Scoop

• Movin’ On
• AFTER HER ROMANCE WITH WILMER VALDERRAMA HIT THE ROCKS, LINDSAY LOHAN HIT THE CLUBS WITH A VENGEANCE

Lindsay Lohan‘s remedy for a broken heart? Keep busy. In the days and nights following the teen queen’s breakup with boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama, the actress partied on both coasts, wrapped up shooting her movie Herbie: Fully Loaded and prepared for the December release of her new CD Speak.

Outwardly, Lohan’s six-month romance with That ’70s Show‘s Valderrama, 24, appeared to be going strong. She shot a cameo for his series last month, and the couple spent the Nov. 6 weekend in a $1,500-a-night villa at the Parker Palm Springs resort. But a friend of Lohan’s says the actress tried to dump Valderrama before the Palm Springs trip and he resisted. A week later, says the insider, Valderrama broke up with Lohan. On Nov. 12 his rep confirmed the split.

And yet, “it’s obvious that there’s still something there,” says a source in Lohan’s circle. The two still talk often. But Lohan, 18, wasted no time sulking. She hung out with pals Ashlee Simpson and actress Samaire Armstrong on Nov. 10 at Hollywood’s Concorde and was spotted on Nov. 11 at Prey, where she bumped into her Freaky Friday costar Chad Michael Murray (sparking a report—quickly shot down—that they were an item). In Manhattan on Nov. 13 she stopped by Vento Trattoria and the lounge below, Level V, with 16 people, including family and friends. “She was in great spirits,” said the club’s Eugene Remm. Back in L.A. on Monday, she hit Fenix at the Argyle Hotel with a few female friends. But don’t cry for Valderrama. He was spotted at the LA club XES on Nov. 11 with a group that included Lohan’s archrival, Hilary Duff. Says one observer: “There were a lot of girls around him.”

AARON TO MOM: DON’T USE ME

UPSET AFTER HIS MOTHER WONDERS ALOUD IN A TELEVISED INTERVIEW ABOUT AN EVENING HE SPENT WITH MICHAEL JACKSON, THE TEEN SINGER RESPONDS

Earlier this month Jane Carter, mother of teen pop star Aaron Carter, told Access Hollywood that Aaron had spent an unsupervised night with Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch on Sept. 13, 2003, and that she worried about what happened that evening. Aaron’s sister Leslie, 18, added that drug use may have been involved. But in an exclusive interview, Aaron, 16, says, “I don’t do drugs. I didn’t do them with Michael Jackson and I don’t do them with anyone else.” He had a lot more to say in a frank discussion.

ON HIS MOTHER AND SISTER:

I really don’t like being around them. All I hear is “You need to go on television and make me look better.” I just think, “Just be my mother, just be my sister.” It’s all about money and publicity for them. My last word to [my mother] is that she’s the adult, not me. But it seems to be switched around.

ON HIS PLAYDATE AT NEVERLAND:

Michael and I have been friends for three years. I went to Neverland for his [45th] birthday bash. We were smashing cake in each other’s faces. It was really cool. Until 5 a.m., me, him and Chris Tucker were out on four-wheelers, riding around in the mountains. Nothing happened between me and Michael. We didn’t sleep in the same room, we didn’t share a bed. We have a normal friendship. There’s nothing sexual to it.

• ON SINGLE LIFE after dating Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff:
• My career is my girlfriend. I don’t consider myself with anybody, but I’ve been seeing a couple of people. There was a Hawaiian Tropic model I was seeing named Monique. She’s really cool. We’re just friends now. I’m not going to tell you, “Oh, looks don’t matter.” If you don’t look good, get away from me!

• ON HIS NEXT CAREER MOVE:
• My sound is definitely changing [for an upcoming album]. It is going to have more of an R&B vibe with some rock. It’s influenced by Craig David, Usher and Justin Timberlake.

