Despite earlier online reports that Jay Leno was leaving NBC due to the reshuffling of late night TV, Gossip Cop clears the air dismissing the rumors that Jay plans to leave the network.

An story posted this morning on Popeater.com claimed the TV host, who recently lost his 10pm time slot, is angry over the tension NBC created between him and Conan O’Brien, and upset he has been made out to be the bad guy.

However, a source close to Jay told Gossip Cop he’s not leaving NBC.

“He has a contract with NBC,” and is going to honor it.

Jay’s contract specifically guarantees his 10:00 p.m. time period, so NBC has to negotiate a new deal with him before he moves back to 11:35 p.m. time slot.

However, TMZ reported earlier today that Conan’s contract never specified a solid time slot for his program.

Since Conan’s contract did not define a guaranteed time period, NBC has the right to air The Tonight Show at any hour they choose.

In the contract, NBC did guarantee that Conan would host The Tonight Show, and the network is willing to hold true to its promise.

Conan’s main argument is that the The Tonight Show is an institution and airing it a different time than its 11:35 time slot, which was started by the great Johnny Carson — would do a disservice to the established program. He released a statement yesterday addressing the importance and meaning his program holds for him.

Source, Fame Pictures

After losing the show that made her famous when she and hubby Jon Gosselin went splitsville last year, Kate Gosselin is now preparing to make her return to reality TV… new hairdo and all. New reports reveal the mother of eights will premiere in a new TLC series of her very own.

An air date for the highly-anticipated program has not been released yet, but sources close to the project are now saying the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star will star in a series that shows Kate trying to go outside of her comfort zone, “trying different jobs and tasks and showing how she performs in the different environments,” according to TheWrap.

The audience will be involved in the show — which has an interactive component — choosing the professions and challenges Kate has to accomplish.

“It’s more like Kate Gosselin, firefighter,” the insider told TheWrap, “not Kate Gosselin, wife and homemaker.”

The tentative debut of Kate’s solo show is late spring or earlier summer.

“She’s proven herself to be a celebrity in her own right,” an executive at Discovery, which owns TLC, told TheWrap, “and, with the interest she generates, she can fit into any role on her own.”

As per her ex husband Jon Gosselin’s request, John & Kate Plus 8 ceased production after 5 years because Jon felt his children were being exploited.

Source, Fame Pictures

Her hair isn’t the only thing that’s going up! Apparently Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s appearance fees reached new heights after she was punched in the face in a bar brawl. According to a leaked email from NYU Law’s student listserv, Snooki’s appearance fee started at a rate of $2,000 and quickly rose as students tried to book the Jersey Show star, Gawker reports.

Before Snookie was punched in the face on camera she was the cheapest Jersey Shore member making $2,000 an appearance. But after, she became the most expensive — $10,000 an appearance!

Apparently, the other cast members need a better tan to charge higher fees for party appearances.

Since December, The Situation and Pauly D have reportedly been making $7,5000. An appearance for J-Woww cost about $5,000 in December and Vinny and Ronnie were equal at $3,500, but in January Ronnie’s fee dropped $500. A joint appearance with Sweetheart only made a combined profit of $3,000.

Hopefully, the other cast members don’t start fights to get higher fees!

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Casey Johnson’s purported fiance Tila Tequila says she plans to seek custody of the late heiress’ adopted daughter Ava, 3.

Johnson’s mother, Sale, currently has custody of the girl (whose godmother is Tila’s enemy, Nicky Hilton), but Tila (real name: Tila Nguyen), 28, says that’s not what Johnson wanted.

“Her last wish was to have me have Ava,” she tells Extra in an interview airing Wednesday.

Tila — who was not invited to Johnson’s funeral Tuesday — says she wanted nothing more than to see the heiress before she was buried. (A source previously told UsMagazine.com: “She wants so badly to go to the funeral.”)

“She’s not resting in peace right now,” Tila tells Extra. “She has come to me in my dreams.”

Johnson, who suffered from diabetes, was found dead Jan. 4. at the age of 30.

Though a cause of death has yet to be determined, Tila says Johnson “had a sleeping problem” and is convinced Johnson’s death was accidental.

“I know for a fact; Casey was so excited for our life together,” she says. “I know for a fact it was not suicide.”

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PETA is pulling an ad campaign that used First Lady Michelle Obama without her permission.

The animal rights group had used photos of Obama — along with other celebrities, including Carrie Underwood, Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks — in an anti-fur ad called “Fur-Free and Fabulous.”

Although Obama has refused to wear real fur, the White House maintained that PETA never received authorization from her to use her image in the ad, which ran on Washington, D.C.-area Metro stations and on the organization’s website.

Last week, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk insisted her organization wouldn’t have sought Obama’s consent for the ad because it knows that she can’t make such an endorsement.

“The fact is that Michelle Obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn’t wear fur, and the world should know that in PETA’s eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous,” she said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, PETA is urging the White House to take a stand against the Ringling Bros. circus, which recently showcased a performing elephant named Baby Barack.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Newkirk urged the White House to demand a name change.

“Baby Barack is not even a year old, but his curious and energetic childhood has been cut tragically short while Ringling attempts to profit from your popularity by putting him on the road to perform in the circus,” Newkirk wrote.

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Sidestepping rumors of a romance with Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, Jessica Simpson is admitting to enjoying a different kind of hook-up: an artistic one.

Though the stars have stayed quiet on rumblings that they’re a romantic item, Simpson, 29, writes on Twitter that the pair are collaborating on their music.

“I am blessed,” the pop singer says, linking to two photographs of her with Corgan, 42, in the recording studio. She adds that it’s “fun to be lost in laughter.”

A source tells People that the unlikely couple have been dating for about four months – longer than has been reported in the media – and that they met in a neighborhood where one was living and the other was staying with a friend.

“He got her number and starting calling her,” the source says. “He thought she was cute … adorable … and she got a little crush.”

Last month, when news of the possible relationship surfaced after the singers were spotted together in New York City, a source told People that Simpson and Corgan were dating but “taking it slow.”

Tuesday, a source close to Simpson said, “They are still close and still really good friends. They are still involved in each other’s lives. They are still hanging out,” adding, “I don’t know if it’s romantic anymore.”

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Brooke Mueller has moved back into the Los Angeles home she shared with Charlie Sheen – and the Two and Half Men star has moved out so as not to violate a restraining order filed against him after their domestic dispute on Christmas Day.

Mueller flew back to L.A. with the couple’s twin sons from her rental house in Aspen, Colo. where the fight occurred, her lawyer Yale Galanter tells People. Sheen, meanwhile, remains in Los Angeles where he’s at work on his hit show.

“Brooke has personal matters and places to take the twins in Los Angeles, so she went home for a few days,” says Galanter. “Charlie is staying with a friend for the time she is there.”

Sheen, 44, was arrested Dec. 25 after Mueller called 911 saying the actor threatened her. A judge issued a temporary restraining order against Sheen.

Mueller, 32, maintained that she wants to see her husband again. Her attorney filed a motion to try to get the order’s no-contact clause thrown out.

Mueller and Sheen will return to Colorado for the Jan 20 hearing, her lawyer said.

“Brooke still has her house in Aspen and will be back next week,” Galanter tells People. “So will Charlie. But not together.”

RadarOnline.com first reported the news of Mueller’s return to L.A.

Source, Bauer-Griffin