Greed also apparently has a last name – Douglas.

Diandra Douglas is taking ex-husband Michael to court, seeking half of all the money he earns from his upcoming film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. (Dumbest.  Title.  Ever).

Diandra divorced Michael in 2000, getting a hefty $45 million settlement from the actor, including half of any money he earns from merchandise, residuals, or spin-offs from movies he made from the time they got married in 1977.

Diandra’s argument is that Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a spin-off, so it qualifies under the terms of the divorce settlement, while Michael is claiming that it’s a sequel, so she shouldn’t get anything. 

Yeah, I thought a spin-off and a sequel were basically the same thing too, but apparently not.  At least not legally.  Sequels are separate entities from the original work entirely, while a spin-off takes the premise and/or characters from the original work and puts them in a different environment or medium. 

Stay tuned.  This fight’s just getting started.

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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is paying off ex-partner Toni Layton $3 million in hush money to prevent her from exposing her “secrets” in a long legal match.

The two had been together for eight years, breaking up in January 2008, when Martina gave Toni the heave-ho.  Apparently, Toni didn’t take it too well (or appreciate the $200 000  settlement Martina initially offered).

Toni previously claimed , “There are a lot of skeletons in Martina’s closet. It is more like a storage facility full of them, and I know them all”.

Just remember kids, threatening to expose a person’s secrets for money yourself is a major no-no (extortion is illegal), unless you hire a lawyer to do it on your behalf, in which case any money handed over is called a ”settlement”.  See?  It’s not just how you say it, but who says it that matters. 

Cue stampede of Martina’s previous ex’s to come out of the woodwork, looking for payouts or to sell their stories to the tabloids in 5…4…3….

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The Queen will not be amused.

The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, has been caught taking bribes to gain access to Prince Andrew, her ex-husband (and fourth in line to the crown).

In the videotaped sting, Fergie tells an undercover reporter who was posing as a wealthy businessman that she wants $40 000 up front, with another $500 000 in future payments for getting access to the Royal family.  Prince Andrew volunteers as a rep for the UK’s international trade and investment.

Fergie’s spokesminion has confirmed that the video is the real deal and that the duchess is devastated over the embarrassment this will cause.  In other words, she’s very, very, sorry she got caught.  

Silly Fergie!  Have you not been paying attention to the media lately?  The way to strike it rich these days is to become a mistress to some married celeb, then hire Gloria Allred to try and shake him down for you.

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Looks like that heated battle over wages between Summit Entertainment, Ashley Green (Alice Cullen) and Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen) has been resolved.

According to Deadline Hollywood, both actors are getting a total of $2.5 million for both Breaking Dawn films (not bad, but a steep drop from the $4 million they were supposedly seeking). 

Although an official announcement has yet to be made, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point that Summit will be breaking the story into two separate films, laughing all the way to the bank in the process.

Maybe Kellan and Ashley will take some of that hard earned money and invest in some acting lessons.  Couldn’t hurt.

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Negotiations must have been tense, since it went down to the last minute.

Despite his legal, marriage, and substance abuse troubles this year, Charlie got a significant raise from his $850 K per episode salary (rumour is he’ll be now getting over $1.3 million), signing on for two more years of essentially playing himself in Two and A Half Men.

In a statement released by his spokesminion, Charlie said, “To put a fitting end on the 2-1/2 months of whirlwind speculation, I’m looking forward to returning to my CBS home on Monday nights.”

At least $1.3 million per episode?  Given Charlie’s well deserved reputation, what percentage do you think will go towards hookers and blow?

As for those assault charges stemming from his assault on soon to be ex-wife Brooke Mueller in Denver over Christmas, word is that a deal is being made between the DA and Charlie’s legal team that will see him serve six weeks in a Colorado County Jail.

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Looks like there’s a lot of behind the scenes drams happening with the Breaking Dawn, the fourth story in the Twilight Saga.

Summit Entertainment wants to split the story with it’s two narratives into two separate movies, releasing them in the fall of 2011 and summer 2012.  Author Stephenie Meyer has signed off on the plan as has director Bill Condon.  The leads are close to being locked in for a fifth movie as well, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, actors Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen) and Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) are seeking a bigger pay day, apparently finding what Summit is offering “offensive” considering what the franchise has made.  

Risky move.

Summit is known to be tight with a buck, and has played hardball before. Last summer Rachel Lefevre (Victoria) was kicked to the curb and replaced with Bryce Dallas Howard for the third film, Eclipse.  Fans complained and Summit’s reputation took a hit, but it didn’t exactly stop people from going to see New Moon in droves.

Will a deal with Greene and Lutz be made, or will Summit risk fan backlash again by replacing one or even both of the actors? 

