The actor gives CBS' "Person to Person" a tour of his Studio City home of 20 years. His dad became the anchor at KNBC News in 1984.
Robert Hoskins, the violently psychotic former prison inmate who served time for stalking Madonna, was arrested today near the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. He had left the hospital last...
Yes, once again it's young and mostly white actresses, fronted by Rooney Mara, Mia Wasikowska. Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain.
O'Brien, Nick Offerman and Patton Oswalt will take part in a family-friendly benefit for the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates Play/Write program.
Tony Ortega at the Village Voice reports that the top man in the Church of Scientology used Michael Doven, then Tom Cruise's personal assistant, to get reports from inside the actor's household. The former #2 backs up the account.
President Obama's reelection team has furnished donors with a list of more than 190 well-known Americans who the campaign hopes will stand in for the president during the year.
Eve Arnold was one of the first female photojournalists to join the Magnum Photos agency, in 1951. She did a book of her photos of Marilyn Monroe.
David Beckham won't be joining the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club after all, and that team says he will be staying in Los Angeles with the Galaxy.
You can probably guess handle the Secret Service used for the actor.
Guest spot on 'Weekend Update' as the pilot that threw him off his AA flight at LAX.
Actually, it's the pictorial spread the former actress did for Playboy. Here's one somewhat safe for work example.
With some of his “Rings” earnings, he founded Perceval Press, a small L.A.-based publishing house specializing in art books and poetry.
Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Phil Spector, even Conrad Murray — Sgt. Steve Wheatcroft has walked them all past the paparazzi and into court.
Dr. Conrad Murray was just sentenced to four years in L.A. County jail for his part in the death of Michael Jackson.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced Thursday that it was reopening the investigation into "one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries."
Recording star Shakira poses after receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this morning.
The Los Angeles jury holds Murray responsible for the death of Michael Jackson....
Vanity Fair digs into the neighbor-on-neighbor clash over plans for a big house on the five-acre estate of Saudi prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The big fashion and celebrity fundraiser on Saturday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, co-chaired by Leonardo DiCaprio and Eva Chow, is billed in today's Wall Street Journal as essentially a borrowed idea.
Lindsay Lohan, Guy Crowder, John Cage, Edward Headington and more.
First the American actress who is portraying Swedish book and film heroine Lisbeth Salander graces the cover of this month's American Vogue. Now H&M unveils a line of clothing based...
Every day a whole bunch of people queue up outside the Criminal Courts building for the 7:30 a.m. lottery to hand out seats at the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray.
For 16 years, Whittier artist George Sportelli has been cleaning and maintaining his mural of actor Tony Curtis on the southbound Hollywood Freeway. But no more.
A judge has revoked Lindsay Lohan's probation again.
New spoof from Funny or Die.
The feds today talked about Christopher Chaney, a 35-year-old in Jacksonville, Florida who is accused of using his home computer to crack into the email accounts and mobile phones of celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis and Christina Aguilera.
Only about 12 of the 275 union workers who were laid off when the Hotel Bel-Air closed for renovations two years ago have been rehired
Prince Frederic von Anhalt, better known to the world (if at all) as Mr. Zsa Zsa Gabor, puts up a billboard on Sunset Strip.
The former Lakers star and general manager admits in a profile at Grantland that he's still uncomfortable with his fame. Maybe more now, at age 73 and apparently taking stock of his life.
Taped at LACMA for Pacific Standard Time.
Appearing Wednesday on "Fresh Air" on to promote his new movie, "50-50," Joseph Gordon-Levitt interrupted host Terry Gross's introduction to ask "can i just have a gratuitous kiss-ass moment?"
The FBI confirms it's looking into a report that Johansson's nude self-photos were stolen from her mobile phone.
Cat shows are far more populist events than dog shows, says The Awl's Natasha Vargas-Cooper.
The City Attorney's office has announced the charges against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, who was booked last night after surrendering at the LAPD's Pacific Division station. He bailed out this morning.
No official word on cause of death, but police believe it was natural causes.
The British soul singer with a drug and alcohol problem was found dead in her London apartment on Saturday afternoon local time. An autopsy is pending.
Lakers center Andrew Bynum was videotaped parking his BMW across two marked disabled spots at the Bristol Farms store in Westchester.
Riverside County sheriff's picked up Rodney King this afternoon while he was driving in Moreno Valley.
L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison's blog quip the other day that actress Zooey Deschanel is a "snobby cow" for daring to diss an ugly corner of Downtown has elicited a big response — from Deschanel.
Watching KCAL's coverage of the British consul-general's reception for William and Kate, Gov. Brown introduced the couple as Mayor Villaraigosa and Lu Parker stood with the Duchess.
The British residence in Hancock Park was designed by Wallace Neff and finished in 1928.
In advance of Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visiting California this week, the New York Times' London correspondent Sarah Lyall gave them some cheeky advice for handling the "culture shock" of Los Angeles.
As part of the official choreography of publicity for the 405 freeway shutdown next month, the LAPD asked Ashton Kutcher and other celebrities — Lady Gaga among them — to...
The latest news and gimmicks on the coming 405 shutdown, including the LAPD asks a favor of Lady Gaga.
Mildred Baena and her 13-year-old son by Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down with Hello magazine, and she describes crying with Shriver.
Gjelina's no substitution policy has always been ridiculously amateurish, but this time the Venice hot spot did its Menu Nazi act on Victoria Beckham. And Gordon Ramsay.
“We’re one of the few firms that sue; we don’t just send a letter,” Singer says in a NYT mini-profile of Hollywood's guard dog to the stars.
The housekeeper that bore Arnold Schwarzenegger's child is Mildred Patricia Baena, according to TMZ and Radar Online in separate reports.
An Ottawa cartoonist may have just gotten lucky, but the Daily Mail had details before Arnold was governor.
he Dalai Lama was supposed to speak at 2:30 p.m. at the Long Beach Terrace Theater. A sore throat has delayed his travel from Japan, where he was visiting with earthquake victims.
Obama's menu from last night, Lohan sentenced back to county jail, and more.
There were something like 5,000 people at the Nokia on Tuesday night to watch Tina Fey and Steve Martin mix and match wits.
While Sheen risks the livelihood of everyone at his show, Tina Fey lists as her greatest achievement "providing 200 people with a nice place to work."
The mainstream media sent real critics to the Charlie Sheen tour's opening night in Detroit, for whatever reason. It didn't take their experience to know it went very, very badly. But better tonight in Chicago.
Sites getting a jump on April Fool's Day.
A young Elizabeth Taylor plays Helen Burns in this 1943 rendition of "Jane Eyre," and shows up in the first scene (and others) in this YouTube clip.
Life.com posts unpublished photos of Elizabeth Taylor, the magazine's favorite movie star.
Taylor died early today of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She entered the hospital six weeks ago. Taylor won two best actress Oscars, for "Who's Afraid of Virginia...
