There’s a progress report hearing today in Britney’s continued legal case:

Though Spears has spent the last several months keeping a relatively low profile – and staying out of trouble – experts say it’s unlikely the pair’s current custody arrangement will change.

“As long as Britney remains under a conservatorship, she has a long way to go before the court views her as a capable mother,” says L.A. family lawyer Scott Weston, who is not involved in the case.

Word is that she might actually show up in person today, which would go a long way in impressing the judge, I would think, especially since her previous record of showing up and staying has been spotty at best.  I know it’s stressful, but sometimes the hardest things for us to do are the best things for us to do.

Brit’s dad Jamie is still in charge of her conservatorship until July 31, unless the court decides to change that at some point beforehand.

I must say that I’ve been hugely impressed by the way things are turning out.  Six months ago, I would have never imagined that we would be here, with nary a panty flash or Osmarmy Bin Loopy in sight.  While Brit may not have been happy with this at the beginning, I certainly hope she now sees that her father coming in and taking charge has been one of the best things that could have happened.  He has shown that he isn’t about the Benjamins, but rather about helping his daughter, and that is the best thing he could have done.

And I do hope that if the court does not decide to give her more visitation today, that she doesn’t get discouraged.  One of the things we all must learn is that when we make mistakes, we must pay for those mistakes, even if we are really sorry for those mistakes.  There must always be a period of punishment.  But the good news is it doesn’t last forever, and there will come a time when Brit will get full visitation back and possibly even custody, provided she can stay on this positive track.  Don’t give up, Brit, because the best things come to those who wait.

Oh wait, that was a different serial philanderer and liar.  My bad…they all run together after a while.

Roger Clemens is steadfastly denying that not only did he not take steroids and performance-enhancing drugs:

“I know that many people want to know what I have to say about the recent articles in the media,” Clemens, who has raised his four children with his wife, Debbie, in the Katy and Memorial areas, said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. “Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right.”

While not admitting to any specific mistakes, Clemens did remain adamant that he never used steroids or HGH. He has been fighting to clear his name since Dec. 13, when he was implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the report former Sen. George Mitchell prepared for Major League Baseball.

“I believe my personal life has nothing to do with the accusations of steroid and HGH use,” he said in the statement. “I have already made clear that I did not use them.”

…but that he also did not have an improper relationship with country singer Mindy McCready:

“Now, I have been accused of having an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This relationship has been twisted and distorted far beyond reality. It is just one of many, many accusations that are utterly false.”

McCready, however, told the Daily News that she “cannot refute anything in the story” about her relationship with Clemens.

…along with other (admittedly legal) women:

The Daily News also reported that Clemens had extramarital relationships with two other women, including the former wife of pro golfer John Daly.

Clemens is adamant that he won’t confess just so the scrutiny will go away.

“I realize that many people want me to simply confess and apologize for the conduct that I have been accused of, but I cannot confess to, nor apologize for, things I did not do,” he said. “I have apologized to my family for my mistakes. And having offered this apology to the public, I would ask that you let me and my family deal with these matters in private.”

Like I said before, had he just kept both his big mouth shut and his Rocket in his pants, this story about Mindy McCready might not have ever hit the press.  It seems that if she would have wanted to publicize it, she would have done so by now, and outside of one statement to the press when the story broke she has remained silent on the subject.  But because he filed a defamation of character suit against his former trainer, it all came out, and Roger has only himself to blame for it.  Yes, it might have come out anyway, but he could have then apologized and at least not looked like a lying hypocrite (yeah, as if he would have the humility to apologize).

Yes, we all make mistakes, and yes, we all have things in our pasts that we are embarrassed about and ashamed of.  But if you’re in the public eye, you need to make double sure that you’re not presenting yourself to the world as one thing, when you’re really another, because you will be found out.  Millions of dollars, a possible stint in the pokey, and his family are at stake, all because Roger Clemens is too arrogant to realize just what is going on.

No, not the Caddy.  News is that Britney is going to get to spend Mother’s Day with her sons:

The troubled singer, 26, will get to spend the day with her two sons — Sean Preston and Jayden James — thanks to improving relations with her ex-husband Kevin Federline, who has agreed to let the boys spend May 11 with their mom. [...]

A family friend told Life & Style magazine that the wannabe-rapper is considering granting Britney overnight visits with the kids, after she filed a formal request with the courts.

The insider said: “He hasn’t said yes yet, but he’s considering it.”

