A source close to the show tells me, "The reason [the actor] has not been on is because [he or she] has been a pain in the ass lately, trying to change scenes and dialogue, being hard to work with and putting up an attitude. The higher-ups were getting tired of it, so they tweaked [him or her] out of some episodes. That's why you haven't really seen [him or her] lately."

A second source seconds that emotion: "[He or she] is not really getting along too well with producers right now."

So who are the likely culprits? Patrick Dempsey has publicly implied his disapproval with story decisions this year, but hasn't suffered a notable scaling-back on-screen. Meanwhile, go-to Grey's problem girl Katherine Heigl is currently enmeshed in the most ridiculous, high-profile storyline the show has right now: boffing the equivalent of her imaginary friend.

Thus, we're left to conclude it's T.R. Knight who attempting to salvage his scenes and getting them cut in the process, especially since Knight's George has barely registered this season. EW's Michael Ausiello has posted a similar blind item that implies an original cast member of a hit show may be permanently excised — will Knight be the next to fall under the Grey's casting scalpel?

• Grey's Anatomy Blind Item: Who's in the Doghouse? [E!]

Dempsey appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today (incidentally, a program that Sara Ramirez's Callie will no longer be watching) and when DeGeneres brought up the firing, McDreamy pulled out a canned response ABC had sent to him and read from it sarcastically. Afterward, DeGeneres asked if the firing was OK. "It is for them," said Dempsey, providing enough passive-aggressive venom to make Isaiah Washington (busy waiting tables at the NBC commissary while he waits for that follow-up call from Ben Silverman) point to the screen and insist, "See? That's what I was talking about!"

• The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Along this journey through Satan's lower colon, you'll spot some recognizable faces— Blair Underwood, Christian Slater, McDreamy, Ricki Lake, Chad Lowe, and Corey Feldman, whose bedroom walls we can only imagine were covered in "Bad" posters at the time. You'll also spot some lesser-knowns: Keith "Adventures in Babysitting" Coogan, Melora "Jan from The Office" Hardin, Carrie "Carol Burnett's deceased daughter" Hamilton, plus an elegant pas de deux featuring Tracy "Ricky's daughter/Seinfeld's twin" Nelson and someone by the name of D.A. Pauley. Have we sold this yet? Did we mention Feldman gets a dance solo at the 4:45 mark? Enjoy.

• Wow, the Stars of the Future from the 1988 Oscars All Ending up Sucking… [hollywood-newsroom.com]

boomp3.com



Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey got an early start to his Fourth of July weekend by cruising around Brentwood. The photographer asked Dempsey if he knew what happened to all the famous people. Dempsey shrugged his shoulders and suggested that all major celebrities are probably on vacation or just hiding in their luxurious homes. The photographer asked if Dempsey could get some of his more famous friends out in the public because he doesn't want to spend another Saturday walking down Robertson taking pictures of Paris Hilton. After all, he didn't go to college just take pictures of some dingus whose doing her best to the California economy afloat. Before speeding away, Dempsey said that he'll see what he can do, but wouldn't make any promises, adding that he just got back into the cool kid club and doesn't want to ruffle any feathers.

[Photo Credit: X17]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

1. The Schlub Factor. Like Sam Raimi, who guided Marvel's previous blockbuster franchise Spider-Man to its own record openings in 2001, 2004 and 2007, director Jon Favreau is kind of a schlub — a normal dude who came up through the ranks and pretty much is his audience. He's not Ang Lee, whose misunderstood Hulk is disavowed to the point that its own studio is remaking it this summer (with another non-schlub, French action auteur Louis Leterrier), or even Bryan Singer, whose X-Men franchise coasted on star power before burning itself out at the hands of patronizer extraordinaire Brett Ratner. Favreau imposes a fan's vision and an indie mandate (i.e. character development, budget-mindedness) that works primarily because it threatens no one — neither the studio that paid for it nor the viewers spreading word-of-mouth months in advance and lining up around the block on opening weekend.

2. The Downey Factor. Repeat everything above, but substitute Tobey Maguire and Eric Bana (the miscast Hulk whose 2008 replacement, the relatively inaccessible Edward Norton, will likely suffer a similar fate). Robert Downey Jr. is a smart, funny adult actor who appeals to men and women alike (especially women), while also an innocuous enough leading man who won't overshadow the brand among fanboys. He's also his generation's most powerful Hollywood comeback story; this guy was virtually uninsurable after his umpteenth drug bust six years ago cost him his role on Ally McBeal. His casting was about as brilliant as it gets.

3. The McDreamy Factor. Or: There was nothing else to see over the weekend. Sony says it's happy having done $15 million with Made of Honor, but it thought its Patrick Dempsey rom-com would pull in at least $6 or $7 million of what went to Iron Man — on the basis of counterprogramming alone. What it didn't count on was...

4. The Female Factor. Iron Man was more of a chick flick than most "experts" anticipated, which Variety noting today that women made up 38% of last weekend's audience. Again, Marvel can thank Downey, but it shouldn't forget leading lady Gwyneth Paltrow. Her presence likely accounts for at least $12 to $15 million of that opening windfall.

5. The Critic Factor. The film was arguably critic-proof, but no one can deny the taste- (and profit-) making influence of reviewers who pushed Iron Man to a 94% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. That is the stuff of franchise phenomena — Iron Man 2, here we come.

