In a week when teen sex is on everyone's mind come these two stories: Daniel Radcliffe (you know, Harry Potter) tells Details magazine that he lost his virginity at 16 to an older woman (the age difference, he says, "would freak some people out"), while Britney Spears' mother dishes on Britney's deflowering at 14, not by Justin Timberlake but by a hometown football stud.
Well okay then.
The sex lives of celebrities -- even child celebrities -- are always fascinating, but here's what's so interesting about these two stories: while Radcliffe has only good things to say about his family ("I've got a great family. We're a very tight-knit group-we work very well as a team and as a tribe"), Britney's story of childhood lost is being marketed by her mother, Lynne, in a new book, one which appears to cash in on the fact that Spears and her siblings had little in the way of good parental guidance. According to the New York Daily News' Page Six, "Lynne Spears, 53, confesses her regret of losing control of Britney's career to handlers who promoted her as a sex object and put her in raunchy videos."
I suppose that what strikes me the most about these stories is not that Spears and Radcliffe both had sex young (after all, teens are curious and kids who work in show business are tossed into a very adult world) but that their stories are being told in such different ways. Radcliffe, who is never in the tabloids and is universally regarded as a good kid, gets to tell his own story of losing his virginity, while Britney's saga is being recounted by her mother, in an attempt to make Lynne Spears look like less of a horrible parent.
At the same time, though, I wonder if stories like these -- especially Radcliffe's, which has a kind of romantic nerdy-guy-gets-older-girl twist -- encourages kids to have sex young. You know, because Harry Potter did it and look where he is now. And Britney, well, she wouldn't be such a mess if it weren't for her mom.
What say you -- should we be hearing about the sex lives of teen stars? Or no thanks?
All politics aside, I can't imagine how hard it is to be Bristol Palin right now. Shoved squarely into the media spotlight by her mother's VP dreams, she's had to endure scrutiny by a harsh and unforgiving media. At an age where wearing the wrong style of shirt to school can cause a teen to feel major embarrassment, Bristol is now being watched closely by an entire nation.
Jamie Lynn Spears thinks she knows how Bristol feels. In a show of solidarity, she recently sent Bristol a set of $60 pink burp clothes to the teen. Jamie Lynn gave birth to baby Maddie in June, at the age of 17, and like Bristol plans to marry her baby's father, Casey Aldridge.
Jamie Lynn's gesture was nice, but her circumstances were far different. As Britney's sister and a celeb in her own right, Jamie Lynn was accustomed to the glaring flashbulbs of the paparazzi. When she found out she was pregnant, she knew what she was facing by announcing it. But while Bristol probably expected her pregnancy news would cause a small stir in Alaska, I'm sure she never in a million years expected this.
On a lighter note... who pays $60 for a burp cloth?
According to a new report, actress Leighton Meester was essentially born in prison. The Gossip Girl star's mother was allegedly in prison serving time in federal prison in Texas for drug-related charges when her now-famous daughter was born.
Mom was allowed to live in a half-way house until little Leighton was three months old, but then had to serve out the rest of her sentence behind bars. The report appears in the questionable if anything Star magazine, where it is noted Leighton was raised by a relative until mom was released.
The magazine also claims other members of Meester's family, including her grandfather, spent time in the slammer, again for drug-related charges. Do we believe it? Sure, why not--plenty of women have had children while in prison. Can't stop mother nature. Do we care? That I'm not so sure about. With Gossip Girl's second season opening to its largest audience ever, I doubt the show needed such a publicity stunt, but they got one anyway!
He's an actor, celebrity, philanthropist, father to some of the most famous offspring in the world. In his spare time, Brad Pitt also fancies himself a photographer, so much so that Angelina gave him a Littman 45 Single camera for a recent birthday gift. Now he's taking his hobby to the next level.
