Paula Abdul is seen here having an excellent night out where she played it up to her fans after dining out at the trendy West Hollywood locale called Koi. And despite the fact that we ALL know about her co-judge Simon Cowell’s well known dislike on headgear, Paula is enjoying a fun and relaxing night posing with fans and exiting the restaurant with a lovely rose in her hand. But we all know Paula, and I don’t think she would be what she was today if she wasn’t seen wearing a quirky hat once in a while, and she is one of the few stars that can actually pull it off when she is in the mood to do so. And speaking of hats, we have to give our hats off to Paula as she has recently and bravely come out publicly with the fact that she once struggled with an addiction to pain killers. This has been quite a surprise for many of her fans, but Paula is hoping that maybe she can help someone else by making this issue public. She recently spoke candidly with Ladies Home Journal magazine about her former addiction, saying that she could have killed herself if she had kept it up. She described withdrawal as one of the worst things that could ever happen to a person, and says she does not want to have that experience again any time soon. It may come as a surprise to you that last year Paula spent some time at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California to help kick her painkiller addiction.

“I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.”

Paula’s addiction to pain killers started many many years ago when she was a dancer, and incurred both a neck injury and a back injury. The back problems started when she was 17 and working her magic that catapaulted her to fame. The neck injury came during a plane crash she endured in 1993, and with nonstop work, pain pills were the only thing that kept her going. As a result of her injuries, Paula has been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a chronic condition that causes debilitating pain and she had to wear pain patches, nerve medication, and the odd muscle relaxant. 15 surgeries later, along with the help of some yoga and spiritual workshops, she says she is “96% better” and is feeling much more comfortable after this lengthy battle with pain pills. And if you are curious about how she truly feels about her co-star Simon? They have the exact kind of relationship that they make it look like, a love hate thing. She describes Simon as the brother she never had….or wanted and that they get along great at times, and not so much at others. At any rate, her ‘brother’ Simon may find a soft moment for her as she celebrates this victory over pain pills, and is about to release her new single “I’m Just (Here for the Music)”. Our hats go off to Paula Abdul for once again showing that even through life’s challenges, one can still be an inspiration to others. We wish her nothing but success as she continues the good fight.

Photograph: © Josephine Santos, PacificCoastNews.com

Juan Soliz, PacificCoastNews.com

We have been hearing a lot about this situation with Paula Abdul and her obsessed fan. Sadly, this was a fan story that that went way overboard in the tragic sense, with Paula’s obsessed fan coming to her demise with suicide. But this story although it seems new to us, is nothing new to Paula Abdul, as this particular fan had been obsessed with her for many, many years. In fact, it was not American Idol that brought this fan to Paula Abdul per se, but rather, this fan, Paula Goodspeed has been crazed over Abdul for years. Then it came to light that Paula Goodspeed wanted to audition for the show, American Idol, and in a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Paula Abdul expressed some concerns publicly for the first time since this incident happened. When Paula found out that her fan was wanting to audition for the show, she begged the producers not to let her into the room. But the producers ixnayed that request, and Paula feels that they allowed Goodspeed to audition for the sake of entertainment value. Paula specifically told the producers:

This girl is a stalker of mine. Please do not let her in.’ Everyone knew. I was shaking. She had been writing disturbing letters for 17 years, almost 18 years. We had restraining orders at times.

But, we all know how it turned out. And it may be this very audition that put Goodspeed over the edge. Or, at least it fuelled her obsessive flame when it comes to Paula Abdul. Shortly after this round of auditions, Goodspeed oddly appeared at other auditions in other cities where Idol auditions was being held. She also got Paula Abdul’s address as a result of this audition, because she followed her home from one of them. And Paula Abdul blames the producers of the show entirely for this. And it wasn’t just letters and home following that Goodspeed was guilty of. She had a history of sending naked pictures of herself to Paula Abdule, and even threatened Paula with bodily harm. She also told Paula (Abdul) that she will serve her final purpose when she is up in heaven being Abdul’s guardian angel. And it sounds like this is precisely what happened. When Barbara Walters asked Paula why she was still a part of Idol after all of this, Paula merely said ‘well, I’m under contract’. How long her contract is we do not know, but we do know that Paula will be with us for another season of Idol, and after that….who knows.

Juan Soliz, PacificCoastNews.com

We all heard about the tragic incident that occurred outside Paula Abdul’s home not that long ago, when an obsessed fan and Idol reject committed suicide. When the situation happened, Paula was not at home, and we didn’t hear too much actually about how she felt about the situation, until now. Paula is more than a little unnerved over the situation, as anyone would be, and says she has been staying in different homes and hotels since the incident with round the clock security. She found the whole thing very tragic and upsetting, and of course, there is more to the story than we once heard. Paula Goodspeed, the fan and suicide victim in question, was mentally unstable and this was not the first time that she had attempted suicide. And, if you want to know the timing of things with Idol, the incident which happened 3 weeks ago, occurred during the infamous Hollywood Week of the American Idol competition. While Paula was working at the Kodak Theater and taping the show, Paula Goodspeed was outside her home overdosing on pills. Producers of American Idol were informed of the situating during the taping, and informed Paula Abdul of the situation after taping for the day had been finished. So Paula has been throwing herself into work with the new Idol season, and a newly taped MTV cheerleading squad competition called ‘Rah!’, as well as a Forever Your Girl accessories line she will be launching on HSN December 13th. And if that isn’t keeping her busy enough, she is also looking for a new place to live. A choice you can’t really blame her for. As far as the obsession between the victim and Paula are concerned, Paula says she would love to dish about it, but because there is an ongoing police investigation, she needs to hold her tongue. In fact, she can’t say anything at all about the Goodspeed obsession, though producers and those close to Idol are well aware of the years of stalking that Paula Abdul endured by this one girl. There were flowers sent to Paula just before the suicide, and Goodspeed would follow Paula from season to season and city to city during the Idol tours and auditions. But this isn’t the first time Paula has been the victim of an obsessed fan, as she told People Magazine about another rather bizarre situation that happened in 1993:

“this gentleman was writing letters everyday from prison saying he was getting out in 120 days, then 119 days, all the way down to he’s getting out and he’s coming to get my mom and I. Thank God we were in Canada for my touring, and after that we were in Washington and he made a threat against the President, so he’s in jail for the rest of his life, but he had tattoos of me all over his body.”

Once she finishes the touring with Idol and launches her accessories line, Paula is taking a much needed vacation. She says she is going so far away that nobody will be able to find her. We can’t imagine how stressful this has been for Paula, but we certainly hope she finds the R & R she needs and is back smiling for us in no time.

Juan Soliz, PacificCoastNews.com

This is just one of those stories with weird and sad twists. We heard earlier this week that a body had been found outside American Idol judge Paula Abdul’s home, and the story has gone from bad to worse since that report. The body has been identified as Paula Godspeed and it has come to light that this Paula Godspeed was an obsessed fan of Paula Abdul’s and committed suicide outside her home. In fact, Paula has been stalking Abdul for as many as 17 years and touted herself as Abdul’s biggest fan. And this was a fan in the ‘over the edge’ kind of way. Paula Godspeed did however get her fifteen minutes of fame and even got to meet her idol when she appeared in front of her idol and hero for an American Idol audition. If you have memories of a particularly dreadful Proud Mary audition in 2006, then you too will remember Paula Godspeed. This same Paula Godspeed had been reported by her parents on Tuesday night as missing. And well, her parents knew just how bad the stalking was, as Paula Abdul’s address had been given to the authorities as a possible lead. But the police department may not have even needed this information, as Paula’s stalking was no secret to them, and a previous report on Godspeed had been filed on June 24th saying that an overdose would not be unexpected, and that, based on material they found in her home, they had been given ‘information that she may be suicidal’. Paula was found in her Toyota outside Paula Abdul’s gated estate. A picture of Paula Abdul was hanging from the mirror, and Godspeed’s license plate reads ‘ABL LV’ which is presumed to mean ‘Abdul Love’. Because the stalking had been going on for 17 years, it is also presumed that Paula Abdul knew about the woman. As we know, celebrity stalking is not an unfamiliar concept. A Dr. Abrams, that analyzed the case after Paula had been identified stated that the stalking involves a personality disorder where an individual psychologically ties themselves to a star in order to become famous themselves. She says:

“Fans become a danger to themselves or others when they feel like they have a special relationship with an entertainer. By killing that person or killing themselves in front of them, that brings them attention and they’ll always be linked with them in some way.”

Paula Godspeed decided to become a danger to herself with this problem she was dealing with, and a bottle of prescription medication was found in her car. Nothing more is being said about the suicide at this point. Paula Abdul was not at home at the time that the body was found, and given the nature of the disorder, she may not have been home intentionally, BECAUSE of this woman. That we will never find out, though Abdul has released a statement that she is extremely saddened by the situation.

Here is Paula Abdul and her much younger BF at the W Magazine Hollywood Affair Oscar Party at the Sunset Towers on Wednesday night. The party included the usual cocktails and hors d’oeuveres with music by Paul Syvigny Chantelle. Who is the dude she is with? Is this her date or her babysitting charge? She just never seems to shake that cougar image, does she? In other Paula news, she’s about to release her new album and the video for the first single ‘Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow’ has just been released. The video seems to have surprised a few, I guess everyone pretty much thought it was going to suck. But it’s being described as ‘not that bad, surprisingly’. The video also includes Randy Jackson, her fellow American Idol judge, playing bass, and Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest of course make cameo appearances. Regarding the appearances of the Idol panel, E! Online describes it as ‘terrible and awesome all at the same time’. Does anyone have a clue what that means? Judge for yourself, the album will be out March 11th.

Pacific Coast News

Paula Abdul has earned quite a reputation since she started on the judge panel with American Idol several years back. She’s infamous for always looking perfectly styled and we all know that her relationship with her flat-iron is working well for her. She’s also known for being America’s Sweetheart judge, but is she really? While Paula Abdul has earned a reputation for being the nicest judge on the American Idol panel, she hasn’t exactly chalked up the reputation of being the sanest. And recently there was a scene at the Los Angeles LAX airport that proved just that. She had some kind of breakdown, hissy fit, what have you, where she completely lost it for about 10 minutes. Descriptions like hyperventilating and ‘on the verge of passing out’ were used. As well, she was heard freaking out on her cell phone and screaming the names ‘Michael, Sidney, and Leslie’ repeatedly. A lot of people were staring, as anyone would regardless if it was a celeb or not having the said hissy fit, but she didn’t seem to care. No word yet on who Michael, Sidney and Leslie are, does anyone else have thoughts on that?

Source: Radar Online