WHAT'S NEW: Having achieved deafening critical and civilian buzz over the last week, the only remaining question about Iron Man is not if it will kill this weekend, but how it will kill. A close read of the historical record suggests the latest Marvel hero is in for at least an $80 million weekend (including last night's late screenings), but we think that's conservative — accounting for neither repeat viewings nor the Robert Downey Jr. Factor making this as much of an adult treat as a teen/fanboy orgy. We'd be surprised if it didn't break $60 million by Sunday and maybe even $90 million when the dust clears Monday.

Also opening (for what it's worth): Made of Yawner — ahem, Honor, starring Patrick... whoever. Indies of note include the Toronto '07 opener Fugitive Pieces, the coming- of- age- via- sweding- Stallone film Son of Rambow, and the Argentinian teen hermaphrodite drama XXY.

THE BIG LOSER: As long as he's wishing critics dead, we might as well get our money's worth: David Mamet's Jiu-jitsu saga Redbelt isn't so bad, but we expect Iron Man to vanquish its testosterrific charms in the weekend's qualifying rounds before moving on to the more saccharine, sinewy Dr. McDreamy and Co. Come to think of it, the Sony conglomerate as a whole will be missing Spider-Man right... about... now.

THE UNDERDOG: We'll be hearing a bit more from the filmmaker later today, but writer-director Harmony Korine's comeback Mister Lonely is a maverick wack-job of the highest order: A Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) runs off with Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton) to a Scottish colony of other celebrity impersonators, while a drunken priest (Werner Herzog) exhorts a troupe of flying nuns a hemisphere away. Infinitely warmer than Korine's previous directing efforts Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy (what isn't?), it's no less hypnotic, funny and confounding.

FOR SHUT-INS: New DVD's this week include The Golden Compass, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 27 Dresses, the reissued Sarah Jessica Parker/Helen Hunt masterpiece of 1985, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and the nifty microbudget drama from director Todd Rohal, The Guatemalan Handshake.

Are we overestimating Iron Man? Underestimating it? Will anyone but our mothers consider seeing Made of Honor in the next three days, if ever? Stake your claim to bragging rights by placing your bets below.

Though Paper didn't dare dig up any terribly revealing visuals of the gory scenes in question (Ed. Note - What a bunch of squares!), we dug up a few from his top five. For all two of you interested in salivating over Hoffman's flabby butt, Patrick Dempsey's censored full-frontal or Julie Andrews' surprisingly perfect rack, today's your day.

Julie Andrews kinda makes us wanna switch sides in S.O.B.:

Patrick Dempsey, the lone attractive male example on Paper's list, in Some Girls:

And PSH giving Marisa Tomei the ol' doggie in Before The Devil Knows You're Dead:

• CINEMANIAC'S TOP TEN WORST NUDE SCENES OF ALL TIME [Papermag.com]

In today's episode: Barbra Streisand; Owen Wilson; Jake Gyllenhaal; Patrick Dempsey and David Faustino; Ryan Reynolds; JJ Abrams; Kirstie Alley; Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Christina Aguilera, Fabrizio Moretti, Samantha Ronson, Robbie Williams, Nikka Costa, and Alex Greenwald; T.R. Knight; Jeffrey Katzenberg and Scary Spice; Bruce Jenner and Nigel Barker; Robbie Williams and Lauren Sanchez

· This afternoon (Oct 2) at about 3:30p, Barbara Streisand was rolling through a four way stop in Beverly Hills by the Post Office on Maple. She sped through the intersection in her black Cayenne Turbo almost clipping a pedestrian. Nice!

· 10/4 @ Kate Mantilini in Beverly Hills. Owen Wilson. He was wearing a grey suit and looked GREAT (very attractive in person). The Darjeeling Limited premiere was like a block away so I'm guessing he was waiting for all the cameras to leave before he met up with his crew. He was solo, and must have been sitting at a nearby booth when we walked in. We noticed him as he passed by our table on his way out. He seemed to be in good spirits and nobody made a fuss about him.

· Today (Oct 2) I was at Ivy eating lunch. To my surprise, I saw Jake Gyllenhaal eating lunch with a VERY attractive young man in his early twenties. The two were laughing seemed to be having a great time. Jake was wearing black sunglasses, destroyed blue jeans, and a grey cashmere like sweater. As they were leaving Jake said to him," I will be by tonight to pick that stuff up" and the guy just smiled and said," Ok, I will be there" They seemed VERY cozy together and it was obvious there is something between them

· Weds October 3rd, a 2fer...First, get off the 405 on my way to work to gas up, next to me in a black porsche with bright orange wheels...pumping his own gas is Mc Dreamy himself Patrick Dempsey. He looked sexy in a tweed cap and brown leather jacket. Around 1pm on my lunch break in the Val I was driving on Moorpark near Laurel and saw all these hipsters exiting a church and I thought to myself "AA meeting just got out!" waiting to cross the street was Bud from "Married with Children" David Faustino.

· So, it's like this....Thursday night...

I was skipping out of Home Depot on Sunset Blvd. with Poppies and Pansies in my hot little hands. I spy parked at the front aisle of the parking lot was a handsome blonde man sitting on his big ol motor bike...one of those fabu Euro ones with the handle bars way down low and close together (so you have to bend way over to drive the bloody thing) Oh! I digress!!! Anyway, I was kinda checking out the bike when I hear his voice (he was on his phone) "Like, I knew I was going to be late"....Nothing really, but what really got me was the Lilt that was coming out of that mouth!!! I thought.. OH MY! what is that "girl" doing on a bike like that?! I quickly zeroed in on his face and am 99% sure it was Ryan Reynolds!!! I had no idea how to handle that...So I clutched the Pearls and ran to my car. On the way out I decided to give him a good look over to see what he would do...He noticed I was looking and then did that weird ...Yes, I am famous look and did a twist and turn pretzel bend cell phone cover up! Anyway, that made my boring life a little bit more exciting for 5 minutes.