In the April cover story in Men's Journal, actor Jake Gyllenhaal takes his bike into Griffith Park and is called The Fittest Guy in Hollywood.
Melena Ryzik, lead writer for the New York Times' Carpetbagger awards blog, hit town this week and attended the Hollywood Reporter Oscars party on Thursday night at the mayor's residence...
She tells the New York Times fashion magazine that she's now a French housewife who cooks every night, but there's also the designer clothes and front-row seats at the fashion shows.
Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren and Matthew McConaughey have been newly added to the list of Oscar presenters at Sunday's ceremony. Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz, winners last year and thus invited...
Robert Rizzo leaves on a gurney, Lindsay Lohan walks away but is told that she faces jail time if convicted or if she pleads out.
After a couple of journos recently spotted Britain's Charles Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, in Arianna Huffington's living room in Brentwood, the question went out on Twitter: what's he doing here? Now we know.
Unlike in New York, the LACMA audience apparently was quite satisfied to hear Martin talk about art.
Jane Fonda blogged on Tuesday that tonight's opening performance of "33 Variations" at the Ahmanson Theatre would be attended by Cher, Colin Farrell, Angelica Huston, Chelsea Handler, Rosanna Arquette, Carla Gugino, Christian Slater, Peter Fonda, John Glover, Ben Vereen, Lindsay Lohan "and many other friends and family." She was right.
Politics. media and other items from the in-box.
Curbed LA's Adrian Glick Kudler goes to the numbers to put the lie to the media hype that buyers from China and Russia are lining up to buy Zsa Zsa Gabor's Bel-Air home.
Singer Neil Diamond's 70th birthday is Monday. On Sunday afternoon, five skywriters spelled out a birthday greeting over the Bel-Air hills.
The Daily Meal's list is more than a lazy tally of hot chefs of the moment; the 50 include corporate and government officials, journalists and others who shape the food business.
On the Guest DJ Project, KCRW gathers the musical choices of a pretty wide variety of people, Angelenos and not. Recent guests have included Colin Firth (who gets his star...
Actor Peter Fonda was driving in Pacific Palisades this afternoon when he discovered an apparent suicide. Plus: Jane Fonda tweets.
Tony winner John Lithgow was mistaken for John Cleese this morning at a Hollywood photo lab, causing howls of disbelief in the room.
In one of those promotional interviews that actors do with the smaller magazines when their movie is coming out, Mila Kunis was asked how she broke the diet that let her lose a bunch of weight for "Black Swan."
US Weekly reports "exclusively" that the Dodgers can have their centerfielder back this coming season.
Natalie Portman decorates the cover of January's Vogue, from a fashion shoot probably in the Alexandria Hotel. Watch the video.
Today's Sunday Styles section of the New York Times profiles Philo Hagen, a Los Angeles writer and blogger who is the founder of Hooping.org — and whose video of hooping (and stripping) through Downtown inspired the story.
Where else can you see Roger Moore, Glenn Close, Huey Lewis, Jason Alexander and other actors from 1980s and '90s TV shows, plus Olympic skaters Katarina Witt and Tonya Harding — and many others — lip-syncing to "Let it Be" in front of a giant screen to promote a Norwegian program?
Writers Bloc is offering five pairs of tickets to LA Observed readers for the Dec. 7 conversation between Cavett and Brooks.
The singer got her star today on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. City Council President Eric Garcetti uploaded the mobile photo to his Facebook page.
Actress Jessica Alba, the cover babe in December's Elle, is quoted saying that "good actors, never use the script unless it’s amazing writing. All the good actors I’ve worked with,...
Martha Stewart has posted on her blog 51 pictures from a recent trip to Los Angeles that saw her appear on "The Tonight Show," "Access Hollywood" and the "KTLA Morning News," eat at Osteria Mozza and unveil an iPad version of her magazine.
Bing Crosby's old Toluca Lake estate is up for sale: just $6.595 million for almost two acres, a main house with 6 bedrooms and five fireplaces, plus pool, cabana and tennis court.
Organizers of an L.A. event to coincide with the Oct. 30 Rally to Restore Sanity being put on in Washington, D.C. by Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" say they have a new venue.
Ellen Alperstein writes at Native Intelligence that the world is in love with Zenyatta, the mare featured inside the same issue of W Magazine that has a naked Kim Kardashian on the cover.
Richard Johnson, the editor of the New York Post gossip page for nearly 25 years, is leaving Page Six for a new gig with News Corp. in Los Angeles.
The film is hosted by actor Adrian Grenier, who it's said became interested when he noticed Autsin Visschedyk, then 14, taking pictures in a pack of Hollywood paparazzi.
Turns out that Beverly Hills Judge Elden Fox can't just make it up and prevent Lindsay Lohan from getting bail on a misdemeanor violation.
Lindsay Lohan's progress from her home to Beverly Hills court was tracked en masse, and TMZ has reactivated its live stream from outside the courthouse.
Simon and Schuster is all over the case of pitching Nicole Richie as a well-rounded author-whatever.
Bacon and Mann both made their names interviewing movie stars and other Hollywood celebrities.
People around town have been seeing Spanish actress and newly adopted Angeleno Penelope Cruz carrying an obvious baby bump.
reakout Swedish actress Noomi Rapace sat down in Venice with Anne Thompson to talk about her new movie projects, her recent introductory trip to Hollywood and leaving behind the role of Lisbeth Salander.
Rodney King, who is 44 now, is set to marry "Juror number 5" from his civil case against the city of Los Angeles over the infamous beating he took from the LAPD along Foothill Boulevard in 1991.
Appearing tonight on David Letterman's show, actor Michael Douglas said his throat cancer has advanced to stage IV, the most advanced form using that rating system.
As Paris Hilton gets older and more experienced at this getting busted thing, she's learned to really work the booking camera.
Elin Nordegren broke her silence on the end of her marriage to Tiger Woods in an exclusive interview that runs in Friday's People magazine.
Amid all the talk about the American actress who will replace her as Lisbeth Salander in the remake of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," the real thing is in town this week launching a Hollywood career.
From the Beverly Hilton to Hancock Park and back they go, compliments of the feed by Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal to the White House press corps.
As the video says, before "Dinner for Schmucks, " "I Love You Man" or even "Clueless" Paul Rudd did the bat mitzvah for Gabrielle Birkner.
This Hollywood Reporter story with a "Glee" tie-in isn't a spoof, but it could be. Commenters at the THR site are brutal.
The actress is said to be getting out of the Lynwood detention center sometime after midnight.
Ronaldo just finished up his first press conference at UCLA's Morgan Center. At least 15 TV cameras were there, more than a dozen still photogs rushed the stage when he came out, and a roomful of media types fired courteous questions.
Looks like dozens of media on hand at the Beverly Hills courthouse, awaiting Lindsay Lohan.
Joshua Joy Kamensky, the ex-City Hall press aide turned screenwriter, argues that Jewel's videotaped stunt in Santa Monica for Funny or Die (below) wasn't funny. And worse.
The trailer for "What Women Want," with new dialogue from Mad Mel. Er, allegedly from Mel Gibson.
Steve Greenberg weighs in on the mouth that roared.
You knew somebody had to do mash up Mel Gibson's and Christian Bale's rants. Now somebody did.
Ray Bradury says Mel Gibson is too busy with "that Russian girl" right now to move ahead with a film remake of his classic book.
"I am deeply disappointed," DA Steve Cooley say in a statement on Switzerland's decision to release Roman Polanski rather than send him back to Los Angeles.