And despite their prolonged custody battle, sources claim the couple are back on good terms with one another.

Kevin apparently refers to Britney as his “lady” and Spears ends calls by telling her former husband that she loves him.

One pal said: “It’s such a huge change. It hasn’t been like this between them in forever.”

Well, well, well.  Dad Jamie swooped in, kicked butt and took names, and Britney has discovered that if you follow the rules and take your meds and play nicely and don’t run with scissors, you get to do more things.  When I first started writing for GlossLip, I didn’t think this day would come…but look, it’s here!

I want Brit to get well so I can go back to picking on her clothing choices and appalling taste in music, because kicking somebody when they are down just isn’t cool.  I’m glad she’s gotten the help she so desperately needed, and I’m glad that this is my first Brit story in quite a while…it means her life is going good and there’s nothing for me to say about it.  :)  Now, if we can convince Amy Winehouse that this is the best way to go…

On another note, what do you think about the growing closeness between Brit and former husband Kevin?  Do you think they’ll get back together?  For all his faults, he really does seem to understand her and he has, in the past, been able to get her to listen.  Maybe all the drama of the past couple of years has made them both grow up.  Who knows, maybe they can even work things out.  There’s been stranger stuff happen.

Have a happy Mother’s Day, Britney!

Yes, just when you thought the saga of Roger Clemens couldn’t get any stranger, it gets stranger.  I admit I haven’t been following this whole Roger/steroids story as much as some (I’m not a big baseball fan), but when Shaun Daily mentioned this on his BTR show yesterday, I sat up and took notice.  It seems that he and troubled country singer Mindy McCready met when she was fifteen and this developed into a long sexual relationship:

Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News. [...]

Contacted by the Daily News Sunday through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, Clemens confirmed a long-term relationship but denied that it was of a sexual nature.

“He flatly denies having had any kind of an inappropriate relationship with her,” Hardin said. “He’s considered her a close family friend. … He has never had a sexual relationship with her.”

Apparently, Mindy began travelling with Roger after they met in a bar where she was singing at age fifteen:

Hardin said the Rocket’s wife, Debbie, knew McCready and that the singer had traveled on his plane. [...]

[Brian] McNamee, who worked with and traveled with Clemens extensively over the last decade, has confirmed that he saw Clemens and McCready together on many occasions, including in Clemens’ room at his apartment in the former SkyDome, now Rogers Centre, in Toronto, and that Clemens talked of McCready often. Should McNamee decide to countersue for defamation, McCready could surface as a witness for that case as well.

According to sources, Clemens was with his Red Sox teammates in a Fort Myers, Fla., bar when then-teenager McCready caught his eye. After Clemens threw a shirt with his and several teammates’ signatures onstage, an introduction was made.

“It was love at first sight, no doubt about it,” said a source with intimate knowledge of the relationship.

According to the source, McCready did not learn that Clemens was married to Debbie Clemens until McCready attended a baseball game with her two younger brothers and read Clemens’ bio in the program. The source says that McCready was too young to be angered by the news that Clemens was taken.

Roger has sued his former personal trainer for defamation of character, a bit ironic and a huge risk since when you do so, you claim you had unsullied character to begin with:

From a public relations standpoint, Clemens’ decision to file the suit against McNamee the night the Rocket appeared with Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes” could end up being the biggest risk he has taken yet. Clemens, under investigation for perjury, has already endured the ignominy of publicly admitting his wife’s own human growth hormone use, having photos of bloody gauze and needles linked to him and embarrassing scrutiny of an alleged injection-site abscess on his buttocks. [...]

“The issue in Roger’s suit against McNamee is Roger’s reputation and how it has been damaged,” said Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s lawyers who is handling the defamation suit. “If it’s proved that he’s a philanderer, his reputation is already damaged. When you sue for defamation, you put your whole reputation in the community at issue. Anything is fair game, including his claim of sanctimonious purity. We would cross-examine him and other witnesses who might impact on his alleged behavior. We would probably subpoena her and witnesses who knew [of the relationship]. He’s a ‘family man’ - he implies that. It’s about what his damages are. All is fair game.” [...]

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner’s orchestrated public relations blitz began shortly after the Dec. 13 release of the Mitchell Report on drug use in baseball. It focused as much on Clemens’ family-man reputation as it did on McNamee’s checkered past and apparent lies about his involvement in an incident in Florida in 2001 for which he was investigated for sexual assault. No charges were ever filed in that case, but Clemens’ lawyer Hardin papered the media with accounts of the incident.

