Rumors

We like to think that all the nice things we read about celebrities are true. We also, whether we admit it or not, like to read about the not-so-nice parts of their lives--such gossip, whether factual or not, makes us feel a little bit better about our own lives: money can't buy love, etc. Anyone entering the lustrous world of Hollywood knows their personal life will remain so for little longer, and everything they do will become fodder for the masses.

But that's not so for Angelina Jolie. Although she and her publicist would say otherwise, it seems pretty obvious that the star of The Changeling tries--often successfully--to manipulate the press. It has been said that Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt chose People Magazine to share the first pictures of newborn twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline because the publication agreed not to print anything negative about the family in that issue or in the future. Rumor further has it People also agreed to no longer refer to the Jolie-Pitts as "Brangelina," a moniker the couple understandably hates.

People says the rumors aren't true and that they were not told they could only get the pics by agreeing to make nice with mama Jolie and her brood. People paid out $14 million for the pics, which supposedly went to charity. It was the highest amount of money paid by a publication for pics of a celebrity baby.

Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler and husband funny man Will Arnett welcomed a baby boy into the world Saturday night. As a result, the hysterically funny Poehler missed duties at SNL for the birth by just a few hours.

Little Archie Arnett weighed in a 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Mom and son are said to be in good health and resting up. Like many moms (including me), Poehler worked up to the day she gave birth, prepping for her roles at Senator Hillary Clinton and on Weekend Update.

Whether or not she'll return to SNL, as a regular or in cameo form, remains to be seen. Poehler apparently has a deal to star in her own show on NBC post maternity leave. Either way, best of luck and everything to the couple, and congratulations on the birth of that beautiful baby boy!

Soon to be divorcee Guy Ritchie has some non-Kabbalah plans for his children this holiday season. According to sources, the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director plans on celebrating Christmas with kids Lourdes, Rocco and David this year. What's so unusual about that? Well, if reports are to be believed, former wife Madonna has banned the holiday from the household as Kabbalah followers don't celebrate it. Far from bashing the religion, Guy has allegedly abided by Madonna's beliefs but wants to put some fun back into the holidays.

According to the source, the past year's celebration was anything but festive when a famous artist showed up and everyone ate steamed fish. Woohoo--that's right up there with stockings, milk and cookies for Santa Claus and stringing popcorn around the old Christmas tree. Ritchie has stated that by giving up the present aspect of Christmas his family was actually able to enjoy the holiday--a sentiment I can totally get behind, especially in this terrible economy--but I can also see his point that the kids are perhaps missing out on something fun and traditional too.

It seems like Guy wants to compromise, and, rather than go against Madge's religious wishes wants to add some tradition of his own into the celebrations. I think that's fair--after all, there are more than plenty mixed-religion households out there where the kids celebrate both sets of holidays. Some of my pals growing up, for example, celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. It's pretty much the wave of the future, so hopefully Madge will go along with it. Let's just hope Guy isn't pulling this for some sort of publicity stunt. I'd better not see Lourdes, Rocco and David dressed up like the three wise men on the cover of some tabloid!

Seriously, folks--can you feel the media struggling? Yes, this is an actual headline, somewhere. According to a new "report" Madonna, soon to be divorced, is keen to have a baby with baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, who if you'll recall recently separated from his wife, Cynthia, about ten minutes after she gave birth to their second child together, was alleged to have made the split to make more room for Madge and her Kaballah-loving ways. I find this hysterical as Madonna could clearly kick A-Rod's butt, so I'm not sure why she'd want to have a baby with him. But hey, love--or lust, whatever--is strange.

Not so sure that's true. My guess is that being married to a celebrity, and a sports legend, can take its toll. Now the tabloid pendulum has swung the other way, and claims are being made that A-Rod, while not necessarily having anything to do with the material mom's breakup with director Guy Ritchie, wants to be as close to her as possible and is set to purchase a home a hop-skip from her Manhattan abode. Madonna is alleged to want to take custody of her kids and move them to New York permanently, which of course won't sit well with Guy.