Rumor has it that Brad shot the cover for November's issue of W magazine, and it includes some pretty noteworthy subjects -- his family. Angelina, along will all six kids -- even newborn twins Knox and Vivienne -- will appear on the cover.
Back in 2005, Brad and Angelina appeared on a different, more notorious cover of W. In a spread called "Domestic Bliss," Brad and Angie appeared as husband and wife with undeniable chemistry, and pretty much blew the lid off any denials they were making about being "just friends." Jennifer Aniston, still married to Brad, was quoted as saying that shoot was evidence that Brad "had a sensitivity chip missing." She filed for divorce a few months later.
If that cover was a staged version of domestic bliss, what will appear in November by all reports will be the real thing -- a happy, content family in their prime.
Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame is finding fatherhood the second time around to be a bit different than the first. For starters, he is clean and sober now. Wilson has made no secret of his past struggles with drub abuse and mental illness and his relationship with daughters Wendy, 38 and Carnie, 40 remains strained. "I don't talk to them very much. I used to. I recorded with them at one time, but I don't talk to them a lot," he says.
But these days it seems that Wilson has conquered his demons and with the help of a heavy dose of antidepressants, is back to making music. He is also back to being a dad with wife Melinda Ledbetter, who he married in 1995. The couple have three children - 11-year-old Daria, 10-year-old Delanie and 4-year-old Dylan. But from the sounds of it, 66-year-old Wilson isn't finding parenthood to be all that easy this time around, either. He admits that a house full of kids and pets can be "very loud" and he often escapes alone to walk in the park. "The kids make me feel a little jumpy," he says. "Sometimes I want to get out of the house to get away from my kids but I love my kids a lot. I love my kids. ... Quiet time comes around 10 at night when I go to sleep. It's peace of mind. Things run smoothly at night. During the day, things are more rough."
Wilson's difficulty in dealing with the noise of children probably isn't just due to his advanced age. He has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, which often involves auditory hallucinations. Add to that the neurological damage done by the vast amounts of antipsychotic drugs he was prescribed in the 1980's and it is no wonder he's feeling a little overwhelmed.
But still, Wilson says he is a happy man these days. "I'm happier now than I was a year ago," Wilson said recently. "I started exercising and I started eating more of the right food and I started feeling better. I just get up in the morning and say my prayers."
Wilson's new album, That Lucky Old Son, is scheduled for release on September 2nd and will be followed by a tour.
Perhaps you have heard of Katy Perry, an up and coming young singer who is working hard to shock and alarm parents while positioning herself as the anti-Miley Cyrus. A former Christian music singer, Perry is now getting all kids of attention for a song she wrote called I Kissed a Girl. I haven't heard the song, but a quick read of the lyrics indicates that the tune is about alcohol and lost inhibitions. Specifically, a girl getting drunk and kissing another girl. And liking it. A sample: The taste of her cherry chap stick I kissed a girl just to try it I hope my boyfriend don't mind it It felt so wrong It felt so right Don't mean I'm in love tonight I kissed a girl and I liked it I liked it,
Perry's fans may be teens, but a lot of parents are freaked by the song, claiming it promotes homosexuality and promiscuity. Even Perry's own parents say they are disappointed in their 23-year-old daughter and find the song "shameful and disgusting."
But Perry has made it quite clear that she has no interest in being a role model for the young people who listen to her music. "Being in the business of rock and roll means having an attitude, being sexy, being edgy and being unapologetic unless I do something wrong...I look up to people like Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury and Cyndi Lauper. I want to have that same type of appeal. If people want a role model, they can have Miley Cyrus."
Miley Cyrus and her poor choices aside, I don't think every young artist has a responsibility to be a role model for the entire youth population. That said, I don't really understand the controversy surrounding this song. She got drunk, she kissed a girl. The takeaway - at least for me - is that drinking makes you do things you wouldn't otherwise do. Maybe that is the point kids should be getting.
