Tattle | Chef Ramsay gets a lawsuit to chew on

CELEBRITY CHEF

Gordon Ramsay

("Hell's Kitchen") is being sued over his new fall Fox series "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares."

Seems the show is aptly named.

Ramsay certainly caused a nightmare for Martin R. Hyde and Hyde is accusing him of faking scenes for his new reality TV show in which he was supposed to make like Ty Pennington and "make over" a failing restaurant in seven days.

But Hyde, a former general manager at Dillons, the Indian-American eatery in Manhattan, claims the show is a sham.

He alleges that Ramsay falsely claimed meat was spoiled, used a defective chair to imply that Dillons' furniture was shoddy and even hired actors to pose as customers to make the restaurant look busy at the end of the week.

Hyde also claims Ramsay, known for foul-mouthed outbursts, humiliated him and forced him to quit his job to avoid further abuse.

He is seeking millions in damages and a court order to stop the show from airing.

Ironically, last year Ramsay won $138,000 in a libel action in London against the Evening Standard, which accused him of faking scenes on his British "Kitchen Nightmares" when he worked to turn around a struggling bistro in northern England.

Chin up, Kelly

With her tour in the tank and her upcoming album besieged by criticism and infighting, Kelly Clarkson is feeling "mortified and very blue" and "her self-esteem is in the gutter," a Kelly insider tells the Star. "I hear she's been sobbing uncontrollably and she keeps saying there's a 'conspiracy' to destroy her career. She thinks everyone's out to get her, and her initial, knee-jerk reaction was to say she's quitting the music business."

"I think fame and success have swelled Kelly's head," a source tells the Star, "and she's got the crazy notion that she knows better than anyone when it comes to her own 'artistic vision.' "

Well, she might. Unfortunately she's not self-producing mp3s for her own vanity Web site.

Tattbits

* Tom Sizemore asked a judge for another chance Tuesday after acknowledging that he violated his parole in a drug case.

To Judge Cynthia Rayvis' credit, she didn't laugh.

The frequently arrested actor asked to be placed back on probation.

Rayvis scheduled a hearing Monday to decide punishment. However, she suggested that Sizemore has shown he "cannot successfully sustain or complete" probation.

* The Star reports that Justin Timberlake has told girlfriend Jessica Biel to cool it - he doesn't want her on the road with him during his European concert tour!

You've got to have serious confidence - or serious problems - to turn down a trip to Europe with Jessica Biel.

"She truly insisted that she come out with me on tour," Justin reveals. "I don't know how to say no to a pretty face, but it wasn't really a good idea. This time, I'm putting the machine before everything else. Jessica met up with me in Manchester, but for Paris, I told her categorically, 'No.' "

Bangshowbiz.com, meanwhile, reports the couple was back together when Justin was in Amsterdam.

* The Star also says that even though Pam Anderson may be dating San Diego Chargers long snapper David Binn (that means he snaps the ball on punts, get your head out of the gutter), she's still steamed that ex Tommy Lee has been linked to Kimberly Stewart.

Who hasn't been linked to Kimberly Stewart?

* Speaking of Pam, she talks with CN8's Tim Estiloz on "Backstage" tonight at 8.

Appearing at Las Vegas Planet Hollywood as the magician's assistant in "The Beauty of Magic" with Hans Klok, Pam told Estiloz she's finally able to use her acrobatic skills for something . . . else.

"I don't just have to use it at parties anymore, I'm actually using it in my work," she said.

"Being on stage and performing with Hans, it's really a dream come true for me because I don't sing, I don't dance, but I knew I'd end up in Vegas somehow. So this is a perfect opportunity to have a good time onstage."

Come on, Pam, there are a lot of places in Vegas you could have a good time on stage.

* The Star reports that since she's missed two payments on her $400,000 loan, Paris Hilton's $500,000 Mercedes SLR has been repossessed and is now in a recovery lot.

Maybe that's for the best.

* Speaking about his daughter Dannielynn to OK! magazine, Larry Birkhead says, "She has long legs and chubby little toes exactly like Anna's; it's like a mirror image."

Alas, that's not where the similarities end.

"And I think her lips are her mom's lips; especially when she pouts. . . . She also gets what she wants exactly like her mom always did as soon as she'd pout."

We sure hope that doesn't mean a pediatrician is prescribing her methadone. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

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