Gossip

Amber Lee Ettinger. Steppin' Out

Remember Lonelygirl15? It took us a while to figure out that her real name was Jessica Rose and now she has her own show.

While the 2004 presidential election did have some coverage on the Internet with blogs and fund-raising, it appears that the 2008 election will be contested on the web. We have already had a YouTube debate and Hillary Clinton has a very powerful video ad called Invisible but more importantly the Obama Girl and Giuliani Girls are competing with each. So who is the Obama Girl? Amber Lee Ettinger and she is already on the cover of Steppin' Out magazine. And while she professes her love for Barack Obama on the web, she is actually planning to vote for Hillary Clinton. Aha. Talk about flings.

Kelsey Grammer. Fox

Dotson Rader has an excellent article in Parade or Kelsey Grammer. While I enjoy his acting, I did not know much about his past. Looks as if he has had a lot of challenges. He says. “I was addicted to danger and dangerous girls, and it took me to things that were very destructive for me.”

Thankfully, he was always in monogamous relationships, though he did go through several women before he met his now wife, Camille Donatacci at a dinner with his agent in New York. “It was love at first sight,” he says, “but I was scared. I’d been with girls before who I believed were right for me, and it turned out I was wrong. I was afraid of making another mistake, another failed marriage. But, corny as it sounds, I think Camille saw in me a great guy who needed love. It takes a lot of courage to love. Isn’t that why we’re here — to love, regardless of the cost? She decided to give me love.”

Kelsey entered the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, and has been sober since then. What a great story!

Kim Kardashian. King Magazine.

If you go back and trace the rise of Paris Hilton, you realize that she is one of the most untalented people in Hollywood. She is not pretty, can't sing, can barely write a letter, can't act, but she is not only the top of the celebrity gossip columns every single day, she has used that celebrity status to build a huge business empire. Just for showing up she charges big bucks, she has the Paris Hilton clothing line, and has a perfume. In other words, just because of a sex video, endless partying and by going to jail, she has turned herself into a money machine.

Kim Kardashian is doing exactly the same. Some lucky people have seen her video, she is at all the hot spots in Los Angeles, and there is nothing in the name of talent on her resume, except may be a big butt. Well, no wonder then that the King magazine has her on their cover.

I featured Dawna Lee Heising. It was nice to hear back from her (Dawna is Ms. US World 2007). She has taken some hot photos (below) with her best friend Joycelyne Lew. She's an actress who had one of the leads in "The Big Brawl" with Jackie Chan, was featured in "Taipan" and recently did a movie with Bo Derek.

Dawna Lee Heising and Joycelyne Lew

Dawna Lee Heising and Joycelyne Lew

Hayden Panettiere. NBC.

Either Hayden Panettiere has a great sense of humor or she is a big idiot. When David Letterman asked her what it meant to become an adult, her response was clearly uninspiring, "But I think the only things I can do is buy cigarettes, porn and, if I get in trouble with the law, I'm kind of screwed." She also said that from now on she does not have to listen to her parents because she can now answer "You can't talk to me like that, I'm an adult."

Is that the kind of "Heroes" we want our Hollywood celebs to be? Clearly not. Thankfully, she added that being an adult also means that she can vote and she plans to register to vote.

Brianna Tatiana. Novus.

I always thought models did modeling and singers sang. Well, some women are just way too lucky. While people like me have to pause before saying what I am good at (maybe at celebrity gossip) but Brianna Tatiana is good at modeling and singing. Brianna was a successful fashion model and had a spread in Harper's Bazaar, and then a spot in the new campaign for PETA. She is a regular on the L.A. club scene, and spends her weekends socializing with fellow celebrities. Brianna has basked in the public spotlight since birth - her father is one of the country's top attorneys, Howard Weitzman. Mr. Weitzman has worked for clients such as O.J. Simpson and Paris Hilton.

Brianna's debut CD release, "Believe In Me", showcases her big voice and the seasoned songwriting and production. The album is a collection of songs that are very personal to her. "All my girlfriends and I approach our relationships with guys differently, and these songs speak to the many feelings and emotions we've experienced as we try to relate to the guys. The songs are at times fun, sassy, assertive, introspective, and romantic. Whatever girls are going through, there are songs they will relate to; and the guys will definitely recognize themselves in these songs. It's a relationship CD that both guys and girls will get a lot out of - both musically and emotionally."

Brianna has performed for thousands of fans at sporting events, charity shows and club dates. Brianna lists Sarah McLachlan and Jewel as two of her favorite singer-songwriters; and Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and india.arie as some of her most admired singers and influences.

