Britney Gets in Retail Therapy with Mom
By Pernilla Cedenheim
Photo by: INF; shooting star
Britney Spears appears to be bonding with her mother – by shopping.
Spears and mom Lynne spent a half-hour at the Miss Sixty store in Los Angeles, where the pop star spent $650 on J Rocker Jeans, a white Carmen T-shirt, a Tirsa blue dress and a Maybelle stretch tee.
Spears, who once had been estranged from her mother – with an uneasy peace during Britney's psychiatric care – even asked her for shopping advice, according to an observer.
"Her mom helped her get the right size jeans that she ended up buying," an eyewitness says. "Britney also held up the blue dress in front of her and showed her mom before she decided to buy it."
Daughter and mother then traveled to the Millennium Dance Complex, where Spears taught a dance class for youngsters the day before.
----------
J.Lo Hospital On Alert to Thwart Babynapping
by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned that the Long Island hospital where J.Lo will probably give birth to her twins is practicing "pink drills" -- code for thwarting a possible kidnapping.
Sources at North Shore Medical Center tell TMZ the hospital conducted a "Code Pink" drill last Friday -- "Code Pink" is code for locking down the hospital to prevent a kidnapping attempt.
A rep for North Shore confirmed that the pink drill did indeed go down, but said that the timing is just a coincidence, but that's not what our sources are saying.
For the lowdown, check out TMZ TV tonight for the full scoop. Check your local listings.
----------
Paris Hilton's Little Brother Arrested for DUI
By Marla Lehner and Howard Breuer
Photo by: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department / AP
Like sister, like brother? Paris Hilton's 18-year-old younger brother, Barron Hilton, was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of driving under the influence and carrying a fake driver's license, authorities confirm.
The younger Hilton was arrested at 8:04 a.m. after failing a field sobriety test, according to L. A. County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
He spent all day in jail before his $20,000 bail was posted. His arraignment was set for April 14.
Hilton was driving black Mercedes on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu when another motorist observed him driving erratically, according to Whitmore. When Hilton stopped, the other driver had him sit on bus bench until deputies arrived, Whitmore says.
Hilton's blood-alcohol level was .14 percent, said Whitmore. The California legal limit for a person over 21 is .08 percent, but for a person under 21, any blood-alcohol level is considered legally drunk.
The DUI charge is a misdemeanor; the more serious charge is carrying a fake license, a felony.
Barron was booked at the Lost Hills sheriff's station. The Mercedes was impounded.
Barron's father Rick Hilton said in a statement: "I haven't been contacted yet by either my son or the police. If what I have heard is true, it is very disturbing and I will have a lot to say – but it will be to my son, not the media."
Paris Hilton famously served time in jail last year for violating probation in an alcohol-related driving case. Hilton was charged with DUI in September 2006.
The arrest was first reported by TMZ.com.
----------
Mel Gibson Completes DUI Probation Terms
Mel Gibson Photo by: Albert L. Ortega / WireImage
Mel Gibson completed the probation requirements from his DUI arrest, with the judge telling him Wednesday: "Now, you're on your own."
"Good luck to you as you continue on your rehabilitation," Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira said, according to L.A.'s City News Service.
"Thank you, your honor," Gibson replied.
Gibson, 52, was escorted into the Malibu courthouse by sheriff's deputies through a back door to avoid a crush of photographers.
Gibson pleaded no contest in August 2006 to a misdemeanor charge of driving with an elevated blood-alcohol level and was sentenced to three years probation. He was spared jail time but required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
Gibson was pulled over shortly after 2 a.m. in July 2006. He reportedly made anti-Semitic comments during his arrest, for which he later issued an apology.
Although Gibson completed the terms of his probation, he still technically remains on probation for another 18 months.
----------
Aretha: Beyonce didn’t give me r-e-s-p-e-c-t!
Franklin slams singer for introducing Tina Turner as ‘the queen’ at Grammys
Kevork Djansezian / AP
LOS ANGELES - When Aretha Franklin is unhappy, she does not mince words.
On Tuesday, the longtime Queen of Soul slammed Beyonce Knowles' intro to Tina Turner at Sunday's Grammy Awards, in which Knowles called Turner, not Franklin, "the queen."
"I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce," Franklin said in a statement issued by her publicist. "However, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy."
E-mails to Knowles' publicist Yvette Noel-Schure and calls and e-mails to Recording Academy spokeswomen Jaime Sarachit and Barb Deghan were not immediately returned.
In the first few seconds of Knowles' intro to Turner's performance, she name-dropped Franklin and a long list of famed female singers. Then the "Crazy in Love" chanteuse focused on Turner.
"There is one legend who has the essence of all of those things: the glamour, the soul, the passion, the strength, the talent," said Knowles, strutting in hot pants. "Ladies and gentlemen. Stand on your feet and give it up for the queen."
At a party later that night, Knowles called Turner her "ultimate icon."
Still, Franklin ended her brief criticism on a gracious note, thanking the Grammys and the voting academy and saying, "love to Beyonce anyway."
And that is all for today...untill next time "may all your couches be comfy"
