Hollywood publicists find creative ways to get their clients in the news (it is their job, after all), but when is it intentional and when are they truly in damage control mode?

The latest story you may have seen all over this morning's papers: Madonna's alleged affair with New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Where could this story have come from?

Fox News' Roger Friedman has a theory:

The singer and the ball player - who could be the new Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe but aren't - are both managed by Guy Oseary.

In every picture offered by US Weekly and the New York Post as evidence of this wild affair, there is only one man featured: Guy Oseary.

Of course, there is always the possibility that Friedman didn't get any advanced notice on the scoop and is now looking to expose it. Is it all just drummed up hype for Oseary to get his clients some press? Possibly. Who knows, really. Either way it's helping newstand sales for a number of publications this week.

Meanwhile, Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg, has been issuing the following statements, "There are no plans for Madonna and Guy to divorce," and Madonna and A-Rod are "just friends." What's your take? Is this for real or just an exercise in buzz building?

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We reported before that the plot of Hancock involves Ray Embrey, a PR rep played by Jason Bateman attempting to rehab the image a superhero in need of a trip to rehab, played by Will Smith.

The fictional flack's "All Heart" campaign uses real news tie-in to build good will for Hancock in the form of mortgage relief. I like the name All Heart. It's a thoughtful ding at empty remember-your-spirit campaigns. As in all heart, no brains, and not much payoff--though the payoff here is decent. Perhaps this is a sign the movie will be reasonably good in looking at the relationship between damage control experts and the press.

The payoff here interestingly, is aimed at the middle class. The rules stipulate that the owner must make less than $80,000, paid no more than $200,000 for their home and owe no more than $200,000 (meaning you can't be under water already). The winner gets $360,000 in escrow to pay off their nut, then gets a check for the balance. Pretty sweet. Odds are likely pretty good since you have to meet this criteria, and write a 1,500 word essay. Enter the contest here.

Recent entry to the reality show circuit, Denise Richards is sick of the Perez Hilton's of the world taking jabs at her.

After receiving yet another call from her publicist about some not so flattering media coverage, Denise demands an in-person meeting with a journalist to "set the record straight." Her publicist scores her a meeting Lycia Naff, a writer for People magazine.

We're not sure if she was playing dumb, but Naff acts as if she had no idea what the meeting is about, saying, "I got a call from your PR to lend a hand and chat with you..." Leave it to Denise to do the explaining.

Back in March, we reported on a rumor that Johnny Knoxville may be the new Microsoft spokesperson.

Today, our brother blog AgencySpy reports that Knoxville will receive $300m for the Crispin Porter & Bogusky campaign. "Apparently, the water cooler is rife with chatter about the possibilities," they write.

Indeed, it is.

UPDATE: It's a rumored $300m campaign for CPB, not a paycheck for Knoxville, although we can imagine he won't fare too bad.

(Bradshaw, Big, and Timmy Woods bag via WSJ)

The Sex and the City movie defied expectations and bad reviews this weekend, as fans turned out in force for the guilty pleasure-fest, creating an almost insta-classic.

Which brands got the Sex PR bump? Who tried to hitch a ride via commentary and tie-ins? According to Reuters, eight companies cut promotional deals, with New Line Cinema calling it the "Super Bowl for women".

Here's a survey of the blogs and press releases:

New York's TheCut blog has a round-up of "Sad, Bizarre" promotions including lookalike dresses, and VideoJug (no, not porn) how-to videos on kissing and dating

Skyy Vodka got together officially with Houlihan's to offer Sex cocktails. Some papers actually wrote about it

Searches of 'Sex and the City' and Jimmy Choo turned up 211 hits; Manolo 1,466 hits; Timmy Woods, 29; Mercedes, 180

According to press releases, 'Sex' bumped Fandango and MovieTickets.com, while beauty sites, sexologists, and even a brewery tried to get some

When we see "press releases," like the one sent to Gawker from Kim Kardashian publicist Jerry Baker, claiming Kardashian was, "saved from stampede of 13 year olds" outside a Long Island hotel, it forces us to think: who actually writes about this stuff?

Problem is, a lot of people do.

Heck, we're writing about it too, if only for the ridiculousness of the "news" at hand.

The best part is that the headline of the release actually reads, "Gossip item, Press advisor, Gossip item, Press advisory, Press."

Full release after the jump.

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More extensive footage of the new Will Smith comedy have been hitting YouTube as of late.

More importantly than Smith IMHO, the film reunites Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron from the indominatable Arrested Development TV show. Bateman--also enjoying an NPH-style career revival through self-parody--plays a PR executive who feels indebted enough to the drunken Hancock to take on the rehabilitation of his career and image as a Superhero.

The amplified bad behavior and resulting turnaround can be seen every day in the pages of Us Weekly. It looks like his PR council advises things like being nice to children, not killing whales, not destroying public property, regular grooming, and wearing a decent suit. Sage advice.

Hancock hits theaters on July 2nd.

Video of Keith Olbermann's passionate plea for an Arrested Development movie can be found here. Episodes of Arrested Development are available for free here.

With all the uproar over the Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photos, we figured we should do some digging.

So we contacted her publicist at PMK/HBH, another one of the "you know they're big time" agencies, because they have a website consisting only of telephone, fax, and office addresses.

What we received was the statement from Miley that has appeared in media around the world: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

Not that we were surprised to receive the standard statement, nor can we blame the publicist for doing her job. We could have called the agency direct, but that would have been unlikely to change the outcome.

Meanwhile, MTV.com has commentary from the people who really matter: Heidi Montag, Lauren Conrad, and Hilary Duff.

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Who wouldn't want to do PR for Eliot Spitzer's hooker? A lot of people, it turns out. Yes, it feels like years ago, but it's been only a month since the former NY governor resigned from office.

In that time, Ashley Alexandra Dupre has been desperately searching for a way to keep her name in the news, and of course, to make some serious cash out of the situation.

Well, after quite a search, Ashley has finally found representation. The Daily News reports:

She finally cut a deal with Susan Blond Public Relations, who also represent Usher and several New York City clubs and restaurants. The firm also used to work with PR nightmare Star Jones. Blond didn't return calls for comment.

If she's not talking to the Daily News, good luck getting her to talk to us. We did, however visit Blond's website, which describes her as a "protege of Andy Warhol."

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For whatever reason, publicists to the stars (or in this case maybe their manager/fathers) think pregnancy rumors can be a good way to drum up buzz in advance of a big product launch - new album, perfume, clothing line, etc, you get the deal.

The latest example: Ashlee Simpson, who has seen pregnancy rumors fly across the tabloids. Just a coincidence that her latest album is coming out soon?

The cynical PR person in us thinks not. Same with Deborah Netburn at the LA Times, who writes:

Whatever the real story, it's certainly getting her plenty of pre-album-release publicity. The homepages of People.com and Usmagazine.com feature photos of Ashlee "eating barbecue robustly" and "hiding a baby bump."

That's some valuable free publicity, especially if you are a young pop tart whose album is timed for release between two heavyweights like Mariah Carey and Madonna.

Valuable free publicity indeed. But will it make people buy the album? Older sister Jessica's publicized stint and marriage rumors with Dallas Cowboy's quarterback Tony Romo didn't help her movie release, which had an opening day gross of $384.