andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

After Ashlee Simpson’s long-term boyfriend and full-time rocker Pete Wentz gushed to Blender magazine that he has kissed other men, rumours began to spread that his invitation to the Simpson family Christmas party had been revoked.

His candid confession to the popular men’s magazine apparently sent Ashlee and Jessica’s father, Joe Simpson, into a rage, where he was rumoured to have banned Wentz from joining the family over the holidays.

However, MTV News reported that the story is, in fact, untrue. In an effort to defend his potential father-in-law, Wentz emailed MTV News earlier this week to set the record straight.

“I think Joe gets a really bad rap in the press. He’s always been nothing but nice to me,” Wentz wrote in his email.

Wentz then cleared up the rumors further, by saying that Joe just recently phoned him to confirm his Wentz’s attendance at this year’s holiday festivities.

O.J. SIMPSON did not write one word of his controversial book IF I DID IT and rehearsed crying for a never-aired TV interview about the tome, according to a friend of the star.

The former American football star was due to release the book – which places himself at the scene of the murders of his wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994 – last year, but it was withdrawn by its publisher 10 days before it was due to be released.

But Simpson’s friend Norm Pardo tells the New York Post’s PageSix column the book was solely written by ReganBooks publisher Judith Regan.

He says, “O.J. told me Judith Regan approached him and said to him, ‘Do you mind if we write a book and put your name on it?’ I said, ‘I don’t care. You can write anything you want, as long as you pay me’.

“O.J. would laugh, ‘Can you believe they’d pay me to say I wrote something I didn’t actually write?’

“A ghostwriter largely based the book on court transcripts from Simpson’s trial.”

Pardo further claims Simpson “practised crying” for his never-aired interview with Regan.

He says, “O.J. still thinks of himself of an actor.

But Simpson’s lawyer, Yale Galanter, has disputed Pardo’s claims, insisting ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves and Simpson sat down over “many hours and days” to complete the manuscript.

He adds, “I don’t recall any crying.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

JESSICA and ASHLEE SIMPSON’s manager father JOE is adamant his famous daughters will never end up in rehab like their chart rival BRITNEY SPEARS.

Mother-of-two Spears is currently undergoing treatment at Promises rehab facility in Malibu, California, following months of incessant partying.

While Joe feels sorry for Spears’ predicament, he believes his daughters would never follow the same path as the troubled TOXIC star.

He says, “I would never let that happen to my daughters. Hopefully, her family will take care of the situation.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

O.J. SIMPSON has hinted he could be the father of ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s baby daughter DANNIELYNN.

Former football star Simpson – who appeared alongside Smith in the 1994 film THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3 – wants his name added to the list of possible dads, which already includes LARRY BIRKHEAD, HOWARD K. STERN and FREDERIC VON ANHALT.

But the 59-year-old’s paternity claim to a Caucasian baby – made to NORMAN PARDO, a videographer who documented Simpson between 2000 and 2005 – appears to have been made in jest.

Pardo tells PageSix.com, “(He) said he was throwing his hat into the ring. He said he knew Anna Nicole pretty well, and he said he had slow-moving sperm, and he might be the father.”

Simpson claims he doesn’t want to be named as Dannielynn’s dad so FRED GOLDMAN – who is pursuing him for damages after winning a multi-million dollar civil suit over the murder of his son RON and Simpson’s wife NICOLE – can’t make a claim over Smith’s fortunes.

Quoting Simpson, Nardo adds, “I hope they don’t do a DNA test on Anna Nicole’s baby. If they find out Dannielynn is mine, I don’t want Fred Goldman trying to seize her money – or the baby herself.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

A Los Angeles judge has ordered OJ SIMPSON to pay any income he received from past work, including movies, television and commercials, directly to the family of murder victim RON GOLDMAN.

Superior Court Judge GERALD ROSENBERG made his ruling on the royalties yesterday, but rejected the family’s bid to collect Simpson’s earnings on future projects.

The former US football star was acquitted in October 2005 of murder charges in the 12 June 1994 slayings of his ex-wife NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON and Goldman.

A civil court later held him liable for the murders in a wrongful death lawsuit and ordered him to pay $35.5 million, which has largely remained unpaid.

Simpson’s attorney, YALE GALANTER, claims royalties Simpson received from past work on films such as the NAKED GUN movies amount to almost nothing.

He explains, “Last year Simpson’s royalty checks from all of his movies were less than 39 cents. They got kicked to the curb again. Every door they’re banging on gets slammed.”

Goldman’s attorney, DAVID J COOK, insists the ruling on past royalties was a step in the right direction, adding, “We presume there is money and we’re not going to take their word for it.”

The judge deferred ruling on a third request by the Goldmans to collect any advance money Simpson may have received for the book and TV show IF I DID IT, in which Simpson explains how he might have committed the murders. The book was abandoned after a public backlash and Simpson claims he has already spent the advance he received for the project.

