CelebSpice

Many people have bad hair days, but one that cost $35 million? Not even Paris Hilton could do that -- at least, that's what she says.

Lawyers for the hotel heiress and socialite on Thursday said they "will pursue all of our defenses vigorously and any potential counter claims" against a company that sued Hilton for $35 million claiming she broke a contract to wear its hair extensions.

One day earlier, Beverly Hills-based Hairtech International Inc filed its suit alleging Hilton, a member of the family that founded the hotel chain bearing her name, broke a contract in 2008 when she wore a rival company's extensions.

Hairtech also blamed Hilton for missing a product launch party in 2007 because she was in jail, and said her failure to appear cost the company $6.6 million, according to reports.

Hairtech declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The suit caused headlines around the world as the media seized upon it as a way to tease the wealthy heiress who has acted on TV and in movies, and endorsed products ranging from jewelry to apparel, cosmetics, perfume and hair products.

Hilton's personal life has long been fodder for the tabloid press, and she has had her share of troubles with the law, including a reckless driving arrest and probation violation.

More recently, she has adopted a lower public profile, although she remains a staple on red carpets around the world and is active as a celebrity endorser. Just this week, she was out in Hollywood promoting her new perfume, Tease.

(Reporting by Carolina Madrid; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Paris Hilton never wears an outfit twice. The 29-year-old socialite - who has fronted advertising campaigns for the likes of Christian Dior, Marciano and Tommy Hilfiger - says that she gives most of her clothes away after wearing them once.

She explained: "I never wear an outfit more than once unless it's like a really cool pair of jeans or a leather jacket."
And the blonde beauty admitted that she has a lot of unworn clothes in her wardrobe.
She said: "I still have so many clothes in my closets that still have the labels on. I see them so often I think I've worn them but then I realize I haven't. So I either give them to my friends or donate them to a charity so they can auction them off."
However the heiress revealed that she can't always donate her clothes to her friends as they don't always fit.
She told Heat magazine: "I'm quite lucky I have small breasts and that means I can wear most clothes. Some of my friends have bigger breasts but I can wear pretty much what I like. It's a real shame though because it means I can't pass my clothes on to them, because they'll be too small around the bust."
©Bang Showbiz

A sex tape may have propelled Kim Kardashian to notoriety, but her deft use of social networking and reality TV since then have made the tabloid star the prototype of a new "aspirational celebrity," experts say.

Once Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan ruled the scene. But these days Kardashian gets the wall-to-wall coverage. She has her own reality TV show, is consistently featured in celebrity magazine stories and just last week saw her much discussed curves refashioned into a Madame Tussauds wax figure.

While many Americans may be stumped as to why exactly Kardashian is famous, celebrity watchers think it's pretty clear. The 29-year-old's rise to stardom marks a shift in the making of a celebrity from old criteria of hailing from a famous or wealthy family (Hilton) or finding success in movies, TV and music (Lohan) to being famous simply for being famous.

Kardashian has built herself into a brand through social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and her own fan site kimkardashian.celebuzz.com. Her clever online messages engage fans, while other stars post tedious comments about new projects, People magazine Senior Editor David Caplan said.

Her web site is currently ranked first among all talent sites with 24 million views and 1.5 million unique users monthly, according to her publisher Buzzmedia.

"When she first came onto the scene there would be stories saying, 'Who is Kim Kardashian?'" said Caplan.

Now, he said, "fans feel connected to her, they read about what she is doing on Twitter and she in turn asks fans a question. She will ask 'Hey how should I wear my hair today?...that endears herself with fans."

"From there she has really been able to create a brand. Kim is now an aspirational celebrity. She has this lifestyle that everyone wants," he said.

Kardashian often Tweets controversial messages that gain publicity, such as her recent complaints about a woman breast feeding in public, which drew wide media coverage.

"FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS"

Experts say the Web and reality TV can propel celebrities to instant fame like never before. And Kardashian herself is not bothered if people think she is "famous for being famous."

