we reported on the $7 million lawsuit that Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa filed against Michael Jackson. The singer reportedly promised to put out an album for the sheik’s record label 2 Seas Records but never delivered. Now, the pop star claims to be too sick to go to London to testify in his defense. He said he would do it by video hookup. “It would be unwise for him to travel, given what’s he’s got now,” lawyer Robert Englehart said. However, the sheik’s lawyer said that Jackson’s legal team offered unsatisfactory medical evidence to back up his claim. “It’s not the first time a sick note has been presented by Mr. Jackson,” said attorney Bankim Thanki. Englehart insists that the contract between Jackson and Khalifa is invalid, since it was specifically signed with 2 Seas Records, a company which didn’t get off the ground. “This (contract) was one brick in a building that was never built,” Englehart said. http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/11/jacko-too-sick-for-court.php
Is it splitsville for Paris Hilton and her Good Charlotte boyfriend Benji Madden? While there’s no official breakup buzz from either party, the socialite was spotted in close company with her former flame, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos, over the weekend. “(Paris and Stavros) were cuddling and whispering together all night,” an eyewitness told OK! magazine after spying the pair at a Miami nightclub. “Stavros was making Paris laugh. She couldn’t stop smiling when he was around and they were dancing together very closely.” According the source, the couple held hands as they entered the club and remained side-by-side even after they left. “They looked like they were back to their old ways and you never would have thought she had a boyfriend,” the onlooker said. “She was all about Stavros. They left together and went back to their hotel.” 
Remember a few years back, when Lindsay Lohan scrawled a nasty missive about Scarlett Johansson on the wall of a bathroom stall in a New York City nightclub? Neither did we, until Johansson brought it up again. “I really don’t know that person. I only met her, like, three times,” Johansson told Allure magazine about Lohan. As for the stall-scrawl incident (which involved words too vulgar to reprint here), Johansson said in the December issue, “I don’t know what the motivation was behind that. I remember it was something really vulgar — I mean, shockingly so, like, ‘Whoa, what, who are you?’” 
Animal-rights activists from PETA pelted Lindsay Lohan with a face full of flour when Lohan arrived at Paris’s VIP Room Theater early Saturday morning. The protester dumped a full bag of flour on the starlet while shouting “Lindsay Lohan, fur hag,” PETA confirms. Lohan, who appeared to be wearing a black fur stole, was dusted off and continued with her night, but her good friend Sam Ronson is lashing out against the PETA protester on her MySpace blog saying, “The girl who threw [the flour] acted like an animal herself. I take that back, it’s an insult to animals to group her in with them, my dog is FAR more civilized than that person.” PETA says that Lohan “has enraged animal lovers by appearing in at least two different fur coats in recent days, despite PETA’s repeated pleas that she consider how animals suffer for every fur garment and stop wearing their skins.” 
“Hudson had her arms completely wrapped around A-Rod’s waist and every time he leaned over to talk to anyone she would pull him back toward her,” our South Beach spy snitched. “They were laughing and giggling all night.” Latin beauty Sofia Vergara tried to thwart Hudson’s flirtations, leaning over the table, her ample assets in A-Rod’s face, as she gushed about how much she loved the ball player. But Hudson was quick to whisper something in his ear that brought his attention right back to her. 
Angelina Jolie has announced her plans to “fade away” from Hollywood, insisting she needs to redirect her focus towards her family. The 33-year-old star has grown tired of juggling life in the limelight with her role as a mum-of-six and is nearly ready to retire. In an interview with BBC News she says, “I don’t plan to keep acting very long. I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day. I’m not so worried that I want to keep this pace up and try to be something and be a celebrity. “I like being home a lot. First and foremost, I have a lot of children, and I need to make sure they’re growing right and they’ve got us there for them.” But Jolie is quick to admit she may be lured back to the big screen if a new role really intrigues her. She adds, “I don’t think I’ll ever say I’m never, ever gonna work because maybe there’s that interesting project where I feel creative.” 
Kanye West has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a photographer as he was leaving a nightclub in Newcastle, England. The hip-hop star is said to have been involved in a scuffle with the paparazzi as he exited the Tup Tup club in the early hours of Friday morning. Photographer Terry Blackburn claimed to have suffered a cut face and bruising after West allegedly pushed his camera into his face. Police later arrived at West’s hotel in nearby Gateshead and detained him on assault charges. However, after being quizzed by cops, the star was subsequently released without charge. The Stronger hitmaker and his assistant were arrested over a similar incident at Los Angeles’ LAX airport in September. The pair was charged with felony vandalism after reportedly smashing a snapper’s camera, but the charges were later dropped by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. 
