Note by Celebitchy: Both JayBird and Helen covered this story in their unique way. Here’s JayBird’s take, to be followed by Helen’s

James Blunt tells GQ that he once sold his sister on eBay. And not in that funny, joking way, he really did sell her. Apparently he’s not quite as big a jerk as this makes him sound.

“I was waiting for my first album to come out and ended up selling pretty much everything I owned on eBay. I had a mild addiction.

“Anyway, I came back to the flat where my sister was staying and she was crying because she couldn’t get to a funeral in Ireland.

“The planes were on strike, the ferry was out of season and there were no trains. I ended up whacking it on eBay, ‘Damsel in distress seeks knight in shining armour! Desperate to get to a funeral in Southern Ireland, please help!’”

[From London Net]

While this makes him sound a little off kilter (who in the world wants to go to a funeral with someone you’ve never met That your brother found on eBay And paid for you) it’s sweet in a weird way. Turns out the guy who won James Blunt’s sister was wealthy enough not just to “buy” her, but also had his own helicopter that choppered them to the funeral. God I hope they didn’t land it next to the church or something. Anyway, it turns out that the pair fell in love, and they’re getting married this summer. So in a way, Blunt’s eBay addiction helped his sister find true love. Or buy true love. Whichever. Who says brothers don’t look out for you

Helen’s take:

James Blunt may be the ultimate sensitive crooner - but doesn’t seem to quite make it to that level of sensitivity behind the music. He sold his sister to the highest bidder on eBay.

This is really hard to explain, so here’s what he had to say about it.

“The stupidest thing I’ve ever sold is my sister, on eBay.
“I was waiting for my first album to come out and ended up selling pretty much everything I owned on eBay. I had a mild addiction.
“Anyway, I came back to the flat where my sister was staying and she was crying because she couldn’t get to a funeral in Ireland. “The planes were on strike, the ferry was out of season and there were no trains. I ended up whacking it on eBay, ‘Damsel in distress seeks knight in shining armour! Desperate to get to a funeral in Southern Ireland, please help!’
“The bids flooded in and the guy who won had a helicopter. He flew her to the funeral.
“That was three years ago, this summer they’re getting married!”

[From NZ Herald]

This is probably a story I would have kept to myself. Probably for the same reason James kept it to himself until now - he knows it’s not really part of the sexy singer-songwriter mantle to sell your relatives, no matter how good the cause. I wonder what the final bid was At least she liked the guy, how awkward would it be to be stuck with someone you couldn’t tolerate, in a helicopter, when he had paid for the privilege

James Blunt’s music doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I’ve always kind of liked him after seeing this on Australian television a year ago.

ANDREW DENTON: That song you just sang, ‘Goodbye My Lover’ was, for you on the album, the most important song. That was the one about the girl who was the one. Have you sung her out of your system

JAMES BLUNT: I’ve sung it a lot. No, it hasn’t got me the girl back, but I’m sure it will get me laid.

I wonder how many times it got him laid No, no I don’t. Just keep on being miserable James, it seems to work for you.

 [Date: 11-Jul-07 ]

Pregnant Charlotte Church, 21, has thrown her fianc Gavin Henson out of their home after discovering that he’s been cheating on her. The classically trained singer and television host wasn’t going to stand for that kind of treatment. Henson, a rugby player, broke Charlotte’s heart by cheating on her with Tracy Donnelly, a shop assistant in Belfast. The two met at a nightclub called Thompson’s Garage after one of Henson’s matches.

Church obviously isn’t any condition to go drinking at clubs, but apparently that hasn’t held Henson back from making sure he still has a good time.

Tracy alleges Gavin invited her back to the La Mon Hotel and Country Club on the outskirts of Belfast where they exchanged kisses under a table in the banqueting suite.

‘It was a drunken snog, or two, or three,’ says Tracy. ‘Nothing for Charlotte to worry about. I mean, come on, who doesn’t get up to these cheeky little things

‘When we left each other I didn’t take his number but he took mine. Needless to say I never heard from him again.’”

[From Now Magazine]

If my boyfriend drunkenly kissed a girl and then invited her back to a hotel, he’d be looking at the business end of a hissy fit. The People UK referred to Church as “Notoriously-jealous Charlotte.” Right, because only notoriously jealous people would have a problem with their boyfriends kissing other girls. How could someone who’s just a little bit famous, or even dating someone who’s just a little bit famous, think that they wouldn’t be caught I mean this girl ran to the press about it right away how could you expect anything less

This Tracy Donnelly sure has a high opinion of herself, despite her behavior. Some of her best quotes from her interview:

“Every woman in the place was swarming around him but I stayed well clear. About midnight he came over and said ‘These girls are really annoying me. They just want to talk to me because I’m famous’”

“When we snogged it was exciting but I think he knew that he’d done something wrong. But it happened all the same again and again and again. There was never a question of sex, I don’t know if it crossed his mind or not, but I’m not that kinda girl.

