August 31st, 2006

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo
Apparently things are getting even more serious between Nick Lachey and Entertainment Tonight babe Vanessa Minnillo. Friends say they just got back from a four-day promotional trip to Sweden to plug his new album. One supposed friend said that up until about a week ago, Nick was still pretty obsessed with ex-wife Jessica Simpson. That friend goes on to say that up until that point he was still devastated, but now he's over it. No word on how he snapped out of it so quickly, but while Nick and Vanessa still aren't dropping the 'L' word on each other yet, he's been shacking up with her whenever he's in Manhattan.

Jessica Simpson and Bam Margera
Jessica Simpson and Jackass star Bam Margera have patched things up. There was trouble last year when an ex-girlfriend of Bam's said in an interview that he'd hooked up with Simpson while she was still married to Nick Lachey. They bumped into each other this week at New York's Hog Pit bar. Bam says he apologized to Jessica for all the drama his ex caused and that Jessica told him not to worry about it. Everyone was in town for the MTV Awards and Margera says he and his pals were on their way to the G-Spa nightclub until he found out that Simpson was holding an after party for her new album there. Bam didn't want run into Jessica, so they hit the dive bar across the street. It turns out that Simpson went to the bar to see him. While Bam apologized to Simpson for his girlfriend putting the word out, he never did deny that they had actually hooked up.

Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz
First, they're on, then off, then he's trying to lose her or she's dragging her feet and resisting a trip to the altar. So goes the buzz on the Justin Timberlake – Cameron Diaz relationship. While in New York hyping his new album without Cameron, a so-called pal reports that Justin's eyes were wandering. This pal goes on to say that Justin has not talked about Cameron at all lately and comes off like a single guy. This pal seems to think Justin is obsessed with his CD and not into having a girlfriend right now.

Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe
Hilary Swank didn't stay in circulation very long. After announcing her separation from husband Chad Lowe in January and their divorce in May, she's now dating her high-powered agent and word is that they've been on for months. The National Enquirer reports that Hillary has been romantically involved with agent John Campisi since shortly after she split from Chad. However, there's just one little problem. He's married with a kid. The Enquirer has photos of the two embracing in Rome and excerpts from lawyers' letters to the tabloid flatly denying any romance between the two. Life & Style Weekly goes one better with photos of the two kissing and more lawyers' denials.

Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan must be serious about Hard Rock heir Harry Morton because he's apparently managed to get her to quit partying. Never one to miss a chance to party, Lohan was scheduled to hit the MTV Video Music Awards festivities this week, but called friends at the last minute and told them she didn't need to be there. Insiders say it was Harry that told her not to go and he also bought her a dog in an effort to get her to chill a bit. Incidentally, Morton doesn't drink or do drugs and Lindsay has a new best friend named Samantha Ronson, who is also sober. It seems that they share a hobby of club deejaying and at a pre-Emmy party last weekend Lindsay managed to stay sober all night. Of course, the club helped matters when they carded her every time she tried to order a drink. Still, Lindsay was the last to leave the party and she did so sober.

Nicole Kidman
Is Nicole Kidman expecting? You may have seen the tabloid photos that show a bump, but her people deny a baby is on the way. Nicole's rep points out that she has several films lined up and wouldn't be working if a baby were on the way. The rep suggests the photo agency may have doctored the photos to squeeze more money out of the tabloids.

Katie Couric
We haven't been seeing as much of Katie Couric as we used to. This isn't referring to her leaving the Today Show for her soon to be anchor job on the CBS Evening News. It seems that someone touched up Katie's photos for a network promotional magazine, making her seem about 20 pounds thinner. CBS News President Sean McManus said he was 'obviously surprised and disappointed' when he heard about it. The original picture was taken in May and widely circulated to the media as an official photo of Couric. As for Katie, she says: "I liked the first picture better because there's more of me to love." It was written off as something done by someone in the CBS photo department who "got a little zealous." Aside from a wrist slap, there apparently won't be any punishment by the network.

Nancy O'Dell and Maria Menounos
Access Hollywood may not have to look too far to find their next juicy story. Word from the set is that a catfight has broken out between host Nancy O'Dell and correspondent Maria Menounos. Word is they refuse to work together and hate being in the same room with each other and that makeup and hair staffers have to schedule their times far apart. It all started when Nancy griped to the show's brass that Maria wants to be a star and not a journalist. Nancy also complained that Maria got special treatment, more air time and extra days off to pursue her film career. Maria feels that Nancy is just jealous because she's "younger and prettier." The buzz is that Nancy may be secretly pursuing new projects outside of Access Hollywood because she's tired of fighting for air time.

Gwen Stefani
Will Gwen Stefani show for tonight's MTV Video Music Awards? Word has it that she's still ticked off by last year's show where she was nominated for six awards, but was beaten by "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson in most of the categories. Stefani only took home two minor awards and, even worse, after every time she lost to Kelly, they put the camera on her to catch her reaction. An insider says she was under the impression she would be going home with an armload and thought she was going to close the show with a performance, but Clarkson was given that honor instead. Word is that Gwen may boycott tonight's show.

Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher may not be such a desperate housewife after all. Teri has dropped a lawsuit she filed against the author of a story claiming she used a camper parked outside her home for sex romps. The story appeared in a pair of British tabloids and the National Enquirer last year. It said that Teri would leave her eight-year-old daughter alone in her home while Hatcher had rendezvous with men in a VW bus she kept in her driveway. Teri won undisclosed damages and a public apology from the British tabloids, where such lawsuits favor the celebrities. She also accepted an apology from National Enquirer, which stated it believed that Nolan's report "was fabricated and the story was false," and retracted the article. Teri has dropped her suit against the author saying she wants to get on with her life.

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