathew, her sister Solange, her Destiny's Child pals Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple's friend Gwyneth Paltrow. (source: People)
I so knew that they had gotten married. I understand the need for secrecy and privacy and all of that, but they had to know that magazines like People and US Weekly were going to be hounding the courts until that signed license went through. Official congrats to the newlyweds!

Less happy news comes from Ritchie Sambora, who was totally busted on a DUI a while ago and has now been formally charged.
Richie Sambora was formally charged with DUI, the Orange County, Calif., District Attorney's office announced Tuesday – but he avoided a misdemeanor child endangerment count. If convicted, the Bon Jovi guitarist faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail. His arraignment is set for May 7. The Laguna Beach Police had recommended that Sambora be charged with misdemeanor child endangerment, but prosecutors declined to pursue that charge. Sambora, 48, was arrested in Laguna Beach on March 25 after police spotted him driving unsteadily in a Hummer H2. His blood alcohol level was tested at .13. (The California legal limit is .08). In the car was Sambora's girlfriend, Jenn Mallini, his daughter, Ava, 10 (whose mother is Sambora's ex-wife Heather Locklear), and her teenage cousin.
You know that he's going to get off with a slap on the wrist and a fine. Unless this is his second offense, he's not likely to get jail time like Kiefer Sutherland.

Here's another story that concerned me today, not because its scandalous or anything like that, it just seems so stupid. It seems that Miley Cyrus, she of Hannah Montana world dominance, is now writing a memoir. Check it out:

Miley Cyrus is coming to a bookstore near you: The 15-year-old actress and singer is writing her memoirs.
The book, to be published by Disney next spring, will center on Cyrus' rise to fame and the guidance of her mother, Leticia. It will also include unseen family photos.
"I hope to motivate mothers and daughters to build lifetimes of memories together and inspire kids around the world to live their dreams, I am so excited to let fans in on how important my relationship with my family is to me," the Hannah Montana star added. (source: US Weekly)

Wow. Seriously. Wow. I think that I am literally speechless from the amount that my IQ dropped just contemplating a tome of that degree of idiocy. The girl is 15, what life has she lived? While I understand that she's accomplished a lot in the 15 years her daddy's been using her as a tool for his comeback, what is the point in writing a memoir? Its just another thing Disney will use to gouge little girls and their parent's out of an extra $20 ($10 if they deign to release it in paperback). I'm not a Miley hater, honestly I've never even seen nor heard a note from Hannah Montana, but it just seems pointless for a 15 year old girl to write a memoir unless she's actually had a life, like Drew Barrymore did in Little Girl Lost. That girl had some issues to work out! What does Miley have? A zit? Cramps? Her mommy won't let her host the CMT awards until she's finished her homework?

And finally, in honor of Earth Day, here's a celebrity who hasn't fallen off the wagon, got a DUI, or is writing an idiotic memoir, but is trying to do something good for the planet and make a few extra bucks in the meantime.
Sandra Bullock is doing her part for the environment with a line of soy wax candles. The actress taped an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show – scheduled to air Tuesday – to commemorate Earth Day. During her time with Oprah Winfrey, the actress revealed, "I started researching and you find out about lead wicks and chemicals in your candles." Her solution? To use soy wax, which is a "renewable resource." Said Winfrey: "Sandra's in the earth-friendly candle making business," prompting a laugh from the actress who joked: "Yeah, [it's] something to fall back on." (source: People)
Well, its not much, but at least she's trying. The woman lives in Texas, its not easy to be green in Texas. At least not where I lived in Texas. Plus she just got in a huge car accident!

So that's that campers, your redheaded rant of the day. Will I be back tomorrow or will I make you wait another week for my ironic witticisms? Well, it all depends on my mood.
Later

Rob Lowe is an alleged perv and other tidbits.

