Michael Lohan Says Matt Lauer Didn't Ambush Dina

Popeart

Meet Michael Lohan, fact checker. The celebrity dad is calling out ex-wife Dina's "lies" during her slightly squeamish sit-down with the 'Today' show. Michael doesn't think host Matt Lauer ambushed her, as Dina believes (according to a family friend), and Michael tells me exclusively that Dina has "failed miserably with Lindsay" and just needs to admit her failure (and also stop saying they've been split for 15 years).

"Matt didn't ambush Dina. If anything Matt was easy on her. Dina hardly gave him a chance to ask questions and when he did, she didn't answer them or just lied," Michael Lohan tells me.

According to PopEater sources, Dina wanted to focus the 'Today' chat on Judge Marsha Revel's alleged mishandling of her daughter's case, along with her take on the media's portrayal of Lindsay. Instead, Lauer pressed Dina to defend Lindsay and address scrutiny for the way she raised the troubled starlet.

"As a parent, you have to let them go a little bit," she said during the Friday morning chat. "You can't make your child not go out and go to a club and not get behind the wheel of a car."

Michael tells me that Dina just needs to be honest and admit her mistakes. But after Friday's performance, he's not so sure what to think.

"I don't know whether Dina needs the rehab, serious counseling, an exorcism or jail," he say. "Her constant denials and lies on 'Today' only prove how corrupted her heart and motives are."

Dina also raised eyebrows when she told Lauer that she hasn't been with Michael for 15 years, even though their divorce was only finalized in 2007.

"We have only been divorced for five years, so I don't know why Dina told Lauer that we haven't been together in 15 years. My youngest son is only 14. I saw my boys a month ago and spent the day with our daughter, Ali, just a month ago," Michael told me in response to Dina's claims.

But Michael tells me he knows the best path for his daughter.

"What Lindsay needs is family therapy with Dina and me. Something that has been recommended by professionals for years, however, Dina just won't let it happen. It's all about money controlling Lindsay to Dina. She has failed miserably with Lindsay. We have both caused this situation with our daughter and we need to fix it together as parents."

And although Michael is one parent who finally admits responsibility, he says, "The only thing Dina got right in the interview with Matt Lauer on 'Today' is nothing has changed."

Katie Holmes Talks Homeschooling Suri & Marriage to Tom Cruise

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Holmes and her daughter Suri can't set foot outside without the peering eyes of the paparazzi hoping to catch a glimpse of the mother-daughter duo and what they're wearing.

In the new issue of NY Magazine, Holmes praises her little fashionista, admitting Suri started picking out her own clothing (including her infamous high heels) when she was just 18 months old.

"She picks out all of her own clothes and has since she was 1½," Holmes admits.

Even Holmes' gorgeous Met Gala attire and accessories were hand picked by Suri. "Tom and I went to the Met ball a couple of years ago, and I had this beautiful red gown and these royal-blue shoes that I wasn't planning on wearing, but Suri made me put them on and so I was like, 'Okay, I trust you.'"

How she and Tom Cruise balance their busy schedules:
"We have quite a schedule, you know? We don't say, 'When I'm working, you don't work,' or anything like that. Last year he was shooting 'Knight and Day' and I was shooting 'The Romantics,' and we'd just fly to see each other after we wrapped. And we homeschool Suri -- she has a teacher who is with her every day. We like the one-on-one education. I'm happy that my daughter is strong-willed and determined. You really have to go with what the child is wanting."

Her reaction to speculations about her marriage:
"It's there, it's one of those things. My big concern is what does he have going, what do I have going, what are we going to do this weekend. It must seem weird, I guess, having so many people watching. It is weird. I get it. But you just, you know, smile and nod."

eReader War: iPad, Kindle, Nook, Which Will Win? (PHOTOS, POLL)

iPad - $499

Nook Wifi + 3G - $199

Sony Reader Pocket- $149.99

eReader war began in earnest this year, but it heated up just as summer did. With Amazon reporting that eBooks are now outselling hardcovers, and the iPad exploding onto the scene, stakes are higher than ever for domination of the eBook market. Barnes and Noble launched an early offensive, cutting prices on the Nook and causing big players such as Amazon and Sony to follow suit. The high-priced Que was just canceled. In late July Amazon launched its updated Kindle, selling out within days. From June to August, lower cost readers have gone from approximately $250 to $150.

In a rapidly changing field, we've rounded up what you need to know about some of the most popular devices on the market. From the multi-tasking iPad to the category killing Kindle, we'll fill you in on the distinguishing features of each reader-- and what big players are doing to stay ahead of the curve.

Kanye West Set to Perform at the MTV VMAs

http://www.popeater.com/

MTV announced today that Kanye West will perform at the VMAs in September -- one year after his Taylor Swift-mic-grab sent him into self-exile.

The rapper, along with Drake and Florence and the Machine, will provide entertainment during the ceremony.

A new Twitter convert, Kanye posted the news to his site. "Just met with MTV and it's about to go down! VMA's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he wrote.

"VMA brainstorming the performance now," he added.

Will it be the best performance of all time? We'll have to wait and see.

Naomi Campbell’s Friend Says He’s Given Diamonds To South African Authorities

http://www.accesshollywood.com

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa --

Naomi Campbell’s friend said Friday that he had handed over three small uncut diamonds to South African authorities after the supermodel testified at an international war crimes court that she had given him the “dirty-looking stones.”

