Alas, the stars may not come out in number at the long-awaited trial of Anthony Pellicano, known throughout the media as “the private eye to the stars.”

What do you do when your longtime girlfriend tells you she’s “f***ing Matt Damon?” If you’re Jimmy Kimmel, you f*** Ben Affleck!

This was a year in which some of the least connected actors won the most coveted awards.

The often reclusive Daniel Day-Lewis took the Oscar for best actor, beating the omnipresent George Clooney. (Clooney has so many celebrity friends, colleagues and co-stars, he qualifies as a Hollywood hub.)

One of the biggest events this weekend for Oscar A-listers, aside from the awards ceremony itself, took place last night. The sixth annual Night Before Fundraiser raised $6 million for the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

Hosts included George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Reese Witherspoon.

Britney Spears has yet another new lawyer in the custody battle for sons Sean Preston and Jayden James Federline.

Stacy D. Phillips will represent Spears, facing off against Kevin Federline’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan. Phillips previously has represented celebrity clients such as Bobby Brown and Darryl Strawberry, as well as the ex-spouses of Axl Rose, Tori Spelling, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Actor Wesley Snipes has made a career of playing heroes who beat the odds.

He may have just done that in his own life, as a jury today acquitted him of the most serious charges in a case brought against him for not paying his taxes.

You’re in trouble. You want a lawyer. And not just any lawyer. You want a scary lawyer. Pick up the phone and call Bertram “Bert” Fields, who is known as “L.A.’s scariest lawyer.”

Tracking the break-up aftermath for Spice Girl Melanie Brown and Eddie Murphy, it would seem that Scary Spice is coming out on top.

After ending his romantic involvement with the pregnant Brown in 2006, Murphy famously said, “I don’t know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test.” Brown and Murphy went to court to determine the paternity of Angel Iris Murphy Brown, and it was determined that Murphy was the father.

Since then, Melanie Brown has had a record year.

It would seem that Wesley Snipes has a lot of famous friends.

As the actor’s trial for tax fraud and conspiracy got underway in Ocala, Fla., Monday, his lawyers said that several high-profile people would be called as character witnesses.

Tom Cruise

An unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise, released today, has put the Church of Scientology back in the news.

Andrew Morton, who has made a name for himself writing biographies of Princess Diana, Madonna and Monica Lewinsky, spent two years researching on Cruise. He concluded that Cruise is the second-highest ranking person in the church.

Cruise’s rep has called Morton’s book a “false, vicious and bigoted attack.” In anticipation of Morton’s interview this morning on the Today show, the church issued a press release denying many of the book’s claims.