"Irreconcilable differences" was once the hot legalspeak catchphrase among divorcing celebrities, but a new, somewhat more inflamatory buzzword is making the rounds: "fraud." First coming to prominence in Renee Zellweger's quickie marriage annulment from country singer Kenny "Gay?" Chesney, it rears its ugly head once again in the heartbreaking dissolution of yet another inconsequential celebrity union
that of Chad Michael Murray to Sophia Bush.

· Salman Rushdie, a giant for his literary talent as well as his Ocasek-like ability to hang on to one of the world's most beautiful women, speaks at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
· Hump Night music round-up: Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins at The Glass House in Pomona (it's not that far); Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs at the Hotel Caf .
· Kevin Connolly, Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier, and Johnny Drama are joined by Entourage castmates and producers to screen episodes and do a Q&A thing at the Museum of Radio & TV as part of the 2006 William S. Paley Television Festival. Please request that Piven answer all questions in character—though at this point, the line is between The Piv and Ari is probably pretty blurred anyway.

· If Crash wins, its 182 swear words will make it the third most profane Best Picture of all time. This useless statistic brought to you by the friendly swear-counting folks at FamilyMediaGuide.com! [Gold Derby]
· The nominated Oscar shorts are available for download on iTunes, leading some of the Academy's older, less tech-savvy voters to accidentally nominate Pink's "Stupid Girls" video for Best Picture. [Oscar Beat]
· "And Paul Giamatti, what is with the gee-whiz, do we really have to bother with this, attitude. You know you want it, whether you got side-swiped for Sideways, or not." And the award for Best 8-Point Run-On Oscar-Themed Rant Goes To...[The Carpetbagger]
· Spend a few minutes staring at partially obstructed ladyparts in this Oscar fashion quiz. [The O-Factor]
· Over 32,000 people have signed a petition to disqualify Palestinian Best Foreign Film nominee Paradise Now, almost as many as have signed the "No Robin Williams Oscars Stage Time" petition currently circulating around Hollywood. [PopWatch]

The Smoking Gun has gotten its hands on a host of budgets from M. Night Shyamalan's gotcha! ouevre, and despite the fact that we know movies are too expensive and stars are wildly overpaid and spoiled, we're still amused and appalled anew by Bruce Willis' $1.5 million package:

We're really not much for the political tongue-wagging, especially involving NorCal politics, but someone forwarded us this story about San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom's jaunt to LA with current fling Sofia Milos of CSI: Miami, which included a trip to hang with everyone's favorite Scientology-sponsored, anti-psychiatry attack-dog group:

Unlike the recently unveiled Oscar stage, a nightmarish interpretation of what the commitment ceremony cake of two flamboyant Gay Mafia dons might look like, the show's greenroom—excuse us, the Architectural Digest Greenroom, they paid good money for that—is a more classic, restrained affair intended to evoke a movie theater lobby. Now that photos of the room are available, we can spotlight some of the unfussy space's features:

God-fearin', perpetually soused "rocker"/jackass Scott Stapp has finally spoken out on his stolen sex tape (co-starring Kid Rock) having come to the realization the crime could have only one logical motive:

Stacey Snider may have jilted Universal to go shack up with DreamWorks, but she's still got 10 months left on her contract. So either Paramount's lawyers find a way to spring her (read: $$$), or she suffers the horrible indignity of being paid ridiculous sums by Universal to vacation until her pact expires at the end of 2006. [Variety]
It's not exactly news that American Idol has staggering ratings, but holy shit: 33 million people tuned in to see the final half hour of last night's 90 minute show. [THR]
Not all pre-Oscar parties are pointless, celebrity-packed orgies of decadence; in fact, many soirees in the coming days are celebrity-packed orgies of decadence that benefit charities. [Variety]
· Rob Lowe and fellow West Wing alums Mary-Louise Parker, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Marlee Matlin, Anna Deavere Smith, Timonthy Busfield, and (deep breath, almost done) Annabeth Gish will stop by the Wing to say goodbye in its final run of episodes. [THR]
· Shortly after the announcement that CBS is suing Howard Stern, Big Les responds to a Stern attack in inimitable Moonvesian fashion: "The good news is that not as many people will hear him as would have a year ago." [Variety]

It's a battle for the ages: Future Galactic Dictator Les Moonves of CBS Corp. is suing the King of All Media, Howard Stern, claiming that Stern turned his FCC-plagued terrestrial radio show into an extended infomercial for his new Sirius satellite free-for-all in an attempt to reach a stock option incentive clause in his Sirius contract. According to the NY Times, Stern has returned fire by calling the suit a "personal vendetta" intended to be a smokescreen for CBS Radio losses. But the question seems obvious: If Moonves was so worried about Stern's on-air talk about his move, why not use the very same dump button that so frequently deprived the public of porn stars describing their first double-penetration scenes to shut him up? Reports the Times:

As Tom Ford-zhuzhing dreammuffin Jake Gyllenhaal readies himself for Oscar night, the AP managed to actually do what millions of gay men could only fantasize about corner the actor and grill him about his workout routines:

We were getting a touch concerned for Nick Lachey first he's reduced to asking Jessica Simpson for spousal support, then we watched him stand on the sidelines as little brother Drew cha-cha'd his way into America's hearts. But Page Six reports that Drew's career is right back on track, with an exciting new TV project geared directly to the flabby insomniac demo:

In an item that we're not at all suspicious was planted by a publicist trying to build buzz in the couple of weeks leading up to The Showbiz Show's second season premiere, Rush & Molloy report that host David Spade's on-air digs at Jennifer Aniston have angered both ex-husband Brad Pitt and current tabloid partner Vince Vaughn:

Courteney Cox and David Arquette, having put in about as much stay-at-home time with baby Coco as can reasonably expected from a celebrity couple derailed from their one-and-a-half thriving careers by the drudgery of parenthood, have decided to go back to work:

The above photo of Lindsay Lohan at last night's General Motors celebrity fashion show (yes, really) will likely spread on the internets faster than a love bug on VD Night at Mood, so prepare your inboxes for a barrage of links promising a glimpse of the starlet's goodies. But after the Pavlovian drooling response induced by a famous nipple escaping its couture jail subsides, let's all ask ourselves a question: "Now why would a nice girl like Lindsay allow herself to be photographed from an angle likely to result in a too-revealing view of her breast?" The more charitable among us might decide that the chaos caused by the flashbulb firing squad made Lohan forget how loose her garment was on the right side. The rest of us, however, might be inclined to think that she decided that it was finally time to show the world that she's gotten her "curves" back. We'll leave it to you to decide how surgically adept her "dietician" and "trainer" might be.

Let's forget for a second that a news editor at E! Online mixed up Dylan McDermott and Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey in the blurb shown above. (McDreamy...McDermott—easy enough mistake, right?) It's just not very nice to have downgraded the actor's McDreamy status because he told Barbara Walters that he struggles with a common learning disorder. Come on, E!, it's not like he admitted that he slept with Kirstie Alley (or, in these more liberal times, Vic Tayback) during the filming of Loverboy.

And with a wave of her hand, Britney Spears made everyone in New Orleans forget all about that nasty hurricane business.
· TVGasm does us all a solid by making sure we never actually have to watch Deal or No Deal.
· We were ready not to enjoy Point Brokeback, the roughly one-millionth send-up of this century's most parodied film. But we watched it, as we always wind up doing, and we have to say: Swayze and Keanu would've made a pretty good gay surfer movie.
· While we're on the topic, it probably won't be long before Naked Trash-Collecting Devil Guy makes an appearance in a Brokeback mash-up.
Dr. McDreamy never stood a chance against Barbara Walters.

Outraged that Playboy sneakily obtained an Into the Blue promotional photo of client Jessica Alba in a bikini and slapped it on the cover of an issue in which the actress does not expose so much as an ankle, the Scary Hollywood Lawyers of Lavely and Singer have fired off an angry letter to the skin mag expressing their extreme displeasure with their tactics, and in the process, revealed a more than passing familiarity with the magazine's nudie customs. As always, The Smoking Gun has the goods:

· The stores next to the Kodak Theater were specially fitted to have detachable signs and curtains strung along their storefronts, so that by Sunday night, any mall-like memories of Hollywood & Highland will be conveniently swept under the red carpet. [The Envelope]
· The Academy is hosting Oscar Night America, with 46 separate black-tie viewing parties across the country, so that everyone can share in that magical Oscar feeling of being richer, more beautiful, and more important than the regular population. [The O-Factor]
· The serious Oscar odds, according to Pinnacle Sports, still put Brokeback, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Reese Witherspoon and Rachel Weisz out front, with the closest race currently between Paul Giamatti and George Clooney for Supporting Actor. [The Carpetbagger]
· Didn't think "Hollywood's Original Blogger" Army Archerd was capable of writing the words "fuck," or "shit," much less "niggaz?" Well how about all three, in a single post? Whoop that trick, Original Blogga! [Army Archerd]
· Always open to helpful suggestions, Oscar set designer Roy Christopher turns to wife (yes, wife) Dorothy for green-room decor inspiration. [The Envelope]
· Technically not a "blog," but: Last minute celebrity beautification techniques for the big night include the application of a product called "Caviar Eye Creme," and a "diamond healing massage," because anything featured in a Richie Rich comic surely works cosmetic wonders. [Reuters]

Brokeback Mountain producer and frequent Ang Lee collaborator James Schamus set the record straight with USA Today over the recent rumors that the director's next project would be a biopic on the life of singer Dusty Springfield starring Charlize Theron, with Kate Moss as her lesbian lover. It seems the entire thing was a media-concocted fabrication:

· RES kicks off its 2006 screenings at the Egyptian with videos for obscure polka ensemble Death Cab for Cutie, as well as for The Go! Team and Colder. And as always, there's the after-party with DJs, booze, and such.
· The ArcLight hosts one of their super-fancy pre-Oscar screenings, tonight featuring Walk the Line with a live performance by Johnny Cash's backing band, Tyler Hilton, and others, and a Q&A with some of the performers after the movie.
· Live musical entertainment unrelated to the Oscars: The Elected at the Echo; Michael Penn at Largo; Goldspot at the Troubadour.