• It's still unclear what caused Brittany Murphy's death in Los Angeles yesterday morning. While the coroner has indicated the 32-year-old actress appears to have died from "natural causes," it's been reported that lots of prescription drug bottles were uncovered by cops at the scene, and some friends say they'd grown increasingly concerned that she was abusing painkillers. An autopsy is planned for today or tomorrow, but an official cause of death may take a couple of weeks, pending the results of toxicology tests. [NYP, TMZ, People, Sun]
• Murphy's death has put the spotlight on her husband, sketchy 39-year-old screenwriter Simon Monjack, who married Murphy in 2007. [NYDN]
• Tiger Woods set sail on his 155-foot yacht Privacy on Saturday accompanied by a bunch of friends. Where he's going is anybody's guess, although considering the boat has a range of 4,000 miles, it could be anywhere. As for his estranged wife, Elin Nordegren, now that she's retained a divorce lawyer, she's reportedly gearing up to ask for full custody of their two kids and half of his fortune, which has been estimated at $600 million. [NYP, People]

A CBS News personality lied on his expenses; Mary J. Blige severely mis-typed an impassioned defense of her "intelligents;" and Billy Bush made some confusing Sarah Palin statements. The Twitterati were terrible correspondents.

Sacha Baron Cohen turns 38 today. Ashanti is turning 29. Paul Simon is 68. Kelly Preston is turning 47. Kate Walsh of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice is 42. Model Beverly Johnson is 57. Ivan Bart, the head of IMG Models, is turning 46. Billionaire Tom Tisch turns 55. Mega art dealer William Acquavella is 72. Sammy Hagar of Van Halen is 62. Access Hollywood's Billy Bush is turning 38. George Bush's former spokesman, Ari Fleischer, is 49. Marie Osmond is 50. Retired NFL star Jerry Rice is 47. Serena Altschul, the former MTV VJ and CBS News correspondent, is 39. Margaret Thatcher is 84. And Donald Trump's least famous child, Tiffany Trump, celebrates her 16th birthday today.

Jon Gosselin's gambling at Foxwoods, but it's Robert Pattinson who can't lose. Stephenie Meyer's getting sued, because she's no Astronaut Mya or, uh, Billy Bush. Or Hayden Panettiere's 'Pink Taco' sharing Harry Morton. Visionaries! Presenting your Saturday Morning Gossip Roundup!

Well, it looks as though the economic downturn has found another media victim. A tipster tells us tonight that there's been a "completely unexpected bloodbath" at Access Hollywood.

Barbara Walters sending Twitter messages as she gets her hair shampooed is a sign of the Apocalypse. Run for the hills, kids — but make sure to get a frosty caffeinated beverage before you do!

Tom Cruise is trying to get inside the female mind; Joe Francis slipped into women's underwear and Mike Tyson is, once again, overwhelmed with lady attention.

Tiffany Trump, the Donald's fourth child and the only member of the immediate family who shares his hair color, turns 15 today. Also celebrating: Sacha Baron Cohen is 37. Ashanti is 28. Paul Simon turns 67. Kelly Preston is 46. Van Halen's Sammy Hagar turns 61. George Bush's cousin, Access Hollywood's Billy Bush, is 37. George Bush's former spokesman, Ari Fleischer, is 48. Modeling legend Beverly Johnson is turning 56. Modeling honcho Ivan Bart is 45. Art dealer William Acquavella is 71. And billionaire heir Thomas Tisch is 54.

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

At long last, Nicole Richie has lifted the media blackout surrounding her pregnancy by Joel Madden—lead singer of seminal, early-Oughts angst-pop outfit Good Charlotte—giving Access Hollywood's celebrity-baby-obsessed Billy Bush carte blanche to ask the not-burning questions we had zero investment in the answers to.

Late yesterday afternoon, we briefly noted the flap over international gigolo Richard Gere's osculatory battery of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty at a New Dehli AIDS rally, which prompted outraged protestors to set ablaze effigies of the satyr/activist for his public violation of their cherished star. Since we realize that our previous, blockquoted summary of the story was woefully inadequate in fully communicating the intricacies of this complicated matter, we point you to the fine work of Access Hollywood Cultural Analyst William "Billy" Bush, whose deep knowledge of Indian mores allow him to break down the shocking video of the event frame by frame and explain Gere's transgression with Zapruderesque attention to every taboo-violating detail.

· Dominick Dunne, distressed over the Gary Condit lawsuit, cancels public appearances. [Page Six]
· Vogue is featuring plus-size model Mia Tyler in its April issue. [Ed. note"plus-size model"? Are we sure Anna knows about this?] [Page Six]
· The pot haze at Guastavino's was pretty thick on Sunday, but Presidential cousin Billy Bush swears he didn't inhale. [Page Six]
· Weinstein and Spielberg call a truce to support a "Best Director" Oscar for Martin Scorsese. [Page Six]
· Pete Hamill's New York novel, Forever, is being optioned and former Tri-Star Pictures Chairman Mike Medavoy and his wife Irena are suing Botox maker, Allergen. [NY Daily News]

· Christopher Hitchens on the possibility that Al Gore or NY Senator Hillary Clinton might run for President: "I just hope they all get some sort of wasting disease before they can run." [Page Six]
· D.A. Pennebaker is doing a documentary on Al Sharpton. [Page Six]
· Lucy Sykes is pregnant. [Page Six]
· Billy Bush (the President's cousin and an "Access Hollywood" correspondent) was buzzed, stoned and dancing with six girls at once at Guastavino's Sunday night. Said one model, "Isn't that the guy from 'Access Hollywood'?...What a dork!" [Page Six]
· WSJ executive Karen Elliot House brags that she can get coverage for Personal Journal from Charlie Rose because she used to date him. Husband and Dow Jones Chief Peter Kann fires back, "Oh yeah. I dated her at the same time, but I won out." [Page Six]
· Greek socialite Taki Theodoracopulos's greeting to familiar faces at Swifty's: "Darling, here I amthe only heterosexual in this joint!" [Liz Smith]
· Elizabeth Taylor's response when asked what she was doing at Liza Minnelli's wedding: "I really have no idea!" [Liz Smith]
· Richard Gere at a fundraiser at Cipriani for fighting AIDS in Africa: "I'm sorry, Sen. [Hillary] Clinton, but your husband did nothing about AIDS for eight years." [NY Daily News]