Snooki and Jionni LaValle: Going Strong!

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi started dating Jionni LaValle earlier this fall. We're happy, and a bit surprised to report they are going strong! It's been like a month!
The Jersey Shore star says she's done hunting for tan, juicehead gorillas, because she's found one worth sticking with. Jionni LaValle, you are a lucky man.
After meeting her through mutual friends, Jionni, who is in school to get his teaching degree, has hit it off with Snook ever since. Here's a photo of them:

Sorry, Emilio Massella and Jeff Miranda. Jionni LaValle is smushin' Snooki.

A friend of Snooki’s says “he’s is a good kid, finishing school to become a teacher like his two older brothers. She talks about him all the time and sees him pretty damn often.” Best of all, Jionni is shy and prefers not to be in the spotlight.
“He doesn’t give a [expletive] about (fame)” Snooki reportedly stated last week at her Halloween party in Vegas. Hey, that would be a first. Snooki Tweeted today: “My boyfriend is amazing!! Miss you Jionni :)” All together now: Aww.

Behind the Demi Lovato Breakdown: What Led to Rehab?

I was bullied in middle school. People say sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never hurt you, but that's not true. Words can hurt. They hurt me. Things were said to me that I still haven't forgotten.
So wrote Demi Lovato on the PACER's Teens Against Bullying website last month. This letter is even more relevant now, as the young singer left her tour this week in order to seek treatment for issues related to low self-esteem.
What led Lovato to this point? While a few fans take the simplistic approach of blaming Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene, the truth is more complicated and deep-seated. It all culminated in an ugly incident an an airport in Peru on Saturday.

Demi Lovato was in a fragile state before she was forced to go on tour with her ex-boyfriend, as seen here.

Rumors of Demi cutting herself started well over a year ago, as she showed up at a couple red carpet events with scratches on her arm. Sources say the artist struggled with bulimia for years, leaving her in an insecure state when the romance between her and Jonas ended.

"After she split with Joe, it was just a whole bunch of drama, very awkward," an insider tells E! News. "Everyone tried to be professional, but you could tell it was wearing down Demi. It was a taboo subject to bring up, but clearly she wasn't over Joe.

"The [Jonas] boys got a break after the tour, but Demi went a nonstop promo campaign for Camp Rock 2 and was pushing the single for that movie. It really was too much ask of a girl that young. She just couldn't handle it."

This source cites overwhelming stress as the cause for Demi's breakdown, which led her into a scuffle with a backup dancer in Peru over the weekend.

"She just lost it right at the airport in front of everyone," said the source. "The [Jonases'] dad basically said right there, 'That's it. You're going home.'"

It's sad stuff, but let's all hope it's for the best. Such an incident served as the catalyst for Demi to realize she has a problem and she's now taking the proper steps to get help for it.

Farrah Abraham Fights For Control of Baby Sophia

It's no Amber Portwood stealing baby Leah, but Teen Mom co-star Farrah Abraham has been in a battle of her own with people trying to take her daughter.
Stormie Clark, the mother of Farrah’s late baby daddy Derek Underwood, had been seeking “grandparent’s rights” in Pottawattamie County (Iowa) Court.
A judge denied her request, keeping Sophia in Farrah's custody. But it was too close for comfort for a young single mom already battling against all odds.

Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham with adorable baby Sophia.

In order for a judge to have approved this request for visitation, Stormie would have needed to prove she has a pre-existing relationship with baby Sophia.
She does not. If Farrah Abraham were unfit to decide who Sophia should or shouldn’t be around, that would have been grounds as well. Also not the case.
Again, it's no Amber beating up Gary Shirley and getting the cops called, but Farrah’s relationship with Derek’s family is still messy. Keep on keepin' on girl.

Cirque du Soleil to Immortalize Michael Jackson

Get ready for the biggest show under the big top EVER. Well, that or pretty darn close to it. Cirque du Soleil is joining forces with Michael Jackson's music.
Beginning next fall, the world tour will kick off in Canada, working its way to the U.S. and finding a permanent home at Vegas' MGM Mirage hotel in 2012.
Cirque has already released the following promotional poster:

CIRQUE DU-MJ: Would you go see this show?

This project - unlike some others, notably those new Michael Jackson songs family members say are fake - got the thumbs up from his mom, Katherine Jackson.

Financial considerations couldn't have hurt. The partnership between the MJ Estate and Cirque ensure each will share 50 percent of the profits. A lot of profits.

The music icon passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on ... lucratively. The star's three children, Paris, Prince and Blanket, can thank his executors for that.

