I literally had to do a double take when I passed by the tabloid section at the supermarket. The headline read, “New Look for Kate Gosselin”, but could that be her?

The picture splashed across People Magazine’s January issue looks more like a photoshoot for one of Hollywood’s newest starlets. But, it is in fact, Kate Gosselin. It appears she is attempting to start her life over, a life without hubby Jon Gosselin, and she starts with this awesome makeover and an interview with People.

“It’s good to have hair again,” Kate tells People. “I never thought I’d have short hair for as long as I did. I feel like this is a fresh start, a fresh me, a fresh life.”

Later in the interview, she refers to herself as the new “Kate Clean Slate.”

“I’m rebuilding. There’s no option for this not to be a good year. Now I get to start over with a new self and new goals.”

The saga of Leno vs. Conan continues and last night, Jimmy Kimmel got in on the action. Blasting Leno on his very own show, Kimmel continuously ripped Jay Leno for his return to the 11:35 time slot on NBC.

Kimmel appeared on Jay’s show during a segment they call “10 at 10″. Kimmel was asked ten questions, most of his answers were direct shots at Jay and the surrounding controversy. But, perhaps the most scathing moment comes when Leno asked Kimmel what his favorite prank was.

“I told a guy that five years from now, I’m going to give you my show, and then I gave it to him and took it back almost instantly,” Kimmel said, drawing groans and horrified laughter from Leno’s audience. “I think he works at Fox or something now.”

At that point, Kimmel was rolling. “Ever order anything off the TV?” Leno asked.

“You mean the way NBC ordered your show off the TV?” Kimmel replied.

When asked about strippers, Kimmel said:

“I don’t like strippers because you have a phony relationship with them for money. Sort of like the way you and Conan were on ‘The Tonight Show’ together passing the torch? You know what I’m saying.”

Leno seemed to play along as Kimmel kept nailing him. It ended with Kimmel getting in one last shot.

“Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children,” he said. “All you have to take care of is cars. We have lives to lead here. You have $800 million. For God’s sake, leave our shows alone!”

The dreaded much anticipated return of American Idol is finally here. Hooray. (I hope the sarcasm is evident.)

In it’s ninth season, the wildly popular FOX series begins its quest to find the most talented singers in the nation and bring them together, on one stage, to compete for the coveted title…The American Idol. The two-night, four hour premiere holds auditions in Boston and Atlanta. But don’t expect to see Ellen DeGeneres. She won’t join the judging platform until February, when the tryouts are over and the real fun begins. (Again, I hope the sarcasm is evident.)

Simon, Randy and Kara DioGuardi will however be joined a slew of celebrity guest judges including Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain.

This ninth season does hold some excitement, along with the addition of Ellen and the absence of Paula, Simon Cowell has recently announced his departure from the show. Simon will finish out this season and then move onto a new venture, The X Factor.

PETA launched its newest campaign, “Fur-Free and Fabulous” last week and the White House is in an uproar. First Lady Michelle Obama appears alongside Tyra Banks, Oprah Winfrey and Carrie Underwood in advertisements for the organization (which can be seen in the D.C. area).

All four women have openly refused to wear real fur, but the White House maintains that the First Lady is not a spokesperson for the PETA organization and that they had no right to use Obama’s image in their ads.

In response, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk insists they wouldn’t have sought Obama’s consent for the ad because they know that she can’t make such an endorsement.

“The fact is that Michelle Obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn’t wear fur, and the world should know that in PETA’s eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous,” she said in a press statement.

PETA senior vice president Dan Mathews added that Obama should be flattered. Introducing the campaign, he said: “By rejecting fur, these style icons demonstrate to the world that fur is old-fashioned and cruel.”

Though police have announced that no further investigation is required in Tiger Woods’ late-night crash, the rumor mill is still working overtime and jeopardizing the marriage of the 7-time green jacket winner.

Jaimee Grubbs, Tiger’s alleged mistress, played a voicemail message that the golf superstar had left her on November 24. In the message, Tiger asked her to remove her name from the outgoing message on her voicemail because Elin (Tiger’s wifey) was becoming suspicious.

TMZ reported that Elin also called Jaimee herself on Friday, the day of the crash. Jaimee says the caller — a woman — did not identify herself but said, “You know who this is because you’re f**king my husband.”

So, maybe it isn’t a rumor.

