Mary J. Blige is still furious over the way she was treated by some of her relatives when growing up.

The hitmaker insists she will never forgive her aunts for making her feel "ugly" and criticizing her dreams of becoming a singer. She says, "They were mean, ignorant, hateful women. They told me I'd never finish high school, and I didn't."

"I just felt like I was fighting all the time. "I was growing up around women who didn't feel good unless they were drinking alcohol, and that rubbed off on me. They always laughed at my ambition and made me feel like the ugly girl, and there was no sanctuary." "Music was the only thing that really helped me."

Source: Teen Hollywood

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At the recent reopening of Donatella Versace’s flagship boutique on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, all eyes were on a 6'2" blond with broad shoulders, a chiseled jawline and – oh yes – Halle Berry on his arm.

At the party Berry, 39, and her new boyfriend, Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, 30, let go of each otherÂ’s hands only once (to flank their hostess on a couch) during the party. "Oh my God, it's like you can read it on their faces," says a pal of Aubry. "They are so smitten." And have been since they met shooting a Versace ad in L.A. in November.

A month earlier, Berry was still seeing ex-beau Michael Ealy, her costar in the TV movie Their Eyes Were Watching God. But at the shoot, says Aubry’s friend, they noticed each other "in a big way." By Christmas, when Aubry flew to Montreal to spend the holiday with his father, Gérard, 62, and his eight brothers and sisters, he spoke of Berry "with brilliance in his voice," says Gérard.

Showing that kind of emotion is unusual for Gabriel, who overcame a tough childhood – he lived with five foster families between the ages of 3 and 18 until moving in with his dad – before rising to the top of the modeling world. Says Nadia Canova, whose Montreal-based Montage Models Inc. discovered Aubry, then a cook, in 1997 at a Quebec ski resort: "He's a very quiet person, with good values."

The model also has excellent taste in wine. Last month, the Manhattan resident squeezed in time during fashion week in Milan, says his friend, to "buy a few bottles of red he knew Halle would enjoy."

Source: People

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Hollywood actress Salma Hayek has made donations to groups aiding battered women in her native Mexico, calling domestic violence a problem that touches every corner of the globe.

Hayek, nominated for a best actress Oscar for her role in the 2002 film "Frida," on Tuesday made a $25,000 donation to a battered woman's shelter in her hometown Coatzacoalcos, in Veracruz state on Mexico's Gulf Coast.

A day earlier she donated $50,000 to anti-domestic violence groups in the northern city of Monterrey, 435 miles north of Mexico City. "No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse," Hayek told a Mexico City news conference on Tuesday. "Women have to feel like they are not alone."

The 39-year-old works with the "Speak Out Against Domestic Violence" campaign of the Avon Foundation, which cites statistics that domestic violence affects one in three women worldwide. "Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more," Hayek said.

The actress was born in Coatzacoalcos and now lives in Los Angeles. She said the United States is not immune to domestic violence. "It's not worse here or there, it's a worldwide problem," she said. Attending the news conference with Hayek was Patricia Espinosa, who heads Mexico's National Women's Institute. "There has to be a complete rejection of violence against women. Zero tolerance," said Espinosa, whose institute recently sponsored a gritty anti-domestic violence campaign showing national female celebrities bruised and battered under the slogan "Hit one of us, hit all of us."

Source: AZ Central

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Click here for a good article on Oscar underdogs pulling through.

Will Crash pull an upset victory over Brokeback Mountain like Shakespeare in Love did over Saving Private Ryan?

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Not true. That was Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' response Tuesday to a Valentine's Day report by Life & Style magazine claiming that the Hollywood superstar and his pregnant paramour have split up.

"It should be known that the story is 100 percent false," Arnold Robinson, a publicist for the couple, said in a statement. "Mr. Cruise and Ms. Holmes are still engaged and are moving forward with their wedding plans, as well as planning for the arrival of their child."

The Feb. 27 issue of the magazine, which will be on news stands Friday, says in a cover story that the public pair "plan to keep up the charade of their romance until after their baby's birth this spring." Holmes, 27, and Cruise, 43, have been engaged since June. They announced her pregnancy in October.

"Despite the malicious fallacies put forth by Life & Style magazine, the couple is looking forward to a long and happy life together as a family," Robinson said. A representative for the magazine said, "We stand 100 percent behind our story."

Sources: Yahoo and A Socialite's Life

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TMZ has obtained video of Britney Spears leaving the Malibu Urgent Care Center on Monday.

A spy told TMZ that Spears complained of stomach cramps. Yesterday afternoon, Spears' publicist told TMZ that her client was on her way home from the 'Will & Grace' set when she stopped at Urgent Care because she was coming down with a cold and not feeling well.