“People may think that my speaking out will ruin Gavin and Charlotte’s relationship but I doubt it. It was a drunken snog or two. Who doesn’t do it Although I guess he should be more careful.”

[From The People UK]

Well I guess she was wrong when she said that she doubts what she did will ruin Charlotte’s relationship. How could someone do that to another girl let alone someone who is pregnant That’s just so far beyond the line. According to Hollyscoop, Charlotte has now locked Gavin out of their home, refusing to listen to his apologies and excuses. Charlotte’s mother has been calling Henson and screaming at him. Good for her! Apparently the guy has a history of drunken flirting, which probably explains Charlotte’s “notorious jealousy,” with good reason. There’s no point in staying with someone that flirts and/or cheats every time they have a drink. She’s 21, which is not an incredibly mature age, but it’s not like she’s a desperate teenager either. She has the resources to take care of herself and her baby, and she should do just that - and forget about this loser.

Header image via Hollyscoop.

 [Date: 11-Jul-07 ]

Our favorite hunky puerto rican actor, Amaury Nolasco, made famous by his role as Sucre in Prison Break, was recently captured shirtless on the beach. We have only one comment: hot!

Just for good measure, check these photos out too:

This one looks like a passport photo, albeit a very good one:

“Oh yeah, it’s you baby!”

Heh, this guy is cute. Baby face, a nice body, and a great smile! Plus tall and dark!

- Lindsay Lohan looking gorgeous at her birthday party (it’s just a link, it’s just a link) [DListed]
- Paris Hilton surfing in Hawaii (just a link) [Hollywood Rag]
- Ashley Tisdale bikini pictures [Drunken Stepfather]
- Zach Braff and Drew Barrymore [Socialite’s Life]
- Eddie Murphy got dumped! [Bossip]
- Uma Thurman with her kids [I’m Not Obsessed]
- Mandy Moore in Blender Magazine [ICYDK]
- Roberto Cavalli pulls the “don’t you know who I am” trick to get an iPhone [Leave Um Alohan]
- Coco Arquette is freaking cute [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
- Is Patrick Swayze a GILF I guess he would have to have grandkids, or even kids, for that. Some plastic surgery would help too. [Mollygood]
- Christie Brinkley outside divorce court [Bastardly]
- Elton John throws a diva fit when told he has to walk 50 yards [Seriously OMG! WTF]
- Kate Hudson going to the Dior couture show [PopSugar]
- John Travolta says that Hairspray isn’t a gay film [The Blemish]

And your daily dose of politics. (Let me know if you guys enjoy the occasional political cartoon as I have a subscription with this service.)
- Bush takes time off fishing to commute “Scooter” Libby’s sentence [Metadish]

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch. Illustration licensed from CagleCartoons.com

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

I really enjoy these Jude Law drunk pictures. This is the second time Jude Law has been photographed out looking tipsy recently, and the last set came out just two weeks ago. He was leaving the Cabaret club in London last night and you can see the serious look on his face as he tries to concentrate on walking. At least someone else is driving him home.

Jude Law recently threw his ex wife and mother of his four children, Sadie Frost, a 42nd birthday party with a cake that said “Sexy Sadie.” He is said to be planning a safari vacation with her and their children. He also resisted the advances of his longterm on-and now mercifully-off girlfriend, Sienna Miller, at the O2 Wireless festival in London a couple weeks ago.

Thanks to WENN for these pics.

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

Articles in this week’s Star Magazine and the National Enquirer say a new book about JFK’s children, American Legacy: The Story of John & Caroline Kennedy by C. David Heymann claims that JFK Jr. was taking narcotics for an ankle injury, and that those drugs coupled with the fact that he was drinking on the night he crashed his plane would have impaired his ability to fly.

It also contains the bombshell that Kennedy flew into the path of an American Airlines flight before his plane crashed:

The book - which relies on eyewitness accounts and never-before released government documents - reveals that Kennedy strayed into the flight path of American Airlines Flight 1484, carrying 128 passengers and six crew members, shortly before his fatal crash.

Control tower personnel could not contact Kennedy by radio, because he was not responding. At the last minute, the American flight swerved to avert a mid-air collision.

Heymann writes that Kennedy was taking Vicodin, a narcotic he had been prescribed for pain from surgery on an ankle he broke while para-gliding on June 1, a month and a half before his fatal accident.

At a service station near the airport before his flight, Kennedy was spotted by executive and pilot Roy Stoppard who noticed Kennedy was carrying an opened bottle of white wine.