"I don't think that is a negative statement. People do say that. But I pride myself on working hard. I am a business store owner, I am in the fashion world," Kardashian told Reuters at the launch of her wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York, wearing a hot pink dress with a plunging neckline to match her wax figure.

Before commanding big paychecks for nightclub appearances, tabloid magazine shoots, reality TV shows, fashion lines, her own fragrance and diet products, there was little of the old ways of making it in showbiz to suggest her rise to stardom.

Her father was a Los Angeles lawyer who worked on the O.J. Simpson trial, and somewhat like her friend Hilton, Kardashian was perhaps best known for hitting Hollywood's nightclubs. She once dated U.S. singer Ray J, but then came the Internet sex tape and posing naked for Playboy magazine.

Caplan noted her accessibility to the media and tabloids, her dating life and her Armenian heritage helped gain "a following that spans different ethnicities and groups. She is also very popular with guys as well as girls."

She now stars with her sisters, Khloe and Kourtney, and manager mother Kris Jenner, in reality TV show "Keeping up with the Kardashians."

"Reality stars are it today. It's everywhere. You turn on the television and every single show is a reality star television show. Kim is sort of the epitome of it," said Madame Tussauds general manager Janine DiGioacchino.

Kardashian's spokeswoman, Jill Fritzo said in an e-mail about her client's fame, "I don't think she needs to create or forge any 'ways' to become famous. She already is."

CHANGING TIMES AND CELEBRITIES

The list of those who have attained celebrity status for no particular reason has grown immensely from the days of the likes of Edie Sedgwick, who became a media sensation as Andy Warhol's muse and was dubbed an 'It Girl', experts said.

Back in the 1950s and '60s, celebrities were molded by the Hollywood studios rather than self-made, said author Henry Scott, whose book "Shocking True Story" chronicled the rise of America's first tabloid magazine "Confidential" in the '50s.

Actresses like Kim Novak were products of the studio system, while others outside Hollywood were little known.

"They certainly didn't rise to the level of fame of Kim Kardashian," he said.

Since then, the advent of the Internet and hundreds of cable TV channels hungry for content have marked a big shift in who graces celebrity magazine covers.

"People who are famous for being famous is a whole phenomenon that is quite remarkable and has everything to do with the Internet and 24-hour cable," said pop culture analyst and professor Elayne Rapping. "Almost anybody can (now) make themselves famous."

For her part, Kardashian said it doesn't bother her that she might not be known for her business accomplishments.

"You just kind of have to laugh, because they clearly don't know anything about me or pay attention to what I really do," she said with a shrug and a smile.

(Additional reporting Gemma Haines, editing by Mark Egan and Bob Tourtellotte)

Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton was arrested after a World Cup match in South Africa Friday on suspicion of marijuana possession but subsequently released without charge.

The 29-year old great-granddaughter of Hilton hotels founder Conrad Hilton and her friend Jennifer Rovero were taken into custody after the Brazil-Netherlands World Cup quarter-final game in the South African coastal city.

Rovero, who describes herself as a former Playboy playmate, model and actress on her website, was sentenced to a fine of 1,000 rand ($130) or 30 days in jail for smoking a marijuana joint. Her lawyer told the court she was in South Africa to cover the World Cup as a freelance photographer.

"They were together, but we didn't have a case against Hilton. The joint was in Rovero's possession, not Hilton's," the prosecutor told Reuters.

Hilton arrived at the special court hearing in the South African city of Port Elizabeth looking tense and wearing a beige sleeveless cardigan, boots and green trousers.

Her publicist issued a statement calling the arrest a misunderstanding.

"Paris Hilton was questioned today by police in South Africa on allegations of smoking marijuana," the statement read.

"However I can confirm that the incident was a complete misunderstanding and it was actually another person in the group who did it. The case has been dropped against Paris and no charges will be made."

South Africa set up 56 special courts to deal swiftly with cases involving visitors for the World Cup.