· Wednesday, 10/3

Pretty sure that JJ Abrams was in the car next to me during rush hour on Melrose, between 6:15 and 6:30. He was in a black Prius and talking on his phone the entire time. I just stared at him, willing him to get off the phone so I could yell through my window about how much I love Alias and Lost. The man begat LOST! Or helped to begat it. Whatever. Anyway, he had the same type of glasses on that JJ always wears, except they were sunglasses (or those ones that darken in sunlight). It's quite possible that out of all of the celebrities I've seen in LA, this was the most exciting, because I am a dork.

· Saw Kirstie Alley at Mayfair Market (Bronson/Franklin) on Saturday in her classic housedress ensemble. Couldn't tell if she was buying Jenny Craig, but girlfriend is tall.

· schmorgasborg of celebs tonight (Oct. 4) at the el rey for mark ronson. robbie williams was a guest star along with nikka costa and singer of phantom planet (Alex Greenwald) and some other people i didn't know. christina aguilera and her hubby were up in the balcony along with carmen electra, fabrizio moretti from the strokes, celeb-by-association samantha ronson, nicole richie and joel madden. other people i recognized too but don't know their names. it was kind of a crazy night. the paparazzi almost made nicole fall as she was walking to her car at the end of the night.

· Sunday 9/30 Everyone's favorite 'f-word' T.R. Knight and a passel of hipster types sat at the end of the bar inside at the Cat & Fiddle. He was pretty dorky looking in a blue polo with particularly poofy hair. It didn't seem like he was 'with' any of the 6 or so guys that surrounded him (though some were clearly 'with' each other). He seemed kind of bored with them, like I didn't notice him smile once during the hour or so that our stays overlapped. And I would have noticed because I was staring...he's so generic looking, I had to be sure it was him!

· I had dinner at Madeo's last night (Oct. 4) and ran into Katzenberg (Sr.) and Scary Spice—not together.

· 9-26-07: While waiting for our flight to NYC I spotted the parental unit that gave us Brody Jenner, Bruce Jenner. He was using all his Olympic skills to make his plane on time. On our return flight back to LAX ( 10-3-07) we had none other the ( insert Tyra voice here) 'noted fashion photographer, Nigel Barker' the good looking judge from America's Next Top Model.. Let me just tell you, that man is beautiful in person. After a 6 hour flight his skin was down right dewy. He looked refreshed and relaxed while the rest of us look like crumpled messes. And boy is that man TALL!! Very Tall!!

· 10/2—My friend and I were making our way down the fire road in Runyon Canyon and spotted Robbie Williams with a posse. Some of them were wearing what looked to be matching tracksuits, including Robbie. Saw him again as we were going back up. We asked each other, "Why does he have an entourage at Runyon?" Seriously, he's not that famous here. My one European friend is in love with him, but to most people, he seems to be, "Oh, It's That Guy." Eh well. He's taller than expected and looks pretty solid—not a skinny, metro boy, but decidedly manly. Kinda makes him hotter, to be honest.

· Saw Lauren Sanchez in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. She was wearing a very beautiful purple dress (which is why I noticed — it was the cutest dress) with her very apparent baby bump. While I think she looks strange on TV, she is quite beautiful in person but part midget. She is so tiny I honestly couldn't believe it was really her.

"Patrick is... Patrick is Patrick Dempsey. And he protects himself well," Isaiah said. "He did what he felt he needed to do and remained silent." [...]

"And maybe that's the kind of good ol' boy mentality. Maybe it's like 'Well, he'll be alright.' I don't know. I can't speak for Patrick," Isaiah said. "Good luck on getting anything out of Patrick or anyone in terms of how he feels about it. He chose to make the decision he's made, but as it seems, it worked out in my favor at the end of the day."

Beyond the distinct sounds of popped champagne corks and muted cheers that first greeted the news, we doubt we'll be hearing much more on l'affair d'Isaiah from the Grey's Anatomy set, from Dempsey, Knight, or any of the other cast members who the actor maintains worked in concert to oust him from the series. Still, as he smugly reminded longtime ally Billy Bush, nowhere does Karma mete out its irony-tinged justice more than in Hollywood, where the wrongly persecuted ultimately triumph with publicity-generating, five-episode guest star stints on unproven new shows, while their tormentors are left to pick up the shattered pieces, sifted from the wreckage of multiple Emmy nominations and hefty salary increases.

• Isaiah Washington On Patrick Demspey's 'Grey's' Silence [accesshollywood.com]

In today's episode: Owen Wilson; Cillian Murphy and Mike White; Tom Hanks; Jamie Lee Curtis; Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart; Drew Barrymore and Spike Jonze; Sandra Bullock and Jesse James; Patrick Dempsey; Reba McEntire; Jason Bateman; Sidney Poitier; Kirsten Dunst; Michael C. Hall and Rose McGowan; Donatella Versace; Albert Brooks; Nicole Richie; Chris Klein and Ginnifer Goodwin; Kevin Connolly; Chris Eigeman; Kirstie Alley; Kevin Smith; Donald Logue and Lochlyn Munro; Kristen Bell; Jason Ritter; Fran Drescher and Eduardo Xol; Chris Robinson; Ray Wise and Danny Bonaduce.

