Well, well, well. It’s about damn time a celeb/media person call a spade a spade. According to substance abuse expert and internist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Tom Cruise suffers from a mental illness AND he calls Scientology a cult. Yep, that’s about right. Here are the details from that tabloid hottie Dick Johnson at the New York Post based on an interview Pinsky did with Playboy Magazine:

TOM Cruise’s lawyer is comparing a TV doctor’s analysis of the star’s mental health to Nazi methods. In next month’s Playboy, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” says: ”

A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that’s a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood - maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect.”

Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields, told us:

“This unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety is so grotesquely unprofessional as to pretend to diagnose Tom and others without ever meeting them. He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels.”

I interviewed celebrity biographer Andrew Morton a while back, who wrote the definitive book on Tom Cruise. We talked at great length about Cruise and his childhood, and he described Tom’s relationship with his dad, an abusive absentee father, as a defining context for Tom’s evolution into who he has become now. Tom, being the youngest and the only son in a house full of women, was pampered by his mother and sisters, but despite this love and nurturing, Tom clearly missed having a father figure in his life.

When you add Tom’s size (he’s 5′7″ at best) and his inherent insecurities about this, you have a guy who is constantly over-compensating for a lack of something. In this case, a lack of a father. Tom was abused, but I doubt he was ever neglected. In fact, Tom’s world centered around Tom and always has. This made him a perfect candidate for Scientology, a religion built on the notion of constant self-improvement and the belief that those who practice the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, will become better than everyone else by achieving super-human powers.

Tom’s issue isn’t abuse and neglect, his issue is an extreme sense of “specialness” or as we like to call it in Hollywood: narcissism. Scientology appeals to those who think only “they” can save the world, and only they can achieve “enlightenment”, the fact that it’s a cult (which it is) has more to do with the mental illness of the individual (the malevolent David Miscavige who’s Tom Cruise’s best friend) in charge of the organization and the infrastructure centered around secretiveness.

While Dr. Pinsky has a few things right, he’s missed the mark in some key areas. I encourage him to pursue the subject further though, as he may be on to something by linking mental illness and joining cults.

Not that I am *happy* to report this, but it does put things into perspective. It seems actor Bill Murray, whom we reported a couple weeks back, was in the midst of a divorce from second wife Jennifer, isn’t the only issue in the breakup of his 10-year marriage.

Jennifer Butler-Murray filed for divorce from the very anti-Hollywood Murray citing physical and substance abuse issues, as well as infidelity, as her reason for divorcing the 57-year old actor. Butler, who just turned 42, worked as a costume-designer in Hollywood when she met Murray and the couple were married in 1997.

According to our earlier report, Butler claimed Murray abused her on several occasions, but specifically cited an incident last November when he hit her in the face and told her she was “lucky he didn’t kill her.” Pretty damning stuff for a guy known for playing generally sweet, but odd-ball characters. As I stated in the original post, Bill Murray is one of my favorite actors of all time and I was really disturbed to hear this stark account of his private behavior.

Well, as with all things out-of-the-blue, there are two sides to EVERY story. According to the New York Post, Jennifer Butler-Murray is NO saint herself. Here are the details from that story:

Bill Murray’s wife claims that he is the violent and booze-addicted one in the family - but police documents show that she has allegedly tied one on and kicked up some trouble herself.

Jennifer Butler-Murray has gotten a reputation in her suburban Charleston, SC, neighborhood as an avid drinker who gets “physical” with her children and gets into bizarre police incidents.

On March 17 of this year, Butler-Murray allegedly got drunk and two of her kids ran over to a neighbor’s house for help, according to a report filed with the Sullivan’s Island Police Department.

The trouble started after a witness saw her shouting loudly at one of her kids, the report said. Cops went to her home to investigate.

“I spoke with [her] and advised her of the complaint,” the responding officer wrote. “The w/f [white female] seemed to be very impaired and didn’t want me on her property anymore, she slammed the door and I left the residence.”

Later, a neighbor called cops saying Butler-Murray’s kids had come to his home seeking help.

“I then had the complainant meet me at the police station to talk with the juveniles . . . They informed me that their mother had been drinking heavily and had [become] physical with them,” the report said.

Butler-Murray’s lawyer, Richard Rosen, declined to comment.

The report said Bill Murray was in California at the time. The kids were sent over to a family friend until he got back.

