The Hottest Celebrity Scandals of 2009

In May 2009, Mel Gibson finally owned up to the gossip that his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, 40, was pregnant with their first child. Just weeks after announcing that he and his wife Robyn were planning to end their 28-year marriage, the news broke. Before we could even process the fact that he had a new girlfriend, we learned that she was also expecting.

In April 2009, a judge in Malawi officially rejected Madonna's formal request to adopt a little girl. The 4-year-old, Chifundo James, had been living at a local orphanage in Malawi and the judge felt that she was perfectly fine to remain there. Madge did manage to successfully adopt a son, David Banda, from there in 2006, but this time things didn't go as planned.

In March 2009, Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's former lawyer/lover, was charged with conspiracy to furnish drugs and writing prescriptions for a person who was clearly an addict. Sadly, the starlet died of an accidental prescription drug overdose back in 2007. Anna Nicole trusted Howard, 40, and look what he did to her.

In February 2009, it was announced that writer Liz Smith's legendary column in the NY Post would no longer be published. In an interview, Liz, 86, commented that it "will be the first time in 33 years that there hasn't been a Liz Smith column in a New York paper. That hurts my heart." While we never did get to the bottom of the news, Liz certainly didn't sound pleased.

Chris Brown and Rihanna were absent from the February 2009 Grammys because he was surrendering to LA police on possible felony battery charges against her. Rihanna, 20, eventually forgive Chris, 19, and they were seen vacationing together soon after. Needless to say, many of her fans felt that Rihanna was sending the wrong message.

In January 2009, when the critics began attacking her older sister, Ashlee Simpson stepped in and addressed the rumors. Cruel gossip tabloids were all over Jessica Simpson, 28, about her sudden weight gain. Ashlee, 24, even posted some positive words of encouragement on her personal blog.