A Cute Pop Star Has Acute Laryngitis

In case you were unaware, Avril Lavigne's been all over this great continent of ours, bringing her "Best Damn Tour" to a corporately-named arena near you for awhile now. She was nearing the end but she just... couldn't... make it. Why? Homegirl's voxbox plain pooped out, Herb. In a message on her official site, Avril was un-Complicatedly contrite:

"My sincerest apologies to all of my fans. My intention was to complete the rest of the tour but tonight at sound check in Anaheim I realized this wasn't possible."

Pretty boring. Avril's kind of disappeared from the zeitgeist, has she not? Remember her clothing line?

Also Up In Our Grill:

The New York Post wonders if network television is the new rehab after Lindsay Lohan announces she will follow in Britney Spears' guest star footsteps and begin a six-episode stint on Ugly Betty. If one were to observe the actions of these stars, one would think that diminishing entertainment returns and dwindling respect levels are the "new rehab." And one would be right.

In other repellent Lohan news, People Mag and others are reporting that Lindsay "borrowed" an $11,000 mink fur coat she found after some fab party at some fab Manhattan joint (1Oak). According to the owner, she was unable to find her coat at the end of her partying on January 26th and assumed the coat was gone forever. That is, until she spotted Lohan wearing the coat in some celeb rag. After threatening to sue, she received a discreet phone call from some discreet people discreetly informing her that her coat was ready for pickup. BTW, the owner of the coat is a 22 year-old student at Columbia. She must have sold a lot of heavy books back last semester.

Finally, Scarlett Johansson is engaged to Van Wilder and has taken to showing off a rock as proof. The AP has a photo of her diamond-encrusted left hand. Stereogum has some video of her Tom Waits thing.