Stalking

TMZ has learned that a woman was arrested in front of the Beverly Hills mansion of Tom Cruise after someone inside the estate tipped off police.

According to police sources, and relayed to us by TMZ, 32-year-old Emily Diane Leatherman, a known transient, was arrested in front of the movie star's home for receiving known stolen property and for violating a court order. It is not yet clear which court order was violated.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mavrixphoto.com, TMZ.com

The crazy thing? This isn't the first time that Leatherman - who is currently being held at a Beverly Hills jail on $45,000 bail - has been in the news for stalking!

Last year, a judge ordered her to stay at least 500 feet away from John Cusack after the actor claimed that she showed "an unusual interest by stalking, throwing a long letter of interest over my fence in bags with rocks and screwdrivers inside."

Always classy. Leatherman insisted that she was only trying to contact famous people to have them tell her tale of being sexually assaulted and harassed.

Yeah, yeah. That's probably what Dominick Giordano said when he got busted for stalking Michelle Branch earlier this week. It's the oldest story in the book, lady.

We're just glad that little Asian cutie Suri Cruise and her brainwashed mother, Katie Holmes, weren't exposed to any harm as a result of this lunatic.

Singer Michelle Branch, who is apparently still around, doesn't take any crap from the audience. Well, at least not when it includes people who have been stalking her.

The "Everywhere" singer had an audience member arrested during a concert in Sheboygan, Wis., Monday after recognizing a man who has allegedly been following and harassing her.

As Michelle Branch took the stage to perform an encore at the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts, the cute singer reportedly froze up before begging security to apprehend 32-year-old Dominick Giordano.

He allegedly tried to bolt, but was quickly arrested by Sheboygan Police and cited for disorderly conduct. His mug shot appears below, next to a hot picture of Branch. Yeeeah. He's not creepy or anything. 

Authorities say Giordano has been following the "Everywhere" singer around the country since 2003 and regularly sends her letters and videos.

In the police report, cops say Giordano has previously "managed to lie his way backstage" at Branch's concerts, "sneak into after-concert parties" and also "allegedly lunged at Ms. Branch during an autograph signing event."

Man, if Michelle Branch is getting harassed this bad, you can imagine what bigger celebs such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have to deal with.

According to TMZ, Branch was "scared" by a "particularly disturburbing" incident, and expressed concern for the safety of her 19-month-old daughter, who was also at the show.

Giordano was released after posting a $150 bond. This is easily one of the weirdest stories of the week. Who stalks Michelle Branch? Who's next, Jeff Goldblum? Oh, wait...

Our counterparts at TMZ have learned that actor Jeff Goldblum has filed a restraining order against a 44-year-old woman, claiming that she has shown up to his house "unannounced and uninvited 20 times in the past month and over 50 times in the last three months."

In court documents regarding the stalking, filed yesterday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Goldblum claims a woman has:

"Sent harassing and threatening letters, stalked me at various locations, physically attacked my employee and accosted me."

No word on whether the alleged stalker is friends with Naomi Campbell.

According to the documents, Linda Ransom (who, we have to say, has a great name for a crazy stalker) met Goldblum at an acting school in L.A. where Goldblum teaches.

She then began showing up at various locations where he performed with his jazz band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.

In a statement included in the court documents, Ransom offered the explanation that she was just trying to get Goldblum to "support my efforts to complete my research and screenplay as accurate [sic] as possible."

Riiight. That's what we told the cops before Kristin Cavallari got a restraining order on us. We know from experience, Linda, that you've gotta do a lot better than that.

This just goes to show that it's not just the beautiful young starlets like Hilary Duff who have to deal with stalking. Established, but lower-profile acting stars like Goldblum and Drake Hogestyn have to cope with wackos too.

Hilary Duff must be in the forgiving, holiday mood.

Despite a difficult break-up with Joel Madden, the pair has found common ground in letting one dude who stalked them skate free from a restraining order.

