It's like the opening of the Stasi files after the Berlin Wall fell: Yesterday, Scientology defector Marty Rathbun published the cult's surveillance file on Washington Post reporter Richard Leiby. Today, we're publishing a glimpse into its spying operation against Mark Ebner, one of Scientology's most persistent critics.
• The British paparazzi have seen it all over the years, but even they were surprised by a shopping expedition by Beyoncé in London last week. The singer required two chauffeur-driven cars/limos and a small army of bodyguards to escort her to the store. Even though it happened to be located about 15 yards from the front door to her hotel. [Telegraph]
• On-again, off-again couple Leonardo DiCaprio and Bar Refaeli appear to be in "off" mode, according to People. But Us says Bar and Leo are still together and even have photos of the couple shopping yesterday to prove it. Say a little prayer and hope for the best, won't you? [People, Us]
• There doesn't seem much doubt about the status of Kanye West's relationship with model Amber Rose. West's rep has confirmed that it's over. [P6]
To be honest, it's Friday and I'm not sure I can do justice to the whole saga. (If you want to catch up, reading through his tag page will be educational.) So suffice it to say that he sought out to capitalize on his reputation as a misogynist and lothario, this site pretty much cemented it, which was hilarious to television executives (because Hollywood is run mostly by guys who want to be misogynist lotharios) and eventually he got a TV show on Showtime (which I keep meaning to subscribe to) called, you guessed it, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single.
New book Six Degrees of Paris Hilton profiles Darnell Riley, a shady criminal and pseudo-celebrity hanger-on who knows many wicked Hollywood-sleaze secrets. The tome spins many damning stories about the hood-lidded socialite's sordid existence.
Can you sell a book about celebrity-linked thieves, murderers and rapists when the darkest chapter is missing, but available for free online? Simon & Schuster is about to find out.
Just before falsely accusing people of conspiring to murder a rapper, the Los Angeles Times burned a close colleague of internet publisher Matt Drudge in another, less egregious instance of slipshod journalism. In February, the paper ran a story about private-school-to-the-stars Crossroads, and allowed the schoolmaster to say a book co-authored by Andrew Breitbart, Drudge's West Coast partner-in-blogging, was partly fabricated. The paper never bothered to get reaction from Breitbart or his co-author. Woops. Finally published earlier this month, this is not the sort of correction you want to have to run about a blogger with massive amounts of traffic at his command and who you're probably seeking links from on a regular basis:
