The Wall Street Journal has caught Google using another questionable online tracking technique, one that will likely further inflame those who think the company is evil.

Google has been "tricking" Apple's Safari browser into letting Google monitor Apple users' web-surfing behavior, the WSJ reports--even users who want this kind of tracking to be blocked.

Google says the WSJ is "mischaracterizing" its behavior.

But Apple and advertisers are furious.

And after the WSJ confronted Google with the tactic, Google immediately stopped doing it.

Specifically, according to WSJ reporters Julia Angwin and Jennifer Valentino-Devries, Google found a way to drop tracking "cookies" on Safari users even when Safari was set to block cookies.

These cookies, which were invisible to users, could then be controlled by Google and used to store additional information about the users' behavior, including information like the users' Google login information.

More specifically, the "trick" Google used to fool Safari was to use ads served by Google's Doubleclick unit to make Safari think that the users were intentionally interacting with the ads. This allowed Google to drop temporary cookies on the users' computers, which then allowed Google to follow the users around the web.

The Safari hack helped Google by allowing Google to recognize Safari users who were logged into Google, which Google would otherwise not have been able to do.

Other companies have taken advantage of the same Safari loophole, including Vibrant Media and PointRoll, which are ad networks.

The WSJ took its findings to Apple and some advertisers. Some were furious.

• "We were unaware [PointRoll ad tracking] was happening on WSJ.com and are looking into it further," a Journal spokeswoman said.
• "We were not aware of this behavior," said Michael Balmoris, AT&T Inc. spokesman. Google's code was found on AT&T's YellowPages.com. "We would never condone it," he said.
• An Apple official said: "We are working to put a stop" to the circumvention of Safari privacy settings.

Google, meanwhile, defended the practice by saying that they were just trying to make Safari work the way other browsers work--and provide features that signed-in Google users wanted:

"The Journal mischaracterizes what happened and why. We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It's important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."  (Read Google's full statement here.)

Nevertheless, Google has since stopped using the technique.

And, given the scrutiny of the company and its intentions, Google decision to use a secret "workaround" like this to circumvent Safari's privacy settings can only be characterized as idiotic.

Kudos to the WSJ for discovering and airing this one.

Read all the details at the WSJ >

SEE ALSO: GOOGLE'S RESPONSE: The Wall Street Journal Is Full Of Crap -- Here's What We Were Really Doing With That Apple Hack

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• Bobby Brown has no sympathy. Whitney Houston's ex-husband of 15 years is set to perform with New Edition on Saturday in Connecticut hours after attending his ex-wives funeral in Newark. Oh, and then there's this video of Brown proclaiming, "I love Whitney like I love god...My name is Bad Ass Bobby Brown."
  

• Sarah Palin wears snake skin sky-high heels....with her ladysuit.

• How much is Reebok paying Stacy Keibler to run around Central Park and pretend to talk on the phone in her hot pink sneakers?

• Nick Cannon leaves his daily radio show to focus on his health. Mariah Carey's husband has an enlarged ventricle in the right side of his heart and recently revealed he had blood clots.

• Ya got a little something on your shoulder there, Angelina Jolie.

• Jennifer Lopez tweets, then deletes, steamy photo of her and 24-year-old boytoy Casper Smart.

• Reese Witherspoon has a total girl crush on Kate Middleton—sends her a message via Ellen DeGeneres: "Call me!" Watch below.

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"Money is not so much the object, it's more about their happiness," says David Kramer of Hyland & Hilton, the realtor responsible for the $85 million sale of Candy Spelling's mansion to British heiress Petra Ecclestone this summer. "You really need to get into their head space to see what drives them."

Even though Ecclestone paid far less than the original $150 million asking price, the sale was still the third-largest recorded in the U.S. in 2011.

"The price of the house is the cost to extricate the seller, because they don't need to sell," Kramer explained. "We were there at the right time with the right buyer."

Kramer, who began college as a business major, wasn't initially drawn to real estate.

"I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do," he said.

