HOLLYWOOD—Most reporters have written, and subsequently regretted, things they have written in the past. Reporters sometimes forget that when you write something, you’re not just writing to one person you’re potentially writing to thousands or more people. What you write is read, sometimes not only by the subject but also by people close to the party. Who will in some way or another let them know or pass the word around. The journalist sometimes forgets to be sensitive, and the result is pure, complete lack of judgment. Defaming someone in the public realm is dangerous; however, it is even more detrimental to a journalist. Certainly, no journalist wants to be known or remembered for a lapse in judgment. Just last month, as the Jan Moir saga continued regarding the comments made in her newspaper column managed to circulate controversy worldwide, it is quite evident that what is written could definitely create chaos. The columnist, who writes for the Daily Mail, became probably the first journalist to receive a whopping 21,000 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission. The comments the journalist wrote regarding the death of Stephen Gately caused a wave of outrage. While the journalist, has written an apologetic column after the controversy, only time will tell if she will have a following.

While reporting the news accurately and ground-truth fact finding go hand-in-hand, sometimes the truth is exaggerated and the celebrity wins, as with the case of Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has reportedly accepted substantial libel damages on November 9, over a false allegation reported by the Daily Mirror in Britain regarding last July’s visit to a Hollywood nightclub. The former Manchester United star also received an apology from the High Court in London. The newspaper reported that the winger had “gone on a drink-fueled bender” in Los Angeles while he recovered from an ankle operation. Cristiano does not drink alcohol. He had traveled to Los Angeles, to attend a sports ceremony. In a statement issued through his solicitor, he said: I am delighted with this outcome. “I take training and recovery from injury very seriously and would never have ‘gone on a bender’ and danced in a nightclub without my crutches as the Mirror falsely claimed.” It also reported that the star also splashed out thousands of dollars on champagne and vodka for friends and models, having drunk four glasses of red wine earlier in the evening over a meal.

The international famous Real Madrid and Portugal soccer player was awarded FIFA World Player of the Year for 2008, and is in the running for a second successive year after being named on a 23-man short list for this year’s award. The Portuguese winger, 24, who joined Real Madrid this summer from Manchester United for a world transfer fee, heads a familiar cast of soccer’s biggest names ahead of the annual gala in Zurich, Switzerland, on December 21.

A few weeks ago, it was Kate Winslet’s turn to be awarded $40,000 from Britain’s Daily Mail for suggesting that the actress routinely needled for her fleshier frame earlier in her career lied when she told reporters earlier this year that she wasn’t working out during awards season, People reports. Kate Winslet obviously reads the papers; she also won damages in 2007 against a British magazine that claimed she visited a diet doctor.

Another beauty settled too. Former Miss California, beauty queen Carrie Prejean quickly settled her religious discrimination lawsuit against her former pageant bosses, when a lawyer for the Miss California USA organization discovered an incriminating sex tape, TMZ.com reports. The Associated Press reported that Prejean and pageant organizers came to a confidential settlement about their feuding lawsuits. Prejean filed suit first, claiming libel, slander and religious discrimination, while the organization counter-sued saying Prejean refused to make appearances required of the state winner.

Rose’s Scoop: It will be interesting to see Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-host the Oscars at the 82^nd Academy Awards ceremony on March 7.