To juice things up a little more, now the mill is spinning that the fifty-year-old thinks A-Rod is prime baby making material and wants to get her hands on his, er, goods, to make another baby. Madonna is already mom to Lourdes, Rocco and David Banda. It's also rumored that she is set to adopt again from Malawi. If both are true, Madge's baby count will be a mere five compared to Angelina's six (and looking for one to grow on, making her count a magical seven). This means Madonna is NOT number one in at least one thing, for now. instead she'll just have to settle for being super pop star ruler of the world. Unless she and A-Rod can knock out some twins. Work it, Madge!

Now all this garbage aside, if A-Rod and Madonna had a baby, this kid would be both beautiful and an athletic superstar, no? Just don't let him/her get those highlight tips that A-Rod's always sporting....

You know, it wasn't so long ago that actress Katherine Heigl eschewed motherhood for her career. The Grey's Anatomy star said being in the film Knocked Up not only turned her off being pregnant but that she didn't want motherhood to stand in the way of her burgeoning career.

Now it looks like the newlywed is changing her ways. According to the National Enquirer--which means you should probably take this with a grain of salt--Heigl and musician husband Josh Kelley are interested in adopting a child from Korea. According to the source, Heigl and Kelley have selected that country because Heigl's older sister, Meg, was adopted from Korea.

The report goes on to say that Heigl will complete the adoption within a year and has already contacted an adoption agency to get the process underway. Whether such information is true remains to be seen, but if she is interested in adopting, I wish Katherine the best of luck. It's about time she realized that as a woman in Hollywood it is now essential to have a baby in order to make it in La La Land--and stay there. We have the likes of Angelina Jolie to thank for that.

As we all know by now, in what seems somehow too sad to be true, veteran television star David Duchovny and his box office babe wife, Tea Leoni, are divorcing. It came as news to many, however, that the pair had actually been separated for several months before wind of the divorce. The couple's response? They kept things on the down low for the sake of their children. As if you could keep something like going to rehab for an alleged porn addiction on the down low. And I can only imagine what the kids have dealt with in response to that nonsense.

The X-Files star Duchovny and Leoni have two children, Madelaine, 9, and Kyd, 6, from their eleven-year marriage (which is a big deal, in Hollywood). We haven't seen too much of either kid, thankfully, as their parents wisely kept them out of the harsh limelight of the media. Now, though, the kids are going to be front and center as their parents divorce and the question of custody comes up. Will the kids be spared the spotlight or will they be drug through it?

What's more, if the parents are so concerned about the well-being of their children, why not try to make the marriage work and stick together? That's a coy question, indeed, as we all know there are some very, very good reasons out there to seek a divorce. I just think it's so hard on the kids when their parents live in two separate places, but, in reality, most celebrity kids never live the lives we or our children lead. How often do you think the Duchovny/Leoni clan actually sat down to a home-cooked (by one of them) meal together and talked about school and work? Alas, if there is one Hollywood couple I could picture doing that, it would be these two. Perhaps they tried staying together for the kids and it just didn't work out.

What would you do--stick it out for the kids, like most of our parents did, back when it was considered unacceptable to get a divorce, or call your lawyer when it becomes clear that you can't fit a square peg in a round hole?

Presidential nominee John McCain allegedly had a date set with actress Jenny McCarthy. The topic of their discussion? Not love but, rather autism, and specifically the link between the condition and the use of thimerosal in the vaccines McCarthy believes cause autism.

McCarthy was eager to meet with McCain after learning he believes there may be a link as well, and apparently flew herself out for a meeting with the Republican senator to try to make autism a major part of the presidential campaign.

According to reports, however, McCain backed out after his flack decided the subject matter was too controversial. Right, like presidential nominees should avoid discussing anything controversial! If they did all they'd end up doing at debates was drinking Yoohoos! Although not attributed anywhere, the post on IMDB claims McCain also bailed after learning there is no hard evidence linking vaccines with thimerosal and autism. Either way, McCain declined to meet with the former Playboy centerfold (huge mistake, dude!) and McCarthy has now set her sites on meeting with Senator Obama.

