Earlier in the week, the sad news broke that celebrity couple Russell Brand and Katy Perry were no more. The split was the result of much speculation, as were the intentions and feelings of the couple. But every cloud has a silver lining, and this one being Jimmy Fallon‘s spot-on impression of the comedian, in which Brand reads articles about himself in gossip magazines and corrects their misconceptions.

Were you guys aware that noted thespian Ashton Kutcher had an (alleged) extramarital affair? I know! I too was so shocked I dropped my (soy) pumpkin latte all over my Us Weekly. The woman he (allegedly) slept with, an administrative assistant named Sara Leal, is offering details about her night with the married Two And [...]

Remember how Us Weekly‘s website published a story about Sarah Palin trashing Christina Aguilera over her Super Bowl performance? And how it turned out to be a story fabricated for a satirical site? And Us Weekly almost immediately scrubbed the story? ‘Course you do. Well, evidently, Time doesn’t, because they repeated the exact same story.

Score one more for Sarah Palin in her fight against the “Lamestream Media”: Celebrity gossip source Us Weekly published a story about the former Alaska governor that included quotations originally fabricated for a satirical news piece. According to Gossip Cop, SuperTuesdayNews.com came up with some Palin quotes for a post about her “reaction” to Christina Aguilera‘s mangling of the national anthem during last weekend’s Super Bowl.

Everyone knows that the information contained in the magazines sold near supermarket checkout lines is generally unsubstantiated at best and flat-out false at worse. But which tabloids are the most dishonest?

Is Levi Johnston attempting to out-Palin Sarah Palin? That’s certainly what it sounds like. US Weekly is reporting that Johnston’s much-rumored reality show will actually focus on Johnston making a run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska…the same place Sarah Palin began her illustrious political career.

Apparently Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are more interesting on the printed page than they are in reality. Reality TV that is. The New York Post is reporting that the newly reunited “young adults” were paid $100,000 for last week’s bombshell US Weekly cover story, though the magazine is denying the amount is accurate.

Sarah Palin has issued a statement regarding this morning’s announcement — on the cover of US Weekly — that her daughter Bristol is now engaged to be married to Levi Johnston, mother of their son Tripp.

I am in love with this Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston engagement story. IN LOVE, just like two crazy Alaskan kids who had a baby together then got sucked up in the scary political-media machine and made all sorts of crazy decisions even though they loved each other the whole way through, through his Playgirl [...]

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are planning on getting married – or so reports US Weekly. The exclusive report in the celebrity gossip weekly confirms rumors that have been swirling for the past few weeks. The intrigue in this story doesn’t come only from reuniting of Tripp’s parents, but from Bristol’s following quote regarding her mother’s approval “It is intimidating and scary just to think about what her reaction is going to be. Hopefully she will jump on board.”

Finally! Last night, The Daily Beast and The Atlantic posted articles about Al Qaeda’s first English-language magazine which carries the inspirational title, Ispire. The propaganda magazine is being distributed by jihadist websites (these guys may live in caves but even they know that print media is dead) and includes all kinds of fun terrorist content including, presumably, the world’s most boring centerfolds.

John Edwards must be thanking Rielle Hunter‘s earth spirits that Jesse James has dethroned him as the most despised man in America. Sandra Bullock‘s disgraced husband who cheated on her with some sort of tattoo fetishist, is now under fire for a photo of him sieg-heiling in a Nazi hat, and he’s pulling out the oldest trick in the book: “some of my best friends are Jewish!”

Sandra Bullock’s marital woes are devastating to all of us, especially readers of gossip magazines. In fact, Us Weekly and People Magazine were rushing to get us all the facts of the case. Unfortunately, in their rush, they didn’t notice that they were using almost identical photos on the cover.

US Weekly has just released a photo that appears to show embattled reality television star Jesse James wearing what appears to be a Nazi-era military cap, and giving a Nazi salute. The husband of recent Oscar winner and popular actress Sandra Bullock has been in the news a lot lately, as news of extra-marital affairs have broken into the tabloids. Perhaps more concerning is the allegation that one of his paramours, Michelle ‘Bombshell’ Mcgee, also is a neo-nazi or white supremacist. Video after the jump:

US Weekly has really blown us away with their recent article, “EXCLUSIVE: Oops! Jessica Simpson Farts During Business Meeting.” Which, by the way, is filed under their “News” vertical. To maintain both dignity and professionalism, their source remained anonymous. But, boy, was the scoop a doozy.

A new law in California will allow residents of the state to sue any media outlet that first publishes a picture that violates a “reasonable expectation of privacy” or was taken forcibly. The amendment also introduces civil fines of up to $50,000. What does that mean for the celebrity press and the rest of a star-obsessed nation?

To date, the Dr. McSteamy sex tape is pushing over 2.25 mil. page view on Defamer — a refreshing reminder that Internet content consumers (aka sketchy pervs) love nothing more than watching celebs have sex … or watching them lie around naked and smoke crack, as the case might be. Today Sex Watch follows Eric Dane, wife Rebecca Gayheart and crack-smoking ex-beauty queen friend Kari Ann Peniche around the Web to see just how far one sex tape can go.

Women’s Wear Daily reports that Us Weekly had a fine first week under Michael Steele, who filled in as the magazine’s acting editor-in-chief after Janice Min‘s departure in July. Steele’s first issue as acting EIC, which featured a cover story on Bachelorette cheating drama, “sold 1.1 million copies, outpacing Us Weekly’s single-copy sales by an average of 843,470 for the first half of 2009.”

One issue does not make a mandate, but it looks like Jann Wenner may have been right when he wagered that Us Weekly could flourish without Min.

In today’s cutthroat media environment, stories break fast and spoil faster. It doesn’t take long to go from big news to scraps of news to contrary opinions that seem cooked up for shock value. News Decay charts the strange and rapid declines wrought by the 24-hour news cycle.

Turns out that money was the deciding factor behind Janice Min’s exit from Us Weekly, or so reports Women’s Wear Daily. Given that Min probably wouldn’t be able to pull down as much money at her next job (career?), everyone is still wondering where does she go after this?

The publishing world was abuzz yesterday wondering whether Min would soon be leaving the top spot of the wildly popular US Weekly magazine as her current contract comes to an end. Rumors were dismissed as a tactic for renegotiating her contract that was set to expire in two weeks. Late last night (East Coast time) Janice Min announced she was resigning her post as editor of US Weekly and Mediaite has her resignation letter in full.

Mail.com, the innocuously named website owned by Jay Penske, has seemingly appeared out of nowhere and begun scooping up some big names, two of which have landed New York Times profiles in the last 24 hours courtesy of David Carr.

In the last two weeks Penske has surprised the media world by adding both Bonnie Fuller and Nikki Finke to his roster. What’s going on?

So how did the weeklies fare in the aftermath of Michael Jackson‘s death at 2:26pm PT last Thursday? Well, the big winners in the media world at large included Twitter, any website with a connection and working knowledge of YouTube, and the network newscasts, which just barely had enough time to pull coverage together for a top story at 6:30pm. The weeklies had a rougher ride.