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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

2007 quite a year for those wacky, tacky celebs


British soul singer Amy Winehouse performs during her concert at the Volkshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, in this Oct. 25 photo. Associated Press
 (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Nekesa Mumbi Moody Associated Press

Sometimes life gets so crazy that you just want to shave your head, stop wearing underwear in public and go to rehab.

Wait … you didn’t have those urges this year? Then you obviously didn’t live in Hollywood, where such shenanigans are considered a regular way of life.

Here are just a few reasons to thank the heavens above you’re not famous:

Britney: The Fat Elvis Years – Actually, that’s an unfair comparison – to Elvis. All the King ever did was get fat and drugged up. Britney Spears’ exploits were so wild and distasteful even Michael Jackson would disapprove.

A quick recap: She shaved her head bald (then went out drinking and partying), went to rehab (then went out drinking and partying), got divorced from K-Fed (then went out drinking and partying), prepared for a comeback performance on the MTV Video Music Awards (by drinking and partying) – and bombed in epic fashion (then went out drinking and partying).

Finally, she lost physical custody of her kids – and then went out drinking and partying.

Despite all this, she did manage to put out an album that actually got critical acclaim. We’re sure she’ll drink to that – actually, she already has.

Now that Whitney’s sober … Well, someone had to take over that jittery, substance-abusing pop star role. And despite all of Brit’s hard work to get the coveted spot, it was a natural for Amy Winehouse.

The British retro-soul singer – who made Hollywood’s 2007 theme song, “Rehab” – was photographed with a suspicious white powder lining her nostrils, walked the streets barefoot with only a bra and jeans, and got into an altercation with someone (maybe her husband, maybe not) that left her makeup smudged and her shoes bloody.

She canceled tours because of “health concerns” and when she did perform in recent months, she made Britney look like Beyonce. Now we know what she’s been hiding in that massive beehive hairdo.

How Lo can she go? Before the year was over, Lindsay Lohan was arrested twice, got into two car accidents, went to rehab – again, twice – and did an 84-minute stint in jail.

Among her most embarrassing episodes was getting caught with a packet of cocaine in her pants while going after the mother of her former personal assistant in a wild car chase.

Lohan claimed the drugs weren’t hers and actually just belonged to a friend. Who knew she and Amy Winehouse were buddies?

This kind of makes up for O.J. – In the state that let Robert Blake, O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson walk free, authorities finally got tough on a true menace to society: Paris Hilton.

The bimbo heiress was sentenced to 45 days for a probation violation involving an alcohol-related driving offense – and that was cut to 23 before she even entered the clink. Her hysterics and a “medical condition” got her released after just four days, but public outcry led a judge to haul the distraught socialite back to jail to finish the remainder of her sentence.

After she was released, a chastened Hilton promised to do more charity work, and promised to help Rwanda. Her good-will mission was postponed, however – perhaps when she found out that Rwanda was an impoverished nation in Africa, and not a poor girl in dire need of a makeover.

Feud of the Year – Rosie O’Donnell versus Donald Trump. And Elisabeth Hasselbeck. And Barbara Walters. And … OK, let’s just put Rosie up against just about everybody – she had more beefs going than 50 Cent.

Unlike 50, though, O’Donnell actually did fade from the limelight following defeat: She quit “The View” earlier than scheduled when Hasselbeck took her down a notch during one of their regular catfights.

The Michael Richards Diversity Award – So much competition for this one! “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Isaiah Washington seemed to have it locked up for uttering the homophobic f-bomb, setting the stage for his dismissal from the hit show.

Not to be outdone, the always politically incorrect Don Imus did him one better with a racial slur against the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, costing him both his radio and TV gigs (though he was back on the radio by the end of the year).

Still, the white hood goes to Duane “Dog” Chapman, the reality show bounty hunter whose own son taped him delivering the N-word with gusto during a phone conversation.

Father knows best – The best insults, that is, if we’re discussing Alec Baldwin. In a phone message to his 11-year-old daughter that was leaked to the media, the actor is heard calling her a “rude, thoughtless little pig” for missing a scheduled phone call from dear old dad.

R.I.P., we think not – Last year’s “Trainwreck of the Year,” Anna Nicole Smith, showed us we were a little too accurate by dying of a drug overdose. After her untimely death, it seemed as if the Smith sideshow was over, but it had only just begun.

There was the Larry Birkhead-Howard Stern paternity battle over her infant daughter Dannielynn, Virgie Arthur’s attempt to get custody of her grandaughter, and the weekslong battle over where Anna Nicole would be buried as her body decomposed.

If you had to deal with that drama every day, you’d check out early, too.