Hollywood Headlines of 2010 : A crazy year in review

As if air travel wasn’t hard enough this year, there was the Kevin Smith/Southwest Airlines public battle in February. He said, she said, he said, she said ... how we all made it through the day no one will ever quite know. And what of Smith’s “Cop Out” costars? See what hottie Ana de la Reguera had to say.  (Matt Sayles /Associated Press)

Juicy reality TV gossip doesn’t get much juicier than this. Remember the hullabaloo surrounding “The Bachelor’s” ousted contestant Rozlyn Papa? (We know it’s a bit of a stretch, but stay with us). Turns out, she allegedly had some fun with one of the show’s producers, and both were let go. On the reunion episode, she was back and had plenty more to say and lots more accusations to make. Click for the juice, and what host Chris Harrison, pictured above, said.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Sam Worthington played a likable protagonist in 2010 award show darling “Avatar,” but he wasn’t the first actor to be offered the role. Which Hollywood hams turned down the chance of a career?  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Just when Howard Stern’s downgraded vehicle of public notoriety seemed to be sputtering to a halt, the shock jock made headlines again during Oscar season by -- what else? -- insulting people. This time, the remarks came at the expense of “Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe.  (Stuart Ramson / Associated Press)

No doubt, one of the major mistakes of the 2010 Oscars was the omission of Farrah Fawcett from the “In Memoriam” section. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences eventually made some apologies,  (Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)

In March, model Giselle Bundchen revealed her newborn baby boy and her post-baby body -- which looked close to perfect. She attributes her figure’s return to form to “muscle memory.” Too bad that for most of us, our muscles are amnesiacs.  (Mauricio Lima / AFP, Getty Images)

John Mayer decided somewhere between his publicist and Playboy magazine that it would be a good idea to use bad language (that starts with N), and kiss and tell on some former flames. He should have left that filthy prose for a song because it reads horribly. He eventually apologized.  (Peter Kramer / Associated Press)

Rielle Hunter, one reason John Edwards left politics, did a photo shoot for GQ in March -- and we got the video. If ever a woman didn’t want to be in front of a camera, this is it; her face is pulled into a perpetual frown. Perhaps she’s thinking about how she picked the wrong Democrat with whom to have a child?  (Mark Seliger / Associated Press)

Where can a single mother of 14 turn when she can’t afford her mortgage? Why, Vivid Entertainment, of course, makers of splendid porn! Vivid’s founder Stephen Hirsch said he’d offered Nadya Suleman help with a $450,000 balloon payment if she were to sign a “movie” contract with him. Suleman, of course, turned down the offer (something about morality). But she received help from PETA instead, when she agreed to advocate spaying and neutering -- in animals, of course. In the words of her lawyer, “No porn, just PETA.” Brilliant!  (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

The manager of pop sensation Justin Bieber was arrested in March on allegations related to a failure to tweet to Bieber’s fans that a mall gig that was getting out of hand had been canceled. About 3,000 fans had shown up, with organizers expecting just 1,000. Scott “Scooter” Braun said he complied with police requests to tweet the cancellation, but because he needed a computer, it took 10 minutes. We’re not sure what’s more ironic, that the manager of a top tween talent didn’t have a BlackBerry, or that the deposition was longer than 140 characters.  (Bryan Bedder / Getty Images)

At long last, the Green Day musical, “American Idiot,” arrived on the Great White Way in April and, at first, it had no problem selling tickets. Then sales started to sag, and producers brought in Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong, pictured at left, in the fall. That seemed to work, so he’ll try it again in January and February.  (Charles Sykes / Associated Press)

Heidi Montag had 10 -- count ‘em, 10 -- new plastic surgeries, according to MSNBC’s “The Scoop.” How did she celebrate? By showing off in an issue of “Playboy,” of course.  (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

Elizabeth Taylor came out swinging in defense of longtime BFF Michael Jackson when his doctor supported one of the doc’s employees’ claims that he’d had a gay love affair with Jackson. Well, Taylor was none too happy and took to Twitter to talk about it. Actually, that’s just as strange as everything else if you think about it.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

You go, Golden Girl. She was a hit at the SAG Awards, and more than 100,000 people on Facebook successfully called for her to host “Saturday Night Live.”It was hilarious.  (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

Tiger Woods wasn’t the only one with mistresses stepping out of the woodwork this year. Melissa Smith said she was Jesse James’ second mistress and she met him -- this is great -- via MySpace. This does, of course, answer that looming question, “Who’s still on MySpace?” Cheatin’ Hollywood celebs and tattooed strippers. Guess it’s back to grandma and pesky exes on Facebook for us. James’ divorce from Sandra Bullock was finalized in June. And somewhere around a Melissa and courtroom, he bared his soul to “Nightline” and canoodled with -- and reportedly fell in love -- with tattoo aficionado Kat Von D.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Larry King announced in June that he was hanging up his CNN suspenders and retiring to spend more time with his on-again off-again wife, Shawn, and their kids. His last episode aired in December. King had spent 25 years as host of “Larry King Live” -- meaning he began the show when he was, what, in his 80s? Oh, come on! We kid! We kid because we love.  (Paul Buck / EPA)