Source: TMZ

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Quoteable:

"To the outside world, it's a big fat market where you have people like Paris Hilton going to parties." "Now, she doesn't have anything to do with anything. I think the festival is close to being out of control."

--Robert Redford, to Newsweek, on his annual independent film event becoming "too intense" for him, and why he was not around for the festival's duration this year.

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Madonna needs to stop exercising so much and twisting herself into contortions.

The 47-year-old mother-of-two went from the Grammys to Cedars Sinai hospital in L.A. last week for hernia surgery, sources say. Afterward, she appeared "pale and had no appetite."

At the L.A. Kabbalah Center Friday night, spies said Madge "didn't eat anything . . . and did not lead the prayer after dinner, as she usually does when she comes. She was unusually quiet." Worse, hubby Guy Ritchie was not at her side. A rep for Madonna said, "I have no information."

Source: New York Post

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Denise Richards has reportedly been tested for HIV after discovering husband Charlie Sheen cheated on her during their marriage.

The sexy actress reportedly rushed to a medical clinic for testing after discovering Sheen's infidelity. A representative for the star confirmed the actress was tested for sexually transmitted diseases at a Thousand Oaks Medical Centre in California on January 27.

A source claims Richards had a number of blood tests carried out to detect "every disease known to man" - including the potentially fatal HIV virus, according to reports in Us Weekly magazine.

Source: Female First

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Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen go high-end to model for Badgley Mischka's new ad campaign, due in print publications next month. It's the twins' first time promoting a brand other than their own. Says designer Mark Badgley: "We always thought that they had great personal style." Here, Mary-Kate and Ashley pose at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. "They are definitely young women who are coming into their own," says designer James Mischka about the Olsens' grown-up look and professionalism on the set.

--It's a bit of a step up from their Wal-Mart clothing line...

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Pamela Anderson is boycotting the Kentucky Derby. The 38-year-old actress, who is an animal rights activist, says her opposition to animal cruelty in all its forms means she can never go back to the famed horse race.

"It makes me want to avoid Kentucky altogether, which is sad because there are so many great people there," Anderson said in a statement released Tuesday by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Anderson, a PETA member who attended the Derby in 2001 and 2003, has been involved in anti-fur ads and a campaign to raise awareness of what she calls abuse of chickens in processing plants that supply poultry to Louisville-based KFC.

"Like most people, I don't want to support cruelty to animals, whether it's forcing horses to race for our amusement or scalding chickens alive for our plate," Anderson said. "We have to be more evolved than this."

Last month, Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher refused Anderson's request to have a bust of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders removed from the state Capitol. Fletcher cited Sanders as a state icon and KFC called Anderson's attack a misguided publicity stunt.

Source: New York Daily News

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Shannen Doherty was involved in a car accident Monday in California that sent another driver to the hospital, her publicist has confirmed.

The Charmed star suffered bruises and a cut on her left thigh during the incident, which occurred on the Pacific Coast Highway. The actress was driving a Range Rover and making a left turn onto the busy Malibu highway at 10:17 a.m. when there was a collision with a Ford Mustang, according to Lt. Steve Wilson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The man driving the Mustang, James Warren Paul, was taken to Santa Monica Hospital, treated and released, the lieutenant said. The extent of his injuries is not known. Doherty, 34, "went in a private car to Cedars-Sinai (Medical Center). She refused to go in an ambulance," the actress's New York publicist, Leslie Sloane, tells AP. "She was examined in the emergency room for thigh bruises and cuts." Doherty "is resting and is doing fine," said Sloane, who added, "She's in pain a little bit. Her left side is a little messed up, to use her words." Wilson said investigators listed Doherty as "the party most at fault."

Source: People

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Director Michael Bay and his production company, Platinum Dunes, are preparing to bring Jason Voorhees back to the mulitplexes in yet another 'Friday the 13th' movie.

The new slasher flick will be the 11th installment in the popular horror franchise and the plan is to release it on, appropriately, Friday, October 13th. The last time the horror icon made his presence known was in 2003's 'Freddy vs. Jason,' which found the masked killer battling it out with Freddy Krueger from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' series.

Bay's Platinum Dunes also produced the 2003 remake of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and the upcoming prequel 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.'

Source: ET

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Isaac Mizrahi was a tot growing up in Brooklyn when Neil Simon's classic comedy, "Barefoot in the Park," debuted on Broadway. Now he's designed the costumes for a revival of the romantic romp.

"My goal here was not to design costumes, but to almost document what the winter of 1965 was like," Mizrahi says. "I wanted this to be as random as real life."

