Free Britney

UCLA Medical Center is taking steps to fire at least 13 employees and has already suspended at least six others for snooping in the confidential medical records of troubled singer Britney Spears during her recent hospitalization.

In addition, six physicians at the California facility face discipline for peeking at her computerized records, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Officials acknowledged that it was not the first time UCLA had disciplined its own workers for looking at Britney Spears' medical records.

Several were caught prying into records after Spears gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, in September 2005 at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. Some of those involved were fired.

"It's not only surprising, it is very frustrating and very disappointing," Jeri Simpson, the Santa Monica hospital's director of human resources, said.

Security guards stand outside UCLA Medical Center January 31, after Britney Spears had been admitted for treatment of her bipolar disorder.

"I feel like we do everything that we possibly can to ensure the privacy of our patients and I know we feel horrible that it happened again."

Simpson, who handled the discipline in the first case, said UCLA treats celebrities "all the time and you never hear about this ... I don't know what it is about this particular person, I don't know what it is about [Britney Spears]."

Hoping to prevent this, UCLA officials sent a memo the morning Britney Spears was hospitalized on January 31, reminding employees that they were not allowed to peruse medical records unless directly caring for a patient.

Britney Spears was not specifically mentioned.

Continue reading in the Los Angeles Times ...

He's a strange one, that Tom Cruise.

In never-before-seen footage posted Friday afternoon by Gawker online, Cruise reenacts an iconic scene from his 1983 hit Risky Business.

The undated video was taken at an extravagant, six-figure birthday bash thrown for Tom Cruise by the Church of Scientology.

Cameras show Cruise leaping out of the audience to sing and dance to "Old Time Rock and Roll." The husband of Katie Holmes (reportedly his fourth, but final option for the enviable job of wife) looks a bit manic in the process.

This is your brain on Scientology.

The father of adorable little Suri Cruise goes bonkers in the video would be an understatement akin to saying Britney Spears hates pants.

"Thank you!" he declares after his performance. "I don't know where I am... Thank you. This is the best birthday ever, ever, ever... and I mean EVER."

It must be seen to be fully appreciated.

Peep the video at The Gawker ...

Welcome to all celebrity gossip and news readers 'round the world. The Hollywood Gossip Caption Contest, a Friday tradition and fan-favorite, is back!

Who won this week's contest, featuring the disgraced, former New York Governor and Ashley Alexandra Dupre client, Eliot Spitzer? Let's take a look ...

It was a difficult call, but we chose Brad as this week's winner! The winning reply appears beneath the photo, with the full list of responses below that.

Thanks for playing and good luck again this week!

You know what the worst part of this is? I have a $500 credit with that hooker agency that I'll never be able to use.

We added 34 new celebrity photos to our gallery in the past two days. It was a day dominated by Ashley Alexandra Dupre and her many aliases, but we've got some other celebrity news all-stars in our collection as well. A sampling below:

Continue Reading...

Heidi Montag wants to be Lauren Conrad so badly, it's depressing.

Yet it's extremely entertaining celebrity gossip for our staff to cover!

Just days after LC's clothing line, the Lauren Conrad Collection, made its Fashion Week debut with success, Heidi Montag is announcing that her own label, called Heidiwood, will hit Anchor Blue stores nationwide in April!

Yes, Heidiwood. Whether that's a play on Montag's first name and Hollywood, or a term for what Spencer Pratt wakes up with each morning, we can't say.

In any case, Montag is plenty confident her duds â€" dresses, tops, jeans, bags and jewelry, all priced at less than $60 â€" have the edge.

"Lauren's line is not necessarily something I would wear," Montag tells Us Weekly, which has some hot photos of Heidi in her gear ...

"[Lauren] is trying a high-fashion thing, but it's a little overpriced," says the cute, but fake-breasted and fake-nosed star of The Hills.

"Mine is fun and flirty for the everyday woman. Most people can't afford $200 for one dress."

Heidi Montag also insists - these be fightin' words - that she's a more legit fashionista than her former fashion-school classmate.

"When we were in school, I was the designer, and [Lauren Conrad] was in, like, product development," she snipes.

Conrad has yet to publicly critique Heidi's clothing line, focusing instead on the launch of her collection this week at L.A.'s Fashion Week.

"The theme is Paris," the beautiful, not-plastic-surgery-obsessed 22-year-old said. "I designed the whole line after I went there."

Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the high-priced hooker at the center of disgraced New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's sex scandal, had sex with him several times before he was caught on a wiretap during a federal investigation.

However, only during their last sexual encounter did she finally realize the true identity of Eliot Spitzer, according to today's New York Post.

"Oh, my God! Do you know who this guy is?" a shocked Ashley Alexandra Dupre asked her bosses at the Emperors Club VIP escort service, a source reports.

The comment came soon after Dupre's now-infamous and high-priced - $4,300 - meeting with Eliot Spitzer at a Washington hotel on February 13.

The 22-year-old call girl had several "dates" with the governor over the past year, the sources said, but always knew him as "George Fox" - the name of one of Spitzer's close friends that he used in order to protect his identity.

A possibly nude picture of Ashley Alexandra Dupre made the cover of today's New York Post. In sports news, the Yankees have a dude named Shelley on their team.

But just before Dupre - born and raised Ashley Youmans in Wall, N.J., but whom Eliot Spitzer knew as "Kristen" - had her startling revelation, the Feds caught the governor on tape giving them enough evidence to take down the sex ring.

That paved the way for his embarrassing resignation Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as the Democratic governor prepared to leave his office in disgrace, sordid details of Dupre's foray into prostitution emerged.

Dupre got involved with Emperors Club VIP as early as 2006 after responding to an ad from the agency seeking girls to "party" with deep-pocketed men.

Continue reading this article in the New York Post ...