Hilton made world headlines in June 2007, when she was spent three weeks in a Los Angeles jail for violating her probation in an earlier reckless driving charge.

The wafer-thin blonde, who has worked as a model, singer, actress, fashion designer, reality TV star, has since adopted a lower public profile.

However she remains a staple on red carpets around the world for movie premieres, night-club openings, and as a celebrity endorser of products ranging from wine to clothing.

The celebrity heiress arrived in South Africa Thursday, according to her posts on Twitter. After her release, she sent a post to reassure her fans that all was well:

"Hey guys, there's a lot of crazy rumors going around. Just want you all to know the truth. Everything is completely fine. I was not charged or arrested, cause I didn't do anything. I was assisting the police with the investigation and answering their questions. Everyone was super nice and friendly to me. I love South Africa! Such an amazing place, especially during The World Cup!"

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, Martin Petty and Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Noah Barkin and Myra MacDonald)

Inside a soundstage recently at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, Christina Aguilera was talking about the inspiration behind her 2006 album, "Back to Basics," on which she paid tribute to the soul and blues artists who inspired her to sing. Or at least that was what she started to talk about.

Seemingly out of nowhere, she was describing the process that led to "Bionic," her futuristic new disc. "Sorry," Aguilera told the 200 or so audience members gathered for this taping of VH1's "Storytellers." "I get ahead of myself sometimes. But they can edit this. Cut and paste!"

As it happens, "cut and paste" goes a long way toward describing the choppy postmodern vibe on "Bionic," due June 8 from RCA. A pronounced about-face from the warmly retro-fied "Back to Basics" -- which has sold nearly 1.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- the 18-track set contains beat-driven collaborations with a host of edgy dance-music acts, including M.I.A., Le Tigre, Peaches and Switch. More mainstream talent appears as well, in the form of Polow Da Don, Tricky Stewart and longtime Aguilera confidante Linda Perry.

To be sure, "Bionic" comes loaded with the requisite number of radio-bait hooks, not to mention a handful of stately ballads destined to appeal to fans of the singer's 2002 smash, "Beautiful." (That single's parent album, "Stripped," has sold more than 4.2 million copies, while Aguilera's 1999 self-titled debut has sold nearly 8.2 million.)

Yet with its grinding synth scapes and throbbing dance-punk grooves, "Bionic" also serves as a characteristically bold artistic statement from one of pop's least apprehensive superstars. As Aguilera puts it in "Not Myself Tonight," the album's lead single, "I feel brand new/And if you don't like it, f--- you."

'NOTHING TO PROVE'

"There's some rebellion to it," Aguilera said with a laugh, curled up in an armchair at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills a few weeks before the "Storytellers" taping. The singer, 29, had just finished a day of on-camera interviews, and at long last the heels came off and the hair came down. "But there's no proving element to me," she was quick to add. "At this point in my career, I'm over any and all weird comparisons or negativity."

Much of the early online reaction to "Not Myself Tonight" (and its racy, S&M-inspired video) wondered whether Aguilera was feeling the need to play catch-up with Lady Gaga, who's more or less come to dominate the dance-diva space in the years since "Back to Basics." "In these post-Gaga times," a post on New York magazine's Vulture blog asked, "can Aguilera carve out her piece of the pop-star pie?"

"I'm in it for the long haul, and a decade later in my career, I have nothing to prove," Aguilera said. "To anyone who wants to be negative, it's like, 'I'm obviously relevant enough to you for you to care and to talk and to evoke negative feelings inside of you.'"

The singer said the new album is an expression of her femininity in all its forms: wife, mother, singer, actress. (After marrying Jordan Bratman nearly five years ago, Aguilera gave birth to the couple's first son, Max, in 2008.) "'Bionic' to me is the definition of the superhuman abilities we as women have in everyday life," she said, adding that the outre spirit of much of the music is a reaction to "feeling stifled" by the supposed exclusivity of any of those roles. "I've grown and changed, and I've learned so much. I've never felt more confident, more secure, more sexy in my life than I do now."

