Gossip/Celebrity News

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McConaughey Selling Car for Katrina Victims

Matthew McConaughey is leading a drive to raise money for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita – by auctioning off his convertible 1971 Corvette Stingray on eBay.

"I admire and enjoy this car, but it's a luxury that I'm willing to relinquish at this point," McConaughey says of the Mediterranean blue vehicle. "I am fortunate enough to have everything I need, and the sale of it will help so many with the necessities in life."

Of the Corvette, which he calls Mako, the 36-year-old actor says, "It's got muscle and it's built for driving."

McConaughey, a Texas-native and PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, says he's driven it to Mexico and across his home state many times.

Bidding on the convertible began Monday and will continue until July 27. All the proceeds of the sale will be donated to Oprah’s Angel Network. Those interested in following the bidding can do so at www.ebay.com/matthewscar.

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Kevin Federline: I Want to Prove Myself

Kevin Federline says he is ready to take his music to a national audience – and he's going to get the chance at the Teen Choice Awards on Aug. 20.

The aspiring rapper, who says the public will be "shocked" by his performance, will close the awards show with his single "Lose Control," from his upcoming album Playing with Fire, USA Today reports.

"It's been building up for a long time, and the process with the album took a long time, so I decided to just get out there and jump on stage," says Federline.

As for his famous wife, Federline says Britney Spears plans to be his date to the show – as long as the pregnant pop star, who is expecting the couple’s second child, feels well enough.

"This is my first big event, and I need her support and I want her support. If she's feeling under the weather because of the baby, obviously she won’t be able to be there," he said.

The couple have been working together in the studio, including collaboration on one untitled duet. "It's not really a love song. It gives my point of view of how my family is and how tight my family is," Federline tells USA Today. "People shouldn't believe what they’re told about us."

According to Federline, people also should not believe critics who savaged early samples of his music. "I want to prove myself as an artist, as a rapper and as a human being in society who goes through everything everybody else goes through," he said.

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Rosario Dawson Turns Heads at Comic-Con

Acting has its moments, but Rosario Dawson says making comic books might be even more fulfilling.

Dawson stopped by the huge Comic-Con convention in San Diego on Thursday to promote her own comic-book series, The Occult Crimes Taskforce, the Associated Press reports. And while she might not look the part of a comic-book geek, the sexy 27-year-old Clerks II star told the crowd that she's hooked.

"This really is the most exciting thing I've been doing," she said. "As an actor, you're only a third of the production. With this, I get to be so much a part of all of it."

Dawson helped develop characters and story lines for the supernatural series, set in New York. She's also the inspiration for one character, detective Sophia Ortiz. Coming from Hollywood, Dawson says, the world of comic books has been a breath of fresh air, particularly when it comes to reviews. There's "very intelligent criticism, which is really sorely lacking in film reviews right now," she said.

As an actress, Dawson has worked with more than her share of comic-book junkies. Sin City was based on the graphic novels of Frank Miller, who directed the film with Robert Rodriguez. And Clerks II director Kevin Smith is a longtime Comic-Con veteran who owns comics stores on both coasts.
Dawson isn't giving up on her acting career just yet, though. Her upcoming projects include Sin City 2, which begins shooting next year.

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Actor Jack Warden Dies at 85

Oscar-nominated character actor Jack Warden, best known for starring alongside Warren Beatty in Shampoo and Heaven Can Wait, has died at 85, his longtime business manager said.

Warden, who appeared in dozens of films including All the President's Men with Robert Redford and won an Emmy award as the star of the 1980s TV series Crazy Like a Fox, died on Wednesday in New York, business manager Sidney Pazoff said.

Warden, who was born John Lebzelter in New Jersey and began acting after serving in World War Two, had a breakthrough role in Twelve Angry Men in 1957.

Pazoff said the veteran character actor had retired several years ago and had been suffering from medical problems in recent years.

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Woman Confronts Colin Farrell on Tonight Show

Colin Farrell joked that he had met his "first stalker" after a woman from the audience approached him on stage Thursday during a taping of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

"She said something to Colin Farrell that no one heard, then he took her by the elbow, led her off stage, asked the cameramen to turn off their cameras and asked for security," 16-year-old audience member Molly Mattaini told the Associated Press.

