Lindsay Looking to Nip Bodyguard Suit in the Bud

Los Angeles Lindsay Lohan wants to make the bodyguard she says she never knew go away. The starlet’s legal camp is looking to settle a lawsuit brought against her by David Kim, who claims Lohan owes him more than $55,000 for his time spent as part of her security detail, according to court documents filed by both parties.Detailing all sorts of thankless little extras he says he provided while on the job, Kim sued Lohan and her Crossheart Productions on April 7 for fraud, breach of oral contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and various California Labor Code violations.
Meanwhile, the Mean Girls star maintains she doesn’t know Kim and, subsequently, never employed him, either.
But in his complaint, Kim says Crossheart hired him in October 2006 to protect Lohan for either $4,000 per week for 24/7 security or $2,800 for p.m. policing only. Aside from going unpaid for his services, he claims that, during the six months he worked for the actress, he incurred about $10,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for mileage, valet tips and other chauffeur-related expenses while ferrying Lohan between home and…wherever.
He also personally arranged for extra security and VIP tables at clubs and events to shield Lohan from the madding crowd and sustained $1,470 in damages that November when Lohan’s driver rammed into his car while making an illegal right turn to avoid paparazzi.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige has given Lohan and Crossheart until June 30 to file a response to the suit, but her team seems eager to wipe this case from the docket as soon as possible.
The dueling parties are “presently continuing to exchange settlement proposals…to attempt to resolve [the case],” lawyers for both sides wrote in their latest court filing.

Jessica’s Country Cover

Los Angeles Expect to see a little southern comfort to grace the cover of Jessica Simpson’s new country album. No, not the booze.she’ll likely be dressed in a cowboy hat and boots for the CD cover.”This is her first country album, and she wanted to send home the message that despite her previous pop stuff, she’s just a country girl at heart,” the pal says.Jessica posed for pics in Nashville on Monday in a cover shoot that included lots of cowgirl shots (in jeans and cutoffs), as well as glam-girl pics, according to our insider.
“They wanted a mix of stuff to choose from,” says the insider. “But she is pushing for the simple country cowgirl-type thing.”
Jessica’s mom, Tina, was on set, but the men in her life (daddy Joe and beau Tony) were both absent. And that’s a good thing, says Jessica’s pal.
“She’s got enough pressure on her,” her friend says. “She doesn’t need the men all tense around her. She’s got so much hope pinned on this country record. She thinks this could reinvent her and finally give her the respect she’s never had in the music industry. She simply can’t live with Newlyweds as her only lasting legacy.”

Actress Natalie Portman in Rwanda for genocide orphans project

Klgali Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman is in Rwanda shooting a clip to promote a Jewish-funded youth village for children orphaned by the 1994 genocide, officials said. “The American film star is currently in Rwanda shooting a film on the genocide,” an official close to the ministry of culture condition of anonymity.The young Hollywood star arrived quietly in the genocide-scarred central African country earlier this week.
Israeli media has reported that the clip she is shooting about the new village will be aired in a few weeks on the Oprah Winfrey Show, America’s best-rated television programme.
The village, funded by American Jewish donors, will be developed along the lines of Israeli youth villages created for orphaned Holocaust survivors.
It is due to be inaugurated in August.
An estimated 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were massacred in Rwanda in 1994.
Portman visited Rwanda in June last year for a ceremony in which 23 baby mountain gorillas were given names by celebrities in a bid to boost the country’s conservation efforts and the tourism industry.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame was in Jerusalem last month to attend celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Israel’s creation. The two countries have enjoyed strong ties in recent years.