There are also video and photo sections on the well-designed blue and pink site. For now the videos only include other people dancing to her new hit “Womanizer,” but there are also a few quick videos of Britney scattered on the blog, like one in which she waves to a bus of tourists outside her house. The photos are promotional and magazine photos, many of which you may have seen before.

Now that Britney has revamped her public image and career it only makes sense that she should expand her new image onto the web. Remember two years ago when she replaced her website with a big image of a tiger and a strange statement about how she was “mesmirized” by them? She doesn’t want you to remember that, or all the crotch flashing she was doing in late 2006, or that head shaving incident in February, 2007. All that is in the past and it’s been replaced by new, better designed, saner Britney 2.0. Perfectly packaged for your consumption.

Britney is on trial for a misdemeanor, for driving without a license in California
There’s one aspect of her troubled past that Britney might not be able to escape so easily. It seems minor compared to everything else that was going on for her at the time, but she is currently being tried for a misdemeanor, for driving without a license in California. The jury trial is underway in Van Nuys, but Britney is not required to be there given the charges.

She does have a valid Louisiana driver’s license, just not one for California, where it seems like she’s lived for the past few years. Her father was called to testify and it’s thought that he will claim that she’s a resident of Louisiana despite all the evidence to the contrary. Britney’s lawyer said in his opening statement that “She regards Louisiana as her [permanent residence]. She’s building a new house there, where she hopes to return as soon as her custody situation is straightened out.” Britney also pays income taxes in Louisiana.

If she plans to move back to Louisiana, how is she going to do it and see her boys? It doesn’t seem like she’s going to get full custody again, and she’ll have to travel back to California just to visit with them. About half of the jury probably sees through that excuse - all you have to do is read a celebrity glossy once in a while to know that she’s not going to move to Louisiana if she wants to see her children.

Do you think Britney will mention this trial on her new blog? It’s doubtful.

Steven Soderbergh must have wanted an actress with a bit of real-world experience for his new movie. Variety reports that the Oscar winner has cast adult film star Sasha Grey as the lead in his upcoming drama “The Girlfriend Experience.”

“Experience,” which was written by Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s 13″ scribes Brian Koppelman and David Levien, follows the life of a high-price call girl. I think we can all assume it’s probably not as glamorous as movies and television might suggest.

But really, the life and career of Grey is nearly as movie-worthy as Soderbergh’s call girl. Only 20 years old, she entered the pornography business just after her 18th birthday, and according to her Wikipedia page, became hailed as the next Jenna Jameson pretty quickly thereafter. This past January, she became the youngest winner of Adult Video News’ Female Performer of the Year award.

Now, she’s moving on to more legitimate projects — she’s done modeling work, appeared in artwork and music videos for The Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Navarro, and The Roots, and has landed small parts in the indie film “Quit,” and the Canadian horror film “Smash Cut.” Given her looks, her amazing taste in film (she lists Jean-Luc Godard, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Catherine Breillat as her favorites), and her obvious tenacity, she may just conquer Hollywood as easily as she did adult film. Landing a lead role with Steven Soderbergh on your third try? Not bad, Ms. Grey!

[From MTV.com]

There seems to be less stigma associated with making porn and that means there are opportunities for adult film actresses that weren’t there 10 or 15 years ago. It’s not really a wide open window to greater fame and stardom, though, and it probably won’t ever be. Hollywood is celebrating the success of former stripper turned screenwriter Diablo Cody, and adult actresses Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson have moved on to greater glory to some extent. Maybe we’re about to see another porn actress who makes the difficult crossover to major motion pictures. As long as she has the talent and can avoid the typecasting that is sure to follow her, she could achieve the kind of success she could only dream about while getting it on with random guys for the cameras.

Ms. Gray has her own channel on YouTube, where you can hear her talk about doing enemas and telling men to eat a healthy diet if they want their girlfriend to um, swallow.

Photos are from Sasha Gray’s myspace.

After the comedian was removed, he covered his head in one of the pieces velcroed to him, wrapped his black cape around him and Milan police took him down to the station.

Dressed in a velcro suit he was bundled away by security guards and taken to a nearby police station where he was formally identified.

A police officer at Milan Sempione police station said: ‘A British national by the name of Sacha Baron Cohen was brought here and identified.

