Did new E! staffer Ken Baker sign up one of his kids – either son Jackson, 5, or daughter Chloe, 3 – at Britney Spears' dance class at Millennium Studios in Burbank so he would have an excuse to drop by and spy? That's one wild Hollywood rumor floating around about the former Us Weekly editor. (Baker hasn't returned a request for comment.)

KEN BAKER E-LATED Us Weekly departure Ken Baker unofficially joined E! weeks ago. This week, he officially becomes Ryan Seacrest's corporate buddy, securing the title of executive news director. Meanwhile, for extra fun, we phoned his old line at Us, expecting the mag to pull a Jill Ishkanian, and keep his extension open without notifying callers he no longer worked there. Alas, the recording tells you Ken has left the building. [FBNY]

The exiting Us Weekly veteran is "in final negotiations with E! with Ted [Harbert, the network president] who loves him and Ryan Seacrest pushed to get him this job," says the inbox. "Ryan has made it easy for his friend to get a job there. No official announcement yet but he is already working stories for them. He's very excited about his new role thanks to the one friend he has left in Hollywood. With Ryan's help he is negotiating for a big role and the top guns at E! love Ryan and love Ken."

At long last, Ken Baker is leaving Us Weekly. In what can't exactly be described as a surprise, he's ending his eight-year tenure at the Wenner tabloid, which in recent years included endless gossip about ethical lapses and payola, demotions, Ryan Seacrest loving (and favoring), scandal, and yes, his departure.

In an email to colleagues, Ken writes, "I just wanted to let you all know that I was recently asked to relocate to NYC and continue my editorial director work for Us Online. As a family, however, we decided that now wasn't a good time for a move. So, after nearly 8 amazing years on staff at Us Weekly, I am moving on to some new and exciting opportunities."

Ken, of course, has been running UsMagazine.com since being "transitioned" away from his West Coast Editor role. So where is he off to? His email doesn't say, and usually-knowledgeable sources close to him say they aren't sure, either. In any event, you're probably about nine seconds away from no longer caring, so here's his email, after the jump.

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Amy Sultan – senior reporter deputy news editor at Us Weekly and new-ish wife to Scott Cosman (pictured here), operator of the tabloid's "in-house" paparazzi agency Flynet – has left the magazine, we're hearing.

She departed sometime this week, or as it's heretofore to be known, Post-Lawsuit.

Sultan, as you'll recall, was at the center of controversy over allegations that Us Weekly-lawsuit-filer Jill Ishkanian was hacking into Us Weekly's email and computer systems, since it was Sultan's username and password that were regularly abused, granting access to an untold number interested outsiders and celebrities.

And just so your dot-connecting comes full circle, Ishkanian-target and Us online chief Ken Baker was a guest at Sultan's wedding to Cosmon. And it was Cosmon's Flynet who snapped the pics of Teri Hatcher and Ryan Seacrest kissing — an allegedly staged setup orchestrated by Seacrest and BFF Ken Baker.

Now, what's that sound we're hearing? Oh, right: chips falling.

When asked for comment about Jill Ishkanian's allegations against him and the magazine, Ken Baker responded: "Thanks for writing, but I am on vacation. I will get back to you." To be fair, it was an auto-responder.

In light of Jill Ishkanian's accusations against Us Weekly – that staffers were ordered to dig through Ben Affleck's trash; that the magazine refused to credit her with breaking big stories like Paris Hilton's sex tape – are a spat of allegations against current online chief Ken Baker.

From ogling freelancers and sending illicit text messages to using his position for personal gain and getting his nanny gigs at the tabloid, Baker's rep is certainly getting shat on in the lawsuit. Which might explain why we're told to expect him to "play a lesser role at Us in the very near future."

We got our hands on the gritty details of Jill Ishkanian's $55 million lawsuit against Us Weekly and her old bosses, and out of the goodness of our heart we wanted to share with you the most interesting details.

And by "most interesting" we mean "pretty much the entire thing," 'cause it's hilarious.

And by "hilarious," we mean "so much fun as a spectator, not as much fun as a defendant."

We've stacked the meaty parts after the jump. And fret not: We've bolded the most worthwhile legalese.

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Jann Wenner, Janice Min, Ken Baker, and Wenner Media proper are being hit with a $55 million lawsuit today filed by former Us Weekly staffer Jill Ishkanian, we've learned.

In court papers being filed now-ish, Ishkanian – who left the magazine and went on to form the paparazzi agency Sunset Photo and News – alleges her former bosses went on the attack after her departure, trying to sully her reputation. Though it should have been expected: The suit alleges Janice and Ken threatened to ruin her if she ever tried to leave the magazine or encourage anyone else to do so.

