Comments of the week: drug charges and smack talk

Sure, sure. The Emmys were Sunday. And we all could have weighed in on, say, "Mad Men's" Rich Sommer and Michael Gladis' pick-up tips or if the Emmys should go 3-D. But isn't it more fun to concentrate on the scandals?

This week in celebrity drug-charges news, people got way opinionated about Paris Hilton's and boyfriend Cy Waits' weekend arrest in Vegas (she for suspicion of possession of cocaine, he for DUI) after police smelled marijuana coming from their car -- even debating the merits of her "oh, this isn't mine" alibi and offering little sympathy when a spokesperson for Las Vegas' Wynn and Encore hotels fired Waits from his job as managing partner of the properties' nightclubs and banned Hilton from staying at those hotels. Oh no, where will the hotel heiress possibly stay next time she's in town?

Paris Hilton and that problematic purse [poll]

Paris Hilton reportedly told friends Saturday that the purse she was toting during her arrest the night before belonged to a friend. On Monday, her story allegedly shifted: Paris' purse, yes; Paris' cocaine, no. Heck, even if it had been gum, it wasn't hers.

But a Twitpic the heiress posted in July would seem to suggest the Chanel bag -- seen in paparazzi pictures of the Las Vegas traffic stop that resulted in Hilton's arrests on a felony drug possession charge -- indeed belonged to her.

The likely ruling-out of the "not mine" explanation seems to bring us back to the more sophisticated "I didn't notice the leftover packet of powdery white stuff in the bag when I jammed my big wad of cash into it" argument. Who knows? It's a pretty huge purse, with lots of room for losing things.

Is it just us, or is that illegal search defense looking better and better? 

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Whether it was actually Paris Hilton's purse the night she was arrested is a matter of some debate, but we can pretty much guarantee these are Paris Hilton shoes. She launched her spring line Aug. 18 in Las Vegas. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images for Paris Hilton Shoe Collection

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

Wynn bans Paris Hilton from resorts, fires Cy Waits [poll]

Paris Hilton faces a felony charge after Las Vegas arrest

Paris Hilton: Mug shots, and a word from her lawyer

Paris Hilton arrested for cocaine possession in Las Vegas

Wynn bans Paris Hilton from resorts, fires Cy Waits [poll]

Paris Hilton is no longer welcome at the Wynn or Encore resorts, a Wynn spokeswoman said Tuesday, and the socialite's nightclub-entrepreneur boyfriend Cy Waits has been ditched as a managing partner at the properties' Tryst and XS nightclubs. 

This comes in the wake of their arrests Friday on the Las Vegas Strip -- Waits on suspicion of DUI and Hilton on suspicion of cocaine possession, a low-grade felony. The two were en route to his home in Henderson, Nev., after partying at XS, and Hilton asked to use the restroom at the nearby Wynn after they were pulled over. It was near Wynn security that a police officer saw 0.8 gram of coke fall from her purse, according to the police report.

Hilton was released on her own recognizance and is due in court Oct. 27, facing the judge who ...

Paris Hilton faces a felony charge after Las Vegas arrest

Paris Hilton is facing a felony charge for her arrest on suspicion of cocaine possession, according to the police report about the Friday night incident in Las Vegas.

While she waited to see what happened with her boyfriend, Cy Waits -- he was arrested on suspicion of DUI -- she asked police if she could use a restroom at the nearby Wynn, according to the police report. Police agreed, saying in the report that removing her from the crowd that had formed would benefit their investigation.

Hilton was escorted to the Wynn security office bathroom, the report said, and when she went for lip balm in her purse, a bindle that was determined to contain 0.8 gram of cocaine fell out. Also in the purse: credit cards, $1,300 cash and a broken albuterol tablet that Hilton said were her possessions, plus Zig Zag rolling papers and some cosmetics that, along with the cocaine, she said were not hers.

According to TMZ, Hilton is telling people she loaned out the purse recently to a friend, who "probably" put the cocaine there.

Police told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the heiress received no special treatment, saying that because of crowding, about a quarter of suspects with nonviolent records are released on their own recognizance. Hilton spent about three hours in custody, though in isolation, because her celebrity might otherwise have been disruptive, police said.

In Nevada, a category E felony carries with it a sentence of one to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000; the court can also grant probation on a first offense.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department / Getty Images

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

Paris Hilton: Mug shots, and a word from her lawyer

Paris Hilton arrested for cocaine possession in Las Vegas

Paris Hilton: Mug shots, and a word from her lawyer

Paris Hilton's fate after her arrest Friday in Las Vegas on suspicion of cocaine possession "will be dealt with in the courts, not in the media, and I encourage people not to rush to judgment," her attorney David Chesnoff said in a statement to People.

That said, we present the 29-year-old's newest mug shot, plus 31-year-old boyfriend Cy Waits' police photo as well.

(Click here to launch a photo gallery of celebrity mug shots -- because, really, it's hard to get enough of them. Plus Paris' June 2007 booking photo is picture No. 17.)

