A couple weeks ago we saw new photos that showed that Sarah Michelle Gellar’s baby bump, her first, had grown exponentially in recent weeks … and today we get to see further proof of that growth. SMG stepped out here in SoCal (Sherman Oaks and Toluca Lake, CA to be exact) to run a few errands. First up, a trip to the cleaners then a vet visit for her pooch Tyson … and her burgeoning baby bump was center stage all the while … behold:

Wowza!! Look at that bump! She looks huge … and beautiful :) I just LOVE the idea of SMG becoming a mother. It’s still pretty surprising how quickly news went from SMG is pregs to Look at how big her bump got! She looks amazing … and I cannot wait for the birth of her first child with hubby Freddie Prinze, Jr. this Fall. Woot!!

[Photo credit: Limelight Pictures]

Yesterday we saw new previously unseen footage recently made available of the horrific burn accident that Michael Jackson suffered on the set of a Pepsi commercial that he and his brothers were filming back in January 1984. For the most part, everyone was well aware that MJ suffered an accident that left his head severely burned but, until yesterday, we had never seen exactly how the accident occurred. Today, Pepsi Cola Co. issued a statement in response to the release of that footage because, well, their commercial was the site of MJ’s accident. Here is the full text of Pepsi’s statement about the accident:

Pepsi has responded to yesterday’s appearance on the internet of footage of Michael Jackson being burned while filming an ad for the soft drink in 1984. Contacted by EW about the material, which was posted by US Weekly, Pepsi spokeswoman Nicole Bradley sent the following statement.

Bradley also told EW that the company is not currently attempting to get the footage taken down and that Pepsi itself may well not own the rights to the material. “We don’t know where it came from,” she says. “We don’t know what that footage is. It’s 25 years ago. We don’t know who owns it, so we have no recourse as far as I know. I can only tell you what I know. We didn’t put it up and we don’t know where it came from.”

It makes sense that Pepsi would want to express outrage at the release of the footage. 25 years later, they are being associated again with a terrible accident that severely injured the biggest pop star of our time. It totally makes sense that they would want to distance themselves from the whole thing all over again. I don’t exactly recall what their position was at the time of the accident but I don’t really remember that they were too keen to talk about it back then either. As I said yesterday, if blogging existed back in ‘84 we would’ve seen this footage back then. Because the accident was such a huge event in MJ’s life, it’s natural that we would want to know exactly what happened. In the end, I don’t think that anyone should feel any ill will towards Pepsi for this unfortunate accident. If we really want to blame them for something, how about Crystal Pepsi? I mean … yeah … WTF? was that all about?

[Source]

David Beckham, who has donned once again his LA Galaxy soccer uniform and insisted on the Today Show yesterday that he is fully committed to his US soccer team, faced tough questioning from Sports Illustrated writer and author of the book The Beckham Experiment in a press conference in Hoboken, NJ earlier today. Becks made himself available to answer questions, as he usually does, before the Galaxy vs. NY Red Bulls game this week and was confronted by Grant Wahl, whose book paints an ugly picture of Beckham’s supposed commitment (or perceived lack thereof) to his team. Here are a few pics of Becks at today’s press conference and the juicy deets of the tough questioning he was subjected to:

David Beckham should have known it was coming. Sooner or later, now that he is back in the United States, he would run into Grant Wahl at a news conference. It happened here Wednesday, ahead of tonight’s Galaxy game against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. Wahl’s book, “The Beckham Experiment,” was released this week and features several comments critical of Beckham by Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s former president, and Landon Donovan, the Galaxy’s current American star. Wahl, a Sports Illustrated writer, had a question ready. “David, people in America understand that you want to play for your national team, but how do you justify being fully committed to the Galaxy, and to MLS and American soccer, when you’re a part-time player this year and you’ve already stated you want to be a part-time player next year as well?” Beckham did not blink. “Let me just clear this up first,” he began. “Is this question for the second unofficial book or for the magazine?” That caused a bit of a titter in the audience. “I think this might be authorized,” Wahl replied, “but maybe not as interesting.” “I’m sure not,” said Beckham, who earlier had gone to great lengths to point out that Wahl’s book had received neither his cooperation nor his blessing and that he had not read it. “There are many unofficial books that have been published about me, so this is just another one on the shelf,” the English soccer star said Saturday. Beckham’s answer Wednesday was long, but the essence of it was this: “If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t.” The exchange, while amusing, had a point. Beckham insists that he has to either return to AC Milan once the MLS season ends in November or join another top-flight club so that he can remain in contention to play for England during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. “I want to be involved in the World Cup,” Beckham said. “I’ve not hidden that fact. But even going back on loan to AC Milan or to another club doesn’t guarantee my place in the World Cup squad, if and when we qualify. “So at the moment, all I’m concentrating on is being a part of this [Galaxy] team and being successful with this team. Once the season is over, then I’ll decide what I do from then on. But leading up to the World Cup, the England manager has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at a European level. “I’ll always regret it if I didn’t do everything to give myself a chance to be involved” in the 2010 World Cup, which would be Beckham’s fourth. All of which leads to the obvious question: Will the Galaxy allow Beckham to go out on a six-month loan again and miss the first half of the 2010 MLS season? That was the hot potato that landed in Bruce Arena’s lap Wednesday. Twice, the Galaxy’s coach and general manager juggled it without answering it. “I think having David Beckham on our team is just a fabulous asset,” Arena said. “It was a little bit awkward, the loan process, but fully within the conditions of his contract. . . . We knew the pros and cons attributed to David leaving on loan. It was well understood. As we planned for the season, we knew David would be back in July, and I’m hopeful that we will prove to everyone that it’s been a great opportunity for not only David but it will reap benefits for the Galaxy as well.” So Arena would do it again next year? “I’ve had a great 30 years coaching,” he said. “This is a high point. It’s not a low point. It’s fabulous to have a player of this caliber in our squad. I look forward to working with David for the remainder of the season.” The most revealing exchange Wednesday resulted from a question by an Australian television reporter. “David, in your ideal world, you would now be in preseason with Milan, is that correct? Said Beckham: “If I was contracted to a European club, yes, I would.” There was more than a hint of wistfulness in his answer.

While Beckham’s most ardent supporters fully endorse his need to flip-flop on teams in order to achieve his own ends, I can absolutely understand the position taken up by author Grant Wahl. As much as I love Becks, I have never been keen on his flailing commitment to the LA Galaxy. While the argument “this sort of thing happens all the time in professional soccer” is thrown around a lot, I keep keep coming back to the notion that a player cannot be truly committed to a team that he doesn’t really believe in. Very obviously, Becks wants to play on the English Team in the World Cup but for him to make an half-ass commitment to his team here in order to achieve that goal by playing on another team seems very crappy to me. I’m sure many of his Galaxy teammates agree, like Landon Donovan for example. My beef is if he really wants to be on the Galaxy, then he needs to be on the Galaxy … not in Milan for half a year. In the end he’s gonna do whatever he wants and his bosses are going to let him. I’ll still love the man myself but, again, I can’t help if his performance as a member of the LA Galaxy has been and continues to be a huge disappointment :(

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Last Thursday Lifetime TV updated the official Project Runway website with small photos and short bios of the 16 new designers competing on the 6th season of the show which premieres on Lifetime on August 20. Today, they release new video where we can get more acquainted with all of the designers. Here are a few screencaps from the new vid:

This almost 4 minute video is a compilation of 8 short promo commercials which will air on Lifetime in the weeks leading up to the premiere of Project Runway season 6 next month. Each segment introduces two designers at a time. After the jump, check out the video in full which pieces together all 8 promo vids so that YOU can see and hear the 16 new designers introduce themselves …

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Early last month we saw photos of Twilight star Taylor Lautner on the SoCal set of a photoshoot for Interview magazine and today we get to see the fruits of his labor. Taylor is featured in the new issue of Interview magazine wherein he talks about, of course, his role as Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Here are a few pics from his Interview photospread and a portion of his interview:

When rumors surfaced last year that 17-year-old Taylor Lautner would not appear in the Twilight sequel because he was too physically slight to portray a bookworm-turned-werewolf, a great shriek rose from Fangirl Island. “Noooooo!!” wrote one obsessive on a Twilight discussion board. “omg. Pleezze let Taylor come back,” implored another. Some were more militant: “If they don’t put him in . . . there will be a massive Twilight fan attack!” The producers opted not to mess with their core constituency. While Twilight was ringing up $380 million at the box office and becoming one of the top pop-culture phenomena of the past year, Lautner was busy packing on 30 pounds of -muscle at the gym. His character, Jacob Black, the platonic best friend of heroine Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart), transforms in New Moon from a likable klutz into a member of a wolf pack. Likewise, the film gives Lautner a chance to bust out of more than his shirts, challenging co-star Robert Pattinson’s dominance of both the teen mags and the movie’s monster love-story narrative … Lautner grew up in Michigan and L.A., a youthful karate star who transitioned at the age of 12 from martial arts to acting in benign cinematic family fare like The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. He was excited to talk about shooting New Moon, dirt biking, his new set of muscles, and playing up the sexual tension.

LAUTNER: I don’t know. I should pay more attention to that. I hope so.

Good for Taylor … I’m so glad he got to keep his role. It’s clear that he was really intent on proving to producers that he was up for the challenge of playing the bulked up Jacob Black in the Twilight sequel and, as far as I can tell, it’s mission: accomplished. It really seems that he is growing into a fine strapping young man, isn’t he? This is a great magazine piece … the first of many, I’m sure. The kid seems really down to Earth … I just hope he stays that way. So … thoughts?

[Source]

Wee!! My BFF Sarah is here from Detroit because we have a couple of Tori Amos concerts to see tonight and tomorrow … but yesterday was designated as purely hanging out time. We ventured out and did some chillin’ in Beverly Hills, CA before meeting up with our friend Adriana for dinner in Century City. Here are a couple pics of the four of us at Toscanova yesterday evening:

After dinner we made our way to Darion’s place where we were met by Peter (aka The Cleve) for a fun night of Rock Band. We resurrected our band Fawking Amazing and had the best time ever:

Peter was killer on the drums, David discovered that he could rock out on the guitar and Darion and I traded off on bass. The girls did most of the singing … ’twas very fun. We had a blast.

But tonight is the big night … Sarah and I will be leaving for San Diego, CA in a few hours for tonight’s Tori Amos concert there. We are both very excited … this will be the first of 3 shows that we’ll see on Tori’s Sinful Attraction Tour. I’ll do my best to snap pics to share on the blog tomorrow and I may tweet a bit but I won’t be posting to Twitter much. For Tori Amos, I want to enjoy the show rather than report it :)

• Madonna’s stage collapses in Marseille, France … kills at least one person :(
• Farrah Fawcett scores a posthumous Emmy Award nomination.
• Kelly Rowland tells fans to “Simma down now” in regards to rumors of a new Destiny’s Child album, it ain’t happening.
• People magazine has the inside scoop on the Brangelina twins’ first birthday party.
• Melissa Howard-Beck is gettin’ back into blogging, posts the harrowing story of the labor and birth of her beautiful baby girl Shalom Mazie HERE.
• Uruguay now allows gays to serve in the military, the US still does not.
• Life is tough in LA.
• Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor says that she would tackle the issue of same-sex marriage with “an open mind”.
• Advertising coming to Twitter.
• Man girdle?
• Miranda Kerr don’t need no bra.
• Hayden Panettiere is pants-less in Room 23.
• You touch Ne-Yo’s hat, you get your ass thrown out of the club.
• Two Robert Pattinsons?
• Mischa Barton rushed to the hospital after she suffers a “medical incident”.
• Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty) is 15, AnnaLynne McCord (Nip/Tuck, 90210) is 22, Corey Feldman is 38, Will Ferrell is 42 and Michael Flatley (Lord of the Dance) is 51 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Jessica Simpson is reportedly “sad, mad and confused” after getting dumped by boyfriend Tony Romo.
• Orlando Bloom’s home gets burglarized, loses around $500,000.00 in jewelry.
• Frank McCourt’s brother claims that the author is dying.
• OK! magazine reports that Michael Jackson’s kids want to live with aunt Janet.