Debbie Rowe will likely fight for custody of Prince Michael I, 12, and Paris Katherine, 11 — her two children with Michael Jackson — when a hearing takes place July 13. (Katherine Jackson remains the children’s temporary guardian until then.)

But in 2003, Rowe — whose babies were born through artificial insemination (dad is Arnold Klein, Jackson’s L.A.-based dermatologist) — sat down with Us’ Ian Drew and confessed she “never” wanted to be a mother.

“Parenting is an art; you earn the title,” Rowe, now 50, said during the interview, which is featured in the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now). “Because you give birth and impregnate someone does not automatically give you the title of mother or father – you earn the title.

“My kids don’t call me mom because I don’t want them to,” she went on. “They are Michael’s children. It’s not that they’re not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father.”

After Rowe and Jackson divorced in 1999 after three years of marriage, she agreed to give up her parental rights, insisting Jackson was a good father.

During her 2003 interview with Drew, Rowe addressed critics who claimed she abandoned her kids.

“They say, ‘I can’t believe she left her children.’ Left them? I did not leave my children,” Rowe told Drew. “My children are with their father where they are supposed to be.”

Asked why the children are not with her, she said, “I didn’t do it to be a mother. Like I said, you earn the title. I didn’t change diapers. I didn’t get up in the middle of the night – even when I was there. Michael did it all. I am telling you that he is the most brilliant father. Almost before the baby needed something, he knew what it was. And that’s not for me.”

She added that she never wanted children before she wed Jackson.

“If it hadn’t been for how much I love him and because of our relationship, I would never have had children,” she told Drew. “And how spoiled am I? I get to go through the whole experience with a loving, caring person, and I can still have the opportunity to have the life I never thought I would have back again. I am still waiting for that and working on it. I’m the one who feels selfish about having the kids.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Meryl Streep walked away from her role as über-chef Julia Child in director Nora Ephron’s upcoming Julie & Julia with more than improved cooking skills.

“I gained 15 pounds, I’m still trying to lose it,” Streep, 60, says in the August issue of Ladies’ Home Journal (on newsstands July 14). “It was worth it.”

Her costar Amy Adams, however, didn’t pack on the pounds, but tells the magazine, “I was very grateful that my character wasn’t about her physique … I ate a lot.”

To prepare for her role, Streep was taught how to cook like a master. “Mostly what I learned has to do with equipment and how to use it right,” she says, listing sharpened knives, a good pan and cooking over high heat as essential to making a great dish. “The other thing I learned was, and I’ve been cooking for hundreds of years, that if you have garlic and onions on your fingertips, if you dip your hands in salt and then rinse them in cool water, the smell goes right away.”

Her favorite among Child’s dishes: “Tarragon roast chicken is a foolproof recipe and also something that everybody loves.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Lindsay Lohan denies she stole the recipe for her tanning line, as alleged in a lawsuit filed against her.

“No formula was stolen for Sevin Nyne!” the actress — who just turned 23-years-old — Tweeted. “It’s a woman looking for a payday. That’s it!”

Scientist Jennifer Sunday filed a federal lawsuit against Lohan and her business partner, Lorit Simon, for breach of contract, theft of trade secrets, civil conspiracy, intentional interference with contractual relations and deceptive and unfair trade practices.

Lohan takes credit for co-creating the spray tan mist — named after her lucky numbers, and sold for $35 at Sephora — with Simon, a Las Vegas-based businesswoman.

The lawsuit alleges Simon and Sunday were negotiating over samples of the product, but couldn’t agree on a price.

he next thing we know, Lorit Simon and Lindsay Lohan are partnering, and Ms. Lohan is taking credit for developing this formula, which she indeed had no role in,” Sunday’s lawyer, Marcia Cohen, told the St. Petersburg Times yesterday.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

We’ve just heard rumors that Golden Girls actress Betty White is dead. Don’t believe the hype!

TMZ reports:

We’ve lost a lot of icons recently — but no matter what NBC says, Betty White isn’t one of ‘em!

During a report yesterday morning at Forest Lawn Cemetery, “Today’s” Michael Okwu listed the “Golden Girl” as one of the celebrities already buried there.

Meredith Vieira corrected him — he probably meant Bette Davis.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Britney Spears’ former BFF has filed legal papers in his defamation lawsuit against Britney and her parents, claiming they have ruined his life.

Sam Lutfi claims Lynne Spears’ book about her famous daughter is a pack of lies, especially the part in which she says Sam told her he secretly ground up pills and put them in Britney’s food.

Lutfi says as a result of the book, “I am constantly in fear for my life…” He says he was “harassed and cajoled by the public.” If our memory serves us correctly, Lutfi was cajoled long before Lynne’s book was published.

Lutfi trotted out his own cast of character witnesses in the new legal docs — notably the infamous Adnan Ghalib — currently being prosecuted for felony battery. Adnan wrote a declaration, claiming Lynne’s assertions that Sam was effectively holding Britney hostage were false.

Not buying this nonsense for one minute. I truly believe that he was drugging Britney. What do you think?

Source, Bauer-Griffin

After some rocky times, the future is looking brighter for former Full House star Jodie Sweetin.

Last November, Sweetin filed for legal separation from husband Cody Herpin and later faced accusations of a substance abuse relapse, but now Sweetin is looking forward to quality time with her daughter and says “things are going really well.”

“[Cody and I] have managed to work things out a little bit better,” Sweetin, 27, told reporters Tuesday night at the launch party for Op’s new ad campaign at Mel’s Diner in West Hollywood. “We share custody right now and it’s going really well.”

With another court date scheduled for August, Sweetin is enjoying spending time with the couple’s daughter, Zoie – especially by the pool.

“I have my daughter so I’m getting her in the pool and she’s so much fun,” says Sweetin. “She’s 15 months old and she’s just cute and itty bitty and adorable and chubby in her little bathing suit. That’s my summer fun, it’s being a mom, and getting to play with my daughter in the pool.”

In the meantime, Sweetin has wrapped up some more TV and film work and is devoting time to reading more scripts and the upcoming release of her new book, UnSweetined, due out in November.

“I’m really getting back in the business and it’s wonderful. Things are going really, really amazing for me right now.”

As for the single life, Sweetin isn’t too concerned with it. “Right now, my daughter is my main focus, but a girl’s gotta have a little fun.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

We just spoke with Tennessee assistant medical examiner Dr. Feng Li, who tells us preliminary test results in the Steve McNair death show Sahel Kazemi fired the gun that killed both of them.

Feng — who conducted autopsies on the two bodies — told us he was able to make the determination from the crime scene investigation, police interviews, autopsy findings and preliminary lab results — which include a gunshot residue test.

Source