Maria Carraciola

September 17, 2010

Old habits die hard for the stars this week. There are juicy tales about Carla Bruni, allegations about Lindsay Lohan, and one movie star who’s finding love again after a dark period.

France’s First Lady is getting the tell-all treatment this week, as a new very unauthorized bio of Carla Bruni hit shelves and, well, let’s just say Sarkozy probably isn’t happy. The book paints Carla as a “real tigress,” a man-eating supermodel who stole Mick Jagger away from his wife, and broke men’s hearts left and right. But the juiciest tidbit for the stateside crowd is that Michelle Obama allegedly told Carla it was “hell” being First Lady. Both the White House and the French government denied the conversation ever took place. The sentiment, however, could still be true.

Lilo, don’t make us doubt our newfound faith in you. Someone spotted Lindsay Lohan at a New York club well into the morning hours, just a day after she said on the VMAs no one wanted to work with another addict. “It’s the same old cycle of lying and denials,” said one source.

In happier news, it seems the Slumdog Millionaire romance between Freida Pinto and Dev Patel is still very much on. The cute couple hit up the red carpet in Toronto for Freida’s new films, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Miral. No snark here: this is one couple you can’t help but root for.

More good news: Liam Neeson is dating again, almost a year and a half after the sudden, tragic death of wife Natasha Richardson. The lucky lady is Freya St. Johnston, a U.K.-based PR executive who, like Neeson, has two kids. One downfall: Johnston apparently has a chatty (although kind) ex. “[Freya] is a wonderful person and a fantastic mother,” said her former boyfriend. “She takes life seriously in a free-spirited kind of way.”

Are Warren Beatty and Annette Bening on the rocks? That’s the chatter after journalists were told not to ask the actress about her personal life during a press event in France. Last month there were rumors about a rift in the family because their eldest daughter, who’s currently in college, allegedly wants to get a sex change. Annette’s publicist denied that there are any problems.

Hellooo, J. Lo! Welcome to American Idol. The singer and dancer signed a $12 million deal with the Fox show to be their latest judge. But at least they’re not banking on her to save the franchise—the deal’s only for a year.

Tim Gunn‘s very good at being bad. After getting on the wrong side of Anna Wintour for dishing on her diva-like behavior, the Project Runway host is taking aim at Gossip Girl starlet Taylor Momsen. Tim filmed a scene on the sartorially savvy show and saw firsthand the star’s notoriously difficult behavior. “What a diva!” he said. “She was pathetic, she couldn’t remember her lines, and she didn’t even have that many. I thought to myself, ‘why are we all being held hostage by this brat?’” The rest of the cast were “delights” to work with.

Whatever you do, stay away from Ivana…and her name. A Finnish fashion house named IVANAhelsinki received a cease and desist letter from Donald’s famous ex Ivana Trump for using her trademarked name. Ivana long ago laid claim to “Ivana” for her fashion line and wants the competitor to pay her a commission and royalties. The fashion house says the show will go on—with its original name.

And Prince Harry‘s a long way away from his wild and crazy days. He celebrated his 26th birthday on Wednesday not with a crazy, all-out bash, but by studying and working. He’s in the middle of training to become an Apache helicopter pilot in Britain’s Army and didn’t even take his birthday off from his studies. The unthinkable has finally happened—Harry’s all grown up.