‘He did not have any ID documents on him so someone was sent to his hotel when he got here to fetch his passport.

‘He was actually very funny and the first thing he said was ‘Can I make a phone call’ like they do on TV.’

Cohen was released without charge and was last night still thought to be in Milan.

[From the Daily Mail]

Security at Fashion Week had been increased especially for Cohen after earlier in the week he and his film crew found their way backstage of another show by Italian designer Iceberg.

Scantily clad models screamed and security guards dived on him and several others with him and bundled them away. TV footage screened on Italian TV showed Cohen dressed as his creation Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian fashionista.

[From the Huffington Post]

Sacha Baron Cohen is in Milan filming his next mocumentary style movie Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male.  I must admit, I have a thing for Cohen, so I’ll be seeing the movie, but the ridiculously long movie title was only funny the first time.  And even then only the first time I heard it.

Note by JayBird: Here’s Sacha on the catwalk. He doesn’t get very far before security pounces on him.

Christina Aguilera, T.I., and Kid Rock were surprise guests at a press conference yesterday with Sunday’s VMA host Russell Brand. Aguilera said that she will perform a new single titled “Keep Getting Better” in a future-themed performance that showcases her new look. Aguilera branded herself as a retro pinup for her last album, but her next incarnation will be “all about the future,” and is likely to include red lipstick and plenty of caked-on makeup.

T.I. climbed down a nearby fire escape to announce that he will debut a new song, “Live Your Life,” on Sunday with Rihanna. Kid Rock was shown rehearsing his hit “All Summer Long.” He mentioned that he’ll be on stage with Lil’ Wayne at the awards. Also expect performances by The Jonas Brothers, Pink, Paramore, and Katie Perry. Madonna’s name was not mentioned:

A lengthy black limousine suddenly appeared on the scene, and out of it stepped none other than Christina Aguilera — looking svelte in some majorly high heels — who slinked to the microphone and purred that on show night, she’ll be performing her brand-new single, “Keeps Getting Better,” which is also the name of a best-of album she’s releasing in November.

“You’re going to get a first look and a first listen at my new image and my new sound,” she said. “The last album, the style and sound was about vintage glam — this one is all about the future…”

[T.I.] strode up next to Brand and Aguilera, posed for some photos and then broke the news that he, too, would be debuting a new song (from his forthcoming LP, Paper Trail) on the big show, this one a duet with none other than [Rihanna]…

Aguilera and T.I. then departed, leaving Brand to make even more VMA announcements, including news that in the first 30 minutes of the show, fans can expect appearances by Britney Spears, Rihanna, Pete Wentz, and performances by the Jonas Brothers (to be introduced by Taylor Swift), Rihanna and Katy Perry, who will apparently be trying her hand at replicating [Like a Virgin]…

So inside the stage we went, to watch Rock rip through “All Summer Long” (while wearing white slippers), and then announce one last — thoroughly huge — bit of news: that he’ll be sharing the stage with none other than Lil Wayne.

[From MTV]

Kanye West will be closing out the undoubtedly long ceremony, which will include celebrity presenters Jamie Foxx, Chace Crawford, Ashlee Simpson, John Legend, Kobe Bryant, Leona Lewis, Paris Hilton, Slash, Taylor Swift, Shia LaBeouf, the cast of “The Hills,” Michael Phelps, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Ciara, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse. [Details from MTV]

I’ll tape it and watch the highlights the next day as it’s on super early in the morning my time. These awards ceremonies seem like they’re way too long for the average TV-viewer, even diehard fans, to sit through in their entirety.

Jamie Lynn Spears, 17, is said to be fuming at reports that came out in the National Enquirer last week that Casey was cheating on her with multiple other women even after their daughter little Maddie was born in June. After hearing the allegations of his affairs, Jamie Lynn told Casey to get all this crap out of the house they’ve been sharing in Liberty, Mississippi and has called off their planned wedding:

Just a week after The Enquirer’s blockbuster interview with one of her fiance’s lovers, teen mom Jamie Lynn Spears has kicked Casey Aldridge to the curb for good!

“Jamie Lynn told Casey to ‘Get out!’ and remove all his belonging from their house,” revealed a source.

The young couple had been living in a three-bedroom home on five acres that Jamie Lynn bought in Liberty, Miss., where she and Casey planned to raise their new baby daughter, Maddie Briann.

