• Burn! Jennifer Aniston toasts a glass, some marshmallows, and her wedding dress. [Page Six]
• No, silly, "professional drink holder" is not a fancy name for bartender. It is the actually title of the person who gets paid to hold Mariah Carey's drinks. Getting paid to blog doesn't look so stupid now, does it? [The Scoop]
• Turns out Joaquin Pheonix isn't the only celeb who takes their character roles seriously - ex-Sopranos stars are now whacking cops. [People]
• In a fit of jealousy over Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's baby Violet, Jennifer Lopez decides she wants to ruin her longest running marriage with a screaming bundle of her own. [Star]
• Madonna pulls an ass shakin' Pussycat Dolls move on Andre Balazs. Why doesn't Uma Thurman care? Because she knows that her boyfriend doesn't J-Date. [Lowdown]
First we bring you Jennifer Aniston's supposed topless sunbathing photos and now a tipster sends in what's purported to be the first shot of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's new daughter, Violet Ann.
No, we don't have any confirmation that it's actually the correct baby, but she looks white — and in this medium, that's about all the confirmation we need.
(Click for larger version)
It's rumored to have been taken by a hospital employee who, not content with working another eight years to pay off med school loans, promptly sold it.
Meanwhile, some smarty already bought the domain VioletAnnAffleck.com. We just hope it's not Peter Brandt.
VioletAnnAffleck.com
Earlier: BREAKING: Jennifer Garner pops
We've got it on good authority (read: the E! channel, via Us Weekly) that Jennifer Garner just gave birth to Ben Affleck's spawn. Starbucks is on standby with a non-fat mocha IV.
Back in June, aspiring New York blogger Cityrag uncovered one of Hollywood's darkest secrets: celebrities love their Starbucks. From Britney/K-Fed and Nick/Jessica to Nicole Richie/DJ AM and Mary-Kate/Ashley, the frappacinos were in high season.
But nobody loves their venti non-fat no whip lattes with a shot of sugarfree vanilla like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Normally we'd suggest the mom-to-be lay off the caffeinated beverages but, well, she can't. Rumor has it she's under contract to keep the cups coming.
In an item we finally enjoyed reading in his column, Lloyd Grove uncovers what's estimated to be a seven-figure endorsement deal between Bennifer 2.0 and the coffee giant. For the Hollywooders to get their cash, they need only flash a grande pumpkin spice in front of eager paparazzi at every opportunity.
Suspiciously (or, you know, not), both Starbucks and Ben's supra-rep Ken Sunshine deny any such deal is in place. *$ might pay for product placement in movies, but no way do they pay individual stars to tout their goods. We're assuming that also goes for the willingly quoted obnoxious talking heads like Moby, Andy Roddick, Al Franken and Melissa Etheridge.
Any grounds to Ben/Jen java story? [Lowdown]
Related: Celebs love their Starbucks
• Fernando Ferrer is taking responsibility for a fib on his campaign site's blog, which claimed he went to public schools as a kid. In fact, he went to private Catholic schools. It took just a few moments for Bloomberg's camp (and both the NYP and NYDN) to latch on to the "mistake."
• Need a Christmas gift for that special someone? Elton John is available to play a private concert for you and 500 guests for the bargain price at $1.5 million, only at Neiman Marcus.
• Paris Hilton and perhaps ex-fiance Paris Latsis were seen spending some time together, but by all accounts it wasn't the "quality" type.
• Wisteria Lane may be getting more crowded. Courtney Cox is reportedly in negotiations to play a mental institution escapee in a future episode of Desperate Housewives.
• DMX may be joining Lil' Kim on a trip to the clink sometime soon. The rapper failed to show up for a court appearance yesterday for allegedly driving with a suspended license, claiming he had food poisoning. The Judge has given him till next Monday to show up.
• Now you can let a middleman deal with Star and Us Weekly as you try and sell your Paris Hilton camera phone snap.
• Jennifer Garner inadvertently spilled the sex of the littlest Affleck to Jay Leno last night. While telling Jay about her expanding size, Garner used the word "she" before rushing to cover her mouth in a classic "oops" moment. One thing we do know for sure: She's either having a boy or a girl.
• We wouldn't recommend using meth to get yourself out of a hostage situation, but only because we hear heroin works better.