The relationship with McCready paints a very different picture of Clemens than the one drawn by Jose Canseco in his book “Juiced,” where he went out of his way to say that Clemens was one of very few professional ballplayers who was faithful to his wife.

And it smacks of a different Clemens than the one who spoke passionately of his family in his opening remarks to Congress Feb. 13. Debbie Clemens was seated behind her husband at the hearing.

“Anyone who has spent time around me knows that my family is and has always been my top priority,” a portion of the statement read. “My wife, Debbie, and my sons - Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody - mean more to me than anything in the world. Having said that, baseball has definitely provided me with significant opportunities off the field.”

But wait, there’s more…

Well, I didn’t see this one coming. I thought, like so many celebs, he’d get a slap on the wrist, but actor Wesley Snipes is facing three years in the pokey for tax evasion despite many famous friends attempting to intervene on his behalf:

The Blade star, 45, was sentenced Thursday to three years behind bars as his punishment for failing to file his tax returns, U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges announced in an Ocala, Fla., courtroom.

The actor sat stone-faced – and some people in the courtroom gasped – when the sentence was read. “I’m very sorry for my mistakes and errors. I apologize to my family, the court and the community,” Snipes said as his wife looked on. “I’ve asked the court to show me mercy and the opportunity to make things right.”

In February, a federal jury convicted Snipes of three counts of failing to file a tax return (from 1999 through 2001). Thursday he received 12 months for each count. Prosecutors say the actor owes a total of $41 million in taxes, of which he paid $5 at the sentencing. [...]

In February, Snipes, an Orlando native, was acquitted on the more serious charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and filing a false claim for a $7 million refund – both felonies – as well as three similar counts of failure to file returns for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004.

The prosecution, seeking to make an example of Snipes, had requested the maximum: three years in prison and a fine of at least $5 million. [...]

The defense, on the other hand, sought probation rather than prison time. “Wesley Snipes is not a dangerous man who needs to be imprisoned to protect the public,” Snipes’ attorney said in his sentencing memo.

“He is contrite, promises that he will never again break the law, and respectfully asks the court to consider not just the jury verdict but also all the good that he has done in his life.”

Oh man, don’t screw with the IRS. They will castrate you, d00d.

I have to agree, though, that they seem to be wanting to make an example of Wesley. I mean, while the charges are serious, and he should absolutely be made to pay what he owes, three years in prison seems to be a little much. In this day and age when we have drug dealers and rapists being freed early because of overcrowding in our jails, do we really want to stick a guy in there for three years because of something like this?

I mean, come on. Richie Sambora drives drunk with two underage children in his vehicle, and all he got was three years’ probation, three months of classes, and made to pay some fines.

But wait, there’s more…

 

But how much you wanna bet she beats the rap again, and ends up pushing a broom for eight hours for about a week or so?

Yes, everybody’s favorite poster child for anger management could be looking at some serious time in the pokey:

Foul-tempered supermodel Naomi Campbell could face six months in prison after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer on a British Airways flight.

The supermodel has now been released on bail after apparently having a furious row with BA cabin crew over a missing bag at Heathrow’s Terminal.

Police were called, and witnesses claim she was ‘virtually dragged’ out of the First Class cabin and off the plane in handcuffs.

During the ruckus she spat at an officer, one onlooker claimed.

The drama erupted just minutes before her flight to Los Angeles was due to take off.

Miss Campbell, 37, who was to appear on a television programme in the U.S., was apparently told that one of her two bags had not been loaded on to the plane.

The bag in question, thought to contain clothes for her TV appearance, was said to be “very heavy”.

Witnesses said the model began screaming and swearing at staff, waving her arms.

After a “sustained” period of alleged abuse she got off the plane before boarding it again and continuing to shout and swear - prompting BA staff to call the police.

Look at that smirk on her face…does that look like a woman who is repentant of her actions?

Dawn did a great piece on this yesterday, and now I’d like to add my two pennies.  What is a grown woman doing acting like this?  When my kids were little, behavior like this usually meant they got a spanking and a sit-down until they learned to behave.  Yes, aggravations happen in life (and apparently Heathrow has been at the center of a massive airport scandal lately), and there are times when we all lose our temper.  But come on…spitting?  That is one of the most vile and disrespectful things one person can do to another.

