Wednesday 12/14/11:
Katie Couric's much-discussed relationship with Brooks Perlin, an entrepreneur 17 years her junior, has come to an end. Couric, who is 54, had been dating Perlin, 37, since the two met at a cancer research fundraising event in 2006. According the New York Post, the couple had been having trouble for months, with Couric even hinting at her relationship problems in an interview with People in May. She told the magazine, "I am in the process of figuring out the future, and so is he. I am really happy in my personal life ... but it is complicated."
Fans of Gwyneth Paltrow can now experience her own New York thanks to a new smartphone app the actress has launched through her online newsletter Goop.com. Paltrow gives visitors to the Big Apple a virtual "city guide" featuring the actress' favorite stores, walks and landmarks.
Donald Trump has fired... himself. The real estate mogul and reality TV host has pulled out of moderating the December 27 Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, in case he decides to run in the future.
Lindsay Lohan bailed on her scheduled Ellen DeGeneres Show taping on Tuesday. A show insider says there was no call or apology from Lindsay. The show, a contractually obligated promotional appearance for her Playboy cover, was scheduled two months ago.
... An appointment Lindsay better keep is the one she has with a judge today (Wednesday). She's due in court for a progress report on her probation.
The mansion on the FX drama American Horror Story is up for sale. The setting for numerous nightmarish events on the horror series is on the market for $4.5 million.
Sexy Tuesday 12/13/11
Meryl Streep may be one of the finest actresses around, but she says she thought her career was over 20 years ago. The 62-year-old tells Vogue magazine she was offered three different roles to play a witch after turning 40. She believed it meant women in her age group were "grotesque on some level" and told her husband, "It’s over."
... Streep played the editor of the fictional Vogue-like magazine Runway in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. She is now gracing the January cover of the real magazine for the first time, and is the oldest person to do so. Next, she plays the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the film Iron Lady, which opens January 13.
Reality television star Richard Hatch has been released from a Rhode Island prison after serving a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes. Hatch served six weeks at a state minimum-security facility as a transition after spending most of his sentence in federal prison. Hatch had spent more than three years in prison for not paying taxes on his $1 million "Survivor" winnings. He was released in 2009 and ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed. The 50-year-old went back to prison in March for violating the terms of his supervised release by failing to settle his tax bill. Hatch had claimed he was "financially destitute."
Rob Lowe is about to get candid about his "Love Life." Simon & Schuster announced on Monday that the Parks and Recreation star will follow up his first bestseller, "Stories I Only Tell My Friends," with a book on sex, marriage, money, work, fatherhood and sports, titled "Love Life." Rob said Monday, "I'm hoping readers will think of the first book as a restaurant where they ate a good meal, and that they'll want to come back and try a new dish." "Love Life" is expected in 2013.
With her presidential ambitions behind her Sarah Palin is pitching a new reality series that would focus on her husband, Todd Palin. The project would specifically center on Todd Palin's career as a championship snowmobile racer. Sarah is pitching the project with Mark Burnett, who also produced her TLC reality series Sarah Palin's Alaska, which aired last year.
Pregnant Jessica Simpson has reportedly signed a deal with Weight Watchers for an estimated $3 million. Except that according to sources, there is no deal just yet. The source says Jessica IS in talks with Weight Watchers, but that's all.
Another one of Betty White's Mary Tyler Moore Show co-stars is coming to Cleveland. Ed Asner, who won three Emmys for his portrayal of boss Lou Grant on the series, will guest-star on an upcoming episode of Hot in Cleveland. Asner will play the president of a old-money country club in Cleveland. When the ladies want to join the club, Asner's character gets involved. Mary Tyler Moore guest-starred in Hot in Cleveland's Season 2 premiere.
Lisa Rinna is returning to Days of Our Lives. Rinna will reprise her Billie Reed role and share "explosive" scenes with her on-screen mom played by Lauren Koslow and her character's former lover, played by Peter Reckell.
That not-so-private tweet Charlie Sheen sent out that included his phone number? It was meant for Justin Bieber.