Posted July 12, 2010 4:00 PM

Mel Gibson goes on another rant

Radar Online has posted a longer audio clip of Mel Gibson berating girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva over the phone

Posted July 12, 2010 11:12 AM

Polanski freed by Switzerland

Swiss authorities announced this morning that Roman Polanski has been set free from house arrest and will not be extradited to Los Angeles, citing a flaw in the U.S. extradition...

Posted July 12, 2010 7:10 AM

L.A. blogs get some kudos from Time

Time magazine's online team rated a bunch of blogs again this year, and for the Los Angeles-based blogosphere the results are mixed.

Posted June 29, 2010 12:43 AM

Young Hollywood femmes cover a bust for Vanity Fair

The March cover that featured Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried, Carey Mulligan, Anna Kendrick and a bunch of other young, thin, white actresses has been the worst selling of the year so far for Vanity Fair.

Posted June 28, 2010 5:55 PM

Jack Nicholson flies his Yankee colors

For Yankees weekend the Dodgers began plying media and blogs with photos of celebrities in the field-level seats.

Posted June 28, 2010 1:00 PM

My favorite of the Michael Jackson hoax videos

This one at least is a little creative. The fabricated paramedic calls were OK too. In the end, though, you have to ask: why? Check the image box in...

Posted June 24, 2010 11:40 PM

Faye Dunaway peels and eats a hard-boiled egg

Just because. It's a commercial by Japanese photographer Kazumi Kurigami.

Posted June 24, 2010 12:01 PM

Where in L.A. Anthony Bourdain ate tonight

The book-touring chef and TV host praised L.A. food culture (and endorsed the Lakers over the Celtics) and revealed where he ate before taking the stage at Royce Hall.

Posted June 16, 2010 11:37 PM

Rihanna's backstage demands are rather diva-ish

The Smoking Gun runs the contract rider for singer Rihanna's upcoming Last Girl on Earth Tour arena appearances.

Posted June 16, 2010 11:21 AM

Obamas in town without dad, eating well

First lady Michelle Obama was spotted last night leaving Osteria Mozza with one of the children, and they stopped today at Pink's before heading to Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Posted June 15, 2010 3:38 PM

KCRW and NPR to partner on cultural events in L.A.

The series of conversations starts with Catherine Keener and Elvis Mitchell and will take place before an audience at NPR West in Culver City and be posted later on the web.

Posted June 15, 2010 12:22 AM

Now Scarlett wins a Tony award

"Memphis” won the Tony Award for best musical on Sunday night, “Red” won for best play, and Hollywood actors Catherine Zeta-Jones, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Scarlett Johansson all won in their categories.

Posted June 13, 2010 11:14 PM

Salma Hayek's snake freakout *

I'm not sure how this stunt helps flack their movie, but Salma Hayek's reaction on the set out in Malibou Lake is memorable. "Somebody do something!" could be a pop...

Posted June 10, 2010 9:02 AM

Tom Hanks sends pies to KPCC staff

Tom Hanks will be talking to John Rabe on Saturday's "Off-Ramp" on KPCC at noon. But first, pies for everyone.

Posted June 3, 2010 2:33 PM

Happy Birthday, Mister President

One still photograph survives from that night in 1962 when Marilyn Monroe famously sang a seductive "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy. It's now for sale in West Hollywood.

Posted June 2, 2010 12:10 AM

Ten years on Dennis Hopper bio -- and still no book

Richard Stayton, now the editor-in-chief of Written By, was working at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1985 when he met and first wrote about Dennis Hopper.

Posted May 29, 2010 11:21 PM

When Gary Coleman went to Crossroads

Writer and blogger Richard Rushfield posted a nice reflection on Gary Coleman pegged to their time together at the Crossroads School, the upscale and academically creative Santa Monica private school....

Posted May 29, 2010 1:42 PM

Lohan gets a cuter alcohol monitoring device

Lindsay Lohan was fitted with a "secure continuous remote alcohol monitor" on her ankle before she left the Beverly Hills courthouse this morning &mash; a lighter, sleeker version than when she last wore an ankle monito

Posted May 24, 2010 11:59 AM

Hollywood star for Chris Berman? Take it backbackback

Daily News sports columnist Tom Hoffarth was not amused to come across the installation activity on Hollywood Boulevard for ESPN's Chris Berman.

Posted May 20, 2010 10:59 PM

Jay Leno gets a tow

Photojournalist and blogger Ted Soqui was riding with the L.A. Wheelmen on Mulholland Drive when they came across Jay Leno, loading his 1963 Porsche onto a truck.

Posted May 17, 2010 12:35 AM

Lynn Redgrave, actress was 67

Redgrave died last night after a lengthy fight against breast cancer.

Posted May 3, 2010 9:07 AM

Roman Polanski breaks his silence in Switzerland

Perhaps the surest sign that the Roman Polanski saga could be speeding toward a final disposition: Los Angeles' most famous fugitive took to the web this weekend to make a personal plea to Swiss authorities to stop his extradition.

Posted May 2, 2010 9:56 PM

Waiting for Zooey Deschanel

Amusing piece at LA Eastside by guest blogger Matt Lucas on waiting at that Angelus Plaza bench for Zooey Deschanel to appear, as she did in "(500) Days of Summer."

Posted April 21, 2010 9:40 AM

Megan Fox makes video decrying school budget cuts

Sponsored by parents at Wonderland Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles and posted at Funny or Die. It's pretty good.

Posted April 7, 2010 12:05 PM

New L.A. charity: The Jamie Fund

Boston and Fenway Park have the famous Jimmy Fund. Now eTrueSports.com thinks it's time for all of Los Angeles to get behind The Jamie Fund.

Posted March 30, 2010 2:29 PM

Jamie and Frank McCourt meet in court

With the principal combatants sitting at their respective tables, the lawyers are busy today doing their best to make the other McCourt look bad.

Posted March 29, 2010 12:58 PM

Jesse James all but confirms the Bombshell McGee story

If you're keeping score: One day after Sandra Bullock abruptly dropped out of the London premiere of "The Blind Side," just ahead of a report that husband Jesse James had...

Posted March 18, 2010 3:56 PM

She could have warned Edwards about Rielle Hunter

Ann Bardach has been sitting on this piece of information until the right moment, which is now: Rielle Hunter used to be her tenant in West Hollywood. As tenants go she was pretty good, if peculiar.

Posted March 17, 2010 12:56 AM

Great balls of fire, they got the wrong Jerry

Reader Doug emails to say that both the Daily News and the Daily Breeze made note on page 2 of today's 84th birthday of comedian and actor Jerry Lewis. But, oops, he says the Breeze's photo showed the wrong Jerry Lewis

Posted March 16, 2010 6:49 PM

FT gives Sitrick some ink

The Financial Times' Matthew Garrahan writes in tomorrow's paper that Michael Sitrick "has carved out a lucrative niche offering crisis advice for embattled companies and celebrities who have found themselves in the media’s cross-hairs."

