[Leighton Meester and Blake Lively filming yet another scene of "Gossip Girls" in Paris, Texas France. Image: Bauer-Griffin]

[Blake Lively films "Gossip Girl" in Paris; image via Bauer-Griffin]

[Blake Lively films "Gossip Girls: A Show About Girls and Boys Who Don't Necessarily Gossip" in Paris, The France; image via Splash]

We were so busy gawking at Real Housewife Danielle Staub eating dinner with skater Johnny Weir in Chelsea last night that we missed the Costume Institute Gala Benefit. Luckily fictional freelancer Betsey Morgenstern was there in our stead.

Gossip Girl returned from a long hiatus last night and gave us plenty of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Well, if we substitute "rock n' roll" for "coat check room hookups" then we had it all in spades!

[Old person Billy Baldwin tells young person Blake Lively a whale of a tale as they film "Gossip Girl"; image via Bauer-Griffin]

[Gossip Girl Blake Lively in Miami. That little tuft of hair on the right is Chace Crawford. Ooooo! Image via Bauer-Griffin]

How much do celebrities get paid to attend shows during Fashion Week? More than you might expect!

Kate Winslet shopping in SoHo with her son ... Jonathan Rhys Meyers walking into the Mercer Hotel with girlfriend Reena Hammer ... Bono and wife Ali Hewson at a bakery on Madison Avenue ... Channing Tatum getting in an SUV at JFK ... Ashley Olsen arriving at ABC studios for an appearance on Good Morning America ... Blake Lively carrying her dog inside her coat on the set of Gossip Girl ... Paris Hilton getting out of a car in front of the Late Show with David Letterman ... Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz attending a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden ... and John Travolta leaving the Plaza with Kelly Preston and daughter Ella.

Uma Thurman and Arki Busson kissing on a park bench ... Vera Wang standing outside Harry Cipriani on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street ... Whitney Port walking downtown ... Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez having dinner at Nobu 57 ... Sarah Jessica Parker walking son James to school ... Ashley Judd getting out of an SUV in Midtown ... Ashlee Simpson getting out of a cab ... Kristen Bell arriving at Good Morning America in Times Square ... Blake Lively and Penn Badgley standing on the set of Gossip Girl ... singer Charlotte Gainsbourg shopping in SoHo ... and the kids from Jersey Shore partying at Greenhouse.

We were busy watching all the jokes about Leno last night to make it to Gossip Girl costume designer Eric Daman's book launch party. Luckily fictional freelancer Betsey Morgenstern never lets us down. Here's her report.

Mischa Barton walking and talking in SoHo yesterday afternoon ... Ashlee Simpson heading into the Rosa Mexicano near Union Square on Monday ... George Clooney's girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis shopping in SoHo ... Sarah Jessica Parker leaving her home in the West Village ... Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi leaving MTV studios in Times Square ... Blake Lively shooting scenes for Gossip Girl on Madison Avenue ... and Michael Lohan and girlfriend Kate Major ice staking at Rockefeller Center.

We like Zach Galifianakis so much we won't ruin this post by complaining that anyone who first discovered him by watching "The Hangover" doesn't deserve to call themselves a Galifianakis fan. Whoops! Anyway, he is starring in a new film.

• This is going to come as a big shock to you, we're sure, but it seems Alex Rodriguez has been hooking up with several women since splitting up with Kate Hudson. A-Rod also "keeps bragging that Madonna is still texting him all the time," although for Madonna's sake, let's hope that isn't true. [P6]
• Angelina Jolie has been dropped as the face of the clothing brand St. John in favor of red-headed model (and the wife of Jack White) Karen Elson. Why the change? It seems St. John concluded that Jolie was too famous and had "overshadowed the brand." [NYDN]
• Related: Did Brad Pitt deal weed in college? No, but he kind of looks like he may have what with that scraggly beard he's been sporting recently. [NYP]
• Usher had more than $1 million in jewelry, furs, and electronics stolen from his SUV in mid-December. Exactly why he had all this stuff stored in his car of all places—and why he only noticed now—is unclear. [TMZ]
• Tila Tequila was set to be interviewed on Larry King Live, but CNN yanked the "Casey Johnson tribute" at the last minute. Did the network realize giving a mentally-ill publicity addict was a bad idea? (Unlikely; the Balloon Boy dad was a guest the other night.) Maybe CNN worried about getting sued? Who knows, but you can always go to Twitter (where she's tweeted about Johnson's death more than 160 times over the past week), or go to People's website for your "Tila Tequila exclusive interview," if you must. [TMZ, E!, People]

Let's start a bunch of rumors about why she got canned. Diva? Pregnant? Meanwhile, A-Rod ignores Madonna, wedding bells for Prince William, and Kate Gosselin's new extensions hurt her scalp. Tuesday gossip is where we belong.

Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper loading up an SUV before heading to the airport ... Blake Lively shopping with friends in the meatpacking district ... Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi leaving the studios of WPIX on Friday ... Chris Noth paying a visit to the Museum of Natural History ... Annie Potts leaving the Jacobs Theatre after a performance of God of Carnage ... actor Zachary Levi arriving for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman ... and Leighton Meester standing on the set of Gossip Girl.

Now that Leno's move back to 11:30 is official, all eyes are Conan: Will he suck it up and helm the "Tonight Show" at midnight or make the move to another network? Variety says he is 'not happy'. Duh.

Madonna heading into Adour on East 55th Street last night to reportedly meet her ex-husband, Sean Penn, for dinner ... Madonna and Jesus Luz bundled up and wearing face masks as they leave a movie theater after catching a screening of Avatar on Wednesday night ... Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli sitting in the stands at a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden ... Blake Lively and Chace Crawford shooting scenes for Gossip Girl on the Upper East Side ... Nick Jonas waving to photographers outside the Late Show with David Letterman ... Jessica Simpson arriving at the Ambassador Theatre on West 49th Street to watch sister Ashlee's performance in Chicago ... and Angelina Jolie filming stunt scenes for Salt.

Gawker's spies are everywhere. And here's a rundown of today's posts on the #stalker page: You saw Stacy London, Ed Westwick, one of the Olsens, Blake Lively and Rhea Perlman.

Rihanna attending last night's Knicks game at Madison Square Garden ... Kate Hudson walking downtown with her son Ryder ... Jude Law leaving his apartment in the Village on Sunday afternoon ... Steve Van Zandt stopping off at Law's apartment yesterday ... Padma Lakshmi eating at the Waverly Inn on Saturday night accompanied by four men ... Jessica Simpson walking into Barneys ... Natalie Portman filming scenes for her new movie ... Blake Lively heading to the set of Gossip Girl with a bodyguard yesterday ... Sienna Miller walking her dog downtown ... and Eva Longoria leaving the Ethel Barrymore Theater after attending the opening night of Race.