Eve. HX Magazine.

I was not surprised when Norah Jones confessed a crush on Shakira (I always thought Norah Jones was a good girl and would never have lesbian tendencies).

Now yet another celebrity, Eve, who claims that she is not a lesbian, is expressing (in an interview with HX magazine) her favorite women if she were to ever try a lesbian relationship (no surprise here, millions of American women explore lesbian relationships but still end up marrying men and Desperate Housewives now has a gay couple), she would pick Angelina Jolie and Dita Von Teese. Who can blame her? Most women would love to have lips like Angelina Jolie and
since Dita Von Teese got a divorce from Marilyn Manson, she has appeared in the fantasies of many women and men, including myself.

I have a long list of celebrities that I admire for losing weight after pregnancy so fast and so well that it is hard to imagine that they were even pregnant. Here is the list:

Heidi Klum

Geri Halliwell

Leah Remini

Katie Holmes

Shanna Moakler

I am adding another name to the list: Nancy O'Dell. So how did she do it?

Breastfeeding. While many women are afraid that their breasts will sag if they nurse their child, the reality is that not only is the mother's milk best for the child, breastfeeding also helps a new mom lose weight faster.

Eat healthy. Yes, you will feel more hungry but do not overeat and follow a balanced diet. She eats lean protein, vegetables and fruit.

Exercise. Of course, you must always exercise but when you are trying to lose weight after childbirth, having a workout routine is critical. Nancy does a dance workout.

Heidi Klum. Courtesy Jordache

Heidi Klum has mastered the science of losing weight after pregnancy. She must be the hottest mom in Hollywood because besides being a great mom and wife, she is also one of the highest paid models and has many other ways to make money on television. For instance, she has just appeared in a photo shoot for those cool Jordache jeans and she looks amazing (by the way these jeans are perfect to lift that sagging butt after pregnancy).

So how does she do it?

Losing weight and staying fit are simple. You eat healthy and then burn calories any way you can. While it may not seem that way, but working around the house and taking care of the kids can be great exercise. I have house with two floors and a finished basement (there is a playroom for the kids in the basement and my home office is next door to them since I am a work-at-home-mom). Throughout the day, I am going back and forth on the floors and have to often lift them on the steps.

That is exactly what Heidi Klum does, she tells People magazine. Plus, they have also invested in other ways to exercise as a family, for example, playing tennis or jumping on a trampoline or playing outside in the yard.

In Hollywood, since you spend so much time with your fellow cast members, it is normal to date them. That is what happened to Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer, who met on the set of House M.D. and got engaged during the Christmas holiday season in Paris at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

This beautiful actress is now single again after they called off their engagement. To make things work for the couple, they will have to work together on the show. Talk about moving on after breakup!

Desperate Housewives. ABC.

If you follow the political discourse in America, you will get the impression that Americans hate gays. You will get an even worse impression if you watch some of the evangelical churches. In reality, though, Americans are far more tolerant of gays and lesbians and have increasingly accepted them. There is some opposition from old people to gay marriage, but younger Americans overwhelmingly support the rights of gays and lesbians to marry.

So is it a surprise that "Desperate Housewives" will now have a gay couple on Wisteria Lane? Not to me; it just reflects the reality of American suburbia. A study has shown that property prices are much higher in neighborhoods and towns with gays. Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm will play the gay couple.

Courtesy Us Weekly

As they say cheaters will be caught and that is what is happening to Britney Spears. Her ex-nannies are spilling the beans on her. It has been known now that she is a thief, an exhibitionist, an alcoholic, insecure, a non-professional, but now we have confirmation that she is bisexual. Rumors about her lesbian tendencies (she kissed Madonna in public) have been around for a while, but Us Weekly is reporting that she asked one of her nannies to sleep in the same bed with her and one of her children. There are also reports that Shannon Funk is not only her colleague but more likely a lesbian lover. And if her singing career is going down the tube, it is because she hires people "...if they're young and fun and like to drink and party," says a source to the magazine. “She hires people to be her friends.”

