Aguilera, baby won’t share cover with Richie

Courtney Hazlett The Scoop

Don’t expect to see a photo of Christina Aguilera’s baby on the cover of any magazines this week. Sources say that after months of negotiating, a deal between Aguilera and OK! magazine came to a halt because the magazine couldn’t guarantee a full-cover photo of Aguilera and baby boy, Max.

It might seem surprising that OK! wasn’t game to play by Aguilera’s rules, considering the mag ran Aguilera’s wedding photos, but a magazine insider points out that the singer performs well on stage, but not so much on newsstands. “The OK! wedding cover didn’t sell as well as they hoped, and even her recent Marie Claire cover underperformed, all things considered,” the source said.

An industry source added, “Christina has an inflated sense of her own value and seems to expect an extortionate amount of money for these baby pictures. I'm not sure OK! or much of the industry thinks is a dollar figure that's worth it. ... She hasn't proven to be a real seller.”

Although a friend of Aguilera’s says another reason that the deal didn’t work is that the baby isn’t really “ready for prime time,” there might have been another sticking point.

According to a person familiar with Aguilera’s contract, the terms include a promise that a magazine that buys the Aguilera baby photos may not run photos of Nicole Richie’s new baby. “Christina can’t stand Nicole,” said a source who knows Aguilera. “Nothing would make her more upset than to see those two babies on the same cover, even if it wasn’t at the same time.”

An OK! spokesperson said, “We don't comment on the details of potential editorial arrangements with any celebrities.”

Kennedy’s first-lady endorsement

Slide show   The week in celebrity sightings Becks kicks at an issue, Russell Crowe backs his boys, Eva Longoria sparkles and more. more photos

Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama came as a surprise to many, but for some close to the Kennedy patriarch, the writing was on the wall as early this summer.

“He wore a T-shirt that read ‘Bill Clinton for first lady’ to a party in Hyannis Port,” a friend of the family said. The gesture, which got a laugh at the tight-knit gathering was at the time considered to be nothing more than a friendly jab. No word on where Kennedy picked up the shirt or if we’ll see it again in the coming months.

Campaigning for the cuddle list
Which celebrity would you rather cuddle with? That’s the question robbieadrian.com, a maker of eco-friendly infant and toddler blankets, asked of 500 moms across America. Four out of the top five are no-brainers: Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Tom Brady and Brad Pitt. But rounding out the top five was ... wait for it ... John Edwards.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com.

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