There’s this rumor going around that OK! magazine owner Richard Desmond is hiring Bonnie Fuller, she being the former American Media editorial director and Star leader, to run his American exclamation point tabloid.

Fuller, who just left a $2 million-plus payday with David Pecker, is starting her own company, Bonnie Fuller Media, which by all accounts is some sort of digital (and maybe some TV) venture with backing from former Viacom exec Russ Pillar.

The rumor says there are “protracted talks” between Fuller in Desmond, who is said to be looking for a high-profile EIC to replace Sarah Ivens, who’s been running the tabloid since it launched on American shores. The U.S. OK!, which Desmond reportedly sunk $100 million into (though, because he pays in British pounds, he gets everything half off), has seen circulation increase, but not enough to really compete with more established players like In Touch or Us Weekly. Which might explain why we’re also told Desmond made overtures to Us editor Janice Min, who declined.

So is Fuller taking over at OK!? No, say well-placed informants. But it’s true Desmond did reach out to her.

Which leaves only one real question:

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We’re hearing Rob Shuter, the lying former Jessica Simpson publicist who just took over OK!’s executive editor post (since arriving as entertainment editor, then being named deputy ed), just named editorial manager Katie Caperton to the deputy editor slot, while nightspot staple Shauna Bass (of Life & Style) was installed as news editor. We’re also told tabloid vet David Caplan, currently at People, was offered the exec ed slot by EIC Sarah Ivens about a month ago, but turned it down.

To escape the paparazzi after giving birth, Jamie Lynn Spears supposedly hired a body double to exit the Mississippi hospital from one door while making a sneaky dash from another.

This report comes from OK! magazine, which, you might recall, has a $1 million exclusive deal with the 17-year-old celebrity sister for the first pics of her baby and all the soundbites that go along with something like that. So perhaps it wasn’t Spears who hired the body double, but OK! magazine, which is very keen on protecting its investment.

… are the people bidding $22 million on her baby photos? If Entertainment Tonight really wants to confirm its story, perhaps they should touch base with People and OK! and find out why a deal hasn’t been wrapped up yet. Because if those kids are outside the womb, certain magazine editors are going to be eager to schedule the photo shoot for, like, this afternoon.

The week began with reports that bidding on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s baby twin photos was skyrocketing past a $15 million mark; today brings word the final sum could hit $22 million, as the tabloids feed the human trafficking frenzy. (What’s an ultrasound worth?)

No matter that the two magazines still in the bidding for the photos, People and OK!, claim those figures are wildly out of touch with the actual dollar amounts being tossed around.

But make no mistake: This sale is on track to break all previous records, including the estimated $7 million Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony scored for selling U.S. and European rights to their twins.

As for who’s going to end up on top, the smart money is on

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Only People and OK! are the remaining contenders. And, joke of all jokes, the proceeds will supposedly go to charity. [TMZ] Time to, once again, revisit the economics of paying ridiculous sums for these type of photos.

OK! magazine, the Richard Desmond vehicle for American gossip domination, already has the Spears clan on the line, with an exclusive deal for Jamie Lynn’s baby photos and story. Now, they’re angling for Lohan coup, having reportedly made an offer to Lindsay to do a “coming out” cover story about her wo-mance with the DJ Samantha Ronson. The blood money? A cool $1 million. [P6] But Lohan’s rep says they fielded the offer, and passed.

This leaves OK! now free to purchase photos of the duo smooching in public, and run the same coming out cover story, just with a question mark at the end of the cover headline.

OK! THX BI Following the dismissal of executive editor Juliet Heller two weeks ago, OK! magazine just dismissed two more senior staffers, we’re hearing. Gone are the photo director and design director. Wonders a source: Is Sarah Ivens next?

In the winner’s corner: Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer dominated the tabloids this week, with most publications declaring them the hot new couple. There’s not much to be negative about, except for the fact that any relationship involving Jen is doomed to fail.

In the loser’s corner: Jessica and Ashlee Simpson are competing to see who can make it to the altar first, because isn’t that what romance is all about? We can’t decide who’s the bigger loser in this situation — the Simpsons or their poor significant others.

Also this week: Britney continues to get her act together, Lindsay gets mixed reviews and Angelina is possibly getting married. But don’t hold your breath.

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OK! magazine’s executive editor Juliet Heller was just shown the door by editor Sarah Ivens. (Keen masthead observers will notice her name is missing from this week’s issue.)

We’re told Ivens & Co. are eying “the usual suspects” at Us Weekly and People to replace her. Says one insider of Heller: “She’s totally nice” but “she didn’t bring much, if any, news to the magazine and just was an ill fitting position for her from the get-go. She’s not a celeb weekly type of person.” To be sure, Heller did arrive at OK! in ‘05, at the same time as co-exec ed Lori Berger, from Star.

We’re switching things up a bit this week: Instead of simply summing up the tabloids, we’re presenting the week’s winners and losers in the eyes of the magazines. Which publications favor which celebrities? And does the relationship change from week to week?

This time around, Britney seems to have won back the love of the tabs, because not a single bad story was written about her. The mags are split on Lindsay — some say she’s in a happy and stable lesbian relationship; others declare that she is off the wagon (again).

