Lili Taylor and Lauren Conrad (I love that shade of green!)

Lili Taylor, John Forte and Lauren Conrad

Lauren Conrad and designer Nanette Lepore

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Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan

Oliver Stone

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A battle between the pop star and the fashion brand just turned fierce.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, the apparel retailer known for sexy advertising and casual looks, has sued the singer Beyonce Knowles, claiming her plan for a new fragrance to be launched in early 2010 infringes on its existing trademark.

In a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, Abercrombie claims a fragrance under the singer’s “Sasha Fierce” label “poses a likelihood of confusion” with the retailer’s own “Fierce” brand.

It said such confusion could deprive it of control over a trademark it has used since 2002, and perhaps cost it sales. The lawsuit seeks to halt potential trademark infringement, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.

Representatives of Knowles did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Best known for clothing sold to teens and college-age adults, New Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie said it has sold more than $190 million worth of fragrance under the Fierce name, and expects $64 million of sales in 2009.

Abercrombie sells Fierce at more than 350 retail stores and on its website, typically for $40 to $70 in bottles featuring a young man’s muscular, nude torso. The fragrance is sprayed throughout stores via a scent machine or by store employees.

“A&F’s intent is that all garments that leave the store have the FIERCE scent attached to them,” the complaint said.

The company markets Fierce as a men’s cologne whose “fresh citrus aroma” and “warm musky subtleness” will “naturally draw her curiosity because of its seductive nature.”

A saleswoman at a San Francisco store nonetheless described it as a “unisex” scent.

WHO IS MORE FIERCE?

Fragrance maker Coty Inc has signed an agreement to market Knowles’ fragrance.

Knowles, often known solely by her first name, is one of the world’s best-known singers, after having risen to fame as lead singer of the group Destiny’s Child.

Last November, her album “I am … Sasha Fierce” debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. On Sunday, the song “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” from that album won the Video of the Year award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

In English vernacular “fierce” means “cool” or “fabulous.”

The case is Abercrombie & Fitch Co v. Knowles, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (Columbus), No. 09-807.

Sobieski, who rocked a new engagement ring from fiancé Adam Kimmel at the premiere of “Public Enemies” is “thrilled” about her first pregnancy. “The happy couple are thrilled to be expecting their first child in December,” the star’s rep reveals to Us Weekly.

Art is imitating life for Elfman, who plays a pregnant woman on her new series, “Accidentally On Purpose.” Jenna and husband Bodhi Elfman are already parents to son Elias, 2. “I have a baby in my tummy — but a real one, not just for my TV show,” Jenna, 37, revealed on “The Early Show” this morning. “My character’s pregnant the whole first season, so I said, ‘It’s a good time to have another baby, because we won’t have to hide it.’”

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Mick Jagger’s youngest daughter Georgia May is clearly no shrinking violet.

In newly released photos from her ad campaign for U.S. denim label Hudson, the 17-year-old who still lives at home with her mother, Jerry Hall, is seen lying on her back splattered in red, white and blue paint wearing just a bra and a black pair of jeans.

Georgia also posed topless in this, her first major photoshoot since she was signed up to a modelling agency last year.

The shoot took place in East London earlier this year with photographer Mario Sorrenti, who also shot his former girlfriend, Kate Moss, naked, in the infamous Calvin Klein Obsession campaign.

Hudson spokesman David Lipman said of the decision to recruit Georgia: ‘It’s all about the heritage of having Mick Jagger as a dad and Jerry Hall as a mum.

‘But more than anything, it’s her spirit that captivates me.’

Georgia May, who lives with her mother in London, told the October issue of Vanity Fair that modelling is just a temporary gig for her while she tries to break into art, design and photography.

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The harsh world of legalities must be all too familiar for Hulk Hogan, but this time the semi-retired pro-wrestler has decided to sue the professionals whose job it was to stand up for him.

