At Heart of Marilyn's Fall, a 'Very Sick Girl'

Monroe was jealous of Elizabeth Taylor: memoir

(NEWSER) - A new memoir reveals that it was simple jealousy of Elizabeth Taylor that spurred Marilyn Monroe to pose nude. Monroe agreed to be naked while exiting a swimming pool during a photo shoot, as long as Taylor did not appear in any magazines running the images, reports Vanity Fair, which is publishing the images in this month's edition. (While Monroe made just $100,000 for her final film role in Something's Gotta Give, Taylor pulled down $1 million in Cleopatra.) But the nude pictures weren't the only place Monroe bared all. A smattering of her conversations with photographer Lawrence Schiller, as per his memoir Marilyn & Me:

• On posing naked: "Larry, if I do come out of the pool with nothing on, I want your guarantee that when your pictures appear on the covers of magazines Elizabeth Taylor is not anywhere in the same issue."

Michael Jackson tops the list again

(NEWSER) - When you’re a celebrity, dying doesn’t have to mean you stop making money. Forbes offers up its annual list of the top-earning celebs of the past year:

1. Michael Jackson: The King of Pop is in the top spot for the second year in a row, earning $170 million thanks to music sales, his stake in the Sony/ATV catalog, and a new Cirque du Soleil tour.
2. Elvis Presley: The King of Pop is followed by the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, who earned $55 million, much of which came from Graceland admissions. A Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas didn’t hurt, either.
3. Marilyn Monroe: A resurgence in popularity is partly to thank for her $27 million in earnings; for example, she was featured in an ad for J’Adore fragrance, and soon she’ll be getting her own line of cafes.
4. Charles Schulz: The Peanuts creator earned $25 million as his creations found themselves coming into the digital age via a video game, e-books, and a Facebook app, among other things.
5. John Lennon: The Beatles sold 1.6 million albums last year after finally arriving in the iTunes Store, which may have something to do with Lennon’s $12 million in earnings. Also helping? Yet another Cirque show.

Don't worry, it will have a co-author

(NEWSER) - Oh, goody: Someone decided to give Courtney Love a book deal. The rocker and controversy magnet will write not just a memoir, but a “tell-all” memoir, thanks to the deal with HarperCollins’ William Morrow imprint, MediaBistro reports. Love will collaborate with Anthony Bozza, who has co-authored books with other rockers including Tommy Lee, so theoretically he should have a firmer grasp of spelling and grammar than Love does . Gawker , which is hosting a naming contest on its site that looks like quite a bit of fun, notes that the memoir promises to “set the record straight” and is due out next fall. More»

Former Idol judge's memoir also reveals child molestation

(NEWSER) - Another celebrity is revealing details of sexual abuse in a new memoir. This time it's former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, who discusses several disturbing incidents in her A Helluva High Note, out next week, E! reports. In 2000, she writes, a "fairly known producer" date-raped her after dinner, and she never told anyone for fear her career would be ruined. But her troubles began long before that, when she was molested as a child. More»

'How she could betray her own flesh and blood?' says insider

(NEWSER) - Ashley Judd's family is not happy about her recently released memoir , which discloses details of a dysfunctional upbringing. "Naomi and Wynonna have had a strained relationship with Ashley for years," an insider tells Popeater . "This is the final nail in the coffin—they are very angry and hurt that Ashley would write a book rather than deal with whatever problems they have privately." Click for more of the Judd family's reaction or here for more from Ashley's memoir . More»