But his dad owned a small real estate company in Beverly Hills, and the career immediately clicked for him. He began to take real estate law and real estate finance classes to help him in his future career.

In the case of the Spelling sale, Kramer had the right buyer, but had a pretty difficult time getting that buyer—who the world later found out was Ecclestone—into the house.

Everyone has their new home inspected before they move in, but we're guessing most people don't bring in an entire team of forensic scientists.

Kramer told us that Ecclestone hired a professor with an advanced degree to test for mold in the house. He used a team of forensic inspectors and set up a lab in the middle of the now-former Spelling mansion. They collected 95 samples and were able to get results immediately.

"Inspections at this level are very intrusive, or can be," Kramer said. "That was the most fascinating thing we did. It was an interesting transaction."

In such a high-profile sale, the results of the inspection are nearly as important as the person performing the inspection. Kramer said he screened every inspector who walked through the mega-mansion.

"On this particular sale, I could not have anything go wrong," Kramer said. "I was not sleeping."

Kramer said he knew of one inspector who was known as an expert, but couldn't keep his mouth shut on the job, which meant he couldn't work on the Spelling mansion. 

"I needed extreme skill and accuracy without someone being a jerk," Kramer said.

Now meet the 35 most successful realtors of the past year >

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Yankee Alex Rodriguez has a gorgeous mansion in Miami where he spends a lot of the off-season.

A-Rod lent that mansion out to Victoria's Secret for a fashion shoot featuring Victoria's Secret Angels Candice Swanepoel, Behati Prinsloo, and Doutzen Kroes, according to the Daily Mail.

The Yankee wasn't even at home for the shoot, instead, he jetted off to NYC with his current girlfriend.

Head over to the Daily Mail for pictures of the shoot >>>

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From the boss of "The Office," to host of the Golden Globes, to...underwater mammal?

Yes, Ricky Gervais gets animated. This Sunday, the Brit takes his comedic chops to "Family Guy" as a bullying dolphin. And, from the start, he's full of fish jokes.

Creator Seth MacFarlene asked Gervais to voice "Billy Finn" a dolphin and he flipped at the opportunity—see what we did there?—saying he "always wanted to play an annoying dolphin."

We're wondering if he sings and dances like Richard Gere as well.

Hopefully, he'll be better received than his previous Emmy performances.  

Go behind the scenes and get a sneak peek of Ricky Gervais animated performance below.

(Source: EW)

Now see Kanye West and Woody Allen's "Paris" video mash-up >>

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Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyhter (DN) is running the headline "The Boss wants America to be a little more Swedish" after comments made by Bruce Springsteen in Paris.

The American musician had been in France to promote his new album Wrecking Ball when the topic turned to politics.

"I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream," Springsteen said, according to the Guardian. He went on the offer a stern criticism of the United States and the financial crisis of 2008.

Asked at the conference whether he thought America should move to a welfare style state, Springsteen responded (via DN):

Ha, ha! Exactly! That is exactly my dream! It is written between the lines. But you have to read very carefully

When a Swedish journalist later informed Springsteen that his upcoming concerts in the country sold out in less than an hour, Springsteen grinned and said "It is my people over there! It is my people!"

(H/T The Local)

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Electronic Arts is going all out in its promotion of Mass Effect 3: "Take Earth Back." next week it will launch copies of the game into space on weather balloons in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London and Paris. Fans will be able to track them on GPS devices as they fall to earth.

And on Feb. 19, during AMC's Walking Dead, the company will unveil a trailer for the new game. The game is so heavily anticipated that the trailer for the trailer (below) has already had 60,000 views on YouTube.

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Thursday night, Guns N' Roses took the stage at the HIRO Ballroom to close out New York Fashion Week.

Chelsea Clinton, Matt Damon, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Evan Rachel Wood, Taylor Momsen, Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis, even a pregnant Sienna Miller, along with her fiancé Tom Sturridge, made it out to see the rockers as a part of DeLeon Tequila and Nur Khan's Electric Sessions.

Celebs stayed inside their booths in a roped-off VIP section as aerealists danced in sheets dangling from the ceiling.

