• Lizzie Grubman is spawning once again: She and husband Chris Stern are expecting twins. [P6]

• Alex Rodriguez is expected to file divorce papers of his own in a Miami court today: He's wants his prenup enforced and any charges that he cheated on wife Cynthia removed from the record. [NYDN]

• More dirt today about Anne Hathaway's breakup with Raffaello Follieri: She's living at the Gramercy Park Hotel while he's staying in a rental in Trump Tower. Evidence that this might be a PR stunt for her new movie: the exes may have met up for dinner at Cipriani last night. [Page Six]

Christie's won't be offering up multi-million dollar contemporary art on June 25th. Boxer shorts and wifebeaters will be on the agenda: The auction house will be selling off outfits worn by the cast of The Sopranos as part of a charity fundraising effort for a group called the Wounded Warrior Project. Up for bid: Tony's "signature outfit," which "appeared most notably in morning sequences in the kitchen of the Soprano house, or when Tony retrieved the morning paper from the driveway in front of the Soprano home." Too casual? Perhaps a Christopher Moltisanti track suit is more your style. Or if you're stocking up for Halloween, there's always this ensemble from the Season 6 episode when Uncle Junior shoots Tony in the chest. Presumably the fake blood stains account for the significantly higher reserve price.

"Just had my lunch paid for by James Gandolfini at my local McDonald's on the corner of 39th Street and 2nd Ave. He was a little disheveled but completely recognizable and so nice. As he was walking away from the counter... he left $40 and told the woman at the register that he'd be paying for my roommate's and my food. He smiled graciously and walked out. Ohhh Tony!"

As mob chieftain Tony Soprano-the role in which he will forever be frozen-the bearish Gandolfini became both an iconic tough guy and a heartthrob for chubby-chasers.

TMZ has some unexpectedly touching footage of a meeting between recent SAGgie recipient James Gandolfini and his "Number One Fan" at NY's JFK airport; though the admirer's fawning, if pesky, overtures to his Sopranos idol might have started out on the wrong foot, with the suddenly angered actor applying a potential-stalker-neutralizing death-grip to his pursuer's face, the two seemed to reach a peaceful resolution outside the terminal without the customary intervention of authorities, an unnecessary stun-gunning, or shouted threats of legal action.

James Gandolfini is now engaged to longtime goomar Deborah Lin. No word yet on when they'll be rattling the windows and tearing the house down in preparation for their separation.

• Did Beyonce get a nose job? What and how and why, why? [Splash News]
  

· James Gandolfini and HBO's eight-year relationship is still going strong, as The Artist Who Will Forever Be Known As Tony will star in and produce the movie ABCD Camp, in which he'll play Sonny Vaccaro, the guy who signed Michael Jordan to the first million dollar shoe deal. [Variety]
· The trades eulogize Merv Griffin, but no review of the TV mogul's legacy could be as poignant as three minutes spent watching "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." [Variety, THR]
· Hollywood Out of Ideas, To Crush My Enemies, To See Them Driven Before Me, and To Hear The Lamentations of the D-Girls Edition: Millenium Films pays a seven figures for the rights to make a new series of Conan the Barbarian movies. There's no word about whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would be willing to abandon his political career for a shot at reprising one of his most successful roles. (But wishful thinking on the matter is nonetheless encouraged.) [Variety]
· Joseph Gordon-Levitt still keeping it real, signing on for two more indie features. Don't worry, eventually Hollywood will break him they way it did Sevigny and Posey. [THR]
· All of this strike talk is really fucking up some rich people's summer vacations. [Variety]

PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers, and are posted several times a week, so send them in often. Submit yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and tell everyone about the time you spotted Bradford Family patriarch Dick Van Patten killing some time at a Starbucks in the Valley.

No sooner had the pay dispute involving Paulie Walnuts and Silvio been resolved, the curse of The Sopranos' final mini-season strikes again. This time, it's a production delay due to a surprise knee surgery for James Gandolfini:

The cockteasing suits over at HBO announced today that Sopranos star James Gandolfini has had an "unexpected" knee surgery, delaying the show's production schedule and thus pushing the series finale back another two months to sometime in March 2007. It's cruel, really: viewers wait for almost two years for the most recent season, and now everyone will have to wait another nine months for the six concluding episodes. Is that any way to thank a loyal audience? The dude bounces back from a bullet in the stomach and a coma in just three episodes, but knee surgery takes a couple of months. Like they couldn't just write a limp into the story? Alas, no — and now your Sundays will remain open like a gaping wound. The disappointment just serves as an aching reminder that we are but slaves to the cruel master of premium cable.

