Author: Castina

The Hef saves Hollywood (well, the sign at least)!

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is being credited with rescuing the world-famous Hollywood sign after he donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to save the land behind the landmark from being turned into a luxury housing development.

The land trust needed to collect a total of $12.5 million by this Friday under a deal with a group of Chicago investors who bought the 1,820-foot vista and 138-acre adjacent parcel, called Cahuenga Peak, from the estate of billionaire Howard Hughes in 2002.

The trust will now purchase the land and turn it over to the city to be incorporated into the surrounding Griffith Park. The move will prevent any construction that would obscure the timeless view of the Hollywood sign.

Los Angeles city officials, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land thanked Hefner for his sizable contribution during a news conference in the Hollywood Hills on Monday morning.

“My childhood dreams and fantasies came from the movies, and the images created in Hollywood had a major influence on my life and Playboy,” Hef said in a statement. “As I’ve said before, the Hollywood sign is Hollywood’s Eiffel Tower and I’m pleased to help preserve such an important cultural landmark.”

Other private donors who made contributions to the Hollywood sign preservation effort included actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg.

In news that will leave conservative Republicans everywhere jumping with glee, George W. Bush — whose presidency was marked by the September 11 attacks, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a crippling financial crisis — is penning his memoir.

The former Texas governor has remained relatively quiet since leaving The White House in January 2009 with one of the lowest presidential approval ratings in US history.

Decision Points, will center on 14 decisions Bush made in his eight years as president, including “his flaws and mistakes, as well as his historic achievements.” Bush is expected to embark on a national tour this fall to promote the book, which will sell for $35, Crown Publishing Group said in a statement Monday.

“President Bush brings readers inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11 in the gripping hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; inside the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq…”

The book is also expected to explore the former president’s battle against alcoholism and his love of faith and family.

For us liberals, living through Bush’s reign of terror was enough, but those of you into cruel and unusual punishment can pick up the tome when it hits shelves Nov. 9.

In this clip from the sixth season premiere of The Hills – airing Tuesday on MTV — Heidi Montag’s family grills her about undergoing an astounding 10 plastic surgery operations in one day, which has apparently left the ditzy reality star unable to properly chew her food.

Ah — the price of beauty.

The Fighting World has a Chris Brown Situation on its hands…..UFC star Tito Ortiz was arrested for felony domestic violence earlier Monday morning after attacking girlfriend Jenna James in the Huntington Beach, California home he shares the retired adult film star. Cops collared the beefy Ortiz after responding to a distress call to find Jenna with “visible injuries.”

Tito — a former contestant on NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice — is currently in custody and en route to a Huntington Beach jail.

The troubled couple are the parents of one-year-old twin boys.

Jesse James was spotted out and about today sans his wedding band – check out all the latest details over @ PEOPLE.com!

Is this really a surprise? He turned his back on the vows attached to that ring a long time ago.

James, 40, checked into an Arizona treatment center for sex addiction as a tabloid-driven sex scandal linking the star to a litany of other women left his marriage to Oscar winner Sandra Bullock crumbling at his feet. Just last week Bullock, 45, emerged from obscurity and was photographed hiking in Northern California, also not wearing her wedding ring.

Forget Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s a new leading man in Kim Kardashian’s life: None other than her adorable baby nephew Mason Dash Disick.

The newly-single reality star uploaded some heart-melting images of her special bonding time with little Mason to her personal blog on Monday– who was born to Kim’s big sis Kourtney and her boyfriend Scott Disick last Dec. 14.

“Mason is the happiest baby! There are no words to describe how much I love my little Mason! Isn’t he gorgeous?” the proud aunt exclaimed.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian threw a belated 31st birthday party for Mason’s mommy Kourtney at MGM Grand’s Wet Republic pool in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Children of the ’90s will almost certainly remember Hanson. The clean-cut and good-natured trio was made up a group of brothers who tasted music stardom with their hit ‘97 single “MMMBop.” (Hated it!) Well Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson aren’t exactly flopped-haired blondes anymore. These days, the musicians pass their times basking in the joy of being married dads — couple of them even have facial hair!

Proving that at least some ex-child stars manage to stay off dope (We see you Lindsay Lohan), the guys talk about their families, their new CD Shout It Out, and growing up in the spotlight in this video from The TODAY Show Monday.

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Hanson’s debut single, “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin,” was released to digital outlets on Friday and the band starts its “Shout it Out” Summer in Burbank on July 21.

Well, this is one tune that’s becoming part of an all too familiar song. Whitney Houston performed live at England’s O2 Arena over the weekend…and the critically-panned performance left mirrors cracking all over the UK.