Posted March 16, 2010 4:58 PM

Big loser in the Tiger Woods...situation

Canh Oxelson paid for a graduate degree at Harvard as a look-alike for Tiger Woods. That's not working anymore.

Posted February 19, 2010 3:48 PM

Checking in with the real Sharona

Sharona Alperin was a 17-year-old at Fairfax High School and the girlfriend of the lead singer, then 25, when The Knack's 1979 hit My Sharona made her name famous.

Posted February 17, 2010 10:57 PM

Mystery solved: Murray walks into courthouse

Dr. Conrad Murray was allowed to walk into court and give himself up before today's arraignment on charges that his medical actions killed Michael Jackson.

Posted February 8, 2010 4:14 PM

Correction o' the day, NYT edition

Cintra Wilson's takedown a couple of weeks ago of celebrity dresser Rita Watnick and her Beverly Hills shop Lily et Cie was entertaining on several levels. Alas, Wilson got one thing wrong.

Posted February 1, 2010 12:34 AM

Roy Orbison gets Walk of Fame star #2,400

Orbison, who gets his star Friday, will be outside the Capitol Records tower next to John Lennon and George Harrison.

Posted January 28, 2010 7:57 PM

What Southern California is reading this week

The new bestseller lists are posted, covering sales in local independent bookstores through last Sunday — and you just can't get any fresher than that. The politics talker that everyone...

Posted January 27, 2010 6:45 PM

Promoting movies is tough work, Gibson finds

Promoting movies is tough work, Gibson finds

Posted January 19, 2010 9:31 AM

Journalist discovers he's related to Jessica Alba

OC Weekly writer and KPFK host Gustavo Arellano is sort of digging the news that they are third cousins once removed, by way of a tiny Mexican village.

Posted January 18, 2010 1:57 PM

She's not buying the Lily et Cie attitude

No gushing journalism worship for celebrity dresser Rita Watnick and her Beverly Hills store from the New York Times' Cintra Wilson.

Posted January 12, 2010 11:02 PM

'Biggie and Tupac' together again

The 2002 Nick Broomfield documentary on the killing in Los Angeles of Biggie Smalls, and the earlier murder in Las Vegas of Tupac Shakur — "a story of great friends...

Posted January 6, 2010 11:17 PM

Matt Kemp reaches the big leagues

The Dodgers outfielder was snapped spending quality time with new girlfriend Rihanna in Cabo San Lucas.

Posted January 5, 2010 11:30 PM

Tiger Woods cover of Vanity Fair *

The Annie Leibovitz shot is the February cover. Profile by Buzz Bissinger. Imitation or flattery?: Vanity Fair also has a 25-year-old writer following Gwyneth Paltrow's dietary and cocktail advice, which...

Posted January 5, 2010 11:51 AM

Jay Leno races Mulholland for Wired

Cruising the canyons in a Gullwing and telling tales of Steve McQueen drag racing.

Posted January 3, 2010 11:05 PM

TMZ suckered by fake JFK photo

Even if the creased, black-and-white picture of John F. Kennedy on a boat with naked skinnydippers were real, TMZ went more than a little overboard.

Posted December 29, 2009 10:30 AM

TMZ's next target: sports

Harvey Levin is already staffing up for TMZ Sports, says Brian Stelter in the New York Times. TMZ’s specialty is unvarnished celebrity coverage. And because Mr. Levin sees a lot...

Posted December 27, 2009 9:15 PM

Alice Schiller, 95, ran the Pink Pussycat

If I were doing an end-of-year roundup of obits, Schiller would be in it. Her husband opened the Pink Pussycat in an old Hollywood jazz club on Santa Monica Boulevard,...

Posted December 27, 2009 8:56 PM

Brittany Murphy, actress was 32

The actress died this morning of cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai, after being found in the shower at home by her mother, according to TMZ, citing reports from the LAFD and...

Posted December 20, 2009 12:45 PM

Hallyday emerges from coma, his people say

French rock legend Johnny Hallyday has emerged from a medically induced coma he had been in since last week, according to his press relations office. He's been treated at Cedars-Sinai...

Posted December 15, 2009 9:39 AM

'Glee' star to LAUSD: shut up!

"Glee" star Chris Colfer is 19, gay and without children. So why does the Los Angeles Unified School District's auto-call robot keep phoning him at home to say his daughter...

Posted December 10, 2009 9:39 AM

Heidi Androl arrested for DUI

The interviewer on Los Angeles Kings telecasts on Fox Sports West was stopped early Monday morning, allegedly for driving too slow on the 105 freeway. She was booked on suspicion...

Posted December 8, 2009 1:51 PM

Sam Rubin v. Perez Hilton

  Oh boy, did Sam Rubin go off on Perez Hilton on the KTLA Morning News this morning — to cheers and atta-boys from his fellow Channel 5sters. It seems...

Posted December 8, 2009 1:18 PM

Natalie Portman loves L.A.

She tells David Letterman she's liking life in Los Angeles....

Posted November 30, 2009 8:34 PM

Rallying around the old Weekly

Former LA Weekly staffer Pandora Young takes some thoughtful umbrage at the Dennis Romero blog post for the Weekly about last week's USC/Neon Tommy story on the Weekly. Young at...

Posted November 23, 2009 9:59 PM

Angelyne sues city over missed fan mail

The billboard one (and ex-candidate for governor) has filed what Matthew Belloni of The Hollywood Reporter calls "a hilarious, $500,000 breach of contract lawsuit against the Community Redevelopment Agency." Angelyne,...

Posted November 17, 2009 11:18 PM

Sully to lead Rose Parade

US Airways pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger was named the grand marshal of the 2010 Rose Parade. Star-News...

Posted November 5, 2009 3:18 PM

Rihanna starts to talk about that night

ABC has begun rolling out Diane Sawyer's interviews with Rihanna about the attack by Chris Brown in Hancock Park last February and her relationship with the violent singer. She talks...

Posted November 5, 2009 9:20 AM

LAT buys even more into celebrity 'news'

Believe it not, the Los Angeles Times has decided it doesn't wallow in (and get its ass kicked on) celebrity gossip enough already. The paper's website has moved a copy...

Posted October 29, 2009 6:53 PM

Shriver nabbed again, sorry again

TMZ's cameras caught Maria Shriver, the wife of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, parking her Escalade in a Santa Monica red zone for almost an hour. She released a statement this afternoon...

Posted October 26, 2009 6:23 PM

Details of Polanski's 1977 rape

Sunday's L.A. Times carries a story by staffer Joe Mozingo going back over the evidence that Roman Polanski drugged and raped 13-year-old Samantha Gailey in 1977. The most detailed description...

Posted October 25, 2009 10:13 PM

LA Observed on KCRW: Harvey Levin

In today's radio commentary I argue we should all care about embarrassed cops obtaining the phone records of TMZ's Harvey Levin. The segment airs — as every Friday — at...