Look at the monsters we create when we pander to someone’s every whim because they are pretty.  She’s a supermodel, used to having her every need and urge pandered to, used to being constantly told how wonderful she is, used to having everything on a silver platter, and why?  Because she was blessed in the genetic lottery?

I hope they throw her in jail with Blake Incarcerated-Druggie.  That’ll teach her to mind her manners!

 

Like mother, like son…a Bahamian jury decided Monday that Daniel Smith, son of Anna Nicole Smith, died of an accidental overdose:

The seven-member jury, which deliberated for less than two hours, recommended no criminal charges in the September 2006 death of 20-year-old Daniel Smith.

The son of the former Playboy playmate died after coming to the Bahamas to meet his new baby sister on Sept. 10, 2006. His mother died early the next year in Florida from an accidental drug overdose at age 39.

Police had said there was no evidence of homicide, and autopsies found that Daniel died from a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants. But Bahamian authorities ordered the inquest amid widespread speculation over the circumstances surrounding his death.

In its ruling, the jury said the cause of death was “nondependent use of drugs,” meaning that Daniel Smith was not addicted and was not aware the drugs in his system would kill him.

Anna Nicole’s mother, however, is having none of it, and still believes Howard K. Stern had something to do with the death:

Neil McCabe, an attorney for Anna Nicole’s mother, Virgie Arthur, said she was disappointed in the ruling because she suspected foul play was involved. Arthur has claimed previously that Anna Nicole’s boyfriend and attorney Howard K. Stern played a role in both deaths, but she did not provide evidence.

“We don’t think it makes any sense,” McCabe said. “The boy was not a drug user, the judge said so. Why would he all of a sudden take a massive dose of methadone?”

Stern, who has denied giving Daniel any drugs, said outside court that he was not sure whether the jury’s decision would bring an end to the case.

“I have no control over them,” he said of Arthur and her attorneys.

What a convoluted tale.  Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole’s former boyfriend and babydaddy, testified that Daniel struggled with drugs, alcohol, and depression, but Howard said that he was surprised by the toxicology findings and said in his testimony that he’d never seen Daniel take drugs.

If Daniel did take his mother’s methadone (he had easy access to it, and Anna Nicole caught him on videotape stealing it out of her home), it is a slow-acting drug who’s effect are not felt for a few hours.  He could have accidentally taken more than the recommended dose simply by believing that he hadn’t taken enough the first time, when in actuality the drug had not had time to kick in yet.

I’m still not convinced HKS had anything to do with it, simply because I’m not sure what he would have to gain from killing Daniel.  He knew that Daniel was Anna Nicole’s life, and to kill him would cause her great grief and sadness…which is exactly what it did.  It would have been to Howard’s best interests to have Daniel alive, in fact.  He should have done more to make sure that happened.

But there are only three people who know exactly what went on that day, and two of them aren’t talking any more.

Heath Ledger’s family has been stunned by new revelations that he may have fathered a secret love child when he was just seventeen years old:

Ledger was a 17-year-old schoolboy when he had an affair with an older woman who is thought to have only discovered she was pregnant after their relationship ended.

The woman was living with another man at the time of the alleged affair.

Yesterday, Ledger’s uncle, Hadyn Ledger said: “There is a very real possibility that Heath was the father.”

If it is confirmed that Ledger is the girl’s biological father, it could split his multi-million dollar estate between his two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose with Hollywood actress Michelle Williams, and his secret love child. [...]

Heath was still at school at Guildford Grammar when he began the affair with the woman, then aged 25.

Yesterday another family source said: “She had the baby. Everyone lived under the assumption that she was the daughter of the mother’s boyfriend and that is how she has been brought up.” The woman is now married with a young family.

Heath’s will was drawn up in 2003 and does not mention either Michele or Matilda, who was not born yet. It lists only his father, mother, sister, and half-sisters as beneficiaries, although his father Kim has said that Michelle and Matilda will be taken care of.

The battle over Heath’s estate has highlighted a long-simmering feud in the Ledger family between father Kim and his brothers, stemming from his handling of their father’s estate:

The family feud began when Kim became executor of their grandfather, Sir Frank Ledger’s estate over 20 years ago. He borrowed heavily against the $2 million estate, leaving it heavily in debt before he was removed as executor by the WA Supreme Court in 1994.

