Lindsay Lohan, fave target of celebrity journalists everywhere, appeared on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show this morning and revealed her wishes for the tabloids and the paps to go away. No surprise there. Seacrest tried to goad LiLo into divulging details of her “relationship” with Samantha Ronson, but Lindsay wasn’t taking the bait. She did mention however that she wanted to spend most of her time with “someone special.” Ummm, if SamRo were the person she’s spending almost all her time with, would it not be a logical assumption that Sam is the one she’s referring to here? If that’s the case, she should just be open about it. Sure Samantha Ronson may be a great DJ, but if Lindsay were playing for the other team you’d think she’d be able to find a better teammate. I doubt we’ll ever get down (please pardon the pun) to the truth on this one. Here’s the audio from the interview:

LiLo interview

Madonna Minus Guy Plus A-Rod Minus Wife Plus Lenny = One Big Mess

Is Madonna with A-Rod? Is she staying with hubby Guy Ritchie? Is A-Rod’s wife “riding Lenny’s rod” (TMZ’s words)? This whole fiasco is getting too complicated, but just perpetuates the idea that eventually almost everyone in show biz will have “been with” everyone else. For the record, Lenny is vehemently denying, saying: "There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself. This is unequivocally 100% not true. Cynthia is a friend and is here with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex's trainer, his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer." It may be true, but Lenny’s got a rep for getting around so who knows anymore. Stop the insanity!

Lenny on TMZ

BUSY Week for Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue (yes, the one whose biggest US hit was in the 80s) has received the Order of the British Empire. Prince Charles presented her with the OBE for her services to music yesterday. It’s hard to believe that Kylie has been working in the music industry for twenty years - she has experienced much success internationally selling over 60 million records. Although she may not be as big in North America, she’s always been huge overseas. And I’ve always liked her poppy style and cutesy looks. Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, took a yearlong hiatus, and has been healthy since then. Then last week there were photos of her in Paris looking cozy with former flame Olivier Martinez. Is there a reconciliation in the works for this pair? Didn’t he blatantly cheat on her? Olivier is a playa, girl - watch your step this time.

Kylie Minogue

Christie Brinkley’s Nasty Divorce

Divorce is never easy, and even less so when it’s in the public eye. When you add a barely legal girl to the mix, it gets even worse. Such is the case right now for Christie Brinkley, 54, and Peter Cook, 49, whose divorce trial began July 2 in Long Island, NY. Cook admitted on the stand yesterday to spending $3000 a month on Internet porn and an affair with an 18 year old he hired to work in his architectural firm. This is going to be a nasty divorce and custody of the couple’s two boys is the main issue. Peter, dude, 3 grand a month on Internet porn? Are you freakin’ kidding me? I don’t know what kind of porn you’re lookin’ at, but most sites let you see all you want for like $29.95. If you’re paying that much I don’t wanna know the kind of stuff you’re looking for. And Christie shouldn’t take it personally. At 54, she’s STILL one of the hottest looking women in Hollywood. Smokin’! If he’ll cheat on you, he’ll cheat on anyone. That goes for anyone, really, especially in Hollywood. Living in and being famous in Hollywood is one easy way to test the fidelity of any marriage.

Christie Brinkley takes the stand

Hancock’s Homosexual Blunders

GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Association Against Defamation, is calling out box office giant Hancock for an exchange of dialogue between Will Smith and Jason Bateman. From their site: At approximately 24 minutes into the film, while Jason Bateman’s PR whiz works to rehabilitate the superhero’s tarnished image, he shows Hancock three comic book images in an effort to inspire him. But Hancock rejects the traditional image of costumed superheroes as he responds to each one: “Homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo.” I can see where they’re coming from. They don’t like the word “homo”. Couldn’t Will Smith react to each picture in an effeminate tone saying something that would make any fashionista proud, gay or straight? That would probably go over better, and even elicit more laughs! 

The Soup is back! It’s amazing what happens when you remove yourself from the celebrity world for a few days, and then return to see how much you missed (or really DIDN’T miss, depending on how you look at it). Lots to go through, but as always, we pick out the best stuff.