Jennifer Lopez is ”trying to make one more baby” with husband Marc Anthony. The 39-year-old actress – who welcomed her first children, twins Max and Emme, into the world in February – is said to be desperately trying to conceive again. A source close to the couple told In Touch Weekly magazine: “They were advised to wait six months after she gave birth. They listened to their doctor’s advice, but now they’re trying to make one more baby.” 
John Mayer has hinted he is planning to propose to girlfriend Jennifer Aniston. The “Gravity” singer - who has been dating the former “Friends” singer on-and-off since early this year - admits he is organizing a “creative” way to pop the question. He said: “I think I’d be pretty good at proposing. I’d figure that out. I’d get creative.” 
Mariah Carey might have been low-maintenance when it came to her bare-bones, last-minute Caribbean wedding to Nick Cannon, but that’s where the simplicity ends. Carey and Cannon recently flew to London for a Nov. 6 appearance on British singing competition “The X Factor,” and the couple reportedly brought 20 pieces of luggage for the three-day trip. “There were 15 suitcases on one trolley, and eight on another,” an onlooker at Heathrow Airport told In Touch Weekly. The luxury load, which included what appeared to be a $4,000 Louis Vuitton suitcase, was carted by handlers en route to the upscale Dorchester Hotel. And in case you’re wondering who packed all those bags, it wasn’t Carey, and it probably wasn’t Cannon. “There is nothing worse than packing for Mariah,” a former assistant says. “A weekend trip can be a weeklong job. Nightmare, is all I can say.” 
Angelina Jolie has denied reports she’s expecting her fourth biological child with partner Brad Pitt. U.S. tabloid reports recently claimed the actress is pregnant again, just three months after she gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne. But her spokesperson, Geyer Kosinski, has refuted the claims, telling Usmagazine.com, “This is not true.” 
Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s divorce could stop Madonna from adopting another baby from Malawi. “We can’t approve a child to go into a broken home because the divorce could be the result of the behavior of the party trying to adopt,” Malawian official Penston Kilembe told Life & Style. “Madonna should forget this one.” But that might not be so easy for the 50-year-old Material Girl, who adopted a Malawian boy, David, now 3, in 2006. (The adoption became official in May.) “Madonna has been planning this adoption since shortly after she came home with David,” an insider told Life & Style. “Now because of the breakup with Guy, it may not happen. It’s yet another stab in the heart from Guy, in her view.” As this column previously reported, a Kabbalah source affiliated with Raising Malawi, Madonna’s charity, said that she and baseball star Alex Rodriguez were planning a trip to Malawi together just as soon as the post-divorce dust settles. “I’d be surprised though, if she were taking him for any adoption purposes,” the source said. ‘I think she’s just taking him because they have a relationship, and he’s good for the cause.” 
Orlando Bloom is engaged. The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor is blissfully happy with Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr, and the pair are reportedly making plans to tie the knot. A source told America’s Star magazine: “They are talking about settling down and getting married in a year. They have had a bit of a crazy year, but they do love each other and she wants to be his wife.” 
Mark Wahlberg is a notorious jackass, so of course he couldn’t help himself when he was asked about Kate Moss and their famous 1992 Calvin Klein ads in an interview with Nuts Magazine. The Sun reports: “It was OK. I wasn’t into the waif thing. She [Kate Moss] kind of looked like my nephew. I mean she’s beautiful - she’s a very pretty nephew - but I’m more into curvy women.” 
“Jayden James was taken to an emergency ward after lapsing into a “vague and unresponsive” state during a long-awaited family trip to the singer’s hometown of Kentwood in Louisiana. The entire Spears clan made the 25-mile dash to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Centre, Mississippi, including sister Jamie Lynn. Doctors were unable to pinpoint the problem straight away and kept the toddler in for overnight observation. Distraught Britney, 26, refused to leave his side and asked for a bed next to him in the ward. Ex-husband Kevin Federline is now believed to be making plans to jet out and also be by Jayden’s bedside. Sources say chaos erupted when the toddler suffered a suspected seizure out of the blue, at about 3pm on Sunday. One said: “One minute Britney and her sons were relaxing and enjoying their first visit to Kentwood in months, and the next minute Jayden had fallen ill. “He was vague and unresponsive so Britney dialled an ambulance. “But she was told it would take half an hour to arrive, and she was best trying to get Jayden to the hospital herself. Another added: “They tore off so fast it was incredible.” 
