• April 18, 2005
• Vol. 63
• No. 15

Scoop

Taking It to the Tube
BRITNEY SPEARS AND KEVIN FEDERLINE WILL TELL THE TALE OF THEIR COURTSHIP ON A NEW REALITY SERIES

Among the ways Britney Spears hopes to set her personal record straight: A March 30 Website outburst against "false tabloids"—"Do you...want employees who are honest or those who are liars? It seems to me that you'd prefer the latter"—and her very own reality show. Spears, 23, and husband Kevin Federline, 27, announced an agreement April 5 with UPN to air a series that will document their courtship and marriage using their personal video footage. "From the day Kevin and I met, there have been constant rumors and inaccurate speculation about our lives together," Spears said in a statement. "I feel that last year the tabloids ran my life, and I am really excited about showing my fans what really happened rather than all the stories, which have been misconstrued by journalists in the past. I am now going to be expressing my personal life through art." Added Federline: "It is a documentation of love."

The six-part series, airing in late spring, will mostly consist of the newlyweds' home videos, including footage shot shortly after they first met in Los Angeles, when they were in Europe for Spears's curtailed Onyx Hotel tour and their actual surprise wedding day last Sept. 18. The couple will also provide commentary on their shots. "It's two people who are very intimate and very honest and very raw with one another. It's just them shooting each other as they are falling in love," says UPN president Dawn Ostroff. "They want to show people a different side to Britney and a real side to Kevin." Ostroff would not disclose how much UPN paid for rights to the videos, saying only, "We were in a bidding war with other networks."

Federline is also looking to document his professional side. The aspiring model-actor-singer has been shopping around a reality show that will chronicle his life as he records and promotes his first album, says a source. (No record deal has been announced.) Federline met with executives at E! Entertainment Television April 1 and pitched himself as the next Eminem. E! has yet to offer him a deal, but he is getting a boost from the missus. Spears is hooking him up with top music producers to help launch his debut album, says a source. And contrary to those Federline critics who "want to make him out to be the 'taker,' he is really not," says a friend of the couple's. "He's just trying to do his best being in the spotlight."

Which may be why Spears is giving him some space. The pop diva, who has accompanied her husband to magazine photo shoots in the past, remained at Santa Monica's Fairmont Miramar Hotel drinking strawberry smoothies with three girlfriends and her family—Mom, Dad, sister Jamie Lynn and brother Bryan—while Federline met with E! But like true newlyweds, "Kevin went and got his wife as soon as he got back to the hotel," says a source. "He carried her dog [Bitbit] back to their hotel room and was laughing and joking around with her." Later that evening the couple walked out on the patio of their hotel bungalow for a kiss. "She likes to buy him gifts and make him happy and vice versa," says a source. "They are sweet on each other."

IT'S LIL' KEV
Britney's latest accessory? A white-gold-and-diamond necklace with a picture of her baby; husband Kevin Federline as a toddler. The bauble was a gift from Federline to his wife on his 27th birthday, March 21.
Federline bought the necklace—retail price: $1,125—at www.planetjill.com.

Home on the Range
Real estate buffs Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have a new place to express their mutual love of design and architecture. DeGeneres recently plunked down $3.75 million for a 45-acre ranch in California's rural Ventura County. While it could be a good place for de Rossi, an accomplished equestrian, to keep her riding skills sharp, it's familiar terrain for DeGeneres: The talk show host shared a home nearby with Anne Heche but sold it in 2001, after the couple split.

Lindsay and Christian:
More Than Just Friends?
On the Manhattan set of her comedy Just My Luck, Christian Slater, 35, met with Lindsay Lohan, 18. This caused the New York Daily News to wonder if something romantic was going on. Lohan's rep says they are only pals. Two days later Lohan danced at hot spot Suede as ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama watched nearby. They did not speak, however.

Daisy Duke Makes a Getaway

Having recently wrapped Dukes of Hazard in Baton Rouge, Jessica Simpson had one thing on her mind: vacation. The singer headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, April 2 for a girls' weekend with friends and family. The gang relaxed on a boat and grooved to Elton John hits. "We're in Mexico, out on the ocean, having a blast," a pal of Simpson's called in to say. "It's nice to see Jessica actually relax."

Especially when she'll be back to work very soon. On April 20, Simpson and her husband, Nick Lachey, will head to Iraq for a six-day USO tour with Black Eyed Peas, Ciara, Big & Rich and Willie Nelson. (A two-hour special of the tour will air during May sweeps.) At each stop Simpson and Lachey will perform two songs together and will sing two solo numbers. Jessica will also join Nelson-her Dukes costar with whom she recorded a duet for the Dukes soundtrack—onstage for "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." (The Hazzard pay won't end there: In June, Wal-Mart will sell posters of Simpson doing her best Daisy Duke pose by a pickup truck.)