This redhead has been fighting herself all morning on whether to blog about this whole Rob Lowe nanny lawsuit madness that has been foisted upon our poor unsuspecting brains, but I finally gave in to the temptation, something Robby knows a little about. In case you've been hiding under a rock today, here's what's going on: About a week ago, Rob and his wifey filed lawsuits against their former nanny, their former chef and another employee claiming a litany of complaints including breach of contract, defamation, trespassing and ... wait for it ... having sex in their bed (were they all having sex together in the bed or at different times? And how many beds are we talking about here, just one? That bed was seeing a lot of action!). Then Rob blogs on The Huffington Post about how his former nanny used to tell people that she was intimately involved with him and she was trying to blackmail him and blah blah blah. I sort of lost interest after a while and basically forgot about the whole thing until this morning, when the details of the nanny's lawsuit came out. Here's a brief look at her myriad of complaints:

In a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara court Monday, Rob Lowe's former nanny, 24-year-old Jessica Gibson, alleged that the actor repeatedly exposed himself and inappropriately touched both himself and her during her seven-year tenure as his employee. Among other alleged indiscretions, Gibson claims Lowe "placed his hand inside Gibson's pants" several times between 2005 and 2008 and also grabbed her derriere without consent in 2007. She also alleged that Lowe's wife, Sheryl, walked around naked, made vulgar comments and would discuss her sex life with the nanny. (source eonline)

First of all, I have a few questions, the first and most obvious would be, if your employer was putting his hands down your pants without your permission, wouldn't you, I don't know, tell him to stop? And if he kept doing it, wouldn't it be smarter to, oh gee, maybe find a new job? Not continue to work for him for another three years and keep letting him do it! Seriously, there is no job worth that kind of assault, which leads me to believe that she is either a) making it up, or b) was having a relationship with him that went sour, so she's trying to make him pay (literally) for it. I'm kind of leaning towards the latter on this one. I mean, I'm no Rob Lowe fan, but this woman just seems a bit shady to me. You don't work for someone for seven years (if my math is correct, she started working for them when she was 17? Shouldn't she still be in school?) and then accuse them of sexual harassment after you've already quit and been accused of blackmailing them. And you don't go on the Today show with your lawyer, media whore Gloria Allred (she's famous for representing Amber Frey in the Scott Peterson case, Paula Jones against former President Bill Clinton, and Tommy Lee, to name a few, and always makes sure her clients are on every talk show known to man.) if your not out to get someone. Seriously, this is going to be one annoying case and its going to be all over the media all the time. Let me tell you how excited that makes me.

Moving on. It looks like Wesley Snipes may be going to jail for not paying the man his taxes. I don't know if any of you followed that whole tax evasion fraud trial, but it was a bit fishy as well and Wesley came out sounding like a freak. Check out this interview with Entertainment Weekly if you don't believe me. So, a lot of the charges against Wesley were dropped and he was only convicted of three misdemeanor accounts, but he may actually see the inside of a jail cell after all:

U.S. prosecutors have recommended that Wesley Snipes serve the maximum maximum three-year prison term and pay a $5 million fine for his "brazen defiance" in failing to file returns on $58 million in income between 1999-2004. The actor was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file his returns in February. (source eonline)

I've got no problem with Snipes, aside from inflicting a lot of bad movies on innocent people (Money Train anyone?), but his defense on this case sounds pretty bogus. So, if he did the crime, he should probably do the time. He'll probably be out in less than a month anyway. Or does that only work if your a starlet in L.A.?

And finally, Naomi Campbell is back in the news again, but surprisingly, its not for abusing an airline attendant or her housekeeper. No, this time the ill tempered one was actually trying to help people. I know, shocking right?