A spokesman for the police special investigations unit said Jeremy Ractliffe handed over the stones on Thursday and that the police have given them to the local diamond regulation authority for examination.

Campbell on Thursday denied knowingly receiving a gift of diamonds from war crimes-indicted Charles Taylor after a celebrity-studded 1997 dinner in South Africa hosted by Nelson Mandela. She testified that two men had knocked on her door late at night and then gave her a pouch withthe stones inside.

Ractliffe said Friday that Campbell had given him the stones as they rode on South Africa’s famed Blue Train on Sept. 26, 1997. He said he had just kept the diamonds until recently, apparently not knowing what to do with them.

“I took them because I thought it might well be illegal for her to take uncut diamonds out of the country,” he said.

In a statement, Ractliffe said Campbell had suggested the stones could benefit the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, of which he was director at the time, “but I told her I would not involve the NMCF in anything that could possibly be illegal.”

“In the end I decided I should just keep them” and did not report the matter to the fund or anyone else “to protect the reputation of the NMCF, Mr. Mandela himself and Naomi Campbell, none of whom were benefiting in any way,” his statement said. Ractliffe is now a trustee of the fund.

Musa Zondi, a spokesman for the police special investigations unit in South Africa, said officials could only decide whether to pursue a case after the local diamond regulation authority examined the stones.

“They must say if they are diamonds in the first place and where they come from, and that will determine whether they are blood diamonds or not,” Zondi told The Associated Press.

Ractliffe told The Associated Press on Friday that he will be a witness at the international war crimes court in the trial of the former Liberian warlord.

Prosecutors had hoped Campbell would testify that Taylor gave her the diamonds, which would back up their allegations he traded guns to rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone in exchange for uncut diamonds — known as “blood diamonds” for their role in financing conflicts — during the country’s 1992-2002 civil war, which left more than 100,000 dead.

Campbell told that court Thursday that she did not receive the stones from Taylor himself. She said they were brought to her room late at night after a presidential banquet where she met Taylor and was seated between Mandela and music producer Quincy Jones.

Her testimony did not show, as prosecutors had hoped, that Taylor traded in so-called “blood diamonds” to arm rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Madonna and Child Launch Material Girl Fashion Line For Teens

These days, everyone is a fashion icon. All a starlet need do is wear a flashy pair of heels to a club or a fresh-from-the-runway dress to the right premiere, and suddenly she's a modern Audrey Hepburn, a trendsetter of the first order, as the divine Hepburn was when she made the little black cocktail dress a staple of every woman's closet.

Now, every Tom, Dick and JWoww has a fashion line, and mostly they aren't anything to write home about. But when a real fashion icon, a star who has influenced trends both sartorial and cultural for decades, steps forward to put her stamp of approval on a line of clothing, the fashion elite jump to attention. And that's exactly what happened when Madonna launched her co-venture with daughter Lourdes, Material Girl.

"Everyone is in love with the collection and it has been flying off shelves since the launch," Alison Kmiotek, media relations manager at Macy's, which is carrying the line exclusively, tells PopEater.
While Her Madgesty is, as always, in charge of the brand's direction, Lourdes – or Lola, as she is called by her mama – is the real brains behind the actual clothes, which draw heavily on the 1980's-era punk and new wave styles made famous by her mother. "My role was really to make sure we were all going in the right direction and heading in the right direction, and that it was a line I could stand behind and be proud of and feel good about and one that she [Lola] could also feel represented her," Madonna said at a press event before the line's launch.

Taylor Momsen of 'Gossip Girl' was hand picked by Madonna and Lola to be the face of the brand, and says that it offers something for everyone. "You don't have to have a particular style to wear it, so, you know, it kind of covers all bases. It's very much about putting your own look together," the actress said at the Aug. 3 launch event at Macy's Herald Square. "I have a lot of favorite pieces. It's a very eclectic, mix and match things, so you can make a lot of looks out of a couple pieces."

Holly Thomas, vice president of media relations and cause marketing for Macy's, tells us that some of the most popular items so far have been from the "Lola's Closet" limited edition selection, which, as you might expect, draws its inspiration from styles worn by the burgeoning fashionista. "Lourdes is starting to become her own kind of fashion icon ... So I think her take on it is younger, a different generation, so I think the collaboration is gonna be great," one Macy's shopper said at the launch, which kept some eager ladies waiting on the streets of New York City for several hours.

"The crowds were waiting outside before the store was open," Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren told reporters. "The line was around the block, around the building."

But just who is a "Material Girl"? Well, that depends on who you ask.

"I think a Material Girl is a fearless girl that's not afraid to be bold and try things," one Macy's shopper said. But we think the original Material Girl explains it best: "A Material Girl is a girl that is interested in fashion and interested in music and interested in fun and has a sense of humor. [She] is an adventurous human being."

Lori Loughlin - H mag - august 2010

A stunning Lori Loughlin is the new H mag cover.
Behind the camera one more time the fashion photographer Joey Shaw.
After 5 days since we published the new issue, we are recording the highest numbers of downloads ever.
Lori is driving the readers crazy with this cover...
enjoy your own copy