Mattaini said the Miami Vice star returned to the stage, apologized and said, "My first stalker," to which Jay Leno replied, "Welcome to celebrity." Farrell appeared "very calm, very collected" for the rest of the taping, said Mattaini, who was visiting Los Angeles from Minnesota.

According to Reuters, entertainment gossip TV show Access Hollywood identified the woman as Dessarae Bradford and said she had unsuccessfully alleged in a small-claims lawsuit that Farrell had stalked her. Quoting an audience member, Access Hollywood said the woman shouted at Farrell, "I'll see you in court," to which Farrell replied, "You're insane."

The woman was detained by Burbank police but, at NBC's request, not arrested. Tonight Show spokeswoman Tracy St. Pierre said the incident will not be broadcast.

Later in the evening, the actor attended the world premiere of Miami Vice with co-star Jamie Foxx, where Farrell declared himself healthy and happy.

"All good," Farrell told PEOPLE, referring to how he's doing. "Good, man. Great. Wonderful!" Farrell, joined by his mother, signed fans' autographs and posed for pictures with Foxx and director Michael Mann.

"I think he's doing terrific," Vice producer Pieter Jan Bruge told PEOPLE of Farrell. "I mean, look at him. He looks sensational."

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Niki Taylor Picks Motherhood Over Modeling

Niki Taylor can still be found awake most days at 4 a.m., just like when she was living in the fast lane as a supermodel – but these days she’s up at that hour to check on her puppy Kaia before fixing breakfast for her 11-year-old twins, Jake and Hunter.

She centers the rest of her day on her boys, driving them to summer school, accompanying them on dirt bikes and begging them to pick up after themselves.

"I love being a mom and the chaos it brings me," says Taylor, 31, who lives with the boys in four-bedroom, French colonial in Brentwood, Tenn. "It reminds me how lucky and blessed I am."

Those aren't words that first come to mind when reviewing Taylor’s life. In 1995 she saw her younger sister Krissy, also a model, die at age 17 from a rare heart ailment. A year later Taylor's marriage to the twins' father, Arena football player Matt Martinez, fell apart. Then there was her battle with prescription drugs and the car crash five years ago that left her clinging to life and resulted in more than 50 surgeries and procedures to repair her wrecked body.

Yet as Taylor looks out over her 7-acre retreat she says, "I have a good thing going on."

She rarely models anymore, instead focusing on a slew of fashion-related enterprises. She has even found a way to stay in touch with her wild side: by riding her Harley-Davidson Road King, an odd choice, perhaps, for someone who nearly died in a car crash. But Taylor shrugs off such concern. "

I'm not one to worry – what's the point?" she explains. "We are only here for a short amount of time. You have to live your life. I know that."

She knows that a lot better than most: In April 2001, Taylor was with friends in Atlanta when the driver of the car she was in attempted to answer his cell phone and lost control of the vehicle, smashing it into a utility pole.

"The doctors prepared us several times for the worst," says Taylor’s mom, Barbara, 59, a photographer. "They said, 'Don't expect any miracles.'"

During the six weeks she spent unconscious, Taylor says she experienced terrible nightmares. When she finally regained consciousness that June, she says, "I went through every emotion possible and was like, ‘Something has to change.'"

Taylor refocused her life on her boys, settling in Brentwood after she fell in love with the area during a visit. It was there that she dated ex-boyfriend Keith Urban, whom she was with from 2002 to 2004. "We're still friends, and I'm so happy for him and Nicole."

Taylor hopes that kind of happiness is in her cards too. "I want to find the right man," she admits. But only homebodies need apply. “On Friday I just want to stay on the couch and watch a movie with the boys,” says Taylor. “That is the perfect night."

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Carrie Sings at the CMA Fest

American Idol's Carrie Underwood and a host of country stars perform on the CMA Music Festival on ABC on Monday. PEOPLE takes a look at who else made the Nashville scene plus other events to watch for in the coming week:

SUNDAY, JULY 23: It was a romance born on reality TV. They met on the Surreal Life and have been chronicling their engagement on My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married! Now model Adrianne Curry and former Brady Bunch-er Christopher Knight will finally tie the knot in the show's finale (9 p.m. ET). And don't expect the bickering duo to get hitched without a hitch: This is the couple, after all, who went into counseling before they even walked down the aisle!

MONDAY, JULY 24: If you couldn't get to Nashville for country's biggest four-day party, no need to fret. You'll have a front-row seat when ABC airs some of the CMA Music Festival's performances by American Idol star Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland and Clint Black. (9 p.m. ET).