Posted October 23, 2009 4:20 PM

Harvey Levin to sheriff: Fight's on

Venting in depth for the first time about official prying into his personal phone records, TMZ editor Harvey Levin tonight called it an illegal abuse of power — "a brutal...

Posted October 19, 2009 9:05 PM

Bonnie Fuller hires an editor, is hiring

Bonnie Fuller is the "tabloid maven," as Style Section L.A. puts it, who is revamping HollywoodLife.com as part of the fledgling Jay Penske media empire. Fuller has hired New York...

Posted October 19, 2009 5:58 PM

Daily Journal piece got Rittenband wrong

Laurence Rittenband was the Superior Court judge who handled the original Roman Polanski case, and if the recent documentary is correct, was going to undo a plea deal with Polanski....

Posted October 15, 2009 11:18 AM

Hey, at least she's not texting

Gotcha! TMZ's paparazzi have caught California First Lady Maria Shriver violating the state's hands-free law at least three times in the past few days. The last time came this afternoon...

Posted October 13, 2009 7:41 PM

Spying on TMZ's phone calls

Did the Los Angeles County sheriff's department break the law by obtaining and poring over the phone records of TMZ editor Harvey Levin, looking for evidence that a deputy leaked...

Posted October 9, 2009 9:40 AM

Goldstein: Hollywood not pro Polanski

L.A. Times film columnist and blogger Patrick Goldstein says all the noise about Hollywood supporting Roman Polanski overlooks something. There's no petition going around with the names of the real...

Posted October 6, 2009 10:59 PM

Rushfield: LAT 'kind of tragic'

Now that he's jumped to be west coast editor for Gawker, Richard Rushfield talks about why he left as entertainment editor of the Los Angeles Times website — and why...

Posted October 5, 2009 9:15 AM

Polanski filmmaker to DA: huh?

Marina Zenovich, who made the documentary about fugitive director Roman Polanski, says she's pretty surprised to hear former assistant DA David Wells claim now that he lied in the film....

Posted October 1, 2009 12:32 PM

Rihanna and Chris Brown, together still

David Allen spotted KIIS-FM's outdated wheels at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona and blogs, "Radio station desperately needs a new van."...

Posted October 1, 2009 12:23 AM

Asst. DA says he lied in Polanski film

This could change some of the legal maneuvering in the Roman Polanski case. Retired prosecutor David Wells says now that he lied when he talks in the 2008 documentary, "Roman...

Posted September 30, 2009 5:25 PM

AP's chatter on Polanski makes web

This is kind of amusing. Yahoo's pick-up from Associated Press on the Roman Polanski arrest in Switzerland seemed for awhile this morning to include some not-for-public-consumption, reporter-editor go-between. "no surprise,...

Posted September 27, 2009 1:00 PM

Polanski arrested after DA issues warrant

Director Roman Polanski was arrested on Saturday as he arrived at the Zurich airport to receive an award at the Zurich Film Festival. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley's office...

Posted September 27, 2009 9:05 AM

Conan injured, show called off

Conan O'Brien took a bump to the head while performing a skit on tonight's show and was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He's doing fine — NBC released...

Posted September 25, 2009 11:10 PM

Audrey Tautou turns the tables

At the end of her interview with the LA Weekly's Gendy Alimurung, French actress Audrey Tautou asked if she could snap the writer's picture. Does it with all the journalists...

Posted September 24, 2009 7:58 PM

Joe Francis cops a plea

Joe Francis, the legally challenged "Girls Gone Wild" impresario, accepted a plea offer from the feds today to avoid more jail time over back taxes. From his statement, via flack:...

Posted September 23, 2009 4:42 PM

Mayor helps out Corzine

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is billed as the special guest at a fundraiser reception next Tuesday for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine at the Beverly Hills home of Rhea Perlman and...

Posted September 22, 2009 11:32 AM

Wile E. Coyote

A coyote nabbed Jessica Simpson's dog:And her fans are rallying:Well, maybe not all of them:...

Posted September 16, 2009 4:32 PM

Cops tagged in Rihanna leak

Two LAPD officers have been placed on paid leave as investigators figure out how a photo showing the singer's battered face wound up on TMZ. Both cops have been “assigned...

Posted September 11, 2009 10:17 AM

Lindsay Lohan as what?

She's been named artistic director (whatever that means) of the French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro. LAT's Booth Moore manages to keep a straight face - sort of. It's a puzzling...

Posted September 9, 2009 11:47 AM

Lady of the L.A. house

This week's New Yorker proclaims Kelly Wearstler the “presiding grande dame of West Coast interior design." In the Letter from Los Angeles, Dana Goodyear says that "Wearstler represents the uninhibited...

Posted September 8, 2009 8:33 AM

Jackson estate to pay for funeral II

Costs of this Thursday's Michael Jackson funeral and interment at Forest Lawn Glendale — the second Forest Lawn to have handled his body — will be paid by the singer's...

Posted September 2, 2009 6:24 PM

Jackson was killed, coroner finally says

The Los Angeles County coroner has finally released its official ruling that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide — meaning that he died at the hands of another person. Manslaughter...

Posted August 28, 2009 12:37 PM

TMZ caught back-dating a post

The Smoking Gun was the first site to post an old police mug shot of John Mayer, but for awhile there TMZ claimed it was first — and looks to...

Posted August 28, 2009 10:05 AM

Chris Brown's attack on Rihanna

TMZ has the blow-by-blow, so to speak, of Rihanna's awful night in Hancock Park. If you didn't think Chris Brown had a violence problem before, you will after reading it....

Posted August 25, 2009 5:58 PM

TMZ ID's blonde in Jenkins case

TMZ says the manager of the motel in Canada where suspected killer Ryan Jenkins hanged himself identified Jenkins' former fiancee as the woman who dropped him off and paid for...

Posted August 24, 2009 12:36 PM

Michael Jackson had lethal drug levels *

The coroner found a potentially lethal amount of the anesthetic propofol in Michael Jackson's body, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed today in Houston. The L.A. Times has a...

Posted August 24, 2009 12:30 PM

Maybe Thomas Jane had a late night

When "Hung" star Thomas Jane showed up at the KTLA studios this morning, he got out of the limo in bare feet, says a Channel 5 insider who adds he...

Posted August 21, 2009 11:37 PM

Zooey tweets

Zooey Deschanel, the co-star of the current L.A. paean "[500] Days of Summer," has broken down and sent her first Twitter blurb. Her link goes to the site for her...

Posted August 19, 2009 3:44 PM

Anschutz-Jacko connection

Michael Jackson surrounded himself with unusual characters, from Marlon Brando to Bubbles the chimp, but in billionaire Phil Anschutz "Jackson may have found his most mysterious—and lucrative—partner" yet, writes Matt...

Posted August 13, 2009 10:12 AM

2 editor's notes on 1 NYT story

The New York Times tonight added a second editor's note clarifying an Aug. 3 story about Katherine Jackson getting legal custody of Michael Jackson's children and raising questions about the...

