Streisand a born-again
Kabbalah devotee?

Move over, Madonna. The Kabbalah Centre has a new high profile diva.

Barbra Streisand has been seen frequenting the Los Angeles Kabbalah Center, says a source. Streisand was linked to the group several years ago, but many believed her interest in the group — which some have called a cult — had waned.

“Barbra is back,” according to cult expert Rick Ross. “She’s been dropping into the offices, and she’s been trying to get the Bergs [the family that heads up the Kabbalah Centre] to pick up and push her political agenda. So far, they don’t seem terribly interested. If I know the Bergs, they’re more interested in her pocketbook than her politics. But from what I hear, Ms. Streisand is quite, shall we say, frugal.”

Ross also says that Liz Taylor, who had once dabbled in Kabbalah, has been stopping by again and may still be receiving private instruction at her home. Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Roseanne and other celebs have all been linked to the controversial group. “Scientology seems passé and K has supplanted that organization as the so-called celebrity cult du jour,” Ross said.

Streisand’s rep, however, says, “I’ve heard nothing of that. She’s involved in a lot of things, but I know nothing of this.”

Change in representation

Frederick M. Brown / AP file

Jennifer Lopez dumped her rep at Dan Klores Associates, according to reports, but one source says that’s not the way it happened.

“It was Klores’s people who wanted out,” says the insider. “They took on J. Lo at a reduced fee, but representing her turned out to be a job and a half. . . . Let’s put it this way, J. Lo is not exactly low maintenance. Then, they were totally blindsided by this wedding. They had flatly denied the story to journalists who they’ve worked with and they weren’t happy about being made to look like liars.”

Reps at DKA and Lopez’s new rep, Leslie Sloane, didn’t return calls for comment.

Notes from all over

Ho / Reuters File / Dreamworks

Parents, beware of “Shrek 2.” The hit animated film has subversive “transgender” messages, according to a conservative watchdog group. “Parents who are thinking about taking their children to see ‘Shrek 2,’ may wish to consider the following: The movie features a male-to-female transgender (in transition) as an evil bartender,” cautions the Traditional Values Coalition. “The character has five o’clock shadow, wears a dress and has female breasts. It is clear that he is a she-male. His voice is that of talk show host Larry King.” . . .  Eddie Van Halen is often the butt of Howard Stern’s jokes, but the rocker defends Stern in the upcoming issue of Guitar World. “Howard has never actually said a bad thing about me. He just sets the stage for other people to say things about me,” Halen tells the mag. “Howard is very clever, and I think it’s bulls--- that the FCC is trying to take him off the air. It’s a crock of (manure). I think Howard actually likes me. . . . I think he’s actually a huge fan of the band.” . . . Christina Applegate didn’t swoon over getting to kiss Will Farrell in “Anchorman.” In fact, she said smooching the moustached-man was just plain “foul.” “There’s a scene in the movie when we finally get together, and it’s supposed to be the Tracy-and-Hepburn moment, like Bogie and Bacall, except when you see me I’m not even touching his lips,” Applegate says in Playboy’s July issue, which hits newsstands on Friday.  “[T]hat mustache was so prickly.  Subconsciously I didn’t want to touch his mouth.  Look, guys, pubes on your face that thick?  It’s horrible.”

Jeannette Walls delivers the Scoop Monday through Thursday on MSNBC.com.

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