Clay Aiken
Gossip

It is so on.

While Adam Lambert and his American Idol rival Kris Allen might be close pals, the same can't be said for this season's runner-up and Clay Aiken.

Days after Aiken bashed Lambert's rendition of "Ring of Fire" (and then quasi-apologized for his remarks), the flamboyant finalist has fired back.

"I don't know Clay," Adam told Access Hollywood this week. "I'm glad he's getting headlines now though, because he wasn't before."

Snaps. Yo.

Lambert wasn't done. He added:

"If he wants to ride my coattails about it, good for him."

Choose a side in this feud:

During a rambling blog entry - which included digs at bloggers for following his words more closely than the economy or the welfare of children around the globe - Clay Aiken sort of apologized to Adam Lambert for disparaging remarks he posted earlier in the week.

Many Lambert fans have taken Clay to task for referring to this season's runner-up as "contrived, awful and frightening."

In response, Aiken writes:

If only many [bloggers] took the time to pay attention to important things like the US economy and the welfare of the world's children. But… nah… I could blog about that type of stuff anytime and most wouldn't think twice, but let me say something that they can pick and choose quotes and misinterpret me… and it's showtime! I never assumed my opinion mattered so much! I guess I may have been wrong...

Since my previous blog got dissected like a biology lab frog, i suppose I should clarify and even retract some of what I wrote. I am sure that some were upset by my choice of words describing my opinion of a performance I heard from Adam Lambert.

I hope no one actually believed that blood truly poured forth from my ears when I heard him. I obviously meant it as a colorful statement to imply that I did not enjoy what I heard. Any performer hopes that their music will appeal to all people, but no singer realistically expects it to.

I definitely don't want to stoop to the level of so many negative freaks on the internet… so, I do apologize to Adam for my colorful (and negative) choice of words. I hope he can forgive me. I imagine he doesn't give a d---! God knows he shouldn't.

Clay Aiken thinks everyone (except for himself, apparently) should focus on world poverty instead of American Idol.

Clay Aiken won't be going on tour with Adam Lambert any time soon.

In fact, he may not even subscribe to Lambert's Twitter account!

When asked about the polarizing American Idol runner-up, Aiken (who is also gay and who also finished second during season three of the series) replied:

I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing “Ring of Fire” and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening!

I wasn’t really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him. Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all. To each his own.

Are you on Team Clay or Team Lambert?

It's not the most common situation, but David Foster doesn't find anything strange about his sister, Jaymes Foster, having Clay Aiken's baby last year.

"She's very close with Clay - they're best friends," the famed composer and music producer told the Associated Press on Thursday.

"It made perfect sense to me that he'd want to have a child with his best friend."

Jaymes Foster, who is reportedly in her late 40s (some accounts say she is already 50) gave birth to Parker Foster Aiken last August 8 after conceiving the baby with Clay Aiken, 30, through in-vitro fertilization.

David Foster - who has worked with the likes of Whitney Houston and Madonna and is writing about Jaymes Foster's relationship with Clay Aiken in his autobiography, Hitmaker - considers it "a very normal situation."

The American Idol runner-up is a "spectacular father," David adds.

A month and a half after Parker was born, Aiken finally came out of the closet publicly and admitted he is gay, which many fans suspected for years. The private Clay said he could not live a lie while raising his young son. Admirable guy.

He and Reed Kelly are still together, we believe.

David Foster said that in addition to Clay's parenting skills, Jaymes, also a music producer who worked with Aiken on his last album, is "a natural mother."

Clay Aiken, who lives with Jaymes Foster when he is in L.A., has said he planned to help raise the baby, but David doesn't know their plan yet.

"They're working it out," he says. "It's a bicoastal thing."

Clay Aiken celebrated the conclusion of his run in Broadway's Spamalot earlier this month by clowning around with boyfriend Reed Kelly inside a photo booth.

Aren't these two adorable?!?

Click on the photos above for larger images of Clay Aiken and Reed Kelly.

Clay Aiken has a new boyfriend.

According to the latest issue of Star, the singer is dating Broadway dancer Reed Kelly.