Posted August 12, 2009 11:45 PM

Rushfield signs off 'Idol Tracker'

The LAT's Richard Rushfield has posted his final entry on the Idol Tracker blog where he's been spending most of his time the past couple of years. He's headed to...

Posted August 4, 2009 11:10 AM

Hefner sells Playboy Mansion adjacent

After he had kids with Kimberley Conrad, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner bought the new family the 2.3-acre estate next door to the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills. The Hefners have...

Posted August 3, 2009 5:56 PM

TMZ falls for hoax

TMZ.com received a lot of attention and some praise — including from me — for scooping the rest of the media on the cardiac arrest and later death of Michael...

Posted July 21, 2009 10:39 PM

Mayor: Never mind on MJ donations

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has changed his office's tune on donations to defray expenses of the Michael Jackson memorial, saying this morning that providing police services is what cities do and...

Posted July 13, 2009 1:35 PM

Jackson casket moved by LAPD, Channel 7 says

Channel 7 reported tonight that Michael Jackson's casket was removed from Staples Center after Tuesday's memorial while hidden in a SWAT van. Chief Bratton would neither confirm nor deny, saying...

Posted July 9, 2009 11:15 PM

LA Sketchbook: Who pays the MJ bills?

Steve Greenberg picks up on the local politics of the Michael Jackson event seen 'round the world. Click to view larger; see more cartoons by Greenberg in the LA...

Posted July 8, 2009 9:37 AM

Leiweke: shame on Zine

AEG chief Tim Leiweke, asked by Mark Coogan on Channel 2/9 to respond to Councilman Dennis Zine's demand that the company cover the public costs of the Jackson memorial, sounded...

Posted July 7, 2009 2:27 PM

Where does MJ go now? *

Eerie media silence regarding the return trip to wherever Michael Jackson goes now, and the continuing buildup of costs for public services. Will freeway closures occur again this afternoon? 1:28...

Posted July 7, 2009 12:53 PM

Jackson memorial ceremony *

Live in Los Angeles on channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 34 and 52 (translated), MSNBC, Fox News Channel, CNN. And on many L.A. radio stations, as well as...

Posted July 7, 2009 10:44 AM

Jackson's funeral procession

A hearse is driving through Forest Lawn and falling into procession formation. Which route to Staples Center? Updates: Left the cemetery at 9:25, east on Forest Lawn Drive. 134 eastbound...

Posted July 7, 2009 9:22 AM

Motorcade leaving Encino *

Several dozen black limousines (and other vehicles) are starting to move away from the Jackson family home on Hayvenhurst Avenue, presumably headed toward Forest Lawn. They have a police escort,...

Posted July 7, 2009 7:54 AM

Jackson to be buried in the Valley

The Forest Lawn cemetery wedged between Griffith Park, Burbank and Toluca Lake calls itself FL Hollywood Hills for marketing purposes, but make no mistake: it's in the San Fernando Valley....

Posted July 6, 2009 2:35 PM

Good luck downtown on Tuesday

City Council prez pro tem Jan Perry has released the city's map on street closures designed to keep the ticketless masses far away from the Michael Jackson memorial at Staples...

Posted July 6, 2009 12:48 PM

Latest on Michael Jackson plans

They're talking now about a private family funeral at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, with no motorcade through the city. Cops will have their hands full with Tuesday's Staples Center memorial,...

Posted July 5, 2009 1:37 PM

Where Farrah Fawcett is buried

From the Adventures in Grave Hunting blog: While the world's media focused on speculation about where Michael Jackson would be buried, lovely Farrah Fawcett was quietly laid to rest two...

Posted July 5, 2009 1:17 PM

Read Michael Jackson's will

TMZ has posted the PDF. Plus: We may not know when or where [or if?] Jackson will be buried, but it won't be at Neverland. L.A. Now...

Posted July 1, 2009 9:55 AM

Spotted around town: Jackson tributes

Photojournalist Jonathan Alcorn chronicles the scene on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino: And the photo blog East of West L.A. catches a marquee in Downtown:...

Posted June 29, 2009 9:10 AM

An African perspective on Michael Jackson

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza takes over August 1 as the dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University. He's also the editor of The Zeleza Post and...

Posted June 27, 2009 3:15 PM

More L.A. geography tricks

It wasn't just the L.A. Times that didn't know where to place Michael Jackson at first. Jonathan Dobrer, a Friendly Fire blogger for the Daily News opinion pages, posts his...

Posted June 26, 2009 7:25 PM

Hilburn on Michael Jackson

Robert Hilburn, the former L.A. Times pop music critic, lives not far from the Jackson family compound in Encino and knew Michael — and wrote about his music — for...

Posted June 26, 2009 4:36 PM

TMZ's win on Jackson

While mainstream news outlets played it cautious and lagged behind on Michael Jackson, or flopped around online as the L.A. Times did, it was upstart TMZ that displayed the best...

Posted June 26, 2009 4:19 PM

Morning Buzz: Friday 6.26.09

Today's Michael Jackson mourners in Hollywood are able to get to his actual Walk of Fame star instead of radio host Jackson's star, where they gathered yesterday. Gatherings also...

Posted June 26, 2009 9:26 AM

Michael Jackson, pop culture icon was 50

Jackson died this afternoon at UCLA Medical Center after suffering cardiac arrest at home in Holmby Hills, the Los Angeles Times and TMZ are reporting. Jackson is survived by his...

Posted June 25, 2009 3:22 PM

Michael Jackson suffers cardiac arrest *

TMZ and others are reporting that performer Michael Jackson has been taken to UCLA Medical Center in cardiac arrest. The 911 call came in at Jackson's Holmby Hills home at...

Posted June 25, 2009 2:28 PM

Spector sent to 'sensitive needs' unit

Convicted killer Phil Spector was moved Monday to the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran, in the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno. It's the state's largest...

Posted June 23, 2009 10:51 PM

Prince William house-looking in Malibu

Britain's Prince William, 27, and his girlfriend Kate Middleton were spotted looking at a house in Malibu that was listed for about $8 million, according to Ruth Ryon at Real...

Posted June 14, 2009 11:43 PM

Gustavo meets Benicio del Toro

For reasons only he can adequately explain, OC Weekly writer, author and "Ask a Mexican" creator Gustavo Arellano was on the red carpet asking questions of stars at this week's...

Posted June 13, 2009 12:20 AM

Phil Spector's prison mug shots

Former music producer Phil Spector's new home is North Kern State Prison in Delano — known in prison system jargon as NKSP. His stay may be temporary, as NKSP...

Posted June 10, 2009 3:10 PM

Mrs. Spector goes to lunch

Rachelle Spector, the wife of jailed killer Phil Spector, broke her media silence about the case over lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel with L.A. Times celebrity justice reporter Harriet...

Posted June 5, 2009 8:46 AM

Times pushes new Conan fluff

Just got a few emails observing with raised eyebrows that the top of the L.A. Times web home right now is devoted to a fluff piece on Conan O'Brien's second...

