KEY POINTS:
Tiny Tom Cruise has a problem with anyone seeing him as fat and balding.
At least that's the stance his lawyer has taken.
Cruise was papped last week on the set of Ben Stiller's new flick, Tropic Thunder, wearing a fat suit and a bald cap.
Well, Cruise spat the dummy when he learned that he'd been photographed looking less heartthrob and more hideous hobo.
So, he instructed his lawyers to initiate legal action against any media outlet that published the incriminating picture.
Just as the innocuous image was doing the rounds on the internet and being published in celeb magazines, editors received a letter from Cruise's people instructing them to pull the images from circulation immediately.
However, proving that the internet is one subversive beast, the image is readily available online...
Cruise's people had this to say:
"Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his fans worldwide, and the goal of Mr. Cruise, his team and the studio was simply to protect this surprise.
"Once again, paparazzi and media outlets have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers."
Cripes, you'd think the guy would be happy with any publicity considering his career's in ER and in need of desperate resuscitation.
Update:
The ruckus over a leaked photo of Tom on the set of Tropic Thunder is erupting.
Cruise's co-star in the film, Jack Black, has gone on record and expressed his disappointment over the long-lense shot that spread quicker than wildfire over the internet.
"People are saying they've seen this [the picture]," shrugged Black during an interview for his new film, Margot at the Wedding. "That's not supposed to happen."
Black described Tropic Thunder as a funny Apocalypse Now, which also starts Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Matthew McConaughey.
"That's what this hairdo is all about," Black said, referring to his new hairdo on camera.
"My character is kind of a Chris Farley-type actor. It's a movie within a movie. All these actors are going to make a Vietnam War film, and once we get there, we fall into a bad trap. We go into the jungle, and we trespass by accident into the drug warlords' territory. We're in real danger, but we think it's all part of the movie and we just keep acting."
Black reveals that he's not yet seen the picture. "I can't believe it got leaked out," he said.
"Yeah, he's going to be very funny in this movie," Black said of Cruise's performance in the film. "It was supposed to be a secret, but there it is."
Click here to watch Jack Black's reaction.
Source: MTV.com
Clooney's tirade at paps
Hollywood hunk George Clooney is furious after a videotape of him giving paparazzi some serious verbal for dangerous driving has become a must-see item on the internet.
Countless websites have already published the footage, which was filmed last weekend as the ER star pulled his motorcycle over and berated two video photographers for driving recklessly as they followed him through L.A.
Clooney was accompanied by girlfriend Sarah Larson, and laid into the two aggressive paps for cutting off other cars and behaving like idiots just to get a good shot of him.
And now Clooney has gone public and expressed his distaste about the fact the two paps have made a small fortune from the incident.
Speaking on US TV show Entertainment Tonight, the fuming actor said, "This tape, they're selling it all around everywhere... so that means that these guys who committed all these crimes get rewarded for it.
"There must be a formula for someone that says, 'If you're committing a crime... You shouldn't be able to profit off them (tapes).'
"It's gotten really dangerous out here."
I love it when you're angry, George. Grrrrrrrr!
Click here to watch TMZ's exclusive footage of the incident.
Macca v Mills v The World
I take back everything I said last week about being tempted to side with Heather Mills over this wretched divorce battle of hers.
Why? Because the woman clearly has issues.
Not content with bashing her estranged husband in public, the hopping vat of vitriol has now taken aim at meat eaters - accusing them of fueling global warming.
But the best part has to be her dingbat suggestion that people should milk their dogs, instead of milking cows.
"Why don't we drink rat's milk or cat's milk or dog's milk?" she asked.
"There are fields and fields of grain just miles from starving children in Africa, being shipped to Europe to feed our livestock," she said.
"There are 25 alternative milks available in health shops and supermarkets. The startling truth is that animals farmed for meat and dairy are now one of the greatest threats to the planet."
Truly, I'd like to see things from her point of view, but I can't seem to get my head that far up my own ass.
There's more...
Mucca has also unleashed a new tirade against loving daughter-in-law, Stella McCartney.
