Celebrity News & Gossip

Joaquin Phoenix, rapping beardo no more. A year after his announced retirement, bizarre hip-hop performances and incoherent Letterman interview, the Walk The Line Oscar nominee is quietly returning to the world of acting. Reintroducing his clean-shaven face in a January charity video with Miley Cyrus, Phoenix showed up at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party Sunday, having told The Hollywood Reporter he was considering new roles. Now Slumdog Millionaire’s sound designer Resul Pookutty has let slip that Phoenix might be playing Edgar Allen Poe in an adaptation of The Beautiful Cigar Girl.

So what happened to the Captain Crazypants of March 2009? Many have suspected that Phoenix’s public meltdown was a hoax all along, which would help explain why brother-in-law Casey Affleck was filming the spectacle (after the death of River Phoenix you’d think the family wouldn’t be cavalier about these things). If the public cynicism scuttled their plans to the punk the world, Joaquin may have just been hiding out until we’d forgotten all about his kooky antics. But with the actor’s actor joining Miley’s entourage, we wouldn’t be surprised if he still has a games to play.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Now we feel bad for yelling “stand up straight!” at Miley Cyrus while watching the Oscars Sunday. The Last Song star explained to VH1 News correspondent Janell Snowden she was in pain due to a broken foot that went castless for the big night. “The bottom of my foot is broken, I broke it while on tour and I don’t have my cast on and it really hurts.” On top of that, she was wearing heels! Forget slumping—we’d have tears streaming down our eyes.

See Miley’s game face in the gallery below.

Thanks to dramatic displays of decolletage, Christina Hendricks and Hilary Swank made big impressions at the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Vanity Fair after parties, respectively. Both bashes were booming with celebs, with some surprise revelers—folks like Heidi Klum, Apolo Ohno and The Jonas Brothers—hopping between the two. See shots from the shindigs below and let us know which woman looked more striking in our TheFABLife poll.

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Hey, it’s not illegal to sing about it, right? Bret Michaels somehow got Miley Cyrus to join him on his new single, “Nothing To Lose,” despite steamy lyrics that don’t really scream for the assistance of a 17-year-old (at least not in public). While Bret handles the opening verse—something about a woman’s pain—Cyrus joins in on the questionable chorus: “Won’t you fall down on me/ so close I can feel you breathe/ Tonight in the darkness/ if the truth is all we can see/ If I fall for you/ would you fall for me?” Depends what state we’re in, Miley!

If that wasn’t skeevy enough for you, the second verse has them admitting “Yeah, we both know better than this/ but we still can’t resist / slowly get undressed/ yeah, she does/ when she falls down on me…” To be fair, Miley sings along with that final “she,” suggesting she may merely be a loudly mixed third party rather than a participatant in Bret’s romantic fantasy. “Bret and I had a great time in the studio together just hanging out and making music,” Miley said on her website after recording the track late last year. “He’s is so passionate about music and it shows. I think it is such a rad collaboration because it shows that two artists that seem so different on the outside can come together and organically create something that we are both proud of.” He certainly takes her seriously as an adult, it seems.

Check out the track after the jump.

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Though noticably short on rock stars (Rob Thomas may pass for Steve Perry, but Joel Madden does not pass for Bruce Springsteen), Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie assembled an impressive array of talent for their 25th anniversary re-recording of “We Are The World” Monday night. Among those appearing on the single to benefit Haitian relief efforts are Akon, Will.I.Am, Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber, Toni Braxton, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Jamie Foxx, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Groban, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Keri Hilson, Jennifer Hudson, Enriquie Iglesias, Wyclef Jean, the Jonas Brothers, Kid Cudi, Gladys Knight, LL Cool J, Katharine McPhee, Jason Mraz, Pink, Carlos Santana, Nicole Scherzinger, Snoop Dogg, Jordin Sparks, Barbra Streisand, Usher and Kanye West, who was undoubtedly on his best behavior after that Hope For Haiti snub.

While Lil Wayne has revealed he covered Bob Dylan’s vocal, the full singing order has yet to be revealed (we’re pretty sure Vince Vaughn redid Dan Ackroyd’s part, though). Check out photos from the recording, which was shot in 3-D for release later this month, in the gallery below.

[Photo: WireImages]

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Heads-up, Cyrus parents!!! 10-year-old Noah Cyrus was spotted hand-in-hand with big sis Miley this weekend in Burbank, CA, dressed similarly in a mismatched ensemble that only admiration could inspire. If the last ten years have taught us anything, it’s that the minute little girls start idolizing their rowdy celebrity sisters, partying and pregnancy are hot on their underaged heels.

