Celebrity gossip: How much is for real?

There's certainly no shortage of celebrity gossip on the planet. The question is, if you were the talked-about celebrity, how much of what is in print is true? There are rumors of this and that which take on a life of their own in a New York minute. The celebrity person has little, if any control over what is said, suspected or verified. However, celebrity gossip is a hot topic and fans can't wait to read what their favorite star has - or perhaps has not - been doing, with whom and where and when.

The average fan's thirst for knowing what celebrities are up to borders on the insatiable. Celebrity magazines and websites are more than willing to oblige. Celebrity gossip is fuel for conversation, at the very least. Just think what you can share with your friends, if you're the first to hear.

If the truth be known, the celebrity gossip gristmill is quite the cottage industry. Unless the gossip is outrageously unsubstantiated or particularly over the line, few celebrities bother to sue over what shows up in print. It's hardly worth the trouble. Besides, if you're worth gossiping about, you get lots of free publicity and the fans get plenty of entertainment.

It does make you wonder. Fans must certainly know that not everything they read can be true. Celebrities do have exciting lives, much lived under the spotlights of eager photographers and reporters. Probably most fans know that celebrity gossip should be taken with a grain of salt, but, after all, it's entertainment.

Most fans never meet the object of their attention and so are satisfied to fantasize about these beautiful people, moving from an agonizing ordeal to a mysterious tryst or scandalous behavior in a big name club. Even a simple lunch date can result in a full page article, detailing how one celebrity was having lunch with her mother, when rumor had it they hadn't been speaking. When the magazine, entertainment show or website publishes the story, millions of people eagerly read. It's something to talk about.

Even though there's likely more fantasy and speculation than fact to most of the celebrity gossip in circulation at any given time, the reporters and photographers who track down the stories are very well compensated. Why? Because the stories sell to an adoring and attentive audience. As a hobby or pasttime, it's all in fun. No one really takes it all as gospel. If celebrity lives were as ordinary as ours, it wouldn't be any fun at all!