· It's Sunday, it's warm, and the sightings are plentiful:

At the Santa Monica 4th St. stairs working out-The Butterscotch Stallion, Owen Wilson- looking pretty good, however his calves are smaller than mine (I'm female). Apparently with no one and did at least 8 flights-he was there prior to us and left 2 flights before us. A respectable amount. Perhaps the Milk Chocolate Pinto needs to take some workout cues from his brother.

At the Brentwood Market-Cillian Murphy looking pale and frail. He was with a boyfriend?/syncophant and a family celebrating one of their kid's birthday. They ordered from the hamburger place and sat in the courtyard with everyone else. The guy has lips that every Playboy girl longs to have. I fully respect him as an actor in stuff like "28 Day Later" and "Batman Begins" because it looks like an 8 year old kid can kick his butt.

Also at the Brentwood Market, smaller courtyard-the guy who was Jack Black's roommate in "School of Rock"....(imdbing now)... Mike White. OH-he was in "Chuck and Buck"! See, the BF recognized him from Rock, but I recognized him from C & B. Anyway, he was by himself also looking pale. Damn, that guy has written a lot of movies. Thanks IMDB!

· Saw Tom Hanks in his grey Honda Element in the Palisades in Friday. We were both stuck in traffic on Sunset.

Also saw Jamie Lee Curtis leaving the Palisades Starbucks around noon on Friday, she looked angry. Maybe someone put skim instead of soy in her latté.

· Apparently when I go to overpriced Italian restaurants on the westside, I will always run into Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart. Initially it was at Giorgio Baldi's, but this Saturday night, it was at Il Grano. My reservation was early on at 7:30 and they were already eating their entrees in the back booth. They had a child in tow. Perhaps it was Calista's adopted son? Either way, he looked hot despite his old man droopy ass.

· Drew Barrymore sucking face with a scrawny-looking guy who looked familiar but I had to be told was Spike Jonze at Golden Gopher downtown Fri night (3/2). She looked great actually, definitely skinnier than when she dated that drummer.They were pretty annoying, giggling and touching and making out. Then they started slow-dancing to Patsy Cline even though no one else was, but the song switched to Arcade Fire so they sat down and kissed more. A fast Beck song came on and they danced again (still no one joined) but were gone next time I passed on the way to the pisser.

· Saw Sandra Bullock and Jesse James arguing over the rightful possession of a chai latte in Seal Beach. Sandra emerged as the victor in this little Friday afternoon melodrama and everybody sighed in relief, knowing that the SandraBullock-JesseJames-ChaiTea-Equilibrium had again been restored to default levels.

Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey at the bar of Campanile on Grill "McCreamy" Cheese Thursday.

Reba McEntire trading in her Doritos for raw rolls at Koi on Saturday night. Reba was quite the paparazzi with digicam.

· On March 1st I was in the Trader Joe's on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood and Jason Bateman was also there stocking up on a few goodies. Among the items in his cart was his self-service freshly ground natural peanut butter.

· On Sunday, March 4th I spotted Sidney Poitier shopping that the Whole Foods on Crescent in Beverly Hills. He shops there just about every Sunday afternoon. He's always alone, and wears a baseball cap and a natty-looking tweed sportcoat. He seems to go unnoticed by the other shoppers as I've never seen him sign an autograph or get recognised by adoring vegan shoppers.

· Friday, 10 am. Kiki Dunst at Fred's 62 in Los Feliz. Very skinny, but cute with converse sneaks, tight jeans, a white T-shirt and rockin' some serious fuck off sunglasses. Looked like she was waiting for someone and amused herself with a dog tied up at the next table.

· We were on our way to the Cinerama Dome to see "Zodiac" Saturday night and spotted both Michael C. Hall of "Six Feet Under" and "Dexter" and Rose McGowan (not together!) leaving the Arclight.

· On 3/05 I was in the Beverly Hills Beauty supply store, and Donatella Versace was there with two other men. All were dressed completely in black. Donatella was speaking in Italian to an enormously tall man, and there was another Brit there as well. She bought multiples of everything (she'll have 8 of those perfume candles, 6 of that shampoo, 4 of that foundation, 6 of that eye cream), before paying for everything with her American Express, saying goodbye to everyone and waiting in the alley for her purchases with the giant Italian. The Brit was left to carry out the 3 over-stuffed bags to the car (and promising to come back at closing time for the 3 remaining shopping bags.)

· Spotted Albert Brooks at his wife's gallery opening at the Taylor De Cordoba gallery in Culver City this past Friday March 2nd. He was very nice but a little freaked out by direct references to the earliest days of his film career. What, did he want me to bring up My First Mister? Who the hell wants do that? I could have bugged him for a few Simpsons quotes I guess.

· I was driving by at about 30 mph: 3/3/07 - Saw Nicole Richie at about 5:00 p.m. on Sunset Blvd. in Pacific Pallisades, CA with a young guy scruffy face brunette hair. She was wearing a butternut squash long suede coat with honey brown fur trim. If it wasn't her: she has a twin.

· Saturday, March 3rd 11:30 AM saw Chris Klein and Ginnifer Goodwin at John O'Groat's...again! They must go there every Saturday, so if you're a fan, that's the place to be. They were with two other younger folk and two older people - maybe someone's parents?

Whit Stillman's go-to guy Chris Eigeman in the downstairs part of the Arclight on Saturday, March 3rd around 5pm, making a beeline for the loo. Looked good - lean, well-dressed.

Sunday, March 4th 2pm-ish - Kevin Connolly upstairs at JCrew picking out clothes with a very helpful salesman. Short and darling.