We showed you inside Fashion Week's opening night parties, now take a look at everything that followed.

Guns N' Roses takes the stage around 1a.m.

HIRO Ballroom.

"Welcome to the Jungle."

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• Update: Sony Apologizes For iTunes Pricing 'Mistake' Increase Following Whitney Houston's Death
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If you only know Kathy Ireland from her famous 1989 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover photo, you'd be surprised to hear that the supermodel long ago hung up her bikini to become a businesswoman. 

A very successful businesswoman, whose company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, is worth around $350 million, according to Dorothy Pomerantz in a big profile of Ireland in the latest issue of Forbes. 

Celebrity Net Worth recently declared her to be the richest supermodel on the planet, beating out Gisele Bündchen and Cindy Crawford.

Ireland's company, which now designs and licenses products for "busy moms," including furniture, fans, rugs, flooring, has gone through several permutations since 1993. And it'll likely go through many more as it grows.

Kathy Ireland Worldwide, which raked in $1.9 billion in merchandising fees in 2010, is worth around $100 million more than Martha Stewart's holdings in her company. That's a big deal.

In 1980, at the age of 16, the Elite Modeling Agency discovers Ireland at a finishing school.

Source: Forbes

Ireland appears in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 1984 for the first time, and is featured on the cover in 1989, making it the magazine's best-selling issue ever.

Source: Forbes

In 1993, after marketer John Moretz asks Ireland if she would like to model socks, Ireland instead proposes that the two go into business together selling Kathy Ireland socks.

Source: Forbes

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False.

After French tabloid magazine Public published a cover story alleging that Adele has a sex tape floating around, the six-time Grammy winner's attorney swiftly defended her innocence.

"Our client has not appeared in a sex tape as claimed in the article. Our client does not appear in the photographs," read a statement released to the Daily Mail. "Such claims are untrue and grossly defamatory. Our client is taking legal action in relation to this matter."

The three-page article, with the headline "Exclusif! Adele La sex tape!" showed a screen grab of an Adele (sort of) doppelganger and even went so far as to have sources claiming the singer was "devastated by" the sex tape leak.

But turns out the star of the video is just an Adele look-a-like. If that.

Guess you could say Adele has put this sex tape rumor... to bed.

Now read about the vest-loving musician who allegedly broke Adele's heart and inspired her Grammy-winning album >>

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It was a huge week in the Twitterverse. Celebs paid tribute to Whitney Houston, Valentine's Day, the Grammy Awards, #LINsanity and more.

Rihanna received her own Whitney portrait, Kate Upton celebrated her new Sports Illustrated cover and Taylor Swift shows off her two new friends.

From Chris Brown flipping off America for trashing him at the Grammy Awards to Oprah begging for ratings, here's this week's installment of celebrity tweets o' the week.

Hollywood said goodbye to a singing legend last weekend...

with an out pour of prayers.

Tuesday's episode of 'Glee' featured a card saying "We Will Always Love You" and was posted online.

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• How One Twitter User Broke The News Of Whitney Houston's Death An Entire Hour Before The Press
• Here's A Breakdown Of Whitney Houston's Finances—And How Her Estate Will Benefit Posthumously
• Update: Sony Apologizes For iTunes Pricing 'Mistake' Increase Following Whitney Houston's Death

The movers and shakers of the movie-making industry have checked off most of the red-carpet events this awards’ season: Critics’ Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globes. Next up? The granddaddy of ‘em all: The Academy Awards.

This year, “The Oscars” will be broadcast live Sunday, Feb. 26 (ABC, 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST.)  And while the media is abuzz with predictions of who’ll win and what they’ll wear, we are more interested in the homes where this year’s potential winners will stash their golden statues.

This post originally appeared at Zillow. 

Steven Spielberg (Best Picture): “War Horse”

As far as famous producers and directors go, Steven Spielberg tops the list. The Best Picture nomination for “War Horse,” which he co-produced, is just another notch in the belt of the prolific director. He has won three Academy Awards and has been nominated for Best Picture and Best Director over 10 times.

