Los Angeles, May 3 – Van Helsing, the first big summer blockbuster, hits theaters this week, and it seems the gay rumors followed star Hugh Jackman out to the West Coast. At the premiere on Monday, Hollywood types were buzzing that “Broadway made Hugh gay”. (Van Helsing is a vampire flick – we can’t wait for the blood-sucking rumors!) Jackman, currently wowing Broadway in The Boy from Oz, attended the premiere with wife Deborra-Lee Furness and his ubiquitous male assistant, who never left their sides. Costar Kate Beckinsale also had a sticky pubicist in tow – he wanted to be in all the photos. Famke Janssen, Brendan Fraser and Beau Bridges with his family all came to see Jackman hunt down Dracula.

Photos by Jen Lowery

Washington, D.C., May 1 – We always wondered what the deal is with all the celebs that attend the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner. A Washington insider filled us in – it’s a big competition among all the news agencies to see who can wrangle the biggest stars. A sampling of media power: People magazine got former Iraqi hostage Jessica Lynch. Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren snagged #2 Apprentice Kwame Jackson. Not satisfied, Fox also lured Morgan Fairchild to D.C. Inside Edition’s Deborah Norville gushed about her catch, Apprentice Bill Rancic, “He’s the most popular man in America. Everyone wanted to have Bill with them at this dinner”. CNN trumped everyone with Wayne Newton.

Political analyst Drew Barrymore ran around with a film crew, working on her documentary. Who was the woman with Ben Affleck? He tried to block her from photographers. Anyone? Jay Leno hosted the dinner, and told us he wasn't nervous speaking in the presence of President George W. Bush.

“Who is she? She sure is pretty!” was the Washingtonians’ assessment of Mayor Bloomberg’s guest, supermodel Karolina Kurkova, at the highly anticipated Bloomberg after-party. Held in a vacant mansion on Wyoming Avenue, across from what looked like a crack house but turned out to be the Macedonian Embassy, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan left after ten minutes. American Idol Clay Aiken stayed for fifteen minutes. Wayne Newton was having such a good time, he walked in one door and out the other.

The fashions and hairstyles at the formal evening? Let’s just say we’re already pitching our reality makeover show, Queer Eye for the White House Correspondent.

April 24-May 1 – New York - While the Today Show’s Katie Couric had no trouble drawing a big roster of stars for cancer benefit Hollywood Hits Broadway, it didn’t hurt that the event was held onboard the spanking-new Queen Mary 2. Those who couldn’t resist a tour of the ocean liner included Nathan Lane, Jon Bon Jovi, Harry Connick, Jr., Danny DeVito, Donald Trump and Glenn Close. Beyonce Knowles closed the show. The evening gown-clad Couric quipped, “Should I wear this dress on the Today show?”

Isn’t that Claire Danes in the green dress standing on the corner? The actress and her date, fashion wunder-kind Zac Posen, hopped out of a traffic-snarled taxi and strolled nonchalantly down Broadway to make curtain time for the Broadway opening of Bombay Dreams. When asked where her newly minted husband Salman Rushdie was, a solo Padma Lakshmi, in stomach-baring sari, replied, “He’s planning the honeymoon”.

South African leader Bishop Desmond Tutu was delayed coming in from the airport on Saturday, and didn’t make it in time to join Robert De Niro at an early morning press conference kicking off the third Tribeca Film Festival. Our question on what Tutu has to do with the film fest went unanswered.

Los Angeles - Winning an Oscar has its perks. Chalize Theron was the only one at the Lint Roller pet-adoption benefit to bring her own dog, Denver. All the other celebs trotted out adoptable pups looking for homes.

At the unveiling of their star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, America’s favorite twin set, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, got a bit testy when photographers asked them to pose with various family members. The two really wanted the spotlight on them only; after all, they're the only set of twins with a star on the Walk of Fame.

With Jen Lowery in L.A.

Margaret Cho at Wed-Rock

New York, April 28 - We thought maybe it was an angry shareholder or a cooking-illiterate newlywed who was about to bludgeon Martha Stewart with a piece of plywood. Turned out it was security guards trying to block the convicted kitchen goddess from, ahem, photographers. Of course, in true Martha style, the plywood was covered in fabulous fabric. Martha was at Gotham Hall for a wedding planning event sponsored by her mag, Martha Stewart Weddings.

If Martha does time in the big house, her next wedding may be same-sex, but she wasn’t at Crobar that evening for Wed-Rock, a concert benefiting Freedom to Marry. Alan Cumming hosted the evening of rock and comedy performances by Sandra Bernhard, hilarious Margaret Cho, Lou Reed, Moby, John Cameron Mitchell and many others. We stumped drag queen Lady Bunny, dressed as a bride, when we asked if she’s planning to marry another woman. (See, she’s a man, dressed as a woman, fighting for same-sex marriage and… oh, never mind.)