THURSDAY, JULY 27: Watch everyday folks don their self-styled superhero costumes – meet Levity, who controls air molecules and creates force fields, and Hot Momma, who can grow to five times her normal size when she gets mad – and battle it out to become the next cool crime-fighter in the new Sci Fi series Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (9 p.m. ET). The winner gets to live out every true geek's fantasy: making an appearance in a comic by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.

FRIDAY, JULY 28: Okay, just a little more drama. Mary J. Blige, who's on the road with her "Breakthrough" tour, is making a daytime appearance on One Life to Live (ABC at 2 p.m. ET). The R&B diva won't be crying in an over-the-top scene – she'll be doing what she does best, performing two of her hits.

NEW THIS WEEK:
• Movies (now in theaters): My Super Ex-Girlfriend, starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson; Lady in the Water, starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti; Clerks II, starring Rosario Dawson and Kevin Smith; Monster House, voiced by Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jason Lee (animated)
• Music (in stores Tuesday): Tom Petty, Highway Companion; Pharrell, In My Mind; Raul Malo, You're Only Lonely; Sammy Hagar, Livin' It Up!; Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy, Adieu False Heart; Michael Franti and Spearhead, Yell Fire!; Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Stranger Things; Jurassic 5, Feedback; New York Dolls, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (special edition); Bruce Hornsby, Intersections 1985-2005 (box set)
• DVDs (in stores Tuesday): The Benchwarmers; Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes; Halloween: 25 Years of Terror; Final Destination 3; Three's Company: Season 7; The Boondocks: The Complete First Season

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Matthew Perry & Aaron Sorkin Joke About Drugs

Crack cocaine and Vicodin aren't the typical topics of conversation at a Hollywood TCA (Television Critics Association) panel to introduce new Fall shows, but when the event is led by Aaron Sorkin and Matthew Perry, accidents can happen.

"I do think that television is a terribly influential part of this country," said Sorkin, writer and executive producer of NBC’s upcoming Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, when asked on Friday about the vacuousness of current reality-TV culture. "When things that are very mean-spirited and voyeuristic go on TV, I think it's (like) bad crack in the schoolyard."

As the audience of journalists erupted into laughter, Sorkin playfully asked, "Why did I use that word?"

Actor Bradley Whitford replied, "I have no clue."

At first, Sorkin simply added, "Everything is fine," but later joked, "I will go person to person giving each $100 if we can just get the crack quote out of the papers tomorrow.

"It's an expression that I meant nothing by. And with all the mental preparation I did for the panel that I was actually able to say that is beyond belief. It really is."

Later on, Studio 60 star Perry, never one to miss a clever quip, extended the joke with, "I think it's mostly like bad Vicodin in the schoolyard."

While drugs are now a source of comic relief for the two men, it wasn't so long ago that both were embroiled in public fights with their private demons.

In 2001, Sorkin narrowly escaped felony charges for the possession of cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms by completing a six-month drug rehabilitation program.

Perry, who went to rehab for the second time in 2001, has publicly acknowledged taking an "insane number of pills" of the painkiller Vicodin in the past – sometimes 20 to 30 a day.

Studio 60 takes a behind the scenes look at a sketch comedy show like Saturday Night Live. This is Perry's first starring TV role since the end of Friends. Sorkin is best known as the creator of The West Wing.

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Paris & Lindsay: Mean Girls, Part II

Just two days after making nice at a Prada party, Paris Hilton had her claws out for Lindsay Lohan at a clambake hosted by jewelry line Lia Sophia at the Polaroid Beach House in Malibu.

The hotel heiress was dancing with pal Caroline D'Amore in the living room when Lohan showed up with beau Harry Morton. Immediately, Hilton began staring her down, making fun of her and snickering in her direction with her crew – including sister Nicky, Brandon Davis and Kevin Connolly. "It was so tense and awkward," says a source. "It felt like round two to the whole Brandon and Paris bashing Lindsay on that video. So high school."

But with all the drama, Lohan kept her cool. She chatted with Lia Sophia designer Dani Stahl and didn't glance in Hilton's direction. Before long, she and Morton left the room and headed to a different area of the house. Catfight averted!

Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey
Photo by: alphax / x17
Nick & Vanessa: Full-On PDA
Before jetting off to Europe to promote his album What's Left of Me, Nick Lachey made sure to squeeze in plenty of time with ladylove Vanessa Minnillo. Besides their unexpected collision with his ex Jessica Simpson at L.A.'s Hyde Lounge on July 15, the couple put their PDA on full display all over Los Angeles.

Lachey and Minnillo nuzzled noses and did the dancefloor bump-and-grind at the ESPYs afterparty at Sky Bar in Hollywood. When they weren't gazing at each other, they did shots with Lachey pal Matt Leinart.

The couple also stopped in for lunch at Hollywood eatery Magnolia, where he had his hand on her knee and they shared a kiss during their meal. "They did not seem to be concealing their affection for each other," an onlooker tells us. "They were happy."

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Gillian Anderson Is Expecting

Former X-Files star Gillian Anderson is going to become a mom for the second time.

"She is happy to announce that she is expecting her second child, due at the end of the year, with businessman Mark Griffiths," her manager, Connie Freiberg, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Anderson, 37, has an 11-year-old daughter, Piper, from her first marriage to Canadian movie art director Clyde Klotz.

She separated from her second husband, foreign correspondent Julian Ozanne, 43, in April, 16 months after they married in Ozanne's native Kenya in December 2004.
Anderson and her daughter live in London. Griffiths was previously linked with former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.

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Christie Brinkley's Husband Says, 'I'm Sorry'

Christie Brinkley's architect husband, Peter Cook, has publicly apologized to his estranged wife following revelations that he'd had a year-long affair with a teenage girl.

"I love my wife. I have loved her since the day I met her. Please … I love her," Cook told New York Post columnist Cindy Adams via his lawyer, Norman Sheresky. "For a lifetime, I've tried to prove how much I love her. This is an aberration. I'm sorry. I'm contrite. I'm stupid. Foolish. No excuse."

Asked about divorce plans, Sheresky said, "There is no divorce proceeding that is proceeding. Christie Brinkley has not sued her husband." Cook, he said, "hopes there's no divorce. If she wants one – and he certainly hopes this doesn't happen, but if – it will not be nasty. She can have whatever she wants."

On July 12 Brinkley, 52, announced her separation from Cook after 10 years of marriage.

A friend tells PEOPLE the model was devastated by the discovery of the 47-year-old Cook's relationship with former employee Diana Bianchi, 19. Bianchi's lawyer is investigating a possible sexual harassment lawsuit.

Referring to Cook's relationship with Bianchi, Shereksy told the Post that Cook "denies that any relationship with that person was nonconsensual. … As he told it to me, quote, 'I took no advantage.' "

Explaining that Cook "got involved, in over his head somehow, and he wants to make it up to (Christie) for the rest of his life," Sheresky added, "He didn't invent adultery. He didn't invent the certain kind of person who would engage in it with him, either."

On July 18, pop singer Samantha Cole revealed that she'd had a romantic relationship with Cook a decade ago, when she herself was 19. On Monday, Cole told MSNBC's Rita Cosby that she and Cook have "maintained our friendship through the 10 years, on and off," and that he had contacted her recently to warn her that "some people might call you."

Cole said she eventually broke up with Cook when she went to Los Angeles to record an album, adding that they'd been arguing so much that it left her voice "raspy." A month after the breakup, Cole said, Cook was engaged to Brinkley.

Brinkley so far has not commented about the separation, and on Tuesday her publicist, Elliot Mintz, told the Associated Press that he didn't think she would ask him to issue a response. "This is not the way for people to have a discourse or a discussion about private matters," he said.

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'Dilbert' Creator Scott Adams Marries

"Dilbert" comic-strip creator Scott Adams married his girlfriend of two years, Shelly Miles, aboard a yacht in the San Francisco Bay on Saturday, PEOPLE reports exclusively.

It is the first marriage for Adams, 49, and the second for Miles, 37, who has two children, a 6-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter. The couple's family also includes three cats: Adams's Sarah and Miles's Zoey and Zebo.

"I will be ranked seventh in the line of importance," Adams tells PEOPLE, adding that he and his new bride, their parents and Miles's kids are bound for a family honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise.

Adams, who lives near San Francisco, met Miles four years ago at a health club; they began dating two years ago.

Aboard the Galaxy Commodore yacht on Saturday, the ship's captain married them in a non-denominational ceremony before 150 friends and family members.

