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1:40 PM ET, August 5, 2009

WeSmirch

 Top News: 
TMZ.com:
What Went Down with Paula and ‘A.I.’  —  Our sources at “American Idol” say the show made Paula Abdul two offers ... and then she just went and quit by tweet.  —  As we already reported, we're told Paula was pulling in somewhere between $2 and $3 million a year and she wanted more.
RELATED:
Perez Hilton:
Paula Abdul Leaving American Idol!!!  —  They've been unable to work out a new deal, PerezHilton.com has learned!  —  This is definitely a surprising development!  —  While Kara DioGuardi will unfortunately be returning to American Idol this coming season, Paula Abdul …
Mandi Illuzzi / Us Weekly:
Paula Abdul Demanded $20 Million to Stay on Idol  —  Before announcing she was leaving American Idol Tuesday, Paula Abdul — who was believed to have earned about $2 million in salary last season — had demanded “a substantial raise,” according to The New York Times.
Discussion: Fatback Media
Lindsay Powers / Us Weekly:
Paula Abdul Is Leaving Idol
Discussion: TMZ.com, Perez Hilton and omg!
Alissa R / Us Weekly:
Bachelorette Winner Cheated With Two Different Women  —  eight days after he popped the question to Jillian Harris on The Bachelorette finale - Ed Swiderski slept with former girlfriend Lindsey Johnson, according to the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now).
RELATED:
Extra:
Jillian Defends Ed Against Accusations
Discussion: RADAR and Lifeline Live
Just Jared:
Penelope Cruz is Pregnant!  —  Penelope Cruz is expecting her first child with longtime love Javier Bardem, sources confirm exclusively to JustJared.com.  —  “Penelope is about four months pregnant,” a source tells Just Jared.  “She's really healthy now and will be a great mother.”
RADAR:
EXCLUSIVE: Jon Gosselin's New Sleepover Pal - His Kids' Babysitter!  —  While Kate Gosselin has been taking the kids camping, Jon Gosselin has been having his own version of sleepovers.  —  Jon's new nighttime pal is a woman he hired to babysit his kids, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively!
RELATED:
Kate Schweitzer / Us Weekly:
Jon & Kate Plus 8 Ratings Drop 61 Percent After Hiatus  —  Jon and Kate Gosselin returned to TLC Monday night, but many of their fans didn't.  —  After a month-long hiatus, last night's back-to-back episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 brought in less than half the audience of the show's previous episode …
Lindsay Powers / Us Weekly:
Jon Gosselin Shows Off Stomach
Discussion: X17 Online, Popeater and Cele|bitchy
NY Daily News:
Gerard Butler shrugs off ‘Real Housewives’ star Kelly Bensimon for Rose Byrne  —  Kelly Bensimon was in for a taste of the ugly truth when she was apparently dissed by Gerard Butler, with whom she swapped numbers after a night of heavy flirting at the SoHo Grand in June.
RELATED:
Michael K / Dlisted:
Gerard Butler Is Giving All Of This Up
Discussion: #gay
Ken Lee / People.com:
Rihanna: Chris Brown May Come Closer to Me  —  Chris Brown and Rihanna  —  Rihannna has said it before and she'll say it again: There's no need to keep Chris Brown half a football field away from her, no matter what he admitted to doing.  —  As it stands, Brown, who will be sentenced Wednesday …
RELATED:
Associated Press:   Chris Brown to be sentenced for assault
Dave McNary / Variety:
‘Riding Hood’ gets Gothic twist  —  ‘Orphan’ writer partners with Appian for new take  —  Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way banner is developing a Gothic reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood” with screenwriter David Leslie Johnson.  —  The Warner Bros.-based banner partnered with Johnson on horror pic …
ELLE.com:
JENNIFER ANISTON  —  The resilient actress on humor, honesty, and her other ambition  —  On being labeled a “lonely girl”: “I'm not going to ignore the pink elephant in the living room.  It's fine.  I can take it.  If I'm the emblem for ‘this is what it looks like to be the lonely girl getting on with her life,’ so be it.”
People.com:
It's a Boy for Tommy Hilfiger!  —  Tommy Hilfiger and wife Dee welcomed a baby boy on Tuesday: Sebastian Thomas Hilfiger, weighing in at 9 lbs., 8 oz., PEOPLE confirms.  —  Hilfiger, 57, and his wife of eight months announced the pregnancy earlier this year.
Michael Fleming / Variety:
Jennifer Aniston to star in ‘Girls’  —  Michael Sucsy makes his feature directorial debut  —  “Grey Gardens” helmer Michael Sucsy will make his feature directorial debut on “Goree Girls,” with Jennifer Aniston headlining the true story of an all-female country band in a Texas prison in the 1940s.
Lara Martin / Digital Spy:
CW: ‘No issues with Mischa Barton health’  —  The CW has insisted that Mischa Barton's recent health issues have not had an impact on her new drama The Beautiful Life.  —  The actress began production on the Manhattan-based show last week, just days after being released from a Los Angeles hospital …
Discussion: omg!
TMZ.com:
53-Year-Old Busted for Attempting to Stalk Miley  —  The creepiest thing about the 53-year-old guy in this photo isn't the hair — it's that he's been arrested a second time for allegedly targeting 16-year-old Miley Cyrus.  —  Mark McLeod — the same guy who once claimed Miley had been sending him …
Discussion: Backseat Cuddler
Alissa R / Us Weekly:
Ashlee Simpson-Wentz on Jessica: I've Never Met Anyone “Stronger”  —  Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is in awe of sister Jessica, who was dumped by beau Tony Romo the night before her 29th birthday in July.  —  “I don't think I've ever known anybody stronger than her,” Ashlee told Usmagazine.com Monday at the CBS …
Popeater:
Sienna Miller: People Think I'm ‘Sexually Manipulative’  —  Looking back on her time with Balthazar Getty, actress Sienna Miller admits her rebellion tainted her public perception and “probably looked awful,” she told UK's Daily Mail.  “The situation [with Getty] was not ideal …
Discussion: Daily Mail and Crabbie's Hollywood
Michael Jensen / AfterElton.com:
Meet “Melrose Place"'s new smokin' hot gay male character  —  After Monday's panel for Melrose Place at the Television Critics Association panel in Los Angeles, I cornered MP's executive producer Todd Slavkin to ask about Caleb, the show's gay character.  While we'd already learned that Caleb …
Popeater:
Kelly's Cool With Being, Um, Small  —  With all of the busty actresses and musicians that Kelly Ripa winds up interviewing on ‘Regis & Kelly,’ you'd think the thin-framed hostess might develop a complex about her cup size.  Not so much, says Kelly, in an exclusive interview given to PopEater by Life & Style magazine.
Discussion: Lifeline Live
 
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 More News: 
Thomas DiChiara / Inside Movies:
Charlyne Yi Talks (Not) Dating Michael Cera and Looking for Love in ‘Paper Heart’
Discussion: Oh No They Didn't!
Hollywoodreporter / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS Films will light up ‘Gunsmoke’
Simon Rothstein / The Sun:
Brooke: I'd kick ass in WWE
 Earlier Picks: 
TMZ.com:
Joe Jackson — I Won't Be There ... Much
Discussion: Popeater and Associated Press
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
YouTube says it has “widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers” after a “strong advertiser and strong viewer response”; YouTube piloted Pause ads in 2023

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Amazon joins the Motion Picture Association, after a long courtship; the lobbying group's other members are Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and WBD

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon's new competition TV show, debuting October 30, will have entrepreneurs pitch judges, including Amazon execs; finalists' product will be sold on Amazon

 
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