The singing icon had another difficult night while performing to a sold out house on Sunday night. According to The Daily Mail’smusic reviewer Georgina Littlejohn, who had a front run seat for the foolery, hundreds of people walked out in the middle of a two-hour show which saw Houston reportedly missed multiple lines in multiple songs, panting excessively while performing, and randomly pausing without explanation.

Even Whit was startled by her bizarre performance, telling the disappointed concertgoers: “She don’t want to come, my soprano friend… Sometimes the old girl sings, but not tonight…I want to do it, but she doesn’t want to… She’s getting a little… temperamental, even.”

The singer reportedly blamed the air conditioning in the arena for the debacle (Insert rolling eyes here….Uh-Huh. It’s totally the air conditioner’s fault!) — critics, on the other hand, were far less forgiving.

Littlejohn wrote: “She struggled further with another of her classic songs, this time cutting short ‘Greatest Love Of All,’ only managing to pull of a couple of verses. And during much of the set she paused and panted for breath between songs while her backing singers did a great job of carrying her with their melodies. Her outfit also left a bit to be desired. She came on stage in tight leather trousers, a sequinned jacket that struggled to fasten at her middle and a bloated face. Whitney did manage to stay on stage for the majority of the two-hour gig, her first of three at the Docklands venue. But fans were still unhappy, with some even demanding their money back.”

James Cameron’s Avatar managed to dethrone the lensman’s 1997 epic Titanic as the highest-grossing film of all-time when it slammed into theaters last November — now the fantasy film is doing the same thing on home release.

Avatar sold 6.7 million DVDs and blu-ray discs in its first four days of release, The Daily Telegraph said on Monday. The number sets a record and makes Avatar the best-selling DVD ever. The flick also moved a reported 2.7 million blu-ray discs, besting The Dark Knight’s previously existing record of 2.5 million total.

It took Avatar just four days to beat a number that the 2008 earned over six months of sales.

Impressive!

Listen up, Xtina Stans: Christina Aguilera is set to unveil her comeback video, “Not Myself Tonight,” to the world in a special premiere event on Vevo.com this Friday, April 30!

In celebration of Christina’s return to the charts, ChristinaAguilera.com will be releasing a promo still from the official music video everyday this week.

(Check out your first sneak peek above….)

Don’t forget to mark your calendars — Christina’s dance-infused comeback LP, Bionic, debuts June 7.

Marc Jacobs has reportedly split from hubby Lorenzo Martone less than four months after the lovers tied the knot in a ceremony in St. Barts.

The Louis Vuitton creative director and brain behind the Marc Jacobs By Marc Jacobs line married the Brazilian PR executive on New Year’s Eve, but the couple have reportedly decided to separate, according to whispers heating up their NYC social circle.

“They’ve both been telling people that they broke up,” one friend told The New York Post this week.

Lorenzo is rumored to have moved out of the couple’s Manhattan apartment, and he didn’t accompany Jacobs to the wedding of the fashionisto’s business partner Robert Duffy last week.

Bandanas everywhere continue to fly at half-mast as doctors look for the source of a severe brain bleed that left former Poison frontman and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Bret Michaels fighting for his life in the ICU of a Texas hospital.

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Michaels remains in critical condition, but was conscious and talking with slurred speech after suffering a brain aneurysm, his publicist said on Sunday.

“Bret is a fighter and we are hopeful that once all is complete, the slurred speech, blurred vision and dizziness etc will be eliminated and all functions will return to normal,” the statement added.

Bare boobs! A miniscule nipple slip from pop star Beyonce is making big headlines on the blogosphere this Monday.

(Slightly NSFW After The Jump…..)

A photo of Beyonce’s barely-exposed nipple during a family vacation in Hawaii have hit the blogosphere, thanks to London’s Daily Mail.

The lurking paparazzi caught Bey’s almost-bare boob as the “Sasha Fiece” star enjoyed an afternoon at the beach with her husband Jay-Z, sister Solange, and nephew Daniel. The most dreaded of wardrobe malfunctions occured after the singer’s left halter-neck strap fell slightly to one side.

If all goes well, the current second season of Glee will witness an episode dedicated to the pop diva Britney Spears and grunge goddess Courtney Love.

Following the success of last week’s Madonna Glee tribute episode, series creator Ryan Murphy is now setting his sights on the music of Britney and Courtney as the next catalogues to be covered on the hit TV musical.

“I’m interested in the Britney Spears idea. I’ve always loved her. I’m entertaining it. I think young kids would like that,” Murphy blabbed in a scoop to Entertainment Weekly.

Murphy also added that he would like to cover songs from Love’s band Hole claiming: “I actually ran into Courtney Love the other day and talked to her. She’s interested. I would love to have the kids do a Courtney Love episode one day… The key is the songs in the catalogue have to have a certain degree of theatricality”.

