Jeffs Celebrity Gossip Blog

David Gest, the estranged husband of Liza Minnelli, is to reveal secrets about Michael Jackson in a new book.

The 53-year-old concert producer has teamed up with writer Mark Bego to collaborate on the tell-all book, which will include juicy stories about celebrities.

Bego told the New York Daily News: "He knew a teenage Michael Jackson and he knows some bombshell revelations."

Brad Pitt’s relationship with Angelina Jolie has caused a rift with his mother Jane.

Jane has yet to strike up any kind of relationship with Jolie, who is currently with Pitt in Nambia awaiting the birth of their first child together.

A source confides, “Jane has a virtually non-existent relationship with Angelina.

“She has no idea how often she’ll get to see her grandkid or what role she’ll play.”

The source claims Pitt's family heard the shocking news about the pregnancy the way the rest of the world did - on TV.

"I think they were stunned that their own son wouldn't tell them something as important as this himself and that he'd allow them to hear about it on the news."

"I think the whole family is worried sick that they're losing Brad and that he may be turning his back on them," says the source.

Which girlband star pays male escorts to accompany her to events to conceal her penchant for other ladies? The closet lesbian has dated a number of high-profile girlies. But she's scared of coming clean about her sexuality in case she loses her strong male fan base.

Britney Spears is desperate to make a movie alongside her Hollywood idol George Clooney.

After roles in 2002 movie Crossroads and a recent episode of Will & Grace, Spears is determined to carve out an acting career after conquering the charts.

The 24-year-old, who on Tuesday announced she is pregnant with her second child, says: "I'd like to do something with George Clooney. He's pretty cute, but don't tell my husband."

Despite her Baptist upbringing, Spears would be prepared to go nude on screen if the role required it.

She explains: "Yes (I would go nude). And I'd love to play a superhero. That would be really cool."

New York, NY :: Actress / Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman, 38, hosted UNIFEM's 30th Anniversary Celebration last night in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton. Nicole was accompanied by country singer boyfriend Keith Urban (both 38) for the special occasion (they've been together for about a year). UNIFEM is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality.

The 5K run/walk, presented by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, is held every year to raise funds for breast and ovarian cancer research, education, advocacy and outreach services. Thousands of men, women, and children participate in the three-mile event each year come out in memory of loved ones they have lost through cancer.

Los Angeles, CA :: Yesterday was the 13th Annual Revlon Run/Walk Fundraising Event for breast and ovarian cancer research. Celebrities who came out to lend a hand included red hot redheads Julianne Moore and Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Adrian Bellani (Miguel in daytime drama Passions originally played by Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives fame), Chaka Khan and Doug Savant.

Robbie Williams has reportedly overcome a knee injury which threatened to jeopardise his place in a charity football tournament.

The singer had feared that he may have to withdraw from Soccer Aid when he apparently fell and hurt his knee after a gig last month.

Robbie, who is expected to lead the celebrity England team, has undergone physio treatment and taken part in a spot of yoga to get himself fit for the tournament on May 27.

The likes of Jamie Redknapp, Paul Gascoigne and David Seaman are also expected to take part in Soccer Aid.

Williams, 32, is well-known for his love of soccer, having recently become a shareholder in Port Vale.

Christina Milian named her album So Amazin' after being gobsmacked that her boyfriend cheated on her.

The 24-year-old was dating actor Nick Cannon for three years when she found out he had been messing around behind her back.

She kicked him out after checking his mobile phone and found saucy texts from a string of lovers he had bedded back home in the USA while she was on tour in Europe.

The star, who released her album earlier this month said that Cannon had cheated on her "the whole time with different girls, not just one, but different girls. "He said to me that these girls helped his ego and made him look good."

Brentwood, California :: A now-poutier-than-ever Ryan Phillippe made a visit to the drugstore this past Friday. The 31-year-old actor is rumored to be the running candidate for a Marlon Brando biopic entitled Brando. 40-year-old actor Billy Zane is also supposed to be up for the role.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers possesses an alien beauty so startling that to see him walk into an almost empty Manhattan coffee shop is like spying a tropical bird in a blizzard. The 28-year-old actor, quietly dressed in dark jeans and an oversize cardigan while on break from filming Kirsten Sheridan's August Rush, still exudes the blue-eyed, pillow-lipped charisma that helped get him discovered in an Irish pool hall at the age of 16. Since then, audiences have been mesmerized by his diverse onscreen personae: the writhing blue-haired rocker-who sang his own songs-in Todd Haynes's 1998 Ode to Clam Rock, Velvet Goldmine; the sexy coach in the sleeper hit Bend it Like Beckham; the wicked George Osborne in Vanity Fair. Last year, he morphed into Elvis for a CBS miniseries (which won him a Golden Globe) and into a chilling and ambitious ex-tennis pro for Woody Allen's Match Point. Now, Rhys Meyers is poised to join the biggest of the big boys; he's costarring alongside Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, and a guy by the name of Tom Cruise, in May's Mission: Impossible III.

