Janice Dickson

LePaparazzi News Updates

"I'm a tyrant," she admits, but still the former supermodel has love on her mind


Janice Dickinson



Janice Dickinson doesn't pull any punches. Give her a subject and she'll go off: Her stint on The Surreal Life? "A complete facade of surrealism." Leaving America's Next Top Model? "I got the boot because I'm too forward." Now the former supermodel, 51, has a new venture to get hyped about: her Oxygen reality show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (premiering tonight), documenting her new business foray.

The single mom (to son Nathan, 19, and daughter Savannah, 12) and author (her third book, Check Please! Dating, Mating & Extricating, hits stores today) chatted with PEOPLE.com about her tyrannical tendencies and which legendary rocker she'd love to date.

Tell me about your reality show.

This isn't a reality show – it's a documentary of a single mother doing a start-up business. This is the most fun rollercoaster ride I've ever encountered – I thrive on the adrenaline factor. I have experience as a photographer and a supermodel and a writer, and now I want to do the industry part as an agent. I think I've come full circle.

What are you like as a boss?

I'm a tyrant. I'm a perfectionist, but I also have a lot of passion. At first there was a lot of fear involved so I screamed.

What's the best lesson you learned from your modeling days that you're trying to impart to your charges?

Hopefully not to make the mistakes that I did – becoming an alcoholic and chemically addicted person. I was at the top of an industry and I just left it in 1985. I handed my crown to Cindy Crawford and went to Europe because I couldn't take all of my friends who were dying of AIDS. The advice that I'd like to give is just get back on the horse and keep walking.


You've been very open about getting plastic surgery – is there anything you wouldn't do to your body?

No, if it makes you feel good, go do it. I've had my breasts done, I've had a facelift – I'm happy with who I am. It works for me. You've also given acting a try.

What's your role like in the upcoming Wassup Rockers?

I play a 38-year-old agorophobic who can't leave the house. It's a dramatic role – I get electrocuted in the bathtub. I did it in one take – I put Hitchcock to shame. You give dating advice in your new book.


What qualities must a guy possess to interest you?

First of all, they have to smell good, second of all they have to make you laugh and they have to look reasonably hygienic.


What's you first-date pet peeve?

If I see that they're taking drugs and not paying attention to me.

And you're single at the moment?

Yes. I heard Paul McCartney is getting a divorce – can you hook me up? I'm not kidding.

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Oprah Crashes Wedding Receptions


Oprah Winfrey



In a turn perhaps inspired by Vince Vaughn or Owen Wilson, Oprah Winfrey crashed several Tulsa wedding receptions over the weekend, collecting footage that will be seen on her show.

"When we were getting ready, we heard that Oprah was in town buying wedding gifts," said Sarah Klein, the sister of groom Ben Klein, who married Heather Anderson. "We were all joking that she should come to the wedding."

And that's exactly what happened.

"She came in wearing her pink dress and was all hidden under her hat," she said. "I knew it was her."

Winfrey dropped off dishes for the newlyweds and posed for a picture during her few minutes at the reception.

Before visiting the reception, Winfrey stopped off at another wedding party, according to KOTV, which airs the syndicated "Oprah Winfrey Show" locally.

She surprised Morgan and Bethany Francis at their reception, congratulating the couple and leaving a wedding gift of more dishes.

The segments from her Tulsa wedding reception visits are to be aired in a program in September.

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Pitt and Jolie to Sell Baby Photos


Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt



Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will give the world its first peek at their newborn daughter by releasing photos of Shiloh Nouvel, with profits going to charity.

The images, taken at a private photo shoot, will be distributed by Getty Images, the photo agency said Monday. All profits will be given to charity, though no specific foundation was announced.

"While we celebrate the joy of the birth of our daughter, we recognize that two million babies born every year in the developing world die on the first day of their lives," the couple said in a joint statement. "These children can be saved, but only if governments around the world make it a priority."

Deb Trevino, a spokeswoman for Getty Images, told The Associated Press the family would later name the charity that will receive the funds. She would not disclose how much the photos were being sold for, or when they would be distributed.

A call by the AP to Pitt's publicist, Cindy Guagenti, was not immediately returned Monday.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born May 27 in Namibia. In the weeks leading up to the birth, the couple retreated to the African country for government-assisted privacy. Delivered by Caesarean section, the baby weighed 7 pounds and was said to be in good health.