Naomi Campbell has been denied. Brazilian officials have rejected the supermodel's offer to donate blood to help fight the nation's dengue fever epidemic. The supermodel arrived in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday to lend a hand, or more likely vein, at the HemoRio medical center, where she was turned down after officials informed her the donation period fell too soon after her February surgery to remove a cyst for her to be eligible to donate. (source eonline)

Poor Naomi just wanted to help and those mean old Brazilians wouldn't take her blood. Boo hoo. I shouldn't judge, at least she's trying. And she wasn't even ordered by the court to do it. Maybe that last bout of anger management classes did their job. Or maybe not. There's a reason I name all of my orchids Naomi. (Its a long story, but its starts with me complaining about how orchids are a pain to take care of and a friend told me that "orchids are the Naomi Campbell of flowers." Its true too. Don't ask why I still get orchids, its usually not my choice)

So that's about all this redhead feels like ranting about. I could go off on bands reuniting when they should just leave well enough alone, or I could talk about what a creepy old man Kevin Costner has become, but then what would I rant about tomorrow? Oh yeah, the nation's obsession with American Idol and other reality dreck. I'll just save all of that for a rainy day.
I'm out.

Update: Don't send those baby booties yet folks

Well if the man who supposedly impregnated Ashlee Simpson's opinion has any bearing on the whole situation, then girl is not as pregnant as all the tabs would have us believe. Here's what the could-have-been-baby daddy has to say:

Pete Wentz has flat out denied that Ashlee Simpson is pregnant in an email to MTV News: "There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood," he wrote. "This is all news to me. I can't wait for the story about how I'm really in a gay relationship and this is all just a cover." (source eonline)

That sounds like a pretty good story to me. And if this picture has any merit, that story may be getting told sooner than he'd like. I was a little weary of this particular story in the first place because it seemed a bit too convenient timing wise, but I'm glad that its not true. Getting married can be stressful enough (the planning part, not the going through with it part, trust me, I just did it six months ago. I know these things) without being pregnant during the planning process. Because you know they're going to have a huge one. Wedding I mean. This is a good thing, I was getting bored with knocked up starlets. Bring on the bridezilla, celebrity spawn is so five minutes ago!

Another Possibly Pregnant Starlet and other Random News

So there's no real theme today in this redhead's rants, other than lack of sleep making me a bit cranky and a lost contact lens giving me a headache. So if I'm a bit on the mean side, it'll pass, just let me work out my ranting by focusing it on a place that's pretty used to it, Hollywood.

First up, a "source" close to Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz is claiming the she has become the latest unmarried starlet dating a rock star to get her eggo prego (thank you Juno). Here's the story that's been running on eonline:

A source close to Ashlee Simpson has confirmed to E! News that the 23-year-old singer is expecting her first child with her new fiancé, 28-year-old Pete Wentz. The source said "it's very early" in the pregnancy, and that the duo divulged the stork delivery news to their families last week. Just last Wednesday, the couple of 18 months announced their engagement.

Well that's just great for them. Actually, I truly don't care if she is or if she isn't pregs, its more the cliche of it all. I mean, Nicole Richie did it first, followed by Jessica Alba and Jamie-Lynne Spears (though in her case is a bit more unique, given that she's like 12. Or 17 or whatever, way to young to be knocked up but way too old to not understand birth control) and now Ashlee Simpson. She's always been a bit of a follower anyways, what with the reality show pimping her first album after the "success" of her sister's reality show Newlyweds. Though I don't know how successful it was considering many consider it the downfall of Jessica's marriage to Nick Lachey. But back to Ashlee, I guess I was hoping that this particular trend (i.e. unplanned pregnancy) would be one that she didn't follow, but that may have been expecting too much from the poor girl. At least she seems genuinely happy with her guy and I wish them the best. Now the bump countdown is on. Whoo hoo!

Moving on. If you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of an election year. Which has pretty much thrown everyone in the media and entertainment world a little off. And the carousel ride won't stop until that new president, whoever he or she may be, has been inaugurated and the first administration scandal can begin. And if you think that a little thing like electing a new president couldn't shake the power of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, you would be wrong.

