Kara DioGuardi sued over car accident she wasn't in

Kara DioGuardi is being sued over a 2010 car accident, but there's a twist. She wasn't in either of the cars that were involved. Say what?

It turns out that Christina Kline, a former employee of the onetime "American Idol" judge, was behind the wheel of a 2005 BMW involved in a collision with Joel Postorino. Postorino has now filed a lawsuit claiming he suffered neck injuries when Kline rear-ended his Porsche at a Los Angeles intersection last May.

Kara's rep tells TMZ, "When Ms. Kline left Kara's company in November 2009, she was asked to remove Kara's name from the registration, but never did. She was in a car accident in May 2010 that Kara did not know about until yesterday when she was served papers."

The site also learned through Postorino's lawyer, Ira Fierberg, that his client will take the case before a judge in July and is asking for about $250,000 in damages.

All the drama comes the same week that the "Platinum Hit" judge is promoting her new memoir, "A Helluva High Note."

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Reports: Kara DioGuardi out at 'Idol,' Carrie Underwood says she doesn't know who's in

-- Emily Christianson

Photo: Kara DioGuardi at the 2010 CMT Awards. Credit: Rick Diamond / Getty Images

Kara DioGuardi describes molestation, date rape in her memoir

Kara DioGuardi is getting very personal in her new memoir "A Helluva High Note," revealing stories of molestation, date rape and sexual harassment from her past.

First, there was a family friend's teenage son, who repeatedly molested her when she was just 11. "On one particular day, he took me into the back shed of his house and put his hands all over my breasts and vagina," she describes in the book. "I remember freezing and not knowing what to do."

Years later, with her songwriting career on the rise, the former "American Idol" judge says she was date-raped. DioGuardi describes how a friendly dinner with a "fairly known producer" turned ugly. "[W]ithin a few hours, he was on top of me, pumping, sweating, and speaking to me in Spanish, not a word of which I could understand."

Sexual harassment came next. In her memoir she describes how a "hugely successful artist" took her on a songwriting trip. Rather than working on his music, she says, he spent the trip "watching Russian porn, scavenging around the kitchen for food [and] leering at two strippers ... as they performed sex acts in the living room."

She tried to keep a professional relationship with the artist, but finally quit after an incident where he tried to force her to touch his privates.

Today, DioGuardi is busy with "Platinum Hit," her new Bravo show that premieres May 30, and hopes to start a family with husband Mike McCuddy. That's why she gave up on "Idol" and asked to be let out of her contract, she said.

"I wanted a child and there was no way I could get pregnant under the stress of 18-hour work days and live TV," she writes. "I had undergone three unsuccessful rounds of IVF during Season 9."

"Leaving was painful and there will always be a part of me that wanted to stay. But my desire to be in control of my destiny was larger than my need to be a household name."

RELATED:

Kara DioGuardi on posing nude for Allure, her husband's support, accepting her body

Reports: Kara DioGuardi out at 'Idol,' Carrie Underwood says she doesn't know who's in

Ashley Judd shares stories of sexual abuse, drugs and neglect in 'All That Is Bitter and Sweet'

-- Emily Christianson

Photo: Kara DioGuardi. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times.

Reports: Kara DioGuardi out at 'Idol,' Carrie Underwood says she doesn't know who's in

Kara DioGuardi has reportedly been fired from "American Idol," according to a TMZ source, with a reprieve possible only if a rumored deal with Jennifer Lopez falls through. This right after Ellen DeGeneres announced her departure.

Getting fired, with one chance to be saved? Sounds a little bit like what happened to big Mike Lynche on the most recent season of the singing competition. And we know how that worked out for him.

Lopez was the big name reported Thursday, though that's still unconfirmed, as is the rumor that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith would be pulling up a chair. Too bad the Howard Stern rumors are so old -- he has long dark hair too.