“But there’ll be no happily ever after for Jamie Lynn and Casey,” continued the source. “Their planned marriage is now out of the question. Jamie Lynn is determined to raise Maddie Briann by herself.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, September 15, 2008]

That’s pretty much what people expected after hearing that story from the second woman to speak to the tabloids about an affair with Jamie Lynn’s fiance. Casey Aldridge is 18 years old and is obviously not ready to settle down. The first woman who spoke out about an affair may have been doing it for the money or fleeting glimpse at fame, but the second kind of makes it seem like he has a pattern of hound-dogging.

To add an interesting twist to this story is the fact that Casey Aldridge is said to be calling up Kevin Federline and asking for advice. It’s not for a father-to-father chat, though, he wants custody of Maddie and needs to figure out how K-Fed did it with his two kids with Britney, Jamie Lynn’s older sister:

“Casey has been talking with Kevin Federline, seeking his advice and strategy on how he fought and won custody of his two kids with Britney,” said the source.

“Kevin tells Casey to be strong and not let the Spears family cut him off from his child. Unless Jamie Lynn and Casey reconcile at some later time, it is easy to see how this is going to play out - in a huge fight over joint custody.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, September 15, 2008]

Jamie Lynn and Britney’s situations are entirely different and if she does permanently split with Casey he’s not likely to get more than visitation rights with his daughter. Jamie Lynn is now said to be ignoring Casey’s attempts to contact her. The insider is quoted as saying “She’s finally done with him and isn’t taking his calls. She only text messages him if there’s something to tell him about the baby.” That seems like the best course of action in this case, and Jamie Lynn probably would have made a huge mistake if she ended up marrying the guy.

Despite a brief, and quite public, war of words, it seems that all is once again well in the Lohan household. Or at least on its way to being so.
Lindsay Lohan’s father, Michael, told E! News he is set to call truce and reunite with his famous daughter and the rest of his offspring at a burial for his father, Richard, who passed away in New York last Thursday after a battle with cancer.
While devastating, the elder Lohan said the passing of his 73-year-old father has brought his family closer together, and while Lindsay was not present for her grandpa’s funeral, she will be present for the final service.
“She is going to be at the burial,” Lohan told E! News. “All my kids will be there.”
And it’s not just with his daughter that Lohan has laid down his verbal swords.
“And I can’t believe how great Dina has been,” he said of his ex-wife. “She has been wonderful. She has been the woman I married. She has been great.”
Lohan said the outpouring of support from his immediate family during this difficult time has been particularly touching.
“You will not believe it. I give a lot a credit to my son Michael. He has been the glue. He is growing up to be an amazing young man.”
Lohan said he also has a somewhat unorthodox funeral planned for his father, which will be held the last weekend of September in New York.
“My father always wanted to be cremated,” he said. “He wanted to have his ashes sprinkled in our county in Cold Spring Harbor, in the harbor. That was his favorite spot. So that is what we are going to do. We are going to get on our boat with probably like 50 or 60 people and go out. We are just going to sprinkle them together as a family.”

[From E! Online]

It really is hard to determine who is the biggest attention whore among the Lohans. As obnoxious as Lindsay and Ali are, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree here. As much as I hate Dina Lohan, she hasn’t exploited the death of a family member for attention- at least so far. So I guess that makes Michael the winner.

Michael Lohan is shown talking to Kim Kardashian at a Hamptons club on 5/25/08. Look at how he’s pinching her cheek. Credit: ROC/ Fame Pictures

Sadly, Helen says she was date raped twice as a young woman and that she didn’t do anything about it or go to the police because it was hard to prove. It sounds like she thinks other women should keep their silence about it too. To bring her convoluted point home, Mirren says that Mike Tyson isn’t a rapist. Tyson was convicted of raping an 18 year-old beauty pageant contestant in 1991 and served three years out of a six year sentence. The woman had gone voluntarily to his hotel room.

The 63-year-old actress said when she was younger she was forced to have sex against her will and was too “naive” to say no.

Asked if she reported the incidents to the police, she told GQ magazine: “No, you couldn’t do that in those days.

“It’s such a tricky area, isn’t it? Especially if there is no violence. I mean, look at Mike Tyson. I don’t think he was a rapist.”

