WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH

OPRAH & McCARTNEY TO RECEIVE KENNEDY CENTER HONOR!
Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney and country singer Merle Haggard are among the artists to be recognized later this year at the Kennedy Center Honors. Other honorees include dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones and Broadway composer Jerry Herman. The Kennedy Center Honors recognize performing artists for their contributions to American culture. McCartney had previously been named a recipient of the honor in 2002 but backed out because of a personal commitment. The 33rd annual event will take place in Washington on December 5th, and will be recorded for a two-hour primetime special that will air December 28th on CBS.

STAND UP TO CANCER TV SPECIAL
Michael Douglas, who is currently battling stage four throat cancer, will make an appearance on Friday's multi-network telethon, Stand Up To Cancer. The event, which will raise money for innovative cancer research, airs commercial free starting at 8 pm on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and more.

PARIS ESCAPES TO HAWAII!
Paris Hilton escaped the hubbub over her Las Vegas arrest by traveling to Hawaii with boyfriend Cy Waits this past weekend. In the last few days, Las Vegas police were forced to defend Hilton's quick release from custody. Hilton spent three hours at the Clark County Detention Center after her arrest on cocaine possession charges, when it usually takes anywhere from five to 21 hours to complete the booking process. Cops said they rushed her through it in order to avoid "a disruption" of the process. Well, Paris didn't seem to care about the latest controversy as she enjoyed some fun in the sun in Maui, posing for photographers in a leopard-print bathing suit.

KIM KARDASHIAN POSES IN THE NUDE...AGAIN!
Kim Kardashian is showing off her body again. The reality show star has already posed semi-nude for Playboy, and of course, starred in a homemade sex tape, and now she's appearing in a new set of naked photos that are being released to members of the Playboy Cyber Club. There are allegedly 25 new images in total, and Radar got a hold of a couple of them, one which shows a naked Kim covering her naughty bits with a silk sheet and another which has them covered with a fur wrap.

TV TIDBITS!
• NBC is teaming with DreamWorks for some holiday specials featuring everybody's favorite big screen animated characters. First off is Scared Shrekless, a Halloween-themed half-hour airing October 28th. It will have Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots spending the night at Lord Farquaad's haunted castle telling scary stories. In addition, Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, airing November 25th, has the loveable Po forced to choose between his family obligations and his duty as a Dragon Warrior.

Saturday Night Live...EW.com reports that former castmember, and Parks and Recreation star, Amy Poehler (2001-2010) will host the September 25th season premiere, with musical guest Katy Perry.

BARBARA’S RETURN
Yesterday, Barbara Walters returned to "The View", four months after undergoing open heart surgery.
David Letterman was there to welcome her back. (He underwent a quintuple bypass operation in 2000).
While Walters said she now has a pig valve in her chest, Letterman said he just has other pig parts. 

GHOSTBUSTERS 3 RUMORS
Movie (gossip) blogs are reporting, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis are returning for Ghostbusters 3.
Sources claim Moranis will come out of his 13-year retirement to appear in the series. (He left the business in 1997 after his wife's cancer death to take care of his children.)
The rest of the cast, specifically Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver will all be back, along with director Ivan Reitman. 

Billy Ray Cyrus And Son Team Up For UFO Show
SyFy has signed Billy Ray Cyrus and his son Trace, formerly of the band Metro Station, to host the new show “UFO: Unbelievably Freakin’ Obvious.” The duo will be filmed as they go around the country to investigate conspiracies and the paranormal.

NIECY NASH IS ENGAGED!
Clean House host, and recent Dancing with the Stars contestant, Niecy Nash has gotten engaged to her boyfriend of one year, Jay Tucker. Entertainment Tonight reports that the pair announced the good news at a weekend party where guests included her Dancing partner Louis van Amstel. "I cannot believe that God has been this kind that he would gift me this man," Nash tells ET. "Falling in love was the easy part, planning a wedding – yikes!"