Barely two weeks since she branded Stella as "evil" and "jealous" for trying to wreck her marriage to Paul McCartney, churlish Heather claims she has yet more damning evidence to prove Stella had it in for her.
In a statement issued through her new spokesperson, Michele Elyzabeth - an American Champagne salesperson - Mucca bemoans the fact that she has to pay top dollar for clothes at Stella's designer boutique.
"Stella told Heather she'd give her just 10 per cent off at her boutique in London," Michele Elyzabeth fumes in the statement.
"And they (are) related. But that just goes along with everything we know about Stella now."
Elyzabeth also says that Mucca had "tried and tried" to form a bond with Stella during her four-year marriage, but to no avail.
Mucca's latest mouthpiece also denied that Heather initiated any ill-feeling between her and Stella.
"Stella never cared for her, but Heather always said, 'She has such a close relationship with her dad, that's all it is, '" Ms. Elyzabeth said.
"She never tried to fight with her"
Source: Daily Mail
Britney bore
It's another day, another drama for the popwreck that is Britney Spears. *yawn*
Brit Brit updates:
Britney's finally hired a driver to cart her around.
TMZ is reporting that she's hired a private detective to snoop on K-Fed - in the hope of unearthing some potential dirt on him which she can use in the custody battle.
Life & Style magazine is reporting that Britney and her brother are in trouble for allegedly trashing a condo leased in 2006.
Britney has some seriously dark skeletons in her cupboard. US Weekly is reporting that Britney's grandmother committed suicide during a battle with depression after losing a child.
Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself.
The video they don't want you to see...
Click here to watch Britney's banned video for 2005 single Do Something.
French designer label Louis Vuitton won a court injunction stopping the video from being released - because the singer drives a pink Hummer outfitted with a counterfeit Vuitton signature cherry blossom-monogrammed dashboard in the video.
Cheap and knock-off gear? It could only be Britney.
Noooo!
I unleash a bloodcurdling scream as I announce yet another casualty of the 'turning movies into Broadway musicals' trend - Rocky.
A musical Rocky. The concept is just too hideous for words.
According to Playbill.com, the musical is already in development.
Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan told the website, "It was made to be a musical; it's got all the elements."
This could be either end up being a stroke of genius or a moment of madness on behalf of Meehan. Who knows?
I for one will pay money to see how he'll translate Rocky's legendary cotton-mouthed mumblings into sweet music.
One more time for the kids in the cheap seats...
Here's that fabulous video clip I showed you last week...Rocky in 5 seconds.
There's life in Houston
They say you can't keep a good diva down. Well, Amen to that!
The music scene has been devoid of any real divas for far too long. So it's with great excitement that I announce the return of Whitney Houston to the pop fray.
She's been lost in showbiz for a while, but she's back!
Houston is set to perform an hour long set at the upcoming Live and Loud festival in Malaysia.
Whether she turns up or not is another matter, obviously.
Click here to watch her enthusiastic comeback message.
XXX-Men
Hugh Jackman has been photographed sporting some seriously bulging biceps.
Jackman, looking all shirtless and fatherly, was spotted enjoying some time out on Bondi Beach with son Oscar in Oz last week.
His arms are like tree trunks, I kid you not.
See for yourselves here.
Ding dong!
SATC update
Shooting is continuing apace on the Sex and The City film, and if these latest set piccies are anything to go by, I'd say relations are still somewhat icy between the cast members.
Quote of the day
"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride." - Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, on being ranked second place on People's list of Sexiest Men.
Fast gossip
* Jessica Alba looks gorgeous in the morning: Dailystab
* Angelina Jolie takes Maddox shopping for some fur: Wendywayrad
* Meg Ryan has a new face: City Rag
* Joaquin Phoenix is a porn enthusiast? Agent Bedhead
* Is Julia Roberts disabled? Holy Candy
* Mike Tyson goes back to prison: NZHerald
* Natalie Portman pulls a Brangelina: Mollygood
* Hayden Panettiere is a nerd: TB