Even though Simpson was in Mexico sans Lachey, she continued to blow off rumors of a rocky marriage. "It is solid," she told PEOPLE. "It's a lot of pressure to make sure that we are always smiling...but at the end of the day, we love each other, and it is worth it."

Can-o-Kabbalah
Could you use a little spring in your step? Try Kabbalah Energy Drink, a highly caffeinated, vitamin-infused, rabbi-blessed buzz booster. For only $2, "you get the power of Kabbalah water, incredible energy and a great taste," claims Darin Ezra, the product director of Kabbalah Enterprises. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are said to be fans; a source says Kutcher is in talks to promote KED, the refreshing elixir in the handy blue can. (The actor could not be reached for comment.)

CAUSE CELEBS
His marriage may be ending, but Brad Pitt is still committed to good works. With other celebs, Pitt made a public service ad for the Make Poverty History campaign. In the ad, which debuted in England March 31 (U.S. airings are planned), stars snap their fingers every three seconds—the frequency at which, according to the ad, a Third World child dies from poverty. Pitt visited Africa last year to research the HIV and land-mine crises and may return to the continent soon.

To Tell The Truth, Up Front
Sure, Scott Savol—one of nine finalists on American Idol—could be voted off the popular FOX show at any time. But at least he won't be booted due to his 2001 arrest for felony domestic violence. A network rep says that Savol was "forthcoming" about this incident—even before it was publicized recently on thesmokinggun.com—and that he won't be disqualified, because he showed "honesty and remorse." Savol pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in Shaker Heights, Ohio, after a scuffle with the mother of his son.

EMPTY NESTS
CELEBRITIES: They're different from you and me. Sometimes they buy really big, really expensive apartments—and never move in. Then they sell them. Behold! Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have put the $7.3 million home they purchased in 2003 back on the market.

REASON: It's too darn big. Nicole Kidman dropped $8 million in 2002 for a duplex condo in a sought-after glass and steel tower in the West Village—and sold it before construction was even completed. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs sought $4.3 million to unload the four-bedroom loft he owned in Tribeca, even after doing extensive renovations.

POP QUIZ

Lisa Marie Presley

Her dad, Elvis Presley, was, well, Elvis Presley. Lisa Marie Presley, now 36, is a mother of two (daughter Riley, 15, models); a newly minted organic vegetarian (what would Elvis think?); and works with her ex-husband (Danny Keough, not Michael Jackson). She spoke with Scoop about her new CD, Now What.

Are you excited about going out on tour?
More like nervous. Even though I have written these songs, playing them live is something else entirely. And we also have a new bass player—my ex-husband Danny [Keough].

Isn't that awkward?
We are like brother and sister, so it is not weird at all. Ultimately this is a good message to send out to people: You don't have to put your crap on your kids even if you are not together. You can still be civilized. I knew at the age that I had the kids with him that Danny was someone I could be connected with for the rest of my life. I knew he would be a good father.

Your first single is Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry," an indictment of TV news. Do you watch the news?
I prefer not to. It is depressing.

What do you do when you want to relax?
I read a lot. The best way that I relax is taking a long bath and watching Nick at Nite and going to bed. That is a good night.

Any fears about your daughter Riley's becoming a model?
It is fair to say that I don't want her getting too wrapped up in her looks or in the shallow parts of our society. I am relieved that she is not doing that. She is an extremely levelheaded and down-to-earth person. If she started to turn into an anorexic freak, I would have to step in.

Are you a sentimental person?
I can be. Anytime I go somewhere from my childhood, it will bring up feelings. Graceland is probably the place I get the most sentimental.

When were you last there?
At Christmas. It is always the same, which is a beautiful thing.

Brad's New Pad
Less than two weeks after Jennifer Aniston put reconciliation rumors to rest by filing for divorce, Brad Pitt reportedly bought a new home. Having graciously relinquished the couple's newly renovated $13.5 million mansion to Aniston, Pitt sought shelter along the coast. The five-bedroom house, which set the actor back $8.4 million, has spectacular ocean views. Another potential selling point? Privacy. According to one Realtor, it is almost impossible for pesky paparazzi to enter the property.

• Contributors:
• Olivia Abel,
• Elizabeth O'Brien,
• Marisa Wong,
• Jennifer Wren,
• Bryan Alexander,
• Mark Dagostino,
• Michael Fleeman,
• Dede Gallagher,
• Liza Hamm,
• Kristin Harmel,
• Oliver Jones,
• Kwala Mandel,
• Samantha McIntyre,
• Liz McNeil,
• Gail Nussbaum,
• Monica Rizzo,
• David Searls,
• .