Justin Timberlake may have joined Britney Spears' former assistant and a New York rabbi in urging the one-time pop princess to clean up her act.
While accepting an award for Best International Male Solo Artist at the Brit Awards on Wednesday night, the 26-year-old sent out a message in his pre-recorded speech:
"Stop drinking! You know who you are. I'm speaking to you! You are going to get sloppy!" he said. "OK! Magazine is going to say something bad about you."
But the star's representative insists he wasn't referring to his hard-partying ex-girlfriend, Spears, “just people in the crowd, no one in particular.”
Timberlake may not be the only one urging Spears to get help.
Felicia Culotta, who was assistant, chaperone and friend to Brit for over nine years, has written a letter in a blog expressing how “crushed/saddened/heartsick” she feels over the “way her life is unfolding.”
“I want you to know that we (as in her family and nearest and dearest — all of whom are not on the payroll anymore!!) are doing everything in our power to get help for Britney,” wrote Culotta.
“And we are doing all in our power to NOT pad the bottom, so when she does indeed hit rock bottom, she'll stand up and walk away from this whole fiasco a new, confident, changed, career-driven Britney like the one we all knew and loved.”
New York Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has also joined the campaign to save Spears, writing an open letter to the single mom, appealing for her to “get her life together."
“Letting your kids see you in a degraded state will permanently scar your kids," wrote Boteach. "Soon your boys will be surfing the Internet. They'll see a lot of photos of you in poses that no son should ever see their own mother. Try and be home with your kids ... Cover up ... Limit the visits to the nightclubs."
C’mon, Brit. We want our “Baby One More Time."
Jessica Simpson Has Emergency Makeover
Call 911 ... it's a fashion emergency!
When Jessica Simpson decided to turn her famous blond locks red last week and accessorize with matching lipstick, rumors began circling that the pop princess had undergone plastic surgery.
Just three days after making “A Public Affair” of her new rocker-chic style, Simpson was slammed with so much criticism that she had to undergo an emergency makeover.
Or maybe she didn’t like it last Wednesday when a TMZ cameraman totally missed her heading into Mr. Chow’s in Beverly Hills. Not wanting to miss out on a bit of attention, she informed him of her identity.
Simpson, 26, quickly switched to soft brunette curls and subtler makeup. But her representative denied that she's had plastic surgery and slammed reports that she softened her look after the backlash.
"No, it had nothing to do with that," her rep told Us Weekly.
A source close to Simpson added, "She likes to camp it up sometimes. She thought it would be fun to have a change. She knows when she goes too far, but that doesn't stop her from trying new things."
Thank goodness. The clown-look just doesn’t work for you, Jess.
Her new beau John Mayer doesn’t seem to be deterred by the transformations; the couple is together in the Midwest while Mayer is touring.
The lyrical lovers were spotted in Minnesota on Monday night at local bar Bunkers to watch some pals of John’s play.
He even got up and did a little performing of his own, while a bra-less Jessica (donning one of Mayer’s T-shirts) enjoyed a vodka and cheeseburger.
Click here to see photos of Jessica hangin' at the bar
Mischa Barton Wears Trash Bag
Long gone are the days when our girl from "The O.C." was the hippest of Hollywood hotties. It now seems like Mischa Barton can’t distinguish between garments and garbage bags.
The 21-year-old was busted out and about in Tinseltown sporting something that resembles what most people are likely to use for food scraps and dog droppings.
Natalie Portman Spotted 'Closer' to Ex
Did our favorite "Star Wars" starlet rekindled her romance with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal just in time for Valentine's Day?
The couple dated for a year after they met at the 2003 Oscars, but called it quits in 2004.
Earlier this week, the dramatic duo was snapped leaving the China Club in Berlin, where they had been livin' it up with a bunch of other celebrities.
According to local media reports, Portman and Bernal climbed into a limousine and drove to the Ritz-Carlton hotel together.
Calls to Nat’s rep were not returned.
The actress is set to turn her talents to directing, with her eye on turning Israeli writer Amos Oz's internationally acclaimed autobiography into a film.
Now here’s a celeb we should we writing about. Brains and beauty. You go, girl!
Ashley Olsen Dances in Panties
The slightly less bony half of the Olsen empire has been vacationing in Mexico, and working out by doing some kind of strange dance routine.
Tiny actress Ashley Olsen happily jiggled outside her beachfront hotel room while sporting not-so-attractive white cotton undies and a see-through shirt that revealed her, um, sunburn.
