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keeping tabs: A summary of what's been in the tabloids.

The Brangelina Pregnancy ScorecardWhich tabs whiffed?

By Ben Wasserstein
Posted Friday, Jan. 13, 2006, at 3:59 PM ET

The Brangelina pregnancy scorecard.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's publicists confirmed that Jolie is pregnant with Pitt's spawn on Wednesday (which also marked the first official acknowledgment that the two are anything more than one-time co-stars). The news, first reported by People, broke too late to get into the rest of this week's tabloids. So who got embarrassed? Us, for one. After asking "Is She Pregnant?" the mag concluded, "probably not. 'I get no sense of it when I talk to him' a Pitt source tells Us. 'He would have said something to me.' Seconds a Jolie pal, 'She hasn't said a word about being pregnant yet. I really doubt it. She doesn't look it.' " Time to get new sources and pals, Us! (In fairness, the tab did report that she's been taking prenatal vitamins.) InTouch hedged its bets, noting that "a British newspaper reported that she recently had an ultrasound." Star admits to having bupkis: "Do you think Angie's pregnant with Brad's baby? GO to starmagazine.com to vote in Star's online poll." (The poll appears to be off the Web site now.) Life & Style, however, should be strutting: It was confident it had the story last week and remained so, stating that Jolie has "a baby on the way" and putting a caption that reads, "I'm pregnant!" on a picture of Angelina.

Bush twin wedding race!
The Enquirer asserts that Jenna and Barbara Bush "have secretly told pals they want to have White House nuptials before their father's second term expires in January 2009." The twins are reportedly committed to their long-term boyfriends (Barbara's dating a fellow Yale grad; Jenna's with a "Republican campaigner"), and "while a rep for the White House says Barbara is not engaged, she was seen at Christmas with a band on her ring finger." There hasn't been a White House wedding since Tricia Nixon's, and "a source" says, "A similar event may distract people from the problems facing Bush. Marrying off one of his daughters could help him make a comeback."

Kevin Federline caught cheating?
Star claims a "world exclusive": Its cover story reports that Federline hooked up in Las Vegas with former adult-film star Kendra Jade, helpfully described by the tab as "Famous for: Being videotaped having sex with Jerry Springer." The magazine quotes a "source" who says, "Kevin and Kendra began making out. For the rest of the evening, the two shared romantic clinches and kisses, even after they went down to the casino to gamble." InTouch posits that Britney Spears sticks with K-Fed because "Britney's getting used to the drama. In fact, the 24-year-old is hooked on it. 'She's addicted to the "make-up" part,' a pal says. 'She feeds off it.' " The tab also has a chart, THEIR UPS AND DOWNS, that includes this low: "She doubts his music. Britney, hurt after a fight with Kevin, laughed at his song in front of friends, saying it might sell '100, maybe 1,000 copies if he was lucky,' a pal says."

The end for Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen.
The pair has filed for divorce, signaling an end to their very public reconciliation attempts. What happened? The Enquirer quotes "a friend" who says, "Charlie gambled away his marriage." Star agrees, reporting that Sheen went on a Christmas Day betting spree that was the final straw. But other tabs say a Barbados vacation was the nail in the coffin: Star has "an insider" saying, "They'd hardly been in the hotel 10 seconds when he started chatting up some babe in a bikini in the lobby," and Us says, "At the resort, 'both looked tense' while sunbathing."

Us owns the story of its owner's birthday party.
This week, the magazine runs a page of photos captioned: "Rock royals, politicians and movie stars swarmed Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner's 60th." The event was not covered by magazines not co-owned by Jann Wenner.

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Ben Wasserstein is an associate editor at New York magazine.
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