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photos: Paris Hilton, left, and boyfriend Cy Waits, right, in booking photos released Aug. 28, 2010. Credit: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police / Associated Press

Related dispatch from the Ministry of Gossip:

Lindsay Lohan's mug shot -- because it's expected [poll]

Paris Hilton arrested for cocaine possession in Las Vegas

Paris Hilton was arrested late Friday night on suspicion of possession of cocaine after police noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the SUV she was in on the Las Vegas Strip and pulled the vehicle over, L.A. Now reports.

Cy Waits, Hilton's nightclub-entrepreneur boyfriend, also was with Hilton and was arrested on suspicion of drug-related DUI. Waits is the one who on Tuesday held a knife-wielding man at gunpoint outside Hilton's Sherman Oaks home until police arrived.

A crowd began to form around the arrest in progress after Hilton was recognized, according to Luxe Life. A small amount cocaine was allegedly found in her purse, though TMZ reports she's insisting now that the purse wasn't hers. She was released on her own recognizance after about three hours.

Waits and Hilton took a private jet from L.A. to Vegas on Friday afternoon. They'd been at the XS nightclub at the Encore that night, Luxe Life reports, and were en route to his home in Henderson, Nev., when they were arrested. Waits is an XS managing partner.

The smell of marijuana got Hilton caught up with the law in South Africa recently -- but that ...

Nathan Lee Parada charged in Paris Hilton break-in

The attempted break-in at Paris Hilton's house earlier this week turns out to have been a bit more dramatic than her "So scary" tweet revealed. Such is the minimalist nature of Twitter.

Not only were Hilton and her boyfriend, Cy Waits, awakened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday by a man with knives pounding on her windows and doors, the Las Vegas nightclub entrepreneur pulled a gun and confronted the would-be intruder outside, TMZ reports, ordering him to drop the knives and lie face-down until police arrived.

Shoot. How many boyfriends would even go check the I-think-I-heard-something noise in the wee hours of the morning, much less hold the noise at gunpoint? 

The Southern California man who was arrested outside Hilton's Sherman Oaks home, 31-year-old Nathan Lee Parada, was charged Thursday with one felony count of attempted residential burglary, says L.A. Now. He's not made the $50,000 bail, and TMZ says he's in custody on a psychiatric hold.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Los Angeles police detain Nathan Lee Parada, left, outside the home of Paris Hilton on Tuesday. Credit: Paris Hilton / Associated Press

You don't have to pound on any doors to get access to the Ministry's celebrity justice archives -- just click.

Man arrested outside Paris Hilton's home

Paris Hilton awoke Tuesday to a man with two big knives trying to break into her Sherman Oaks home, she said on Twitter, posting a picture of law enforcement folks who were out in her yard.

"So scary," she said.

Hilton's alarm system was activated, and police responded to a 911 call, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said. A man was taken into custody, and nobody was injured, according to CNN. Hilton told police that the man, reportedly in his 40s, woke her up as he banged on the windows of her home, KTLA said.

And, because it's Los Angeles, the KTLA news helicopter caught a shot of Paris out on her balcony, checking out the action -- wearing only a towel.

Hey, it's been hot, OK?

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Paris Hilton at the launch of her spring 2011 shoe line at a clothing industry convention in Las Vegas on Aug. 18. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images for Paris Hilton Shoe Collection

The celebrities and the cops cross paths all the time -- check out our celebrity justice archives.

For Paris Hilton, commerce is a girl's best friend

Paris Hilton channeled her inner media-saturated starlet Tuesday night, invoking the spirit of Marilyn Monroe to promote Tease, the socialite's 10th fragrance, at a party in L.A.

Hilton told "Entertainment Tonight" that she's very involved in development of her fragrances, with input in areas including what they smell like and what they will be called. (We're no experts, but those would seem to be a couple of significant areas.)

With Tease already a hot seller, according to Paris, and the folks in the background "energized" about the future of such "prestige products," the socialite's team is moving on with development of her 11th scent -- we hope, in the spirit of "11," it'll be one invoking the essence of someone who can keep counting after the fingers on both hands have been used. 

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Paris Hilton arrives at a party Tuesday at L.A.'s MyStudio to promote her new fragrance, Tease, which she says was inspired by Marilyn Monroe. Photo: Jason Merritt / Getty Images.

When Paris Hilton is around, you never know what aroma will waft by.

Paris Hilton released in South Africa after being detained on pot suspicion, rep says

Paris Hilton was released by South African authorities Friday after a brief court appearance, TMZ reports. She had been detained on suspicion of pot possession, as reported by our colleagues at the Fabulous Forum.

A rep for Hilton says authorities apologized to the heiress for misidentifying her, TMZ says.

Hilton was at the Brazil-Netherlands soccer match before she was detained outside the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, according to a Johannesburg radio station report. Hilton was, according to TMZ's source, part of a group and was not smoking weed.

Hilton appeared briefly in a special FIFA World Cup court around midnight local time.

Talk about a blow to the producers of "Locked Up Abroad."

-- Christie D'Zurilla

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Paris Hilton on a fashion runway in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 10, 2010. Credit: Mauricio Lima / AFP/Getty Images.