The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia) (December 26, 2004 Sunday)

Hollywood Gossip

Portia and Ellen break girls' hearts

Nick Papps

Aussie babe Portia De Rossi is getting some big-time attention in Hollywood after hooking up with talk-show host and celebrity lesbian Ellen DeGeneres.

A few days ago, Portia and Ellen got hot and heavy in a car at an awards night, but the liaison has left a couple of people pretty unhappy ... the girls' ex-girlfriends.

Portia's ex, Francesca Gregorini, is devastated, and Ellen's now former partner, Alexandra Hedison, is about to start suing for a share of Ellen's cash.

A witness to the Portia-Ellen hook-up at the VH1 Big In 04 awards in LA says Portia made some moves on Ellen.

Before too long, "They were spotted groping each other in, of all places, Portia's Porsche.

"They knew they were cheating on their lovers, but it didn't stop them steaming up the car's windows for over an hour."

The new couple have given their old beaus the heave-ho and are living together in DeGeneres' mansion.

Gregorini is reportedly inconsolable, as she'd been planning on having an in vitro baby with De Rossi, while Hedison is heading for a lawyer's office.

Simon spreads love

REMEMBER Simon Cowell, the guy with the live-in girlfriend who was seen snogging our Tania Zaetta and sharing a bathroom romp with two blondes at the Playboy Mansion?

Well, the dreaded American Idol judge is now a single guy after dumping his long-suffering partner, Terri Seymour.

And Cowell is wasting no time sharing the love around in the $10 million home he's just bought himself in Beverly Hills.

The babe parade has already begun, with an insider saying: "He's been having lots of single ladies over to celebrate both his new house and his new single eligibility status."

Hilton trashed

PARIS Hilton has finally been given an absolute savaging. And it took a punk to do it.

The spray erupted when the pampered princess was at a private party for Blondie's Deborah Harry.

The old warhorse was being toasted with drinks and speeches, but Paris was ignoring the lot by talking on her mobile phone.

This show of bad manners angered none other than Siouxsie Sioux, of Siouxsie and the Banshees fame, who yelled out: "Turn off that (bleeping) phone, you spoilt little brat. This isn't about you."

Faced with such an onslaught, Hilton went bright red and bolted for the door to Siouxsie's parting words: "Who invited that silly cow anyway?"

Joey's new hobby

LIFE post-Friends isn't going well at all for Matt Le Blanc.

Le Blanc's new solo television spin-off, Joey, has tanked, and feeling a little down in the mouth, he has sought the company of former co-star David Schwimmer.

He's the guy who told Le Blanc not to do the new series, but has apparently offered consolation by introducing Matt to the joys of regular finger-painting.

Yep, these two millionaires spend hours dipping their fingers in paint and creating pictures. Apparently it's a great way to let off steam.

Julia fires up

IT seems motherhood hasn't mellowed Julia Roberts.

The acting diva has already fired two nannies who were looking after her new-born twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel.

In a lovely understatement, an associate of Ms R says: "Julia's been driving everyone a little crazy since she and Danny (Roberts' hubby) got home from the hospital.

"The nannies have gotten the worst of it. Julia's already fired two of them because they couldn't seem to measure up to her high standards."

No details on the sackable offences committed by the apparently highly qualified nannies, although Roberts has apparently admitted: "I can get a little overbearing sometimes."

Good luck, kids.

Olsens are at it again

Those annoying twins, the Olsens are in hot water.

No it's not drinking, drugs or eating disorders.

It's the sad fact that the billionaire girls have been employing sweat-shop labour to make clothes for their designer label.

The twins' company has been refusing to allow decent conditions for their labourers in Bangladesh.

While Mary-Kate and Ashley have been living the good life in Manhattan, their workers who make the clothes that earned the girls $520 million last year, have been suffering.

And the scandal got so big the newspaper at the girls' university campaigned for the Os to be banned from all classes until they lifted their game.

The girls have now given in to the labourers' demands for things such as maternity leave and their lawyer said until the proverbial hit the fan, the girls never knew about the problem.

QUICK BITES

Ben Stiller's comedy sidekick, Owen Wilson, has revealed himself to be a man of class. The blond, who played Hutch to Stiller's Starsky in the remake of the '70s cop show Starsky and Hutch, has dropped the interesting fact that he likes strippers. In a move which gives him a common interest with Ben Affleck, Texan Wilson says "you can't grow up in Dallas and not have dated a few strippers". Wilson has just broken up with a stripper called Carolina Cerisola, so we're presuming he's right now chucking dollar notes into garter belts somewhere in southern US.

Sniping at Wesley

WOULDN'T be much fun being action man Wesley Snipes at the moment. The star of the Blade series is being pursued by a crack addict who says Snipes fathered her child. His arch enemy has even managed to get a warrant after he refused a DNA test. Snipes, who's married with kids, reckons the woman is a gold digger and has tried to fool others into making paternity payments.

Booze buddies

BRAD Pitt, who is rumoured to be nearly single, has found a new buddy to get drunk with -- Catherine Zeta-Jones. With Jennifer Aniston not wearing her wedding ring any more, we may soon see Brad sitting in bars with CZJ. Pitt, who starred in Oceans 12 with Michael Douglas's wife, gave her this blokey compliment: "The great thing about Catherine is there is this great beauty and elegance but at the same time she'll drink any one of you under the table."

Justin's capers

JUSTIN Timberlake is not helping those rumours about him and Cameron Diaz being on the skids. Mr T Snake was spotted recently stripping and skinny dipping with a bunch of female models, and no sign of Diaz anywhere.

Contributed by Jerry Burch.