Friends of the 22-year-old high-priced call girl named "Kristen" are now rallying around the woman they knew as Ashley Youmans of Wall, N.J.

"We're just trying to keep her head up and keep her strong, have her look at this as a positive," high school friend Joe Pawlak tells People.

Pawlak, who graduated from Wall H.S. in 2003, a year ahead of Youmans - who now goes by Ashley Dupre - says she's only human and "people make mistakes."

"She's just trying to work through it," says Pawlak.

THG NOTE: Come on Pawlak. The girl slings the poon for thousands of dollars an hour. We're not judging, but there's no "mistake" about this.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre was identified this week as "Kristen" - the escort linked by federal authorities to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned.

Bevin Doherty, who knew Ashley Youmans on the Pop Warner cheerleading squad in middle school, tells People that, in contrast to statements Ashley made on her MySpace page about her home life, Ashley lived with her mom.

"Her mom would pick her up from cheering at school in a Jaguar," says Doherty, who assumed Ashley, who wore designer clothes, was wealthy.

Set to graduate from the Wall H.S. class of 2004, Ashley Youmans disappeared near the end of her sophomore year. At some point, Youmans legally became Ashley DiPietro, but later took on the "stage" name of Ashley Alexandra Dupre.

"When she left high school," said Doherty, "me and others thought she left to go get married. That's what I was under the belief ... that she met someone and had a ring and left to get married. We always wondered what happened to her."

A teacher of Ashley Dupre, Gerald Basiak, 58, recalls her as a very kind person, but a "B-C student who really wasn't focused on anything."

As for Ashley's being caught up in the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal: "I would never expect this, there were never indications of any problems at home."

How far would you go to party Kevin Federline?

1. You wouldn't under any circumstances
2. If he happened to be at the same bar as you by chance, you'd say hello
3. If there were no cover charge, maybe you'd check out his party
4. You'd pay him $175,000 to make sure he shows

If you're Las Vegas' Pure nightclub, the answer is #4!

"Kevin is a big spender, and a draw for the crowds. So the money he gets is nothing compared to the money they make," a source tells the New York Post.

The former Mr. Britney Spears is being paid at least that much to host his 30th birthday party at the Sin City hotspot on March 21. Peep the invite!

Really? He's that big a draw? We apparently missed something in our two years in this business and many more as avid celebrity gossip fans...

Earlier this week, Britney's lawyers argued that she shouldn't have to pay for Kevin Federline's legal fees - as a court judge has ordered she do - because he's got more money than he claims. This doesn't exactly hurt her claim.

The former spouses are not entirely at odds, though, which is good. A family insider says that Kevin Federline is planning on spending a few days in Las Vegas, which might give his ex-wife a chance to spend some time with their kids.

"Kevin is hoping Britney will be able to have time with the boys for a few days while he's gone, but it all depends on how she is doing at the time," says the insider.

"Also, Kevin has to feel confident that (Britney Spears' father) Jamie will make sure the boys are watched over at all times while she is with them."

Even though he's leaving sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, behind, the aspiring rapper and actor won't be lacking for company.

Brother Chris Federline, who just celebrated his own birthday this week, will also be on hand for the party. Tremendous news there.

For six weeks, OK! Magazine reports, Britney Spears has been grounded by her dad, Jamie Spears, in a desperate measure to save her life.

As part of her dad's restrictions, the 26-year-old star is no longer allowed to hit the clubs in no underwear, hang out with her paparazzi pals or make frequent, erratic stops at gas stations, fast-food joints and public bathrooms.

Which is sad, in a way. It's the end of an era.

In any case, there could be worse places to be holed up than her $7.2 million, 7,400-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa in Studio City, Calif, right?

One would think.

Some friends of the the singer tell OK! Magazine that Britney recently snuck a text message to them saying, "I'm so bored. I hate my life."

A typical day with Britney Spears includes spending hours alone in her bedroom, which is "like a princess' room with several walk-in closets and a spa tub, plus a long counter where she used to keep all her wigs."

Papa Jamie Spears, who stays in a room downstairs, leaves her be when she's up in her private suite. Since she's no longer allowed to go out, the pop star now spends hours in front of the mirror trying on different outfits.

"Changing clothes all day long must seem harmless enough, so her dad doesn't interfere with that," a friend of Britney Spears explains to OK!

Continue Reading...

From Jason Wahler to Brody Jenner and even brief flings like Gavin Beasley, Lauren Conrad has dated her fair share of guys.

So who does her friend from back in the Laguna Beach days, and her BFF slash roommate now - Lauren "Lo" Bosworth - prefer for LC?

"Honestly, I think Stephen is best for Lauren," Bosworth told Us Weekly this week, referring to who she calls LC's best match, Stephen Colletti.

"It all goes back to friendships. We have all known each other for so long and that really translates to good relationships in the long run."

LC and Stephen Colletti dated during their Laguna Beach high school days and were thought to be maybe having a fling again this year (Lauren Conrad stated they have been "just friends" for a long time, however).

"He is so funny, has a really big heart and cares about his friends," Lo said of Stephen Colletti, seen here in an older photo with Lauren Conrad.

"He is there for you whenever you need him."

As for Conrad's on-and-off fling, Brody Jenner, Bosworth insists the two are on good terms (he even went to her fashion show Tuesday):

"Brody has a new girlfriend, Cora Skinner, and Lauren has completely moved on."

Conrad is also chummy with former foe, Kristin Cavallari - both of whom dated Colletti, which resulted in a long-running feud.

"Lauren and Kristin made up a few weeks ago," Lauren Bosworth said. "They were out at a bar and sat down and worked out their differences. Everything's fine."

Adds Lo, "We have all grown up so much since the Laguna Beach days."

The new season of The Hills debuts March 24.