Britney Spears. Courtesy Allure

Remember how Britney Spears not only did not have a proper photo shoot with OK! She also stole clothes and other items from the photo shoot location. She has done it again. This time in a photo shoot with Allure magazine, she did show up on time and did the modeling part right, but Allure's editor in chief, Linda Wells, writes, "She was entirely unselfconscious: She took off her wig and then stripped down to the waist, for no apparent reason, before sitting for hair and makeup." And the promised interview never happened; after posing for pictures, she just left. This is not the first time Britney Spears has gone topless in front of other people. What is happening to this talented actress? I still enjoy some of her old music videos:

Understand life

Boys

I Did It Again

You Drive Me Crazy

Baby One More Time

I am not a girl

Nancy Grace. Photo CNN

Nancy Grace, the host of a television program on CNN that focuses on crime and justice, has an inspiring story. I do not personally like her combative style, especially when she uses it intimidate folks who have little or no experience being on television, but apparently, people must like her show that reminds one of Fox News.

While I have no business dissecting her private life but the secrecy she maintained about her marriage and pregnancy was interesting considering the fact that she specializes in making other people's lives public. The other juicy news about her is that she is pregnant at the age of 48. I know for sure that a woman simply cannot get pregnant at that age naturally and needs to undergo IVF (in vitro fertilization). Getting pregnant naturally after 40 is hard and nearly impossible at 48. I wish she was more open about that.

Matt Encinias and Britney Spears. Us Weekly.

When Isaac Cohen had a fling with Britney Spears, we got a rough idea of what Britney Spears likes in bed. Since then we have seen a complete meltdown of Britney Spears that involved exposing herself, dressing inappropriately for a mother of two, stripping down to her underwear to swim on the beach, and stealing clothes from a photo shoot.

Now Matt Encinias recounts a night of wild partying with her in which Britney Spears stripped down to her panties and acting like a high school girl, played "truth or dare" asking Matt to strip too. Then she forced a kiss on the man and finally tried to seduce him. “I was dared to get naked and get out of the pool and walk as though I was on a catwalk in a fashion show,” says Encinias. “Britney was laughing really hard.” All this was happening in the company of her entourage. Man, she is a nymphomaniac.

Kate Hudson. Harper's Bazaar

Dating ain't easy. All the good guys are already gone and no decent woman wants to date a loser. It is especially hard if you are a single mom. You are probably somewhat old, have child(ren) to take care of so that you can't always invite him over or be late or realize that your child is sick just before a hot date.

Kate Hudson, who divorced Chris Robinson (and has a child with him), dated and broke up with Owen Wilson, is finding out that even if you are just 28, pretty, and successful, you can't really find a man. She tells Harper's Bazaar that "You realize after you have had children that you'll never love anything more than your child." I am not sure that it is a reasonable point. Of course you love your child(ren) but women in their marriage still love their husbands. Love for a child and for your partner are different; one can't substitute the other.

She is a great ex-wife too. About her ex-husband, she says, "He's my first huge love. I spent seven years with Chris. I was 20 when I met him. We still talk everyday. He still cracks me up. And Ryder (their child together) feels that."

Mel B or Melanie Brown or Scary Spice (God, it's nice to have so many names), who is fighting a legal battle with deadbeat father Eddie Murphy, and is literally in bed with his ex-wife Nicole Murphy, is actually married to Stephen Belafonte. While you and I were obsessed with finding out the father of her daughter, she tied the knot with Belafonte in a secret wedding ceremony in Las Vegas.

It's not just me but everyone thinks that Marilyn Manson, the ex-husband of Dita Von Teese and currently dating Evan Rachel Wood, is kinda weird. In case you were wondering why, well, he is not just feminine or a crossdresser, he is just neither a man nor a woman.

To further prove his bizarre personality, take a look at the list of things that he collects and bought using his band's money (his bandmates, particularly Stephen Gregory Bier Jr, are suing him):

1. Nazi paraphernalia
2. African masks made of human skin
3. Full skeleton of a 4-year-old Chinese girl
4. SS typewriters
5. Swastika wall tiles
6. Nazi government coat hangers owned by Adolf Hitler
7. Handbag that once belonged to Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun
8. California grizzly
9. Two baboons
10. Full skeleton of a 17th-century male in a wheelchair

Sarah Thompson as the baby sitter

When you think of babysitter, depending on who you are and how your mind works, you will come up with a different emotion. One of these, that we have seen in too many movies, is that of a sweet, innocent babysitter alone with a child, both of whom are then terrorized by a criminal. In "Babysitter Wanted," you have all this but more. Angie Albright chose to babysit despite knowing that one college student was murdered while the second one was missing. The only good news is that she lived to tell the story.

The film stars Sarah Thompson (Seventh Heaven), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, Chainsaw Massacre films), Bruce Thomas (Legally Blonde), Kristen Dalton (The Departed) and Monty Bane (Sleepwalkers); it has been co-directed by Michael Manasseri and Jonas Barnes.

