Ashley Dupré Drops Her Suit Against Joe Francis

Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the woman at the center of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s call-girl scandal, withdrew her $10-million lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis and his film company on Thursday afternoon.

The suit, originally filed in April, claimed that Dupré’s name and image had been exploited for profit.

“Ms. Dupré wants to eliminate all negativity from her life and focus on the positive,” Dupré’s attorney Richard C. Wolfe said in a statement. “She has prospects for many exciting new projects and is looking forward to starting a new chapter.”

Francis could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit alleged that Dupré was duped into signing a release form and exposing her breasts for Girls Gone Wild cameras in 2003, when she was only 17.

After the lawsuit was filed, Francis said he was “surprised and in fact amazed” by her claims, noting that he had not released new video of Dupré “due to corporate policy of not using footage of individuals younger than 18.” Francis also asserted that Dupré gave her consent on video when the footage was taken, and at that time provided his camera crew with identification that showed she was 18. Francis later released video clips that supported those assertions.

Britney’s Wardrobe Headed to Auction

You want a piece of Britney Spears? It won’t come cheap.

Seven articles of clothing once worn by the pop star are among the pieces being offered to the public by online auctioneers Gotta Have It! as part of their upcoming Rock & Roll Pop Art Auction.

One of the featured pieces is a T-shirt worn by Spears, 26, while she was a cast member on the New Mickey Mouse Club and signed by her costars, including Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Keri Russell. (Spears had given the shirt to her grandmother.)

“Something like that has never come up for auction before,” Gotta Have It! owner Ed Kosinski tells people. “We expect it to go for between $15,000 and $20,000.”

Other Spears items include costumes from her “Drive Me Crazy” and “Oops, I Did it Again” tours, a blue and white sexy Santa dress she wore in a Christmas ad for Pepsi in 2000, and the orange coat and pants she wore to the Billboard Music Awards that same year.

Also on the block: a pair of jeans that Marilyn Monroe wore in the film River of No Return, which Spears had received as a gift from Tommy Hilfiger. Kosinski expects them to sell in the range of $60,000 to $80,000.

Proceeds from the sale of the Spears memorabilia, which was provided by Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group on behalf of the singer, will go to a charity of Tri Star’s choosing. The company’s owner, Lou Taylor, is a spokesperson for the Spears family.

In addition to the Spears items, more than 500 lots will be offered – everything from an Elvis jumpsuit to Madonna’s 1987-1988 datebook.

The datebook is “all hand-written and what she did day-to-day – if she had dinner, if she had rehearsals,” says Kosinski. It even includes phone numbers for Madonna’s then-husband, Sean Penn, and her Dick Tracy costar, Dustin Hoffman. Estimated selling price: $6,000 to $8,000.

The online auction will be open from July 21 until Aug. 6.

Christina Aguilera Opens Up, Kind Of

She may be a mom now, but Christina Aguilera still finds time to get back to basics with her hubby, Jordan Bratman.

“We make sure we have Mommy and Daddy nights out,” she says in the August issue of Glamour. “Our child comes first, obviously, but there are certain things you can do: Once we know he’s in good hands, we go out late at night and have a few drinks. Then we’ll come home, dim the lights and do our thing—and I’m not going into any more detail than that!”

Um, fair enough. Then how about sharing some thoughts about a few of your musical peers who have found themselves in a bit of trouble lately?

“I’m not a judgmental person, so I can’t comment on someone else’s background.”

Hmmm, OK. Let’s see. How about Max, that adorable 6-month-old son of yours?

“My little boy breathes new life into me…[During the day] I just hang out on my grounds, taking him for walks in the stroller all around the backyard where we won’t be seen.”

Moms talking about their babies—the perfect fallback when the conversation needs a little pick-me-up.

Jamie Foxx Wants His Reality MTV

Jamie Foxx is adding reality television to his résumé.

The Oscar winner is an executive producer of MTV’s From G’s to Gents, a new competition show in which host Fonzworth Bentley (aka, Diddy’s Personal Umbrella Holder) attempts to makeover a bunch of rather rough men into charming sophisticates.

Think Pygmalion meets Boyz n the Hood.

“He really jumped into that executive-producer seat,” Bentley says of Foxx. “There were some ideas that I would come up with, and I’d say, ‘You know, I would love to be able to do this.’ He was like, ‘All right! If that’s what we’ve got to do to get these guys to change, then let’s do it.’”

And these were not easy men to change. Bentley not only did his best to teach them, among other things, how to dress, speak and even eat, but he was also the sole judge deciding who goes and who stays. The winner takes home $100,000.

The hardest part was watching one man struggle with major anger issues who was repeatedly fired from various jobs because of violence, Bentley said. He won’t reveal too much—you have to wait until the series premieres on July 15—but Bentley admits he had to give the man the boot.

“We actually ended up bringing in this lady who meets with prisoners in San Quentin—like a life coach—and we did some sessions with her,” Bentley says. “She’s actually still doing sessions with this young man.”

Royal Reward: Music to Kylie’s Ears

Here’s one honor Kylie Minogue no doubt can’t get out of her head.

The diminutive Aussie pop star was honored by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace Thursday, receiving an Order of the British Empire for her services to music.

“It is an incredible honor for me to receive this award,” she told the crowd and Prince Charles, who was filling in for mom Queen Elizabeth II at the ceremony.

“It makes me feel both humble and proud to be recognized for doing a job that I love so much.”

Minogue’s little sister and fellow pop princess, Dannii Minogue, was also on hand.

“It was surprisingly emotional,” the “Spinning Around” singer said afterward of her big day. “I expected to be a little nervous, obviously very excited, but it was very emotional seeing all these people from different walks of life joining together for this event.”

In addition to the 40-year-old Minogue, about a dozen other people received the honor.

The British OBE honor comes in the wake of another European laurel; earlier this year she received one of France’s top prizes, dubbed a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters for the “cultural pleasure she has given French people.”

Lindsay Lohan Turns 22 with Samantha Ronson at Her Side

Lindsay Lohan turned 22 Wednesday night with an intimate prom-themed birthday bash – and a sweet smooch from Samantha Ronson.

The actress – wearing a bright pink strapless micro-minidress by Bradley Bayou and an elaborate diamond necklace – arrived at Teddy’s lounge inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel just after 10 p.m. And her companion Ronson took the prom-theme seriously, dressed to the nines in black pants, a tuxedo shirt, bow tie and top hat with red trim.

Once the 50 guests – including former Sopranos star Jamie Lynn Sigler and Lohan’s younger brother Michael – began arriving at the balloon-filled venue, the Birthday Girl greeted them all energetically with smiles, hugs and kisses. Ronson was never far behind, often keeping her hand on the small of Lohan’s back.

Just after midnight, Teddy’s wheeled out a large pink sheet cake featuring a picture of Marilyn Monroe in her iconic wind-blown white dress. The entire lounge sang “Happy Birthday” and Lohan obligingly blew out the candles. Her friends then chanted “speech, speech, speech,” but the guest of honor replied jokingly, “Shut the f— up.” (Her mother, Dina, stepped in to say, “Thank you all for coming.”)

Soon after that, Ronson took over the D.J. duties (replacing DJ AM), as she spun a mix of ’80s tunes and current hits. Lohan – who stuck to Red Bull all evening – made several visits to the booth and pumped her fists in the air to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

As the party wound down, the couple appeared to relax, even sneaking in a small peck on the lips at the DJ booth. By 1:15 a.m., the music was muted and Lohan turned out the lights with Ronson by her side.

Matt Damon: My ‘Sexiest Man’ Title Is in Jeopardy

Matt Damon’s wife Luciana may be pregnant, but it’s his expanding waistline that’s making all the headlines in Hollywood.

“I think I lost my [Sexiest Man Alive] title,” the actor joked to people Wednesday at the Ante Up For Africa poker event in Las Vegas.

But that’s no sympathy bump. Damon estimates that he gained between 20 and 30 pounds for his upcoming thriller, The Informant, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

“It wasn’t necessarily that I needed to be fat,” he said. “It was that I needed to be ‘doughy.’ “

Even though the weight-gain was required for a role, that doesn’t stop Damon’s friends from mocking him mercilessly.

“Some things are just self-evident and don’t even require making fun of,” his B.F.F. Ben Affleck said at the Rio Hotel and Casino event, which raised money and awareness about the genocide in Darfur. “I mean, the man buys two seats on an airplane!”

So how did the Oscar-winner pack on the pounds?

“I just stopped working out and basically just ate whatever I wanted,” he said. “I ate a lot of In-N-Out, a lot of burgers, a lot of beer and basically had a great time … When you’re in your 20s you can do that kind of stuff. When you’re in your 30s, its a whole different ballgame.”

Read more about what Damon eats to maintain his transformation in the Bodywatch section of this week’s people, on newsstands Friday.

The Pregnant Man Gives Birth

Thomas Beatie, also known as The Pregnant Man, has given birth to a girl, he confirms to people exclusively.

Beatie, 34, who began life as a woman and legally switched to a male identity, while preserving his female reproductive organs, and his wife Nancy, 46, welcomed a daughter at an Oregon hospital on June 29. Both Beatie and his daughter are healthy and doing well, he tells people.

Beatie, who took twice-weekly doses of testosterone and had his breasts surgically removed during his female-to-male transition, made headlines around the globe last April when he announced in an exclusive interview in people and on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he was expecting a child – while legally living as a man.

Raised in Hawaii, he spent the first two decades of his life as Tracy Lagondino, a Girl Scout, former model and finalist in a Miss Hawaii Teen USA pageant. Beatie told people that he began to dress and live as a man in his 20s, in time officially changing his gender on his passport and driver’s license.

In 2003, he legally married Nancy, a divorced mother of two who had had a hysterectomy as a result of endometriosis.

The couple became pregnant using donor sperm and Thomas’s eggs, through artificial insemination, after relocating in 2005 to Bend, Ore., where they operate a T-shirting printing business.

Their baby girl is Thomas’s first child. “The only thing different about me is that I can’t breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers don’t,” he told people.

Despite published reports, Beatie says the baby was not delivered via C-section. He intends to publish a book about his experience this fall.