A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for March 13.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

The family of murder victim RON GOLDMAN subpoenaed several Hollywood organisations yesterday for information on payments OJ SIMPSON may have received.

The Goldman family have been waging a decade-long battle to collect on a 1997 civil judgment which found Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON and her friend, Ron Goldman.

The subpoenas demand access to records kept by the Screen Actors Guild, the Producers Guild of America and the American Federation of Television Radio Artists, which may have information on payments Simpson received for THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE NAKED GUN and other past film and TV appearances.

Ron Goldman’s father FRED alleges Simpson is trying to avoid paying the $33.5 million judgment, which is now estimated to have grown to $40 million with interest.

A California state judge last month issued a restraining order barring Simpson from spending or moving any earnings from past deals, including books, films and sports memorabilia.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge GERALD ROSENBERG’s ruling later applied to the advance Simpson may have received for his unpublished book, IF I DID IT.

The book allegedly described how Simpson would have killed his ex-wife and Goldman, but was cancelled after a public backlash against the project.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Pop star JESSICA SIMPSON refuses to blame media attention for the breakdown of her marriage to NICK LACHEY, but insists she won’t take part in another reality TV show.

The I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER singer married Lachey in October 2002, and they invited a TV crew to follow their marriage for four seasons of MTV reality series NEWLYWEDS soon afterwards, before the pair announced their separation in November 2005.

However, Simpson insists she enjoyed being filmed until the last season of Newlyweds, when the cameras started to make her paranoid.

Discussing whether the cameras contributed to her divorce, she insists, “No. I do not agree with that. We had a really good time until the last week in the last season when we were just over having all the cameras around.

“You become anxious, always thinking someone is watching you. It’s like being bugged and everyone knows your every conversation… No more reality TV for me!”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

OJ SIMPSON is glad his controversial book IF I DID IT has been scrapped, because he felt it was “too much like an admission of guilt.”

The former American football star was paid an alleged $1.1 million for the book, which hypothetically places him at the scene of the 1994 murder of his ex-wife NICOLE SIMPSON and Goldman.

The book was due for release on November 30, but his contract was terminated by News Corp head RUPERT MURDOCH ten days prior to publication – and publisher JUDITH REGAN was sacked.

But Simpson insists he never wanted the ghost-written account to hit stores because it was not a true representation of how he would have acted, had he been involved in the killings.

He says, “I wasn’t happy with the hypothetical paragraphs. A ghostwriter wrote the whole thing, and I OK’d it. But there were a lot of inaccuracies about the case and about how I would have done things. But I figure I’d let it go since I didn’t kill anyone.”

But the 59-year-old insists he has no regrets about the public outcry and the failed lawsuit filed by Ron Goldman’s father, which attempted to seize Simpson’s profits from If I Did It.

He adds, “I don’t care. I got paid just the same.”

Simpson was famously acquitted of criminal murder charges in 1995, but a civil jury found Simpson responsible for their deaths and he was subsequently ordered to pay $33.5 million to their heirs – which he has yet to hand over.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

OJ SIMPSON has been ordered to curb his spending to include only basic necessities, after claims the former footballer is in talks to negotiate another book deal.

He was issued the limited restraining order on Friday by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge GERALD ROSENBERG, after concerns were raised by the family of murder victim RON GOLDMAN. The ruling also restricts Simpson from spending any money earned from previous book, film and sports deals, and is effective until a February 20 hearing.

Simpson was set to publish his controversial book, IF I DID IT, on November 30, but his contract was terminated cancelled by News Corp head RUPERT MURDOCH ten days prior to publication.

The disgraced star was acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON and Ron Goldman after a year-long trial, but was ordered by a civil court ruling to pay $33.5 million to their heirs – which he has yet to hand over – after they deemed him responsible for both deaths.

YALE GALANTER, Simpson’s attorney, heightened speculation his client was shopping for a new buyer on Monday when he accepted publishers HarperCollins’ cancellation of the book deal.

He says, “We are taking the position that the contract with them is null and void. Or more accurately, others are free to try and get the story.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

OJ SIMPSON insists that a chapter from his unpublished book that hypothesizes how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend was created by a ghostwriter and has factual flaws.

The latest edition of US magazine Newsweek published a story for its current issue paraphrasing the chapter, called The Night In Question, which the magazine said it had obtained from an anonymous source.

Simpson explains, “I’m saying it’s a fictional creation. It has so many (factual) holes in it that anybody who knew anything about it would know that I didn’t write it.”

Simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON and RON GOLDMAN after a year-long trial, but a civil jury later held him liable for the killings.

The former football star says he saw a number of factual flaws while proof-reading the chapter, but did not correct them because he thought that would prove that he did not write it.

The book was set to be published on November 30, before being cancelled by News Corp head RUPERT MURDOCH ten days prior to publication.

Simpson insists that he now believes the decision to participate in the project was a mistake adding, “Was it tacky? Yes, it was tacky.”

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.