Haters to the left.

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Well, what do you know?  Faithless Hussy wasn’t the mistress that tried to shake down David Boreanaz after all.  Apparently he copped to the affair with Faithless Hussy to his wife previously, the as yet unnamed mistress (Mystery Ho until further notice) is the one that all the fuss is about.

After paying Mystery Ho twice to keep her mouth shut, David balked at paying her again when she apparently requested a six figure payout through her lawyer, Gloria Allred (who also happens to rep Faithless Hussy).  David went to his lawyer Marty Singer instead, going on to spill the beans to People.  

However, it’s turning into a bit of  a “he said/she said” scenario, as Gloria Allred alleges that David had his lawyer contact Mystery Ho first, telling Radar ”Marty Singer attempted to contact a woman who had a romantic relationship with David Boreanaz. She then retained me. (This woman was not Rachel Uchitel.) I then contacted Mr. Singer on her behalf to find out why Mr. Singer was calling her. We discussed the possible resolution of my client’s legal claims against Mr. Boreanaz by mediation. My client has not told her story to the press, but now that Mr. Boreanaz is attacking her she has decided to tell the story of their relationship, so that the truth will come out. This baseless attack by David Boreanaz and his highly paid legal mouth piece in an apparent effort to divert attention from his client’s extramarital infidelity will not succeed. If they think that I or my client will be intimidated they are wrong.”

Oh please….

Mystery Ho and Gloria better hurry, as details continue to leak out the asking price they can get from the tabloids for her side of the story is decreasing rapidly. 

As for Faithless Hussy, she’s supposedly coming back from Mexico today or tomorrow to hold a press conference, totally P.O.’d that her reputation has again been sullied by the media, paradigm of virtue and wholesome behaviour that she is.

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Only 22 minutes late too!  All it took was the threat that she’d lose the case by default if she failed to show again.

Being sued by three cash grabbers who are claiming she “held them captive” when she took them on a drunken car chase in 2007, Linds missed her two previous depositions.  The first for not having enough time as she was so busy (she went shopping instead), the second for not being able to find a ride to take her to court (she’s unable to dive as part of her probation).

Mother Dina accompanied Lindsay to court Monday after supposedly spending the night partying with her at the Chateau Marmot (it shows).  Dina denies this, saying they just went to dinner.  The two had returned from NYC where they spent the weekend filming a segment for Entertainment Tonight and a special for E!, something about cleaning out Dina’s closet. 

Yes, it’s actually come to this.

As for Lindsay’s  depsotion itself, TMZ is reporting that the plaintiff’s lawyers “gave her a hard time” and kept her in there for 7 hours.  Yikes.

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A lawsuit stemming from three model citizens who got into drunken fights with meat head Ronnie Magro on the first season of Jersey Shore has been approved to be heard by the judge presiding over the case.

The suit claims that 495 Productions, the company that produces the show, is profiting from fights featuring the cast members  with the public and therefore is engaged in a “criminal enterprise” and in violation of the states racketeering laws.  The three plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.  Of the three fights, only two were aired (Ronnie totally kicked their asses, BTW). 

Word is extra security has been hired to follow the cast around while the second season is being filmed as the producers have realized famewhores are deliberately trying to pick fights with them to fulfill the apparent human need to be on TV (or get rich trying).

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That’s what a bit actor and his wife who showed up at the 2010 Oscars without tickets wants from the Academy for false imprisonment.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Michael Avila (stage name Michael Avmen) showed up at the ceremony with the understanding from his publicist that he could pick up his tickets once inside the venue.  

Riiiiiiight.  As if security for the Academy Awards hasn’t heard that one before, especially coming from someone with three credits to his name on the IMDB.

The Avilas were whisked away by security to the AMPAS detention centre, were they were held and questioned for six hours before being transferred to the police station and subsequently released.

The lawsuit says the couple “have experienced sustained injury to his and her body and shock and injury to their nervous system, as well as humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress”.

In a statement Michael said, “If I or some ‘regular’ individual acted as The Academy did, we would be in prison right now. I want, and I will show that these people aren’t above the law. Security is one thing, but this was outside the realm of excessive. My wife and I have suffered, and there has been a great injustice enforced.”

Oooooh…it’s a pity party!  Quick, break out the hats!

Security at the Oscars is notoriously tight, so anyone who shows up without a proper invite or documentation is pretty much asking to complicate their evening. 

Rhetorical question.  Is the Avila’s complaint legit, or are they taking the White House Party Crashers schtick to the next level, seeking a big settlement and maybe some publicity for Michael’s acting “career” ?

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