D.C. trumps L.A. Once every four years, at least. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is pushing back the announcement of 2009's Oscar nominations by two days in order to avoid coinciding with the news juggernaut that is the presidential inauguration. Inauguration Day is scheduled to take place Tuesday Jan. 20. The Academy Award nominations, originally set to be revealed the same day, will now be unveiled on Jan. 22. The Oscars in turn will take place Feb. 22, the earliest the show has ever taken place. (source eonline)

Well this is good news and bad news for Oscar lovers everywhere. While we have to wait two extra days to find out who the lucky few to get nominated are (bad), we won't have to wait nearly as long to find out who the lucky winners are (better), and that means that awards season will drag on one less week (best!). I wonder if this is a ploy to get the ratings up after this years dismal turnout.

And finally, we'll wrap up today's rant with a little Coldplay update. I've never been totally in to Coldplay, though I enjoy them well enough some days, but there's a lot of buzz around their new album and details have finally been released.

Coldplay have set a June 17 release date for their forthcoming fourth album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. The record, which features 10 new tracks and is their first release of original material since 2005's X&Y, was recorded in London, Barcelona and New York. (source eonline)

Like I said, I'm not really a big Coldplay kind of girl, but this album is supposed to be saving their record company's butt big time, so I'm sure there's going to be tons of hype about it in the next few months, I might as well jump on the band wagon now or get left behind;)

I think that's about it for this installment of my ranting. Its been fun. I've learned to use images. Maybe next time I'll figure out this whole matching font thing, but I don't want to get too crazy. So that's it. I'm outta here!

Lawsuits and plea bargains, oh my!

Well, its been a day of law suits, plea bargains and prison sentences in Hollywood today. Tuesdays usually are full of reports of this star suing that one and this divorce is finalized and so on, because most people file the pertinent paperwork on Mondays and the press finds out about it on Tuesdays, but today seems to be even more prolific. The lawyers in Hollywood must really be working it this week. Need more billable hours? First comes the story of Lindsay Lohan's former bodyguard suing her.
Here's the brief overview of that one:

A former Lindsay Lohan bodyguard has filed suit against the actress for fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of oral contract. David Kim alleges the star owes him more than $55,000 for security and other services rendered. Kim claims in addition to protecting Lohan from fans and paparazzi, he also worked to secure her VIP tables for clubs and concerts.

I wonder what he means by infliction of emotional stress? Next we've got Eminem's mother being sued by an author who claims he helped her write her tell all book:

Debbie Nelson, aka Eminem's mommy dearest, has been sued in Michigan court by writer Neal Alpert, who alleges he helped Nelson pen My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, a book about her famous son, but has yet to receive a share of the profits. The book was released in the U.K. last year and is set for a U.S. debut this week.

Eh, this one's pretty self explanatory and boring, so I've got no comment aside from that's what you get when you decide to write a tell all book about your source of income. What's she got left to exploit? I could go on and blog about the latest Rob Lowe lawsuit.
But that one bores me too. So lets move on to the plea bargains, shall we?
Misha Barton is the latest of the Hollywood starlets to be pulled over for a DUI,
which is hardly surprising given the crown she hangs out with, but now she's the latest in the group to avoid jail time by taking a plea bargain:

The 22-year-old actress is planning to plead no contest to a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence when she's arraigned Thursday in connection with her December bust, a source close to Barton told E! News Monday

If the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office makes the deal, Barton would avoid jail time, a charge of marijuana possession will be dismissed, and another for driving with an invalid license will be reduced to an infraction. (source eonline)

This is also not surprising or terribly interesting. However, it did prompt me to head over to IMDB to figure out if Misha has even been working since she left The O.C. in a blaze of fire to make movies. According to her profile, she's been quite the busy bee, but I've never heard of any of these projects. Not that I know everything, but there's usually some buzz about movies starring supposedly "A List" actresses. Hmmm... it leads me to think that maybe she's not as A List as we've all been told. Could she, in fact, be more C List! Gasp! How dare they mislead us!
On to the prison sentences. It seems that Pete Doherty, he of Kate Moss and Babyshambles fame, not to mention repeated drug charges that he's never been sent to jail for, may actually (could it be true) be going to jail!

