Gossip / Rumors

Paul McCartney is lashing back against rumors that he stood-up the "American Idol" finale last night (which was attended by his ex Heather Mills), after reports claim he screwed producers by backing out at the last minute.

In an exclusive statement to TMZ, McCartney's rep slammed the idle chatter, claiming that "Paul was never scheduled or approached to appear on the Idol finale." The rep added, "Even if he were, he likely would've needed to decline as he is in the throes of promoting the June 5th release of his new album. With that in mind, it would likely make it difficult to refer to him as a no-show."

Calls to "Idol" reps were not immediately returned.

You heard the news today, oh boy.

Reports are swirling that tabloid princess Nicole Richie is back -- yet again -- in rehab and more "helpless" than ever, but TMZ is told that it just ain't so. In fact, as we write, Nicole's sitting at home in Glendale, and doing just fine.

The National Enquirer and Star magazine are jointly reporting that Nicole re-entered rehab at Beau Monde on May 11 to fight anorexia and a painkiller addiction, on an outpatient basis, and that she did so "in tears," lamenting the fact that she's "lost control of her life." What's more, report the tabs' sources, she went back in just a few days ago, on the 19th.

The slim-bodied cougar bride of Kutcher went out with hubby and Penelope Cruz in New York last night, wearing a not-so-form-fitting blue dress and tent-like black jacket.

Does Demi have a little Ashton on board, or is it just a bad dress?

According to sources inside the Manhattan hotel suite, La Lohan stuffed three bags full of gear from L.A.'s trendy Milk Boutique. She then snapped up not one, but seven pairs of new, limited edition Ray Ban shades, because, as she told our source, she didn't like wearing the same sunglasses every day. But of course! Who does?

Then, on her way out, Lohan stopped at the Polaroid booth and grabbed a Media Backup, which can backup and save up to 40,000 photos. Lindsay told the Polaroid rep she had too many priceless photos from her recent travels that she was afraid to lose -- and find posted on TMZ!

UPDATE: TMZ has confirmed that Jay-Z WAS NOT aboard the plane. The three aboard the plane were "white men."

Rumors have been swirling this morning that rapresario Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter) was in a plane crash this morning.

TMZ has confirmed that a small plane registered to a citizen of Dublin, GA crashed near Asheville, NC in the Smoky Mountains. The FAA tells TMZ that the four-seat propeller plane did go down this morning, but could not provide any additional details.

Pulling up to the "Desperate Housewives" wrap party, Henderson was asked about Paris and he replied, "Haven't talked to her" -- not exactly the kind of response you'd expect from a lovebird. Later, when a photog asked about Paris' big day scheduled for court today, all Josh would say was, "She's a sweetheart... She'll be all right" -- again, not exactly a declaration of love and support for the car-challenged GF.

Meanwhile, last night, Paris -- playing mute for the first time in as long as we can remember, not unlike the pursed-lip Debbie Harry -- had no response when asked about her court date. She was leaving her house -- sans Josh -- and had nothing to say about either.

A message left with Paris' rep wasn't immediately returned.

Is Debbie ready to give us all a new view?

A TMZ spy says original "View" host Debbie Matenopoulos was "thick as thieves" with Playboy poser Kristine Lefebvre at the GBK Gifting lounge at the Stoli Hotel in Hollywood last night. Just a coupla' gals, er, hangin' out?

We're told the talk wasn't just on Lefebvre's racy cover shot, but what kind of deal the former "Apprentice" might be able to broker for Matenopoulos. Lefebvre, a power attorney, has negotiated celebrity Playboy deals for the likes of Pamela Anderson and Deborah Gibson, and her own titular deal is said to be "potentially very lucrative."

This would certainly give Babwa, Rosie, Joy and Elisabeth something to talk about!

While sources told TMZ last week that the Diva-licious Asia isn't "the best match" for the scantily clad girl group, a rep for the show "The Search for the Next Doll" assures us that Asia will still purr with the Pussycats. Her absence from last night's performance was planned and there are no plans for her to join them until after this tour wraps in two days.

Asia is set join the rest of the gang to record the Dolls' second album and will tour with them then.

In other PCD news -- TMZ spotted Robin Antin, the creator of the group, dancing last night with the runners-up on the reality series, Chelsea and Melissa, at the opening of the Stoli Hotel in Hollywood. A second season of the show is also rumored to be coming soon, though Warner Bros. denies another season is in the pipeline.

An e-mail first popped up about ten years ago -- and has recently resurfaced -- which alleges that Hilfiger was booted off the set of "Oprah" when he supposedly admitted that he intended his designs for "upper-class white people," not for Blacks, Jews, Asians or Latinos. Turns out that Hilfiger never said anything of the sort -- anywhere -- and that he wasn't even a guest on the show.

TMZ caught up with the ex-boy-bander last night in Hollywood, after a visit to Winston's. Lance was walking down the street in a cozy clinch with a leggy young brunette. After mock-asking his galpal, "Does this mean we're going out?" -- Bass expressed disgust at her answer in the affirmative. (He did, however, proclaim his love for TMZ, not unlike Lindsay Lohan.)

Richard Gere isn't bothered that a warrant's out for his arrest in India, and he's accusing a "very small right-wing, very conservative" faction in the country for coming after him for his public kissing of an Indian actress. "They do this kind of thing quite often," Gere told Jon Stewart on last night's "Daily Show." "I don't know that anyone has actually gone to jail ... It goes to a reputable court and they throw it out." Yesterday, an Indian judge issued a warrant for Gere's arrest in Jaipur, saying that he had "transgressed all limits of vulgarity" when he smooched Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS benefit.

Wondering what Sean Penn was doing in the middle of the night to visit Eve in an LAPD station house, as TMZ reported exclusively yesterday morning? According to Rush & Molloy, he offered to bail her out – but when he saw that the press was gathering, he hightailed it out, telling Eve, "Let me leave before this becomes something bigger than it is."

The rapper-actress, says a source, was "surprised" to see Penn arrive at the Hollywood division, and when he offered to pay her $30,000 bail, she politely declined. But Penn then got skittish when he noticed that the paparazzi were assembling, though it was too late – TMZ caught him coming out. It's still unclear whether the pair were hanging out earlier in the evening.

Producer George Lucas dropped the casting nugget on 710 ESPN Radio's "The Big Show With Steve Mason & John Ireland" before signing off, telling the show, "My director [Steven Spielberg] gets very angry if I say anything at all about the movie ... I said we live in the age of the Internet, nothing's gonna be a secret, nothing is a secret, but he [LaBeouf] is in the movie."

Someone should have told Lucas what keeping a secret means!

Ian Ziering is dancing his way into our living rooms every week, but the former 90210ian won't be flashing his privates in the pages of Playgirl.

In Touch claimed that Ziering had been offered a tantalizing $100,000 to drop his leotard for the peep rag.

TMZ contacted a Playgirl rep who, when asked about the reports, informed us, "Uhhhh, that would be a big NO. Playgirl doesn't have that kind of budget to play with." Playgirl without something to play with?

BREAKING NEWS: Mum(my)'s no longer the word... TMZ has learned that Rachel Weisz is dropping out of the rapidly-rising three-quel of "The Mummy" franchise at Universal Pictures.

The actress won the 2006 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in "The Constant Gardener," but more recently gave birth to another statuesque little guy: Henry Chance, who's now nine-months-old, and has apparently been living the sweet life -- vacationing last month with mom in Brazil.

Meanwhile, our spies tell us Weisz is up to her neck in other offers, with some four different projects coming together imminently, all of which will be juggled around newfound parenthood with "The Fountain" director (and baby-daddy) Darren Aronofsky.