Among the charges Ishkanian is claiming: "INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS; NEGLIGENT TRAINING AND RETENTION; BREACH OF CONTRACT; BREACH OF THE COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING; SLANDER AND SLANDER PER SE; LIBEL AND LIBEL PER SE; INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE WITH PROSPECTIVE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE; CIVIL CONSPIRACY."

As you'll recall, after Ishkanian's departure, Us Weekly went to the FBI alleging Jill was hacking into Us computers to gain information about celebs and their whereabouts. But as we've learned before, Us also intentionally left Ishkanian's phone lines at the magazine active to collect information from sources who didn't know she had left. They also kept Jill in the loop via email, even after repeated requests not to be included on sensitive in-house Wenner emails.

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Last night, at 7:37pm, Us Weekly's online chief Ken Baker published the above post, after seeing Paris Hilton stumble her way through an hour of television that required her to speak aloud. Apparently, this week's Paris-free issue of Us didn't mean the website was going to let up on the heiress — until this post. "We're sure Paris is lovely in the summer," blogged Baker. "But, for the time being, we just won't be going there."

Cut to 8:33am today.

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Oh well, 'twas fun while it lasted.

We're not exactly sure how Us Weekly's web operations work. Sure, we may notice when UsMagazine.com makes minor changes to its web masthead, but from there on out, we pretty much assume online director and high-cheekboned Ken Baker spends the day figuring out how to plug his appearances on Ryan Seacrest's radio show.

Lucky us, then, when we got our hands on a Wednesday email chain between Baker, EIC Janice Min, and GMA transplant, former Daily News editor, and No. 2 Colleen Curtis about what makes a good web hed. (Exciting topic, we know.)

Except we weren't the only ones to get the email: The note was also sent out to former Us staffers, some of who now have jobs at competing magazines and haven't worked at Wenner in years.

The internal email arrived, inexplicably, in the inboxes of Nick White and Chris Coats (both now at People), Mia Sulpor (at Variety since February), and Jenny Sundel of People and In Style. And there was also someone else in the CC field: tim@vegas.com. That would be Timothy McDarrah, the former Us Hot Stuff editor who's not so much at Vegas.com as he is in jail for six years for trying to get with a 13-year-old girl.

So what's Ken & Co. up to, bringing all these ex-staffers into the conversation? Um … we haven't a clue.

The emails, post-jump-thingy.

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Us Weekly's blues won't be ending anytime soon. While Star rages back against Us – and Us continues digging its own hole with its "Fake News" feature – the magazine is also raking its own coals in other new and exciting ways.

Take, for instance, this week's Hot Stuff section, where a full-page engagement story on The Hills' Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt includes an inset shot of what's supposedly the ring she's wearing. "Montag’s ring (she wore it May 24) is studded with diamond chips," reads the caption.

Except Spencer says it's a farce. "US has a picture of the wrong ring," he tells a tattler. "That’s not the engagement ring I bought Heidi. No one has a picture of the ring yet.” Meanwhile, Katie Ciarlo, an employee at Ice Accessories where Spencer bought the ring, also says Us has it wrong: "The picture US Weekly printed showed was the wrong ring. That is not the ring that Spencer bought Heidi."

What was that about other tabloids printing "Fake News?"

But wait, there's more.

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First off, kudos to Us Weekly, who managed to score actual celebrities for Thursday night's Hot Hollywood party in L.A. Remember when Star editorial director Bonnie Fuller tried lining up a few notables for her book party and forgot that her magazine might have insulted them and enraged their handlers?

But there's Lindsay Lohan, Ciara, Rose McGowan, Ashley Simpson, David Arquette, Ali Larter, Justin Chambers, and Lauren Conrad. (Okay, that last one doesn't count.)

Also making appearances? Ryan Seacrest and Carmen Electra, of course, otherwise known as the best friends of Us's online chief Ken Baker, who's holding the mic, next to Brandi Williams. Not that we're implying there's anything less than sanitary about this synergy of personal and business interests, of course. The way Ryan makes his entrance on the American Idol stage is certainly worthy of style recognition, as is the way Carmen moves those bottles of NV.

Following Ken Baker's move to head up UsMagazine.com – a transition, some might say, that was not voluntary – the West Coast chief slot has remained open. Sure, Martha Flores has been running things as news director, but where's the top slavedriver?

Enter Melanie Bromley, who's taking the reigns as West Coast bureau chief. A five year Us veteran, she arrived from the Times of London (and, ahem, News of the World).

Her first assignment? Next week's Hot Hollywood event — which, in fonder days, used to be Baker's territory.

Janice's full email to staff, after the jump.

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