Jamie Lynn Spears tagged along with Britney to the 2002 Teen Choice Awards and - bang! - gave birth to a baby girl in June 2008, at the young age of 17. Weathered beyond her 16 years, Ali Lohan has been photographed accompanying notorious party animal Lindsay everywhere from LA to Paris. We’re all for some sibling bonding, but in Hollywood, the little ones inevitably feel the need to bust out of their sister’s shadow.

“Noie” already mimics Miley on YouTube and dons raunchy Halloween costumes, but we’re hoping she defies the odds and resists racy mobile pics, stripper poles, and too-intimate Vanity Fair spreads with father Billy Ray. Fingers crossed! [Photos: Getty Images, Splash News Online]

Pics of the Cyrus, Spears, and Lohan sisters below.

No good deed goes unpunished. Susan Boyle was returning home last night when she reportedly encountered a young man inside her council house in Blackburn, Scotland.  “The owner was very distressed to find someone had been within her home,” said local police. “And we are keen to speak to anyone who can assist with our investigations.” A 16-year-old was detained in connection with the trespassing, but released without charge. “I’m fine. It’s in the hands of the police now,” she told fans outside her home this morning.

Ironically, Boyle had just flown back from London, where she recorded her vocal for Simon Cowell’s charity single for Haitian relief, a cover of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” (a peculiar choice, considering the song’s subject is teenage depression—is Simon worried Haiti will kill itself?). Among the other stars joining Boyle on the track are Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Mika, Leona Lewis, Take That and Rod Stewart—whose presence reportedly made Boyle “shy“  at the recording. D’ya still think he’s sexy, Susan?

[Photo: Getty Images]

We’ve heard Miley Cyrus sing live before at VH1 Divas (No shame here, people! She was kinda amazing.) and we highly doubt this video - which claims to be of her singing way, way off-key on “The Today Show” -  is real. It doesn’t even try to fake us out, like that magical Beyonce video did, but it’s still fun for a laugh. So if you want to close your eyes and imagine what it would sound like if Miley’s voice was secretly god awful, go right ahead. We’ll be over here having a “Party In The USA” dance party until you finish.

It’s cold in New York, so the TheFABlife just had to head down to South Florida to check out the celebrity-studded Art Basel Miami event last week, and it was certainly filled with celebrities, fabulous parties, and of course amazing artwork. We packed our bags full of Margi Kent dresses, and checked into the hot new Gansevoort South which was the perfect location for hitting all the hot art shows and parties. From Michael Jackson tribute artwork to checking out Sylvester Stallone’s original paintings to partying with a unique mix of Manhattan party people and art collectors to bumping into Miley Cyrus at the pool, Art Basel Miami was certainly fab. [Photos: Getty Images, Splash News Online]

While 2009 started on an optimistic note, the year probably won’t go down as one of America’s finest—what with all the wars, economic crises and political gridlock and everything. Despite all this serious business, we still found plenty of time to pay attention to the antics of celebrities big and small—a little too much attention, on occasion. Here are ten controversies that, while treated like big deals at the time, we probably won’t tell our grandchildren about.

• Oh noes! Michael Phelps smoked pot!

There were already signs Olympic hero Michael Phelps was not without his vices—that stripper he dated, for instance—but that didn’t keep people from being outraged when a photograph revealed that the swimmer not only knew what a bong was, but actually used one at a party! Despite apologizing, Phelps was suspended from swimming for three months and Kellogg dropped him as a spokesperson, not wanting their munchies to be associated with marijuana use. Phelps was back breaking records and winning medals by summer’s World Aquatic Championships—but with his drug use now a matter of public record, he’ll never grace the front of a Frosted Flakes box again.

• Oh noes! Christian Bale got mad on a movie set!

Holy tirade, Batman! Christian Bale became an Internet laughingstock after NSFW audio of the Dark Knight star tearing  into cinematographer Shane Hurlbut leaked from the set of Terminator: Salvation. While friends tried to explain how distracting it is for a crew to work on lighting during a scene, webheads couldn’t keep from wedging “Ohhhhh, goooood for you!” and “F— sake, man, you’re amateur!” into every clip they could. The giggles had mostly died down by the time Public Enemies came out, but we still can’t see the guy without yelling “NO!!! NNNOOO!!!”

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