CREATIVE ENERGY

There's no doubting that change: From an early stint on "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" (alongside Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake) to the boy-crazy bubble gum of "Genie in a Bottle" to the supremely raunchy "Dirrty" to the Andrews Sisters homage "Candyman," Aguilera's career has been a study in contrasts.

"There's two things you need to know about Christina Aguilera," said Polow Da Don, whose credits on the album include "Not Myself Tonight" and an especially spirited number called "I Hate Boys." "The first is that, as far as her singing goes, she's a professionally trained animal. And the other is that she knows exactly, absolutely what she wants."

Sia Furler, an Australian singer-songwriter (and former Zero 7 member) who co-wrote several songs on "Bionic," said she didn't perceive any anxiety on Aguilera's part in regard to the album's relatively left-field roster. "I don't think she thought it was a risk," Furler said. "She was just excited to get to work with the artists she loves. There's this misconception that she's a Middle America kind of person. But she's a little hipster. You go back to her house and sit by the fire with some wine, and what's playing over the sound system? The Knife and Arthur Russell. She doesn't listen to pop music."

"I get off on working with creative energy," Aguilera said emphatically, her hands punctuating her point. "That's when I'm most at home and feel happiest. And all these people brought about new sides of me. It was a big collaboration-fest, and it felt so good and rewarding in the end, because I was just so happy with the work and the new territories that I ventured out to."

The singer describes her love of Le Tigre's records, which she calls "loud and fun and in your face," and said her collaborations with Furler -- particularly "You Lost Me," a stripped-down tear-jerker -- constitute "the heart of the album." According to Aguilera, she assembled the album not through RCA but by contacting her prospective creative partners directly -- in several cases only after Bratman convinced her they'd pick up the phone. ("I get starstruck about people I love," she said a little sheepishly.)

"Going into (each of these partnerships), I said, 'I'm a really big fan of yours, and I'm interested in stepping into your world and what you do,'" Aguilera said. "'I want to combine that with my sound, and let's see what happens.' I feel like I can do so much with my voice. I would be so bored sitting on a stool singing ballad after ballad just because I can."

Though she admits that having had huge hits is precisely what enables her to insist that they're not important to her, Aguilera said, "I promised myself after my first record I would never put out something that I couldn't feel and that didn't come from an honest, genuine place."

ONSCREEN AND ON THE ROAD

Aguilera's television promotion schedule for the new album begins June 6 with a performance at the MTV Movie Awards. It includes appearances on "Today," "Late Show With David Letterman," "Live! With Regis and Kelly" and "The Early Show," and ends June 13 on VH1 with back-to-back episodes of "Storytellers" and "Behind the Music."

On July 15 Aguilera will launch a 20-date North American tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Other stops on the trek include the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California. Leona Lewis will open all shows, and fans who purchase tickets at LiveNation.com through June 4 will receive a code to download "Bionic."

Later this year, Aguilera will make her movie debut in "Burlesque," a musical directed by Steven Antin (brother of Pussycat Dolls creator Robin Antin) that co-stars Cher, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming. Aguilera plays a struggling dancer who moves to Los Angeles to follow her dream.

"The idea of sensuality and women being expressive of that and looking at an old 1920s art form -- it was like, 'Hello, sign me up!'" Aguilera said of the role. "It had my name written all over it."

"Christina's had plenty of movie offers in the past, but this was the first one that made sense," said Aguilera's manager, Live Nation Entertainment chairman Irving Azoff. "And it's a very different look for her. You'll be pleasantly shocked."

But will Aguilera's fans be shocked by the new sounds she samples on "Bionic?"

Furler isn't worried. "If this album sells less than the last one, it's not a reflection of the record -- it's a reflection of the industry."

Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre thinks that Aguilera's hipster-approved collaborators might even earn the singer a few new fans in indie-identified Pitchfork country.