Are celebrities really dumb enough to think that cocktail waitresses, strippers and the like will keep their mouths shut about hooking up with a superstar?

Some are calling this recent clash of wrestling legends a stunt. Hulk Hogan was beaten and bloody after a press conference in Australia earlier this week. Hogan and fellow wrestler Ric Flair both appeared at the press conference to promote the upcoming Hulkamania Tour, when an argument ensues and the punches began to fly. Flair delivered hard blows to Hulk’s head, over and over.

The end result…a bloody Hulk and a bruised ego. Hulk’s camp insists the entire incident was real. Real or fake, Hulk lost this battle.

Yet another sex tape involving a sexy starlet (well, in this case…a wannabe starlet) has surfaced. Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California, infamous for her opposition to gay marriage, has released a statement saying the recently divulged tape was “the biggest mistake of her life.”

Carrie said she was just a teenager when she sent an intimate video of herself to an ex-boyfriend. The tape surfaced when the dethroned queen pursued a settlement with the Miss USA organization for a whopping amount totaling more than $1,000,000. The pageant’s lawyers showed Prejean the x-rated tape of her and…herself. Prejean quickly dropped the whole thing. She walked away with nothing.

Why don’t we ever hear about sex tapes from less attractive people? Like Tom Arnold or Rosie O’Donnell? Are the pretty people the only naive ones to think that no one else will ever see their home videos?

Newly released information states that the FBI investigated Anna Nicole Smith for the attempted murder of her late husband’s son. She was never prosecuted. One of her ex-boyfriends claims ANS tried to get him to do the deed when they dated. The Associated Press reported this:

Smith’s FBI records, obtained exclusively by The Associated Press, say the agency investigated Smith in 2000 and 2001 in a murder-for-hire plot targeting E. Pierce Marshall, who was at the center of a long legal fight to keep the starlet, model and stripper from collecting his father’s oil wealth, valued in the hundreds of millions. The younger Marshall died three years ago of natural causes.

The documents released under the Freedom of Information Act depict an investigation going on as the fight raged over J. Howard Marshall II’s estate. Vast sections of the 100 pages of released materials — a fraction of Smith’s full FBI file — are whited out, and no evidence of her involvement in such a plot is detailed.

The FBI files show a .357-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver was confiscated from Smith’s home, along with a 3 1/2-inch stainless steel knife and, for reasons that were not explained, a black and orange hat described as “Dr. Seuss.” All three objects were returned to her about seven months later.

Of course, she won’t be prosecuted now. The actress died in 2007 of an apparent overdose.

A Michigan cop calls 911 because he is convinced he and his wife have overdosed on marijuana brownies. They used a quarter ounce of marijuana to bake brownies. The two of them ate them all. Turns out, the wacky weed was confiscated from suspects.

“I think we’re dying,” he said. “We made brownies and I think we’re dead, I really do.”

The video is absolutely hysterical; wait for the reporters’ reaction.

Get this, the guy was never prosecuted! He was allowed to resign from the Dearborn Police Department and no further charges were pursued. Other incidents of police misconduct have since surfaced for the officer and his wife. On a separate occasion, 26-year old Stacy Sanchez (dumb cop’s wife), voluntarily told police investigators that she removed cocaine from her husband’s police cruiser that was part of the department’s drug dog training program. She then went on a reported three-week coke binge. Stacy Sanchez has not been charged criminally either.

Justice isn’t blind, it’s high.

That’s right, Leno brings the billigerent bad-ass to the verge of tears. After Sunday night’s outburst at the VMA’s, Kanye West appeared on the season premiere of Jay Leno’s new show to answer for his behavior.

During Kanye’s apology for his disrespectful rant, his voice quivered, eyes filled with water and he hung his head. Leno invoked the rapper’s deceased mother, asking Kanye what his mother would have thought about his actions. After a long, awkward pause, West said this:

“So many celebrities, they never take the time off. I’ve never taken the time off to really — you know, just music after music and tour after tour. I’m just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else’s hurt. My dream of what awards shows are supposed to be, ’cause, and I don’t try to justify it because I was just in the wrong. That’s period. But I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I’m going to make it through the rest of this life, how I’m going to improve.”

Translation:  I did it because I never take any time off (and that is Taylor Swift’s fault). I was wrong and now I will be going into hiding until this all blows over.

In case you missed West’s drunken rant during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, here you go.