The couple have yet to make a public appearance since the birth.

Jolie, 30, has two adopted children: 16-month-old Zahara, from Ethiopia, and 4-year-old Maddox, from Cambodia. Both had their surnames legally changed to Jolie-Pitt after Pitt announced his intentions to adopt the children as well.

Pitt, 42, and Jennifer Aniston divorced last year.

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The Grateful Dead's Vince Welnick Dies

LePaparazzi News Updates


Vince Welnick



Vince Welnick, the Grateful Dead's last keyboard player, died Friday of undisclosed causes, according to the group's longtime publicist.

Various sources give his age as 51 or 55, the Associated Press reports. Welnick, who also played in bands including the Tubes and Missing Man Formation, lived in the northern California town of Forestville.

The Sonoma County coroner's office said an autopsy would be performed next week. "The big thing about Vince was that he had that fearlessness to be able to go and just jump into our madness and just operate on it like it was a normal, everyday procedure," Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart recalled Saturday. "A lot of people can play, but with us they just don't know how to navigate. Our music is different."

The band, which was formed in 1965 and joined by Welnick in 1990, retired the name Grateful Dead and quit touring after singer and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995. The death of the group's unofficial leader was said to have hit Welnick particularly hard.

In the years following Garcia's death, Welnick, who formed his own group, Missing Man Formation, occasionally went on tour and had been scheduled to perform later this month, according to his Web site.

He is survived by his wife, Lori.

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Newton-John's Missing Boyfriend Spotted


McDermott and Newton-John



Three separate witnesses in Mexico have spotted Olivia Newton-John's missing boyfriend, who was thought to have fallen overboard during a deep-sea fishing trip nearly a year ago, Australia's Daily Telegraph reports.

Patrick McDermott, 48, a cameraman whom Newton-John met in 1996, disappeared on June 30, 2005, while on an overnight fishing trip out of San Pedro, Calif. Subsequent news reports revealed that he had amassed a mountain of debts and faced possible jail time over thousands of dollars in child support he owed his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar.

But according to a story on Monday in the Daily Telegraph – which says that McDermott is now suspected of faking his death – he has been seen in Mexico's Baja Peninsula over the past three months, and as recently as 10 days ago.



Manuel Valdez, owner of a bar north of the Mexican resort town
of Cabo San Lucas, tells the paper he saw McDermott three months ago and was struck by McDermott's mood, saying "it was one of those situations where you don't know if the person is on drugs or normally quiet."

Newton-John, 57, was at a health retreat she owns in Australia when she learned of McDermott's disappearance, and returned to the U.S. at the end of last July.

In October she told the hosts of The View that her initial reaction to hearing about McDermott was utter shock. "I was just kind of frozen. … But you have to move on. I didn't think I was going to sing again, but I am singing again." Newton-John and McDermott met a decade ago while filming a commercial, shortly after Newton-John divorced her husband of 11 years, Matt Lattanzi.

At the time that McDermott's disappearance became apparent, a spokesman for Newton-John told PEOPLE that the singer "is in close and frequent contact with his family and other friends, as well as with officials who are assisting in this matter."

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'Break-Up' Tops 'X-Men' at Box Office


Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn's "The Break-Up"



Supported by real-life romantic splits and hookups, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn's "The Break-Up" pulled an upset over the mutant world of the "X-Men."

"The Break-Up" debuted more strongly than expected with $38.1 million to take over as the No. 1 weekend movie from "X-Men: The Last Stand," which slipped to second place with $34.35 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Aniston's split from Brad Pitt last year and her reported romance that began with Vaughn while filming "The Break-Up" helped keep the movie in the public eye.

"They're always in the press," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released "The Break-Up." "Every time you turn around, somebody's talking about Jennifer, or Jennifer and Brad, or Jennifer and Vince. It's not why we made the movie, though."
"The Break-Up" pulled in about $10 million more than Rocco had expected.


After putting in a record four-day debut of $122.9 million over Memorial Day weekend, 20th Century Fox's third "X-Men" movie tumbled. The movie's domestic gross dropped a steep 67 percent from its Friday-Sunday haul the first weekend.

Still, "X-Men" raised its total to a whopping $175.7 million in just 10 days, a mark it took "X2: X-Men United" 18 days to reach. Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for Fox, said the film should top out at $240 million to $250 million, beating the $157 million take for the first "X-Men" and the $215 million return for "X2."
The huge decline in the second weekend was typical given how many people saw the movie over the holiday weekend, Snyder said.