"People have been super-supportive of us working with her," said Hanna, who spent most of the '90s fronting the seminal riot grrrl band Bikini Kill. "A few years ago there was a rumor going around that we were working with Paris Hilton, and people were ready to kill us. Obviously, Christina and Paris Hilton are totally different entities. But people seem genuinely excited about this. It's like maybe it gives them permission to admit they like Christina."

Paris Hilton is an official 'celebrity ambassador' for the United Service Organizations' new initiative Song For Soldiers. The 29-year-old heiress partied with US sailors during Fleet Week in New York as an ambassador.

The new initiative is hoping to provide every active duty service member in Iraq and Afghanistan with an MP3 player after a study found that music is one of the biggest stress relievers for those in the US service.

Paris told Pop Tarts before the event: "I'm always looking for ways I can use my voice as a celebrity and I think there is nothing more worthwhile and patriotic than supporting our troops.
"When I first heard about the Song for Soldiers initiative it immediately touched my heart. "It's so easy to take for granted our freedom and happiness and forget about those who are endangering their lives every day to make it possible. Song for Soldiers is a simple way to show you care."
(Image: Splash News)

Paris Hilton has been bombarding her ex-boyfriend with phone calls.

The blonde socialite is said to be distraught over reports Doug Reinhardt - who she dated for 14 months until April - is dating Miss USA Rima Fakih and is now determined to win him back.

A source said: "Paris is furious. She was absolutely freaking out at the Cannes Film Festival when she heard Doug was talking to Rima. She's been constantly contacting him and wants him back!"

However, the 25-year-old 'Hills' star is said to be shunning his 29-year-old former lover's calls because he is not interested in getting back with her.

Music mix - Cheryl Cole collects big at Cannes and Te Amo singer Rihanna (pictured) has admitted that she likes to date guys who make her laugh. The 21-year-old beauty, who is touring the UK, said she likes guys who are down to earth. Rihanna is currently dating Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp.

She said to UK newspaper Daily Record: "Definitely a guy with a sense of humor because I love to laugh. "Someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously, who likes to have fun - it should all be fun.
"Being in a relationship should be something that is exciting and makes you happy, so if the guy makes me happy, then he gets a chance."

More music...Singer Cheryl Cole reportedly picked up a staggering £250,000 for a 30-minute set at a party in Cannes.
The 26-year-old star performed at a dinner party thrown by jewellery brand De Grisogono at the posh Hotel Du Cap. She picked a gold top and slashed trousers for the event and was accompanied by her pal Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas. Guests at the bash included Paris Hilton, Lionel Richie and Naomi Campbell, who all watched her performance.
The Black Eyed Peas rapper then took the star to Monaco, where she got to see him perform at the World Music Awards.
(Image: Splash News)

Paris Hilton is seemingly set to relaunch her pop career.

The 29-year-old socialite met up with acclaimed songwriter Linda Perry - who is responsible for Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' and Gwen Stefani's 'What You Waiting For?', among other tracks - sparking speculation she is planning a follow-up to her 2006 LP 'Paris'.

Paris revealed the news on twitter, writing: "Went and visited Linda Perry at her studio. She is so cool and her studio is incredible. I respect her so much as a producer, what a talent."

'Stars Are Blind', the first single from 'Paris', was an international smash hit upon its release, reaching the top five in the British, Italian, Swedish and Canadian charts.

Even Lady Gaga admitted she was a fan of the song.

Paris Hilton won't "think about" her split from Doug Reinhardt.

The socialite - who recently ended her 14-month romance with the reality TV star - is relying on the support of her family and friends to help take her mind off her single status.

She said: "It's all about surrounding yourself with your family and your friends and people that you love. There's so much going on right now."

"It's about not thinking about it. Moving on. I'm fine, I'm over it."

Despite previously insisting she is "better off" without the 24-year-old star, Paris, 29, insists she bears no ill will towards Doug.