When Spielberg isn’t directing or producing his blockbusters, he splits time between his homes in Pacific Palisades, the Hamptons and Malibu. Unlike other celebrities, the director isn’t one to buy and sell properties on a whim; most of his homes he’s owned for over 20 years.

His Malibu home (above), in particular, is a spectacular ocean-side property he bought in 1989 for $3,375,033. The 7,000+-square-foot-home, pictured above, sits on nearly an acre of beachfront property and has 7 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and the must-have celebrity amenities like an in-ground pool.

Brad Pitt (Actor in a Leading Role): “Moneyball”

Although Brad Pitt has been nominated three times previously for an Oscar, the actor has yet to take home a gold statuette. Could the fourth time be the charm?

If Pitt does take home an Oscar, chances are he won’t be stashing it in a home in the U.S. Pitt and his leading woman, Angelina Jolie, as well as their six kids, spend most of their time abroad, specifically in a rental home in southern France. They also own multimillion-dollar homes in Cambodia, and Berlin in addition to homes in New Orleans, and L.A. Pitt also previously owned a home in Malibu he purchased shortly after his divorce to Jennifer Aniston in 2005.

A self-professed architecture buff, Pitt spent months renovating the mid-century modern, pictured above. Although the home has 4,088 square feet of living space with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, it was on the small side for the 8-person Jolie-Pitt clan. Pitt sold the prime piece of Malibu real estate to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi in December 2011.

George Clooney (Actor in a Leading Role): "The Descendants"

Although he’s one of the most recognizable faces on the big screen, Clooney spent the early part of his career in bit roles on TV shows until he hit international stardom with his role of Dr. Ross on “ER” in 1994. He made the switch to movies in the late 1990s and added directing, producing and screenwriting to his repertoire. This Oscar season, he’s not only nominated for Best Actor, but also Best Writing, Adapted Screen Play for ”Ides of March.”

Clooney purchased his home in Studio City at the beginning of his success on “ER,” in 1995. The sprawling Studio City home sits on over 3 acres below a nature preserve. The 8-bedroom, mock-Tudor house has a pool and tennis courts. Clooney also owns a home in Laglio, Italy on Lake Como — and it’s often there he meets up with fellow actor and good friend Brad Pitt.

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Chrissy Teigen was robbed.

We would like to personally speak with whoever nominated Kate Upton for the highly-coveted cover girl position for this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

We won't comment on what we think of this Anna Nicole doppelgänger's roots or barely-there bikini, but just watch this video and we think you may see where we're coming from.

We get it, she's all-American, she's the hot girl in high school or the popular party girl in college and she has huge…

But have you seen her competition? They are a lineup of 17 other dark and exotic, blonde, red-headed, golden goddesses. And we would like to argue that every single other one is a better covergirl choice than Kate Upton. (Seriously, check out this lineup.)

But especially Chrissy Teigen.

She cooks (she has a deep-fryer on each coast, for cooks sake!). She actually eats the food she makes (like these oreo chocolate chip cookies) and then blogs about it. She skewers celebrities on Twitter. She has two bulldogs (who have their own hilarious Twitter accounts) and tweets about their bathroom habits. She's engaged to singer John Legend and wants "everybody drunk" at their upcoming wedding.

Chrissy Teigen, we're smitten. And for those keeping track at home, model Izabel Goulart (slide 11) is our personal pick for runner-up—and yes, we took their personalities in the following videos into consideration, as well.

But Teigen and Goulart are just two of 17 hotties to get the boot off this year's Sports Illustrated cover.

Chrissy Teigen

Adaora

Alyssa Miller

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• Whitney Houston Dead At 48
• 48 Years In The Legendary Life Of Whitney Houston
• George Clooney Gives Us A Tour Inside His Sprawling L.A. Home

Whitney Houston will be laid to rest today in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. The services will take place at Whitney's childhood church, the New Hope Baptist Church.