"I'm not shocked at that drop," Snyder said.
DreamWorks Animation's cartoon comedy "Over the Hedge" held up well, placing third with $20.6 million for a three-week total of $112.4 million.

Sony's "The Da Vinci Code" was No. 4 with $19.3 million, lifting its three-week domestic gross to $172.7 million. Worldwide, the Tom Hanks film adapted from Dan Brown's best-seller has grossed $581 million and should hit at least $750 million globally, said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution.
In its second weekend, the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" went into wider release and broke into the top 10 with $1.33 million, even though it was playing in just 77 theaters.

Released by Paramount Classics, the film averaged an impressive $17,292 a theater, compared to $12,410 in 3,070 cinemas for "The Break-Up."

Chronicling the former vice president's campaign to educate people about the perils of global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth" expands to more theaters over the next two weekends.
"It's breakups and global warming that I think really are interesting people now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Overall business rose slightly, with the top 12 movies taking in $128.9 million, up 1.6 percent from the same weekend last year.

After an 8 percent drop in movie attendance last year, Hollywood is positioned for a solid summer. Attendance is running about 1 percent ahead of last year's, with what looks like a solid crop of blockbusters still to come, including this Friday's animated comedy "Cars," from Disney and Pixar, and the Warner Bros. adventure "Superman Returns" on June 30.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Break-Up," $38.1 million.

2. "X-Men: The Last Stand," $34.35 million.

3. "Over the Hedge," $20.6 million.

4. "The Da Vinci Code," $19.3 million.

5. "Mission: Impossible III," $4.67 million.

6. "Poseidon," $3.4 million.

7. "RV," $3.3 million.

8. "See No Evil," $2 million.

9. "An Inconvenient Truth," $1.33 million.

10. "Just My Luck," $825,000.

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Sylvester Stallone Turns 60 in Las Vegas


Sylvester Stallone



It was a Hollywood and a Planet Hollywood reunion in Las Vegas Sunday night as Sylvester Stallone celebrated his 60th birthday.

The "Rocky" and "Rambo" star was joined by fellow Planet Hollywood founders Bruce Willis and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the bash at Stallone's soon-to-open Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

Stallone's wife Jennifer threw the party, which included disco dancing and a birthday serenade from Tom Jones.

Other celebrities in attendance included John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, David Spade and James Caan.

Stallone is scheduled to dust off both the "Rocky" and "Rambo" franchises soon.

He is writing and directing "Rocky Balboa," the sixth "Rocky" film, slated for a Christmas release. After that he is scheduled to play Vietnam vet John Rambo once more in "Rambo IV," tentatively scheduled for a 2007 release. The franchise began with "First Blood" in 1982.

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Star Traks

CENTER OF ATTENTION
A snap-happy Seal and wife Heidi Klum get a giggle out of 2-year-old daughter Leni during an outing in New York City on Thursday. Also in attendance during their stroll: Their 9-month-old son Henry as well as Klum's mom and dad.




HOT WHEELS
Britney Spears revs up while taking her new toy – a Porsche Speedster convertible – for a spin with a friend in Beverly Hills on Thursday.




SMOOTH OPERATOR
A shady Justin Timberlake is a vision of cool as he leaves the L'Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills on Thursday. The singer-actor is scheduled to be a presenter at the MTV Movie Awards, which airs June 8.




ARMED AND READY
A svelte Janet Jackson – who reportedly shed 40 lbs. – emerges from a Miami Beach restaurant on Thursday. The singer is in town to shoot a music video for her new album 20 Years Old, due out in September.




HUG IT OUT
The boys are back in town! Entourage stars (from left) Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven make the scene Thursday at the Hollywood premiere of their hit HBO show Entourage on Thursday. The third season bows June 11.




ART IN MOTION
Johnny Depp and ladylove Vanessa Paradis step out for a preview of French artist Gravleur's exhibition at West Hollywood's Trigg Ison Fine Art Gallery on Thursday.




HOLDING PATTERN
Nicole Richie gets close with some friendly airport employees before flying out of San Diego on Thursday. She'll take off yet again when the fourth season of The Simple Life premieres Sunday.




ALL LOVE
Taylor Hicks basks in his fans' admiration outside the Today show studio on Thursday. The newly crowned American Idol sang his single "Do I Make You Proud?," which will be released June 13.




TENDER MOMENT
Naomi Watts steals a kiss from beau Liev Schreiber on Wednesday at a special New York screening of his horror film The Omen. The remake opens on Tuesday – appropriately 6-6-06.




GOLDEN GIRLS
Beyoncé strikes a pose with actress pal Nia Long at a friend's New York City birthday bash on Wednesday. The singer-actress has every reason to feel festive: a sneak peek of her upcoming film Dreamgirls got raves at the Cannes Film Festival.




OH, L'AMOUR
Back from Cannes, Eva Longoria is happy to be in beau Tony Parker's arms in New York City on Thursday.




DAY OF BEAUTY
A little pampering goes a long way: Jennifer Aniston – who's been busy promoting The Break-Up – emerges refreshed from a New York City spa on Wednesday.




PICTURE PERFECT
Matthew Broderick gets a little wardrobe adjustment from actress Betty Buckley at a group photo of past Tony Award-winning actors in New York City on Thursday. The snapshot is part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the Broadway honors, which will take place on June 11.




WHACK PARTY
Big Love's Chloe Sevigny surrounds herself with a bunch of wise guys – Sopranos stars (from left) Tony Sirico, Vincent Curatola, Steve Schirripa and Steven Van Zandt – at an HBO bash at New York City's Mr. Chow on Wednesday. The season finales of both shows will air Sunday.

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Summer Beauty Do's & Don'ts

Get the lowdown on the must-have looks of the season from PEOPLE's beauty expert.



TREND: FUN FABRIC HEADBANDS
DO: Wear them in bright colors to stay cool in the heat and dress up your outfit (as seen on Beyonce and Naomi Watts). "They make you look polished," says PEOPLE beauty editor Eleni Gage. DON'T: Push the accessory too far back on your head. "You'll look like a schoolgirl."




TREND: SUBTLE, SMOKY EYES
DO: Use grey eyeliner all around your eyes and define the bottom lashline with mascara or a very thin pencil line (like Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan). DON'T: Draw the eyeliner out too far – it'll look too dramatic.




TREND: SHEER HOT-PINK LIPS
DO: Opt for sheer stains and glosses with a pop of color – think the shade of watermelon juice (as seen on Chloe Sevigny and Nicole Kidman). DON'T: Apply heavy eye makeup. "The lips are the focus," says Gage.




TREND: BEACHY HAIR
DO: Dry your hair naturally and use a scrunching spray to create texture for this sexy look (modeled by Evangeline Lilly and Jennifer Aniston). For straight hair, braid it when it's wet to add waves. DON'T: Tease your tresses too much. "It's not about looking like you stuck your finger into an electrical socket," says Gage.




TREND: NEUTRAL EYES
DO: Choose a shadow that resembles your own natural skin color (as seen on Ellen Pompeo and Halle Berry) – whether it's taupe, shell pink or beige. Add mascara for a finishing touch. DON'T: Leave the rest of your face bare. "It's not about looking like you have no makeup on," says Gage. "Cheeks should have a healthy flush of color."





TREND: ALL-OVER BRONZE
DO: Fake a sun-kissed glow by highlighting your face, cheeks, eyelids and lips with a hue that works for you (like Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson). DON'T: Go overboard. "Stay within a shade or two of your natural skin color," says Gage. "You want to look like you've spent a morning in the sun – not a weekend at the beach."




TREND: SLEEK UPDOS
DO: Part your hair on the side and wear your bun or chignon low (as seen on Rosario Dawson and Kate Bosworth). DON'T: Plaster your tresses to your head with too much product. "It's just about smoothing your hair," says Gage. "You don't want a wet look."





TREND: LOOSE UPDOS
DO: Work with your hair's natural texture and pin it up casually (as seen on Mandy Moore and Eva Longoria). For very long hair, put your tresses in a ponytail and then work in bobby pins. DON'T: Pile your hair on top of your head. "It's not a prom-queen look at all," says Gage.




TREND: LIQUID EYELINER
DO: Draw a defined black line that wings out a little bit at the end (as seen on Rebecca Romijn and Penelope Cruz). DON'T: Wear dark lipstick or bright blush. Make your eyes the focal point.