· Last week or so (around 2/19 or something) saw Kirstie Alley with a binder-clutching assistant type at Alcove. It was about 1:30 and it appeared they discussed the line and decided against. Kirstie looked quite attractive and normal-person svelte I must say, which is really the only reason I'm writing this one in. The woman deserves an anonymous cyber compliment. Nice outfit, Kirstie!

· Saw Kevin Smith with his daughter at Noah's Bagels on Larchmont Sunday morning (shortly after the marathon went by on Rossmore). Cute father-daughter interaction. Bizarre and inexplicable olive green coat (looked kinda like a robe) on K.S. - looked like he'd just stumbled out of bed to buy his dozen bagels.

· Granted, it's only the 2nd of march, but it must be the upcoming st. patrick's day holiday causing me to see not one, but two kinda irish-ish celebrities. first it was former "Charmed" hotness Lochlyn Munro at Panera Bakery in Studio City. Then, b'gosh and begorrah if i didn't see the omnipresent "Grounded for Life," "Ghost Rider," "Zodiac,""Knights of Prosperity" actor Donald Logue and what appeared to be his two sons, at the Studio City California Pizza Kitchen. color me green.

· Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) was sitting two rows in front of me at the Bob Seger concert last night (3/1) at the Forum in Inglewood. Not to be too stalkerish but her exact seat was Loge 7, Row C, Seat 2. She was with some dude that looked like her boyfriend without being opverly boyfriendish. She seemed to be having a good time, even sang along during "Hollywood Nights." She took some hopeless camera phone shots of the stage and did a little bit of texting. And they even managed to stick around for the very end of the show!

· I ran into jason ritter (john ritter's son) buying a lot of potato chips, I'm serious a lot of potato chips and no basket at the Brentwood Ralph's on Bundy and Wilshire. He had that celebrity look like please don't recognize who I am (but really he wanted someone to notice him). Then he paid for his chips and left in a new car - a black sports car.

· The 'Sc-Abbey', West Hollywood, Saturday 3-3-07

Nanny 'star' Fran Drescher with her now gay ex-husband Peter something.....all her irritating nasal laughter sure paid for a nice set of teeth on him

Extreme Makeover-home editions landscaper/not really good at anything else but we have to keep him, Eduardo Xol...that must explain the painfully campy-over the top-not even good for a gay guy video, he made for sundays episode.

· Just saw Chris Robinson at Whole Foods in Woodland Hills. He was buying groceries with a dread-locked tubby white guy. Couldn't see what they were buying except for toilet paper. They got in to a black Dodge Heavy Duty 4x4 truck.

· Blast from the past: Twin Peaks' Ray Wise, Laura Palmer's dad, in the checkout line at Ralph's in Glendale 3/2. Smartly dressed in a suit. Buying some kind of clear alcohol (vodka?), Doritos and toilet paper. Sounds like a helluva party. In the parking lot, saw him actually return his shopping cart to the shopping cart corral, rather than leave it in the parking lot to damage other cars, something most non-TV actors don't even do. Way to be, Ray.

· 6:45 PM, Thurs Mar 1 - Went on a "pretend we're on vacation" mid-week, mid-afternoon bar crawl down Melrose. Was walking out of Tao knock-off "Red Pearl" as a blurry twosome speed walked by us from the bathrooms to the exit....It was Danny Bonaduce tugging/dragging the arm of a kid, a blonde afro'd muppet kid dressed like a cast member from sister VH1 reality show, The White Rapper Show. The kid was 36 inches tall and nearly tripping over his Baron Davis basketball jersey dragging along the floor. Bonaduce sausaged himself in to a tight black tee, a studded leather belt with 80's fake punk spikes that you can buy at Hot Topic 7 years ago, and dark jeans...he was fingering a foil bag of "Corn Nuts" upside down by the door. The Maitre 'd asked "Where have you been lately?" Bonaduce was answering "Ah man.....I've been really deep in to....." (and sadly my earshot expired before I could hear what he has been deep in to, but I am sure it is good and narcotic related)

After a reporter questioned the validity of the on-set incident, Washington denied his involvement saying, "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot. Never happened, never happened."

In response to Washington's use of the slur when addressing the situation last night, Heigl spoke out.

"I'm going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period. I'm sorry, that did not need to be said, I'm not okay with it," Katherine told Shaun.

Access Hollywood crows that Washington sought out the welcoming embrace of Billy Bush following the press room firing squad:

"I kiss Patrick Dempsey. We sing 'Ebony and Ivory' everyday since the so-called incident and it hasn't come up. We purposely sing 'Ebony and Ivory' every night since October 9 and nobody has written about it," he added.

Sure, the McDreamy/McChokey feud may have been diffused by the brotherhood-engendering power of song, but we fear that now that this new rift on the Grey's set is being made public, not even Washington and Knight joining together for a tear-drenched recreation of Elton John and Eminem's tolerance-promoting Grammy rendition of "Stan" at a wrap-party karaoke machine will be enough to heal these freshly reopened wounds.

• Katherine Heigl Lashes Out At Co-Star Over Homophobic Slur [Access Hollywood]

Modern image editing software allows us to pluck with relative ease the most attractive features from our favorite stars' faces and bodies and seamlessly combine them into one miraculous Frankenstar. In Touch's latest stab at the genre makes a delicious hunk smoothie out of ingredients like Patrick Dempsey's fiber-rich hair, Jake Gyllenhaal's eyes, and, for added protein, Ben Affleck's gigantic chin. And while they see a likeness in the results to ER's Goran Visnjic, we think this Photoshopped hottie bears an almost uncanny resemblance to E!'s Dr. 90210 Robert Rey, leading us to wonder if perhaps the doctor's movie star good looks might well have been achieved by a series of painful, self-inflicted surgeries after he realized none of his nurses or technicians ever bestowed him with a nickname consisting of a "Mc" prefix followed by some synonym for the word "yummy."