Our first story focuses on two Hollywood blondes, neither of which is known for their ability to endure a lasting relationship. Pamela Anderson appeared on an Australian radio show and was asked her opinion on Jessica Simpson wearing a “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt. After calling Jess both a bitch and a whore, discussion ensued as to the actual meaning of the word meat. Pamela, while being well known for her disdain of the consumption of animal meat for food, is certainly no stranger to the meat of the other type being discussed here. A cool audio clip, here for you to digest (pardon the pun).

Pamela Anderson audio clip

The Slide Continues

Another day, another Amy Winehouse story. I’ve almost had it with her. I’m sick of media pundits saying “but she’s so talented.” WAS talented. At a performance on Friday night, Amy punched at a fan for allegedly trying to grab either her hair or her boobs. Which of the two that the fan was trying to grab is still unknown. My guess is the hair, because in her emaciated state, there ain’t much going on in the chestal region. Look and listen to the video – the audio will shock you as much as the visuals. She sounds horrible!

Amy Winehouse

A-Rod Stepping Up to Madonna’s Plate?

Madonna is saturating the media lately with rumors of her potential divorce to filmmaker Guy Ritchie. But the latest rumor - and this is purely a rumor - has the Material Girl hooking up with baseball star Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez probably has a better chance of hitting a home run with Madonna than he does in the playoffs. I know, that one was kinda weak, but gimme a break after a four-day long weekend!

Madonna

And regarding the divorce rumors, Madonna’s PR person Liz Rosenberg is insistent that the divorce is not happening. I love the mock-up TMZ has done to her photo:

Madonna on TMZ

Movie Execs Should Invest in Shredders!

Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s biggest movie executives (both literally and figuratively) must have missed the privacy seminar. With all the new privacy laws that are in effect both in Canada and the States, you’d think someone as powerful as this guy would invest in a shredder before chucking out his papers in a local dumpster. The Village Voice’s Tony Ortega, being the opportunist that he is, pulled an old-fashioned dumpster dive and came up with some pretty interesting stuff! He even wrote a whole column about his findings. There is some major Hollywood name-dropping going on in this piece, primarily regarding Harvey’s “Calls You Owe” and “Need to Call” list. A fascinating story, and perhaps one of the best reads of the year. Still, you shouldn’t resort to a dumpster dive to generate a good journalistic piece. And at least now Harvey is more schooled on privacy. Win/win? Read the great piece:

Harvey Weinstein

Much Ado About Nothing, Well, Something

The big battle in Hollywood between SAG and AFTRA still rages on. The June 30th deadline has come and gone but no strike has happened. I’ve read from very reliable sources that a strike will never happen, but the fight may not end for quite some time. It’s supposedly down to a game of winning the respect and support of the public and media, and now it has become a war amongst PR firms! Gotta love Hollywood. Hey, as long as they don’t strike and filming is not affected then they can waste all the money they want. Here’s more info:

Hollywood strike info

Hancock On Its Way to Huge Box Office Win

Hancock, the latest superhero movie starring Will Smith, zoomed into theatres for evening showings yesterday and took in almost $7 million. Compare this with the $5 Million for the day-before-opening showings of Iron Man, and it looks like Hancock is looking good for some serious opening weekend numbers. Analysts are expecting between $100 and $115 million when the receipts are estimated on Sunday. Hancock’s rather short 92-minute runtime is allowing for more showings, which could help boost the numbers. Reviews are not at all great, but audiences are going to flock to see this no matter what.

Something Nice to Say About Paris

She may be one of the most annoying people on the planet, but when Paris Hilton does something really positive (I know, how often does that happen?) the media often misses it. But Paris finally put her money where her mouth is, and kept her word about giving a substantial donation to a children’s hospital.

Paris Hilton

Verne Troyer, 39, (famous for playing Dr. Evil’s Mini-Me from the Austin Power series) is suing TMZ for $20 million. They showed a portion of his stolen sex tape with ex-girlfriend Ranae Shrider, 22. He claims that TMZ ‘violated his privacy rights and infringed on his copyright and trademark by running portions of the tape on TMZ TV and TMZ.com.’ As of this morning you could still see the clip on TMZ but Troyer has filed an injunction to stop distribution of the video. Trust me when I say this: this is one sex tape you DON’T want to see. Though it may have been fun to find out why they REALLY call him Mini-Me. Yeeeesh.

