The Situation and rehab: 'Do not believe'? He meant believe

"Do NOT Believe," Mike Sorrentino — "Jersey Shore's" the Situation — said Wednesday of "embellished" reports that he was in rehab for substance abuse.

On Thursday, his Official Situation website doggedly repeated that "many sources have been falsely reporting stories about The Situation being in rehab" — yet the same article quoted him: "I have voluntarily taken steps to get control of a prescription medication problem."

Now that the Situation appears to be backpedaling with his "setting the record straight" effort, there's likely some back slapping going on over at TMZ, which broke the rehab story.

But how big of a problem is this problem for the "Jersey Shore" star? And are prescription meds his only problem?

TMZ and the Chicago Sun Times are alleging alcohol abuse. The Sun Times on Thursday cited an unnamed "associated" with some less than complimentary remarks on Sorrentino's "really nutso" behavior.

TMZ says Sorrentino was checked into Cirque Lodge in Utah. The lodge is a celeb-favored spot for rehab and, as CNN reported in 2009, guests have included Melanie Griffith, Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen and Kirsten Dunst.

As for the Situation, he's not fessing up to anything but the prescription drugs: "I have spent the past several weeks getting treatment for this problem and recuperating from my work and appearance schedule."

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Photo: Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino in 2010. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times.

Flavor Flav opens House of Flavor restaurant in Las Vegas

Flavor Flav, rapper and reality TV star, has a new takeout restaurant in Las Vegas: Flavor Flav House of Flavor, which held its official grand opening Thursday.

What's on the menu, coming from the Public Enemy member with a degree from culinary school?

"My secret (shhhh) fried chicken recipe. That’s the star," he told Pop & Hiss. "But we have a red velvet waffle too, and everyone goes 'ohhhh' when they hear that. Go on, you can say it."

It's not his first restaurant outing: Flav's Fried Chicken in Iowa was his debut in the biz, but he shut that down when it wasn't being run right. However, he's opening a new FFC in Detroit in April.

The "Flavor of Love" star differentiated the joints in a chat with Business Week: "The name is different. FFC is fried chicken and House of Flavor is, you know, a house of flavor. Both are still by the same person, which is myself."

Flav, who with Chuck D has a new Public Enemy album coming out in August, told Pop & Hiss he could possibly do an updated, "Happy Days"-inspired reality show at the joint some day, but until then, the place is filled with "things showcasing my career, a lot of pictures up of me and my celebrity friends.

"I'll wait until we expand to put all my clocks on the wall."

Yeaaaah boyyyy!

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Photo: Rapper Flavor Flav outside his Flavor Flav House of Flavor Take Out Restaurant in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images.

 

 

Clint Eastwood on reality TV? Yes, but not in the spotlight

Clint Eastwood, reality TV star? Let's immediately purge the image of Dirty Harry inviting us along for a bikini waxing and see if we can get this story straight.

"Mrs. Eastwood & Company" is in fact headed for E!, home of all things Kardashian, Show Tracker reported Tuesday. But the emphasis is definitely on the "Mrs.," with Mr. Eastwood swinging through only for some cameo appearances and not a starring role.

Ten episodes will follow the missus (Clint's second wife, having taken on that title in 1996), their daughter Morgan Eastwood, 15, and her stepdaughter Francesca Fisher-Eastwood, 18, as they move between homes in Carmel and Los Angeles.

"Nothing is more important to me than family -- no matter how you define that," Dina Eastwood said in a statement. "People might be surprised by how we live our lives and our unconventional approach, and I also believe that it's hard not to fall in love with my band, 'Overtone.' "

Wait ... Clint Eastwood, groupie? That makes our day.

"Mrs. Eastwood & Company" premieres May 20.