Sean Kingston's music video Beautiful Girls is so good because it is based on real life experiences, not just other people's experience or even a fantasy. While he is only 17, he has gone through a heartbreak and an unpleasant breakup. Watch this video interview in which he talks about how he dealt with his emotions as a teenager and how it inspired him to write such a poignant song.

After his mother created a drama of soap-opera proportions, Usher had to cancel his wedding to Tameka Foster. It was a tragic turn of events in which a lavish wedding had to be called off at the last moment. By the way, Tameka is also pregnant with Usher's child.

In a wedding that they will forever remember for its drama, the couple finally tied the knot in a civil ceremony in an attorney's office.

I can't imagine how some moms can be so mean.

The revenge by the exes is taking place. Scary Spice and Eddie Murphy's ex-wife Nicole Murphy (formerly Mitchell) have teamed up together to share secrets about the deadbeat father. Nicole is the mother of five children with Eddie Murphy while Melanie Brown has just one. The duo met at the Hollywood restaurant Ivy. It is, indeed, a small world in Hollywood. So far, Eddie Murphy is missing in action; probably too busy with Tracey Edmonds, who might be wondering if she will also need to meet these ladies for lunch in the future.

Photo: Nikki Diaz

I am a big fan of artists who have gone to the top all by themselves. I mean, people whose last name is not Richie or Hilton. That is why I admire this Latina singer Nikki Diaz because since she started her professional career as a little girl, she has found success based primarily on her talent.

She was called the "Teeny-Weeny Selena" but she did not mind. She loved Selena and was determined to follow in her footsteps. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, her abuelita snuck her out of the house to perform while her mom tried to convince the young prodigy to stay out of the music business. Her mother was a singer and didn't want her daughter to have to undergo the ruthless music business, but it was Nikki's dream and now she has reached her time to shine.

Nikki Diaz has recently performed at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Disneyland, The OC Fair, almost every major club in Hollywood, Club Opus in New York City, The Dub Show, and too many other venues to mention.

This sexy woman is going places and with those killer looks, no wonder she is breaking way too many hearts.

Photo: ABC

While Paris Hilton promised to fix her life after prison, nothing has really changed. Not so the case with Nicole Richie. Pregnancy is a defining moment for her and she has promised to become a good girl. Shockingly enough, she has given up drugs and alcohol as is often advised during pregnancy.

Apparently her Bible-thumping boyfriend Joel Madden has been a big help in turning her life around. "I owe the baby my life. I owe this baby everything and I have a responsibility now," Richie said in an interview with Diane Sawyer. "Besides being responsible for myself, I'm now responsible for someone else. And I have to set the right examples. I have to really be someone that I would want my child to look up to."

Good luck, Nicole.

Photo courtesy: Alli Sims

While her cousin Britney Spears may be a mess, don't blame her cousin Alli Sims. Indeed, she is often seen hanging out with the Britney trainwreck, but that does not mean that Alli is not focused on her mission: to be a singer and do it all by herself. Being in Los Angeles is definitely helping her and I can't wait for her album. I am reminded of Norah Jones somehow when she sings: good music without the drama.

Photo credit: Shanna Moakler

Weight loss after pregnancy is the #1 challenge that celebrity moms (and eventually all moms) face and most of them go through what is known as the "mommy makeover." It is simply a cute name for a tummy tuck, liposuction, breast lift, breast implants, and in some cases, a labiaplasty and vaginoplasty. However, it is easy to lose baby weight with just diet and exercise as many celebrities have done.

Surprisingly, this former Playboy model will not go under the knife. On her blog she writes, "THERE IS NO HOLLYWOOD SECRET to getting thin after babies! Most "starlets" have plastic surgery, they use pills, drugs, or they live in the gym for 4 to 6 hours a day, they are airbrushed, photoshopped ( including myself on the photoshop), stop beating yourself up!! It will all go back!! It took 9 months it might take a year getting back! I'd rather be called Shanna porker and be a healthy average WOMAN , then do what most do, to get that thin...I look at my children and I am thrilled that my body will never be the same after having them....they were worth it!"

When I said that Eddie Murphy was a deadbeat father, I was under the impression that he was going to pay child support. Not so. It turns out that not only has he legally accepted that he is the dad (despite the paternity test), he is not paying a penny to Melanie Brown. To force him to pay, she has gone to court. Maybe Eddie Murphy does not have any money left after that expensive engagement ring he bought for his soon-to-be new bride Tracey Edmonds.