Meanwhile,  Season 4 "Idol" champ Carrie Underwood put in her two cents' worth after performing on "Today" on Friday morning. Said the newlywed: "Everybody's like, 'Do you know anything?' I'm like, 'I know what you know. I have nothing.'" She knows nothing except, when it comes to "Idol," "You never know what's going to happen."

See Underwood perform on "Today," after the break. 

-- Christie D'Zurilla

PREACH IT! Well, would you look at that -- nekkid celebrities

It has come to our attention that a slew, nay, a spate of stars have been doffing their clothes and cavorting about naked in front of camera lenses of late, and for all manner and class of purpose. (Why these nude shoots inspire us to talk like clients in a Sherlock Holmes tale, we couldn’t tell you.)

We already know about Kara DioGuardi. Now add to the list Ricky Martin, who went nekkid for a video he made a few years back but didn’t release until now, and Kim Kardashian, who posed for Harper's Bazaar wearing nothing but her own satiny ego. Martin lolls about on glowing Plexiglas and gets tattoos while nude. Kardashian is just naked, which, for the record, is plenty entertaining enough.

It should also be noted that a few other stars are choosing to go bare about the face and neck; Jessica Simpson has posed for a closeup on the cover of Marie Claire completely devoid of cosmetics, with her hair, as the magazine put it, air-dried. Kardashian also has said that her photo was not computer altered. (Back in 2002, actress Jamie Lee Curtis blasted a hole in the self-satisfied fashion world by appearing in More magazine without any retouching.)

Of course the fans are leaping up and down and celebrating all this daring nakedness ...

Kara DioGuardi on posing nude for Allure, her husband's support, accepting her body

"American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi grabbed a few headlines Thursday, and not for her contestant critiques. The singer-songwriter posed nude for Allure magazine, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and other showbiz femmes.

"I've struggled with my body and eating, and I've finally gotten to a place where I'm comfortable in my own skin," DioGuardi said Thursday at the G Star Raw press showroom in Beverly Hills, where she scored designs from the fall-winter 2010 collection.

"I'm 40 years old, and I'm going to be 60 or 70 someday, and I'm going to look back on it and go, 'I'm glad I captured that moment where I felt really good about myself.'"

DioGuardi's husband, Mike McCuddy, certainly had no qualms with the bare shot.

"My husband actually was very supportive of me doing it. He's an artist, and in the end we all hoped it would look good," she said.

Aside from appreciating her body, DioGuardi identified ...

Kara DioGuardi on Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest: 'Big brother, little brother'

Kara DioGuardi's life, as fellow judge Randy Jackson might say, "is hot, dawg."

Her house is for sale, her dad's running for Senate, and she's been reliving last season's bikini moment with a photo shoot for Women's Health magazine -- plus her pointed remarks are keeping her on top of Idol Tracker's "American Idol" Judge Power Ranking.

Still, "Fox & Friends" needed to know Friday: When it comes to Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest, was what happened this week real or more like professional wrestling?

"I know that that's the way they are," DioGuardi said of the what-the-heck-was-that banter between the two. "It's like big brother, little brother. If that was real I would have definitely been leaning the other way!"

About her busy life -- the songwriter says she picked up her work ethic from her dad, Joseph DioGuardi, who announced this week that he's running for Senate in New York.

One thing she learned, growing up in the '80s as the child of a then-congressman: "Get in trouble, and you're going to get in a lot more trouble!"

Meet Andrew Fenlon, so you can hate him as much as Kara DioGuardi does

OK, we know that editing has a lot to do with what we see on "American Idol" audition episodes. It's why -- as if facing the choice between a tractor beam and a cattle prod -- we're guaranteed to love some contestants and hate others.

But sometimes, just sometimes, the contestant is Andrew Fenlon. And when this type of contestant appears, the "Idol" producers must do a tiny little dance, thinking they've died and gone to this-guy's-a-tool heaven.

Just watch the video above, and enjoy it as Kara DioGuardi absolutely loses her mind. Victoria Beckham too. Because it's funny. And because you probably don't like Andrew either.

Perhaps Simon Cowell summed it up best: "You've got very, very bad energy."