The names of R&B music star Mary J. Blige, along with rap artists 50 Cent, Timbaland and Wyclef Jean, and award-winning author and producer Tyler Perry, have emerged in an Albany-based investigation of steroids trafficking that has already rocked the professional sports world, according to confidential sources. Information has surfaced recently showing those stars are among tens of thousands of people who may have used or received prescribed shipments of steroids and injectable human growth hormone in recent years. Law enforcement officials have said they have no evidence in their sprawling multistate probe that customers, including Blige or other entertainers, violated any laws. Instead, they are targeting anti-aging clinics, doctors and pharmacists who prescribed the drugs.

Still, medical experts say that use of steroids and human growth hormone — an estimated $10 billion-a-year operation worldwide — reaching into the entertainment industry illustrates how pervasive steroids use in the United States has become. It is not unique to athletics, where performance-enhancing drug use has marred many sports. For many celebrities, the lure of hormonal drugs is their supposed, unproven anti-aging effects.

While Congress is preparing to focus on baseball players alleged to have taken the drugs, medical experts are warning that steroids and human growth hormone are being illegally prescribed nationwide at an alarming rate under the misconception they will aid healing, enhance looks, strength and speed, or slow aging.

Records shared with the Times Union and information from several cooperating witnesses on Long Island indicate Blige and other stars were shipped prescribed human growth hormone or steroids — sometimes under fictitious names — at hotels, production studios, private residences, an upscale Manhattan fitness club and through the Long Island office of Michael Diamond, a chiropractor affiliated with the celebrities, sources said.

Diamond, who has not been identified as a target in the case or accused of breaking any laws, helps run an anti-aging program at Clay Gym in Manhattan, according to the company’s Web site.

The Albany investigation became a nationwide spectacle last February when authorities raided a Palm Beach County wellness center and the offices of Signature Compounding Pharmacy in downtown Orlando. The wellness center’s owners and the pharmacy’s operators are awaiting trial in Albany on charges related to the sale of millions of dollars worth of prescription drugs, mostly steroids, through a suspected criminal enterprise involving allegedly corrupt physicians and a series of anti-aging “clinics” that advertised predominantly through the Internet.

In the past year the case has netted 10 guilty pleas, including felony convictions of three physicians and several operators of anti-aging clinics in Texas, Florida and New York.

Along the way it has exposed allegations of steroid use by Major League Baseball players, pro wrestlers, NFL figures, police officers, prison guards, top-ranked body builders, people with ties to high school and college wrestling programs, and now, celebrities.

In a brief interview at his Patchtogue office Friday, Diamond said patient privacy laws prohibit him from discussing the stars he has treated or why.

“I don’t have anything to do with athletes, I don’t do athletes,” Diamond said. “Anyone that wants to publicly state that they work with me can do so, it’s just I’m not allowed legally to state who I treat or who I don’t treat.”

Still, it appears evident Diamond caters to famous clients as evidenced by the many stars, including Steven Seagal, whose photographs — some autographed to Diamond — adorn his office’s walls.

“Because of this recent development as far as what I found out was going on with (Signature) pharmacy I was approached and I was … told not to discuss anything right now … because there’s investigations going on,” Diamond said, not elaborating.

Diamond said he had previously met officials from Signature pharmacy at anti-aging conventions, but that he learned of the year-old criminal case only recently.

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Christina Aguilera has given birth to a boy, the pop singer announced on her Web site Sunday.

“Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman are proud to announce the birth of their son Max Liron Bratman,” the brief message said. “He is a beautiful, healthy baby boy.”

The baby was born Saturday night and weighs 6 pounds, 2 ounces. Aguilera, 27, was “resting and doing well,” according to the message on her Web site, http://www.christinaaguilera.com/.

Aguilera said that Saturday was “a very joyful and special day for Jordan and I.”

There was no immediate response Sunday to several calls seeking additional comment from Aguilera’s representatives.

Aguilera and Bratman married in 2005. The four-time Grammy Award winning singer has said she learned she was pregnant during her recent “Back to Basics” tour.

Source: Yahoo! 

The body double was only on stage for a few seconds, and the switcheroo was relatively innocuous. But since it involved the “Hannah Montana” show — the sold-out tour for which tickets have been scalped for hundreds of dollars — even the use of a brief stand-in for its star, 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, was enough to cause plenty of buzz when video of the switch was posted on the Internet.

“This tour is such a phenomenon everybody is trying to find some angle to write about it,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar, the trade publication that tracks tours. “This tour was the phenomenon of 2007 and it’s still going strong in 2008.”

