Meester to record electropop album: Gossip Girl‘s Leighton Meester (the one who was born in jail) is straying away from playing bitchy, damaged, lovesick Blair and moving into new territory: electropop. She promises to release an album with “edgy” music “you can dance to.” We hope that she’s as good at creating club music as she is at delivering snide remarks. [Ace Showbiz]

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Chanel cancels Hadid exhibit: The Chanel Mobile Art exhibit was meant to travel the world — but no longer. Chanel called it quits on the exhibition, citing the economic crisis as the main factor. The brainchild of Zaha Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld, the giant handbag-cum-building was one of the most ambitious mergers of fashion and art to date. [Frillr]

Daisies star joins Kelley drama: After David Kelley’s Boston Legal ended this year, he’s been busy with other projects like Life on Mars (our favorite new show this season) and Legally Mad. Kristen Chenoweth of Pushing Daisies is joining the cast of his new legal drama, to play a “cheerful and brilliant attorney who nonetheless exhibits flashes of psychosis.” Kelley and Pushing Daisies and insanity makes for a great combination. [EW]

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Luhrmann to remake Gatsby: After Australia was met with lukewarm reviews, director Baz Luhrmann is already thinking about his next project: remaking The Great Gatsby. He’s already purchased the rights, and work on a script will begin after Australia’s awards run, he says. This is an ambitious project, because can anyone’s Jay Gatsby live up to Robert Redford? Does anyone else remember when rumors circulated about a remake starring Lance Bass and Paris Hilton? [Variety]

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Starck speakers on the market: Attention last-minute holiday shoppers: design star Philippe Starck just came out with an aesthetically pleasing and minimalistic set of wireless iPod speakers. Starck is known for his ability to combine the everyday with his artistic visions, but with a suggested retail price of $1,500, you better hope you’ve been mighty nice. [IBT]

Piven quits Mamet play: Jeremy Piven abruptly left the cast of Speed-the-Plow, David Mamet’s acclaimed revival of the play. Piven cited high mercury levels as the reason for his departure, to which Mamet (bitterly?) responded that perhaps Piven should take up a career as a thermometer. The show must go on without the exhausted actor, though a replacement has yet to be named. This is NOT good for the producers, who are likely to have plenty of people angry that they paid $200 only to find that the guy they paid said $200 to see is out. If it were Raul Esparza or Elizabeth Moss (sorry Peggy!), different story. [Playbill]

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HBOprah: It looks like Oprah continues to monopolize American culture, as she has signed a multi-year contract with HBO to produce TV series, movies and documentaries for the network. Interesting move from the home of Carrie Bradshaw and Tony Soprano — we can’t wait for HBO to get a million times more optimistic and inspiring. [EW]

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Madonna no longer “hung up” on Richie: Madonna finally settled her divorce with Guy Ritchie yesterday, paying him a dainty little sum of $76 million, which included their country home in England and a pub in London. Was their entire marriage just a way for him to get funding for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels:2? [AP]

SAG saga continues, famous people jump on board: A slew of well-known actors got together Monday after signing a petition against strike authorization in the ever-evolving SAG situation. George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey and Charlize Theron joined 150 actors who don’t buy the top brass’s claims that the authorization would get the guild leverage for wanted contracts. Initiate Golden Globes Deathwatch. [THR]

School, interrupted: Remember that movie where Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder play crazies? In New York, Girl, Interrupted, the book, was being used as a text for a high school psych class, but staff members reportedly pulled out pages mentioning oral sex. Censorship’s cute and all, but we think high-schoolers can handle some head. [Newsday]

Househusbands are the new black: Forget The Real Housewives of [Insert City Here]. FOX has ordered nine hours of a new series that will follow the lives of a group of stay-at-home dads of “successful L.A. women,” including Vanessa from The Cosby Show. Kudos for trying something new, but as far as we’re concerned, the network will never be able to trump this reality TV moment. [THR]

Zach Galifianakis/Jon Hamm sandwich: In this hard-hitting interview with our favorite comedian, the Mad Men actor confirms that he likes Web sites, his middle name isn’t “honeybaked” and his TV show isn’t about people who are in their ’60s. Watch out Barbara Walters. [Goldenfiddle]

XOXO, you know you love this: OMFG there might be a Gossip Girl spinoff! CW is considering using one of GG’s episodes later in the year to test the waters for a long-talked-about spinoff. The book series spins off into The It Girl, following the trials and tribulations of Jenny Humphrey, but sources say the TV version wouldn’t focus on poor raccoon-eyed Little J (which is a good thing, because we don’t think tiny Taylor Momsen is ready to helm her own ship), but on another of the nine characters. Please let it be Chuck. (Or Dorota!) [Variety]

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Lil Wayne, Coldplay vie for Grammys: Grammy nominations dropped yesterday and Lil Wayne leads with eight nominations — no surprise after his album, Tha Carter III, was the biggest seller of the year. Coldplay’s also up there with seven nominations, followed by Kanye West and Ne-Yo with six. The coveted Album of the Year Grammy will be a toss up between Lil Wayne, Coldplay, Radiohead, Ne-Yo and a collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. [Reuters]

Mystery Parisians copy Obama poster: Paris has suddenly become plastered with mystery posters of Nicolas Sarkozy modeled after Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama posters. The French versions have progressive policy goals (“Making polluters pay?” “Saving each household 1,000 Euros a year?”) above Obama’s “Yes we can!” slogan and pop-art prints of Sarkozy’s face. And no one knows who’s behind the stunt though the hunt for the “SarkObama” campaigners is on. [AFP]

Twilight star to do Jett biopic: If lusting after vampires wasn’t enough to gain Twilight star Kristen Stewart a teen following, now she’s set to play rocker Joan Jett in Runaways, a biopic of the 1970s band directed by Floria Sigismondi. The film will follow the band members’ rise to fame as teenagers and their subsequent disillusionment. While she’s obviously got the drugs part down fine, wonder how Stewart’s reprise of “I Love Rock N’ Roll” will compare to Britney Spears’ in Crossroads (not that we’ve seen that or anything). [THR]

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Leckey wins Turner art prize: Artist Mark Leckey won the UK’s Turner Prize yesterday, one of the most prestigious and contentious prizes for art. He is known for his film installations, inspire by pop culture entities like Blade Runner, Felix the Cat, The Simpsons and Jeff Koons’s work. He took home $37,000 and hopes to start making a television show. [Reuters]

10 Things remade for TV: ABC Family’s set for a new show that we didn’t think would reemerge past middle school. The 1999 flick 10 Things I Hate About You is being made into a TV series starring Ethan Peck (Gregory Peck’s grandson), who reprises Heath Ledger’s role, Lindsey Shaw and Meaghan Jette Martin. We love this almost as much as we love our Prada backpack. [THR]

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