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Ricki Lake's New Man, New Life

LePaparazzi News Updates


2004 was a year of changes for Ricki Lake – she decided to end her self-titled talk show after more than a decade and separated from husband Rob Sussman after nine years of marriage.

But today, Lake, 37, is happier than ever. She's settled in Brentwood, Calif., raising sons Milo, 9, and Owen, 4; she's made a quiet return to TV; and she's found a new love in personal trainer Apollo Yiamouyiannis, PEOPLE reports in its new issue.

Since May 31 Lake has been hosting the CBS summer series Game Show Marathon, in which celebs like 'NSYNC's Lance Bass and Kathy Najimy compete for charity in classic game show formats such as Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right.

Perhaps more surprising, Lake, who gave birth to Owen at home in a bathtub, has produced a documentary about midwives, which she plans to submit to Sundance this year. "It's the best thing I have ever done," she says. Maybe a close second.

The best may have been choosing a real estate agent who found her not only a rambling five-bedroom home with a pool (prior owner: Courteney Cox) but also introduced her to the Ohio-born Yiamouyiannis, 34. "He was a godsend because I was in so much pain after the marriage," says Lake of her beau, whom she met shortly after separating from Sussman.

Two years on, "my kids adore Apollo, and my ex-husband absolutely values Apollo in this family," says Lake of Sussman, who lives nearby and shares custody.

"I feel I am an example of a positive divorce experience. It was hell going through it, but on the other side I don't have resentment and anger." Her new relationship works well, in part because Yiamouyiannis is not her trainer. "I don't look over her shoulder – she knows what's healthy and what's not," he says.

That knowledge was hard-won for Lake, who weighed 250 lbs. at age 20, when she originated the role of Tracy Turnblad in 1988's Hairspray.

In 1991 she shed 130 lbs. on a mostly vegetarian diet. Except for pregnancy gain, she's kept it off and is today a size 8.

But staying slim "is an effort," says Lake, who works out four days a week. "I will always have issues with food – it's the card I was dealt. But I'm healthy," she says. "It doesn't get much better than this."

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Matthew McConaughey & Penelope Cruz Are 'Separating'


Matthew McConaughey



Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz have decided to spend time apart, PEOPLE has learned exclusively.

The couple "have decided to take time off as a couple. Due to busy work schedules and so much time apart, they mutually decided four weeks ago that separating was the best thing to do at this time," according to a joint statement from the couple to PEOPLE.

"They're very good friends, but they haven't been able to be together," a source close to Cruz tells PEOPLE. "Who knows what the future holds."


Cruz, 32, is currently in Spain filming Manolete, a drama about the legendary Spanish bullfighter, costarring Adrien Brody.

Meanwhile, McConaughey, 36, is in the U.S. shooting We Are Marshall, about former Marshall University football coach Jack Lengyel.

(Penelope) said it has been too hard to have a relationship when you see the other person every six weeks," adds the source.

The couple last saw each other in February when McConaughey visited Cruz on location in Spain.

McConaughey, PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, and Cruz have been dating for more than a year.

They met while filming last year's Sahara.

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Katie Couric Buys Posh Hamptons Pad


Katie Couric



CBS isn't the only new home for Katie Couric. The former Today host has paid $6.3 million for a two-story, 11-year-old cedar-wood-shingle house on about an acre and a half in tony East Hampton, N.Y., the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to public records, the nearly 7,000-sq. ft. residence has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and a pool and is about five blocks from the beach.

Neighbors include New York Knicks coach Larry Brown and concert promoter Ron Delsener. Couric and her young daughters, Ellie and Carrie, live in an apartment worth a reported $3.2 million on Manhattan's Park Ave.

Couric also owns a weekend getaway in upstate Lithgow, N.Y. The price of the Hamptons property wasn't Couric's only big number this week.

Some 8.4 million people watched her farewell on Wednesday's Today – the show's largest audience since the day after the 2004 elections, when 9 million tuned in, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Couric, 49, starts her new stint as anchor of the CBS Evening News in September.

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Ashlee's Style: Hit or Miss?

Check out the "I Am Me" singer's constantly changing looks – Which one do you prefer? Her look? or Jessica's copy cat looks?



ALL THAT GLITTERS
Ashlee Simpson – who'll kick off her I Am Me tour on June 5 – brings on the bling in a sparkly ruffled minidress at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.




STYLE MASH-UP
The singer blends three hot trends – skull motifs, stripes and skinny jeans – at the TRL Awards in New York City.