Given the spate of media bs floating around the Internet these days part of me finds it hard to believe a rumor that anyone would want to botox their kid's feet. Then, part of me realizes the drama is surrounding Sharon Stone and thinks there could be a kernel of truth to the rumor. After all, the actress and one-time sexpot has basically gone off the wall in recent years, making crazy statements and acting crazy in general--and it no longer seems like a publicity stunt to draw attention and viewers to Basic Instinct 2.

Stone is mom to eight-year-old Roan, and her custody of him is currently under question. Allegedly she has lost custody of her son after overreacting to his foot odor by thinking he should get botox in his feet. According to reports (rumors!) the judge agreed that Stone was overreacting and causing pain to her child, and has granted primary custody to the actress' ex, Phil Bronstein. Sharon will get to see him one weekend a month.

That seems so terrible for a mother to lose custody of her child and to only be able to see him on a monthly basis. I would be crushed if that happened to me. Of course, as crazy and hormonal as I am in the last stages of pregnancy, I still wouldn't think it was a good idea to botox my son's feet. Poor Sharon--she really must be suffering from some sort of emotional disorder or complications from her brain surgery to make those sorts of decision (if they're true, and they appear to be).

Here's a newsflash--a celebrity who will have her child, or in this case, children, early! Most celebrities never make it through the ninth month or pregnancy, opting for c-sections at the eighth month in order to avoid getting ginormous during the final weeks of pregnancy. Too late, Rebecca!

Those carrying twins--celebrity or not--are more likely to give birth earlier anyway. Rebecca Romijn is both a celebrity and carrying twins, so she is expected to pop--or have her babies--sooner rather than later. She is allegedly being placed on bed rest starting in October in hopes of getting the twins she's expecting with super-lucky husband Jerry O'Connell in January through some time in December.

Romijn joins countless celebrities in recent months who've either gotten pregnant with or given birth to twins. Her husband Jerry recently commented that she was "huge" and then later apologized. Perhaps the baby hormones are affecting him too! Good luck, Rebecca! Here's to hoping you make it to the new year! I can't imagine a woman on the go like her having to deal with bed rest!!! That'll be harder than surgery!

I don't know about you, but my second c-section took a serious toll on my mid-section. I'm not typically a vain kind of girl, but that little flippity-flap over my second incision line?

Not pretty, people.

Granted, it's only been six weeks since I delivered my son via surgeon's knife, and it doesn't help that my pre-baby body was less Jennifer Lopez and more Jenny Craig "before photo." I'm hopeful that once I'm cleared to exercise, I'll be able to get my abdominal muscles in decent shape.

Exercising isn't my favorite activity in the world, so I'm kind of bummed I didn't ask for a c-tuck while my doc was fiddling around with my fundus anyway.

In case you haven't heard, rumor has it that some celebrity moms are scheduling elective c-sections for the eighth month of pregnancy, to avoid the serious stretching that starts once you hit that ninth month. At the same time, so they say, they get a tummy tuck.

Can you imagine coming home from the hospital with a newborn and a new belly button?

Don't get too excited, though. Plastic surgeons say the procedure increases the risk of infection and requires amniocentesis.

So tell me, would you risk it for a flat belly?

Ah, the rumor mill. It was a'buzzin' with the notion that recent newlywed Mariah Carey is pregnant. Then it went on to buzz that Carey would announce her pregnancy on an upcoming stint with talk show guru Oprah Winfrey. Well, it looks like that ain't so, on any level.

According to Oprah's flack, the Butterfly singer has no plans spilling the beans on her show. The spokesperson did not make any statement as to verify if Carey is pregnant. The Glitter star's reps have been denying her pregnancy ever since she married Nick Cannon in a whirlwind.

Mimi certainly doesn't look pregnant. The singer has been quick to reveal her latest attempts at having the perfect body, which have been successful. Perhaps marriage--and maybe even pregnancy--have been good to her. Time, not the media, will tell.