Gossip/Celebrity News

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Courtney Thorne-Smith Expecting a Baby

According to Jim actress Courtney Thorne-Smith is expecting a baby, her spokesperson confirms to PEOPLE.

The child, who is due this winter, will be the first for the actress and her husband, Roger Fishman, who owns a media company.

The couple will also have something else to celebrate during the winter: The first anniversary of their marriage is on Jan. 1, 2008.

But wait, there's more. This September Smith, 39, whose credits include Melrose Place and Ally McBeal, will publish her first book, a novel titled Outside In.

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Tom & Katie to Throw Party for the Beckhams

David and Victoria Beckham have already caused quite a stir in the states. But this weekend the British imports are going to be treated like Hollywood royalty.

None other than power couples Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith will host a private party for the Beckhams at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.

The invitations, printed in gold lettering on deep gold card stock, beckon guests to "Please join Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith in welcoming David and Victoria Beckham to Los Angeles."

The party is only the latest in a series of high-profile events to celebrate the couple's move to Los Angeles. The day they arrived, they met the press when David was officially introduced as the latest addition to the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.

Victoria also made appearances on the Today show and Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio program and starred in a one-hour NBC special Victoria Beckham: Coming to America.

Beckham, who is expected to raise soccer's profile in America, has been hampered by an ankle injury, but is expected to play Saturday during Galaxy's exhibition game against Chelsea, ESPN.com reports.

How long he will play is not clear, according to the ESPN report.

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Drew Carey to Host The Price Is Right

Drew Carey, come on down! The comedian will replace Bob Barker as the new host of The Price Is Right.

The Cleveland native confirmed his new gig as the host of the CBS game show during a taping of the The Late Show with David Letterman, which is set to air Monday.

Barker retired last month after 35 years of hosting the daytime sensation, drawing a slew of replacement contenders including Rosie O'Donnell, Ian Ziering, George Hamilton and Mario Lopez.

Carey, who will also be host of a new CBS prime-time game show, The Power of 10, told Letterman that he only learned that the deal had been done a few minutes before appearing on stage.

"When do you begin?" asked Letterman, to which Carey, 49, replied: "You got me...All I know is that all the deal points we wanted got settled. And I just found out, honestly."

Last week, Carey told PEOPLE, 'I would really enjoy doing [the show], and I think I'd be good at it."

Carey had a ten-year run on ABC with his sitcom The Drew Carey Show and was host of the improv show Whose Line is It Anyway?

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Kelly Clarkson Speaks Out on Clive Davis 'Feud'

Kelly Clarkson is finally speaking out to clear up rumors about her relationship with label head Clive Davis after the two had creative differences over her latest record.

"There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the release of My December, much of which has focused on a supposed feud with my record label, in particular, Clive Davis," Clarkson says in a statement posted on her Web site Monday.

"I want to set the record straight on this by saying that I want my band, my advisors, those close to me and my record label to be one big, tightly knit family. Like any family we will disagree and argue sometimes but, in the end, it's respect and admiration that will keep us together.

"A lot has been made in the press about my relationship with Clive. Much of this has been blown way out of proportion and taken out of context. Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I'm well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time. He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so. I really regret how everything has turned out and I apologize to those whom I have done disservice. I would never intentionally hurt anyone. I love music, and I love the people I am blessed to work with. I am happy that my team is behind me and I look forward to the future."

It's been a tumultuous couple months for Clarkson, 25, who recently fired her manager and shelved her summer tour after a public clash with Davis over the direction of her latest album, My December, the first disc she co-produced and wrote entirely.

Davis reportedly voiced concerns that the album, released last month, didn't have a guaranteed radio hit (her first single, "Never Again," peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard charts). Clarkson, meanwhile, complained that the label was trying to force her into a more mainstream pop direction. (At one point, she said the label asked her to cover a Lindsay Lohan track. "They were just sending me stuff that was like almost insulting," she told MTV. "I'm like, 'You can't even find new songs? You don't want me to write my album but you're sending me hand me downs?' ")

As for her relationship with Davis, she told USA Weekend earlier this month: "I'm going to be real honest with you: I am not a fan [of Davis]...I do respect him, but I don't want to barbecue with him. We don't braid each other's hair. And, despite the rumors, he is nowhere near a father figure."

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Eva Mendes Says She's 'Thankful' for 'Nice Physique'

When it comes to her looks, Eva Mendes is grateful for what she's got.

