Kylie Minogue, for those who don’t know, is an immensely popular Australian pop-artist. Call her the equivalent of America’s Madonna. She has performed with some of the most popular pop-artists in America, Japan, and Australia—and has been a relevant figure in the music arena since 1990 or so. Some of you may remember her as the young woman that performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 wearing a pink silk beaded corset and diamante headdress.

Ms. Minogue has sold in excess of 60 million records, and has been featured in various films and popular TV shows—but she isn’t catching bad press because of her performances on the state or on film. No, she is catching bad press because PETA has listed her as “Worst Dressed of 2008” because she was seen carrying a python skin purse. That’s right, the feathered boas and the elaborate headdresses do not matter—it is the fashionable purse made from questionable material that makes her objectionable. Naturally, Ms. Minogue does not deserve this distinction and is only being targeted because she is a popular celebrity and this will catch headlines for the PETA organization in Australia.

Here is what PETA had to say:

“What does Kylie Minogue have in common with her python purse?” PETA asks on its website.

“They are both cold-blooded. Come on Kylie, it’s not cool to clutch an accessory made by nailing snakes to a tree and skinning them alive.”

Cold blooded? This is a harsh swing at Kylie Minogue. PETA easily could have proven its point without being so frosty (yes, irony intended). Kylie needs some “Celebrity Reputation Management“.

The newest film in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, has pushed back its debut from Nov. 21, 2008 to July 17, 2009. The film features Daniel Radcliffe as the young and talented wizard, Harry Potter. Now rumors are circulating that the movie was bumped back more than 6 months because of Radcliffe’s involvement in a production of the play Equus, in which he appears naked and even has sexual fantasies about horses. The rumor is that Warner Bros. didn’t want their star answering questions about wizards and sexual horseplay (pun intended) in the same interview. FoxNews’s showbiz blogger Roger Friedman has suggested a rather preposterous theory:

“Radcliffe appears naked in the play, on stage, and has sex in it as well. That’s not the image Warner Bros. wants associated with bespectacled Harry, who remains chaste and virginal. Indeed, posters for ‘Equus’ are up all over New York, of Radcliffe’s naked torso superimposed on a horse’s head. This is not the sort of of thing that’s taught at Hogwarts. For the movie to open on Nov. 21, Radcliffe would have to do publicity entailing answering questions about blinding horses and having sex with them vs. flying around and making potions.”

Of course, this ignores the fact that Radcliffle was in this play last year amid intense media scrutiny and general celebration for his courage and versatility. Radcliffle earned good marks from critics and recieved a lot of extra attention for his other acting performances, a fact that I can assure you Warner Brothers didn’t overlook. The Los Angeles Times’ Geoff Boucher had this to say:

This movie is being pushed back for one reason and one reason alone: money.

Warner Bros. executives believe that a dominant summer blockbuster is better than a dominant fall blockbuster, especially when their target “Potter” audience has so many young people who are far more likely to be repeat consumers for a film released during the summer school break. After watching “The Dark Knight” surge to historic heights this summer with a mid-July release, the Warner Bros. brain trust decided, hey, let’s do that again next year.

This obviously makes more sense, and has been corroborated by the studio executives. But rumors do swirl quickly,don’t they? Radcliffle could use some “Celebrity Reputation Management” right about now to combat nasty rumors like this.

David Beckham, the most famous soccer player in America, has also been awarded the honor of being the Teen Choice Awards “Top Male Sports Hero”. Hundreds of thousands of kids voted him top athlete for the Teen Choice Awards on Monday. He has also won numerous other awards like the US style icon and Major League Soccer Player of the Year. But it isn’t just teenagers who enjoy David Beckham, the sport of soccer has experienced surging popularity in the United States ever since his arrival. The attendance of games where his team, the Galaxy, plays has drastically increased and general interest in soccer in the United States has risen. Before the arrival of David Beckham, there was no famous soccer player in the United States. Beckham has even been good for the economy associated with his sport here in America.

Major League shirt sales have increased by 780 percent and even other club ticket sales have gone up. The league Internet traffic is up by 80 percent. All the games are being telecast live and TV audiences are up by a quarter.

Although its safe to say the United States won’t be competing for the World Cup anytime soon, David Beckham may be the catalyst needed to bring soccer into everyone household in America.