Fashion Face-Off: Jessica Szohr vs. Leighton Meester

Jessica Szohr may have no shot in this one. Leighton Meester's a strong competitor, and, well ... she's channeling Gothic Barbie a little too much for our taste.
You be the judge, though. As you can see, she donned oversized shorts and a drapey silk cardigan and platforms at a fashionable Maybelline New York event.
Her Gossip Girl co-star, meanwhile, opted for the high fashion route in a color block Giambattista Valli dress with a draped front at NYC's Cipriani Wall Street.

Matt Hughes, Storm Chaser, Passes Away

Fans of the Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers were shocked to hear that Matt Hughes died, but what caused his premature death was not actually chasing a storm.
Rather, it was something that chased him all his life.

Matt Hughes, who battled severe depression his entire life, died of complications from a reported suicide attempt, leaving behind a wife and two young sons.
Hughes, who joined Storm Chasers in 2009, passed away this past May. He was only 30. No additional motive or details of his tragic death have been published.
Wednesday’s night episode of Storm Chasers paid tribute to Matt in an episode named “Dedication.” It was a fitting title for a man who will be greatly missed.

Lil Wayne: Out of Jail, Ready For Strip Clubs

Troubled rapper Lil Wayne is set to walk out of New York City's infamous Rikers Island prison this morning after serving an eight months on a weapons charge.
As soon as Weezy's free, his friends are reportedly planning an "extravagant, elegant" evening of celebration, boozing and strippers to welcome him home.

TRIUMPHANT: Lil Wayne is out of jail and back on the streets. Run.

The platinum-selling, billboard topping star pleaded guilty in 2009 to having a loaded gun on his tour bus. He started serving a one-year sentence in March.
He's expected to get out early due to time off for good behavior, despite "electronic contraband" that landed him in solitary confinement for the last month.
In an interview with MTV, Young Money records president Mack Maine said a party is being planned in Miami to help him readjust to life on the outside.
"It should be a lot of beautiful women, just ... beautiful scenery. We're going to just treat him like a king, like the royalty that he is and make him feel like we really missed him and welcome him back to the family," Maine told MTV.
The record label boss, who is also a close personal friend of Lil Wayne, said after a private party, the entourage would move over to a strip club called King of Diamonds in Florida's party capital. Readjusting to normal life? Done and done.
Lil Wayne joined a roster of successful rappers who have spent time behind bars, a list that has muddied the line between art and life in their genre.
Tupac Shakur, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, Shyne, Mystikal, Gucci Mane and T.I. have been incarcerated for periods ranging from months to years.

Two and a Half Men Crew to Charlie Sheen: Welcome Back!

Charlie Sheen returned to being unfunny on Two and a Half Men this week, and on-set sources said little in the atmosphere was different, despite Sheen's rough night out in NYC a few days ago.
"At first it was kind of awkward because of all the press stuff we’d heard,” a crew member said. “But Charlie just chatted with us and said he was sorry about everything that’s happened and that it wasn’t going to affect us on set... and it honestly hasn’t.”
It hasn't affected viewers, either. They may rail against Tiger Woods and think Jon Gosselin is a dog - but ratings were up 7% for the first episode of this sitcom following Sheen's most recent rampage.

Wine and women? The writers at Two and a Half Men know how to give Charlie Sheen material to which he can relate.

While the actor is clearly a menace when it comes to his personal life, he's able to leave those problems at home (or in a restaurant, or in a hotel room) when work beckons. Another staffer backs that up:

“We’re really happy to be back on set. We love Charlie. That dude is the nicest guy. Seriously, he’s the best to work with.”

Kanye West Can Relate to George W. Bush

Kanye West has responded to George W. Bush’s recent statement regarding his controversial post-Hurricane Katrina remarks, and oddly feels he can relate.
Say what now?
Five years later, Kanye says he can "connect" with W and can sympathize much more with the former President he once said “doesn’t care about black people.”

Kanye actually feels sympathy for G-Dubs now.

Bush recently told Matt Lauer that hearing Kanye say that during a Hurricane Katrina telethon was “a disgusting moment,” perhaps the worst of his presidency.
A Houston radio station asked West for his thoughts on this, and the response he gave was gracious, to say the least ... albeit a bit of a stretch, logically.
“I definitely can understand the way he feels, to be accused of being a racist in any way, because the same thing happened to me, where I got accused of being a racist,” West said, referring to the aftermath of his run-in with Taylor Swift.
“For both situations, it was basically a lack of compassion that America felt in that situation. With him, it was a lack of compassion of him not rushing, him not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans. For me, it was a lack of compassion of cutting someone off in their moment."
"I think we’re all quick to pull a race card in America."
"Now I’m more open, and the poetic justice that I feel, to have went through the same thing, and now I really connect with him on a humanitarian level.”
Did anyone think Kanye's hijacking of Taylor Swift's speech was racially motivated? We just felt it was jackass-motivated, but maybe we're just idealists.
Either way, he was certainly humble and took ownership of remarks he probably wouldn't make if he had it to do over again, which we greatly respect.
What do you think of Kanye's response?