A story of '60 comedians Tom and Dick Smothers will be made into a feature film. George Clooney is one of the producers.
Monday 12/12/11
Those counting the days until they can see Lindsay Lohan in the buff will get an early holiday gift from Hugh Hefner. Lohan's big Playboy cover reveal was set for the Ellen DeGeneres show on December 15, but Hugh Hefner tweeted he'll release the issue early due to last week's leak.
Lindsay Lohan's purse went missing Saturday night at a party in Hawaii. For awhile the purse, her passport, important probation documents and a lot of cash were missing. But on Sunday she got it all back -- all but $10,000 in cash.
When Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men had their very public break-up earlier this year, his co-star of 8 years, Jon Cryer, casually mentioned that he didn't have Charlie's phone number. Now that number has been shared with Sheen's 5 million Twitter followers. Late last week Sheen tweeted his number, along with the note, "Call me, bro." It's assumed he intended to send the number in a direct message. The tweet was deleted shortly after -- but there was plenty of time for eager followers to jot down the digits.
Alec Baldwin wasn’t finished with his American Airlines debacle, so over the weekend he popped in on Saturday Night Live to rip on the airline a bit more, posing/dressing as an AA pilot, Captain Steve Rogers.
Cable network Lifetime is working up a new version of The Blue Lagoon. The 1980 romance-adventure tale has been told a few times before, beginning with two prior film adaptations in 1923 and 1949, and continuing with a sequel, Return To The Blue Lagoon, in which the son of the first castaways discovers that history often cruelly repeats itself.
Occupy Law & Order: SVU? That was the agenda of a group of more than 100 Occupy Wall Street protesters Friday, as they stormed a set for the TV show that was staged to look like their own Zuccotti Park encampment. Said one protester: "This is not us. We are not part of corporate TV America." The demonstrators managed to shut down production of the Occupy-themed episode. Another protester said proudly: "We made it so that they could not exploit us and that's awesome."
For the woman who has everything, how about putting some of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry under the tree? Actress Elizabeth Taylor's world-renowned collection of jewelry will be auctioned off this week at a two-day sale that is expected to bring in more than $30 million. The December 13-14 sale will follow a global three-month tour that will also include Taylor's clothes, fine art and memorabilia, and will be the first of a series of auctions from the estate of the legendary film star who died in March. Around 269 diamonds, pearls, rubies, rings, necklaces and even a tiara will be sold.
TOP TEN MOVIES
1. New Year's Eve, $13.7 million
2. The Sitter, $10 million
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, $7.9 million
4. The Muppets, $7 million
5. Arthur Christmas, $6.6 million
6. Hugo, $6.1 million
7. The Descendants, $4.8 million
8. Happy Feet Two, $3.7 million
9. Jack and Jill, $3.2 million
10. Immortals, $2.4 million
New Year's Eve -- the ensemble romantic comedy starring dozens of A-listers including Ashton Kutcher, Halle Berry, Katherine Heigl, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Zac Efron, Lea Michele and many others -- "won" the box office weekend with a dismal $13.7 million gross. Overall, it was the worst weekend at the domestic box office in three years. While New Year's Eve fell below expectations, Jonah Hill's comedy The Sitter, at number two, earned $10 million in its first weekend, as roughly projected earlier this week.
The Globe Magazine is reporting that Michelle Obama is having a "steamy secret affair" with a Secret Service Agent. According to The Globe, rumors started to circulate that Obama may be having an affair after her recent admission to NBC's Al Roker that she frequently "sneaks out" of the White House; and the ever increasing time she is spending away from the White House may be a cover to hide "a sizzling affair she's carrying on with a Secret Service agent." According to The Globe's anonymous source: "The rumors are that she's getting it on with a Secret Service agent who is not part of her detail. ... Her frequent outings away from the White House give her and him an opportunity to get together." The source adds: "Something has been going on for a couple of months and there's no question Barack is embarrassed about her increasingly frequent excursions away from him at the White House."