I have a new favorite outfit. It's a brown dress that is nice and loose and hits just slightly above the knee. The first time I wore it, my seven-year-old looked me up and down and asked when I was going to finish getting dressed. I thought I was finished, but apparently a dress that hits just above the knee is, to her, a mini-dress and not suitable for person of my age. She suggested I complete the outfit with a nice pair of leggings.
I declined to wear the leggings and she let it drop. But I am clearly not the only one who embarrasses my kid with my choice of clothing. The 16-year-old daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall has similar issues with her mom.
Georgia May Jagger considers herself a bit of an expert when it comes to fashion. "I'm interested in every aspect of fashion," she says. "I think it's in my bones. When I was younger I used to be my mum's stylist, picking things out for her to wear. I'd say to her, 'If anybody asks you who styled you tonight say Georgia'."
But Georgia doesn't want credit when mom isn't dressing her age. She says she usually doesn't tell her mother what she should and shouldn't wear, but she did take it upon herself to remove temptation from mom's closet. "I did take all her miniskirts," she says. "I didn't tell her she couldn't wear them but I told her one night that her skirt was too short. She came down the stairs and I was like, 'God, Mum, you are 50'."
Jerry Hall is a beautiful woman who looks great for her age. But I agree that 50 is a bit old for mini-skirts, even if you have the legs for them. What do you think? Is there a cut-off age for wearing short skirts? Or do you believe that if you've got it, you should flaunt it - no matter what your age?
Mr. Ripley might be talented, but he's is also getting grossly outnumbered by the fairer sex in his household!
The addition of a new daughter to the family means Matt Damon will now have to negotiate with four women in order to get a little time in the bathroom: wife Luciana, stepdaughter Alexia, two-year-old Isabella, and newborn daughter Gia Zavala.
Little Gia was born on Wednesday. Damon's rep reports that the newest Damon girl is healthy and beautiful and that she and her mother are doing well.
As for Matt Damon, the sexiest man alive doesn't appear to mind living in an estrogen-filled environment in the least. "[I'm] taking the rest of the year off," he told USA Today. "I'm just hanging out with my family."
If you thought 'funny' lady Roseanne Barr had quietly disappeared to wherever it is that loud, opinionated comedians disappear to, you were wrong. She's still out there and she's still making her opinions known. A few days ago, she posted a rather nasty piece on her blog taking aim at actor John Voight, his daughter Angelina Jolie, as well as Brad Pitt and the kids.
Barr appears to be angry that Voight isn't supporting Barack Obama and that Jolie has said she likes McCain but is undecided as to who will get her vote. According to Barr, that makes Voight a "frightened little girl in a pink ballet tutu" and Jolie his "evil spawn." Brad did not escape Barr's wrath either as she refers to him as Jolie's "vacuous husband."
Addressing Jolie, Barr writes: "....it might be good for your Asian and African children's self esteem to know you support a brown man for the leader of the free world. How nice of Barr to be so concerned for the self-esteem of the Jolie-Pitt children. It is unfortunate that she refers to their biological children as "dunces that will consume more than their fair share and wreck the earth even more."
Of course, Barr is entitled to her opinions and her political point of view, but I am just not sure what she was trying to accomplish with this rant. Calling someone an evil spawn and referring to their children as dunces is probably not the best way to bring them around to your way of thinking.
Suri Cruise is nearly two and a half years old. Heaven knows you couldn't forget that if you tried. And while she has more fashion sense than pretty much any other tot on the planet, there is one thing that seems to still give us all pause. No, it's not how her celebrity parents could have actually spawned her, nor is it how much is spent keeping her best-dressed and -tressed. Nah--it's that thing where she's still carrying around a baby bottle.
Yes, still. It seems like this first made the news when Suri was more than a year old and still using a bottle. Like sippy cups are so great. Now she's making headlines again for still sporting the baby bottle--when she's not even really a baby. My question is this: what is the big deal? My kid is nearly seventeen months old and he still occasionally uses a bottle. We've tried really hard to break him of the habit, but, for a while, he simply eschewed the sippy cup. He could use one, sure, but he couldn't get the same amount of milk from the sippy as from the bottle. So, we let him roll with it. Eventually, he switched over to predominantly using the sippy.