Cops Subpoena Teen Mom, Amber Portwood Footage

Amber Portwood is a teen mom. On a reality show by that name. She has a bit of an anger management problem. All this is now common knowledge.
The police want to see just how bad it is, though.
Officials in Anderson, Ind., plan to subpoena MTV for the unedited footage of the decidedly one-sided fight between Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley.

A typical morning in the Portwood-Shirley household.

"We're looking for any behavior that would be considered to be unlawful where the law is broken," Anderson PD spokesman Mitch Carroll told E! News.
"From what we have seen so far from the allegations, and we have to bear in mind that we're dealing with edited footage, it could be something as simple as misdemeanor domestic violence battery - a Class A misdemeanor."
That wouldn't be so problematic. However ...
"However, if it is in fact found to have occurred in the presence of a child less than 14 years of age it could be upgraded to a Class D felony."
Pretty sure baby Leah was present for this, and other meltdowns.
In any case, both Portwood and Shirley have fully cooperated with the police and both even came in last month to provide them with statements.
But while they came in together to deal with police, it's probably the last trip they'll make in tandem. According to her dad, Shawn Portwood, they split.
That would explain Gary Shirley creepin' on randoms at the club.
"They don't belong together," he said. "They just don't mix. There's not enough there. They separated. She's moving on." Well, for this week anyway.

Bristol Palin Forgets to Vote, Wants Mom to Run

Making it to the final five on Dancing With the Stars is hard work. So hard that Bristol Palin admitted she didn't vote in this week's midterm elections.
"I did not send in my absentee ballots to Alaska," the daughter of Sarah Palin confessed in an interview. "I'm going to be in trouble. Sorry, mom!"
Too bad for mom, since Palin-backed Tea Party favorite Joe Miller needs every vote he can get in a tooth-and-nail battle for U.S. Senate. Oops.

BRISTOL THE PISTOL: Hey, give the younger Palin a break. Votin', schmotin'. She's workin' hard out there on the dance floor, all so she can support her kid.

We're guessing she'd remember to vote in 2012.
Asked if her she wants her mom to make a run for the White House, Bristol Palin said, "Of course. I know she is great, and she is great for our country."
A polarizing figure, Sarah Palin has been flirting openly with the idea but has not definitively said she will. What do you think? Should Sarah Palin run?

Happy Birthday, Matthew McConaughey!

Alright, alright, alright, alright... Matthew McConaughey turns 41 today.
The actor hasn't anchored a film since last year's (awful) Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, but he has a very good excuse for taking a slight breaking from Hollywood. Two good excuses, actually, one named Vida and the other named Levi.
Indeed, the hunk became a father for the second time in January and has been spotted around Los Angeles playing the role of father these days. We've included a shot of him doing just that below, but don't worry, ladies.
This photo montage also celebrates the star's physique. We encourage readers to send McConaughey birthday wishes as they click around and ogle the following pics of him:

Katie Holmes Bombshell: She's on Birth Control!!!!

Stop the presses.
We hope you're sitting down, because In Touch is about to drop a BOMB on you. Katie Holmes is not only sleeping in the guest room, she's on birth control!
After four years of marriage and only one child, one would kind of assume that, but hey. As for moving into the guest room, how would they possibly ... you know what, forget it. Just prepared to be shocked and awed by nothing:

For a supposed bombshell, this looks like a non-story.

Come on, ITW. With all the real (Teen Mom) and surreal (Brangelina) news potential out there, we'd think you could do better than this snoozefest.

We expect much better next week.

Miley Cyrus to Go So Undercover for Next Movie

When it comes to her parents' divorce, Miley Cyrus "is not taking any sides," a source says. "She's trying to keep everything private while her family works through this."
Fortunately, the actress now has something else to focus her attention on anyway: a new movie role. She'll play the lead in So Undercover, an action comedy that finds her private investigator character hired by the FBI to infiltrate a college sorority.
Perhaps Miley can research this role by digging up information on whether or not her mom really did bone Bret Michaels or not.

Shooting on this movie will begin next month.

Meanwhile, Miley will next be seen on the big screen in LOL: Laughing Out Loud. She plays a troubled teen opposite Demi Moore and Ashley Greene.