September 03, 2010
It’s time to celebrate summer’s last three-day weekend with a rundown of the only gossip you need to know.
For a while, it looked like Michael Douglas was on top of the world—he finally filmed the sequel to Wall Street, his marriage couldn’t be better, what more could the guy want? But he shocked his fans this week by announcing he has Stage 4 throat cancer. He broke the news on David Letterman’s Late Night and said he’s undergoing chemo and has an 80 percent chance of survival. Catherine Zeta-Jones is reportedly furious with his doctors that it went undetected for so long. Get well soon, Mike.
Lindsay Lohan is working a full-blown comeback. First up is a Vanity Fair cover story in which she explains why, exactly, her life turned to hell. “I think my biggest focus for myself is learning how to continue to get through the trauma that my father has caused in my life,” she said. Despite a string of flops (Herbie: Fully Loaded, anyone?), Lindsay says “I’m a damn good actress” and is resolved to turn her career around. And now she may have a man to help her out (and no, it’s not estranged father Michael). Larry Rudolph, the career savior who turned Britney Spears from head-shaving lunatic to productive member of society, has signed on to manage Lindsay.
Is Tiger teasing New York? All week rumors were swirling that the golf superstar who’s had a rough time on the green lately was snatching up a downtown bachelor pad in the city on Hudson Street. But alas, it’s not to be. A Tiger Woods lookalike may live in the rundown building where he was allegedly spotted, but the real jungle cat is more likely to be holed up on his yacht, The Privacy.
Tiger’s former (and possibly future?) mistress Rachel Uchitel did, however, drop $2 million on a Park Avenue condo this week. Perhaps she heard the rumor that he was moving to the city?
Tennis groupies are flocking to Flushing Meadows all week to catch the impressive backhands at the U.S. Open. Look, there’s Anna Wintour front-and-center! The Vogue editrix doesn’t miss a chance to ogle her favorite player Roger Federer. And Spanish stud Rafael Nadal doesn’t escape the notice of eager ladies either. After he got a trim of his long locks at a Madison Avenue salon, some of the women scooped up and saved his hair.
Lady Gaga may have a bad romance with food. An old tour manager is dishing about the pop star’s up-and-down weight loss, saying Gaga was in the hospital six times last year because of her poor eating habits. David Ciemny said she was sick “physically and mentally.” Gaga canceled four shows last January and blamed it on dizziness and dehydration, and Ciemny said she once lost 20 lbs between fittings for one of her elaborate costumes.
Maybe this will cool his heels a little: Harvey Weinstein and his gorgeous wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, gave birth to a baby girl named India Pearl Weinstein on Monday. The media honcho has three girls from his first marriage. Mazel tov!
Princes William and Harry, your phone calls weren’t so safe. The New York Times Magazine is publishing an investigative piece this weekend about the phone hacking scandal that resulted in a number of stories about the royals being leaked to Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid. It seems Clive Goodman, a reporter for the paper, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, obtained the PIN numbers for the royals’ voicemail, then began publishing the nitty gritty details. Phone hacking was allegedly widespread at the paper: “Everyone knew…the office cat knew.” At least five lawsuits have been filed against the paper, but with some celebrities and pols just now finding out they were hacked, Murdoch may have to open up his wallet a little bit more.
And Tony Blair finally released his memoir this week, much to the delight of gossip-hungry royal watchers. About Princess Diana, he writes, “We were both, in our own way, manipulators,” and says he felt she should protect the monarchy after her death. Ah, one last grab at the spotlight, attaboy Tony.
