This Week: What's Old Is New Again

It was like deja vu all over again in Hollywood this week. Paris and Nicole are BFFs again, Barbra is back on stage, Angie and Brad are making news overseas, and Mel Gibson is making more apologies about his arrest.

Gibson came out of hiding for his first interview since his arrest on drunken driving charges in July. He told ABC's Diane Sawyer about that fateful night in which he downed drinks at a bar, drove drunk and spewed anti-Semitic remarks that would make international headlines.

Gibson said he slugged tequila while driving before launching his tirade on the arresting cop and that he attempted to fix his hair before his mug shot was taken, for fear he'd channel Nick Nolte circa 2002.

He said the despicable remarks he made were "just the stupid rambling of a drunkard."

"Let me be real clear," he said. "In sobriety, on national television, I don't believe that Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. I mean, that's an outrageous drunken statement."

He offered a suggestion, too, for stomping out racial intolerance: "have dinner."

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie dined together in West Hollywood on Sunday night, and subsequently ended their longstanding feud. (Over what? It's still not clear.)

"The girls did have dinner together last night. I truthfully cannot tell you what they spoke about," Elliot Mintz, Paris' publicist, told The ShowBuzz Monday.

The ladies reportedly had a slumber party after the meal and are BFFs again, just in time for production of their E! show, "The Simple Life," which begins next month. How convenient.

After the meal, the childhood friends sat on a bench and text messaged like crazy as paparazzi cameras snapped shots — aaah, just like old times.

Brangelina is back in the spotlight this week. They are in India where they began filming "A Mighty Heart," a film about the death of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.

2The couple was mobbed by press when they went on an autorickshaw ride in Pune with their 5-year-old son, Maddox. They looked happy, Maddox just looked frightened — and rightfully so!

The little guy probably feels safe, though, under the protection of Jolie's bodyguard, the meatball of a man who violently grabbed a photographer by the throat outside of their hotel on Saturday. That guy is no joke! To watch the paparazzi-bodyguard smack down

Jolie and Pitt made headlines again when they donated $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation on Tuesday, People magazine reported. That day would have been Pearl's 43rd birthday.

Later in the week, statements that Jolie wrote in a quarterly magazine published by the U.N. refugee agency condemning Western nation's indifference to the treatment of refugees were brought to light by The Associated Press.

"It's a scandal, really, in such a rich world, that we are not even finding a way to help feed refugee families properly," she wrote.

"Agencies like UNHCR (the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) should not really have to struggle to scrape a few tens of millions of dollars together to help rebuild shattered nations — like Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and south Sudan," Jolie said. "But we won't pay for a full cure."

Steve Irwin's little girl, Bindi, greeted her public on Tuesday night at Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards in Sydney. It marked the first time the 8-year-old had appeared since her father's public memorial at Australia Zoo last month where she won everyone's heart with a thoughtful speech in memory of her dad.

3Irwin had planned on going to the event with his daughter before he was killed by a stingray's barb while filming a TV show.

"It's kind of sad that he couldn't be here but it's nice that I could do it," Bindi told News.com.au at the event.

Barbra Streisand returned to her hometown of New York City this week, taking the stage at Madison Square Garden, the third stop on a 20-city tour. A 12-year absence from touring has certainly fired Babs up — she barked "Shut the (expletive) up" to a heckler in the crowd after he booed a skit portraying President Bush as a moron.

R&B singer Ruben Studdard, aka the Velvet Teddy Bear, reappeared this week with 25 percent less fat on his bones. Studdard, who once weighed in at more than 400 pounds, shed nearly 100 by cutting calories and becoming a vegetarian.

4Another familiar face was back in the news this week, Jennifer Wilbanks, who was dubbed the "runaway bride" after she skipped town just days before her lavish wedding in 2005. She sued her former fiancé, John Mason, for $500,000.

She wants her share of a home Mason purchased when they were together and other personal property, among other things.

This week, Madonna engaged in the new celebrity trend: adoption. On Thursday she and her husband Guy Ritchie took custody of a 1-year-old Malawi boy named David Banda. The infant's mother died at childbirth and his father was happy that the couple would be raising his son.

"They are a lovely couple," Yohame Banda told the AP. "She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit."
By Amy Bonawitz