Daddy’s poor little Richie girl
With his daughter Nicole scheduled to go to trial today for drunken driving, Lionel Richie is taking it all in stride.
“She’s just in an unfortunate situation,” the R&B singer says. “She keeps apologizing to me. I told her, ‘You’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing to your father at this age.’
“There’s just so much information out there right now – MySpace, cell phones, the Internet. If we had had all that when The Commodores were around, God only knows what my mother and father would have seen.”
Nicole Richie has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence stemming from a December incident.
She had a prior misdemeanor DUI conviction in June 2003, and California law says a repeat offender within a 10-year period can be sentenced to up to a year in jail – raising the possibility she could follow gal pal Paris Hilton behind bars.
Then there’s the complicating factor that she’s reportedly pregnant – something her father seems less prepared to deal with.
“Grandpa, man, that’s wild,” he says. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be called grandpa.”
Will Rhymes do time?
Rapper Busta Rhymes is facing four separate trials after rejecting a plea bargain.
Rhymes is charged with two assaults, involving a fan and a former employee, as well as driving drunk and with a suspended license.
Prosecutors offered to let him serve a year in jail to cover all the cases, but he refused.
Getting the boot
Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs announced Tuesday that he and longtime model girlfriend Kim Porter have split up, just months after she gave birth to twin girls.
The couple publicly proclaimed their love for one another in a recent Essence magazine story which detailed their turbulent history.
They already had a son together when Combs began a high-profile romance with Jennifer Lopez, which ended in 2001.
Porter then said he simply fell for a “big booty and a smile.”
Little Miss Sunshine, indeed
In happier celebrity parenting news, Australian actress Toni Collette (“The Sixth Sense,” “Little Miss Sunshine”) has confirmed that she’s expecting her first child with musician husband Dave Galafassi.
And Jason Priestley, who starred in the ‘90s TV series “Beverly Hills, 90210,” and wife Naomi Lowde-Priestley recently welcomed their first, a baby girl.
Now she’s priestly, too
Speaking of “90210,” Tori Spelling is now available for weddings.
“Yep, that’s right. … Reverend Tori Spelling! I did it last week online and my official certificate is in the mail. I’m so proud,” Spelling says on her MySpace page.
She officiated at a same-sex union last weekend at the California bed-and-breakfast run by her and actor hubby Dean McDermott.
The birthday bunch
Actor Tab Hunter is 76. Actress Sela Ward is 51. Guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) is 48. Actress Lisa Rinna (“Dancing with the Stars”) is 44. Actress Debbe Dunning (“Home Improvement”) is 41. Actor Justin Chambers (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 37. Rapper Lil’ Kim is 32.