“Celebrity Rehab’s” Dr. Drew Pinsky has apologized to film star Tom Cruise over comments he made in the July issue of Playboy.

Bert Fields, Cruise’s attorney, claimed Dr. Drew, a board certified specialist in addiction medicine, should be “ashamed of himself” for statements the doctor made in the Q&A section of the magazine related to the star.

“No competent professional would ever pretend to diagnose anyone he’s never met,” Fields said in a statement. “[Pinsky’s] opinions are ridiculous. He’s out to use names of celebs to attract attention to his television show. He should be ashamed of himself.”

Pinksy, who for over two decades has served as the medical expert on the radio show “Loveline,” was asked by Playboy interviewer David Hochman how people end up “screwed up” in adulthood. After suggesting such things occur based on abuse in childhood, Pinsky brought up Cruise.

“A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology?” Dr. Drew said. “To me, that’s a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse but mostly neglect. If you feel completely empty and suddenly you find a family that fills you in a deep and spiritual way, you will go in that direction.”

Pinksy went on to suggest Cruise’s promotion of Scientology was worrisome.

“His taking that narrow base of expertise and using it to influence so many people is a dangerous combination,” Pinksy told Playboy. “But he is just gratifying his emptiness.”

Following Fields’ statement slamming Pinsky’s comments, the doctor released a statement of his own through a rep, apologizing for his remarks, if they caused offense.

“Dr. Drew meant no harm to Mr. Cruise and apologizes if his comments were hurtful,” the statement read. “Although [Mr. Fields’] intent is clearly to slander and discredit Dr. Drew, under no circumstances is Dr. Drew making a blanket diagnosis about Scientology nor Mr. Cruise whom he does not know. Dr. Drew was simply using Mr. Cruise as an example of someone who is recognizable to help the public understand. Again, Dr. Drew meant him no harm.”

Copyright 2008 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Britney Spears – Emmy Winner?: In news we never thought possible, Britney Spears has been included on the official ballot for possible nominees for an Emmy Award, OK! Magazine reports. The pop star’s name was included on the list for her guest appearances on CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother.” The list, which includes 40 others actresses, will endure one round voting by Academy members before the final list is announced. Will we be hearing; “Thank you very much y’all!” from the Emmy Awards stage come September?

Bringing Single Back?: When Justin Timberlake’s best friend and business partner, Trace Ayala, was asked about the possibility of the pop star getting married to girlfriend Jessica Biel, he was hopeful the couple would someday walk down the aisle, but didn’t see it happening anytime soon. “I hope so. To be honest, I don’t see them in the future, but I hope so. I really do,” Trace told Us Weekly Wednesday at “The Love Guru” premiere. Supportive and negative at the same time – a true wingman!

She Knows What Girls & Boys Like: MTV’s resident bisexual reality star, Tila Tequila, thinks she played a role in the legalization of gay marriage in California. “It is because of me — I definitely think [my show] has helped the movement,” she proclaimed to Us Weekly Wednesday, again, at “The Love Guru” premiere. “Before it came out, everyone was still a little apprehensive about [same sex relationships]. Then they realized, ‘Wow, everyone is really into this stuff, and it is fine.’ The next thing you know, [gay marriage] is legal.” Who says reality TV can’t change the world!

Brother Don’t Preach!: When Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, announced his plans yesterday to write a tell-all memoir, not everyone was pre-ordering their copy on Amazon. Madonna was too busy with lawyers, according to E!‘s Marc Malkin. “When she was meeting with lawyers and everyone was saying it was because she wanted to divorce Guy, she was really meeting with them to get the book killed,” a source told Malkin. If the book sells half as well as tickets for Madge’s new “Sticky & Sweet” tour, brother boy might be on to something.

Copyright 2008 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The mystery is solved: Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, is writing a memoir about his sister, to be released in mid-July by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the publisher told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The imprint, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, had been promoting a celebrity memoir for July, without identifying the author or contents. “Life With My Sister Madonna” will have a first printing of 350,000. Financial details were not disclosed.

“Ciccone’s extraordinary memoir is based on his life and 47 years of growing up with and working with his sister — the most famous woman in the world,” the publisher said Wednesday in a statement.

Persuading stores to make “blind” orders has been tried before. In 2006, William Morrow offered a mysterious tell-all that turned out to be by Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who had already written about her. Retailers were angered and the book sold poorly.

Ciccone will work with Wendy Leigh, who has written biographies of Liza Minnelli and Grace Kelly and a highly critical book about Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ciccone, 47, has worked often with his older sister, designing and directing her “Girlie Show” tour in 1993 and serving as artistic director of her 1991 documentary, “Madonna: Truth or Dare.” But according to Madonna’s spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, they are no longer close.