AARON’S MOM: “I TOLD THE TRUTH”

While Aaron Carter is vexed, mom Jane stands by her decision to go on television and question the night her son spent with Michael Jackson last year. “I told the truth,” she says. “I don’t know what happened at Michael Jackson’s house, but I was concerned like any parent would be.” (Aaron’s sister Leslie declined to comment on her televised remarks suggesting that he said he smoked marijuana.) Jane does admit to a rift between mother and son—”I don’t have a regular phone number for him, I don’t see him like I would like to”—but she hopes to work things out. “I will say that I love Aaron with all my heart,” says Jane, 45. “I want to be a loving mother to him. I am on his side. I want what’s best for him. I know that he may not believe it at this moment, but it is true. I would do anything for him.” Aaron says that there is a fairly easy way to end their family squabble. “I would forgive my mom,” he says, “but she’s going to have to admit she did some things that were wrong.”

• ASHTON KUTCHER: ASHTON KUTCHER‘S BIG RIDE
• Ashton Kutcher: With most districts counted, it’s now official: Ashton Kutcher won the SUV arms race last week, making the scene in L.A. behind the wheel of a Navistar CXT, a new $93,000 street-legal monster truck that just may be able to pack a Mini Cooper in the glove box. Can eco-friendly Hollywood love a 7-ton truck that gets 6 to 10 miles per gallon? “Ashton is free to drive any vehicle he wants,” says actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. “But I love driving around in my solar-charged electric car.”

JOSH: VIVA LAS FERGIE
Where is the love? Look no further than the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie (left) and Las Vegas cutie Josh Duhamel. The actor flew to Sin City on Nov. 11 to be with Fergie, 29, who was performing there with her band, and they ended up turning the night into a 32nd-birthday celebration for Duhamel. After the show the couple met up with friends at Ghostbar and later cuddled on a couch. “They were really sweet together,” says an onlooker.

MARTHA STEWART WATCH

“MARTHA IS DOING WELL. I WAS [VISITING HER IN PRISON]. BUT WE’RE NOT DOING BUSINESS. SHE CAN’T TALK BUSINESS WHILE IN JAIL. [WE TALK ABOUT] FAMILY, WEATHER. WE HAVE A REALLY GOOD RELATIONSHIP AS FRIENDS. SHE’S DOING GREAT. SHE’S A WINNER WHO GOT A ROUGH DEAL.”

—TV producer MARK BURNETT (Survivor, The Apprentice) on recently visiting Martha Stewart at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia. Burnett has signed with Stewart’s company to produce a prime-time network show with the domestic diva after she is released next March.

POP QUIZ

Paul McCartney

The former Beatle gives fans an insider’s look at life on the road in his new book Each One Believing: On Stage, Off Stage and Backstage. It’s a personal account of his most recent world tour, when he played to an estimated 2 million people. McCartney, 62, took a few moments to chat with Scoop about the book.

Any fears about exposing life behind the scenes?

Gone are the days where it’s debauchery backstage. There’s nothing really to be ashamed of. Though there was one security lady who received a naked-cop strippergram.

We learned that you snort water through your nose before shows. Why?

I read somewhere that opera singers have a sort of saltwater gargle, and I thought that might be good to try. And then I thought I’d snort it up my nose. It was not that pleasant; it was like drowning before each show.

Is your wife, Heather, always on the road with you?

Pretty much. She was there because we love each other; we want to be with each other.

Does she have a role? Help pick out your outfits?

She would occasionally do that, actually. But she had her own work to do, and I didn’t want that to suffer. She counsels a lot of people and does a lot of charity work. We set up a special area for Heather’s office.

Tell us about meeting Russian President Putin while on tour in Moscow.

[Putin, Heather and I] ended up in this little room in the Kremlin all alone—the translators and security went away. Quite spooky, really, in a friendly kind of way, because he’s a friendly sort of guy. We enjoyed his company. But we do have to remember that he used to be with the KGB.

For the book you allowed the photographer to follow you to the men’s room.

That’s the kind of guy I am. That’s full access for you.

But where are the shots? I don’t know. On the cutting-room floor.

What’s next?

I’m hoping to tour in America toward the end of next year. It’s a jolly place, America. And I think by then I’ll have a new album with new songs.

ON THE BLOCK

HUNTER’S HIDEAWAY

PRICE: $2.5 million

LOCATION: Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Noted SPORTS ILLUSTRATED swimsuit model (and the former Mrs. Rod Stewart) Rachel Hunter recently sold her seven-bedroom, 6½%-bath hillside home. The 5,890-sq.-ft. pad, which was built two years ago, features mountain and city views, three fireplaces and—a must for most in her profession—a pool.