The economy sucks, people are struggling to make ends meet -- and Laura Dern is paying double so someone else can pump her petrol in Brentwood. 
While the cost of self-service gas hovers just below $2 in California, Dern paid at least an additional $2, plus tip, to have someone else pump it and wash her windows at the full service station.
That "Jurassic Park" money has one helluva life span.
Filed under: Wacky & Weird
Being a paparazzo can be a dirty job -- just ask the guy who tried to shoot Brooke Burke and her husband in NY last night.
Filed under: Wacky & Weird
This pop diva showed up to a NYC premiere last night with a not-so fierce, straggly underarm weave. Can you guess who the hirsute beauty is?!
Filed under: Beauty, Hot Bodies, Nurse!
We gave John Mayer a lot of crap when he stopped being funny for the cameras -- well, karma's a bitch and last night our photog got served.
Filed under: John Mayer
What Britney lacked in dance moves on "Good Morning America," she definitely made up for in the ab department.
Spears brought her now infamous "Womanizer" strutting/arm-flailing routine to a new song, "Circus" but her stomach made for quite the distraction.
Another welcome distraction -- the birthday girl's fam, who sat in the second row.
Filed under: Britney Spears
TMZ has learned the New York State Department of Health has launched an investigation to determine if the hospital that treated Plaxico Burress engaged in a conspiracy to hide information.
The Department of Health -- which licenses New York-Cornell Hospital -- began its investigation after reports that hospital workers failed to report the gunshot wound, as required by New York law.
According to state law, failing to report a gunshot injury to cops is a Class A misdemeanor.
UPDATE: New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital has suspended the person who didn't call the NYPD immediately, and the hospital admits not reporting a gunshot wound is a violation not just of their own policy, but of the law as well.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Talk Sports
Michael Phelps' new girlfriend is a real hoot-er.
Caroline Pal worked at the Déjà Vu strip club in North Hollywood from 2003 to 2005 -- while Mr. Phelps was busy winning his first six gold medals in Athens.
We can't say for sure if she actually stripped -- those strip club people are more tight-lipped than ... insert joke. But here's a clue -- her nickname was Sapphire.
Filed under: Hot Bodies, Talk Sports, Michael Phelps
No, that's not a rag doll in Ahnuld's hands -- but given the way the kid was getting thrown around at a Christmas tree lot this weekend, you'd never know it.
Filed under: Paparazzi Video, Wacky & Weird, Kids
Josh Duhamel towered over a mini Fergie as they arrived at LAX this weekend.
Sometimes big gifts come in big packages.
Filed under: Paparazzi Photo, Hot Bodies, Fergie
The New York Giant who was with Plaxico Burress when he shot himself ditched the cops yesterday -- but managed to make it to a paid radio appearance. And that could spell trouble for Antonio Pierce.
Pierce was supposed to meet with cops yesterday, according to reports, but didn't appear, even though NFL officials had promised to bring him to a meeting. They want to question him about what exactly happened at Latin Quarter and the aftermath.
We're told by several sources Pierce blabbed to NFL security after the shooting without a lawyer, which could put the league in a very awkward position when it comes to the cops.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Talk Sports
Some celebs worry about having too much junk in the trunk -- not Helen Mirren, she just is the junk in the trunk.
Come on, she's a great Dame, not a Great Dane!
Filed under: Paparazzi Video, Wacky & Weird
That didn't take long: Madonna and Alex Rodriguez are having a shack attack to the tune of $30 mil.
The swinging (almost) singles are looking to move on up to a deluxe apartment on the East Side of Manhattan, according to the NY Post, where the double-wide mansions can go from $30 to 60 million. They're specifically looking for houses with private garages, which are like the Hope diamond in NYC.
A-Rod's rep denies the report.
This brand new, top-of-the-line jersey finally lets you support your favorite NFL player who allegedly shot himself in the leg at a club, fled to a hospital, told docs his name was Harris Smith and then claimed he was shot at Applebee's.
Buy within the next 20 minutes and you'll get a half-off coupon for Applebee's new signature appetizer: Plaxico potato shooters!
Filed under: Talk Sports
We'd like to think this brutal battle erupted over politics or how to settle conflict in the Middle East -- but one chick probably just called the other a "bitch," and she strongly disagreed. With her fist.
The woman who helped book Eliot Spitzer's trysts with Ashley Dupre booked a job with Uma Thurman's folks -- under an assumed name.
Tanya Hollander, who knows a thing or two about secret identities, got a job at the Menla Mountain Retreat, an upstate conference center run by Robert and Birgitte Thurman, even though she was about to get probation for her involvement in the Emperor's Club VIP prostitution ring. She used a fake name, Tania Robyn Cyrlin, and didn't tell the Thurmans about her past.
The managing director of Menla says, "Clearly, had we been aware, we might have hired someone else."
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