"I'm thankful that I'm healthy and that I have my limbs and a nice physique," the actress, 33, tells Jane for its August "Naked" issue for which she is the cover girl. "Of course, there are things anybody wishes they didn't have or wishes [there] were more of, but why even bring that up? I think it comes off as bratty."

Just being in Hollywood contributes to helping her maintain a good body image, says Mendes. "Once you start doing the red carpet thing, you can become very critical of yourself; it's very easy. I was like, 'I'm not falling into that.' It's just not healthy."

She also finds it healthy to be comfortable with how she looks. During a recent visit to a Korean spa, she says, "There were all these beautiful Korean women bathing, being totally comfortable, no matter what type of body they had. I was like, 'This is what it must have been like back in the Roman-bath days.' And you feel like you're all in it together, in a weird way."

Not that she doesn't have a junk-food favorite. "For some reason, tacos from Jack in the Box really do it for me. The combination of tacos and French fries, it's heavenly. Throw an Oreo shake in there, and you've got a party," she says.


Among other topics that Mendes touches upon is her family, with whom she enjoys a relationship as healthy as her body image.

"Now I realize that not all families work like [we do]," she says. "We're loud, we yell, we get it out, then two minutes later we're like, 'Okay, what do you want to eat?' "

The one constant in her life, she also says, has been the unexpected. "I was a total accident, and I was supposed to be a boy. My mother had her ultrasound when she came from Cuba to Miami in the '70's, and the doctors told her, 'You're having a boy.' I think it would've been cool if she had stuck with the name she'd picked out for me. You could be talking to Javier Mendez right now."

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Dad: Jessica Simpson Turns Down 'Porn Star' Role

She's always been herself on camera, but Jessica Simpson isn't ready to show all of herself on camera.

"The last script that came to us was for Jessica to be a porn star," Jessica's father and manager, Joe Simpson, told PEOPLE at Thursday's ABC Television Critics Association party in Beverly Hills.

"We were promised we would win an Oscar with that," says Simpson, 49. "I was like, 'Eh, we'll just buy a [statue of a] little man and keep our clothes on.' "

Since she shot to fame in 2003 with ex-husband Nick Lachey on MTV's Newlyweds Jessica Simpson, 27, has been receiving quirky TV-show proposals "every day," according to her father.

"We're pitched those a lot," he says. "There are a lot of cool ones, and a lot of really strange ones."

Currently, Papa Simpson is promoting ABC's fall series The Women's Murder Club, which he is producing with Rush Hour director Brett Ratner. No plans are underway for Jessica or her younger sister Ashlee Simpson, 22, to appear on the show.

"They're very busy, and they're happy," Joe Simpson says of his daughters. "Jessica has three more movies to shoot; she has a new record coming in September. If the right role came up, of course, we'd never turn that down."

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Britney Spears's Bodyguard Has Scuffle with Photographer

A day after arriving in Las Vegas, Britney Spears was caught up in an incident between one of her bodyguards and a member of the paparazzi, according to police.

On Thursday morning, Las Vegas police were called to the Wynn Las Vegas' Spa after Spears's bodyguard, Julio Camera, allegedly punched a photographer, say police.

Camera was escorting Spears and her children through the Wynn property when two photographers, Andrew Deetz, 24, and Kyle Henderson, 23, ran up behind the group, attempting to get a picture of the singer. One of them bumped into Camera, who was holding Spears's son, Sean Preston, according to the report.

"Spears screamed in fear of her children's safety," the police report reads. Camera then gave the child to Spears and an altercation occurred between him and a one of the photographers around 11:55 a.m.

After Las Vegas police were called to the scene, Camera was cited for misdemeanor battery.

Deetz "received minor abrasions during the incident," according to the police release.

Spears also filed a report against the second photographer, claiming that Kyle Henderson struck both Camera and, by accident, Sean Preston, as the child was being held by the security guard.

Both cases remains under investigation.
A source with knowledge of the situation said Camera was detained for three hours following the dustup, and then met with Spears at Treasure Island after the singer checked out of her hotel room at the Wynn at 5:15 p.m.

In a statement released Friday, the hotel said, "Ms. Spears was a guest of Wynn Las Vegas this week. She elected to leave the resort on Thursday afternoon, July 26, of her own accord. We have no comment with regards to any alleged activity during her stay with us and will not comment on our guests' experience at Wynn Las Vegas."

A call to Spears's lawyer was not immediately returned.

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