• Parenting groups zone in on Brad Pitt, who's spotted taking a bike ride in Namibia with a helmet-less baby Zahara riding in a blue papoose strapped around him. Britney Spears is thrilled. [R&M]
• After a fight with Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes flies solo to Ohio to introduce baby Suri to her horrified family and friends. [Scoop]
• The cause of the brawl between Axl Rose and Tommy Hilfiger had nothing to do with Rose dating Hilfiger's brother's ex-wife. No, Axl got clocked because of the usual, inebriated reasons. [Page Six]
• At a charity auction, guest auctioneer Donald Trump yells at a bidder to "put your fucking hand down" and notes that the winner of a vacation package needs to lose 50 or 60 pounds. [Lowdown]
• James Gandolfini acknowledges that he's too old to fight in Iraq, but he'd still go and drive a truck or something. Just don't let him zip around Fallujah on a Vespa — we all know how that'll turn out. [Page Six]
• Complete unconfirmed, but: did Gwen Stefani finally have that damn baby? [Insider Gossip]

This just in to the ol' Gawker mailbag:

The Village Community School — the private school of choice for the West Village's finest future bobos — is having their annual benefit auction, where one can bid online for all sorts of high-end items (like a week in Venice, which starts at $1000). Included in the posh array of desirables is Tony Soprano's "bloodied" shirt from the show's Season Six premiere, worn and autographed by James Gandolfini. The item is expected to fetch so much money that bidding will only be conducted on eBay.

• Because a Mexican orphan is the best image makeover money can buy, Jessica Simpson is considering adoption. Next, she'll fuck Brad Pitt and swap vials of blood with Kofi Annan. [AP]
• In crazy heiress news that spans across the ages, 26-year-old Casey Johnson is accusing her aunt, Libet Johnson, 55, of sleeping with 38-year-old talent manager John Dee, who Casey claims is her boyfriend. Dee denies any relationship with Casey, but the rift between the Johnson women will not mend — not without a threesome, anyhow. [Page Six]
• After two years of sobriety, James Gandolfini is back to hitting the bottle. When adequately sauced, he can be seen licking young ladies' faces. [Gatecrasher]
• Nicolette Sheridan isn't doing any favors for Michael Bolton in the bedroom. [Scoop]
• True to form, rapper Busta Rhymes informs us all that he "fucking hates faggots." If that's the case, we'd love to know why he was seen in a diner full of trannies. [Page Six]
• Someone please, please tar and feather Sharon Stone. [Lowdown]
• Rosie O'Donnell reads Gawker Stalker — and shockingly, she's not fearing for her life. [Fox411]

· "Porcine provocateur" Michael Moore (Page Six's description, but we kinda like it) is whining that he's not going to win an Oscar because the whole thing is rigged. Expect an "investigative documentary" about it next year. [Page Six]
· Paris Hilton's version of her catfight with ex-90210 actress Shannen Doherty: "She got really mad when I said, 'You're just jealous of me because you have a show on SciFi Channel and I have one on Fox!' She kept saying, 'Let's go outside and fight!' but that's so trashy. I said no." [Page Six]
· "Young dude with spiked hair in different colors" to "elderly gent on a Washington Square Park bench": "What's the matter, old timer, never done nothing wild in your life?" The geezer nods: "Yep. Got stoned once and had sex with a parrot. I was just wondering if you were my kid." [Cindy Adams]
· Liz Smith Comment of the Month: "It is fitting that the planned celebration of Liza and David Gest's first anniversary has been canceled. Nobody who has seen the revitalized Liza over the past year could possibly prefer a party to this remarkable legend's health, peace of mind and the promise of many more productive years to come." [Liz Smith]
· James Gandolfini's war with HBO is coming to a close as both sides withdraw their lawsuits. [NY Daily News]

· Perpetually annoying power couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are being sued by their Central Park West neighbors, Paul and Tizzy Bannister, for operating loud air conditioners that keep the Bannisters awake at all hours. [Ed. note"Tizzy Bannister" sounds like a home repair problem. As in, "I have a tizzy bannister and it needs to be fixed." Are we sure she exists?] [Page Six]
· Drugged out Brit pop star Robbie Williams to U2 frontman, Bono: "Bono, man, this fucking painting is incredible." Bono: "Robbie, that's the window." [Page Six]
· James Gandolfini is now demanding $1 million an episode plus a percentage of DVD sales and rebroadcast rights for The Sopranos, idefinitely postponing shooting for the show's fifth season. [NY Daily News]

· Playboy editor James Kaminsky bans Carnie Wilson from the magazine because she's too fat, and bans Hef's girlfriends because "he hates that bleach-blonde fake breasts look." [Page Six]
· The LA Times' chief movie critic, Manohla Dargis, attacks her rivals in New York. [Page Six]
· Freelance writer Debra Laine reports that when she called Alec Baldwin's reps to do a profile on him, "He blew his stack." She quotes him as bellowing: "I don't need you. I don't need your help! I don't need anyone!" He then added, oddly, "I make my own decisions." [Page Six]
· Elizabeth Jagger, on having her teeth whitened: "For a while I can only eat white foods. Worse, I can't smoke" [Cindy Adams]
· James Gandolfini thought the script to Surviving Christmas was so bad, he refused to leave his trailer until it was fixed; "Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer and Tom Brokaw have been conducting a practical joke war for years; and the Cheeky Girls prove that irony isn't dead in the UK with their chart-topping hit, "The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)." [NY Daily News]