Well isn’t that SPECIAL. I refrained from passing any judgment on this case or his wife, despite my misgivings about the one-sidedness of her story, but apparently my first instincts were correct, it seems Jennifer isn’t an angel who has been cruelly abused by an uncaring and callous husband. It looks like she too has some “issues” as it were and takes them out on the innocent kids.

For all we know, and I am merely speculating, she may be the catalyst in the breakdown of this marriage and Bill may have been lashing out at her abuse of the kids. I will be keeping you posted on this story and I hope in the end, my beloved Bill will be vindicated. Not for being perfect, but at least not as the vicious monster his estranged wife portrayed him as. It takes two to tango folks.

Amy Winehouse needs to stop already with the over-the-top, up-in-my-grill drama. I just can’t keep up — this is summer folks, unlike these crazy toofless crackheads, I have a life to lead.

So on to what our favorite whackadoodle’s been up to. It seems Amy’s delinquent hubby Blaaaaaaaaakkkkkkeeeee (who’s in jail on charges of ‘gross bodily harm’ and then subsequent attempted witness bribery charges) took some rather risque photos and videos prior to his incarceration of he and wifey Amy and those videos/photos were “stolen” by a “friend” and are now in the hands of my all-time favorite news site News Of The World. From the article:

As the camera pans back we see a coffee table in front of Amy. On it are SIX cigarette lighters and what appears to be HEROIN on a foil—a typical druggie scene set for “chasing the dragon” by heating the drug from below then inhaling the smoke through a tube.

This new evidence comes as Britain’s top cop Sir Ian Blair has called for celebrity junkies caught on camera to be put on trial.

He spoke out after police let off a string of big names filmed apparently snorting cocaine, injecting heroin or smoking crack.

Sir Ian said: “My position is that a sensible jury would not expect people to be sniffing talcum powder.”

One of the new dossier of Amy pictures shows her in a smart flat surrounded by all the familiar junkie paraphernalia.

On a table in front of the snarling star is a home-made crack pipe fashioned from a small brown bottle. Silver foil—used for heating deadly rocks of crack cocaine—is strewn about. Amy, who has a worrying history of self-harm, is clearly seen with a mystery cut on her left hand.

A further section of video, shot in the bamboo-papered den, reveals the disturbing relationship Amy and Blake have.

Oh, the sad, rich, irony of it all. Perhaps the worst of all this footage is that of Amy and a friend singing a lovely diddy (after Blake egged them on and promised to not be taping them) with every manner of racial slur, and then there’s video of Amy in a drug den surrounded by all sort of drugs (as described in the above quote,) plus NOTW alleges to owning video of Amy performing oral sex on Blake, as well as, an rather uninspired hand-related sexual act on Blake — all of course videotaped. I am not sure who’s more depraved, Blake for doing it, or Amy for putting herself in that position.

If you wish to torment yourself, the videos and pictures can be found here.

In other Blake/Amy news, reports have come out that Blake has pleaded guilty to the charges pending against him for beating up a bartender and then attempting to bribe the witness to change his testimony. Blake faces up to ten years, and will be sentenced at a different hearing. Oh man, can this story get any more perverse and sad?

Amy truly is not long for this world unless someone who gives a crap about her steps in. I read reports that her label has quietly backed out of any future dealings with her, and honestly, who can blame them? At some point, the responsibility to get your shizzle together is yours and yours alone.

Amy, it’s been fun while it lasted, too bad you chose the obvious road for doomed artists rather than the one less traveled road. If only you’d a wait a couple more years, you too could join the ‘27′ club with all the other idiots who destroyed their talent AND their lives before reaching the rip old age of 30.

Jeebus this video is scary. I am not entirely sure where this took place, but from the close quarters, the Asian sounding language and the general crazaziness, I’d say Japan.

I once worked in a cubicle infested hell-hole. Actually all my former jobs have been cubicle hell, but this particular job fostered this kind of attitude and there were the occasional “flare-ups” to put it mildly. I remember once when the company was heading in the sh*tter we had a “department-wide” meeting, but when we looked around the room, several of our co-workers were missing. During the meeting, after much hemming and hawing, it was announced a major restructuring was taking place, and they sequestered us while the unlucky members of our team were escorted like common thieves from the premises.

This was the same company which had to hire security after they “dismissed” a guy who, after the Columbine incident, muttered something to the effect of “those kids had the right idea.”

This must be how livestock feel in captivity. All living creatures need some damn space, sheesh.

That said, had one of my co-workers thrown a monitor at me I would have kicked his f*cking ass down the damn stairs. For reals. I will cut you for tossing company issued equipment at me. RUDE!