If a woman voluntarily ends up in a man’s bedroom, takes all her clothes off and engages in sexual activity in bed with him she has the right to say “no” at the last second, Dame Helen said.

If the man ignored her it was rape, Dame Helen said.

But she said: “I don’t think she can have that man into court under those circumstances.

“I guess it is one of the many subtle parts of the men/women relationship that has to be negotiated and worked out between them.

“Times have changed. I hate young girls going around beating each other up, but I love the fierceness of young girls nowadays, and the way they just say, ‘f*** off’, because I wish I’d been taught to say ‘f*** off’ when I was younger.

“I wish I’d had those words in my arsenal of self-defence. Instead, I was polite and didn’t have the courage to say that to men who wouldn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer.

“I was pretty naive, I went to a convent school until I was 18, and had never spent a night away from home, or gone to parties, or any of that.

“So I was very innocent when I went to college in London, and I was living on my own. And I found guys were horrible, mean, rude, insulting, and so without feeling.

“And I was looking for love and for someone who just liked me, made me laugh and was nice to me. And instead I just met all these creeps.”

She said of her own experiences: “I was (date-raped), yes. A couple of times.

“Not with excessive violence, or being hit, but rather being locked in a room and made to have sex against my will.”

[From Telegraph.co.uk]

If someone locks a woman in a room and forces her to have sex against her will, that’s rape. Of course there are cases when women “lead a man on,” but rape is never justified and that often seems to be the defense that is usually used in these type of cases. It’s also something that’s very difficult to prove.

By saying that it’s something two people have to work out between themselves, Mirren sounds like she wants to set women back 40 years to what she had to go through. Why should women negotiate with men who raped them, or somehow forgive them at the time? That assumes that it’s a reasonable situation with a reasonable person, which it isn’t if rape is involved. Do you think Mirren is still dealing with the pain of what happened to her as a young woman? If she thinks there was no recourse, maybe she feels that she can close the door on something that she had no control over.

Helen Mirren is shown on 6/30/08 at an Armani fashion show. Credit: WENN

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is looking for inspiration to adopt healthier dieting practices after the pregnant singer was told that she has gained too much weight during a recent prenatal visit.

“Ashlee broke down in tears at a doctor’s appointment in early August when she found out she’s gained more weight than is considered in the healthy range,” a Star source says.

A long-faced Ashlee immediately took a trip to Malibu’s Planet Blue and stocked up on six pairs of size zero jeans to motivate her to curtail her eating:

“She can’t wear them now, but she hopes it will give her the incentive to watch what she eats.”

Ashlee will welcome her first child with husband Pete Wentz in October.

[From Star Magazine print version, Sept. 5, 2008]

Give me a break. I’ve seen recent photos of Ashlee and she looks absolutely fine- well within the suggested 25-35 pounds most doctors recommend. This article makes it sound like she’s the size of a whale or something, when anyone with eyes can tell she looks good. She’s been seen attending pregnancy yoga and even has a trainer and nutritionist. And furthermore, while she was thin, I don’t think Ashlee was a size zero before the pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Ashlee told People that she and husband Pete Wentz will spend the next two months getting the nursery ready.

The singer, who confirmed the pregnancy back in May, says she and husband Pete Wentz have been knee-deep in baby-proofing their Hollywood home.

“We’re getting the nursery ready,” said Simpson. “I can’t wait to be a mom and he can’t wait to be a dad, so it’s fun.”

“I have the greatest husband,” she said. “He’s so awesome. It’s fun to have somebody that I love to do this with.”

Having her family around has been comforting too. “My mom and my grandmother [have] given me good motherly advice,” said Simpson, “but it’s one of those things where your mother instincts kind of kick in right away.”

Other things on their to-do list? Picking a baby name. But Simpson says they haven’t settled on one yet.

After joking about calling their kid “Orange,” Simpson said, “I don’t think it’s something we’ll decide until the baby comes.”

Wow. Holy TV goodness!

Jennifer Aniston will be returning to NBC’s Must See Thursday this fall, appearing in an episode of NBC’s 30 Rock, a very solid source familiar with the deal just confirmed to me.

“She is shooting now,” says the insider. “We are not giving out any specifics on her character.”

Aniston is actually the second Friends alum to come on the series—David Schwimmer also guested as Greenzo during the environmental episode.