Posted June 3, 2009 4:25 PM

Wild art: Mayor goes to the Valley *

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa dropped in Saturday at the opening of actress Melissa Joan Hart's store Sweet Harts in Sherman Oaks. He's getting a hug from Valley restaurant and real...

Posted June 1, 2009 1:55 PM

Tweet o' the day

E! News' Ken Baker thinks about the why behind celebrity obsession? kenbakernow im trying to figure out why we are all so obsessed with jon+kate??? Baker is familiar to LA...

Posted May 28, 2009 5:29 PM

Live by flakkery, die by....

Now that the owner of the Century Plaza wants to tear down the hotel, Dakota Smith at Curbed LA dug up what developer Michael Rosenfeld's release said when he bought...

Posted April 29, 2009 10:56 PM

Sealing Sharon Stone file wrong, judge admits

From the weekend L.A. Times, by Harriet Ryan: In a statement attached to the newly opened file, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis said a series of missteps,...

Posted April 27, 2009 12:27 AM

Some LAT blogs get almost no traffic

If the blogs at the Los Angeles Times website are all about the ratings, the big winner is Elizabeth Snead's The Dish Rag. Her blog packed with items on celebrity...

Posted April 22, 2009 12:10 AM

Spector guilty of murdering Lana Clarkson *

The jury came back today, after nearly 30 hours of deliberation, with a second-degree murder conviction for Phil Spector. He was taken into custody pending sentencing on May 29. The...

Posted April 13, 2009 6:10 PM

LAT ramps up celebrity staffing

The Times is moving "celebrity justice reporter" Harriet Ryan from Metro downstairs to the newly ascendant entertainment team. The former Court TV senior correspondent will be "part of our expanded...

Posted March 30, 2009 11:38 AM

Dylan's scent is blowing in the wind

Bob Dylan's neighbors in Malibu are up in arms over his porta-potty. Bob Pool at LA Times.com: How sweet is life when you live next to a celebrity in Malibu?...

Posted March 16, 2009 4:55 PM

Joe Francis means trouble for his lawyers

Remember Robert G. Bernhoft and Robert E. Barnes, those lawyers known as "the Bobs" who came out from Milwaukee last year determined to make it big in Hollywood? The L.A....

Posted January 26, 2009 3:34 PM

Polanski's victim wants case to go away — again

Samantha Geimer, who was 13 when director Roman Polanski had his way with her in Jack Nicholson's hot tub back in 1977, filed a formal request today that the legal...

Posted January 12, 2009 6:58 PM

2008 quotes: Only in L.A.

"I didn�t have to put much thought into it....It�s really an honor." — Lindsay Lohan, on posing nude as Marilyn Monroe for New York Magazine "What we need is...

Posted January 4, 2009 3:03 PM

Tom Hanks steps up for Village Books

Village Books struggles to get by in the little shopping district of Pacific Palisades, but things seem especially grim on that street this year. The bookstore has loyal fans, though,...

Posted December 12, 2008 12:53 PM

Anthrax, the book

David Willman, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2000 investigation into the FDA's approval of some deadly drugs, is one of the solid reporters to recently leave the former...

Posted December 3, 2008 12:44 PM

Nicole Kidman poses

Shooting Nicole Kidman for the Washington Post was all in a day's work for L.A. photog Jonathan Alcorn. "She was very peaceful and serene, and extremely easy to photograph. A...

Posted November 25, 2008 12:16 AM

Today's L.A. weather, from David Lynch

The director's daily weather report on camera from his home in Los Angeles. Because I hadn't linked to it before. Lynch's website...

Posted November 24, 2008 2:54 PM

Confused by Vanity Fair photos

Critic Christopher Knight found LACMA's exhibit of celebrity portraits by Vanity Fair a curious choice for an art museum — "a vanity exhibition, plain and simple" — especially since it...

Posted October 31, 2008 9:12 AM

Early voting with Kirsten Dunst

Jacob Soboroff, who produced and appeared in more than a dozen LA Observed videos, is now executive director of the voting reform group Why Tuesday. He and new best pal...

Posted October 22, 2008 11:48 AM

Checking in on David Beckham

While I'm on the subject of London media coverage of L.A. celebrities, The Independent gets a little snarky about David Beckham's transformation from European soccer superstar to American celebrity. Or...

Posted October 7, 2008 11:38 PM

Greene way out of the PR closet now

Remember last year when I posted on the million-dollar wedding of real estate mogul Jeffrey Greene and New York real-estate executive Mei Sze Chan, at the groom's 27-acre Beverly Hills...

Posted September 18, 2008 11:10 PM

Brad Pitt puts up $100k for gay marriage fight

Brad Pitt announced today that he will donate $100,000 to oppose Proposition 8, the November initiative that seeks to re-eliminate same-sex marriage in California. "Because no one has the right...

Posted September 17, 2008 2:45 PM

Pool reports from tonight's Obama event

Here's what the pool reporters filed from Beverly Hills for the traveling national media and the locals. Pool Report � No. 1 Sept. 16, 2008 Beverly Hills, Calif. No News....

Posted September 17, 2008 12:20 AM

Email subject line I had to open

"Giant Eddie Murphy Head Spotted On The 405" is irresistible. He was right. Courtesy of TheJay.com: That's the San Diego Freeway in Sepulveda Pass, headed in from the San Fernando...

Posted September 16, 2008 10:25 AM

Hats off to Linda Deutsch

Poor Linda Deutsch. AP's legendary Los Angeles-based trial reporter is back on the O.J. Simpson beat. She is in Las Vegas for the start of Simpson's latest criminal trial —...

Posted September 10, 2008 12:24 AM

Celebs like Radiohead I guess

An LA Observed informant who has been at most Hollywood Bowl events this summer reports that Keanu Reeves showed up early on his motorcycle for last night's Radiohead show and...

Posted August 26, 2008 10:42 PM

Paul Starr, make-up artist found dead at home

Starr, the makeup artist for Angelina Jolie and other celebrities, was found deceased inside his Silver Lake Elysian Heights apartment. He was described variously as 48 or 51. Police forced...

Posted August 20, 2008 2:23 PM

End of the runway for L.A. Fashion Week?

Laurie Pike posts at the Los Angeles Magazine blog ChicLeak that involved sources believe the Fashion Week partnership between IMG and Culver City�s Smashbox Studios will go away after October's...

Posted August 19, 2008 5:03 PM

Gretzky's former estate listed: $25 million

That's what retired baseball player Lenny Dykstra is asking for the seven-acre, 12,713-square foot Lake Sherwood mansion he took over from hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Dykstra is now a stock...

Posted June 30, 2008 4:20 PM

LAT hires celebrity court reporter

Harriet Ryan has been a senior correspondent for Court TV and "is comfortable on camera," the L.A. Times memo says. In Times fashion, the memo wraps her hiring to monitor...

Posted June 9, 2008 12:59 PM

Malibu's secret anti-paparazzi weapon

The seaside city has asked Ken Starr, dean of the Pepperdine Law School, to convene media and legal experts to help draft an ordinance that would control paparazzi swarms around...