A video posted on YouTube shows the 15-year-old entertainer, who stars on the hit Disney TV show “Hannah Montana,” onstage as her character, dancing and singing onstage with a group of dancers and the Jonas Brothers, also on the “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus ‘Best of Both Worlds’” tour.

During the song, someone ushers her offstage via a trap door. Immediately, another girl dressed like the character “Hannah” in the same pink trench coat with blonde hair covering her face dances around, runs up stairs on the stage set and then quickly leaves the stage.

While the double is holding a microphone for her less than a minute, the girl motions like she is singing. However, a rep for Miley said the switch was only for costume purposes.

“To help speed the transition from Hannah to Miley, there is a production element during the performance of ‘We Got the Party’ incorporating a body double for Miley,” according to statement from the public relations firm PMK, which represents Miley.

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With only a week to go before the new season of “American Idol,” little things like airport meltdowns from judges — specifically Paula Abdul — become very newsworthy.

“She had an insane nervous breakdown that lasted 10 minutes,” a tipster told Radaronline.com of a scene at the Continental Airlines terminal at LAX over the holidays.

“One minute she was hyperventilating and on the verge of passing out; the next she was yelling into her cell phone in this deep, rage-filled ‘Poltergeist’ voice. She kept screaming three names over and over — Michael, Sidney and Leslie. Everyone was staring at her, but she didn’t care.”

With no reality show cameras to capture the episode, it’s the tipster’s word against Abdul’s, especially since reps for Abdul didn’t comment on the meltdown by press time (which means there’s still no explanation on who Michael, Sidney or Leslie might be, or what they did to score such good placement in the tirade).

“This doesn’t surprise me at all,” said a source who’s spent many painful hours alongside the “Idol” judge. “Makes you wonder what’s in the cup on the judge’s table. She’s nice and all, but she isn’t always so together.”

Source: MSNBC

Britney Spears wouldn’t give up her time with her children and started a 3 hour stand off that ended with her being taken to the hospital as she appeared to be having a mental breakdown. There was a number of reports that said that Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance according to one officier’s report. At one point she locked herself in a room with one of the children. There was no injuries reported. She was strapped to a gurney and taken to Cedars – Sinai hospital for evaluation.

TMZ is reporting that Kevin Federline’s lawyer is off to court to motion the court to remove all of Spears visitation rights with her children.

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Perhaps Tony Romo’s girlfriends should stay home from his games.

Wearing a pink Cowboys jersey (with Romo’s No. 9 on it) and mouthing his name, Jessica Simpson made a surprise appearance at Texas Stadium Sunday to watch her new Dallas Cowboys quarterback beau play the Philadelphia Eagles.

Not only did his team lose 10-6, the Associated Press reports, Romo’s quarterback rating of 22.2 was also the worst of his career. He completed 13 of 36 passes for 214 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Tim MacMahon, who blogs the Cowboys games for the Dallas Morning News, wrote, “No wonder Tony Romo hasn’t completed a pass. Jessica Simpson, wearing a white-and-pink Romo jersey, is sending him bad vibes from a luxury suite.”

“Jessica Simpson owes it to her man to leave at halftime, although that would mean sacrificing valuable face time on national TV. Don’t count on it.”

Romo’s previous low rating was last December when then-love Carrie Underwood turned up at Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys lost against the Eagles 23-7.

Source: OMG! 

Pamela Anderson’s latest gig as a magician’s assistant appears to have given her new skills. She made her latest marriage disappear.

The 40-year-old Anderson has filed for divorce from her husband of just two months, 38-year-old Rick Solomon.The two wed in Las Vegas on Oct. 6 between her performances as an assistant in Hans Klok’s “The Beauty of Magic” show at Planet Hollywood.The couple separated just 10 weeks later on Dec. 13.Anderson cited “irreconcilable differences” in the papers obtained by celebtv.com.Solomon, the son of a Warner Brother’s studio executive, is best known for his high-profile Hollywood relationships.Paris Hilton’s infamous “sex tape” was with Rick Solomon, and he was also briefly married to Shannen Dougherty.This is Anderson’s third failed marriage. She has been married to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and singer Kid Rock.

Source: NBC10 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pimp C, one-half of the veteran Houston rap group UGK, was found dead in an upscale hotel on Tuesday. He was 33.

“It is with great regret that I must confirm that Chad Butler aka Pimp C, one half of the legendary UGK, was in fact discovered dead this morning,” his publicist, Nancy Byron, said in a statement. “Manager Rick Martin is asking that everyone please respect his family and those close to him at this time and refrain from rumors and innuendo.”

Pimp C, born Chad Butler, was found dead in the Mondrian hotel, a longtime music-industry hangout.

