People: Hilary Duff Joins the Cast of 'Gossip Girl'

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (0)

'PLAY YOURSELF'
DUFF GETS A REALLY EASY JOB
Hilary Duff is joining "Gossip Girl." The singer/actress will play Olivia Burke, a movie star who decides she wants the true college experience and enrolls at New York University, Entertainment Weekly reports. She winds up rooming with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr). She's slated to show up in early October.

GPS
N.Y.C. CITY COUNCIL RUINS EVERYBODY'S GPS SOFTWARE
A New York City street corner will be renamed for the late Jam Master Jay, aka Jason Mizell, and Run-DMC. The New York City Council has approved the new name "Run-DMC JMJ Way" for the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue. Jam Master Jay was the D.J. for Run-DMC. He was gunned down in Queens in 2002.

CASTING
TOO OLD FOR 'GOSSIP GIRL'
Julia Stiles will make her Broadway debut in a revival of David Mamet's "Oleanna," opening Oct. 11 at the Golden Theater. The 28-year-old will play a student, and Bill Pullman will play a college professor in the production.

FILLER
LONELY ACTRESS CORNERS REPORTER
Gwyneth Paltrow says she traveled to Spain as a teen, fell in love with the country, and visits at least once a year and makes sure her children also speak the language. "When I was 15, I went to a small town outside Talavera de la Reina and I had the most wonderful experience. It really changed my life," Paltrow said during a recent interview. "It is so different from the United States. ... The buildings are years and years and years old. Here in the United States, an old building is about 17 [years old], and over there it's from 500 B.C. It's incredible," she said.

ACTIVITIES
CIRCLE THIS ITEM, HAND IT TO NEAREST 50-SOMETHING LIBERAL WEARING L.L. BEAN
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are appearing in Maine next week to raise money for a historic theater in downtown Bar Harbor. On July 8, the Criterion Theatre will show the 1988 movie "Bull Durham," in which Sarandon and Robbins starred. The pair will then talk about their careers.
» Pictured at right: As you can tell, all other celebrity news died with Michael Jackson last week.

RECLUSES
SALINGER HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE TO APPLAUD RULING...JUST KIDDING
A federal judge has ruled that a Swedish author cannot publish in the United States a book he wrote that was advertised as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." Judge Deborah Batts issued her ruling Wednesday after hearing arguments in a lawsuit brought by the 90-year-old Salinger against the publishers of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." The book was scheduled to be published in the United States this summer. The Manhattan judge heard arguments last month.

With contributions from The Associated Press
Photos by Will Ragozzino/Getty Images; Ben Curtis/AP