I know there are standards and practices for how we're supposed to raise our children. I know that guidelines have been set to help us make our way through this crazy maze called parenthood. But with issues as large as world hunger, violence, abuse and immunizations out there for us to tackle, why does anyone give a rat's butt about whether or not Suri Cruise still uses her baby bottle? I feel sorry for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes--they're busy people who are trying to raise a kid and have full-time jobs too. it ain't easy. And not every kid fits the model she's supposed to. Is it really the end of the world if Suri still uses a bottle?
Just last month, eldest Hanson brother Isaac and his wife Nikki had their second child, a son named James Monroe. That brought the total number Hanson babies to six, but not for long. Middle Hanson Taylor, 25, and his wife Natalie, 24, have announced that they are expecting their fourth child this winter. "Each of our kids has made life richer and more exciting," say Taylor and Natalie. "We can't wait for this guy to join the party."
The Hanson brothers aren't just hanging around making babies with their lovely wives, they are also gearing up for their Walk Around the World Tour, which begins next month. The guys aren't actually walking around the world, but they want to encourage their fans to do some walking of their own. With the goal of reaching a total of 24,902 miles (the equivalent of once around the globe), the Walk Around the World campaign is working to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa one mile at a time. To learn more about hosting a walk in your town or joining Hanson on their walk, check out Takethewalk.net.
Who ever could have imagined that those cute boys who sang MMMbop would turn out to be such great family men and philanthropists?
Although it appears to be happening with greater frequency, celebrities giving their children unusual names is not new, just ask Frank Zappa's kids: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan, or Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. What is rather unique is hearing what it was like growing up with such a unique moniker.
"My sisters, Scout and Talullah, had cute nicknames," said Rumer, who apparently had no such luck. "In school, kids would sing, 'Rumer, Rumer with a big hairy tumor.'"
Even aimless doodling on notebook paper didn't work out for the superstar celeb spawn. "When I was 12 and had crushes on guys, I'd put my first name with their last name, but it never sounded right. Rumer Depp? Nope."
Poor kid. She didn't even mention the complete absence of mass-produced personalized key rings available for Rumers at gift shops!
Have you seen these pictures of Lindsay Lohan's little sister, Ali? Look closely at her chest in both photos and you will notice a big difference. Taken just months apart, the latest picture shows Ali with undeniably larger breasts. This, of course, has the rumor mill flying. Ali has made no secret of wanting to be a star and her mom is obviously on-board with the plan. Did Dina Lohan really allow her fourteen year old daughter to get breast plants in an effort further her career? Or did Ali have one heck of a growth spurt over the summer?
Responding to a paparazzo who asked about the rumors, big sister Lindsay Lohan insists that their mother would never allow it and accuses the guy of being a pedophile for even asking.
I don't think the question makes the guy a pedophile, but it does ignore an obvious answer to the riddle that is Ali Lohan's breasts: a really great bra. Grown up girls wear them all the time and I know from personal experience that the right bra can transform an ordinary B-cup into a rather impressive C-cup. And while a padded, push-up bra is certainly better for a fourteen-year-old than breast implants, I still wouldn't let my kid wear one. But maybe Dina Lohan would.
Matt McConaughey's bongo drums aren't just for show; the man is earthy and he's not afraid to show it. His costars have to learn to put up with his "natural scent," since he refuses to wear deodorant. And after the birth of his son Levi in July, he saved the placenta to plant at a later date.
"It's going to be in the orchards," he told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "And it's going to bear some wonderful fruit." The new dad apparently got the idea from a trip to Australia, where he met a tribe who had a placenta tree where all new babies' placentas are buried.