Glee’s Madonna tribute show, which featured a parody of Madonna’s 1990 “Vogue video, was viewed by 13.5 million people when it aired on FOX last Tuesday night.

Being a Child of Hollywood has its perks — for instance, sometimes you get your real-life Mrs. Robinson. Michael Douglas is a quarter century older than his Welsh-born wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, but the marriage wasn’t the distinguished gentleman’s first May-December romance.

In a interview with the upcoming May issue of Elle Magazine, Douglas, who won an Academy Award for his 1987 drama Wall Street, has revealed that he was seduced at age of 16 by two of his mother’s friends — both in their thirties at the time.

Brain Bleach!

As a matter fact, the 65-year-old — who wed actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2001 — credits the cougars with teaching him everything he knows about sex. Michael declined to reveal the names of the two women, as his mother Diana Dill still has no clue about the criminal encounters.

“I wouldn’t want to get any of them in trouble. Though they’re probably dead now….”

Oscar-nominated darling Gabourey Sidibe made her debut as host of Saturday Night Live over the weekend, and not everyone is convinced that the supersized beauty, 26, really brought the funny.

While Entertainment Weekly called the showing “funny,” a visibly nervous Gabs flubbed her lines in almost every sketch — a fact that made her the object ridicule in comments plastered across the Twitterverse. The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy Column even got in on the hazing, branding “Cherry Battle” Gabby’s digital short with Andy Samberg “so not funny it hurts.”

Yikes! We’d love to hear your thoughts on Sidibe’s SNL debut. Take a peek at the Precious star playing a bad state employee in the “2010 Public Employee of the Year” skit.

Last week, FOX’s musical hit Glee prompted big laughs and even bigger ratings during its eagerly-anticipated “Power of Madonna” episode. In tribute to The Material Mom, the cast of did a remake of the 1990 “Vogue” video — starring Jane Lynch’s “Sue Sylvester” as the pop diva.

Check out this side-by-side comparison of the Glee version vs. Madonna’s original. So downright uncanny at times you can’t tell the difference!

Desperate for work, Charlie Sheen’s unemployed uncle has offered to replace the troubled actor if he decides to leave the CBS hit sitcom Two And A Half Men at the end of the season.

Can you say “Bottomfeeder”

Sheen — who is battling his umpteenth trip to rehab and criminal charges for allegedly threatening wife Brooke Mueller with a knife on Christmas Day — is seriously considering ditching his role as hedonistic bachelor/ writer Charlie Harper on the Jon Cryer-assisted comedy.

In swoops his uncle Joe Estevez to save the day. The younger brother of actor Martin Sheen dished to TMZ.com that he’s now contemplating approaching the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, about appearing as the program’s newest star.

What a rock!

Christina Applegate is floating on a cloud after successfully kicking breast cancer’s ass a couple of years ago. The former Married With Children beauty is engaged to wed her rocker beau Martyn LeNoble after the hunk popped the question on Valentine’s Day.

Paps caught a snap of Applegate’s stunning diamond engagement ring as the actress jetted through Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday.

This will be the second marriage for both LeNoble and Christina: she divorced actor Johnathon Schaech in 2007.

No word on a wedding date.

Live From Today’s “Bitch, Please!” Files: Another of Jesse James’ alleged mistresses has apologized to his Oscar-winning wife Sandra Bullock.

In March, Melissa Smith became the second woman to come forward with claims of a long-term affair with the TV mechanic — just days after tattooed star Michelle McGee hit headlines across the world when she went public with allegations of an 11-month relationship with James.

Smith — who reportedly slept with Jesse on and off for more than a year after meeting the Spike TV star on MySpace in 2007 — sold her story to Star Magazine for an undisclosed sum. The Blind Side star walked out on her husband shortly after the cheating scandal made headlines — and Smith says she’ll “never forgive” herself for Sandra’s heartbreak.

“I felt I needed to reach out to you and tell you how deeply sorry I am for everything that you’ve been through… And I know nothing I can say in this letter is going to make the pain of my actions go away,” Smith wrote in a letter faxed to Bullock’s agent on Sunday and later obtained by TMZ.com. “I am sorry for any hurt or pain that I have caused you. My actions of engaging with a married man are unforgivable. I never meant you any harm. I compromised my beliefs on several occasions and as a result will never forgive myself.”

In conclusion, Melissa inplored Sandra to “please contact me if you wish to discuss on the phone or in person.”

McGee also issued a public apology to Bullock earlier this month, remarking in a tell-all interview on Australian TV: “I’m sorry for your embarrassment. I’m sorry all this is public. I’m sorry for everything.”