• [InTouchWeekly via The WOW Report]

In today's episode: Oliver Stone; Ashton Kutcher; Kiefer Sutherland and John Mayer; James Woods; Patrick Dempsey; Chloe Sevigny; Cuba Gooding Jr.; Tommy Lee and Hayden Panettiere; Fergie; Travis Barker; Steve Kmetko and Demetri Martin.

· Hey... saw Oliver Stone + 2 women come out of East-West gay bar on Santa Monica Blvd. around 1:30 am [12-8-06]... No height surprises, just as what i envisioned 5'11, dark suit, with 2 drunk women... holding both women's waists as they were exiting the door; bumped into one of the girls coming in... He kissed one girl on the street on the way to their car, while the other looked on.

· 12/06- Spotted Ashton Kutcher at American Rag (Is the "Cie" really necessary?), sporting a navy blue sweatshirt and a terrifying trailer park molestache. He's pretty tall, but with bad posture, and seemed friendly, chatting for a bit with a generic gay man who was fawning over him. He may have been an aquaintance, but I wasn't listening closely enough to tell.

· Kiefer Sutherland chilling at the VH1 Save the Music party Fri night at some mansion off Mulholland in BH. Talking to what looked like business associates, and not even drinking, which is sad because I was hoping he'd go another round with a Christmas tree. Probably there because that lame band he manages was playing. Speaking of lame, John Mayer was there, and that eastern european guy from Rockstar Supernova who I think lost in the final round.

· 12/3 - After noticing the James Woods and "niece" age blonde sighting at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday, I thought I'd mention that I saw the same except the two were standing outside the L'Ermitage on Sunday. Not sure if it's the same young blonde. Some may say, "Good for you, James Woods." I say, "Ick."

· Disney/ABC/Buena Vista Pictures films sitcoms and what not on Thursdays and Fridays on the lot. Everyone always sees famous people except for me (though I have seen the guy from 'What About Brian' in the commissary but I think the work "famous" would be a stretch). Well....today I go to the Disney Employee Store on the lot to pick up a few things for the holidays and who looks straight in my eyes while i'm waiting at the register?? Patrick Dempsey. I couldn't tell if he was dressed casually as part of his "costume" (b/c it kind of looked like the stuff he wears on the show) or if he just came by to pick stuff up. He was shopping for little girl clothes.

· Saturday night at Silver Lake's Edendale Grill, the best restaurant that used to be a firehouse that I've ever eaten in, a dining companion nearly choked on her salad when she realized that we were in the presence of hipster royalty, as Chloe Sevigny was holding court with several friends a couple of tables over. I calmly informed her that I was not in the least impressed, as I have previously seen brighter lights like Ashley Olsen and Maura Tierney at this particular establishment, the celebrity-sighting benchmarks by which all others will forever be judged.

· Two not-very-exciting Valley sightings. I know, I know, all the cool people live on the other side of the hill.

A casually dressed Cuba Gooding Jr. was at Henry's Tacos in Studio City on Tuesday afternoon, December 5. A woman (blonde, perhaps—hard to tell through the tinted windows) stayed in their massive SUV while he jumped out and ordered. Either she's more famous than he is or he's a gentleman.

And last night (12/7), John C. Reilly slipped into a chauffeur-driven town car after shopping at the Longs drugstore at the corner of Ventura and Laurel Canyon. He looked exhausted (and was dressed sloppily in jeans and an untucked plaid shirt) but was very pleasant as he asked the driver to take him home.

· 12/2 8:00pm-ish: I saw Tommy Lee at the VH1 "big in 06" event layin' his rap on Hayden Panettiere (aka. the cheerleader) during a trip out to his car for some "refreshments" with the other supernova members. All were in good spirits on the return trip to stage 30, when Tommy helped the Cheerleader over some dangerous ground clutter in a most gentlemanly fashion. I wonder if this means we will see Hayden going to the ER for "exhaustion" anytime soon? And I hope she has on some panties when she gets out of the car.

· I saw Fergie at the airport in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon, talking about a missed flight on her cellphone. She looked way better in person than I expected...

· black friday: saw travis barker walking down Wilshire blvd in santa monica holding several baby gap bags. what a rebel.

· Saw Greg Louganis' ex, former E! News Daily host Steve Kmetko, having breakfast (12-6) at my favorite spot (name redacted lest it be overrun with Kmetko-stalking pancake lovers) in Silver Lake. He was sitting with a group of middle-aged gay dudes. I wasn't really listening, but I couldn't help but overhear when he yelled, "It's when the stewardesses have to take their seats that you say to yourself, 'Shit!!!'" To be honest, I barely recognized him—he's put on a whole lot of weight since his on-camera days. Bet Greg's still rockin' the diver's body. Burn!

· Thurs Dec 7, 1:00ish, Third Street Promenade, standing outside Le Pain Quotidien after a lovely lunch. Spotted the adorable Demetri Martin exiting the Tower Records store. He was wearing a blue Disney sweatshirt with Mickey Mouse on it, and did not appear to have purchased anything. But he was sporting a Discman instead of an Ipod. Rock on with your old school self, Demetri!

