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Star Filled "Ocean's 12" Costs Near $100 Million
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THE NEW YORK POST reports "PRODUCTION costs on “Ocean’s 12” are skyrocketing, thanks to a cast heavy with Hollywood hotshots. The $85 million-plus sequel to “Ocean’s 11” stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts (right), Catherine Zeta- Jones, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon and is being filmed on locations all over the world. Sources say the final figure could well go much higher.However, a Warner Bros. rep insists everything is fine and states, “We are on, if not under, budget."
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Univison Confirms J.Lo Is Pregnant
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THE NEW YORK POST reports "WE love being right. Univision television, which
has many close ties to Dayanara Torres, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, is
confirming our scoop that Lopez is pregnant. “Her friends and family members
have told us she is pregnant,” said a Univision exec. The exec offered to fly us down to Miami to talk about our exclusive on the “Christina” show, but we had to decline. A rep for Lopez, said, “I’m told she’s not.”
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Britney’s $100 Million Fortune Exposed
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STAR MAGAZINE reports "Britney Spears' parents Lynne and Jamie are pressuring the singer to force her fiance, dancer Kevin Federline, to sign a prenuptial agreement, but she'll have none of it. Britney has already reportedly had to pay for her own $40,000, 5-carat engagement ring, and the $100 million woman could expose half of her wealth to Kevin under California law. The couple, having only dated each other three months, have already bought a house on Mulholland Drive and are making wedding preparations for November. Lynne was reportedly told about the engagement after she had told her assistant. Britney even shreaked at her mother: "This is my life, let me live it!"
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Ja Rule Charged With Assault In Toronto
MTV
Ja Rule appeared in court Monday morning after surrendering to police in connection with an incident at a Toronto nightclub last month.
Ja was charged with assault causing bodily harm after a June 5 incident at La Rouge in Toronto's entertainment district, according to police reports. Sergeant Jim Muscat of the Toronto Police Department confirmed that an altercation involving Ja Rule took place, but no further details of the incident were released.
The rapper entered no plea, and stopped to sign autographs outside the courthouse after his appearance, according to The Toronto Star. Ja is scheduled to return to court on August 30 for his next date in the case.
As a result of the investigation, the rapper/actor, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, turned himself in to police early Monday (July 26).
The incident was Ja's second run-in with the law in the last few weeks. Earlier in July, he was charged with fifth-degree possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license (see "Ja Rule Arrested, Charged with Possessing Marijuana").
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Mary-Kate Olsen, Five Pounds Heavier, Discharged From Clinic
MTV
Mary-Kate Olsen was discharged from an undisclosed facility late Friday night after receiving six weeks of treatment for an eating disorder. She reportedly responded well to the treatment and gained about five pounds while at the facility.
The actress had originally signed up for a monthlong treatment when she checked into the clinic a few days before her 18th birthday in mid-June. She extended her stay for two additional weeks after making progress (see "Mary-Kate Olsen Extends Stay In Clinic").
"She is feeling very well and is looking forward to rejoining her family and friends and preparing for her freshman year at New York University," Michael Pagnotta, her rep, said.
Ashley Olsen canceled a trip to Australia to promote their film "New York Minute" so that she could be with her sister during her clinic stay. The sisters' "Got Milk?" advertising campaign was postponed because of Mary-Kate's condition. The ads began running in May and were scheduled to continue until the end of July, but were retracted earlier this month.
Though Mary-Kate's clinic stay is over, her post-treatment care will continue privately "with a great team of people" in both Los Angeles, where she is now, and New York, where she and her sister will have their freshman orientation for NYU in late August (see "Experts Say Mary-Kate Olsen Faces Long Road To Recovery").
"For the time being, she will be leading as normal a life as possible, with family, friends, preparing for school, shopping, dinner, movies, etc.," Pagnotta said. "She won't be hiding."
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Britney's Bottle Battle: Post Says Whiskey, She Says Ginseng
MTV
Britney Spears may have done a lot of questionable things, but drinking whiskey on the street in the middle of the day is apparently not one of them.
A paparazzo snapped the newly engaged singer on July 12 when she was drinking out of a tiny bottle she had purchased at a Venice, California, liquor store, and the New York Post as well as U.K. tabloids ran with the shot, claiming Spears' drink of choice was Glenlivet whiskey.
The Sun ran the story Wednesday with the headline "Britney on the Rocks," while the Post put the singer on the cover Thursday, with the front-page headline "Britney Hits the Bottle" and an inside headline of "Boozer Britney: Daylight Bottle Blonde."
But Spears says she actually bought a vial of the herbal supplement ginseng, which she chased with a can of Red Bull. She's now threatening to sue the New York Post unless she gets an immediate retraction, an apology and a financial settlement. Spears' lawyer Martin Singer called the Post article "totally fabricated, fictional and defamatory."
"Prior to publishing the article, the New York Post could have easily ascertained the truth that Ms. Spears did not purchase any alcohol, but instead purchased ginseng from the store," Singer said in a statement.
The clerk who rang up the purchase backs up the singer's claim. Arif Alam, 43, of Joe's Liquor, said that she bought a 10 ml bottle of Panax Red Ginseng Extractum for $1, as what he thought was an impulse purchase when she and fiancé Kevin Federline dropped in to buy some other snacks.
"I noticed who she was probably about 10 seconds after she came in," he said. "There wasn't anyone else in the store, and I didn't notice any [photographers] outside. There wasn't any alcohol involved. They didn't ask for alcohol, she didn't buy any alcohol."
However, the New York Post claims that it did attempt to fact-check the story and was told by the photo agency, Bauer-Griffin, that Spears was consuming whiskey. The New York Post said that it called Spears' rep twice to ask if that was accurate, and she declined to comment each time. According to the Post, Spears' rep said off the record that she had seen the pictures and "they are what they are."
"She was given every opportunity to deny it but did not," the Post's editor in chief, Col Allan, said in a statement, noting that other publications published the same story.
"According to our information, the bottle that Britney Spears was drinking from may or may not have been hard liquor," the photo agency said in a statement. "We are not prepared, at this stage, to confirm or deny the original information. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
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All About the Primetime Emmy Awards!
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Come into Britney's Onyx Hotel
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BritneySpears.com reports that the Britney Spears Foundation room at the Onyx Hotel in Boston, MA is open. Britney and Kimpton Hotels were on the same wavelength when dreaming up names for their most recent ventures. With a combination of pure coincidence and kismet, both selected the onyx stone as their namesake - Britney, for her international concert tour, and Kimpton, for their new hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Janet's Damita Jo to be RePackaged
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With Janet Jackson's latest album 'Damita Jo' suffering lousy sales, a source tells The Mirror plans are in place to release a revamped version with six new tracks. "The album was launched a month after the Nipplegate incident and it really affected sales badly," the source explained. "Virgin Records is hoping that repackaging it will reignite interest in the project."
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