Sideshow: We won't always have Paris

Weep for the poor rich heiress: There are indications the Paris Hilton Era is over. That, to use one of the celebutante's fave descriptives, she's not "hot" anymore.

Paris was told the shocking truth Wednesday during an interview with ABC News' Dan Harris. Stunned, heartbroken, enraged, she stormed off the set. Poor kid.

Paris presides over a $1 billion empire at the tender age of 30, yet her TV shows no longer are as compelling as they were during those halcyon Simple Life days.

It was all brought home when Harris noted that the Kardashian reality TV juggernaut has surpassed her in the culture. Paris walked out when he asked, "Do you ever worry about your moment having passed?"

Earlier, Paris gave a cogent account of why she comes off as a brainless twit on TV. "It's a character I developed for the Simple Life," she said. "They wanted someone who was an airhead, and kind of had the baby voice. . . . Sometimes when I'm on camera I'll revert back to it, just because I'm so used to it."

Never underestimate the power of celebrity to shape our culture. London's Daily Mail says sales of Harper Lee's classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird have more than doubled on Amazon's British site over the last 10 days because . . . David and Victoria Beckham named their new baby Harper Seven Beckham. Sales soared after Becks gave this explanation for the baby's name: "Victoria's favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and the author was Harper Lee. It's a very strong, passionate book. That's where Harper came from." Seven was his old uniform number.

Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane, who has been described as "hunky" in some quarters, has completed a stint in rehab for addiction to painkillers, his rep tells USA Today. Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart, who have a 1-year-old daughter, Billie, are expecting their second child.

R. Kelly, who loves to talk about himself, may be unable to speak for a few days, having undergone throat surgery.

The singer's rep said Wednesday that doctors at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital drained an abscess on one of R.'s tonsils. (Eeewww!) R. will be "laid up indefinitely," the rep said.

Demi Lovato denies reports she's making time with Ryan Phillippe, who, at 36, is twice her age. "No, I don't even know where that came from," she tells Extra.

Hugh Hefner has a good 65 years on Demi, but even he's all confused about love. The Playboy founder says Crystal Harris' decision to dump him days before their wedding may have been a blessing.

"Holly [Madison] suggested that I missed a bullet," Hugh tells Entertainment Tonight, referring to one of his gal-pals. "I think it's probably true. . . . Quite frankly, I don't know what I was thinking about. I think my natural state is single. I've tried marriage twice, not successfully."

Now! Magazine claims Leonardo DiCaprio has dumped Blake Lively because his mum, Irmelin, didn't take to the Gossip Girl star when he brought her home.

Cynthia Nixon is up for a bit of theater this winter. The Sex and the City alum will star in the Manhattan Theater Club's Broadway production of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning '95 drama Wit in January. It's about the last hours of an English prof who is dying of ovarian cancer. 

    Hasbro on Wednesday unveiled its Andrew Garfield-era Spider-Man action figure at Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif. USA Today says Spidey's outfit has been jazzed up with "metallic finishes and an additive called rutile to make the figure sparkle."

  Us Weekly says Ukrainian billionaire Serhiy Taruta is paying Jennifer Lopez $1 mil to sing at his daughter's wedding.

Matt Damon has shaved off his lovely locks of hair for the sci-fi pic Elysium.

Jenna Fischer, 37, tells Jay Leno her first baby - made with assistance from hub Lee Kirk - will be a boy. He's set to premiere in late September.

People says Ivanka Trump took Arabella home to her Manhattan flat just two days after being delivered of the baby girl. Baby was wrapped snug in a pink blanket, a photo proves.

Gwyneth Paltrow, 38, says she will raise her two kids, Apple, 7, and Moses, 5, in the Jewish religion, a decision apparently inspired by her appearance on NBC's family ancestry show, Who Do You Think You Are?, says London's Daily Mail.

Seems the show's researchers found out that Gwyn is descended from a long line of revered Eastern European rabbis.

Gwyn, whose late father, Bruce Paltrow, was a Jew, and her mum, Blythe Danner, a Christian, is a practitioner of the new-age-'n'-celeb-money-inspired branch of fashion-mysticism called Kabbalah. (Her hub, rocker Chris Martin, is from a Christian family.) Last spring, she told Woman's Day mag she'd raise the kids as agnostics.

"I don't believe in religion. I believe in spirituality," she said. "Religion is the cause of all the problems in the world."

Sofia Vergara is, objectively speaking, way hot. And, boy, does she love to remind us.

"I love it," the 39-year-old tells Fox News of the head-turning she inspires. "Of course - it's great at my age." The Smurfs star is especially fond of her breasts. "I'm grateful I have them, and honestly, they've helped me a lot in my career," she told Self mag in October. Our theory is that Sofia is so radically enamored of her body, she's transcended it. She's actually pure spirit.

Knew they shouldn't have returned home from Los Angeles on a commercial flight!

London's Daily Mail says Prince William and new bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, were forced to endure the long haul to London without movies - the in-flight entertainment system was broken. They missed Gnomeo and Juliet and the Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp actioner The Tourist. British Airways has apologized and issued the couple a $300 coupon.

Meanwhile, People reports that the jet-setters have moved into their palatial - if modest - two-bedroom London flat at Kensington Palace.