Verne sues TMZ

Mega Box Office Numbers This Weekend, Even More Next Weekend

This weekend in theatres we have Pixar’s latest animation sensation Wall-E, going up against Angelina Jolie’s Wanted. Both are receiving good reviews, especially Wall-E, which is drumming up the best reviews of the year. This isn’t a fair fight, since Pixar will always OWN whatever weekend it’s competing in. Industry analysts are predicting that Wall-E will gross around $70 million this weekend, compared to Wanted’s $40 million. 40 mil is a really impressive number, and if it happens, there’s buzz already that Wanted will become another franchise. Like Angelina needs more money from another movie franchise!

As for Wall-E, there are already rumblings in Hollywood today about a Best Picture campaign for the film. The last and only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture was 1991’s Beauty and The Beast. Disney is apparently going to be lobbying hard to ensure that Wall-E gets the Best Picture nod for the 2009 Academy Awards. With the amazing reviews the film is getting, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them succeed in attaining the nomination.

Hancock, which opens July 2nd and has been certified by analysts as fully review-proof, is expected to ring up at least $100 million over the five-day weekend, and may hit 120 million. Reviews are generally not that great, though it’s a bit too early at this point. Wow, lots of cash floating around this summer at the movie theatres!

Emmy Semifinalists Announced

No, this isn’t the official Emmy nominations list - it’s the final 10 shows competing for Best TV Drama and Best TV Comedy. I don’t recall the Emmy Academy ever revealing a semifinalist list before, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention. Notable inclusions in the comedy list are Family Guy (a bit late to recognize it now), Pushing Daisies (glad this one got noticed, it’s a great show), and HBO’s Flight of The Conchords (which not many people have seen, or talk about, which won’t help). Thankfully missing from the list is Desperate Housewives, one of the most overrated shows on television. How I Met Your Mother probably would have been included if this season weren’t so mediocre compared to the last two stellar seasons. On the Drama side, I still don’t get the whole Grey’s Anatomy thing. It’s even more overrated than Housewives, and is almost as bad as CSI. Anatomy still made the list. Mad Men, AMC’s (also carried on CTV) original series about ad execs in 60s New York, will likely be nominated and may upset everyone and pull out the win. I’ve seen one show, liked it, and will probably be renting Season One on DVD when it’s released next week. Boston Legal lost its steam long ago and I have no idea why it’s still on the list. Glad to see Dexter there, though!

Emmy Top 10

Third Time a Charm for Uma?

Uma Thurman is engaged to Arpad Busson, a very rich Swiss. She was previously married to Gary Oldman and Ethan Hawke. Uma has two children from her marriage with Ethan and Arpad has two children from a relationship with supermodel Elle Macpherson. Apparently Uma’s engagement ring is a jaw dropper: an 8-carat centre ring surrounded by smaller diamonds. Hopefully third time is the charm for Uma, who still looks great and seems to keep her love life fairly private. If only she could pick a good movie to star in…

Uma Thurman

Another Idol Contestant Dropped From Label

Our latest Idol recording contract failure is Blake Lewis, who has been dropped by Arista records. He joins a long list of Idol stars that have lost their contracts. His first CD, Audio Day Dream, actually sold a respectable 300,000 copies since being released last year. And to be fair, I’d have to say it was a pretty solid group of songs. But the problem with Idol is that once these contestants are out of the public eye, they have to work exceptionally harder to connect with the record buying public. Successes like Daughtry, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are the exception, not the norm. Still, Idol is a huge launching pad for anyone’s career, and as much as we like to knock the Taylor Hickses of the world, they’re still making good money doing what they love doing.

Blake Lewis unfazed

And Finally, Quote of The Week

Bob Saget, on being the latest roastee for the Comedy Central celebrity roasts. "It's an honor... My ass is already sore," said Saget.

Comedy Central

No Soup For You! At Least Until Next Wednesday

Since nobody will be around to read us on Monday or Tuesday for the Canada Day Long Weekend, we’re gonna take a long weekend as well. See ya back here on Wednesday! Have an awesome and SAFE long weekend, everyone! Get out and enjoy the Canada Day festivities, and don’t miss the fireworks.

