'Papa Joe' Simpson Scores Sitcom Deal

Show weakens their ability to focus, research suggests

(NEWSER) - He lives in a pineapple under the sea, and apparently he poses a threat to your kid’s attention span. Researchers showed one group of children a nine-minute SpongeBob SquarePants segment; another group watched a clip of the same length of an educational PBS show called Caillou; a third spent the time drawing. Then scientists tested the focusing abilities of each group of 4-year-olds. SpongeBob viewers' "ability to stay on task, to not be distracted" was significantly worse than that of the other two groups. More»

Simpson says she doesn't envy her single sister

(NEWSER) - Ashlee Simpson loves being a mom and says her older sister Jessica wants the same thing, People reports. "She's always saying, 'Oh, I want a baby!' " Ashlee tells Redbook. "Being a mom's so empowering and incredible." So doesn't Ashlee, who's all married and settled down at 24, ever envy her sister's single-girl status? "I really don't," she says. More»

Plus, Jessica Simpson is sad

(NEWSER) - Reports of Jon Gosselin’s engagement to galpal Hailey Glassman “are absolutely 100% false,” a Gosselin friend tells Us. But wait! “They’re engaged but nobody is allowed to say. They’ve been warned to keep it secret,” a source—this one friends with the jeweler from whom they apparently bought a ring Sunday—tells E! Elsewhere: More»

Pete not afraid to offend Ash's sis

(NEWSER) - Family ties didn’t stop Pete Wentz from including his sister-in-law on a “Worst of 2008” list on his blog, the New York Daily News reports. The Fall Out Boy bassist asked celeb friends to list five stand-outs of 2008, and blogger Perez Hilton listed Jessica Simpson as an “Artist Of The Year That Needs To Be Locked Up.” The emo superstar didn’t censor. More»

Fathers who get a little too close to their offspring

(NEWSER) - Father's Day is a time to thank Dad for all he's done—but what if all Dad's done is creep out the general public? Radar lists celebrity fathers who take paternal love to barely legal levels.

1. Joe Simpson: Father to songbirds Jessica and Ashlee, Simpson famously said of his eldest, “She's got DOUBLE Ds! You can't cover those suckers up!”