"Everybody knows Reed as Clay's guy," a Broadway insider said of the Wicked cast member. "Clay met him when he was doing Spamalot in early 2008, and that's one of the reasons he came back to the show again."

When Aiken and Kelly appeared together at Rosie O'Donnell's Building Dreams for Kids gala last month, "it was obvious they were a couple," a source reports.

The American Idol finalist came out of the closet in September, following the birth of his son with Jaymes Foster.

When Clay Aiken's infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, was just four weeks old, the former American Idol singer was thrust into panic mode.

The baby, who had been vomiting with increasing frequency, had to undergo emergency surgery for an intestinal condition that complicates digestion.

"[Jaymes Foster, the baby's mother] and I were trying to be calm, rational parents ... so we didn't call the doctors too much, but it got to a point where he was vomiting up everything," Clay said. "He was starting to get dehydrated."

At the hospital, Parker was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, a condition that prompted doctors to decide he needed surgery the next day.

The prospect of his son in poor health made Clay Aiken's personal decision to come out and admit that he is gay seem trivial by comparison.

"It was the first moment when I thought, 'I'm actually this child's father!' This is now my responsibility, I need to take care of this child, and he can't ask questions for himself. It was a reality check, like this is the real deal."

As for Parker now, a beaming Clay says, "He's fine, healthy and doing well!"

Don't count Jaymes Foster as one of the fair weather fans that turns on Clay Aiken because he's gay.

The mother of Clay's son and this singer's BFF told People Magazine that Aiken is an amazing father, but an even better person.

Here are excerpts from the interview she gave that celebrity gossip publication:

What is it about Clay that makes him a great dad?
Jaymes Foster: He's an incredible caregiver. As far as changing the diapers and seeing what's wrong with [Parker] and getting him to go sleep, Clay's a natural and he's really, really good with that. On a larger scale, he's the perfect person. He's been a school teacher, we have the same morals, family is very important to him and Parker means everything to us.

Do you support Clay's decision to publicly acknowledge he's gay?
Jaymes Foster: I totally support him. It's his choice. It's a choice that he made. I love him and I'll support him in any choice that he makes, whether as an entertainer, or a father, human being, of course I support him.

Jaymes Foster, Clay Aiken and son Parker: An atypical, albeit beautiful, family.

Clay Aiken is gay.

The former American Idol finalist has officially revealed his sexual preference in the latest issue of People Magazine.

The Hollywood Gossip staff had two thoughts when we heard this news:

1. D'uh!
2. Who cares? How do the body parts Aiken finds arousing have anything to do with what kind of person he is or how talented a musician he is?

Hopefully, we're not alone in these reactions.

But, as is often the case, those with a negative opinions are making themselves heard the loudest so far.

Here are a few message board posts from a Clay Aiken fan site. Bear in mind, these were people that considered themselves major followers of the singer prior to his announcement, making their homophobia and outrage that much more appalling:

trollynn63: “This is a gut wrenching day for The ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope its a dream.”

Holmes24: “please tell me I’m not the only one who is shocked beyond belief! I feel numb I’m so upset. This can’t be real!! How can you guys say this won’t change anything? This changes EVERYTHING. I don’t even know what to think right now.”

plumclayzy: “This will be it for me. I cannot continue to support him financially now that I know he has chosen this lifestyle. My mind boggles when I think about how ‘lied to’ I feel. It doesn’t look like my expressed opinion will be a popular one, but that’s OK.”

clayncfan: “I’ve cried a river of tears and truthfully do not know where I stand right now."

Please tell us there are some rational, sane, intelligent Clay fans out there willing to come to the defense of this admirable singer. You know, people like Simon Cowell and his reaction to this announcement:

"Wow, that's a shock. It's like being told Santa Claus isn't real - unbelievable."

Now that Lindsay Lohan is officially out of the closet, other celebrities appear to turning the knob, as well.

“Yes, I’m gay,” Clay Aiken says on the cover of the latest People Magazine. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things.”

The former American Idol winner graces the publication's cover, cradling newborn son Parker. In May, Aiken announced that he had given his sperm by artificial insemination to best friend Jaymes Foster. Together, they are raising the adorable tyke.