It may have taken a while, but Pete Doherty has finally run out of get-out-of-jail-free cards.

The arrest-prone, addiction-plagued rocker was sentenced to 14 weeks in jail during a London court hearing Tuesday, after being found in violation of his probation and for using unspecified drugs.

While the 29-year-old Babyshambles frontman has had more than his share of legal run-ins over the past few years, his current jailable offense stems from a probation order issued in last October for drug possession and driving illegally.

At the time, Doherty was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to attend regular progress reports in court as well as enter into a rehab program. The sentence followed a May arrest for which he pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis.

According to the BBC, Kate Moss' infamous ex violated his probation by showing up late to one meeting with his probation officer and missing another altogether.

The British music magazine NME, meanwhile, cites a court spokesperson as claiming the violation was the result of "breach of time keeping, noncompliance of his order and using different drugs."

District Judge Davinder Lachar finally imposed a sentence of three and a half months, slightly less than the four-month stint he threatened Doherty with last fall. (source eonline)

I am actually a bit surprised by this one, I thought he would never be sent to jail. But maybe a little jail time is what he needs to finally get off the drugs. Who knows? It might do him some good. Or at least motivate him not to get caught again!

Well that's all the ranting I've got in me for this particular subject. I can only be interested in the legal doings of celebrities for so long before my mind starts to wonder on to more entertaining things, like whether or not Beyonce and Jay-Z really did get married last Friday.

This Radio Redhead is signing off.

TV is back! And its going down the drain!

This radio redhead has been anxiously awaiting the return of scripted television ever since word that the writer's strike was ending made its way to me. No offense to all of you reality TV lovers out there, but its really not my thing. Now I'm not above reading episode recaps of American Idol to get an edge on the office Idol pool, but I find that I already live in reality, why do I have to watch someone else's? So the past few weeks have been pretty exciting for me as more and more scripted shows are returning with all new episodes. I've caught up on my back log of episodes of The Reaper (if the CW cancels this show, I will make good on my threat from last year when they canceled Veronica Mars and boycott that sham of a network!) and am fully pumped for it to come back on April 23. I'm praying that My Name Is Earl will stop being as lame as it was the first part of the season and rise above the fact that Paris Hilton is guest starring on tomorrow's return episode. And I can't wait to hang out on my couch next Thursday night for the return of must see TV. I've missed the gang at The Office and can't wait to see what's up with Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, not to mention those crazy guys on Scrub's. Still the return of the TV season has still left some holes in my heart. Some shows never made it past the writer's strike forced hiatus and some won't be returning until next fall (I'll miss you Heroes, Chuck and Pushing Daisies but you'll still have a place on my DVR next fall). With all of this schedule shifting and differing return dates, some shows are going to take a major ratings hit, so I'll be doing my part to make sure I'm watching the shows I love.
While I'm super excited about my favorite TV shows returning, I'm a little distressed by the stories that have made their way to the internet today about NBC revealing their entire 2008-2009 schedule today! Traditionally, the networks don't reveal they're fall schedules until May at the upfronts, where they try to get advertisers excited about their new line up. Since NBC is the lowest rated network this year, they would have been forced to go first anyway, so I guess they just decided to bite the bullet and reveal they're new schedule a month early. Here's what they revealed earlier today:
NBC's complete prime-time schedule for fall 2008:

MONDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Chuck
• 9-10 p.m. Heroes
• 10-11 p.m. My Own Worst Enemy

TUESDAY

• 8-9:30 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Families
• 9:30-10 p.m. Kath & Kim
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit

WEDNESDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Knight Rider
• 9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal
• 10-11 p.m. Lipstick Jungle

THURSDAY

• 8-8:30 p.m. My Name Is Earl
• 8:30-9 p.m. 30 Rock
• 9-9:30 p.m. The Office
• 9:30-10 p.m. The Office/SNL Thursday Night Live
• 10-11 p.m. ER

FRIDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Crusoe
• 9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal
• 10-11 p.m. Life

SATURDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Dateline NBC
• 9-10 p.m. Knight Rider
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit

SUNDAY

• 7-8:20 p.m. Football Night in America
• 8:20-11 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC's prime-time schedule for winter 2009:

MONDAY

• 8- 9 p.m. Chuck
• 9-10 p.m. Heroes
• 10-11 p.m. The Philanthropist

TUESDAY

• 8- 9:30 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples
• 9:30-10 p.m. Kath & Kim
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Knight Rider
• 9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order

THURSDAY

• 8-8:30 p.m. My Name Is Earl
• 8:30-9 p.m. 30 Rock
• 9- 9:30 p.m. The Office
• 9:30-10 p.m. The Office Spinoff
• 10-11 p.m. ER/The Celebrity Apprentice

FRIDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
• 9-10 p.m. Friday Night Lights
• 10-11 p.m. Life

SATURDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Dateline NBC
• 9-10 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encore)
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order (Encore)

SUNDAY

• 7-8 p.m. Specials/Dateline NBC
• 8-9 p.m. Specials/Merlin
• 9-10 p.m. Specials/Medium
• 10-11 p.m. Specials/Kings

NBC's prime-time schedule for summer 2009:

MONDAY

• 8-9 p.m. American Gladiators
• 9-10 p.m. America's Toughest Jobs
• 10-11 p.m. Dateline NBC

TUESDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Most Outrageous Moments
• 9-10 p.m. America's Got Talent
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encore)

WEDNESDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Shark Taggers
• 9-10 p.m. America's Got Talent (Results Show)
• 10-11 p.m. Law & Order (Encore)

THURSDAY

• 8-8:30 p.m. The Office
• 8:30- 9 p.m. The Office Spinoff
• 9-10 p.m. Last Comic Standing
• 10-11 p.m. The Listener

FRIDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Chopping Block
• 9-11 p.m. Dateline NBC

SATURDAY

• 8-9 p.m. Drama Encores
• 9-10 p.m. Drama Encores
• 10-11 p.m. Drama Encores

SUNDAY

• 7-8 p.m. Dateline NBC
• 8-9 p.m. Monk
• 9-10 p.m. Nashville Star
• 10-11 p.m. Kings (Encore)

At the moment, I'm most concerned about the lack of Scrub's on the schedule, although many reports claim that it will be moving to ABC next season, which is fine with me as long as its still on the air. As for the rest of it, I think having a spin off of The Office is a big mistake. Seriously, didn't they learn with Joey? Comedy spin offs are hard to do, especially if the original show is still on the air. And, according to E Online's Watch with Kristin, there's no plot for the show! Why on Earth would a network approve a spin off with no real plot or even characters! Add to that the fact that they haven't even seen half of their new scripted shows yet! That's right, no pilots, just some casting and scripts. Now some of them will probably be pretty awesome (Christian Slater as a regular guy/spy? Be still my Pump Up The Volume loving heart! Molly Shannon and Selma Blair remaking Kath and Kim, hell yeah!) but a new Knight Rider? Do we really need to go down that road again? You saw what happened to The Bionic Woman. Seriously. I'll try to keep an open mind about this new line up, but I don't have high hopes for this being the season that NBC gets out of the bottom of the ratings. And if this is any indication of how the other networks are going with their fall lineups, I'm a little concerned. But for now, I'll just enjoy the present with new episodes of all of my favorite shows and hope that there's no actor's strike to mess up the fall. I think I've ranted enough. This redhead is outta here!