HELPING HAND: Christina Aguilera sings about the abuse she says she and her mother suffered at the hand of her father in “I’m Okay.” And the pop tart donated $200,000 to a shelter for women in her hometown of Pittsburgh.
Aguilera visited the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh on Sunday. She spent two hours signing autographs and talking to the shelter’s 18 women and 23 children. She also helped wrap Christmas presents for the children.
“I always thought that if I was ever in a position to make a difference, I wanted to do something to help,” she told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Looks like she has.
DUFF DAY: Hilary Duff likes clothes shopping, just like her character Lorraine in “Cheaper by the Dozen.” But that’s where the similarities end.
“[Lorraine] loves to stare at herself in the mirror … and she thinks her family is kind of sloppy,” Duff tells the San Francisco Chronicle.
“She’s very self-centered, and I hope I’m not like that in real life.”
She’ll be able to find out when she watches the movie on opening night.
“I love that this movie is coming out on Christmas Day because it’s always been a tradition in our family that we eat together and then we all go see a movie,” she says.
EXIT STRATEGY? Rumors are swirling that David Letterman may not renew his contract with CBS next year, the New York Post reports.
The new father of a baby boy continues to lose his ratings battle with Jay Leno, fueling speculation that he’s ready to give up his “Late Show” desk for good. If he leaves, Conan O’Brien (also a new father this year) is the leading candidate to replace him.
However, a rep for Letterman said, “This was news to Dave. It’s not true.”
BAD DADDY: Trick Daddy raps about being a thug. Luckily for him he won’t have to do time for it.
The Miami-based rapper avoided prison time Monday by pleading guilty in a plea bargain to drug and weapons charges, prosecutors said.
He was sentenced to three years probation and will have to make 24 free appearances with school children to lecture them on guns, drugs and AIDS.
SHOT IN THE ARM: 50 Cent’s not the only Hollywood star to survive a tough upbringing. Brian Goodman of ABC’s “Line of Fire” recently told TV Guide about his troubled past in South Boston.
Goodman spent five years in jail for drug trafficking. He says he’s been shot four times and stabbed twice. But after leaving prison in 1994, Goodman says he set out for Hollywood. He says he’s been sober for 9 years.
“I found a childhood dream to act,” Goodman says.
“You know, where I came from, you couldn’t talk about your dreams because you’d be laughed at. I wish I had done this 30 years ago.”
RINGING ENDORSEMENT: Snoop Dogg will be ringing in the New Year with cell phone giant Nokia.
The rapper will star in a series of interactive spots directed by Madonna’s hubby Guy Ritchie leading up to the Nokia Sugar Bowl, college football’s national championship game. Viewers have to help Tha Doggfather figure out which one of several guest stars plans to swipe the championship trophy.
Snoop’s already in a new America Online ad. Might as well sign up to hawk Nike and Microsoft while he’s at it.
BRIDE TO BE: Hollywood hotties Rachael Leigh Cook and Daniel Gillies are engaged, E! Online reports.
Cook, of “Josie and the Pussycats” fame, next stars in “Stateside” with Val Kilmer. Gillies is set to share the screen with Tobey Maguire in “Spider-Man 2.”
Collecting her check
The action scenes in “Paycheck” were a cinch for Uma Thurman. After all, she’d just finished filming the martial arts gore-fest “Kill Bill.”
“Compared to ‘Kill Bill’ it was a walk in the park,” she said, Ananova.com reports. “I was like, ‘Kick that person? Sure, no problem. What kind of kick do you want? Do you want a slap kick? A roundhouse kick?’ “
Co-starring with Ben Affleck in “Paycheck,” a sci-fi thriller, didn’t require the kind of rigorous training “Kill Bill” director Quentin Tarantino demanded.
“[Affleck] got to do all the big work and I just got to show up and be the girl, so it was really nice as a juxtaposition.”
Baby on board Crowe’s boat
There’s a new gladiator in Russell Crowe’s house.
The actor’s wife, Danielle Spencer, has given birth to a baby boy, Crowe’s publicist said Monday.
Charles Spencer Crowe was born Sunday night, weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces, Crowe’s publicist, Wendy Day, told Australian Associated Press.
“He’s a healthy, bouncing baby boy looking forward to Christmas,” Day said.
Crowe was nominated for a Golden Globe Award last week for “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
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Compiled from RedEye news services and edited by Leo Ebersole (lebersole@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