• Don't look to see Condoleezza Rice in any "I Love New York" ads anytime soon. After catching a Wednesday night performance of Spamalot (where she was booed when the lights came up), the Secretary of Insensitivity went shopping at Ferragamo on Fifth Avenue. While browsing thousands of dollars in new shoes (replacement dominatrix boots?), a horrified fellow shopper shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" For being so forward, Condi rewarded her by having her security toss the shopper from the store — and then decided to cut her stay short to, uh, do her job.
• Nice to know Lil' Jon and R. Kelly have their egos intact, even when trapped in an elevator. When a guest at the Sagamore Hotel called a friend to let them know he was stuck, the duo snatched the phone and said, "Go ahead and tell them who you are stuck in the elevator with."
• Even though Michael Lohan is in the pokey for more sins than you can count, it's reassuring to know he still has a song in his heart. In response to daughter Lindsay's upcoming song about her strained relationship with her dad, Michael's come up with this ditty: "I loved and protected you, I was THERE through it all./I do admit, I did at times fall./But these things you know were due to "THEM"/The ones that want to have a piece of my gem!" Though it's Lindsay rocking the rocks, not daddy.
• Blame Bennifer 2.0! Or at least that's what Michael Vartan fans want you to do. After learning the former Jennifer Garner plaything was being written out of Alias, his "fans" started a slander campaign alleging, among other things, that nobody is allowed to mention Vartan's name on the set, everyone present must applaud Garner after each scene, no one can look at Garner going to or from her trailer and cast and crew aren't allowed to speak with her. Oh, and be polite to Ben Affleck, even though Vartan's friends can't stand him.
• What would Janice Dickinson do? Say attendees at her one woman show, not much. Besides starting half an hour late, she forgot her script and couldn't remember how her own stories went. When Bobby Trendy and Kimberly Stewart walked out, you know it's bad.
• So what do you do when your home confinement ends? Leave! Martha Stewart, along with daughter Alexis, was spotted yesterday morning, coffee cup in hand, getting in a caravan of SUVs headed to Westchester County Airport. No word on her destination, but we're betting she's not going to visit her former prison pals in West Virginia.
• Rapper Juvenile has mixed blessings during Katrina. The good news is that he was able to save his entire family, but the bad is that his home is totally destroyed. The rapper is urging that people keep the city in their prayers, and to donate to the Red Cross.
• Staffers at Women's Wear Daily were privy to some tabloid-shopped snaps of a very naked Jude Law changing outside his mother's home in France. The verdict: "He's no Tommy Lee, that's for sure."
• Matt Lauer might not be rekindling his marriage to separated model-wife Annette Roque, but he is back in their flat after fleeing his $15,000-per-month Trump pad.
• The family of Notorious B.I.G. wants $2 million from the City of Los Angeles to pay its legal fees after a judge declared a mistrial in the rapper's wrongful death suit.
• Mario Vasquez's voluntarily quitting American Idol has paid off, just like we all hoped/expected. He's signed a "lucrative deal" with Clive Davis' J Records and will be managed by Rod Stewart's famed handler Arnold Steifel, rather than 19 Entertainment.
• Bennifer 2.0 is having a girl! Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are growing an XX chromosomed baby, revealed at the L.A. premiere of The Brothers Grimm. Meanwhile, Britney Spears' bump is rumored to be a boy, but expect that to change next week.
BONUS: One more nakey Jude Law pic after the jump.
CONTINUED »
USA Today takes its McNewspaper treatment of real news and applies it to its patent-pending bite-size formula to a realm so much more deserving: the summer season of celebrity.
From the out and proud (Whitney and Bobby Brown) to the quiet and removed (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), Karen Thomas has you covered. They've also made use of color-coding to break it down a bit easier for you, which makes learning about Ben Affleck's silent sequel to Bennifer 1.0 so much more convenient.
The effect on his and Jennifer Garner's images:
Really good … He's a politician in the making, and they look like Mr. and Mrs. Clean Image. They're out and about, saying to the paparazzi, 'Here we are if you want to catch us.' It is very savvy. Very hip. They get my vote for the cleanest PR campaign.
The way he manages his PR is about as close to "savvy" and "hip" as Affleck can hope for, so a congratulations are in order.
Editorial Director