Butler and his partner, Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, were pioneers of Southern rap, and hit the mainstream with their cameo on Jay-Z’s smash “Big Pimpin’.” Though they never enjoyed the pop-chart success of some other rappers, their 1996 CD “Ridin’ Dirty” is considered a rap classic, and their laid-back sound, complete with gangsta tales of creeping through humid streets gripping wood-grain steering wheels, was influential in shaping the Southern rap movement.

The duo’s career was derailed when Butler was jailed for three years in 2002 on gun charges. He released an album while in prison, and this year the group made a comeback with the critically acclaimed album “Underground Kingz,” which included the hit “Int’l Player’s Anthem (I Choose You),” featuring OutKast.

Barry Weiss, CEO of their record label, Jive, said in a statement: “We mourn the unexpected loss of Chad. He was truly a thoughtful and kind-hearted person. He will be remembered for his talent and profound influence as a pioneer in bringing southern rap to the forefront.”

Butler, who grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, came from a musical lineage. His father was a professional trumpet player, and the rapper studied classical music in high school. He even received a Division I rating on a tenor solo at a University Interscholastic League choir competition.

“That’s how I came up listening to everything,” he told The Associated Press in a 2005 interview. “Music don’t have no color or no face. It’s a universal language. I think being exposed to all that kind of stuff influences the way I make records.”

But it was rap music that would become his passion. Together with Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, Butler’s friend since junior high, they started UGK, short for Underground Kingz.

Source: AP

Not sure what Jennifer Love Hewitt did last summer, but we know what was cooking on Thanksgiving.

After nearly two years of dating, the Ghost Whisperer star got engaged to boyfriend Ross McCall last week, Hewitt’s publicist, Sarah Fuller, confirmed to E! News.

The rep said that the 31-year-old Scottish actor presented the 28-year-old actress with an antique ring that had been in his family for years. The couple are currently vacationing in Hawaii.

No other details were forthcoming about where or when the nuptials might take place. This will be Hewitt’s first trip down the aisle.

News of the engagement was first reported by Us Weekly.

The actress’ big break came playing Bailey Salinger’s long-suffering girlfriend Sarah Reeves on Party of Five for four years. While she couldn’t translate that character into spinoff success (Time of Your Life mercifully folded after a few episodes), Hewitt has since figured out how to carry a drama on her own and she is now in her second season helping the dead pass from this world to the next on CBS’ Ghost Whisperer.

Hewitt’s big-screen credits include I Know What You Did Last Summer and its similarly titled sequel, Can’t Hardly Wait, Heartbreakers, The Tuxedo, The Devil and Daniel Webster and Garfield. The petite brunette also put on a funny face to play her idol in the TV movie The Audrey Hepburn Story in 2000.

In 2002, Hewitt had a top-40 single with the title track off her album BareNaked.

McCall, who guest-starred on Ghost Whisperer last year, was in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and has appeared on CSI: NY and Bones.

Source: E Online

When it comes to the terms of his divorce from wife Linda Bollea, Hulk Hogan is more than convinced he knows best.

The wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, has filed a counterpetition to his wife’s divorce suit. In his filing, the Hulkster contests his missus’ call for unspecified alimony and child support, as well as her bid for primary custody of the duo’s speed-demon son, Nick, claiming the 17-year-old should be able to decide for himself with which parent he wishes to reside.

The Hogan Knows Best stars, who have been married for 24 years, also have a daughter, aspiring pop star Brooke, but she’s 19 and not subject to custody arrangements.

In his filing, the 54-year-old mustachioed patriarch left no point undisputed, even questioning the marriage date Linda listed on her divorce petition, filed last week. While she jotted down Dec. 12, 1983 as the big day, the semiretired WWE icon claimed it was actually Dec. 18. Public records back up his timeline.

One thing there doesn’t seem to be much disagreement on is when things went sour for the duo. Per court documents, they separated in September, a month after their son’s car crash left his passenger, Iraq veteran John Graziano, hospitalized in a coma.

In her petition, Linda sought legal custody of Nick until his 18th birthday next July, although she said she was open to “liberal visitation” for the grappler.

In his reply, Terry countered that “it would be in the best interest for the parties to have shared parental responsibility.”

Linda, 48, has also requested half of the couple’s shared assets, which include more than $9.5 million in real-estate holdings, as well as unspecified amounts of alimony and child support. She also wants him to cover all her legal expenses. Hulk, meanwhile, said in his filing that Linda was more than capable of supporting herself and helping to support their son.

He did, however, indicate he would continue to provide health insurance for the family.

As for Linda’s claim to half the couple’s assets, Hulk’s petition mentions “numerous liabilities, contingent liabilities, obligations and debts which must be resolved as part of any equitable distribution that may be accomplished by the court.”

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