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Photo: Clint Eastwood in February. Credit: Cliff Owen / Associated Press

 

 

Jon Hamm: Kim Kardashian comments 'not personal,' but not wrong

As the Jon Hamm-Kim Kardashian "feud" goes on -- and we use that term very lightly -- we can be sure that one thing the "Mad Men" star said is true: "Stupidity is certainly celebrated." And we're apparently in the middle of a party.

"It's surprising to me that it has become remotely a story," Hamm told E! News. "I don't know Ms. Kardashian, I know her public persona."

"I would never say anything personal about anyone that I have not met," the actor told "Access Hollywood" on Tuesday night, saying that his remarks had been taken out of context.

Here's Hamm's Elle UK comment, minus the context, minus an amusing expletive: "'Whether it's Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being ... [an] idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you're rewarded significantly."

That's not Hamm's only opinion on not-so-nice things Hollywood types profit from. "This industry is populated by a lot of narcissistic, mean-spirited, horrible people who get rewarded for being narcissistic, mean-spirited and horrible," he told Playboy in an interview for its April issue.

(Shoot -- stupid is starting to look like a compliment.)

Parse the Kardashian comment and the defense Hamm presented to E! makes some sense: "What I said was meant to be more on pervasiveness of something in our culture, not personal, but she took offense to it and that is her right."

Kardashian on Monday had noted that although she did not know Hamm, she respected him and believed he was entitled to his opinion. However, she said: "Calling someone who runs their own businesses, is a part of a successful TV show, produces, writes, designs, and creates, 'stupid,' is in my opinion careless."

So who's stupid now? There are so many choices:

Was it Hamm, for invoking gossip hot-buttons like Kardashian and Paris Hilton? Or Kardashian for taking time to take offense? Or folks in the media for noticing Hamm's Elle UK quote in the flood of "Mad Men" press and putting it under a microscope with little context?

Hamm, whose series starts up again March 25, would choose the latter. "I said what I said" about the phenomenon of reality TV, he told "Access Hollywood," and he stands by it. "I just wish it would have been reported correctly."

Meanwhile, Paris Hilton is actually looking pretty smart in all this, for going happily on with her Twitter life and not saying a thing.

Hamm is, however, playing it very smart in one area: He tells Playboy "it's been awhile" since he's had sex outside.

"In the era of TMZ, I don’t think outdoor sex is a particularly good idea. It's one of those things that sound way better than they actually are. There's something not sexy about all the twigs and bugs and sand. You end up with stuff in places you don’t want it."

Wise man.

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Photo: Jon Hamm arrives for the PaleyFest 2012 panel discussion about the show "Mad Men" on Tuesday in Beverly Hills. Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press

 

Jessica Simpson: Very pregnant, sexually 'unstoppable'

Jessica Simpson is obviously very pregnant, and now we know she's obviously very ... affectionate as well.

"I am definitely feeling 'intimate.' I'm kind of unstoppable at the moment!," the "Fashion Star" mentor said Tuesday on Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show.

As some might recall, the 2010 movie "Unstoppable" featured a runaway freight train loaded with hazardous materials, careening toward populated areas with a promise of certain explosive disaster. It also reminds us a bit of that 2010 Playboy interview in which singer-songwriter John Mayer famously referred to sex with Simpson as "sexual napalm."

And talk about explosive — 'cause Simpson had no problem doing so. 

"Like the big 'O' is like the biggest 'O' ever," she said. Good thing fiancé Eric Johnson is "always ready."

Ah, motherhood.

When it comes to the baby girl's name, by the way, Simpson is staying mum until the little one is born. With "weeks" left in the pregnancy that has seen her naked on the cover of Elle at 170 pounds, she said she's used to it, but "over it."

"I'm ready to carry her in my arms and not my stomach."

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Photo: Jessica Simpson on the premiere episode of "Fashion Star," which was filmed before she was pregnant and airs Tuesday night. Credit: Tyler Golden / Associated Press

 

Snooki, Jionni LaValle make it official: Pregnant and engaged

Snooki and Jionni Lavalle are engaged to be married and expecting a baby together, the "Jersey Shore" star confirmed Wednesday, and thank goodness 'cause the suspense was killing us, just killing us.