IN THE BLACK
Out in New York City, Simpson dons a flirty lace bustier and genie pants, which she layers with a fitted blazer.




HAT STUFF
Simpson tops off a casual jeans-and-sweatshirt ensemble with two funky accessories – a plaid fedora and a shearling dog carrier.




BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
During a stroll through Bondi, Australia, Simpson is seeing black and white in a peasant dress and jacket. She adds a dash of color with a leopard-print scarf and metallic handbag.




FLOWER POWER
Simpson is in bloom in a silky form-fitting frock, one of her eight outfit changes while hosting the MTV Australia Video Music Awards.




VINTAGE FLAVOR
For a night out in London, the singer goes retro in a 1960s-style houndstooth coat and knee-high suede boots.




PARTY GIRL
Simpson goes clubbing in Hollywood in a babydoll dress and tank top. Completing the look: a Madonna-style rosary necklace.

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Nick Lachey's New Gal

LePaparazzi News Updates


Nick Lachey and Kim Kardashian



What's left of Nick Lachey six months after the breakup of his marriage to Jessica Simpson? Plenty, it seems. The singer – while managing to escape the attention of the press – has been dating stylist Kim Kardashian for the past month, sources tell PEOPLE.

The twosome chatted the night away at Hollywood hot spot Shag May 15 and were photographed May 24 at an afternoon showing of The Da Vinci Code in Westwood. (The pair held hands as they exited the theater, but separated when photographers started snapping.)

"They're sweet on each other," a source close to the couple tells PEOPLE. "It's the beginning stages of a relationship." (His rep had no comment.) What's the attraction? Friends point out that Lachey, 32, and Kardashian, 25 – who met at a party for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart last month – have at least one thing in common: failed marriages.

Kardashian, whose father is the late O.J. Simpson trial attorney Robert Kardashian, divorced music producer Damon Thomas in 2004.

"Part of the attraction is they have both gone through similar life situations," says the source. "They developed a bond." Still, Lachey may be going slow. "For Nick to settle down," says a pal, "it will take someone who is a lifelong partner."

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Taylor Hicks Inks Record Deal


Taylor Hicks



Alert the Soul Patrol: A week after being named the latest American Idol, Taylor Hicks has signed the record contract that comes with winning the FOX competition.

According to the Associated Press, the deal links the 29-year-old Alabama crooner with 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by Idol creator Simon Fuller, and music mogul Clive Davis, who will oversee Hicks's first album.

Hicks's versions of the original song "Do I Make You Proud?" and the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It to the Streets" will be released on June 13, with a full-length album due later this year. Hicks's edge, Davis tells PEOPLE in its new issue, "is that he is charismatic and soulful at the same time."

For his part, Hicks tells PEOPLE, the Idol win and upcoming American Idols Live! tour, which kicks off July 5, are the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

"As a (rising) performer, working at small venues and bars, you never get to experience the echo of the arena," he says. "Now I'm gonna hear that echo and it's a dream come true."

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Anna Nicole Smith: 'Yes, I Am Pregnant'


Anna Nicole Smith



Anna Nicole Smith is finally putting to rest rumors that she's pregnant – by confirming that she is with child, as she reveals in a video clip posted on her Web site.

Floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool and with a dog barking in the background as she looks directly into the camera, the former Playmate and reality star says: "Well, let me stop all the rumors. Yes. I am pregnant.

I'm happy, I'm very, very happy about it. Things are goin' really, really good, and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the Web, and I'll let you see me as I'm growing. There are no further details in the posting, such as how far along she is or who fathered the baby.

Early last month, playing along with the rumors that were rising, Smith's attorney, Howard K. Stern, said in a written statement: "If Anna Nicole is pregnant she obviously doesn't want anybody to know yet.

If she is not pregnant she's not denying the rumor because she thinks it's funny how much of a stir it's causing. She'll leave it up to you to guess which one it is." The rumors had followed published reports that the 38-year-old former pinup and weight-loss pitchwoman was pregnant by an unidentified man. Smith already has a 20-year-old son, Daniel, from a previous relationship.

Meanwhile, the same week as Stern's statement, Smith won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gives her another chance to collect millions of dollars from the embattled estate of her late Texas oil tycoon husband J. Howard Marshall. Smith, whom met Marshall in 1991 when she was a 26-year-old topless dancer, wed the 89-year-old Texas oil tycoon in 1994. Marshall died the following year.