A challenge for the designer was to develop each character through clothing choices that best reflected the character's personality. "Clothes are part of the character. They can't but help inform who you are," says Jill Clayburgh who plays Mrs. Banks, mother of the comedy's young heroine, portrayed by Amanda Peet. Patrick Wilson plays Peet's husband in this new production, now running at the Cort Theatre.

Source: New York Daily News

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An Indian film director wants to cast Paris Hilton as the star of a new film about Mother Teresa.

Award-winning director T Rajeevnath told IANS: "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton." The director said he was impressed when he heard the hotel heiress had refused to strip for Playboy magazine.

"Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen," he added.

The English-language film will be mostly shot in West Bengal and overseas.

Source: Ananova

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From our dear friends at Daily Candy, I bring you Valentine's Day lexicon fun:

amoraphobia
n. an irrational fear of ValentineÂ’s Day.

blue bawls
n. an emotional, romantic version of flirting that leaves you feeling sad and crying.

bud light
n. the blatantly cheap flower selection from a guy who needs to be dumped ASAP. (How was your V-Day? Bud light.)

carniwhore
n. a girl who puts out for carnations.

do-or-diamond
adj. as in, if I donÂ’t see a ring today, heÂ’s dead to me.

long-stem posers
n. people who send themselves flowers from a “secret admirer.”

lote
v. to walk the thin line between love and hate. (I lote Johnny. One day heÂ’s a dollface; the next heÂ’s a total wanker.)

ménage à flaws
n. when you crash your friendÂ’s ValentineÂ’s Day date only to talk about all your relationships gone wrong.

PDR
n. public display of rejection: when your valentine takes you somewhere lovely only to break your heart in front of strangers.

Valentiny Tim
n. a man whose masculinity is put in question by his overenthusiasm for V-Day. (I mean, I donÂ’t expect him to be a Valentiny Tim, but he could at least try to hide his total amoraphobia.)

--Enjoy! Happy V-Day to all of you!

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Robin Williams stayed warm during the blizzard by getting loads of lap dances at Scores West.

The fast-talking funnyman turned up at the West 27th Street topless temple at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday with a group of pals and proceeded to lap up dances until 5 a.m.

"He was very friendly," says Scores dancer Mackenzie. "I showed him my new boobs, and he said that they looked great." Adds Scores girl Katherine, "I was trying to dance for him, but he kept making me laugh by making funny faces and noises."

--I'm sorry, but this story makes me gag and laugh hysterically at the same time. "I showed him my new boobs?" Ha.

Source: New York Post

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Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has claimed the band's next album will not just the best they have ever done - it will be the best in history.

The 28-year-old singer who is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has already started writing for the new record, which will also contain the "best song ever." He says, "I think the next time we'll be everyone's band. Our next album is going to be the greatest piece of music ever made."

The band's last album, X+Y, has sold over five million copies since its release last year - Martin claimed at the time the group were "reinventing the wheel".

--I love me some Coldplay, but get over yourself, Chris.

Source: Contact Music

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Socialite-turned-actress Nicole Richie is set to take on her ex-fiance as a Los Angeles club boss.

The Simple Life star is reportedly in secret negotiations to take charge of a nightclub that would be in direct competition with her former lover Adam Goldstein's trendy Lax. An insider tells magazine In Touch that Richie is keen to become a club co-owner after seeing DJ Goldstein's venue take off last year.

The source says, "She wants a piece of the action." According to the publication, Richie has been scouting possible locations and touring available industrial spaces in Hollywood. Her plans will also rival those of former best friend Paris Hilton, who has nightclub ventures in Las Vegas, Nevada and Miami, Florida. Hilton is also in negotiations to take over a club in London.

Source: Teen Hollywood

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Reservoir Dogs actor Chris Penn died accidentally from an enlarged heart and the effects of a combination of various medications, according to autopsy and toxicology tests.

The Los Angeles coroner's office released a statement late Monday, confirming the reasons behind the shock death of Sean Penn's younger brother in his Santa Monica, California, apartment on January 24. The tests labeled the primary causes of death as "nonspecific cardiomyopathy" (an oversized heart) with the "effects of multiple medication intake."

Chief coroner investigator Craig Harvey says, "There is absolutely no indication that this is anything but an accident. We know he had several prescriptions, including promethazine with codeine, which featured predominantly in his death. We don't know how much he ingested or when. There are a lot of 'what ifs' to be factored in." Chris, 40, starred in hit films Rush Hour, Starsky & Hutch, True Romance and The Funeral, for which he won the Volpi Cup at the 1996 Venice Film Festival.

Source: IMDB

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