TMZ obtained documents filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the star duo's lawyers, which requests a dismissal of the restraining orders against celebrity photographer David Joseph Klein.

In October, Duff and Madden filed temporary restraining orders against Klein and his roommate Maksim Miakovsky, an 18-year-old Russian emigre.

The former couple feared for their safety and requested that a judge order the alleged stalkers to stay at least 100 yards away from Duff, her sister Haylie, Madden and his twin brother Benji.

Of course, now that Madden is dating Nicole Richie, future stalkers will probably be glad to stay away, lest they wish to get run over by a pill-popping bad driver.

While we were focusing on a possible new look for Hilary Duff, policemen were patrolling the streets, on the lookout for her supposed stalker.

It paid off. The 18-year-old who allegedly threatened to kill one of our favorite young singers has been arrested.

Manhattan Beach cops arrested Maksim Miakovsky, an 18-year-old Russian emigre, at a Residence Inn last week. He was booked on charges of making criminal threats and stalking.

There was no word on whether or not a bitter Lindsay Lohan hired the thug out of jealousy of Duff's clean reputation.

TMZ first reported last month that Duff and her boyfriend, Joel Madden, were terrified that Miakovsky would cause them hard. Duff and Madden asked for a restraining order, alleging that Miakovsky "has stated his intention of 'removing' his 'enemies' (i.e., those who prevent him from being with her), has stated his intention of purchasing a weapon, and has threatened to kill himself and to engage in dramatic actions to get her attention."

Pretty much makes Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes appear sane.

Sources said a private investigator from Sunset Protective Services contacted Miakovsky at the Residence Inn and Miakovsky stated his intention of killing Duff on Sunday at an event she was scheduled to attend.

According to legal papers filed by Duff, Miakovsky came to the U.S. "for the sole purpose of meeting and becoming romantically involved with Ms. Duff."

Miakovsky is currently being held on $200,000 bail at the Manhattan Beach jail. He's scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. We hope he either goes to jail for a long time or is forced to stalk Stavros Niarchos from now on.

Reps for Brad Pitt are seeking trespassing charges against E! Networks after a producer and cameraman allegedly walked onto the actor's property in the Hollywood Hills last week.

"Yes, we have filed trespassing charges against E! and are exploring our legal options against both the crew that actually trespassed and the network itself," Pitt's peeps told People magazine.

A Los Angeles police spokesperson says the incident is still under investigation. Hilary Duff, meanwhile, probably wishes a cable network - and not a crazy old man - was the one stalking her.

E!, of course, is denying any intentional wrongdoing. But so is Anna Nicole Smith. Sometimes, it's best to just come clean.

"E! Networks did not instruct or authorize anyone working on its program to improperly intrude onto private property, and the individuals involved have been terminated.

While neither Mr. Pitt nor his family were at the property when the incident took place, the network in no way condones or encourages such behavior and would like to offer its most sincere apologies to Mr. Pitt and his family."

We'll have to see how Shiloh and Zahara respond. They've not very forgiving tykes.

Thank goodness. We haven't had a good celebrity stalking story in weeks.

Hilary Duff is coming through, however. The actress/singer claims she fears for her life, alleging she and her boyfriend are being stalked by two men - one a paparazzi and the other a homeless man.

TMZ has obtained court documents in which Duff and Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden state a 19-year-old Russian emigre came to the United States "for the sole purpose of meeting and becoming romantically involved with Ms. Duff."

That couldn't have been the only reason. Come on, he had no interest in buying the Screech sex tape?!?

The court documents state the man, whose first name is Max, "admitted to being 'obsessed' with her, has stated his intention of 'removing' his 'enemies' (i.e., those who prevent him from being with her), has stated his intention of purchasing a weapon, and has threatened to kill himself and to engage in dramatic actions to get her attention."

That's actually is frightening; even more so than every single Mary-Kate Olsen picture.

According to the documents, Max "has stated his belief that Hilary is in love with him and that Joel Madden stands in their way."