So, we know you can't divulge any plot points in Mission: Impossible III, but can you at least tell us what it is like to work with Tom Cruise? What's it like inside the Tom bubble? Number one, he's not just an actor on the set, he's my boss, and you couldn't ask for a nicer boss. You know how you always dream about that boss—the one that really thinks about you every day and wants to know if you are happy? Tom's that guy.

He has a great reputation for his professionalism on set. That's why he's still the biggest star in the world [after] two decades. It's an education [to work with him]. If you're a young actor in the movies and you are starting to become successful and you really want to know how to handle your fame, work with Tom. He respects people, he knows absolutely everyone's name, he's kind to everyone, and it's a lot of hard work—I'm sure by the end of the day he's exhausted. I think it was Anthony Hopkins that called him a Tom-aton. I swear to God, he has so much energy that there'd be no lighting problems in California ... you just have to plug up to Tom's right hand.

What factors are involved when you pick a project? Directors, always the directors—because I can learn from them. I've worked with some of the best directors in the world—not always on their greatest film, but it doesn't matter. A great director can make an okay script into a good film, but a great script won't go anywhere in the hands of a mediocre director. It can only be mediocre.

What did you know of Mission Impossible: III's director, J.J. Abrams? It must have been quite a challenge for him to take on this franchise with this cast. He did it so naturally—like water off a duck's back. I think J.J. is going to be like the next Spielberg. He's a stadium director. You know how there are stadium rock bands like Aerosmith and Bon Jovi? J.J. is like that. He loves a big show.

You never had any formal training. How difficult was it for you to learn while on the job? It's hard because I made all my mistakes publicly, and I grew up in front of the camera. I was once on the set of a film called B. Monkey, with Rupert Everett and Jared Harris, and they were looking at me and were like, "You haven't trained, have you?" Critics can be really cruel. I got great reviews for Match Point, but I got four or five in England that really tore me to bits.

Do you read all of your reviews? Only the bad ones. And you read the bad ones, and you think, "Yup, he's right! He's the only f** critic that understood it. I was shit. I was f** wooden and more wooden than wood."

Do you go back and watch your old films? Oh, God, no. It's f** horrible—like a nightmare. Like watching your baby photos.

Do you have directors you are eager to work with? On the top of my list is Fernando Meirelles. I think he's fantastic. I'd love to do a film with Steven Spielberg, Milos Forman, Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Ridley Scott. There's a young South African director, Sunu Gonera—I might hook up with him next year. I'd love to do something with Ang Lee again. I could sit here all day, there are so many.

It sounds like you watch a lot of films. I'm more of a DVD guy than a cinema guy. But that's because I'm a smoker and there's no way I can pop into an AMC for three hours. [He leans into the tape recorder.] But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go to the cinema. Go to the cinema! See my movies! I like watching really crappy movies—I mean, I like watching good films too.

Would you ever try acting onstage? I don't know. If I did, it would have to be on some tiny little stage in Oslo or something where no one can see it, because I'd probably be really bad. What I would like to try is directing. I suppose I want to do it because I just want to see someone else suffer. [laughs] I think I'd definitely be a sadomasochist director; I'd have my beautiful actresses crying their hearts out in their trailers, and the actors running to call their agents. Oh, yes, I'd definitely be in the Sam Peckinpah school.

How's that? Cruel. If they move, kill them! [laughs]

Is there a certain type of film you'd like to take on? I don't like sci-fi—I don't want to do anything with sci-fi. Star Wars? Star Trek? I'd rather eat turpentine and piss on a brush fire.

So it sounds like you're pretty content at the moment.
All you have to do is work on yourself, and be happy and grateful for the good things that you have. And I am. I'm grateful these days for my life and for the things I have. I'm going to take the opportunities I have, and I'm going to ride it into the dust. [laughs] What else can I do?

"American Idol" finalist Taylor Hicks returned to his native Birmingham today with a made-for-TV visit that includes a parade, a visit with the governor and some down-home Southern food he just can't get in Los Angeles.

The gray-haired Hicks said this afternoon at the governor's mansion that he got a chance to have the grits he's been craving. Hicks had a packed schedule today with a parade through downtown Birmingham, three performances, and the trip to Montgomery, where he met with fans and Governor Bob Riley.

Riley received a fax from "Idol" judge Randy Jackson, who picked "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker for Hicks to sing in next week's show.

JOAN RIVERS questioned the paternity of KATIE HOLMES and TOM CRUISE's baby daughter SURI at an Australian awards show last weekend.

The American funnywoman was hosting the Logies - Australia's equivalent to the Emmys - at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia last Sunday and took the opportunity to mock the TOP GUN's star. Rivers said, "Did you hear Tom Cruise just had a baby? He was there when it was born... He should have been there when it was conceived!"

Last October (05), Rivers accused Holmes of being untalented and claimed her engagement to Cruise was the best thing she had ever done. Rivers said, "Each woman has done very well by him - NICOLE KIDMAN and PENELOPE CRUZ. So this one, Katie Holmes , who doesn't seem to have much talent, is probably the luckiest of all. I saw her in BATMAN BEGINS and, let's just say, she better hang on to Tom for a while!"