Posted May 8, 2008 5:46 PM

TMZ hits new low

Time Warner-AOL's celebrity gossip site posted the identity and photo of a 14-year-old boy whose sole newsworthiness is that he's the victim of unlawful sex with an adult woman and...

Posted April 30, 2008 10:42 AM

Chasing page views

It's hard not to notice that the periodic recaps of web performance at LATimes.com don't dwell on writing or reporting quality, impact of the journalism or connecting with Los Angeles....

Posted April 8, 2008 1:22 AM

Paparazzo sues his brethren over Britney beating

The celebrity chaser who revealed that Britney Spears tips the paparazzi where she's going to be has sued X-17, alleging that three of the agency's photographers beat him up. Alison...

Posted March 21, 2008 3:20 PM

More on AP going Hollywood

Remember a few weeks back when LAO posted the news on Associated Press muscling up its entertainment and celebrity overage out of the Los Angeles bureau? That announcement, a month...

Posted March 21, 2008 12:24 AM

Joe Francis gets 2 dozen reporters to hear his tale

Journalists turned out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a press conference where the Girls Gone Wild founder again ranted about being in jail for most of a year. "We...

Posted March 13, 2008 3:44 PM

TMZ paid $165,000 for O.J. tape, The Smoking Gun says

That audio of O.J. Simpson hollering at sports memorabilia collectors in a Las Vegas hotel last year was worth $165,000 to TMZ.com, reports The Smoking Gun today. TMZ reportedly bought...

Posted March 10, 2008 5:13 PM

WowoWow launches

The new website created and bankrolled by Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Mary Wells and Joni Evans went live today. Backed by $1 million and a fulltime staff of...

Posted March 8, 2008 5:05 PM

She'll see dead people

My LA Observed commentary on KCRW today talks about the scene that awaits Lindsay Lohan when she reports to the Los Angeles County morgue for her four hours of mandatory...

Posted March 7, 2008 8:00 PM

Hillary who? *

Mayor Villaraigosa may have missed the Texas party for Hillary Clinton after Steve Lopez came gunning for him, but His Honor looks like he had a pretty good time last...

Posted March 5, 2008 6:20 PM

Resisting the paparazzi

My weekend reading hit upon two fair, non-whiny examples of backlash against paparazzi and their nearly as notorious kin, those who snap celebs on cell phone cameras. Mary-Louise Parker, in...

Posted March 2, 2008 11:30 PM

Celeblogs, paps and the law

Interesting lineup at noon today at the Loyola Law School Entertainment & Sports Law Society symposium. Topic: "The Paparazzi, Celebrity Bloggers...and the Lawyers Who Represent Them." Speakers: Michael Amir, legal...

Posted February 28, 2008 12:17 AM

Worst Oscar ratings ever

Initial numbers from Nielsen look like a 20% drop in TV viewers from last year. About two-thirds of the people watching TV during the show watched something else in Nielsen's...

Posted February 25, 2008 11:58 AM

Go Fug Yourself watches Oscar arrivals

Heather and Jessica got a gig live-blogging the red carpet for New York magazine's website, starting at 3 pm Hollywood and Highland time....

Posted February 24, 2008 1:00 PM

AP bulks up here

Dan Becker, the Los Angeles-based director of entertainment content for Associated Press, announced a couple of moves as part of the wire service turning up its entertainment coverage: The Los...

Posted February 22, 2008 9:08 AM

Bratton vs. Britney and the 'airheads'

At the end of his monthly visit with Patt Morrison on KPCC today, LAPD chief William Bratton pooh-poohed the need for the paparazzi law proposed by Councilman Dennis Zine. He...

Posted February 20, 2008 9:15 PM

Lohan pics provide her a simple pleasure

Dana Goodyear, the New Yorker's blogging L.A. staff writer, had her own paparazzi encounter recently near the Chateau Marmont that inspired her to check out New York magazine's nudes of...

Posted February 20, 2008 5:57 PM

Lohan nude in Marilyn shoot for New York

New York magazine got itself a sure seller this week. Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan is nude — as in freckles, nipples and tattoo — in a color photo spread recreating...

Posted February 18, 2008 5:23 PM

Oscars disruption kicks in

Today is when Hollywood and Highland really starts to feel the pain of hosting the Academy Awards for another year. Hollywood Boulevard is set to close to traffic at 10...

Posted February 18, 2008 3:12 PM

TMZ hits bottom

TMZ has posted a paparazzi picture of singer LeAnn Rimes picking her nose. Isn't it nice how the Web has empowered new, more relevant news media? Related: NPR's Karen Grisgby...

Posted February 18, 2008 2:41 PM

Cory Kennedy and Cobrasnake are so over

It was almost a year ago that West Magazine (remember it?) profiled Cory Kennedy, the under-age teenager from Santa Monica who became the It Girl of the club and fashion...

Posted February 14, 2008 2:46 PM

We'll always have Paris, unfortunately

I know firsthand that media types who mention Paris Hilton (or Britney Spears) are likely to hear harangues from readers/viewers/listeners turned off by all the celebrity worship that's on the...

Posted February 11, 2008 4:12 PM

Celebs drive a lot of LATimes.com traffic

The latest report from web executive editor Meredith Artley shows the most important traffic drivers to the Times website are celebrity news and Hollywood. Nothing beats the page view-inflating efficiency...

Posted February 7, 2008 5:40 PM

Councilman proposes anti-paparazzi zone

Prompted by the $25,000 spent by the LAPD to escort Britney Spears to the hospital, Councilman Dennis Zine said today he'll push for an ordinance that would create a "personal...

Posted February 1, 2008 12:59 PM

AP gets an obit together on Britney

Here's a sure sign that things aren't going well for you. Associated Press began writing Britney Spears' obituary last month, just in case it's needed unexpectedly. The wire service prepares...

Posted January 17, 2008 3:36 PM

AP's news of Britney

John Rabe of KPCC's "Off-Ramp," inspired by Frank Baker's memo to the Los Angeles bureau, ponders how the AP might incorporate more Britney news on the wire. Guess which dispatch...

Posted January 8, 2008 2:43 PM

Britney an official AP priority

Memo on coverage of faded pop tart Britney Spears from Associated Press' Los Angeles assistant bureau chief: From: Baker, Frank S. Sent: Tue 1/8/2008 11:58 AM To: News - Southern...

Posted January 8, 2008 12:46 PM

Scary picture

Axel Koester grabbed this scene (for the New York Times) of photographers swarming actress Mandy Moore's arrival at a Beverly Hills restaurant. The term paparazzi increasingly encompasses not only the...

Posted November 18, 2007 9:10 PM

Chatting about Paris

Los Angeles-based Washington Post writer William Booth chatted with Post readers online this morning about the Paris Hilton media circus. To the first commenter who said the media should be...

Posted June 26, 2007 1:55 PM

Paris' reality: maybe 21 days

The L.A. County Sheriff's department now says Paris Hilton won't be treated any differently than other low-risk inmates when she turns herself in next month to begin a 45-day term....

Posted May 10, 2007 3:34 PM