While Discovery Chief David Zaslav said Friday morning that CBS Television Distribution’s The Oprah Winfrey Show will depart broadcast syndication in fall 2011, Harpo isn’t so sure. On Discovery’s first-ever earnings call, Zaslav told analysts: “The current expectation is that after fall 2011 her show will go off of … syndication, and she will come to OWN,” the cable network that Winfrey’s production company, Harpo, is creating in conjunction with Discovery. “We are talking right now about what that presence would be and what programming she would be involved in directly, but this is her chapter two, and building the OWN brand online and on-air is something and she and I are working on together. It is a core mission for her,” Zaslav said. Winfrey’s distribution deal, which she re-signed with King World (now part of CBS Television Distribution) in August 2004, expires in fall 2011. That marks the end of Oprah’s 25th season. In a statement issued this afternoon, however, Harpo responded: “While David Zaslav’s comments are true that Oprah’s current contract to produce The Oprah Winfrey Show will expire in 2011, she has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication beyond that,” says Lisa Halliday, chief spokesperson for Harpo Productions, Inc. In fact, a clause existed in her current contract that would have let the talk-show queen end the show in 2010, but she recently chose to extend the show’s run through the contract’s full term. 
She may not be in full meltdown mode, but Britney Spears continues to struggle with mental illness. In the Nov. 17 issue of Star — on sale now — we report that although Britney appears to be getting her life back on track, she’s still struggling with a slew of problems, some of them brand new. The decision by an L.A. court to switch her dad Jamie’s conservator status from temporary to permanent may have come as a surprise, but it wasn’t to Brit, who agreed to the legal maneuver that gives him control over her entire life indefinitely. “Everyone who knows Brit isn’t surprised that this happened,” a source tells Star. “Thankfully, she seems well enough to know she still needs help.” So what’s troubling her? For one thing, her possessiveness with sons Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2. According to a family insider, Britney is making up excuses to be with them even when it’s inappropriate. For example, while working out at a dance studio last month, Britney called her ex Kevin Federline, demanding he bring the kids over mmediately. Kevin said no, and Britney burst into tears, according to the insider. “She’s gotten so paranoid, she thinks she’ll lose the boys forever,” says the insider. “Kevin assures her there’s nothing to worry about, but she doesn’t listen.” 
Coach of the year? Not quite. Ashton Kutcher has been having a ball as assistant coach to North Hollywood’s Harvard-Westlake School freshman footballers. But the feeling isn’t mutual. “The kids want him gone,” says an insider. “They think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and can’t stand his tough-guy attitude.” Out of the huddle, the kids mock their famous coach and have even given him a special nickname: Ashton Doucher! 
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams’ on-off romance is off again, just four months after they sealed their reunion with a public kiss. The pair began dating first time around after meeting on the set of 2004 movie The Notebook. They split in 2007, but reconciled in July and were soon spotted smooching at a restaurant in Toronto, Canada. But friends claim the relationship has hit the rocks again. A source tells Us Weekly, “Rachel is too controlling. They broke up the first time because of their busy schedules - and that’s the problem again.” 
Jaime Pressly and fiancé, Eric Cubiche, who are parents to a 1 ½-year-old son, have separated, the My Name is Earl star reveals. “We are taking a break from our relationship but we are together every day with Dezi and still love each other very much,” the actress tells Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell. The couple, who welcomed their son, Dezi James, in May 2007, plan to “remain close friends as we both adore our son and want to make sure he knows we both love him more than life,” Pressly adds. Pressly, 31, and Cubiche, 33, were friends for more than nine years and dated for a year and a half before getting engaged in October, 2006. Earlier this year, Pressly said they had no immediate plans to marry becayse she didn’t want to “go through the rigmarole of throwing a big wedding.” 
Both Simon Cowell and Terri Seymour’s camps have been referring to their recent split as amicable, and well, how could it not be (at least for Seymour) when a $9 million goodbye gift is involved? Cowell is said to have given Seymour, who he dated for six years, $5 million cash and another $4.6 to buy a Beverly Hills home just before calling it quits, reports Life & Style. “Terri phoned Simon about six weeks ago and finished it,” his rep told Life & Style, referring to the breakup. “Simon thinks the world of Terri, and that isn’t going to change. He also understands her reason for ending it.” According to the magazine, Seymour wanted to marry and start a family, whereas Cowell recently said, “I don’t want to marry anyone, because whoever marries me will end up hating me.” As for the pile of money Seymour reportedly received: a rep for Cowell says, “this isn’t the kind of thing he usually comments about.” 
Pamela Anderson has been forced to move into a mobile home while her house is refurbished - and she loves her humble new abode. The former Baywatch star and her two sons, Brandon, 12, and Dylan, 10, are living in a trailer while her Californian property undergoes renovation. And the sex symbol is adamant she is having a blast in her new home. She says, “I live in a mobile home and I love it! It’s small but chic and perfect for me and the kids. It’s fun having to sit on beanbags and do our washing at the laundrette.”