[From The National Enquirer print edition, July 9th, 2007]

The NTSB report concluded that Kennedy’s crash was the result of pilot error. Kennedy was said to have misjudged the altitude as there were hazy conditions with no visual reference, overcorrected and sent his high-performance plane into a spin which probably knocked him unconscious.

Back when JFK Jr. crashed his plane I was dating a guy who was taking private pilot lessons at Caldwell airport in NJ where JFK Jr., his wife Caroline Bessette, and her sister Lauren set off on that fateful night.

Anyway I e-mailed him for his take on this story, as I know he followed it closely at the time and since he’s a pilot he has more insight into it than I do.

Here’s how he explains the NTSB report:

When you fly in blackout conditions (dark night, no moon, fog), you have absolutely no reference to the horizon except for your HSI (horizontal situation indicator). Your inner ear measures acceleration, so if you, say, turn around to talk to your sister-in-law and then turn back front, you could feel like the plane has changed attitude even when it hasn’t.

Something like that probably happened with JFK. He felt the plane was in an ascending turn or flying level when really he had put it into a descending turn. At some point he saw the HSI and altimeter and, not realizing his descending turn had already gotten the plane close to its never-exceed speed (VNE), he overcorrected and “hammerheaded,” which probably knocked him unconscious. At this point the plane stalled, rolled on its back, and headed straight into the Atlantic.

[E-mailed from my friend DB]

In the Star Magazine article about the upcoming book, it is said that author Heymann claims that he had a secret autopsy performed on Kennedy’s remains and that they showed he had three times the legal limit of booze in his system. “His tissue and lungs had a very high level of alcohol. I sent the report to toxicologists, who say he had three times the legal limit in his system!”

My friend DB points out that more experienced pilots than JFK Jr. decided not to fly that night due to low visibility. He may have been drunk, but there are many other factors that could explain his tragic plane crash.

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

ER cutie Shane West has been the subject of gay rumors since he arrived at a party in March with actor Ashton Holmes. Anonymous tips to Queerty had him making out at two different parties with a guy that fit Holmes’ description. (I’m not attempting to out the guy and I personally don’t believe that anyone should do that intentionally as that’s someone’s personal business and can affect an actor’s career. There’s a difference between reporting on a story and maliciously going after someone. I know to me it doesn’t matter, and I always thought people may as well come out. Crazy Days and Nights has a good post about how it can ruin an actor/actresses chance to play straight characters, which made me reconsider.)

Anyway there’s a questionable article in the National Enquirer this week about Shane West’s supposed 11 year affair with a porn star, who says she broke it off with him when he wanted threesomes with other women. If that doesn’t say he’s a red-blooded straight guy, what does

Of course it’s filled with enthusiastic quotes from the buxom brunette about how into sex he is. The tone of the article is so over the top that it sounds comical:

ER star Shane West has had a secret 11-year-affair with a porn star, The Enquirer has learned exclusively.

“Shane loves sex, maybe too much!” says 31-year-old Dorian Grant.

The two broke up earlier this year because, Dorian says, Shane wanted her to bring other women into the bedroom.

“Our relationship ended because he couldn’t get his way and have a threesome,” says Dorian, who has starred in such movies as “Jiggly Queens 2,” “Busty Blondes in Heat 6″ and “Beautiful Bosom’s Bound…”

“We began seeing each other, but I quickly realized he was only interested in using my ‘talents’ and didn’t want to take me out on regular dates,” said Dorian. “Shane treated me like a porn star all of the time, and that made me angry.”

Shane would visit her at her home strictly for sex, she says, and she finally became fed up with being his booty call.

“Most of the time he couldn’t even wait to get to the bedroom,” she said “Shane wanted to do it everywhere - on the floor, the couch of a table - it didn’t matter to him. At first I thought he was just turned on by me or really liked me, but the moment he was finished he was out the door.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 9, 2007]

Isn’t that a great stage name, Dorian Grant The fact that it’s a reference to an Oscar Wilde novel about debauchery makes the whole story seem that much more credible.

Grant is a real porn star (link is to IMDB and is safe for work) who has gone by that name for some time, but whether this story is true or not is up to question, and she probably could use the publicity. Maybe that’s just how porn stars talk. Shane’s publicist says he’s never had a relationship with Grant, but she supposedly passed a lie detector test, according to The Enquirer.

According to Wikipedia, West has been linked with Rachael Leigh Cook, Monica Keena, Marla Sokoloff, Dina Meyer, Jenna Dewan, and singer CC Sheffield.

Pictures from NBC.com and SearchExtreme.com (NSFW)

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

Director Woody Allen, 71, and his wife, Soon Yi Previn, 36, were in Barcelona yesterday promoting his new film. (The photo agency didn’t list the film’s name, but I believe it’s Cassandra’s Dream as it’s included in IMDB with an October 26 release date in Spain.)