I’ll admit it: I like Dr. Phil. Maybe not as much as I used to, but I feel he gets a very bad rap in the press. His first two books, Life Strategies and Self Matters are probably two of the best in the self-help genre. Mrs. Showbiz and I used to watch his show quite frequently and have even attended a few of his tapings while visiting Los Angeles. But after the third season of his popular daytime show, we noticed the show taking a bit of a turn for the worse. Not so much him per se, but more revolving around the way the show was being marketed. It seems like the new Dr. Phil is more about sensationalism, and it appears that he’s straying somewhat from what made him popular in the first place. Anyway, back to the headline.

According to TMZ, last night at a George Michael concert, Dr. Phil and wife Robin (who is a very sweet lady and was pleasant to talk with when we sat with her at one of the tapings) were in attendance. Having finished performing one of his tunes, Michael apparently spotted the couple and called Dr. Phil out for looking bored and not too happy to be there. Robin seemed to be enjoying herself. The fans booed, and supposedly their reaction caused the pair to high tail it out of there. I was hoping to get a video, but none has come forward. If it’s true, Phil ain’t doing much to help his rep, which has been in damage control mode ever since the Britney Spears incident.

Dance, fool, dance

Madonna Divorce Looking More and More Realistic

A few weeks ago I wrote about Madonna’s visits to a divorce lawyer in London, which fueled speculation of an imminent divorce to hubby (bitch?) Guy Ritchie. The rumors of the relationship’s demise aren’t going away, and today in UK’s The Times, which is far from being a tabloid, it is being reported that Madonna is definitely seeking legal advice regarding divorce. Madonna’s fortune is estimated at about 300 million pounds, which works out to be well over a half billion dollars in US funds. With no prenup, Guy Ritchie could make out like a bandit, since negotiations, if any, start at 50/50. As for their other assets, could it be requested that the court relieve Madonna of her fake British accent and return it to Guy? Read much more here:

Madonna report

More Brangelina News!

People just can’t get enough of these two. So here’s the recent update… It’s been awhile since there have been any photos of Angelina leading to speculation that she had given birth to her twin girls. In Touch has exclusive pics of a very pregnant Angelina outside her chateau in France.

Angelina exclusive pics
 
Continuing on, the super couple donated $1 million to the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict. Says Angelina, ‘These educational support programs for children of conflict are the best way to help them heal.’ They seem to have it all--a loving and happy relationship, a beautiful and healthy family, and unlimited wealth and travel. Brangelina’s perfection is enough to make you want to gag until you realize how much they give back. Good on them. Though if you want to gag, feel free, you won’t be alone.

target="_blank">People article

And finally, Angelina’s new flick Wanted comes out tomorrow. Looks really good, and I’m sure we’ll hit the theatres for it sometime this week. Reviews are generally positive, and here’s one from Rolling Stone to give you an idea of what to expect:

Wanted review

Brooke Hogan Does NOT Know Best

I seriously can’t believe Brooke has her own show coming up called Brooke Knows Best. A more appropriate title would be Brooke Knows $#!&! Seriously, this chick is making all the wrong choices, though she can’t help having those kooky parents. She appears in US Weekly this week defending the pictures of Hulk rubbing lotion on her booty. She says: “He used to change my diaper!” Good defence, there, Brooke. And when you look at her picture, she looks almost as old as momma Linda. What are you, 20 or 50? Hard to tell. All the Hogans need to go away.

Brook Hogan photo

Katy Perry Blasts onto Music Scene, Reaches #1 on Billboard Hot 100

If you haven’t heard Perry’s hit single, I Kissed a Girl, I’m curious to see what people think. It’s kinda catchy, somewhat annoying, but I must admit that it’s grown on me a bit. It’s pure fluff, but there’s much worse out there. The song airs locally on Sun FM. She has a cute website, which encourages fans to call her voicemail and leave a message, and MAYBE she’ll call you back. Just for fun, I called her, left my name and mentioned Celebrity Soup, and requested an interview. Let’s see how that turns out. I’ll keep you posted! More on Katy:

Katy Perry No. 1 Hit

I Kissed a Girl