The Purple One issued another of his wiggly statements, this one declaring that the Internet, like MTV, was “over.” Perhaps he’s only ever been to MySpace, in which case we could understand. (OK, that’s it for the MySpace jokes.) The reason Prince was talking was that he was releasing a new album -- niftily named “20TEN” -- and was eschewing modern means of distributing it. Who’s willing to bet he’s on the verge of changing his name into an unpronounceable URL symbol?  (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)

Multiple alleged voice recordings of Mel Gibson ranting and raving to his estranged girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva surfaced this summer and allegedly included juicy tidbits like financial woes, physical threats and racial slurs. Police investigated whether Gibson had hit Grigorieva, and he accused her of extortion. Now the former couple are in court over who will win custody of their daughter.  (Jewel Samad / Getty Images)

The “scheduled to appear” list was like a Hollywood movie premiere: Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan ... but it wasn’t. It was a court case where these celebs had been subpoenaed to appear to testify against five reputed members of the “bling ring,” (one of whom was allegedly Alexis Christine Neiers, pictured above) who authorities said allegedly broke into the stars’ Hollywood Hills homes and made off with millions of dollars in art, cash, clothes and jewelry. Most of the ring was composed of young women who attended a continuation high school in Agoura Hills. What an interesting curriculum.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

How many friends do you have on Facebook? And if you started a fan page, how many of those friends would then like you? If you’d like a little perspective, meet Lady Gaga, who in July become the first living person to rack up 10 million fans on Facebook. That’s more than even Nobel Peace Prize-winning Barack Obama, who arguably has more press.  (Jemal Countess / Getty Images)

Jennifer Lopez canceled a concert she’d agreed to do at a hotel in northern Cyprus -- but, shockingly enough, it had nothing to do with her rider. A statement on her website (not on Twitter? How 2009!) said Jenny from the block would “never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse.” Cyprus, for those who skipped class that day, split violently into a Greek-speaking south and Turkish-speaking north after Turkey invaded in 1974. The gig would have been worth $3 million, so those naughty Turks certainly have some cash. But Jenny just wasn’t having it.  (Victor R. Caivano / Associated Press)

Don’t mess with Uncle Jesse. Allison Coss and Scott Sippola -- whom Stamos met and hung out with after he split with wife Rebecca Romijn -- had threatened to sell pictures of Johnny Boy with strippers and coke (not the fizzy drinking kind) unless he paid $680,000. They were each sentenced to four years in prison in October.  (John Flesher / Associated Press)

“CSI” was looking to cast a 16-year-old singing sensation who’s faced with a terrible decision, so they found (against all odds, we must point out) 16-year-old singing sensation Justin Bieber. The Biebinator’s guest role aired on the TV show’s Sept. 23 season premiere and brought about that very elusive audience to CBS -- anyone under 50.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The singer -- whom we all know for his modesty, after all -- finally signed up for the social media platform in July and was so surprised and heartwarmed by how many fans were so eager to follow his rapid-fire 140-character thoughts on everything from the “Social Network” movie trailer to his latest purchases and his hatred for stickers on laptops and half-empty water bottles. And even now, after months of experience, it seems the one thing Kanye hasn’t learned on Twitter is how to follow other people.  (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

Provocative filmmaker Oliver Stone whipped up a mild controversy in July when he claimed that Hitler did more damage to Russians than to Jews during World War II and that the American focus on the Holocaust was the result of “Jewish domination of the media.” Stone immediately issued a clarification, but several Jewish groups condemned his remarks.  (Mark Mainz / Associated Press)

Mike Tyson made a huge reveal this summer. Talking on ESPN Las Vegas’ “Gridlock” radio show, he said that the reason he did “The Hangover” was to “supply my drug habit.” That could also explain his performance. Tyson says that since then he’s gone vegan and lost 130 pounds. But it won’t stop fans of “The Hangover” from re-watching the film knowing the state the champ was in when he shot it -- and perhaps seeing it in a whole new light.  (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Love it or hate it, the August cover of “Rolling Stone” featuring the stars of HBO’s “True Blood” clad in their birthday suits and lots and lots of red-tinted corn syrup raised lots of eyebrows. Cast your vote for hot or gross here.  (Rolling Stone / EPA)

