June 2006 Gossip Archive (Page 10)

H&M sure hopes it doesn't suffer the same fate as Britney Spears. The store would prefer to maintain a close relationship with Madonna for years to come, now that the Material Girl has agreed on a deal with the company.

The will supply Madonna and her entire touring company with offstage wardrobes during the artist's Confessions Tour. In Auguest, the ageless singer, along with members of her posse, will appear in an H&M ad campaign. Meanwhile, the retailer will begin selling a specially designed track suit it created for the artist.

Finally, H&M shoppers will enjoy Madonna's latest CD, "Confessions on a Dance Floor" as they shop for reasonably priced iterms. Everyone wins!

Except Britney.

Entertainment Tonight has the first look at Scarlett Johansson's new summer movie -- and fetching hairstyle -- on tonight's show.

Donning a striking dark mane, the usually light-haired Scarlett stars in The Nanny Diaries. Her character, Nan, is a student who becomes a nanny for a Park Avenue couple that turns out to be the family from hell.

Hollywood quickly came calling for the movie rights after the novel written by two real-life Manhattan nannies whose fictionalized account of actual life experiences working for the rich and privileged became a best-seller.

Audiences may not recognize the 21-year old Johansson, who has come into her own in recent years. She first appeared on the Hollywood radar screen as a teenager in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer, and shot to fame in the award-winning Lost In Translation in 2004. Now, the native New Yorker is ready to take on the role of caretaker to a dysfunctional family and their spoiled brat of a son.

In the movie, Laura Linney plays Mrs. X, a perfectly manicured Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook or want to be bothered with raising a child (even her own) at any time. Her time is spent on other concerns, such as bossing the maid around to ensure their lavish apartment is perfectly maintained without actually having to lift a finger herself.

Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) also stars as the selfish, workaholic Mr. X, while Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) plays Scarlett's love interest. Lucky. Just in case you, the viewers, were curious what Scarlett used to look like before changing her hair color, we've included this nice, large picture. We go to great lengths for our readers.

You're welcome.

Johnny Depp is just not that into the United States.

The 43-year old actor tells Newsweek that he and Vanessa Paradis have chosen to raise their children in France because of the country's slower lifestyle and the anonymity it affords him. Depp met Paradis, a French actress and singer, in 1998 while filming The Ninth Gate in France. They have been together since and have two children, Lily-Rose, 7, and Jack, 4.

"I've always loved it there," Depp said of France, where the couple spends a majority of its time. "The phones don't ring as much. Movies are never brought up in conversation. I'll take the kids and we'll go out to the trampoline and the swing set, and we'll stop by the garden and see how our tomatoes are doing. You know, old-fart stuff. Good stuff."

Despite a deeply-professed love for his craft and great success both among fans and critics, the Pirates of the Caribbean star has always eschewed what he calls the "occupational hazards" of fame -- being stalked by the paparazzi, approached by strangers, packaged to sell commercial projects, et cetera.

"You go into restaurants [in America] and people are pointing at you and whispering," he said. "You feel spooked by it because that freedom of anonymity is gone. You never get used to that. You'd leave the hotel to go to dinner and there'd be tons of cameras and flashbulbs."

While other stars such as Tom Cruise overwhelm audiences with bombastic personalities and off-the-set headlines, Depp is an iconoclast, known for his evolving craft and a string of successful eclectic roles. Reluctant, unapologetic and unpredictable as ever, he will be back on the big screen soon in this summer's Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.

The summer blockbuster may very well approach or shatter some box office records, as its predecessor grossed a tidy $653 million.

Before she even appeared on Dateline as an utter hot mess, Britney Spears had been having a bad week. It began when she was dumped as a friend by Madonna.

Now, it looks like the Material Girl has gone shopping for a buddy a few rows down on the same talentless hack aisle. The rumored replacement for Spears? Lindsay Lohan.

After ditching Brit the Twit because she strayed from Kabbalah, Madonna has grown closer to Lohan. The two supposedly share religious beliefs, but, of course, never meals.

Lindsay recently acknowledged that she was "looking into Kabbalah," and now may have an opportunity to sing a duet with Madonna, according to In Touch Weekly.

"Madonna's giving Lindsay advice on her music career, and she wants to work on a film with Madonna, too!" an insider told the mag. The very excited source says the two talk a few times a week and are planning a "spiritual journey" once Madonna's current tour is over.

Neither Madonna's nor Lohan's rep had a comment on the duo visiting the Holy Land. The Material Girl, after all, was busy singing while being crucified on stage; while Lohan was avoiding every parcel of food in sight.

That couch-jumping, finger-pointing and chemical imbalance-bashing psycho, Tom Cruise, has drawn the ire of many Americans over the past year.

But there's no doubting his bottom line.

According to Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100 Power List," which ranks famous people based on earnings and overall buzz, Cruise is still the world's #1 star. The actor earned a reported $67 million last year alone, generating headlines every step of the way and making his way to the top of Forbes' decidedly unscientific rankings of TV, film, music and sports stars.

