Is 'Vixen' fixin' Whitney's woes?  —  Whitney Houston appears to have rid herself of hubby Bobby Brown.  Whether he gets back into the house may depend on hip-hop temptress Karrine Steffans.  —  Houston's friends have long blamed Brown for her woefully heavy eyelids.

TV ROLE 'WENT TO HER HEAD'  —  CAROLYN KEPCHER, Donald Trump's co-star on "The Apprentice," has heard him say "You're fired!" for the last time - because this time he said it to her, sources told The Post.  —  The icy, 36-year-old blonde - who was running the Trump National Golf Club …

MY PAL PARIS  —  COULD it be that Lance Armstrong has taken a break from incessantly working out with his new best friend, Matthew McConaughey - to spend time with Paris Hilton?  The two showed up to the Key Club in L.A. Tuesday night to catch the band the Vacation.

Gwen & Kingston  —  Gwen Attending VMAs?  —  Gwen Stefani's publicist Dave Tomberlin confirmed that Gwen is not snubbing the VMAs and plans to bypass this year's ceremony because she's "too busy with Fashion Week to attend."  Please!  Sounds like a publicity stunt to me.  You make time to attend the VMAs.

Scarlett — Too Sexual For Italy?  —  Scarlett Johansson's curvy figure has always drawn a lot of attention, but it is too hot for the big screen?  While promoting her new film "The Black Dahlia" at the Venice Film Festival, the buxom blonde was bombarded with questions about a raunchy sex scene …

Scientology was set to show Cruise the money  —  Plus: Paris Hilton wanted too much money to gab on talk show  —  Did Scientology almost show Tom Cruise the money?  —  After the "Top Gun" star was dropped by Paramount, he was shopping around for financiers, and a source reports that top execs …

CLOONEY MAD FOR BARKIN  —  EXCLUSIVE GEORGE SMITTEN WITH OLDER CO-STAR  —  GORGEOUS George Clooney has a new lady in his life - and he's crazy about the twice-married 52-year-old mother-of-two.  —  The eternal bachelor usually dates much younger women - including TV presenter Lisa Snowdon …

Jessica's New Romance  —  Her new CD may be called A Public Affair, but Jessica Simpson has kept her budding relationship with singer John Mayer ultra private.  Now after three months of flirty notes and quiet barbecues at home, the two may be ready to step out

Nicole Richie & Brody Jenner: Heating Up  —  Nicole Richie and Brody Jenner's relationship may look like a typical quickie Hollywood romance, but don't be fooled: The pair go way back - he even predates Paris Hilton.  —  "I was there when (Brody) was born!"

MAD FOR MARIAH  —  MARIAH Carey got a sparkling surprise before her New York concert last week when $4 million worth of diamonds appeared backstage for her.  She was doubly stunned when she found out the rocks were a gift, not a loaner.  Prince Azim, son of the Sultan of Brunei …

Affleck ponders price of fame in "Hollywoodland"  —  VENICE (Reuters) - Ben Affleck said he drew on personal experience to play 1950s television Superman star George Reeves in a new film which uses his mysterious death to examine the highs and lows of Hollywood fame.

Candy May Net $130 Mil That Tori Won't Get  —  The stakes in the Candy Spelling - Tori Spelling war just got a lot higher.  The buzz in Beverly Hills real estate offices is that Candy Spelling has unloaded her 56,000 square-foot Holmby Hills mansion for a cool $130 million, and that the new buyer is an Arab prince.

Photoshop Fake!  Nicole Kidman Pregnancy Clever Computer Trick  —  The latest rumors of a Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban baby on the way have been summarily dismissed by her rep, who are now using the excuse that Kidman was "photoshopped", not unlike recent photos of Katie Couric that were revealed as doctored dupes in the blogosphere.

Angelina Jolie Pregnant Again?  —  "Angelina Looks Pregnant Again!" reads In Touch Weekly's latest headline.  According to the Daily News, the editors at In Touch are basing their story on one photo of Ms. Jolie with a "telltale bump!"  —  One source claims: "Angie has been looking extremely big around the mid section.

Nick Chases After Vanessa ... Literally  —  Nick clearly wants Vanessa — and bad.  He wouldn't let her get away for even a moment as the two entered an upscale New York Hotel.  —  First, Vanessa's shapely legs carry her quickly up the front steps.  Then, in front of several cameras …

'Psycho' scriptwriter and 'The Outer Limits' co-creator Joseph Stefano dies at 84  —  THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Joseph Stefano, who wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and was co-creator of television's science fiction anthology series The Outer Limits, has died.  He was 84.

Take, take, take... take your booty  —  Attention IRS!  Celebrities big, small and not at all continued to rake in freebies yesterday in gift lounges set up all over town for tonight's MTV Video Music Awards - and this year the swag is taxable.  —  R&B stunner Rihanna picked up thousands …