Same incident, different angle and with sound — did they taz that guy?! Damn!

Via the always excellent Dlisted.

After showing up one hour late (likely trying to sober up) Amy apologized to the crowd of 90,000 fans at the Rock in Rio concert in Portugal on Friday.

This video from the concert represents all that’s wrong with Amy. She’s destroyed her voice with drugs, her mind is addled and gone, her dancing is embarrassing and the light that used to shine from within has almost completely gone out. She is a shadow of her former self, and is now the butt of all jokes.

I can’t even make fun of her anymore, she’s beyond hope and clearly no one is going to step in and save this girl.

How they let her on stage in that condition is beyond me, but someone’s responsible and should be ashamed of themselves for allowing to Amy to perform in such a terrible state.

Depressing.

It’s been a while since we’ve discussed our favorite other addict, Lindsay Lohan. You may recall 2007 was a less than stellar year for Lindsay, as she released BOMB after BOMB at the box office, picking up like five Razzie awards for her thriller “I Know Who Killed Me,” oh yeah, and she went to rehab three times and was busted twice for cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

But wait, there’s more…

I got an phone call about Mark Bunker’s YouTube account being suspended. Unfortunately, I was away dealing with domestic duties. It seems we all waited on pins and needles for the final video of the Jason Beghe video promised to be released sometime today.

Instead, what appears to have happened is as soon as Mark uploaded the video his account was suspended, I could be wrong about the timing, but this is what I have been told. I talked at great length about this with my insider contact and they made it clear this is not a YouTube vs. Mark Bunker issue, but a YouTube policy being handled like any other account.

Clearly someone complained about Mark’s account violating YouTube policy (gee I wonder who that would have been, bet it rhymes with mimosa) and their policy as it seems is to immediately close his account and review it per the violation.

It’s likely they will find Mark’s account NOT in violation and it will be reinstated. In the meantime, we all know who the real villain is in all this, so I don’t need to say it. Suffice it to say this is the game we all must play in this battle of truth vs. evil cults.

If I hear any more details, I will post it immediately. For now we wait.

Update: I forgot something I saw earlier on OCBM. Someone posted they’d received an pm on YouTube about why Tory Christman’s account was suspended and antagonistically accused her of inciting religious bigotry (as I recall) they also warned Mark Bunker’s would be next. This was EARLIER in the day, BEFORE his account was suspended and clearly I consider that a threat. If I am wrong about this, please feel free to email me or leave a comment. I will try and find the thread and link to it.

Ice, Ice, Baby my arse! Wife beaters need a good swift kick to the teeth as far as I am concerned, and Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) is no exception. This is Robert’s second arrest for domestic abuse (he was arrested on similar charges in 2004) and that makes it a pattern, not an accident.

According to a report in the Palm Beach Post, Van Winkle went postal on his wife after she purchased a bedroom set:

Deputies arrived at their Wellington home around 7:15 p.m. to find the 40-year-old star, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, on his motorcycle, two blocks from their home.

He started yelling at me for going out to buy a bedroom set. In front of my daughter,” she told a deputy, the arrest report says. “I’m sorry I can’t say any more until I talk to an attorney.”

Her husband, in turn, told deputies that he and his wife had been arguing since the previous day.

He said his wife is bipolar and takes medication but still has irrational and argumentative episodes and had thrown a picture frame from a rear balcony to the ground, where it shattered near him and their 8- and 10-year-old children.

He denied pushing his wife, the report says. He said he left on his motorcycle so they could cool down.

It’s not the first time he has been arrested in South Florida. In 2004, he was booked into the Broward County Jail on a domestic battery charge, records show.

In addition, a series of driving infractions - including driving with an expired license, driving 74 mph in a 45 mph zone and having illegally tinted car windows - culminated in a warrant for his arrest after he missed a court appearance.

He also was hit with $220 in impounding fees in 2004 when his pet wallaroo and goat escaped in Port St. Lucie and were picked up by animal control officers.

There’s likely more to this story than we are getting, and Mrs. Van Winkle may be a loose cannon herself, but there’s never an excuse to start slapping people around. Just walk away, call the cops, leave, whatever, but don’t start giving beatdowns in front of the kids.

Having witnessed the insane amount of anger which lurks in Vanilla Ice’s heart, it doesn’t surprise me to hear he can’t control himself. During his stint on the “Surreal Life” on VH1, he was often seen having angry meltdowns, including intimidating women on the show. What’s with all the anger people? First Artie Lange, now Vanilla Ice. It’s the recession, I blame the recession. Makes peeps loopy!