"It's what kind of currency does the star's name have," editor Lea Goldman said. "It's increasingly important how they are perceived both in industry circles and commercial circles, and this list represents who has cachet in both arenas."

Cruise became the only celebrity to top the list twice, having reached the pinnacle in 2001.

"He's one of the few guaranteed bankable stars. No one in Hollywood can negotiate the kind of salary he gets," Goldman said.

In terms of raw earnings, Tom's $67M did not win out. But in terms of raw pain? He's a hands down victor. Dismissive comments about postpartum depression and Brooke Shields, a passion for Scientology and a whirlwind romance with Katie Holmes all made Cruise the most talked-about celebrity of the year by far.

Which is sad, because hard-working, under-appreciated standouts such as Britney Spears really need to get more attention.

Even those hot and young can be caught off guard sometimes.

Beyoncé Knowles believed a few fans had won a meal with her in an eBay auction, but was shocked to learn those she went to dinner with were actually representatives from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). They had a few bones - and pieces of fur - to pick with the singer/actress.

According to E!, one activist opened with the following ice-breaker:

"Beyoncé, many of your fans would like to know why you don't care about how minks, foxes, and chinchillas are gassed, strangled, and electrocuted for vanity and if you might have it in your heart to recognize that fur is not only cheap and tacky but also horribly cruel."

It is, however, quite bootylicious. Not amused, the PETA representative also reportedly brought out a portable DVD player and showed the diva footage of animals being trapped, drowned, and electrocuted for their pelts.

For whatever reason, Beyonce preferred not to check on the situation. She refused to respond to the animal-lovers' interrogations and asked members of her entourage to handle the unwelcome, misguided, insane guests. Eventually, the PETA people were given the leather boot.

The New York Post is reporting that the... how shall we put it... less-than-polished appearance / performance by Britney Spears on Dateline NBC (right) was the result of the pregnant pop princess being left to her own devices.

"Neither of her publicists showed up," a source, who said Spears insisted on doing her own hair and makeup, told the publication. "When [the NBC crew] got there, they thought they had the wrong day. No one was there to rein things in."

A member of Spears' PR team explained the solo act by saying that Britney is "country," and a "grown-up" who "makes her own decisions."

Really? Britney's all grown up? Seriously? She's capable of handling her own life? Apparently no one has told her this. And we here at the Gossip thought that George W. Bush was the official Decider. Whatever. In any case, more absurdity is sure to come as Brit's marriage to K-Fed deterioriates.

In other Spears news, a Namibian tourism official has backed off his claim Friday that Brit was following in the footsteps of Brangelina and eyeing an African childbirth. The official now admits it is "really possible" that he has been duped by a prank caller.

Guess we couldn't fool an entire country after all. Plus we are gonna get hit with a $120 phone bill in a few weeks. Crap.

Less than one-month old Kingston James McGregor Rossdale may have no idea where he is right now (or why he has four names), but the infant son of Gwen Stefani and husband Gavin Rossdale is already out of the house and having fun. Here's a recent picture from People Magazine of Kingston and his trendy, rocker mom at a park in L.A.

What a cutie! Kingston's kind of endearing, too.

She may have finished second on American Idol, but she's getting all the headlines and being treated like Hollywood royalty these days.

The lovely Katharine McPhee, 22, was reportedly mobbed by tourists when she attended a recent Broadway show. Despite emerging as a bona fide star in just a few months, the singer is trying to take it all in stride and not let it go to her head.

"I try to look at it as, well, we're all hot right now, but let's remember that this is a dog-eat-dog business and it could all go as fast as it came. I just keep that in mind," a humble McPhee said of the incident, which is hardly the first of its kind.

Having inked a new record contract, and with two singles -- "My Destiny" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" -- due out on June 27, it doesn't look like the Californian will be fading away anytime soon. She will also be on tour with her fellow American Idol finalists beginning July 5 before working on her full-length debut album for RCA Records.

The adoption rumors are true. In her first interview since welcoming daughter Shiloh Nouvel into the world, Angelina Jolie confirmed she'll soon be looking to adopt again.

"Next, we'll adopt," the actress said in an interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

She's including handsome hubby, Brad Pitt, in those plans, of course. Jolie's two other children, 4-year-old Maddox and 16-month-old Zahara, were adopted from Cambodia and Ethiopia, respectively. Pitt is currently in the process of adopting the pair, as well.

While Jolie says her next child will be from another country, she hasn't decided which one or whether she's planning on a boy or a girl. It would dpend on what would be best for "Mad and Z," the beauty stated.

Also in the interview: Jolie admitted she was terrified during Shiloh's birth, praised her medical team in Namibia and said Pitt was by her side.

"He was in the operating room. And we had amazing doctors. And everybody was so lovely."

While the couple is back in the U.S., neither side has lost sight of the people they met and experiences they shared abroad. Jolie was inspired by those she helped in her role as UN Goodwill Ambassador.

"You think, 'Jesus, the things these people go through,' " she says. "I owe it to all of them to get myself together and stop whining about being tired and get there and get focused because, God, it's the least I can do with what they live with."