A rep for the 20-year-old noted that her break was “with friends" — which would explain why the back of someone's head pops up in some of the pictures.
Perhaps the dance was a get-happy ritual to become a wholesome Olsen again.
Ashley and her sister Mary-Kate were spotted backstage at New York Fashion Week looking like the world beyond the W suite was falling apart. Insiders said they did nothing but look glum and bored.
"They weren't drinking, they weren't talking — not even to each other. They sat in silence for at least 20 minutes, staring at the floor," said a New York Post spy.
It's so hard being a poor little rich girl. Thank goodness for beaches.
Designer Tells Britney: Bag It
Pop princess-gone-wrong Britney Spears was reportedly turned down last Tuesday when she asked for a purse at the Heatherette show at New York Fashion Week.
Britney apparently wanted to be presented with one of only 100 available PUMA bags designed by heiress-model Lydia Hearst in conjunction with the Heatherette design duo.
She promised to carry it to her front-row seat, where she would be photographed with the limited luxury.
While a spokeswoman for Spears denied the incident, insiders told the New York Daily News that Hearst declined the offer.
"I'm only giving the bag to accomplished young women who are doing something positive to affect the world around them,” Hearst told the paper. “They are women I look up to and respect, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker and Anne Hathaway. They share the same high standards of giving back to the communities in which they live."
But the put-down didn't curb Brit's appetite for nightlife.
The Girl Gone Giddy vomited all over the bathroom at New York nightclub Tenjune on Saturday night, the New York Post's Page Six gossip column reported.
And a little hangover didn't stop her from hitting the clubs one more time. She was back in action Sunday night, donning a bikini and white busboy coat at another New York club, Page Six reported.
"She didn't like what she was wearing," said the Post spy, "so she asked one of the dancers to trade clothes with her."
Spears changed out of her tight red dress and returned wearing the bikini under the coat — and proceeded to dance.
According to the entertainment TV show “Extra,” which showed footage of Brit's odd attire, Spears ditched her clothes altogether, and dirty-danced in her underwear with another female dancer (hey, at least she was wearing panties this time!).
The show also reported that the single mom ended the night at yet another Big Apple club, where she passed out and was carried from the premises.
“She likes to drink champagne, everytime I see her she has champagne in her hand,” said an unidentified “friend” who appeared on “Extra." "She was out almost every single night this week. I know she went to (nightclub) Tenjune alone four nights in the past week."
Grammy Gossip: Justin and K-Fed Hug, Scarlett Denies Romance and Christina Has a Dig at Britney
Justin Timberlake had a red-carpet run-in with Brit’s "other" ex, Kevin Federline, at a Grammy pre-party on Friday at Hollywood’s Avalon (how does Fed-Ex manage to get invited to these things?).
The two exchanged an awkward embrace … how, um, sweet? What’s even more bizarre is that Spears' freshest ex, model Isaac Cohen, was partyin’ it up there as well.
Click here to see the 'Speared' men hugging it out
John Mayer showed up at the Grammy ceremony without his main squeeze Jessica Simpson(wearing sneakers with his tux) and decided to vocalize his cultural talents.
When pressed by E! News anchor Ryan Seacrest for information regarding his relationship with Simpson, Mayer replied in Japanese, then sarcastically told him to “find a Japanese person, decode it and you’ll have an answer.”
Turns out that Mayer really does think his new girl is a "Wonderland," as his message was “She is very beautiful, and you’re the last to know.” Ouch.
Sultry screen siren Scarlett Johansson also dodged questions about her and "SexyBack" singer Timberlake.
The young actress squealed and pretended to look shocked that people would even consider them a couple. (Slight over-acting here? Especially considering that Page Six spies spotted Johansson at the Avalon party dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses, sneaking backstage to visit JT.)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also added some salt to the evening when they "forgot" that their interview with Seacrest was live. Frontman Anthony Kiedis sprayed silly string all over the broadcaster, and accidentally touched his genitals when he tried to clean up the mess.
Burning red-hot, Seacrest reminded them that there was no time delay.
In after-party news, best female pop vocal winner Christina Aguilera took a swipe at fellow Mousekeeter Britney Spears as she crossed her legs while exiting her limo to enter Hyde.
"This is just my personal take on how to exit a limo," Aguilera told E! reporters. "You've got to do what's right for you."
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