You didn't expect Russell Simmons to be counseling Ashley Dupre out of the kindness of his heart, did you? The pieces are beginning to come together: Dupre's heartfelt account of her new mentor and yoga master today just so happens to have coincided with Dupre's debut as a blogger on Simmons' news aggregation…

What's this, our friend Ashley Dupre, nee Spitzer, has taken up yoga and is hanging with Russell Simmons developing "inner strength?" Pish posh! You need to focus, Ashley. You'll ruin everything.

• What's Ashley Dupre been up to recently? She's been doing lots of yoga, which she credits with saving her life. And it also introduced her to Russell Simmons, who is now her "mentor" and is making her feel more "liberated." Is that the term they use these days? [P6]
• LiLo and Sam Ronson got in another fight…

• After a handful of false alarms (and after claiming they were weren't even engaged) Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen finally got married yesterday, tying the knot in a small ceremony at a Catholic church in Santa Monica. [Us, People]
• It looks like Jeremy Piven won't be penalized for walking away from Speed-the-Plow…

Our totally unsolicited press release of the day has arrived! "Hello, as Julie Henderson's publicist, I've read some unflattering blogs calling her a 'high fallutin' call girl' and a 'golddigger,'" it begins. There's more!

You've seen the slideshows of celebrities on the Oscar red carpet. Here's how various media moguls dressed up for the big occasion. Lots of really boring black tuxedos after the jump.

• Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and his new girlfriend, Helen May, first met during an Outward Bound trip to Machu Picchu in 2005, according to May's husband, Kevin Ward. "I'm just sorry my wife didn't find someone more substantial. There's way less there than meets the eye." [P6]
• Etta James says she "didn't really mean"…

• It looks like Russell Simmons has given up on plans to sell off his duplex at 114 Liberty Street, which suffered extensive damage on 9/11 and has been on-and-off the market ever since. Back in 2006, the pad was on the market with a $7.2 million price tag. Following a year-long renovation—and after moving out of…

• Martha Stewart is so distraught over the death of her chow chow and her break-up with Charles Simonyi that she's been adopting cats left and right (and throwing them parties, too). Or at least that's what the National Enquirer says. [NE]
• Brooke Shields says the Lipstick Jungle stage manager who stole props from…

• Did Lindsay Lohan split up with Samantha Ronson? Is she now in "complete denial" about it? And what's going on with her and Sean Penn? All good questions! [P6]
• Graydon Carter's plan to win over neighborhood critics of the Waverly has been revealed: He gives them tables at the restaurant and puts their pictures…

Top row (from left): Daniel Craig, Russell Simmons, David Letterman. Bottom row (from left): Giorgio Armani, Beyonce, Donatella Versace.

What's hip hop impresario Russell Simmons up to these days? The same as usual, apparently. [Bauer-Griffin via Bastardly, previously]

Britney Spears shopping with her sons Sean Preston and Jayden at FAO Schwarz ... Oprah leaving her hotel to head to opening night of Alvin Ailey ... Model Miranda Kerr bundled up for a walk ... Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber pushing a stroller and carrying dry cleaning in NoHo ... George Hamilton leaving his hotel ...…

Russell Simmons Gets A Glimpse [Celebuzz/Bauer-Griffin]

♦ Now that she doesn't have Guy Ritchie to boss around, Madonna is finding more time to control everyone else: She's supposedly been "begging" Gwyneth Paltrow to leave her London home so they can spend more time together in New York. She's also busy orchestrating a reunion between Justin Timberlake and Britney…

How do you get those obscenely annoying photographers from TMZ to stop hassling you? If you're a hip-hop mogul worth hundreds of millions, the solution is simple: You slip the offending photographer a twenty dollar bill. Video of Russell Simmons' handout after the jump.

Was Leslie Kaufman hoping to land a standing reservation at the Waverly Inn by making today's Times assessment of Graydon Carter's West Village nightspot more glowing than anyone would have thought possible? Most impressive of all: how many friends of the Vanity Fair editor she manages to squeeze into the piece. Did…