Madonna, who turns 50 this summer, is among the most popular recording artists in history, with such hits as “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl” and “Vogue.”

Rosenberg had no initial comment on the book, but told the AP that “Madonna has not cooperated with any biography about herself.”

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Paul Newman, who has recently appeared gaunt in photos and dropped plans to direct a play in his Connecticut hometown, is battling cancer, his longtime neighbor and business partner said Wednesday.

Writer A.E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start Newman’s Own salad dressing company in the 1980s, said the 83-year-old actor told him about the disease about 18 months ago.

He doesn’t say what kind of cancer, but said Newman is in active treatment.

“I know that it’s a form of cancer,” Hotchner told The Associated Press. “It’s a form of cancer and he’s dealing with it.”

Newman issued a statement late Tuesday that he’s “doing nicely” but didn’t specifically address questions about cancer. A call was placed to his spokesman Wednesday seeking comment.

The Oscar winner appeared to have lost weight when he was photographed at the Indianapolis 500 auto race last month. Martha Stewart, in an entry dated June 6, posted a photo on her blog of herself with the actor, who looked thin, at a luncheon to benefit the Hole in the Wall Gang camps for critically ill children. (The Hole in the Wall Gang was led by Newman’s affable outlaw character, Butch, in the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”)

Newman won an Oscar for his leading role in 1986’s “The Color of Money.” His screen credits also include “Hud,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Verdict” and “Road to Perdition.”

Hotchner said Newman had an operation a few years ago. “It was certainly somewhere in the area of the lung,” he said. “He’s battling,” Hotchner said. “He’s doing all the right stuff. Paul is a fighter. He seems to be going through a good period right now.”

Asked about his prognosis, Hotchner said, “Everybody is hopeful. That’s all we know.”

In 1982, Hotchner and Newman started a company to market Newman’s original oil-and-vinegar dressing. Newman’s Own, which began as a joke, grew into a multimillion-dollar business selling popcorn, salad dressing, spaghetti sauce and other foods. All the company’s profits are donated to charities. By 2007, the company had donated more than $175 million, according to its Web site.

Last month, officials at Connecticut’s Westport Country Playhouse cited unspecified health issues when they announced that Newman would not direct “Of Mice and Men” this fall.

Newman lives in Westport with his wife, Joanne Woodward.

Two friends said Tuesday that Newman appeared to be doing well.

“I think he’s feeling quite well,” said actor James Naughton, who spoke to Newman on Monday night. “As far as I can tell he’s doing very well.”

Newman had an infection over the winter, but seems to have that under control, Naughton said. He was lively at this month’s Hole in the Wall Gang camp fundraiser, he said.

Michael Brockman, Newman’s racing team partner, said Newman told him recently that he wants to get back into his race car for a test run and possibly another competition. His last race was last fall, he said.

“I think he’s doing better than he was,” Brockman said, noting that Newman had regained most of the weight he had lost.

“I think he looks great,” said Brockman, who saw Newman last weekend. “I wish I looked that good.”

Brockman called Newman “one of the best guys I ever met.”

“He’s just a regular guy,” Brockman said. “He’s humble.”

Not many guys can fill Spencer Pratt’s shoes, but Brody Jenner hopes a handful of guys can step up and be his ultimate “bro.”

MTV will produce six episodes of “Bromance,” a new reality show about Brody’s searching for a new friend, Variety reports.

When Brody and Spencer’s relationship crumbled during season two of “The Hills”, Brody was left with a void in his entourage. Enter Ryan Seacrest, who is producing “Bromance,” with the idea of turning Brody’s search for a new guy pal into a reality show.

“I can speak from experience — girls can come and go, but a ‘bromance’ can last forever,” Seacrest said.

Brody, who has cultivated a reality career by also appearing on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and “The Princes of Malibu,” said he found the idea both amusing and timely.

“I thought it was funny, and we recently lost a member of the entourage, so I thought we’d have fun with it,” Jenner the mag.

And how will Brody’s aspiring “bros” win his adoration?

Contestants will reportedly be put through a series of challenges, such as enduring the paparazzi, acting as a “wingman” for Brody, along with a slew of physical activities, including skydiving.

Each week, contestants will face a “hot tub elimination ceremony,” where one sub-par “bro” will be deemed unworthy of having a “bromance” with Brody, and forced to leave, dripping wet — in only his swimsuit.

Copyright 2008 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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A consumer alert for the millions who have seen the feature film version of “Sex and The City”: There is no such book as “Love Letters From Great Men,” from which Carrie Bradshaw reads while in bed with her beloved Mr. Big.

The closest text in the real world apparently is “Love Letters From Great Men and Women: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day,” first released in the 1920s and reissued last year by Kessinger Publishing, which specializes in bringing back old works.