[Ed. note: There has been some debate in the comments recently over perceived "planted" sightings. We can assure you, every PrivacyWatch submission goes through a rigorous, 28-step quality control process, upon which any sighting deemed not to meet our high standards is published anyway. The following sighting, however, is only being posted as an example of the kind of sightings we don't want to receive: Not only did it occur in Australia (just a smidge out of our required region of the greater LA area), it's pretty much the most blatant plug for two sound guys the world could care less about we've ever seen.

· Kate Hudson (on location in Port Douglas, Queensland Australia filming "Fool's Gold" for Warner Bros) seen having dinner with American sound engineers Brian McCarty & Jeff Wexler at Sea Temple Resort. McCarty & Wexler are preparing the Coral Sea Studios project for high end music and post-production recording. Wexler was sound mixer on Hudson's breakthru picture "Always Famous".

In today's episode: Bryan Singer; Jake Gyllenhaal; Clint Eastwood; Orlando Bloom; Oliver Stone; Lindsay Lohan and Monica Keena; Drew Barrymore; Rosario Dawson; Sandra Bullock and Jesse James; Patrick Dempsey; Kanye West; Thom Yorke; Bill Maher; Danny Masterson, Santino Rice; DJ AM and Nicole Richie; Tori Spelling; Ian Somerhalder; Anderson Cooper; Bryce Dallas Howard; Vincent Gallo; BJ Novak; Diedrich Bader; Jesse Spencer; Zelda Rubinstein; Marcellas Reynolds and Mr. And Miss Jay.

· Thursday, October 26 at about 11am
-Bryan Singer with a cadre of barely legal looking, skinny, baggy pants and t-shirted boys at Hugos in West Hollywood. I swear to God, there were a couple of them who didn't look a DAY over 15. It didn't make sense; as far as I know it IS a school day.

-Just as Singer was arriving with the boy caravan, Jake Gyllenhaal was just finishing up breakfast at Hugos. Not sure if they greeted each other.

· Tuesday, October 24th at Orso. Clint Eastwood in the back corner of the patio dining with a producer type. Very low key. Very classy. When a couple came up to him after he had finished his meal, he was very gracious, took time to talk to them and even gave them an autograph. Even my typically unimpressed boyfriend was slightly ga-ga over this sighting.

· Thursday night late @ Little Door on 3rd in Hollywood. Love this restaurant it's cute. So it must have been date night. Jake Gyllenhaal was seated next to a short sexy brunette @ a big table of friends. The two of them talked all night and were the last to leave. Marcellas Reynolds came in and joined a big table and made out all through dinner with an older German guy. My wife and I could tell he was German because all night long they spoke German and French @ the table while laughing and taking tons of pics.

· As I was leaving the Decemberists show at The Wiltern (10/21), I passed by a crowd of guys mostly in black, I kind of recognized one of them so I kept staring hoping one of them would look familiar. And lo and be hold I recognized the short greasy one: Orlando Bloom. He was wearing a fedora and chatting with some brunette, he looked pretty much the same as he does when he's 14 feet tall(minus the height).

· Just saw Oliver Stone on my elevator in non-descript building in Santa Monica. Looked typically rumpled in a "mad professor" kind of way—sport coat and glasses perched on his head. Couldn't tell if he was working on any conspiracy theories about the floors the elevator stopped on...

· Minding my own beeswax on Saturday afternoon, trying to work off the work out with a pomegranate margatini, I noticed Lindsay Lohan (dark hair, back from fashion week, apparently) and Monica Keena sitting on the patio at Basix. At the same table (not at the same table as me).

· saw drew barrymore at fred 62 in los feliz on sunday, rosario dawson sitting outside of the restaurant on monday.

· Watching the Ducks embarrass the Kings yesterday afternoon at Staples (10/22) we got to see Sandra Bullock and Jesse James smooching on the jumbotron during the famous "Kiss Cam" moment. Their on-screen kiss was tame, but once the cameras were off Bullock was in Jesse's lap for more romance.

· While on my daily commute from Santa Monica to Studio City, at about 8:45 am on Oct. 26, I merged from the 405 onto the 101 next to Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) driving alone in his McDreamy silver sports car. He looked well put together in baseball cap, white button-down shirt and dark sweater vest. My wife and I (we were carpooling) followed him all the way down the 101, jockeying for a better view, which we got repeatedly (the wife has a giant crush on McDreamy; mine is only slightly less giant). He was talking and laughing on a cell phone most of the way. I don't know if he was headed into work or not, but he seemed blissfully unconcerned about any impending rendezvous with McChokey.

· Walking around The Grove today (10/22) I expected to see some celebrity sightings. I didn't go there for that reason, I just wanted to waste a Sunday afternoon and check out all the beautiful women that the warm weather would surely bring out. I was not disappointed on both accounts. Not long after I got there I spotted Kanye West on his way out. I'm 6' tall and of course expected him to be a bit taller but he was just an inch or two shorter than me. He walked past me with a friend of his and after he passed I did a 180 and sort of followed him, just to make sure it was him. When I caught up to him he was taking cell phone pics with some kids that recognized him. Seeing that he's from the South Side of Chicago and I had my White Sox baseball jersey on I thought he might give me some mad caucasian props but I was sorely mistaken. I didn't feel like approaching him like any other fan so I just looked at him, he looked at me and continued on. He got his Mercedes (McLaren SLR) from the Valet and zoomed off. Maybe next time I'll say something to him, and maybe next year my White Sox will make the playoffs.