Hogan filed a lawsuit in the Pinellas County on Monday against two attorneys, Morris “Sandy” Weinberg Jr. and Lee Fugate, of the firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, with claims that the men (who defended him and son Nick Bollea following Nick’s 2007 car crash) for cheating him out of over $1.5 million.

According to the suit, Hulk’s automotive insurance company Progressive was obligated to cover all necessary legal costs, however the lawyers named allegedly failed to notify him of this and continued to bill at excessively high rates. Hulk also claimed that Progressive attempted numerous times to communicate with him over the incident, but the Zuckerman Spaeder legal team did not make him aware of their letters. By the time he understood his entitlements, he claims the relationship with the insurers had been “terminated.”

“It is common knowledge throughout the legal profession experienced in such matters, especially in the area of insurance defense litigation and personal injury law, that automobile insurance policies include the aforementioned duty to defend the insured, as well as any permissive user, should a civil suit arise or the possibility of a civil claim exist,” the lawsuit stated. “Defendants made no effort to advise of this important fact. Defendants were further aware, or should have been, that Bollea had no experience in the area of insurance.”

“The charges made by Terry Bollea are simply baseless. The Bollea’s came to Zuckerman Spaeder under very difficult circumstances. Both Terry Bollea and his son faced the threat of criminal prosecution and civil litigation. Zuckerman Spaeder, working with a co-counsel, achieved a very favorable result in the criminal case,” a rep from the firm told Tarts in a statement. “We absolutely dispute and will contest the claims made against us.”

But on the note of Nick Bollea’s tragic accident, the now 24-year-old John Graziano, who was in the passenger seat of Bollea’s vehicle at the time, was finally released from the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital last Wednesday, over two years after the incident. Graziano suffered severe brain damage, reportedly leaving him in a vegetative state.

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TMZ has obtained and posted the audio of President Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass.” It appears the initially off-the-record slam came during the chitchat preceding an official CNBC interview yesterday. CNBC’s John Harwood asks Obama if his daughters were as upset about as his kids were about West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. “I thought it was really inappropriate,” Obama says. “She’s getting an award. Why are you butting in?” Swift, the president notes, seems like a “perfectly nice person.” When Harwood questions why Kanye did it, Obama says point-blank: “He’s a jackass.” It didn’t take long for Obama to figure out that he said something he maybe shouldn’t have. “Where’s the pool?” Obama jokingly asks, as if to make sure no one heard him. “Come on, guys, cut the president some slack. I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate.”

The tape is pretty funny – you can listen here:
http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/15/obama-calls-kanye-a-jackass/

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Jessica Simpson has told of her horror after a coyote snatched her beloved pet dog, Daisy.

The singer and reality star used Twitter to appeal for the safe return of her Maltese-poodle cross and offered a reward to anyone who could help.

After posting a pic of Daisy, Jessica, 29, Tweeted: ‘My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes.

‘HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!’

It’s thought the dog was taken from the star’s garden in Calabasas, California.

A neighbour said: ‘We heard yelling and screaming coming from the direction of Jessica’s house around 9pm.

‘I can only imagine that it was that moment that it happened because the next day we saw posters up around the neighbourhood announcing that Jessica had lost her dog to a coyote. It’s so sad.’

Followers of Simpson on Twitter posted a mixed collection of messages.

Some were sympathetic, and said they would pray for the dog’s safe return, while others mocked Jessica for using Twitter when her dog had been taken by a wild animal.

Fan healincomfort replied: ‘I’m praying that you find her and she was able to defend herself.

‘My heart hurts for you, I’m an animal lover and it’s like losing a family member.’

But a tweet posted by UnsafestCorpse made reference to the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, quipping: ‘I have spotted the dog in a box marked ‘ACME’ being chased by a Roadrunner.’

Simpson has had her Maltipoo for several years and rarely travels without her.

Daisy is sometimes carried around in a Louis Vuitton dog-carrier and has even appeared on-stage during Simpson’s concerts.

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