The couple found out she was pregnant right after New Year's, meaning her first thought was, "I've been drinking!" she told Us Weekly. "I was worried. It was New Year's Eve and we were in Vegas, so I did go crazy."

And we were going a bit crazy while we waited for Ms. Nicole Polizzi's cover story to come out.

First she stepped out Friday out in a baggy outfit, carrying a big purse, an outfit preferred by those trying to hide a baby bump. She then appeared in public Monday with an engagement-ring hunk of bling on her engagement-ring finger -- check it out via People -- after an unnamed source told the mag that she and LaValle had gotten engaged.

But by Wednesday Snooki was telling the story her way: "I have different priorities now," she told Us. "I don't care what anybody else thinks. As long as I know I'm ready and he's ready."

Added boyfriend LaValle: "We are not going to screw this up."

Away from print, LaValle tweeted his thanks, plus apologies for the runaround: "Thank You everyone!!" he said. "Sorry about that wait but glad everyones happy!! Nicole and I are real excited!! Our baby is going to be #ShortnTan"

But that wasn't quite all from the boyfriend who doesn't often step into the spotlight.

"For All u jealous, disrespectful haters out there, u see what u wana see on tv! My fiancé and I n JR are going to be so happy! #youllgeturs."

Perhaps that last bit should have been addressed directly to Snooki's ex-boyfriend Emilio Masella, who on Monday actually took time out of his day to explain to TMZ that when he said, "I hope she has a miscarriage," he really meant that he hoped she wasn't pregnant.

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Photo: Jionni LaValle and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles in August. Credit: Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young find post-'Idol' romance

Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young are stepping out as a couple, but the "American Idol" alums didn't fall for each other on the set of the hit Fox reality show -- the musical duo actually met years later as co-stars in the Broadway revival of “Hair.”

Here's the shocker. They actually started dating back in 2010, two whole years ago, and are just now talking about it. Of course, there were a few hints along the way. The couple were snapped together on more than one red carpet, but considering their "Idol" roots (she was the runner-up on season three; he came in seventh on season five) and "Hair" past, no one paid much attention.

DeGarmo, 24, tells People they became smitten when they met in New York and a friendship "blossomed into a beautiful relationship."

Young, 31, joked that seeing DeGarmo disrobe in "Hair" was all it took. "I was already interested in her as a person before I got to see her with no clothes on," he said. "But [that] sealed the deal."

After a brief time apart (DeGarmo was touring with the cast of "9 to 5" while Young was back in Los Angeles) the two are in the same city and living under the same roof.

Now, when DeGarmo isn't busy with her CBS soap "The Young and the Restless," she and Young are writing songs together. The couple, along with some friends, started the group All Access and recently received a Grammy nomination for co-writing "It's Not Over" for fellow "Idol" alum Chris Daughtry.

"She's my best friend," Young tells People. "To be able to dive in with Diana and help create songs that [tell] her story is amazing."

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Photos: Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo. Credit: Wireimage, left; Dan Steinberg / Associated Press, right.

Khloe Kardashian defends her Kardashian-ness, with mom Kris' help

Khloe Kardashian Odom is the daughter of Kris Jenner and the late Robert Kardashian, she says, and don't you forget it.

"The audacity you have to mention my father’s name like this!," Khloe said Wednesday in a pair of messages on Twitter. "Should be ashamed of urself! I let a lot of things slide but this one is really low… YOU ARE DISGUSTING! (yes you know who YOU are)."

The "you" she seemed to be referring to would be Robert Kardashian's second and third wives, who insinuated to Star magazine that Khloe was in fact not Robert's biological child. Kris and Robert Kardashian divorced in 1990; Khloe was born in 1984.