Victoria and David Beckham are worried that preparations for their pre-World Cup party aren't going to plan.

Wayne Rooney and fiancée Coleen McLoughlin have not replied to their invitations, and about half of the England squad look set to avoid the bash.

A source said, "Wayne and Coleen were sent their invite over a month ago. David and Victoria hoped the party would be a real show of unity before England kick off their World Cup campaign in Germany. Wayne and Coleen had until Friday to put their name on the guest list for the big day. But neither has accepted the invitation."

Another insider added, "If David wanted this to be the ultimate team-bonding exercise, forget it. There is a whole stream of stars now not going."

"Superman Returns" actress Kate Bosworth was more than an hour late to Tuesday night's Teachers Count fund-raiser, but she had a good excuse: Her Zac Posen dress experienced a wardrobe malfunction. "The zipper had fallen off the track," the 23-year-old Bosworth told Lowdown at The Plumm nightclub. "I had to be sewn in. Zac sent over his tailor. ... Thank goodness it was the designer I was here with. It was very convenient." The evening raised $125,000 for the charity, which tries to improve the status of the teaching profession.

Irish pop star Ronan Keating has angrily slammed perceptions of his clean-living image and says that he is actually a hell-raiser and rebel.

Keating found early fame in the boy band Boyzone and hates his nice guy image because his supposed wild lifestyle is far from his mild reputation.

He says: "All the Mr Nice stuff is a bit f**king annoying. I drink too much, I smoke when I am drunk, and I wake up feeling like something's died in my mouth."

Has Duncan James got a very discerning daughter? Tianie-Finn, who is just 14 months old, was dancing in the front row at her dad's show at the Cosmopolitan Centrefolds party in London on Tuesday... until he launched into an old Blue song.

Says Duncan, whose single Sooner Or Later is out June 5: "When I sang a Blue song she stopped."

GIRLS Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy has snubbed her bandmates - by refusing to let them be bridesmaids at her wedding later this year.

Instead the roles will go to relatives when she marries England soccer ace Ashley Cole.

Cheryl, 22, explained: "I want it to be just family - although the girls will be there."

But Sarah Harding, Nadine Coyle, Kimberly Walsh and Nicola Roberts are furious. One source said: "Cheryl doesn't want a circus. But the girls think of themselves as family and feel let down."

LOVE Island lothario LEE SHARPE will be in hot water with lover ABI TITMUSS, 30, when she finds out he's been flirting.

Ex-Man U star Lee, 34, was surrounded by sexy ladies at a bash at trendy Leeds restaurant Room. And our spy said: "Lee lapped up all the female attention."

A CRACK team of elite cops raced to protect top model Jordan after dicovering a millionpound plot to kidnap one of her children.

The mega-wealthy blonde and her family have been given special protection after Scotland Yard's snatchbuster squad got a tip-off that three-year-old Harvey and 11-month-old Junior were under threat.

Detectives discovered a gang of foreign and London crooks planned to take one of the tots hostage and issue Jordan and pop star husband Peter Andre with a £1million ransom demand.

Officers last night described it as "a very real threat".

As soon as the news reached police through underworld informers, an investigation was launched to identify and infiltrate the gang.

Jordan, 27, and Peter, 33, had no idea their tots were targets until worried cops contacted them.

A panic button and a monitored alarm system have been installed at Jordan's £750,000 country home in Maresfield, East Sussex.

An official Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed last night: "The Metropolitan Police specialist kidnap unit are investigating intelligence about a threat to kidnap and extra security has been put in place to protect the family."

Jordan—real name Katie Price— has also been offered police minders when she takes her children out. A friend said: "Obviously Katie's main concern is for her kids.

"She's used to being in the limelight and knows the risks which that brings—particularly when her fortune has been so widely discussed. She has been targeted by burglars in the past.

"But this is different—it's a sinister turn because it puts the boys at risk. Katie is working closely with police to do everything in her power to keep them safe."

Friends fear the pin-up queen's fame and showy displays of wealth—including her fleet of cars and £3.5million holiday home in Cyprus— make her a prime kidnap target.

Just this week the former Page Three girl, reckoned to be worth £10million, spoke of her ambition to become "the world's richest woman" before she's 30.

Jordan—whose first son Harvey was fathered by former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke—declared: "I know I'll top that Rich List."

The model, who is trying to reinvent herself in a bid to go upmarket, was recently snapped by David Bailey for swish American Vogue magazine and is determined to conquer the USA.

Her five-acre Sussex spread is already protected by a £10,000 security fence topped with barbed wire. Now it is under surveillance by cops, too.

Only last June—around the time their son Junior was born—Jordan and Peter were forced to beef up security after ram-raiders broke through the perimeter. They bypassed the alarm sensors but fled empty-handed when Jordan's mum Amy spotted them and alerted the police.

Officers probing the latest threat do not believe the cases are linked. Our insider said: "There's an awful lot of work going on to build up evidence and nail this gang."

The timetable of the snatch plot and details of exactly where the villains planned to strike is being kept secret.