Given that the SNL-nature of the series, Aniston could be playing herself, or a scripted character. As soon as we have more details, we will post them right here.

[From E! News]

30 Rock is pretty much the greatest thing ever. Whenever I walk by Rockefeller Plaza or think about throwing someone under an F train, I bow in their honor. It confuses the crap out of tourists, which I enjoy.

I read an article recently that said the show wasn’t as popular outside of the tri-state region because people don’t get all the jokes. For example there are all these anti-terrorism signs here that say, “If You See Something, Say Something.” 30 Rock had exact replicas that said, “If You Suspect Something, Do Everything.” Or jokes about the random weird smells that suddenly waft throughout the city – like maple syrup – that often result in a lot of federal agents swarming the area. And it’s generally due to something that’s gone wrong in Jersey. I guess I can understand how you could miss the jokes if you’ve never been here. But the show is still so great that you should visit New York, just so it makes more sense when you watch it.

Here’s one of my favorite guest appearances by former Vice President Al Gore. The guy in the cape in the background is David Schwimmer. Hopefully Aniston’s performance will be just as good. Header of Jennifer Aniston meeting Woody Allen for lunch at Madeo on Tuesday in Beverly Hills. Images thanks to Fame.

On the photos of her bikini wrestling in Vegas: I was working

“I wasn’t shocked when those pictures taken of me in Vegas surfaced,” says Sarah. “I knew once I started dating George they’d come out, so I showed them all to him before they were published as they were posted on various websites. Most of them are of me working. All the girls I worked with were my friends so we got paid to have a great time together. I think it’s funny that they are made out to be scandalous. My thoughts on them… ’so what?’”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, July 14, 2008]

There aren’t many people who get paid to get on all fours in swimwear, to wrestle with women, or to have men lick their feet. The jobs that usually involve those type of paid activities are legal in the state of Nevada, but are technically not allowed in the city of Las Vegas. I’m not saying that was involved in her job, but you can see how people would get confused as to what it is she did exactly.

On how she got into cocktail waitressing although she has an undergraduate degree in microbiology

“I worked there [at a homeopathic medicines company in Vegas] for about a year but it wasn’t paying my bills,” she says. “So I started modeling and that led to cocktailing.” It was, she admits, a big leap from the world of alternative medicine to the service industry. “Sometimes I feel I had two different lives. I like the fact that I have this obscure degree that people don’t see me as having and I can pull facts out of the air and shock people every now and then.”

Good for Larson for going to college and I would not have expected that from her. She didn’t give an example of any supposedly shocking facts she knows about microbiology or homeopathic medicine, though. In fact I haven’t heard much that’s all that interesting or unique from her.

On not needing a man to be fulfilled

“I don’t need a man to make me happy. I think you should be happy on your own and if you find someone who complements that happiness then that’s a great thing… I like a guy with a good sense of humor, have their own way of thinking, [sic] and be mature enough to communicate in a relationship.”

On using her fame “for something good”

“Eventually I’d like to start my own business and fade into the background,” she says. “I think fame is only appealing if you can use it in ways to help people. I’ve never had the desire to really want fame, and not that I have it I’m trying to use it for something good.”

Before we all scoff at Larson’s charity lip service, Hello! does say that she has “spent the last four years volunteering with AFAN (Aid for AIDS in Nevada)”

At least she knows her 15 minutes are up and says she’s ready for it. This interview with Hello! was her last hurrah and she doesn’t have delusions otherwise. She’ll pop up occasionally in LA and get her photo taken at some paparazzi hot spots. We may see her in some print ads. Either way, she’s over but she’s doing fine.

I wonder when exactly Larson showed Clooney those pictures, though. Was it before or after that motorcycle accident they were in together last September? There is no way this girl would have stuck around for so long if that didn’t happen. My sister in law had a theory that Clooney kept her around until the statute of limitations on suing him ran out, but that would have been two years and Clooney held out for less than a year.

George Clooney and Sarah Larson are shown below at the Michael Clayton premiere on 9/24/08, a few days after their accident. Credit: PNP / WENN. Inset image: at the 2008 National Board of Review Awards at Cipriani on 1/15/08. Credit: Flashpoint / WENN. Header: on 5/5/08 out for dinner in NY. Credit: Ron Asadorian / Splash