Honestly, I don't care what people do with their children's placentas. But don't Matt and Levi's mom, Camila Alves live in a motorhome? Where do they keep that thing -- next to the frozen breastmilk in the freezer? I can't be sure, but I'm guessing sharing a home and parenthood with Matthew means never having a dull moment.
Unlike other celebrity parents with new babies, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have chosen not to sell pictures of their new daughter, Sunday Rose. In fact, they would prefer that the paparazzi not photograph her at all, and are asking for a little space while they spend time in Kidman's native Sydney. The couple used decoy cars and kept Sunday under wraps when they arrived in Australia recently.
"She's like a doll," Kidman told a Sydney radio station, "She's like a little, little thing. Just (don't photograph) right in her face or in our faces, because it's scary for her."
I remember when my girls were born that flash photography made them flinch, and I was constantly telling my husband to STOP TAKING PICTURES. (Thank goodness he didn't listen, or I wouldn't have any photo memories of those early days). I can't imagine what it would feel like if strangers were constantly jumping into our faces to snap photos and making my baby cry. New motherhood gives you that mama bear feeling, and Nicole is obviously very protective. Hopefully, the paps will give them the space they're looking for. I'm sure Sunday Rose is a gorgeous baby, but really, is it that important that we all get a glimpse of her?
In a week when teen sex is on everyone's mind come these two stories: Daniel Radcliffe (you know, Harry Potter) tells Details magazine that he lost his virginity at 16 to an older woman (the age difference, he says, "would freak some people out"), while Britney Spears' mother dishes on Britney's deflowering at 14, not by Justin Timberlake but by a hometown football stud.
All politics aside, I can't imagine how hard it is to be Bristol Palin right now. Shoved squarely into the media spotlight by her mother's VP dreams, she's had to endure scrutiny by a harsh and unforgiving media. At an age where wearing the wrong style of shirt to school can cause a teen to feel major embarrassment, Bristol is now being watched closely by an entire nation.
He's an actor, celebrity, philanthropist, father to some of the most famous offspring in the world. In his spare time, Brad Pitt also fancies himself a photographer, so much so that Angelina gave him a 
Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame is finding fatherhood the second time around to be a bit different than the first. For starters, he is clean and sober now. Wilson has made no secret of his past struggles with drub abuse and mental illness and his relationship with daughters Wendy, 38 and Carnie, 40 remains strained. "I don't talk to them very much. I used to. I recorded with them at one time, but I don't talk to them a lot," he says.
Perhaps you have heard of Katy Perry, an up and coming young singer who is working hard to shock and alarm parents while positioning herself as the anti-Miley Cyrus. A former Christian music singer, Perry is now getting all kids of attention for a song she wrote called I Kissed a Girl. I haven't heard the song, but a quick read of the 
I have a new favorite outfit. It's a brown dress that is nice and loose and hits just slightly above the knee. The first time I wore it, my seven-year-old looked me up and down and asked when I was going to finish getting dressed. I thought I was finished, but apparently a dress that hits just above the knee is, to her, a mini-dress and not suitable for person of my age. She suggested I complete the outfit with a nice pair of leggings.
Mr. Ripley might be talented, but he's is also getting grossly outnumbered by the fairer sex in his household! 
If you thought 'funny' lady Roseanne Barr had quietly disappeared to wherever it is that loud, opinionated comedians disappear to, you were wrong. She's still out there and she's still making her opinions known. A few days ago, she posted a rather 
Just last month, eldest Hanson brother Isaac and his wife Nikki 
Although it appears to be happening with greater frequency, 
Have you seen 
Matt McConaughey's bongo drums aren't just for show; the man is earthy and he's not afraid to show it. His costars have to learn to put up with his "natural scent," since 
Unlike other celebrity parents with new babies, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have chosen not to sell pictures of their new daughter, Sunday Rose. In fact, they would prefer that the paparazzi not photograph her at all, and are 