I listen to Howard Stern whenever I can. While some people find him offensive, stupid, pointless whatever, I find his irreverent, smart, insightful and refreshingly honest. So I was troubled to find when I checked in this morning that Howard and his comedic side-kick Artie Lange had some sort of on-air conflict (sadly I missed it) and Artie is currently “resigned” from the show. In some ways I am not surprised.

Here’s more on the row from Pet Rock:

Lange, who became a part of the show’s daily routine in October of 2001, was spotted disputing with his assistant in the hallways off the air. When it was brought up to Stern, he asked the assistant Teddy to come into the studio and discuss the situation on the air.

Lange began to express his disdain for his assistant of nearly two years because of recent money issues. Teddy retorted by implying there’s more to the job than meets the eye.

The two are slated to travel to Amsterdam this evening and the squabble began over setting up Lange’s travel accommodations. However, the in-studio dispute quickly escalated into a discussion about how much Lange finances Teddy, who is affectionately called “Teddy Microphone” around the studio.

As the argument continued, Lange became enraged and physically lashed out at Teddy, but the physical confrontation was apparently diffused by other members in the studio.

When Lange returned, he said Teddy would be “dead” had he reached him and he would be in jail.

Stern then expressed his feelings on the situation, saying he cannot condone Lange’s actions. The comedian, who has had a similar outburst on the air in the past, said he cannot guarantee he can refrain from acting out in the future. Upon hearing that, Stern said he cannot have Lange around with the potential of such actions looming.

Artie then offered his resignation; Stern accepted, but told Lange to leave and cool off. Just before Lange left he told Stern: “I’m not a good person … I gotta leave … I love you”

Teddy returned to the studio several minutes later and said there was overreacting from everyone, but did not downplay the seriousness of the situation.

Show producer Gary Dell’Abate came in to analyze the situation, but he and Stern admitted they “did not know what to make of it all.”

Lately, Artie has seemed depressed, taken to eating his way through his problems, distracted, not up to snuff and sounds as though he has sunken into a drug and alcohol frenzy. All of these things could be smaller signs of a bigger problem. I think Artie might be suicidal, though I hope I am being an alarmist.

Howard and his co-host Robin sounded extremely distracted, rushing their usual morning routines, clearly wanting to be off the air to deal with this problem. Howard is no stranger to conflicts with his co-hosts, having parted way with his close friend and head writer for the show, comedian Jack Martling, who left the show in March 2001. Artie Lange, who got his start on the skitcom “MadTV” replaced Martling and has been a great addition to the show. Sadly, Lange has struggled to overcome substance abuse problems and has at times been absent on the show and as stated above, this is the not the first issue to arise during his tenure.

Hopefully Howard will be able to intervene and help Artie through this self-destructive/John Belushiesque phase. I really like Artie, it’d be sad it he didn’t get some help. We’ll keep you posted.

See, racism comes in all shapes and sizes, and most certainly in all forms of bitchiness!

Last week we reported supermodel and serial psycho Naomi Campbell was arrested for attacking airport officers when she attacked them, spit at them and generally throw a fit about her luggage being lost at Heathrow Airport in London.

British Airways has banned her for life!!! YAY BA. Does that stand for Bitch Airways, better trademark that stat.

As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, we now have a report out of The Sun stating Naomi also hurled racial epithets at the arresting officers:

Now cops claim she called a WPC a “white ****” and a “white s**g” as she was dragged off the LA-bound jet in handcuffs.

The police source said Naomi continued, screaming: “f***ing white honkeys” at the officer and her colleagues.

Campbell is also alleged to have accused the officers of arresting her simply for being black. Funny how that works you know? You walk around and flaunt your wealth, fame and power and expect to considered racially transparent as far as people’s perception of you, but then as soon as you misbehave and act in a violent manner, then it’s ok to bust out the race card. Not buying it this time biznatch!

I wish I knew what that four letter word was they bleeped out up there. You can always tell the class of a person by how willing they are to drop certain words. If it started with C ended in T and rhymed with punt, then Naomi isn’t just an angry racist, she’s also a vile skank. No decent woman would call another woman something like that in public (private is a different matter).

Of all the famous people who find themselves in trouble, I hate to admit it, but I take great pleasure in imagining Naomi getting the book thrown at her — and a blackberry, and a cellphone, perhaps an anvil as well.