And congrats are in order to the biggest loser of the week, Jessica Simpson, who is apparently pathetic and in danger of losing boyfriend Tony Romo. When even the tabloids are pitying you, you know there’s a problem.

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Turns out People magazine’s Christina Aguilera baby photo issue, which cost them a reported $1.5 million, sold better than the estimated 1.3 million copies originally thought; it moved 1.45 million on the newsstand.

That’s one highlighted stat from the latest tabloid data, which shows People up 5 percent year-to-date, with an average 1.5 million copies moving on the newsstand, according to ABC data being released today. The mag’s biggest mover? January’s Heath Ledger, which sold 1.8m, thanks to it being the only weekly to close late enough to catch the obit. But that issue is expected to be bested by Jennifer Lopez’s newborn twins, with estimates of 1.9m.

And how is the competition faring?

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Growing its reputation for telling lies with pictures, OK! magazine bounces from last week’s issue, where they used a five-year-old photo of Britney Spears to claim she lost weight, to this week’s issue, where they crop out Eva Longoria from a photo to make readers believe there’s something going on between Orlando Bloom and Jennifer Aniston.

Keeping with its roots, Us Weekly is revving up the denial train. You know, where they take those erroneous reports from less trustworthy weeklies and get sources to deny the reports?

And it’s always a good time to take a crap on the reports in other tabloid magazines — Us, after all, used to devote an entire two-page spread to the matter. So what to do when the competition gets its credibility put through the gossip mill shredder? Fiesta!

OK! magazine has been catching flack for its 2003 photo of Britney Spears that supposedly showed the star had lost 15 pounds in four weeks. Thus, Us Weekly’s item “See What Britney Spears’ Body Really Looks Like.”

And what about Star’s report that Britney and Kevin Federline reconciled over Easter weekend and were planning a Hawaii trip together? Not true, Us gets a Britney camp member to report, but not before pointing out that the cover photo is from their 2004 honeymoon. In Fiji.

OK! took plenty of flack this week for publishing a five-year-old photo of Britney Spears to back up a cover line claiming she lost 15 pounds in four weeks. But let’s not kid ourselves: All the tabloids do it!

Let’s see … there’s Star’s cover about “Brit and Kevin’s secret weekend,” which features a photo not from their possibly-never-happened weekend, but from their 2004 honeymoon. And Us Weekly, though it doesn’t claim its cover photo is recent, used a November 2003 photo of a much younger looking Britney, from an Entertainment Weekly photo shoot, as its cover.

First we have to deal with covers that are missing a baby’s legs, and now OLD CELEBRITY PHOTOS? Somebody should lose their Photoshop license.

The tabloids had a good variety of stories this week, with one Angelina and three Britney covers. Life & Style was the only magazine to get desperate with the typical “celebrities starve themselves to get skinny” cover story. Trailblazers, those L&S staffers.

There is, as usual, a plethora of Spears family stories covering Brit’s mental illness and Jamie Lynn’s upcoming wedding. It’s nothing we didn’t already know — except for Star’s made-up story about Britney and Kevin rekindling their romance. That was very creative.

Also this week: Lindsay realizes she looks old, Perez Hilton needs attention and Jason Wahler stars in yet another reality show. Count us out.

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Haven’t you heard? Britney Spears is on the road to recovery! Sure, you thought this was the case when she finally divorced then-nutjob Kevin Federline and made her David Letterman appearance, but now she’s doing Responsible Person things like showing up for work and keeping her hair in tact. And her guest spot on How I Met Your Mother? It’s getting rave reviews all around!

OK! applauds the effort: “Her performance was so good, she managed to wow not only the audience, but her co-stars as well.” People says Britney “took a major step in reviving her career.” Us Weekly is pleased to report on “her big TV comeback.”

And it looks like it’s only Star who can’t get on the happy train. Its new issue’s secondary cover story? Britney’s “Secret Meltdown.”

We’re not quite sure how we missed this The Insider segment last week — oh wait, yes we are: We never watch that show. But it featured OK! magazine chief Sarah Ivens walking viewers through the very intricate process of producing a tabloid each week. How do they choose photos? (They look at them!) How do they choose who goes on the cover? (They default to Brangelina!)

So why, one might ask, is OK! popping up on The Insider? Because it’s all part of their gossip-sharing arrangement: The CBS-produced tabloid show plugs OK!, and OK! hand delivers their scoops to them instead of the competition.

The tabloids were desperate this week, resorting to Brangelina lies and “Stars Without Makeup!” cover stories. Somehow, Ashlee Simpson’s nosejob became relevant again, earning her the front page of Us Weekly. Congrats?

Everyone is still grasping at straws when it comes to Britney — this time she’s about to declare bankruptcy and she hates her new life. Not outrageous enough, if you ask us.

Also this week: Lindsay makes excuses, Matthew McConaughey is gross and Heidi Montag gives an exclusive Lauren-bashing. Actually, none of that is particularly new.

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It’s been a slow news week for Hollywood, which means Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are back to gracing the cover of Us Weekly and Brangelina are having problems again. It’s the same song and dance, really.

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