Congratulations to our sister site Gossip Cop who, according to Variety, have inked a deal to create a television pilot for their own unique brand of celebrity and entertainment gossip. The show will be co-produced by former VH1 programming chief Michael Hirschorn (and his production company Ish) in conjunction with the Gossip Cop team of Michael Lewittes and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams.

In what may be one of the most awkward names since the launch of Mediaite.com, Mediaite has learned that Jay McGraw, son of Dr. Phil, is preparing to launch Rumorfix.com, a site whose mission sounds eerily similar to our cousin site GossipCop.com (Mediaite founder Dan Abrams also co-founded Gossip Cop). Mcgraw has teamed up with television producer Richard Ayoub to create the site which they call the “anti-tabloid.”

This time last year, a new kind of gossip site hit the web. Gossip Cop, co-founded by Michael Lewittes and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams, was created with the mission of policing celebrity news and rumors — or “busting bad dish.” The site factchecks sites ranging ranging from Perez Hilton and TMZ to magazines like Life & Style and Star. In light of this anniversary, we spoke to Lewittes about how the site’s first year has been, where it’s headed — and how it’s made both friends and enemies in a short time.

Lindsay Lohan is in court today and may receive jail time for violating her probation which she was put on after a couple of DUI arrests. The judge has already ruled that she won’t go to jail for the instance last month when her alcohol-monitoring bracelet showed positive traces for alcohol. However, she may still end up behind bars for missing some court-ordered alcohol education sessions, something that CNN’s Tony Harris pointed out would be plenty cause for all of us non-Hollywood starlets.

Gossip Cop, the entertainment blog — and Mediaite cousin site — which polices the celebrity rumor mill, has joined forces with OK! Magazine, teaming up on a weekly full page print feature entitled “Real or Rumor.” The celeb weekly magazine will partner with the website to expose the untruths that run rampant in the gossip industry, beginning in the December 7th issue, available now. Read the whole press release inside!

In September 2005, Gossip Cop‘s Michael Lewittes had a random encounter with David Letterman and his assistant, Stephanie Birkitt. Four years later — in the midst of Letterman’s affair/extortion super story — the serendipitous encounter seems less like a charming coincidence and more like a priceless insider’s anecdote.

Today is the launch of Gossip Cop. The premise is simple: investigate the accuracy of the daily anecdotes, the rampant rumors, and the cubicle grist known as celebrity gossip. Think of it as TMZ meets Smoking Gun. Or maybe Perez Hilton meets Columbia Journalism Review.