The Fix

First Word

Bouncing Britney back in rehab: We know it's hard to follow, but Britney Spears is now -- at least for the moment -- back in rehab in Malibu, Calif. She returned to the Promises center there Thursday after Kevin Federline canceled an emergency court meeting to discuss custody of their two children, fueling rumors that she went back into treatment for the sake of her kids. Before heading in, though, Spears had one last freakout outside the house where Federline is reportedly staying, using an umbrella to attack an SUV while paparazzi looked on. (Associated Press, New York Daily News)

No Borat, no Oscar presenter: The producers behind Sunday's Oscars asked Sacha Baron Cohen to present an award as part of Sunday night's show, which might have added a refreshing bit of unpredictability to what is usually a staid evening -- his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes was one of the evening's highlights. But when Cohen said he wanted to appear as his character Borat Sagdiyev, reports the Los Angeles Times, the producers said no, and Cohen declined. (L.A. Times via Starpulse)

Smith gets Bahamas burial: The long, weird court battle to decide the final resting place of Anna Nicole Smith ended Thursday with a surprising outcome -- Florida Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin gave Richard Milstein, Smith's daughter Dannielynn's court-appointed guardian, custody of Smith's remains, and tearfully asked that she be buried with her son, Daniel, in the Bahamas: "I want her buried with her son in the Bahamas," Seidlin said. "I want them to be together." Milstein, after conferring with Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead and companion Howard K. Stern, said the burial will indeed take place in the Bahamas, though no date has been set. (People)

White noise ... Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are rumored to be in the process of adopting another child, this time a boy from Vietnam -- a source tells Us Weekly they've already filed papers with the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. (Daily Dish) ... There's been talk recently that Terrence Howard and Naomi Campbell are an item, and a source tells Gatecrasher they'll become official at the Oscars: "They are making their debut as a couple this weekend and will attend all the Oscar parties together." (Gatecrasher) ... Producers in London are reportedly planning to bring "Gone With the Wind" to the stage as a musical; Hugh Jackman (right) is being eyed for the role of Rhett Butler. (Fox 411) ... Amanda Peet gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday (or possibly Thursday); it's her first child with screenwriter husband David Benioff. (Celebrity Baby Blog)

Talkers

Sidestepping swag: You didn't really think that just because the taxman has started paying attention to those lavish awards season gift bags that the swag orgy that surrounds the Oscars would disappear, did you? Of course not. In addition to all the "gifting lounges" that have sprung up this week in Los Angeles, where stars get complimentary designer jeans and face creams, the latest trend in marketers giving away stuff to rich actors is something called the "branded retreat," which the New York Times describes today as "an invitation-only, luxury destination where free products are just a corollary to the more subtle (and possibly tax-free) pleasures of food, drink, entertainment and spa treatments, on the house." As the man behind SoHo House, the swanky private club that's ground zero of branded retreats this Oscar season, tells the paper, "I think goodie bags are a bit last year, aren't they?" ("Let Them Eat Foie Gras (Gift Bags Are So Last Year)," N.Y. Times)

Buzz Index

• Most viewed on Yahoo News: "Eight Places Every Woman Should Go," Rolf Potts
• Top story on Reddit: "Hunting Chimps May Change View of Human Evolution," Reuters
• Top search term on Sphere: Washington's birthday
• Most popular on Google News: "Body Going to Bahamas as Paternity Fight Looms," Palm Beach Post

; )

"Temperature of Coffee Expected to Rise Nine Degrees by End of 21st Century" (The Onion)

Judgment

Looking back at Gordon Matta-Clark: The Whitney Museum has just opened a retrospective of the work of Gordon Matta-Clark, the experimental '70s SoHo artist perhaps best known for his "building cuts" -- chopping up abandoned buildings -- and for launching Food, an artist-run restaurant. The New York Times, which calls the show "heavenly," sees it as a representation of the golden old days of art in New York, "wherein a cheeky young man, if so inclined, might dangle from the outside of a tall building for a while and not attract undue attention. If there's a metaphor for what the downtown art world was, but no longer is, that's it." The review notes that the timing -- the show's opening coincides with the start of the Armory Show and other art fairs in New York -- also carries significance: "Matta-Clark represents a whole different notion of the art world from the youth-besotted, money-sick one we've got today. How sweet that this retrospective opens at the same time the art fairs do." ("Cross Sections of Yesterday," N.Y. Times)

Numbers

Associated Press television writer David Bauder pins down the odds on who is likely to score the inevitable TV tell-all interview with Britney Spears:

Matt Lauer: 3 to 1
Barbara Walters: 5 to 2
Oprah Winfrey: 4 to 1
Anderson Cooper: 5 to 1
Diane Sawyer: 10 to 1
Katie Couric: 10 to 1

(Associated Press)

Turn On

On Friday night, "Nanny 911" (Fox, 8 p.m. EST) and "Trading Spouses" (Fox, 9 p.m. EST) both air their last episodes before going on hiatus, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Steven Weber and David Mamet appear on "Real Time With Bill Maher" (HBO, 11 p.m. EST). On Sunday, it's the annual pre-Oscar chatfest "The Barbara Walters Special" (ABC, 7 p.m. EST), followed by the "79th Annual Academy Awards" (ABC, 8:30 p.m. EST).

Talk

Fix contributors: Heather Havrilesky, Scott Lamb, Kerry Lauerman, David Marchese, Laura Miller, Andrew O'Hehir, Amy Reiter, Stephanie Zacharek

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