"Khloe is not his kid -- he told me that after we got married," said Jan Ashley, the woman who married Robert after his divorce from Kris, speaking in the upcoming Star (via Radar Online).  Ellen Kardashian, Robert's last wife, whom he dated for six years and married just two months before his death, piled on as well. "Robert did question the fact that Khloe was his," Ellen said. "Any normal man would if they knew their wife had cheated on him."

Kris, who married Bruce Jenner in 1991, admitted in her recent memoir that she'd had an affair full of "wild sex" while she was married, with Robert filing for divorce shortly after he caught the two of them at a restaurant together. Robert Kardashian died at age 59, in 2003.

"So stupid," Kris Jenner told E! Online. "All so silly. Just another day!!!" The family's publicist also issued a denial to E!, calling the allegations "absolutely ridiculous and not true."

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Photos: Robert Kardashian in 1994, and Khloe Kardashian in December. Credits: Associated Press

 

Rachel Uchitel is pregnant, expecting baby with hubby Matt Hahn

Rachel Uchitel, the woman who helped send Tiger Woods into that tree during Thanksgiving week 2009 (and eventually over an emotional, marital and professional cliff) is pregnant -- and sharing her baby-bump joy via Twitter.

Uchitel and new husband Matt Hahn posted pictures on her Twitter account late Tuesday, with the captions "Expecting big things for 2012... Five down, Four months to go..." and, with the photo above, "@MattyHahn checking out my baby bump at 5 months."

Uchitel, 36, and Hahn, 26, got married quietly in October, a month that if we count backward is, well, less than five months ago. Hmm.

Well, never mind the math, unless you want to add up some dollars. The "Celebrity Rehab 4" alum has reportedly registered for some pricey baby gifts, including cashmere bedding and a $1,000 stroller. Though the couple did not reveal the baby's sex, the nature of the registry reveals Uchitel has a girly bun in the oven, according to the Daily Mail.

The former nightclub executive (Uchitel said she's never been a mere manager or a hostess), is currently studying for her private investigator's license, and working on cases while she's in school. "I do that three to four days a week and I love it," she told Celebrity Cafe. "It's so much fun! It gives me a purpose, you know.

"It gives me something to wake up and do every day and be really happy about."

Come April, she should have a little lady to be happy about as well.

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Left photo: Rachel Uchitel on "Celebrity Rehab" in 201. Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Right photo: Rachel Uchitel with Matt Hahn on Tuesday night flaunting her baby bump. Credit: Twitter

'19 Kids and Counting': Duggars name unborn girl Jubilee Shalom

The Duggar family, stars of reality TV's "19 Kids and Counting," announced Monday that a memorial service will be held Wednesday for the unborn child Michelle Duggar miscarried Sunday night.

Jubilee Shalom Duggar was the name chosen for the girl who would have been the 20th addition to the family, according to a report in People magazine.

After finding out last week during a routine ultrasound that the baby they'd expected to arrive in April had died, the Duggars elected to allow the miscarriage to occur naturally. It was Michelle's second miscarriage; the first happened during her second pregnancy.

Michelle Duggar, matriarch of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," was taken to the hospital Sunday night when she started feeling lightheaded after the miscarriage occurred, People said. After being taken care of at home to that point, she was expected to be released from the hospital Monday night.

A private service was held Sunday at the Duggar home for friends and family members, who also are invited to the memorial on Wednesday.

"As our whole family is grieving, we also know that God promises to work all things for good in our lives," Jim Bob Duggar wrote last week on the family's website. "We rest in knowing, that even though our child has departed this life that we will one day see each other again in heaven."

He echoed those sentiments in a letter shared with People: ""We have had many tears today. This is life, and I understand that we are going though something that many others have. ... Our prayer is that Jubilee's passing will help us all realize that this life is short, and our relationship with Jesus is the most important thing."

The couple had announced they were expecting baby No. 20 in November on the "Today" show.

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Photo: Michelle 'Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar visiting baby Josie in the hospital in 2010. Credit: TLC