Richard Davies, press manager for AbeBooks.com, an online seller that features used titles, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has received hundreds of queries about the book’s existence. Enough readers have been directed to the Kessinger anthology, on AbeBooks and elsewhere on the Internet, that it ranked No. 134 on Amazon.com as of Thursday afternoon.

In “Sex and The City,” an early scene shows Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) poring through the imaginary collection, although citing real letters by Beethoven and Napoleon among others. Mr. Big (Chris Noth), later takes passages from the book as he expresses his love, by e-mail, to Carrie.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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The family of late actor Heath Ledger will attend the premiere of “The Dark Knight” next month, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Ledger family will be on hand for the New York event on July 14, which has been dedicated to Heath by Christopher Nolan, the film’s director.

In addition to the dedication, the film will include a memoriam to the actor at the end of the movie.

Nolan told Britain’s Empire Magazine that Heath’s portrayal of the Joker is ” the absolute extreme of anarchy and chaos.”

“We didn’t want to show what made him do the things he’s doing, because then he becomes less threatening. I like to say he cuts through the movie like [the shark in] ‘Jaws,’” Nolan said. “He just kind of comes and goes and causes complete mayhem,” Nolan said.

“The Dark Knight” opens wide on July 18.

She gave birth on Saturday, but already the well wishes for new mom Jessica Alba and her new baby, Honor Marie Warren, are coming in fast and furious from her “Love Guru” co-stars.
“Congratulations,” Justin Timberlake said.

The “Love Guru” co-star said he last saw Alba a couple of weeks ago when the cast gathered together for a screening of the film.

“She looked like she was ready to pop,” Timberlake told Access Hollywood. “I am glad the little one is out, but you know, she was glowing and she looked beautiful.”

Though Alba and her husband, Cash Warren, are first time parents, Timberlake said his co-star already has the makings of a great mom.

“She seems very patient — that’s what moms require more than anything, knowing my mom,” he laughed.

“Love Guru” star Mike Myers also offered his well wishes for Alba, though he is waiting to call her.

“I don’t know what the etiquette is,” he said. “I think you have to wait a couple of days until they are home, but I send a message now of congratulations.”

And like Timberlake, Myers said he believes Alba will make a terrific mother.

”[She’s a] very real person,” Myers said. “She’s very funny and very smart, very talented and she is very real. I think she is going to be a great mom.”

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Your Daily Dispatch of Celebrity Shenanigans

Lindsay & Samantha Still Gal Pals: After reportedly having a tiff at LA sushi hotspot, Katsuya, Lindsay Lohan and DJ Samantha Ronson were spotted on the set of Lindsay’s new film, “Labor Pains,” hugging and laughing with each other, Us Weekly reports. What can’t their friendship endure?

Lindsay’s Visa Campaign: Besides films and Samantha-time, Lindsay is busy fronting Visa’s Swap fashion event, which encourages people in the UK “to swap their unwanted clothes at the world’s biggest and most popular fashion swapping event,” according to Visa. “I am so excited to be involved with this year’s Visa Swap event,” Lindsay said in a statement. “The concept of swapping clothes, getting something for nothing and refreshing your wardrobe appeals to everyone.” No word on who the actress will swap clothes with, but we’re guessing anyone with a fur coat won’t be going anywhere near Lindsay.

The Bro Show: If you thought the cast of “The Hills” was going away anytime soon, think again! Brody Jenner, LC’s sometimes boyfriend, has landed his own show, Us Weekly reports. “Bromance” will pit “regular” guy against one another competing to be Brody’s best bro. Bro hopefuls who don’t measure up will be sent home in a “hot tub elimination ceremony.” Will the shamed, dripping wet, not-cool-enough-for-Brody runner-up get his own show called, “The Bro-chelor?”

‘The O.C.:The Movie’?– Not For Bilson: It appears sometimes you can’t always go home, at least for Seth, Ryan, Marissa and Summer. When asked about a potential big screen treatment for television’s “The O.C.,” Rachel Bilson told Moviefone.com, “No. I had somebody else ask me that because of ‘Sex and The City’ the movie, but I was like, ‘No.’ I’d watch ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Movie’, though!”

Possible Madonna Tour Designer: Design duo Heatherette, who have styled Gwen Stefani, Pamela Anderson, Mya, Kelis, Pink and Paris Hilton, could be working their magic on the material girl, MTV News reports. “Her publicist, just contacted us and said that she wants us to come up with some sketches, some ideas and some inspirations for her tour,” one half of the design team, Richie Rich told MTV. “She already did the cowboy hat, so we’ll need to think of something else.” Bring back the cones!

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.