Kelly Clarkson slammed songwriter Ryan Tedder on Monday for “ripping off” her tune “Already Gone” because it sounded similar to Beyonce’s song, “Halo.”

Now Tedder — who co-wrote both tracks — is firing back.

“‘Already Gone’ is one of the best songs I’ve written or produced since ‘Bleeding Love,’ and stands on its own merits apart from ‘Halo,’” Tedder tells TMZ.com in a statement.

“They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically and lyrically, and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyonce into recording over the same musical track,” he continues. “The idea is both hurtful and absurd.

“I think when people hear ‘Already Gone,’ they will hear what I hear: one of the greatest female vocalists on earth giving her most haunting and heart-breaking performance on a song she helped write,” he goes on.

Tedder adds: “I challenge people to listen and form their own opinions.”

Over the weekend, an outraged Clarkson told Canada’s CBC radio network she “fought and fought” with her record label to stop the release of the song.

“No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinking ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyonce and Kelly the same track to write to,’” she recalled saying. “No, they’re just gonna be saying I ripped someone off.

“In the end, they’re releasing it without my consent,” said Clarkson, who performed the tune two weeks ago on The Late Show With David Letterman. “It sucks, but it’s one of those things I have no control over. I already made my album. At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it.”

This isn’t the first time the American Idol champ has clashed with collaborators.

In 2007, she faced off against RCA honcho Clive Davis over the release of her third album My December. He said the album lacked radio hits; she disagreed and aired her frustrations to the press. (“I am not a fan [of Davis],” she icily told USA Weekend.)

In the end, Clarkson apologized to “those whom I have done disservice” after the release of the album (which failed to go platinum). “I would never intentionally hurt anyone,” she said on her Web site. “I love music, and I love the people I am blessed to work with.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

First, Nick Lachey told People there was very little truth to reports he might get back together with his newly single ex-wife, Jessica Simpson.

Now comes bad news for fans hoping Simpson’s ex-boyfriend John Mayer will heal her broken heart.

“Absolutely not,” Mayer’s pal Rob Dyrdek, 35, star of MTV’s Fantasy Factory, told People Monday at Ryan Scheckler’s X Games Celebrity Skins Classic” in Coto De Caza, Calif.

Mayer and Simpson dated on-and-off for about a year before splitting in 2007. Dyrdek says he “wouldn’t rule out” a reunion, but adds, “I’m just saying [I don't think so].”

Earlier this month, Mayer found himself in the middle of Simpson’s breakup with her boyfriend of a year and a half, Tony Romo, when reports surfaced that he had been texting the pop star, 29. In May, a source told People the exes “have been in touch.”

Mayer observers may remember Dyrdek, a pro skateboarder, as the apparently drunk friend the singer carried out of L.A. club MyHouse June 14. Mayer Tweeted later that night that he was with Dyrdek at the hospital as he had his stomach pumped.

It was a prank.

“He’s one of the most incredible people I have ever met and a thoroughbred genius,” Dyrdek says of Mayer. “He just likes to [mess] with the paparazzi. He’s like, ‘I want to do so much more crazy [stuff],’ and he settled on carrying me out of the club.”

The faux-scandal will be part of Fantasy Factory. “I did a whole episode on what it’s like to have a psychotically famous [friend],” Dyrdek says. “Just the whole idea of how out of control it got. To where my parents’ local news was like, ‘Local celebrity almost dies.’ ”

The practical jokers later devised a creative way to tell Dyrdek’s mother they were sorry. “We recorded a song called ‘Rob’s Mom’ that apologizes to her and all of the girls in the office.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Will Heidi Montag rise to the challenge of singing live at the Miss Universe Pageant next month?

Her sister, Holly, has the utmost faith in the Hills star. “She will kill it,” Holly told In Touch at the Ryan Sheckler X Games Celebrity Skins Classic golf tournament in Coto de Caza, Calif., on July 27.

“I know she’ll give the best performance ever. She’s a phenomenal performer and dancer — that’s what she was born to do.” The pageant will be broadcast live on Sunday, August 23 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Will you watch it?

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Though a source confirms that Kim Kardashian has split from longtime boyfriend Reggie Bush, her sister Kourtney insists the reality starlet is doing just fine. “Kim is great. She is looking at houses. She is going to be living on her own,” Kourtney tells In Touch.

Her sister may be having personal issues, but Kourtney is happier than ever with her new life in Miami. “Khloe and I are having the time of our lives. I get a crazy adrenaline rush and energy when I start new things,” the reality star, whose new E! series Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami premieres on August 16, says of her big move to sexy South Beach from LA. The show explores Kourtney and little sister Khloe’s adventures opening a new Dash boutique in Florida. “The store is doing really well! It was fun finding new employees and meeting new friends,” she adds.

Like Kim, the brunette beauty is single after a heartbreaking split from fiancé Scott Disick earlier this year. But Kourtney isn’t dwelling on the past. “Khloe was pushing me to start dating, but the best thing for me was to focus on myself. I started focusing on working out and the store,” she says when asked about her love life.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Bachelorette Jillian Harris insists she didn’t mind the mankini shorts fiance Ed Swiderski sported during their Hawaii trip.

“I have to say, I was a bit fond of them,” she said when asked about her man’s snug swim suit on Tuesday’s After the Rose special.

Stunned, host Chris Harrison shot back, “Wait, wait. Don’t tell me you liked them!”

“I do,” replied Jillian.

Even Ed was surprised.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked, before joking, “I’m actually wearing them underneath right now.”

Jillian then teased that Ed has “since got these navy blue ones that are shorter.”

Jillian will be seeing a lot more of Ed’s mankinis.

On the After the Rose special, she also revealed she’s ditching Canada for Ed’s downtown Chicago apartment Sept. 1.

“I think we’re just such a great team, whatever works for the two of us, works for the two of us,” she said.

Added Ed, “We’re certainly going to get married within the next 12 months.”

Source

Heroes star Ali Larter will soon be off the market!

She and her fiancé of more than a year, actor Hayes MacArthur, plan to tie the knot in a small ceremony in Kennebunkport, Maine, on August 1.

They will say their vows at Hayes’ family property in front of their closest friends, including Ali’s best pal, actress Amy Smart, and Hayes’ school pals.

“Hayes is really excited to spend time with a lot of his old buddies that he played football with at Bowdoin College in Maine,” says a source close to the couple. “Ali wants a dream wedding and for everything to be perfect.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Jessica Simpson exuberantly announced “the man who loves [her]” was at a Feb. 6 concert — seemingly oblivious that Tony Romo was sitting with Natalie Smith, a younger, skinnier look-alike of the singer, that, according to the new issue of Us Weekly, he had been sending “flirty texts” to for months while still dating Simpson.

Backstage after the Champaign, Ill. show, Romo introduced Simpson to the 22-year-old, who is the daughter of the athletic director at Romo’s alma mater, Eastern Illinois University.

“We hung out for, like 10 to 15 minutes, backstage,” Smith tells Us Weekly. “She was cool and nice.”

But multiple sources tell Us that Simpson should have been more suspicious, as Romo was having an emotional affair with Smith months before dumping her on July 9, the eve of her 29th birthday.

“They are not officially dating, but they are having an intimate relationship,” a Smith source tells Us. Adds another pal of Smith, who typically dined with Romo when he’d visit his college town: “They’ve always flirted and texted each other. They had phone conversations one to two months before the breakup.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin