Where in the world has actress Meg Ryan been lately? Traveling to China, to bring back her new baby daughter
It's a girl!
Meg Ryan is a new mom. Months after applying to adopt a child in China, Ryan, 44, flew there recently to bring her baby daughter home to L.A. No word yet on the age or name of the tot, who will join 13-year-old Jack Henry, Ryan's son with her ex-husband, actor Dennis Quaid, 51. "It is a personal family situation that she does not feel inclined to share," says Ryan's rep. Says David Ptasnik, cofounder of the Seattle-based agency Americans Adopting Orphans, which has helped more than 600 families adopt, primarily from China: "I think it's great. It lets people know that international adoptions are possible and that it's culturally acceptable. It's going to help a lot of kids." Ptasnik notes that China, with a large number of healthy children and the relative ease in adopting them, is a popular place for U.S. adoptions. While in China, Ryan met with the U.S. consulate. She will continue to be a working mother: She is developing a Sylvia Plath biopic, has been publishing her photographs in magazines and, after a two-year absence, will return to the big screen later this year in the romantic comedy In the Land of Women.
DEEP THOUGHTS
by Paris Hilton
Long for clues to unlock the enigma that is Paris Hilton? Check out these quotes from her 221-page deposition, part of a defamation suit filed by a dance-club denizen who claims Hilton planted gossip items about her. Hilton denies the charge.
Q: Were they U.K. publications?
Hilton: No ... there is stuff in London.
Q: London is a U.K. publication.
Hilton: Right. U.K. Whatever.
Q: You don't know his last name?
Hilton: It is like a weird Greek name. Like Douglas or—I have no idea how to say it.
"I always dance.... Like dancing on the dance floor."
"I don't want press, especially bad press."
"I didn't even know he had gave a thingy."
"I'm so hungry."
JARED GETS HEAVY
Would you like fries with that? To bulk up for his latest movie role, Jared Leto gained more than 50 lbs. in less than two months. In Chapter 27 the normally buff Leto plays a pudgy Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's killer. (Lindsay Lohan is co-starring.) He's been eating "pretty much nonstop, day and night," says Ane Crabtree, the film's costume designer. "Sometimes he orders McDonald's at 9 or 10 p.m. Burgers, fries and shakes—often two or three of each." Crabtree initially had a fat suit constructed for Leto, 34, (who started at about 140 lbs.) before he made the decision to put on the weight for real. "It's an absolute realistic look of Mark David Chapman," she says. "And it helps him get into the role." Though the actor has stopped exercising during filming, a doctor is monitoring his health. Says Crabtree: "Jared's very dedicated."
Guess Who?
Dresses like an Olsen. Vogues like an Olsen. But it's ... Pink, in her video "Stupid Girls," off the CD I'm Not Dead, due in April.
HATCH ON TRIAL
Richard Hatch beat the competition to win $1 million on the original Survivor in 2000, but the sequel is still playing itself out. Hatch, 44, who faces up to 73 years in prison and $3.1 million in fines for two counts of tax evasion and eight other charges, insisted at his trial in Providence on Jan. 20 that CBS producers told him the network would pay the taxes on his winnings. (The offer was made, his lawyer claimed, after Hatch caught CBS employees sneaking food to contestants; CBS had no comment.) Government witnesses, including two of Hatch's accountants, testified that they told him to declare his windfall. At press time the jury was still out on whether Hatch would survive as a free man.
HOLLYWOOD PERSONALS
Desperate Housewife
Los Angeles
Age: 41
Quote:
"Guys have the perception of knowing me when I don't even know them."
SEEKING:
Man who has never heard of her.
HELP!
New York City
Age: 30
Quote:
"I'm completely alone and completely miserable."
SEEKING:
Woman between 18 and 45 with an IQ of 130 or higher.
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Los Angeles
Age: 36
Quote:
"I'll know when the right person comes along."
SEEKING:
The right man at the right time.
The latest single-celeb trend? If you can't get, go public! Lisa Loeb, in the market, has launched her own show #1 Single on E!. Rachel Hunter, Teri Hatcher (far left) and Sean Lennon have also spoken recently about the match game. So SCOOP asked Dr. Joy Browne, radio host and author of Dating for Dummies, to weigh in. Her advice for Hatcher: "I'd send her to an auto-repair class, where people don't necessarily know about Desperate Housewives. Her perfect date is an earthy ... lumberjack type." For Lennon: "Go someplace with no musicians." For Hunter: "Play to her unknown strengths. I sense she's a really smart woman who doesn't get much attention for that."