The funeral is invitation-only and has a guest list that includes Kevin Costner, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Tyler Perry, Ray J, Dionne Warwick and many other high profile names who will perform or pay their respects to the late singer.

While the service is private, it will be streaming live online, beginning at 12pm EST, for those who want to remember Whitney and watch the musical tributes from performers such as Stevie Wonder.

Watch the live coverage HERE.

Now click here to remember the greatest moments in Whitney Houston's life >>

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Only hundreds may have gathered in Newark, N.J. to celebrate the life and legacy of Whitney Houston; however, millions all over the world tuned in to pay tribute to the singer during a four-hour ceremony at the New Hope Baptist Church. 

Over 1.7 million tuned into the live Internet stream of Houston's funeral while it also streamed delayed on network and cable television.

Click here to see inside Houston's "homecoming" >>

Celebrities took the stage to pay their respects to Houston, with stars revealing sides of the singer many never knew. 

Music industry "father," Clive Davis paid respects to the woman who was "always holding his hand," and Tyler Perry revealed how we may have never heard the singer's voice. 

Kevin Costner gave one of the best speeches, sharing similarities between both him and the singer—they both grew up in baptist churches—and recalling behind the scenes knowledge of how Houston landed her role in "The Bodyguard."

"She hadn't said four lines when they had to stop," Costner said of the screen test for her Hollywood debut. "She wanted to know what was wrong," Costner said. "I needed to know what she did in those 20 minutes. She said 'Nothing.'"

What she did was reapply makeup before the screen test to look just perfect; however, the hot lights of the stage sent it streaming down her face. 

Many performers had a tough time making it through their performances with Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and R. Kelly among the stars who paid tribute. Both Keys and Kelly had to pause during song. 

Among those in the audience that didn't speak or perform included Oprah and Mariah Carey. 

The only fuss came prior to the ceremony's start when Bobby Brown entered the church with an entourage of nine briefly to pay his respects before walking out after a family altercation, according to CNN.

Despite the brief skirmish, it was truly a warm sendoff for the singer. 

Gospel singer and pastor Kim Burrell performed Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" personalized just for Whitney.

Tyler Perry discussed conversations with Houston revealing how lucky we are to hear the singer's voice. “From what I understand, she wasn’t even supposed to be able to speak, let alone sing, because of an incident that happened to her as a child.”

Bebe Winans performed Houston's favorite song, "Home."

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See Also:

• Top Celebrity Tweets O' The Week—The Grammys, Whitney Houston and Valentine's Day
• Watch Whitney Houston's Funeral Live-Streaming
• How One Twitter User Broke The News Of Whitney Houston's Death An Entire Hour Before The Press

One of the coolest features in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is the body paint.

This year, SI asked several female athletes to strip down, get a bathing suit painted on them, and pose for the camera.

For a model, this is just another day of work, but it was a completely new thing for the athletes.

Take a look at what it was like for soccer player Alex Morgan, golfer Natalie Gulbris, and swimmer Natalie Coughlin to model in paint for the day.

Soccer star Alex Morgan said she was really excited to pose for SI in body paint. She likes how you can be revealing, but are still completely covered up

All of that paint is going to turn into Morgan's bathing suit

The whole painting process takes about 12 hours. For Morgan's suit they painted a white base and the color pattern over it

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Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Kevin Costner, Clive Davis and countless other friends and family of Whitney Houston said farewell today and celebrated her "home going" to her hometown and final resting place: Newark, New Jersey.

But six blocks from the church, behind the police barricades, hundreds of members of the media gathered to cover the superstar's last main event—while fans took to the streets to remember their hometown hero.

Whitney Houston songs blared from parked cars, People were selling everything from T-shirts to photographs, and hundreds of Newark police officers patrolled the area to make sure press and fans behaved themselves.

Welcome to Newark, New Jersey! Home of the late, great Whitney Houston.

I arrive to a police barricade...

But join my peers inside (still six blocks away from the church) in the designated press area.

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See Also:

• Watch Whitney Houston's Funeral Live-Streaming
• Here's What Happened Inside Whitney Houston's Funeral
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Leave it to Bobby Brown to make himself the center of attention on Whitney Houston's big day.