Guests enjoyed a cruise past San Francisco Giants' stadium, where a game was underway, and dancing – the first song was Keith Urban's "You're the Only One." (In preparation for their first dance, Adams wrote in his blog, "My bride and I have practiced this nightclub-style dance about 900 times. So far I have done it wrong 900 times.")

Adams says he'll continue to work on his nationally syndicated comic strip, along with his blog, during his honeymoon.

Will art imitate life for Adams's famous creation, the unlucky office drone Dilbert? Don't count on it. "Dilbert is not getting married," says Adams.

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Janet Jackson: I Don't Know if I'm Engaged

Even Janet Jackson isn't sure whether she's engaged to boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, she revealed in an interview that aired Tuesday on Britain's Choice FM Radio.

Referring to Dupri, Jackson's boyfriend of five years, a DJ said, "You guys are getting married …"

Jackson responded, "That's what he said. He, um … that's … everyone's been asking me about this. He said something about September 26th we were getting married."

"What are you saying?" asked the DJ.

Said Jackson, laughing, "That's the date the album comes out! September 26th." (The 26th is the drop date for Jackson's latest disc, 20 Years Old.)

The DJ then asked, flat-out, "Are you engaged?"

"That's what he said!" Jackson said with a laugh. "So if … I don't know. You know … Everyone's been asking me about it. And if it's meant to happen, it'll happen."

When the DJ started to ask a follow-up question, Janet asked, "Why is everyone just staring at me? It's really quiet in here. It's too quiet in here."

Should Jackson, 40, and Dupri, 33, tie the knot, it would come as no surprise. At an Atlanta press conference on Friday, Jackson told reporters, "Being with Jermaine has really changed my life. … I always wanted to find love. Now that I found love, I'm in a different space."

And last year, Dupri told PEOPLE that the only thing holding them back from getting married was timing. "We are trying to get our records right first," he said.

At the time, Dupri had just released his compilation album, Jermaine Dupri Presents: Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol. 1, and Jackson was recording 20 Years Old. "I am trying to make sure that she returns and her career soars the way it is supposed to and we live happily ever after," he said.

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Nick & Vanessa's Hot Date

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo brought their PDA tour to the New York City club Butter Monday night, where they partied with fellow celebs, danced and kissed throughout the evening.

Lachey, in jeans and a button-down shirt, and Minnillo, in a red dress, began the night chatting in their booth with Russell Simmons before Minnillo danced on the banquet to Sha***a's "Hips Don't Lie" and "Gasolina."

When Jay-Z's "99 Problems" came on at around 12:45 a.m., Minnillo indulged Lachey in what would be the first of several lap dances.

Shortly thereafter, she was up on the banquet again, dancing with Jamie-Lynn Sigler to the Jackson 5's "Want You Back" and "Sweet Home Alabama."

When Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" came on, Minnillo settled into Lachey's lap and sang it to him. But the song that Lachey enjoyed the most was the Rocky theme, "Eye of the Tiger," which got him waving his arms and moving his head to the beat.

Later, Lachey did shots with Wilmer Valderrama, who was holding court with friends including Erika Christensen.

Finally, Lachey and Minnillo left at 3 a.m., holding hands.

A rep for Lachey had no comment.

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Jessica to Be Rosie's First View Guest

Jessica Simpson will appear on the first episode of The View to star new cohost Rosie O'Donnell, on Sept. 5, PEOPLE has learned.

"Rosie herself reached out to Jessica," says a source close to Simpson about the singer-actress's guest shot.

The two have a long history together, going back to The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired from 1996-2002, when O'Donnell was riding the crest as TV's highly rated "Queen of Nice."

"When Jessica was just starting out, none of the big shows were interested in her, but Rosie took a chance on her and Jessica never forgot it," says the source.

It wasn't just a break that O'Donnell provided, but encouragement.

"When Jessica was on The Rosie O'Donnell Show years ago," the source went on to say, "Rosie went backstage afterwards and said, 'You're gonna be a star.' "

Adds the source: "Jessica will never forget her."

The View appearance will just follow the release of Simpson's new album, A Public Affair, which hits stores only a week before, on Aug. 29.

O'Donnell, of course, will be assuming Meredith Vieira's former chair on the ABC daytime gabfest, while Vieira becomes the new cohost of NBC's Today show.