When it comes to giving backhanded compliments, Hugh Grant is the reigning champ.
And the stammering actor's just served up a few choice comments about Britney Spears, whom he apparently admires very much ... from the waist up.
Asked by the U.K. Sun if he prefers Spears to Madonna, Grant gushes, "I love them both, of course."
Though not quite equally.
"If I had to decide who to ask on a date, I'd have to say Britney," he tells the tabloid. "She's special."
Then again, he supposes, some parts of her might be a bit too special for his taste.
"I wish Britney wouldn't go on exercise machines so often," Grant says. "It can give women big thighs."
Better big thighs than a big mouth, Hugh.
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Maybe he's not trying hard enough
"I like Pepsi, but I just don't think I could drink one that has my face on it."
-- "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" star Hayden Christensen on the dark side of celebrity/product synergy, on ew.com.
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Hurley's bag
Who needs Bing bucks when you can get the big bucks?
According to Peoplenews.com, Elizabeth Hurley has signed a $1.9 million deal with OK! magazine for the exclusive rights to publish her son Damian's baby photos. The British magazine reportedly outbid its rival Hello! by more than $715,000 for the rights to the snaps as well as the story of the baby's first months of life.
It's a good thing Hurley's taken money matters into her own hands, considering the reaction of the man she claims is Damian's pops.
Another of Stephen "not bothered" Bing's ex-girlfriends is now siding with Hurley in the paternity PR wars.
"Maybe he should try thinking how she feels alone with her baby in hospital," Brenda Swanson, who dated Bing for five months, tells the U.K. Sun. "He spent 18 months with this woman and can't even be bothered to comfort her through the pregnancy or the birth? It's not the behavior of a decent person and he deserves all the abuse he is getting from her friends."
I love it when they all pile on.
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Send in the clones
"One of the things about 'Episode I' I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was very kind of flat. I think there's much more humor and there's much more color in 'Episode II: Attack of the Clones.'"
-- Ewan McGregor letting us know that the upcoming "Star Wars" flick is not nearly as "boring" as that other lame-o "Star Wars" flick he was in.
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Juicy bits
Oh no. They really killed Kenny. And the show's fans don't seem to care. "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone has told TV Guide online that he just didn't feel like bringing the little fella in the red hood back to life after he killed him off at the end of last season. "I think a lot of people probably haven't noticed," Stone says. "I couldn't care less. I am so sick of that character." Does that mean that no one will notice when they stop picking on Canada?
Those Aerosmith guys sure are having some kinda midlife crises. First Steven Tyler announces his intention to blast off into space, and now guitarist Joe Perry wants to blast your mouth off. He's fixing to market his own line of hot sauces: Joe Perry's Rock Your World Hot Sauce. "I've got a formula going, but we're still ironing out the details," Perry told the Boston Herald. "I want to keep it at a level that I can control because it's not like I'm slapping my name onto something and that's it." No -- he also cashes the checks.
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