Clooney Says Single Days Behind Him
George Clooney said yesterday his single days are behind him and he’s settled down with his Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis. Clooney told reporters in Paris “I’m with someone” when asked about his availability. “I’m extremely happy with my private life. I’m lucky enough to live with sweet company, to be in good health, to have wonderful friends and a formidable family,” Clooney said. “I couldn’t dream for better.” Clooney headlines “The American,” which took the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office with more than $12.96 million.

DANIELLE STAUB DEPARTS HOUSEWIVES!
After weeks of rumors, Bravo has officially announced that Danielle Staub will not be returning to The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Bravo's Senior Vice President Andy Cohen says that Danielle's appearance on the reunion show Monday would be her last. While it sounds like Bravo was the one who let Danielle go, she quickly turned things around and made it sound like it was her decision to leave. "I'm way too good for this," she told Usmagazine.com. "They have used me about as much as I can be used. I think it's time for me to move on and upward." She added, "I mean what's left for (the other castmates)? To kill me? Bravo seems to be glorifying their behavior." Staub tells Us that she's now looking to get her own reality show. She explained, "Not me according to other people. Me…a spin-off is absolutely positively where I'm going."

ANOTHER ROUND OF WYCLEF VS. PENN!
The war of words between Wyclef Jean and Sean Penn hasn't ended, even though Wyclef's bid to become president of Haiti has. During a concert in New York Friday, Wyclef had some harsh words for the two-time Oscar winner who had criticized the singer's run for office. "I got a message for Sean Penn," Jean sang. "Maybe he ain't see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine." Well, accusations of drug use didn't sit well with Penn. "Mr. Jean is clearly unfamiliar with the physical demands put upon volunteers in Haiti,” the actor's reps responded in a statement to EW.com. “As aid workers there, the notion of depleting the body’s immune system through the use of illicit drugs is ludicrous. More specifically, J/P Haitian Relief Organization (a.k.a. JPHRO) has a ZERO tolerance policy for any and all illegal drugs. As the leader of this organization, Sean Penn has not only set this policy, but adheres to it. That Mr. Jean would make such a false accusation is reckless and saddening, but not surprising.”

OKSANA WANTS MEL TO PAY FOR HER PUBLICITY!
Oksana Grigorieva wants Mel Gibson to pay for her publicity. TMZ reports that Oksana is claiming she spent $84,000 in PR expenses and unpaid legal fees in order to fight the public's opinion that she sold the controversial Gibson audio tapes, and now she wants him to foot the bill. According to her legal documents, Oksana felt she was getting trashed in the media and believed that the PR expenses were the only way to compete with someone as big and powerful as Gibson. A judge has yet to rule on her request.

OFFICER BLAMES MEL GIBSON ARREST FOR LACK OF PROMOTION!
TMZ is reporting that the Sheriff’s Deputy who arrested Mel Gibson in 2006 is suing Los Angeles County, claiming he was “unjustly denied” a promotion because of the arrest. Deputy James Mee says that at the time of Gibson’s arrest, the actor was a spokesperson for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Star Program, and was a “close friend” of Sheriff Lee Baca. As most people know by now, when he was arrested, Gibson went on an anti-Semitic tirade, and Mee, who is Jewish, is blaming “religious discrimination” and “retaliation” for his report on the incident as the reason he wasn’t promoted. Mee says he documented Gibson’s tirade in his initial report but was later ordered by superiors to delete the slurs. He also says that Sergeant Tracy Palmer erased a videotape which shows Gibson out of control at the jail after his arrest. TMZ broke the news of Gibson’s tirade, and Mee says he was immediately targeted as the source of the leaked information. Because of this, he claims he was interrogated and received a negative job performance review. Sheriff's spokesperson Steve Whitmore tells TMZ, "We are looking forward to telling the whole story and the whole story is not being told in this lawsuit. Ethnicity and gender have nothing to do with any of this. An investigation was launched by the Sheriff's Department to try and discover who was leaking official documents without authorization. That is a crime."