But there's also David Joseph Klein, a 50-year-old celebrity photographer who is roommates with Max and is also named as a threat.

The documents state: "Over the past six weeks, the defendants have engaged in an accelerated effort to make contact with Hilary, including visits to her neighborhood, to her mother's home, to her boyfriend's neighborhood ... to Mr. Madden's concert venue, and direct calls to Hilary's manager."

Wow. That's some serious stalking. Osama bin Laden could learn a thing or two from this nut case.

Sandra Bullock has filed a lawsuit in to make sure she is alerted when her alleged stalker is released from a mental-health facility in Tennessee.

Thomas James Weldon, currently a patient at the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute, was hit with a restraining order in 2003, and must stay at least 200 feet away from Bullock. In May, that order was extended until June 2009, but the Michigan man may receive a 90-day leave this month.

Bullock's lawsuit, filed last week on behalf of her production company, Fortis Films, calls on Tennessee authorities to comply with a California court order requiring she be notified upon Weldon's release.

When requesting an extension of the restraining order, Bullock said Weldon had been stalking her from Michigan to Texas and California, sending her e-mails and faxes and leaving voice mails "indicating he wants to have a relationship with her."

Her lawyer said Weldon admits to suffering from schizophrenia. Fortis Films is not seeking monetary damages, but asks Tennessee to pay any costs to comply with the order.

Just another case of psycho peeps stalking the celebs we know and love. Once in awhile, however, the tables turn and crazy famous people like Tom Cruise stalk ex-ballplayers.

As frightening as it must've been for Joe Dimaggio to hear that Tom Cruise was stalking him, the Yankee Clipper is probably looking down from heaven now and thinking:

At least it wasn't Osama bin Laden.

Unfortunately for Whitney Houston, she can't say the same thing. According to Osama Bin Laden's concubine - yes, you read that correctly - the world's most wanted man has had a long-time fixation on Houston. He was willing to go to great lengths to win her heart.

Fortunately, Kevin Costner stepped in and protected his employer. Just kidding.

However, Kola Boof, a Sudanese poet and novelist, is dead serious in her book, "Diary of a Lost Girl." She said that Bin Laden deemed Houston "the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen." The terroist mastermind also agreed that Paris Hilton was the most overrated.

But, seriously, folks, Osama said "he wanted to give [her] a mansion that he owned in a suburb of Khartoum" and that to nab the diva, "he would be willing to break his color rule and make her one of his wives."

Take notes from bin Laden, fellas: love is all about compromise.

Whitney's husband, Bobby Brown, better watch his back, though. Boof says Osama believed that Whitney had been "brainwashed by American culture and by her husband." She said bin Laden wanted to have Brown killed.

Don't go thinking you're all special, though, Bobby. The same is pretty much true for 250 million other Americans.

Although the general public is now fully aware (you're welcome!) to the bizarre behavior of one Tom Cruise, the late baseball great Joe DiMaggio may have been one of the first to know.

A recent report says that in the mid-1990s, the actor followed Joltin' Joe all over the place, spooking him and nearly prompting him to call the cops.

According to TMZ.com and Rush & Molloy, the insane one would show up uninvited at baseball-signing shows and wait for DiMaggio to appear, and even waited outside a restaurant for him once for three hours. But the Yankee Clipper wasn't impressed, and instead referred to Cruise as "a short little guy" who "scared him a little."

"This guy is following me around everywhere I go. Next time, I'm going to call the cops," DiMaggio is quoted as saying.

Cruise's representatives didn't respond to the story (nor have they offered any proof that baby daughter Suri Cruise is real -- vote in our official poll). It's perfectly possible, in his defense, that Tom was trying to get DiMaggio's life story made into a film, as the actor has been known to go to extreme lengths to get projects underway.

Reportedly, he showed up motorcycle in the middle of the night at director JJ Abrams' house to convince him to direct Mission: Impossible 3.