This morning an emotional Brown showed up at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. with an entourage of nine, according to CNN.   

After being told the group couldn't sit together, Brown quickly went to the church alter to pay respects at Houston's casket before turning around and abruptly leaving. 

Instead of sitting with family and friends at the ceremony, he was seen outside the church soon after services began.  

Brown later released a statement explaining his appearance and mysterious departure. 

"My children and I were invited to the funeral of my ex-wife Whitney Houston. We were seated by security and then subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions. I fail to understand why security treated my family this way and continue to ask us and no one else to move. Security then prevented me from attempting to see my daughter, Bobbi Kristina. In light of the events, I gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife and departed as I refused to create a scene. ... I will continue to pay my respects to my ex-wife the best way I know how."

Brown originally wasn't wanted at Houston's funeral by family members, according to TMZ, but was later invited to attend in support of daughter Bobbi Kristina.

It's still not clear whether Brown was asked to leave or left on his own accord. 

However, Brown is also scheduled to perform later this evening in Connecticut with his group, New Edition. 

The Reverend Al Sharpton described the scene via Twitter: 

"I am at Whitney's funeral. I spoke with Bobby Brown trying to calm him down and not distract from the services. Today is about Whitney."

The Reverend Jesse Jackson later disagreed to CNN claiming Brown reacted positively to the seating issue. "It seemed they could have accommodated him better."  

He also told CNN's Don Lennon that Houston's mother, Cissy Houston and daughter Bobbi Kristina did not see what transpired in the church. 

After the services, Reverend Sharpton took to Twitter again to address his earlier tweet: "I don't want anyone distorting Bobby Brown. He has shown love and respect today. Stop hatin.'"

Also, see inside Whitney Houston's star-studded funeral services >>

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See Also:

• Whitney Houston's Funeral Will Be Live Streamed Online
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• Update: Sony Apologizes For iTunes Pricing 'Mistake' Increase Following Whitney Houston's Death

Fans suffering from Stephen Colbert withdrawal were relieved to see him back on "The Colbert Report" last night. 

The show was on a two-day hiatus last week after the host mysteriously canceled tapings without any explanation. 

Monday evening, Colbert explained his abrupt disappearance from his late night show: 

"Before we start the broadcast tonight, I just want to address my recent absence from the national conversation…Folks, there were some wild rumors about why I was gone."

False reports that swirled the Internet included that the FCC canceled his show, that Colbert was announcing his presidential candidacy, that he offended the catholic church and that he was in rehab.  

Joan Rivers provided the best laugh when she speculated the star took time off for an eyebrow lift. Really.

Although staying mum about his mom, Colbert did indeed suspend the taping of his show to attend to his 91-year-old mother as we reported Friday. 

The usually private Colbert only had this to offer us on his mother: 

"Having 11 children makes you tough as nails. Confidential to a lovely lady." 

Watch the clip below:

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It appears Rihanna has forgiven Chris Brown.

Not only did Brown recently attend Rihanna's birthday party, but now the former couple have recorded not one, but two, new tracks together.

The singers released remixes for two songs yesterday: "Turn Up the Music" off of Brown's upcoming album and "Birthday Cake" off of Rihanna's record, "Talk That Talk."

Brown has already faced controversy after performing on the Grammy Awards just three years after the assault incident and for picking up the award for Best R&B Album.

But that isn't stopping Rihanna from publicly associating herself with Brown.

After Brown tweeted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN" to the singer, who turned 24-years-old yesterday and whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, she replied with a jovial "Thanks!" 

Here are the two remixes from the artists. Is it appropriate for them to work together again? Or should they only be judged by their music? 

Chris Brown feat. Rihanna, "Turn Up the Music" (Remix) (Listen to Rihanna tell Chris "you're gonna make me laugh" at the end of the song)

Rihanna feat. Chris Brown, "Birthday Cake" (Remix)

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• The Adele Sex Tape Rumors Are Totally...
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