His son, Pierce Marshall, claims his father's various wills and trusts make him the sole heir of a fortune estimated to be as high as $1.6 billion – which triggered the family feud that has been played out in courtrooms in both California and Texas and then, finally, in the Supreme Court.

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Lance Armstrong Cleared of Doping Charges


Lance Armstrong



Lance Armstrong has been cleared of doping charges stemming from the 1999 Tour de France, the Amsterdam-based International Cycling Union announced on Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press, the agency also accused France's World Anti-Doping Agency of misconduct in unfairly targeting Armstrong. Armstrong, 34, who had called the investigation a "witch hunt," had repeatedly denied using banned substances.

On Thursday, NBC News reported that Armstrong says he is "pleased" with the findings. In its 132-page report, the International Cycling Union suggests considering "appropriate sanctions to remedy the violations" by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the AP reports.

In August 2005, the French sports daily L'Equipe reported that six of Armstrong's urine samples from 1999, when he won the first of his record seven-straight Tour de France titles, came back positive for the endurance-boosting hormone EPO when they were retested in 2004.

By October, the International Cycling Union had appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman to investigate. Vrijman said Wednesday his report "exonerates Lance Armstrong completely with respect to alleged use of doping in the 1999 Tour de France."

Armstrong, a cancer survivor, retired from professional cycling after his 2005 Tour de France win. On July 16, he will host the 14th annual ESPY Awards, benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

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Some Like Marilyn Exhibit Not

Marilyn Monroe



If Marilyn Monroe were still alive, she'd be celebrating her 80th birthday on Thursday.
Unfortunately, the Hollywood legend died of a drug overdose in 1962, meaning that she missed out on innumerable technological advances, including liposuction, cell phones, iPods and, according to a new lawsuit, certain models of Clairol hair rollers and Samsonite suitcases.


The latter two advances are at the center of a lawsuit filed against the organizers of an exhibit of purported Monroe memorabilia on behalf of two Marilyn-o-philes: Ernest Cunningham, the author of The Ultimate Marilyn and Emily Sadjady, a Los Angeles-based Monroe collector, who claim they were conned by the exhibit.

Cunningham and Sadjady are among the thousands of visitors who have shelled out $22.95 to board the Queen Mary and take in Marilyn: The Exhibit since it opened in Long Beach, California last November.

The exhibit claims to display a slew of the Some Like it Hot star's personal possessions, including the previously mentioned hair rollers and suitcases, clothing, items from her marriage to Joe DiMaggio, cosmetics and jewelry.

However, according to Cunningham and Sadjady, who hope to turn their filing into a class-action suit against the organizers of the exhibit, Monroe never came into contact with many of the items displayed, including the hair rollers and suitcases, which they allege were not even manufactured until well after her death.

In their suit, excerpted in the Long Beach Press Telegram, they claim that the exhibit's curator, Robert Otto "knew when he purchased the items he displayed in the Exhibit, that the items were fake and did not personally belong to Marilyn Monroe" and he acquired a number of the items from "questionable dealers, known to deal in fake memorabilia, without any proof of authenticity."

Besides Otto, the RMS Foundation Inc, which operates the Queen Mary, and Mark A. Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, which manages the estate of Marilyn Monroe, are named as defendants in the suit, which was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Other allegedly inauthentic items include a typewriter (Monroe, Cunningham and Sadjady claim, could not type), a tennis racket (Monroe was no athlete, per the suit) and a "shiny red dress" supposedly worn by the star (too new, and no pictures of Monroe wearing it exist, per the suit).
The suit seeks to force the Queen Mary and exhibit organizers to refund attendees' admission fees, and asks for unspecified punitive damages.


Otto has claimed in the past that the items in the exhibit are the real deal.

However, the exhibit only opened on the Queen Mary after the Hollywood Museum canceled the show scheduled there due to questions over authenticity of some of the items.

According to the Press Telegram, some of the items questioned by experts, including the Clairol hair rollers, have since been removed from the exhibit, though organizers claimed the action was taken to "refresh the exhibit."

But George Braunstein, an attorney for the plaintiffs, isn't buying it.

"The public was duped," he told the Press Telegram. "This is a lawsuit to give the public back their money."

The exhibit of items, whether owned by Monroe or not, runs through June 15.

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