Paris Hilton. Come here. Listen. If you’re going to tell a story to the cops, you should probably stick to one version -- preferably the first. Because if you don’t, that’s what starts inviting nasty conjecture -- and none of us want that. To everyone else who’s reading this, we’re talking about Hilton’s changing story of the purse that contained the cocaine. Or the gum. Or the fact that it wasn’t her purse, she was holding it for a friend. Or whatever. One thing we know for certain is that she was arrested in Vegas this summer. She was also banned from the Wynn. And then, Japan.  (AFP / Getty Images)

The blind lady justice of the celebrity court system decided the fate of Little Miss Lilo this year, as the star was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 90 days in rehab because of probation violations, court records show. During what eventually ended up being 13 days behind bars, Lohan was known to read Ernest Hemingway and apparently whenever she left her cell, the entire jail was put on lockdown. After that long stretch of less than two weeks in the slammer, Lohan headed to rehab, where she’s scheduled to be released in early 2011. But of course our little redhead -- er, blond -- has a knack for finding trouble. In the slap that was heard around the world, Lindsay Lohan returned to the headlines after an incident at the Betty Ford Center. The story involves Lohan allegedly physically fighting with a clinic worker, who wanted to give her a drug test after Lohan had been out with friends. The woman has since been fired for telling her side of the story to the media, a violation of the center’s ethics codes. And then she later said she would not press charges or respond if subpoenaed by police.  (Mark Ralston / Getty Images)

She may be MTV’s favorite orange person, but “Jersey Shore’s” Snooki, pictured at left, failed to completely win over a judge. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was arrested in New Jersey in July, entering a guilty plea on a charge of interfering with “the enjoyment of the quiet use of the beach or public boardwalk.” By pleading guilty, she saw the disorderly conduct and public nuisance charges disappear -- but the judge wasn’t done yet. He then compared her to Lindsay Lohan and ordered her to pay a $500 fine and perform two days of community service.  (Mel Evans / Associated Press)

We all love a red-carpet event: stars, flashing lights, hustle and bustle. But do you think those stars show up because they want to? Puh-lease! It’s all about the green, baby, and if there wasn’t any money, those movie premieres and whatnot would be filled with tumbleweeds and the sound of crying producers. Word is slipping out just how much some of these stars rake in. The “Jersey Shore” cast -- yes, you read that correctly -- is getting paid up to $20,000 just to walk from one end of the red carpet to the other. And that’s small potatoes. Halle Berry was once paid $50,000 just to wear a Bulgari necklace to the Oscars. Click here to see how the money talks ... and the stars walk.  (David Livingston / Getty Images)

Lady Gaga’s dress of meat at the Video Music Awards? Well, she looked good enough to eat. Well done, Lady Gaga! That’s actually just us requesting how we like our steaks. You think the meat gags are going to end there? Please. The dress was a very rare one indeed; designer Franc Fernandez put it together with “real meat from my family butcher.” Hot dog!  (Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images)

Remember that bizarre car crash that was Joaquin Phoenix on “David Letterman early last year? He showed up heavily bearded, in shades, and grunted monosyllabic responses to Dave. Round 2, which happened in September, turned out to reveal that it was all an act. Of course, we now know that his documentary “I’m Still Here” is really one big, silly joke, but the question on everyone’s lips now is: “Did Dave know?” Well, some would have us believe that the talk show host didn’t, but one of his writers said that everyone was in on the gag.  (Charles Sykes / Associated Press)

As if she hasn’t had enough problems already, Japan detained Paris Hilton for six hours over two days upon her arriving in the country in September. Six. Long. Hours. God only knows what the socialite did to pass the time. Read? Regardless, at the end of those six hours, Japanese officials decided to put Hilton right back on a plane because her recent drug conviction offended their delicate sensibilities. Hilton traveled there to appear at a fashion show. We suppose you could call her fashionably late.  (Shuji Kajiyama / Associated Press)

“American Idol” lost two of its stalwart judges this year, as Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres moved on. But in September, two new replacements were announced. Come on down, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler! For more details on J-Lo, Steven Tyler, plus Randy Jackson’s and Ryan Seacrest’s reactions, click away!  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

In the wake of the tragic suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi -- after a homosexual encounter he had was recorded and shown online -- there’ s been a groundswell of support from people in the media who’ve been telling their own stories. One of those comes from “Project Runway’s” Tim Gunn, who reveals that he attempted suicide himself as a teen. The deeply personal confession was made in a video for the “It Gets Better” campaign.  (Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Katherine Heigl pounded the press boards this fall to promote “Life as We Know It” -- and her flacks have warned those who interview her to stay away from any questions regarding her reputation. But that didn’t stop KTLA’s Sam Rubin from asking a question regarding her, well, reputation. Heigl didn’t give anything other than an honest, sweet answer.  (Peter Kramer / Associated Press)