I’m kind of surprised that Previn is 36 as I assumed she was younger. Previn’s affair with then 57 year-old Allen was brought to light in 1992 when Allen’s longterm partner, Mia Farrow, found nude pictures of her adopted daughter Previn, who was 22 at the time, at Allen’s apartment. Farrow adopted Previn when she was 8 along with her husband at the time, Andre Previn. Allen wasn’t her official stepfather as far as I can tell, but that doesn’t make his betrayal any less shocking or creepy.

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn were married in 1997 and have led a relatively low-profile lifestyle. They have two adopted daughters, Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen. [Information from Wikipedia]

It’s doubtful that Soon Yi is pregnant and she’s probably just wearing one of those maternity-style dresses that are unfortunately in style. I just wanted to spice up the story as we’re always calling the celebrities pregnant when they wear loose dresses, so why not pick on someone else for once

Thanks to SplashNews for these pics.

Update: The movie is called Barcelona, and it starts shooting on July 9th and will star Scarlett Johansson, Peneope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn and Chris Messina.

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

The star of 70s television series “Welcome Back Kotter” (which I remember vaguely from my childhood although I was a bit young to watch with interest), Gabe Kaplan, has a new book out called “Kotter’s Back: E-mails from a faded celebrity to a bewildered world.”

The book involves a series of extensive e-mail pranks Kaplan played on people, including the producers of “Celebrity Boxing” when they were trying to get him to participate. He also had a four year correspondence with the city manager of in Sioux City, Iowa, at one point trying to convince him to hold a parade for his 60th birthday.

A bizarre e-mail correspondence between City Manager Paul Eckert and comedian Gabe Kaplan, has resulted in the release of a new book and the star of “Welcome Back Kotter” making an appearance in the 2007 Big Parade in Sioux City on June 29.

Kaplan’s book, “Kotter’s Back: Emails From a Faded Celebrity to a Bewildered World,” features excerpts from correspondence that lasted more than four years with Eckert. The book includes Kaplan’s attempt to talk Eckert into hosting a parade in his honor to celebrate his 60th birthday. Kaplan’s reasoning for the request centers around the idea that Sioux City, out of all cities in the United States, gave the show “Welcome Back Kotter” its highest rating during the four years the program was televised. Kaplan’s participation in the Big Parade will tie together his request for a parade.

Eckert received his first e-mail from Kaplan in Novemeber 2002. He said he thought it was someone impersonating Kaplan. Eckert didn’t know at the time that Kaplan was sending e-mails to officials all over the country and planned to use the responses in a book.

“I was suspicious and intrigued,” Eckert said Thursday at the Convention Center. “I was never certain I was dealing with the right guy. Every time we tried to corral him, he’d slip away.”

[From The Sioux City Journal]

The book is said to be “irreverent,” “ridiculously comical,” and “surreal” according to the publisher. There are no reviews that I could find.

Kaplan’s IMDB biography shows that he hasn’t done much acting apart from a handful of television guest appearances in the 1980s, but according to Wikipedia he has been keeping busy. He’s an accomplished poker player, with total earnings of over a million USD. He is also a stand up comedian and serves as commentator for poker events.

Thanks to PRPhotos for these images.

 [Date: 03-Jul-07 ]

Yesterday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped down from his role as Prime Minister and was named as the special envoy of the four major powers mediating Middle East peace. His former finance minister, Gordon Brown, has now stepped up to the role of Prime Minister. One of things Blair is allowed to do as he steps down is give a list of recommended resignation honors bestowed as knighthoods and ladyships. The Queen takes this list and makes the final decision.

So who did Blair name Everyone’s favorite Spice GirlVictoria Beckham! It seems it’s all about the Spice Girls these days, with the official announcement of their reunion tour, the parenthood of Scary Spice’s baby, and of course, the paparazzi delight that is Victoria, David, and the clan’s big move to LA.

I’m a little surprised at this. While I do like Victoria, I don’t know if I think she’s ladyship worthyI mean, yes, she brings a very public eye to Britain, but without David Beckham, would she still be all that popular She tried her hand at being a solo singer, and had a little bit of success in the UK, but over here in Canada I never heard anything about it at the time, though I do recall her (lip) singing on American Idol at one point, many moons ago. Her sense of fashion has always made her stand out in my mind, but there are a lot of fashionable ladies. She just had her new fashion line of jeans and sunglasses released recently in New York. Victoria has also wrote/co-wrote two books, one autobiography called Learning to Fly, and one fashion book called That Extra Half Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between.

I just don’t know if I see it. Wonder what the Queen will think. What do you think

Picture note by Celebitchy: Here are photos from the arrivals at the Spice Girls press conference today. Thanks to PRPhotos.

 [Date: 28-Jun-07 ]