DRUG RAP: A NEW LEIF?
"I was a functioning drug addict," '70s teen idol Leif Garrett told Scoop on Jan. 24, 10 days after being charged with heroin possession. Los Angeles police arrested Garrett on Jan. 14 when he failed to pay his fare on a city subway, they say. Later, police allege, heroin was found in his possession. Garrett admits to smoking the drug nearly every day recently, although he says he never injected it because he's "scared to death of needles."
The singer and actor, who has been arrested previously on drug charges, spent six days in jail before being released and entering rehab. "I'd never been incarcerated and not only was it an eye-opener, it was scary as hell," says Garrett, 44. "I couldn't do time. There's no way."
Now, says Garrett, who pleaded innocent, "I will be getting the proper help I need to fight the disease. I have to go [to rehab] every single day for a year." His mother, Carolyn Stellar, is hopeful. Therapy will "clean all the demons out of his head," she says. After that, "he will come back, and he will never look like that picture," she adds about his mug shot (left).
She says that Garrett, whose most recent credits include the '03 comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and the '05 film Popstar, is writing an autobiography and wants to become a youth drug counselor once he is clean. Says Stellar: "He has mentioned many times that he wants to help others so they never fall into the same horrible trap."
A COSTLY DIVORCE
Actress Ellen Barkin and Revlon cosmetics tycoon Ron Perelman have split after five years of marriage. "No papers have been served. Ellen is still at the house," says a source close to Perelman. Barkin, 51, stands to receive $20 million, in accordance with a prenup she signed. "This is a painful time for both of them." The source denied reports that Perelman, 62, timed the split to avoid paying more. "This was not motivated by finances. There's no magic payment date."
SHOULD BRAD & ANGELINA WED?
In December, 46 percent of 500,000 PEOPLE.com voters said yes. With a baby on the way, yea-sayers jumped 19 percent.
65% YES
35% NO
POP QUIZ
Dorothy Hamill
Nearly 30 years after winning the gold at the 1976 Olympics—and spawning a fashion fad with her trademark do—Dorothy Hamill, 49, is back on the ice and in front of the cameras. She's a judge on the FOX show Skating with Celebrities and tours the country with Broadway on Ice. Hamill tells Scoop about skating through her busy life.
What motivates you to keep performing?
Skating is really my first love, since I was 8. It's my therapy—I just love putting on the music, going to the ice and just moving around.
What's your goal as a judge on Celebrities?
The biggest challenge is to remember that the show is about entertainment. The goal is to give [contestants] comments for improvement so they can stay on for the next round.
Enjoying it?
It's been a blast! It's just so fun to be part of the crew.
You're the mother of a 17-year-old [daughter Alexandra], but you have the body of a 20-year-old. How do you stay that way?
I perform with a lot of 20-year-olds, and I guarantee you my body is nothing like theirs. I do skate a lot, and I do good old-fashioned calisthenics—push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, squats and stretching, of course.
And you still have the same hairstyle?
Part of the reason I've kept it short is because the few times I've tried to change it, people have sort of said, "You know, that look isn't good on you." It turns out my mother was right!
Do you use special products for your hair?
I never used products until this show. My hair is now gray—I have to have it colored, so the texture is different.
Rumor has it that you've been dating fellow Broadway on Ice star Davis Gaines?
Yes, those rumors are true. He's a sweet, sweet man. We both love food, and we both love music, and we both love art and travel. But Davis lives in California and I live in Baltimore, so it's long distance. I'm not too great at those relationships. It's tough, but great!
OUT WITH THE GIRLS
She's moved out on her own and the divorce is proceeding. But when will Jessica Simpson start dating again? The 25-year-old soon-to-be-ex Mrs. Nick Lachey has been hitting the Hollywood scene—but only with girlfriends. She has dined out recently at Koi, Il Sole and Mr. Chow with her sister Ashlee and female pals. At the Jan. 20 Ringside and She Wants Revenge concert in Los Angeles, Simpson met up with Eva Mendes and others and "was dancing all night," says an onlooker. "But it looked like a fun girls' night out. I didn't see her hanging out with any guys or even looking at guys." There were no VIP restrooms, so Simpson even queued up for a 20-minute bathroom wait. "She was just like any other girl in line," says an observer. And while men have tried hitting on her—Maroon 5's frontman Adam Levine approached her when she was having drinks with Mendes at the Chateau Marmont Jan. 16—"she's not acting on any of it," says a source. "She's enjoying the attention but is not ready to date."
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