· I don't know if this counts because I'm not sure that the celebrity in question is lame enough to be included in this. But, my husband and I had lunch at this hole-in-the-wall trattoria in Florence on 10/21. After about twenty minutes, I look up and realize that Thom Yorke from Radiohead is at the next table. He was with a British woman and a small girl. I assume that it was his partner and daughter because the little girl looked just like him. He seemed to be a pretty friendly, down-to-earth guy. We felt really bad because we had been eyeing their food trying to figure out what they had ordered before we even realized he was at the table! (Well, it looked good and it IS Italy, after all!) He must have thought we were staring at him the whole time. No one else in the place seemed to have any idea who he was, except for a few of the younger waiters, who shook his hand on the way out. . . .And for those of you who are wondering, he is just as googley-eyed in person.

· went to see 'The Departed' last Saturday night in Culver City. we were told that it was a sold out show, and there weren't many seats left. as we walked into the theater, i saw Bill Maher walking out. guess he didn't want to sit in the front seats. he had a beautiful African-American lady with him. not sure if it was a date, or a 'date'. was kind of surprised to see him in Culver City. maybe that's where his 'lady friend' lives? and even though i know he's on the short side, still surprised by his shortness.

· Danny Masterson, Santino Rice, and DJ AM and Nicole Richie on opposite sides of the room at Mickey Avalon's free show at Dragonfly Monday night, around 12:30am

I saw Tori Spelling coming out of A Pea In The Pod one block off of Rodeo Drive, with her husband looking one step away from K-Fed style greasiness. She also looked totally pregnant, and was totally showing it off in a cute maternity top. (10/19)

· Ian Somerhalder at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market last Sunday. He is sporting Boone's newer, longer hair 'do and he has extremely skinny legs. He was walking around with a regular-looking female and seemed to go unnoticed.

· Even though this sighting was in LA it's kind of more Gawker/Wonkette but I'll go for it — this morning at breakfast at the Peninsula hotel (how fancy am I?) saw ambiguously handsome Anderson Cooper. He had on a green t-shirt, jeans and boots and his shockingly gray hair was perfect. He's really cute, not that tall and was asking the front desk for something. I told the Belvedere hostess that we wanted to sit with him and she just gave me a blank stare. No sense of humor there but since their entire staff is on the National Enquirer payroll she was probably mad that I recognized him and was going to give the scoop to defamer first.

· A very pregnant Bryce Dallas Howard. at last Friday's 8:30 showing of "Flags of Our Fathers" at the Arclight.

· While waiting for a table at Hirozen on Monday night I saw Tyne Daly (but not Sharon Gless, sadly) with a table of much younger and more attractive people. Apparently I was the only one in the restaurant whose interest was remotely piqued by the thought of Det. Mary Beth Lacey (I admit I had to look that up on IMDB) chowing down on raw fish.

· Vincent Gallo ordering a Pink Berry frozen yogurt in West Hollywood/Huntly Drive - Saturday, Oct 21st. In jeans and a tank top t-shirt. Had scruffy hair and beard. Don't get why he can't seem to find the time to do a little grooming. About 5ft 10in. with pasty thin arms. The guy could use a little color.He's definitely got the "New York" guy type of body and not a California or certainly not a West Hollywood build. Don't really want to pick on him. He seemed a little alone and believe it or not...a bit lonely looking. I know that it's not a description that's normally applied to him. He was very low key. Okay..okay...I know the guy is off his rocker but for about two minutes I have to say he did appear vulnerable. Alright for fuck sake..once the drugs wear off I'm sure my perception will clear up.

· Tuesday, 10/17 at Taiyo (the little sushi restaurant on that section of Franklin Ave west of Bronson), BJ Novak (writer and co-star of the fabulous show The Office) dining with friends. He looked up at me as I walked by with the same deer-in-the-headlights expression that his character Ryan so often wears.

· Saturday, 10/21 at Whole Foods at 3rd and Fairfax, Diedrich Bader (I know he did something post-Drew Carey, but I can't think of it just now) with his son in the freezer section. The boy, blonde and adorable, was searching through the ice cream section for his mom's favorite flavor.

· Jesse Spencer at the CD/album release part for the "Evil Bong" soundtrack at Boardners last night. The cover gave me nightmares all night.

· Saw Zelda Rubenstein, on a booster seat, in my favorite Hollywood lunch spot, The Good Neighbor on Cahuenga West, on Wednesday the 25th. I've gotten twenty five years older, but she looks exactly the same.

· Due to its proximity to The Vivid Production Centre, I'm sure there are oodles of porn queens there all the time, but didn't seem to be any that day, not that I would know...

· Shopping @ the Beverly Center on Friday afternoon and who walks by but Marcellas Reynoldss and the 2 Jay's from America's Next Top Model. Marcellas was laughing with Miss Jay but Mr. Jay didn't seem to friendly.

I see Patrick Dempsey a couple times a week as we both are clients at the same trainer.

"He's an asshole, but he didn't choke me."

There ya go. From Pat's lips himself.

Before we go to the trouble of having to re-Photoshop all our art to read "AssholeGate," and acknowledging that every story has two sides, we now open it up to anyone who may have caught wind of Washington's own, off-the-record version of events: Perhaps someone who attends the same JazzerPilates class as the actor, and couldn't help but overhear when he told the instructor, "So I'm thinking to myself, 'To hell if I'm going to let the pizza delivery kid from Loverboy and his boyfriend lecture me about 'call sheets' and 'wiggle room'. Hell yeah, I choked the bitch!"

• Previously: 'Grey's Anatomy' ChokeGate: Now With More Explicit Gay Slurs [Defamer]