Celebrity News: August 2006

Lindsay's man shops for rings

Harry Morton was spotted buying an engagement ring at Cartier in Beverly Hills. The rich kid has been dating Lindsay Lohan for about four months, and the pair seem to have been inseparable over the summer. One of Morton's assistants confirmed that he did indeed make a purchase at Cartier, saying, "I can confirm that Harry was shopping at Cartier, but what he purchased I cannot confirm. If it was in fact a gift then that's between him and whomever the gift is for."

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Affleck tries to justify Gigli's failure

Ben Affleck says the tabloids are ruining people's perception of actors. At a press conference for Hollywoodland at the Venice film fest, Affleck said, "I think more and more people pay attention to actor's private lives.. It makes it difficult to suspend disbelief when you are going to watch their movie because really what you are thinking about is whatever you have read about them in a magazine rather than the performance they are giving and it makes the actor's job harder." The new dad also thinks "the movies become incidental pit stops and commercial breaks in the soap opera of [an actor's] life."

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Pitt visits New Orleans

Brad Pitt is in New Orleans with his family to announce the winner of the design contest he co-sponsored with Global Green USA. "I'm very, very excited about the result," Pitt told People mag. "There are a lot of great ideas that came across the table." The Troy actor toured the Katrina ravaged city for a few days and was shocked by what he saw. "This is a social justice issue. As I walk around, I'm appalled and embarrassed that people don't even have the opportunity to return. This isn't supposed to happen here." Pitt teamed up with Global Green in a search to find an affordable, environmentally sustainable plan for rebuilding homes and community centers in the area. "My goal," Pitt said last month, "is to see something tangible, to see something built that can become an example, a template...a flagship for other people who are facing rebuilding."

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United nations

George Clooney's new woman? - A Socialite's Life

Paris grinds with pro skateboarder - TMZ

Paris Hilton talks oral sex - ICYDK

Nicole Kidman, pregnant by photoshop - Dlisted

Egotastic as an MTV Video Music Awards megapost

Out and about

(click on thumbnails for larger images)

Mandy Moore in the West Village with her publicist

Liv Tyler in NYC

Sandra Bullock at the Venice premiere of Infamous

Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz at a VMA pre-party

Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony at a birthday party

Jessica Alba in Beverly Hills

Jessica Simpson winning a car at the VMA Style Villa

Gwen Stefani with Kingston in NYC

Ashlee Simpson in NYC

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Aniston settles suit over topless photos

Jennifer Aniston has settled a lawsuit with a photographer who snapped a few topless shots of the Friends alum. Aniston filed suit last December, claiming the photog took the pics on her property "covertly from a great distance...using powerful telephoto lenses...by means of trespass and/or through the use of an enhancement device." The Break-Up actress said she suffered "shame, mortification, hurt feelings, emotional distress, anger, embarrassment, humiliation, feeling of being violated and injury to her privacy and piece of mind" when the pictures were released. The two parties have "mutually agreed on their differences" according to Extra, and a rep from the photog released a statement saying, "Even though they were legally obtained, [the photographer] pulled the photos from publication."

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Paris doesn't come cheap

Paris Hilton's diva demands got her dropped recently from a possible appearance on Charlotte Church's new talk show. Church decided against hosting the socialite when Hilton demanded more than $650,000 to appear. "We asked Paris to be on the program because I could take the mick out of her [make fun of] and not feel at all bad about it - she's such a complete airhead," Church says. "But she demanded a ridiculous amount of money - like the price of a big house - just to say a few stupid things. She's hardly going to announce anything world-changing, is she? It's absolutely pathetic, isn't it?"

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No reality show for Fergie

Fergie has slammed rumors she might be in talks to star in a Newlyweds-style reality show with Vegas actor boyfriend Josh Duhamel. "We don't have any plans to work together again and we would never do a reality show, like a Newlyweds thing - absolutely not. I love to watch them, I just don't want to be on one."

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Bloom not too interested in Knight Rider role

Orlando Bloom was asked by David Hasselhoff if he was interested in playing the son of Hasselhoff's famed Michael Knight in the upcoming film version of Knight Rider. "I was approached by David in Los Angeles," Bloom said recently. "He'd heard I was a big fan of the old show and said, 'We're doing a movie version and I'd love you to play my son in it.' I replied, 'Er, well, that sounds great but you'd need to speak to my manager about it.' I used to watch Knight Rider when I was eight but I didn't like it more than any other series. My favorites were The Fall Guy and The A-Team."

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