Tween heartthrob and break-out Twilight star Taylor Lautner is coming into his own as he is featured on the cover and in the page of the October issue of Teen Vogue magazine. Under the cover headline, WE Heart Taylor Lautner, Tay Tay gives those come hither eyes enticing all the young Teen Vogue readers to snap up this issue … behold:

According to Taylor, there is a very specific sort of girl who’s going to sign up for what’s become known to Twilight fans as Team Jacob. “If she likes having a really close friendship with a guy,” he begins, “being able to tell him anything, and then having that friendship slowly transform into something more….” The seventeen-year-old stops himself and laughs. “I find myself using the word transform a lot lately,” he explains, “because that’s what Jacob does.” It’s not exactly a spoiler to say that Taylor’s character in November’s New Moon is going through some intense changes. As everyone who’s seen the movie’s trailer or read the books knows, Jacob Black is now a werewolf. And the changes that Taylor himself underwent in order to keep the part—as he says, “hitting the gym, hiring a personal trainer, eating the right foods, and eating a lot of them”—were equally evident. When that first trailer premiered at the MTV Movie Awards, the live (and apparently largely female) audience responded to a two-second shot of Taylor, shirtless, by screaming like they were on a roller coaster. Not that he’s about to let all that adulation go to his head. “I think the fans would love anybody who played Jacob,” he says mildly, when the reception is mentioned. “I’m just lucky to be the one who got the chance.”

Uh, yeah, I’d say he’s a lucky duck. The role of Jacob Black puts him right up there in direct competition for all the lurve that Twilight fans heap upon the vampire character Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson). Now fans have 2 boys to faun over — the skinny, pale, lanky dude or the muscly, tanned, beefy dude. Tough choice, eh? After the the jump, check out a whole slew of photos from Taylor‘s Teen Vogue photospread and read a bit more from his magazine cover story …

A contrite and power blue-clad Chris Brown paid a visit to the CNN studio here in SoCal last week to tape an interview for the Larry King Live show which is set to air this coming Wednesday September 2. With his crying mother, Joyce Hawkins, and his pitbull lawyer, Mark Garagos, by his side, Brown talks with Larry King about the heinous crime of assault that he has been punished for and his plans for a crime-free life ahead. Here are a couple photos from his upcoming appearance on the show along with some preview deets about the interview itself:

He looks so young. And he is. At 20, Chris Brown is not old enough to buy a beer without breaking the law. But he got himself into a world of legal trouble when he assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna in February. “We have to be like 10 yards away from each other,” Brown softly tells CNN’s Larry King in an exclusive interview to air Wednesday night – his first television interview since his arrest. Brown still loves Rihanna. He tells King he’s still in love with her. Even tougher for him is looking at the photo. You know the one—the image that might haunt, and define Brown forever. “When I look at it now, it’s just like, wow, like, I can’t — I can’t believe that — that actually happened.” He adds he does not remember performing the violent acts that have changed his life. Yet Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault on June 22. The deal keeps him out of jail. A second felony charge, making criminal threats, was dropped. He was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community labor. What does it mean? “It means he walks the straight and narrow for five years,” Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos tells King. “I’ve grown to love this kid like a son or a nephew. I have a high degree of confidence — I’ll say it now so that you can play it back if he ever does anything — but a high degree of confidence that he’s not going to do anything like this in the future.” Brown agrees, saying “everything comes with consequences. They want me to pick up trash remove graffiti.” He calls the sentence fair. “I’m a hard worker. It’s something I’m willing to do.” Why did it happen? How did it happen? They are questions Brown and his mother, Joyce Hawkins, have been asking. “Chris has never, ever been a violent person, ever,” Hawkins tells King.

While Brown‘s mother insists that her son was “never, ever … a violent person” she goes on to explain to King (and, of course, the viewing audience) that Brown‘s father was the abusive one, clearly in an attempt to shift the blame of Brown‘s actions? After the jump, read on and judge for yourselves …

Madonna, who made her way to Israel this weekend ahead of a two night concert stint in Tel Aviv this coming week, made an attempted clandestine visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City last night with her much younger toyboy Jesus Luz in tow … here is a photo of Madonna & Child entering the Western Wall tunnel together and some deets of their visit:

American pop icon Madonna sparked a media frenzy when the Kabbalah follower paid a visit to the Western Wall, Judaism’s top pilgrimage site in the Old City of Jerusalem. Wearing high heels, blue jeans and a black jacket, the music diva was accompanied by several bodyguards and followed by dozens of photographers during her visit to the wall late on Sunday. The 51-year-old landed in Israel on Sunday aboard a private jet and is due to give two concerts in Tel Aviv as part of her Sticky and Sweet tour. During her visit, the singer will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, his office said, and opposition leader Tzipi Livni. A fervent practitioner of Kabbalah, Madonna is also due to attend a symposium on the study of Jewish mystic discipline along with fellow Kabbalists, US actress Demi Moore and her husband and fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, local Israeli media said. Madonna has previously visited Israel in 2004 and 2007. Raised a Roman Catholic, in 1997 Madonna came into contact with a Los Angeles-based centre that teaches an eclectic mix of Orthodox Jewish tradition and positive thinking aimed at spiritual well-being. In 2004 Madonna took the Hebrew name Esther but has not converted to Judaism. From the point of view of Orthodox Jews, her stuying the Kabbalah is sacrilege as they consider it should be reserved for married men over 40 who have poured over Talmudic texts for years.

You gotta hand it to Madge, once she sets her mind to something … she goes all in. Madonna has been a fervent disciple of Kabbalah since ’97-’98 and has been steadfast in her desire to take in and worship wholly and pretty much entirely. It would appear that Jesus is also fervent in his interest in Kabbalah but methinks that has more to do with Madonna‘s influence rather than a personal spiritual awakening of his own. Not for nothing but Madonna has been responsible for many a person’s spiritual awakening. I suspect that Maddy and Chuy will be partaking of all the things that Israel has to offer them while they are in town this week … I can’t wait to find out what they do next.

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Terribly scary news to pass along today … The Walt Disney Company has announced that it is planning to acquire the Marvel Comics company — including its 5,000 characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, etc. — for $4 billion in cash and stock. Um, to this I say, WTF????????

The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Disney said Monday that Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. It said the boards of Disney and Marvel have both approved the transaction, but it requires an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.

This is terrible news! While I’m sure Disney plans on acquiring Marvel Comics for the sole purpose of keeping it the way it is, I can’t help but wonder if they will start tinkering with the way Marvel operates its comics and/or movie biz somewhere down the line if they successfully gain control. I had no idea that Marvel was in a position where they would want to sell … to anyone … let alone Disney! Says Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer:

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses.”

And here’s a quote from Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company:

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories.”

I can’t help but feel deep in the pit of my gut that this is a terrrrrrrribly horrible idea … one that will adversely affect Marvel comics fans down the line. I mean … right? Does this sound like a good idea to anyone out there??

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