This fall, there was a brouhaha concerning Brett Favre, sports commentator Jenn Sterger, and cellphone pics of Favre’s naughty bits. Favre apparently had the hots for Sterger, and purportedly sent her plenty of texts and voicemails (and pics of the private parts). Now that could be tricky, because Favre’s married. Sterger told us a few months ago that “for every dumb girl that’s willing to lay down for you, at some point there’s going to be one smart enough to know what to do with that.”  (Adam Bettcher / Getty Images)

Perez Hilton clawed his way to the top of the bottom by dishing, ranting and outing. But at least one of those things is no longer on his “to do” list -- he’s decided to stop outing gay people. What brought on the change of lack-of-heart? The rash of recent suicides from gay teens could be part of the decision, but Perez is remaining mum on the subject. Either way, Perez’s blog is now a kinder, gentler place.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Courteney Cox had some problems with someone from her inner circle talking about her sex life -- or lack of it -- with husband David Arquette. And that person? David Arquette. He went on “Howard Stern” to talk about their separation and how they haven’t had sex with each other in months.  (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

When BIll O’Reilly took the guest seat on “The View” in October, no one expected a mutual admiration society to form, but when the touchy subject of building a mosque near ground zero came up, words began flying, and Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg stormed off their own set. Barbara Walters remained to chastise them, then turned her ire on O’Reilly. Goldberg and Behar eventually returned, tails between legs.  (Heidi Gutman / Associated Press)

In October, news broke that Tyra Banks was being sued by the mother of a self-professed teen sex addict for not getting the appropriate parental clearance for the child’s appearance. “The Tyra Show” in question aired in 2009, and according to the $3-million suit, producers didn’t get parental permission before they flew her out to New York, put her up in a hotel, and paid her for the segment. Jewel, the child in question, was 15 when she did the show and confessed to losing her virginity at 9, getting pregnant three times and having sex with much older men starting at age 13.  (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)

Where do we start? Charlie Sheen’s fall was quite interesting. It included a lot of gossip about drunken rages, hookers with hearts of sulfur and allergies. Rather than try to sum up the mess in a few words here, we’ll provide you the links to figure it out yourself. So for more on Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards’ views on the matter, click above as well as here for more on his “allergic reaction,”on prostitute allegations, a missing watch and hospitalization. Whew.  (Mark Ralston / Getty Images)

Randy and Evi Quaid are like those people in those “alien invasion” movies when they know something no one else does and run around screaming that we’re all going to die as no one listens. It’s frustrating for us, the audience, because we know they’re right. So have a heart -- or something -- for Randy and Evi Quaid, who attempted to seek asylum in Canada to escape what they call “Hollywood star whackers.” That’s a group of people -- or aliens, we’re not entirely sure -- who are “murdering” their close Hollywood friends -- and the Quaids could be next! Just follow the trail, people. Heath Ledger, Chris Penn, David Carradine, Natasha Richardson -- all appeared in films with Randy.  (Jonathan Hayward / Associated Press)

The Internet lit up this fall with tales of Demi Lovato falling off the Jonas Brothers tour to head into a rehab-of-sorts. But what happened? Initial speculation points to a fight Demi had with a female dancer on the tour. Word has it that after tales of a night of “partying” got out, Lovato placed the blame of whistle-blowing on a dancer. That, in turn, allegedly led to fisticuffs which left the dancer a little beaten and Lovato a little shaken (aww, poor girl), and she decided that she needed to get help. She settled her differences with dancer Alex Welch in December.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Kanye West isn’t done apologizing. But we’re not talking about Taylor Swift. No, this November he apologized to none other than George W. Bush. Kanye has said that when he labeled Bush a bigot (after the Hurricane Katrina debacle), he was speaking out of turn. He says now he’s been called a bigot himself and he understands that it’s a fairly powerful thing to accuse someone of being. Kanye says that all he and Bush are guilty of is a lack of compassion. Everybody say “awwwwww.”  (Joe Corrigan / Getty Images)

So just how did Brandy get the heave-ho from “Dancing With the Stars,” when she nailed a perfect score in November, while Bristol Palin (who came in last with the judges) stayed? It was enough to make one Wisconsin man mad enough to shoot his TV (it’s uncanny how his hunting skills are on a par with Sarah Palin’s). Here’s why Brandy went home and Bristol Palin kept on dancing.  (Adam Larkey / Associated Press)

Racy pictures of a scantily clad Christina Aguilera showed up online in December, but her rep says they were stylist shots never meant to see the light of day. The rep added that the pictures were illegally obtained by a hacker who crashed into Xtina’s personal stylist’s account. Presumably Xtina wants that hacker Xtinct.  (Carlos Alvarez / Getty Images)

Howard Stern, the king of all media who’s really only available on one tiny tentacle of it (satellite radio), re-signed his contract with Sirius XM for five years. Sirius XM saw its shares go up by 20%, so it must be happy. Presumably, so is Howard: Even though details of his contract weren’t released, one analyst estimated it to be worth $400 million over five years.  (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)