It’s interesting that rumors of this love child pop up now, after his death and while his estate is being settled, and not while he was alive. Could there have been tension between Heath and the mother? Could she totally be bluffing? Only a DNA test will tell for sure. Couldn’t they have quietly done a DNA test before releasing this to the media?  That way, if it were not true, life could go on for this child as normal.  Of course, this child (now around ten years old) will undoubtedly hear all about it, and have to readjust from thinking one man is her father to thinking of another man as her father. That’s a big thing for a kid to have to handle. I see a tell-all exclusive interview with the mom in the future, complete with a nice check.

This could have been handled in private. Why can’t people think before they open their big mouths?

It’s times like this I’m glad I grew up poor.  It was just a matter of time before somebody decided to hold the so-called parents of Nick Hogan Bollea Whatever accountable for both their actions and his.  The Grazianos, family of Nick’s passenger John Graziano, have officially sued the Hogans:

The suit, filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court, alleges that each of the defendants — Terry Bollea, a.k.a. Hulk Hogan, Linda Bollea, Nick Bollea and Daniel Jacobs [the other driver] – were negligent in the acts leading up to Graziano’s injury last summer.

The suit will seek damages in the millions, said attorney George Tragos, but the exact amount is not known because it remains unclear how expensive Graziano’s care will be. Tragos said the former Marine’s medical bills already exceed $1 million.

The crash left Graziano, an Iraq war veteran, in critical condition.

 

John Graziano remains in the hospital:

Lawyers today said that a portion of Graziano’s frontal lobe had to be removed because of the crash. He is in a “semi-conscious” state and responds to certain stimuli like heat and touch, lawyers said.

The proceeds from the suit would go into a trust for Graziano’s longterm care.

So much for Hulk Hogan’s words after the accident:

“[Nick’s] going to be okay. John’s going to be okay, and if things keep going the way they’re going…Nick and I are going to walk John right out of that hospital,” he said.

But wait, there’s more…

With the McCartney divorce brouhaha, I kind of overlooked that Howard K. Stern testified in the ongoing Daniel Smith inquest.  He told the court that he did not give Daniel drugs, nor did he see Anna Nicole Smith do so:

Stern said he had no idea Daniel was taking any kind of prescription medication, including Methadone. Stern said from September 2005 until June 2006, he wasn’t even around as much because he was working full time on Anna’s fight with Pierce Marshall.

Stern said there was no duffel bag full of medication at the hospital where Daniel died. He said neither he nor Anna brought any medication into the hospital. As for Stern giving Daniel Methadone, he said absolutely not.

Stern said when he first learned that the toxicology report said that Methadone or any other medication was in Daniel’s system, he didn’t believe it.

He also told the court the while he did take a photograph of Daniel after he died, it was not for nefarious purposes:

Stern also talked about the photo he took in the hospital room of Anna with Daniel after he died. He said Anna would not believe Daniel had died and she wanted to bring Daniel home with her. Stern testified Anna wanted him to take a photo because she couldn’t accept Daniel was dead and needed the photo for proof. Stern said he took the photo, never made money off it and would do it again.

Stern testified he was asleep when an agitated Anna said, “Howard, Howard, Daniel’s not breathing.” Stern said he went over and touched Daniel’s neck but found no pulse. They pushed the emergency button, workers came in the room to resuscitate him, to no avail. They tried to physically remove Anna but she would not break away. After the doctors stopped, both Stern and Anna continued resuscitation efforts.

The whole situation is heartbreaking.  If it were my son, I might react in the same way.  Who is to say what is proper behavior when one loses a child?

But it is heartbreaking in another way as well…the argument could be made that while it is sad that Daniel died, it is equally as sad that he never really got the chance to live.  Not live as a normal, anonymous, regular person, that is.  He spent most of his life in the fishbowl of his famous mother’s life, only he tried as best he could to stay hidden in the shadows.  I think it eventually got to him and he acted out in the only way he knew how…by turning to drugs.

Yes, I know that you can do everything right as a parent and your child still go astray, and you can do everything wrong as a parent and somehow your child turns out okay.  But if Anna Nicole seriously thought that her son would grow up to be even relatively normal, she was more deluded than we originally thought.

And say what you will about HKS (and I have), I hope in this case he is telling the truth.  I’m still not quite convinced that he didn’t give Daniel drugs at some point, or at least knew about them, but I’m going to say that he is telling the truth about not bringing a bag of drugs to the hospital (hospitals don’t let you bring in your own medication) and the photograph.

Regardless, it’s a very sad situation all around.