The ex-wife of a man said to have had an affair with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin tells it’s “absolutely, completely false.”

“I can tell you this with 1,000 percent certainty, Sarah Palin never had an affair,” said Debbie Richter when reached on Friday afternoon.

The rumor that her now ex-husband, Scott Richter, had an affair with Sarah Palin gained momentum after the National Enquirer reported she had been romantically involved with one of Todd Palin’s former business associates.

The John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign threatened to sue over the story.

One celebrity news tabloid claims that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had an affair with a former business associate of Todd Palin. Seems like a bit of a stretch to us.

It would be easy to dismiss as pure tabloid trash, but this next piece of information makes the latest Palin scandal at least a little intriguing.

Turns out that the guy Palin is accused of having an affair with just filed an emergency motion to have his divorce records sealed - this week.

Meanwhile, other sources are saying that Brad Hanson is the man who the National Enquirer is going to break as Sarah’s “secret affair.”

Palin, the governor of Alaska and mother of five, became the first female nominated on a Republican presidential ticket last Friday.

Her life has been subject to intense scrutiny ever since - especially since on Monday, she announced her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, is five months pregnant with the child of her boyfriend, Levi Johnston.

You knew it was coming.

Reportedly miffed that John McCain chose a woman (Sarah Palin) for the Republican Vice Presidential nomination whose name is not Heidi Montag, The Hills’ villain you love to hate has launched a last-ditch, third-party campaign for President.

While they say voting for a third party is throwing your vote away, it looks like Spencer Pratt’s bid is gaining at least a little headway among independents and disaffected Republicans. Click on the photo below for the full news story …

Can a Spencer Pratt candidacy at least play spoiler for John McCain?

We already know what Kim Kardashian can do in bed.

In a few weeks, we’ll learn what she can do on the dance floor.

But might the world also eventually discover the singing skills of this busty soclialite? Kardashian has said she’d consider making an album.

‘”I would be down, if it was something fun. I love music, so it would just have to be the right thing.”

Would you purchase a Kim Kardashian CD?

The great Britney Spears is back in the dance studio - practicing for… some kind of performance! Exciting! At least the girl looks good physically, as well as somewhat engaged in what she’s doing! Is a career comeback in the works?

There are conflicting reports as to what she’ll be doing specifically at the VMAs tomorrow night - but we’ll be watching. Here’s Brit rehearsing…

Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift may not publicly confirm they’re an item, but come on, it couldn’t be more obvious that they’re hitting it. Case in point:

MTV VMA host Russell Brand said the Jonas Brothers personally requested to be introduced by Taylor Swift at Sunday’s show, where they’ll perform.

Russell Brand described the Jonas Brothers — who are up for Video of the Year for the song “Burnin’ Up” — as “God’s favorite virgins” and said that their performance “will make the concept of an afterlife seem tame by comparison.”

Wonder if Reg Jones thought the same thing after he deflowered America’s favorite non-virginal virgin at the time, 14-year-old Britney Spears.

Either way, Taylor Swift is totally into Joe Jonas, calling an August 28 double date (with Joe, Nick Jonas and Selena Gomez) “really cool.”

These brothers with the last name Jonas will begin filming a new Disney Channel series in mid-September, of which Joe excitedly says:

“It’s going to be about us as a band but dealing with all the normal things, like trying to take out the trash and how not to get hounded by fans. This is going to be a funny show, and it’s going to be a great cast.”

If that cast includes Joe Jonas, how can it not be?!

… y’know. Just asking. Talk about a poll in which there’s no wrong answer.

Who would you rather …

Welcome, celebrity news and gossip fans, to The Hollywood Gossip Caption Contest, our Friday tradition. How does the Caption Contest work?

• Think of a caption for the celebrity pic below
• Click “comments,” fill out the quick form

That’s it! Give us your best shot in this current-events photo as John McCain greets the boyfriend of pregnant Bristol Palin, Levi Johnston!

For what was billed as an evangelical book about “parenting,” Lynne Spears’ widely-ridiculed much-anticipated memoir - Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World - is chock full of tawdry tales.

The New York Daily News reviewed a copy and shared some juicy tidbits:

• Britney Spears took a liking to booze when she was just a 13-year-old Mouseketeer, then began experimenting with drugs at 15.

• By 16, Britney’s drug-fueled behavior stunned her family when the wild one was caught with coke and marijuana on a private jet.

• Lynne Spears knew about, yet openly allowed 16-year-old Britney to sleep with boyfriend Justin Timberlake, her Mickey Mouse Club co-star.

• Timberlake was misled about Brit’s purity, as she had lost her virginity to a Kentwood, La., high school football player (Reg Jones) at 14.

• As Spears’ career began to take off, the All-American mom went along with the hoax that Britney was a virgin to boost her image.

Man, way to throw your daughter under the bus right as she’s getting her train wreck life back together, Lynne Spears. Good to see you’d rather try to get rich than do what’s best for Britney just once. Enjoy the weather where you’re going, sellout.

As we said when we first learned about Through the Storm, we don’t think the title and cover do it justice. Here are our proposed versions …

Other quality titles conjured up by our interns, such as Milking the Ever-Loving Crap Out of Your Poor Kids, were rejected for not being catchy enough.

The sort of glamourous Pussycat Dolls look absolutely slightly better than average in all white on the cover of Blender magazine’s October 2008 issue.

The Hollywood Gossip pop quiz: Name the other four Pussycat Dolls besides Nicole Scherzinger. No, really. You gotta us. We have absolutely no idea.

Nicole Scherzinger looks fairly sexy on this cover. The other four members of PCD will remain nameless. We’re sure they’re nice people - we just have no clue who they are.

Looks like handsome America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker will be welcoming his own little catwalker this winter.

He and model wife Christen Chin Barker, are having a girl!

“We found out it’s going to be a little girl,” Barker, 36, told Us Weekly on Thursday at the Saks Fifth Avenue Ruby Slippers Collection party in NYC.

As for what they plan on naming it?

“We’re going to look at her, and when we see her, we’re going to come up with a name.”

Piper and Sasha seem like good options.

The couple originally thought they’d be having another boy to join son Jack, 2. But it turns out this celebrity baby is a girl. Hooray!