Gossip

Tom Cruise makes all his personal decisions based on directives from the Church of Scientology, a new book by British journalist Andrew Morton alleges. The book contends that the church leaders pressured Cruise to divorce Nicole Kidman after she expressed doubts about his faith and later blackmailed Kidman to keep quiet by threatening to release tapes of her talking about her sex life during her “auditing” sessions. Some Scientologists, Morton says, believe that Cruise’s daughter with actress Katie Holmes may have been conceived using frozen sperm from the late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and that Suri represents a new incarnation of their founder. Cruise’s lawyer called the book “a bunch of lies,” and the Church of Scientology said it was planning a $100 million lawsuit.

On the night Britney Spears was carted off to a hospital last week, the pop star swallowed 100 prescription pills and washed them down with a “Purple Monster” cocktail of vodka, NyQuil, and Red Bull, said the London News of the World. Spears was taken into medical custody after a standoff with police over her refusal to return custody of her children to their father, Kevin Federline. Spears left the hospital against doctors’ advice this week. During her stay, her parents arranged for a visit from Dr. Phil McGraw, the TV psychologist, but Britney told him to leave after 15 minutes. McGraw later told reporters that Spears was clearly “in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention.”

Lindsay Lohan was caught swigging champagne on video, prompting her lawyer to admit that, despite earlier denials, the actress had indeed fallen off the wagon. Lohan, who recently left a rehab facility, was handed the bottle during a New Year’s Eve party. “The good news,” said Blair Berk, “is that Lindsay immediately stopped, called her sponsor, and got herself back on track.”

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Eighteen-year-old Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere is dating her 30-year-old co-star Milo Ventimiglia, said People. “Hayden’s mom adores Milo. She thinks he’s so cute,” a family friend told the magazine. “She tells her friends that he’s her boyfriend. She’s very proud.”