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Radar Online reports on unbearable tensions in the production of Shrek 3, where Cameron Diaz helpfully "suggested" casting songbird boyfriend (and aspiring horrible actor) Justin Timberlake in a major, tricky role. Timberlake promptly repaid his lady's kindness by "ruining the movie," leaving screwed DreamWorks Animation chief pompom tipJeffrey Katzenberg to muse about ways to rectify the situation and save his money-printing franchise:

We’re told the Shrek team’s frustration came to a head at a story meeting about three weeks ago. “They were working off the boards and had Justin come in to do preliminary vocals, and he’s just not a voice actor,” says the source. At one point, DreamWorks animation czar Jeffrey Katzenberg even joked that “he would give $10,000 to any employee who could make Justin and Cameron split up,” the source says. “As long as she’s dating Justin, he’s in the movie.”

Not surprisingly, the flacks were all ‘N Sync denying the story. Timberlake’s publicist, Ken Sunshine, dismissed claims that his client is having difficulties with the part, and Diaz’s rep, Brad Cafarelli, insisted that “Cameron had nothing to do with casting.” Asked about Katzenberg’s offer, a DreamWorks rep said, “That sounds very stupid. He would never say that.”

Please don't tumble out of your desk chair when we say this, but we're with the DreamWorks flack on this one. Say what you will about Jeffrey Katzenberg, but he's a savvy businessman [Ed.note—Please suspend your disbelief for the purposes of the oncoming punchline.], and he certainly realizes that it would be much easier to have Timberlake murdered. Orchestrated break-ups are often messy, expensive, and drag on for months, incurring all sorts of unexpected costs.