Sideshow: Splits du jour: Crowe, ScarJo

Why should Barbra Streisand be the only one who gets to play matchmaker? The obvious answer: She shouldn't be. Celeb scuttlebutt of the day is topped by two reported breakups of celestial beings. After nine years of marriage, Australian media report, actor Russell Crowe and his musician wife, Danielle Spencer, have separated, a split that Spencer's father confirms. They certainly are geographically detached - Crowe is in the United States on a movie set, while Spencer remains in Sydney with their two sons. Meanwhile, the starlet called Scarlett Johansson is no longer with New York City ad executive boyfriend Nate Naylor, says Us Weekly. Johansson, 27, and Naylor 38, had been coupled about a year after having reportedly met through mutual friends. So we're thinking, maybe down the road a bit, could there be a pairing that produces a Scarcrowe?

The November issue of Vogue magazine features singer Rihanna, 24, who bemoans her frenzied work schedule and slow social life. Rihanna is lonely. "I would love to go on a date," she tells Vogue. "You don't think that? I'm a woman. A young woman, vibrant, and I love to have fun." But no man has been man enough to "deal with me," she says. Well, there could be one. Reports are that she remains friends with her abusive former guy, Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty years back to felony assault.

What possibly could be more disturbing than the mere mention of wrestler and media celebrity Hulk Hogan? How about Hogan caught on tape in flagrante delicto, as Latin scholars might say in their more colloquial moments, cavorting carnally with his best friend's wife. Maybe if Hulk hadn't been canoodling with the wife of his best friend, Bubba the Love Sponge (oh, how we have yearned to say that name), Mr. Sponge would not have taped Hulk and Heather doing the horizontal mambo. But the Sponge did,  and now Hulk is suing his best friend. Hulk told celebrity-news purveyor TMZ that he was sickened over the oh-so-revealing revelation. The lawsuit will be filed in Florida, says TMZ, with Hulk also filing in federal court against the website that posted the video.

We knew it, we knew it, we just knew it. OK, we suspected it. Former American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson and The Voice celebrity judge CeeLo Green are thinkin' that maybe the feud between new Idol judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey is a publicity stunt. "I don't believe it," Hudson told TMZ. "I think it's just for ratings for the show." What!!??! A reality show in which everything is not real? Just to blur reality with surreality even more, President Obama has weighed in on this kerfuffle. Calling in to a radio show over the weekend for a get-out-the-vote message, the commander- in-chief was asked about the Minaj-Carey dustup. Ever the diplomat, Obama said, "I think that they are going to be able to sort it out."

To recap recent alumni happenings on the reality-television series: one wedding- deal done, one baby, one breakup, one swap. The Associated Press reports that Philadelphia's favorite dentist, former the Bachelorette Ashley Hebert, 28, and the guy she chose on her season, J.P. Rosenbaum, 35, have inked a deal with ABC to televise their nuptials in December. The network needs the world to take note when one of its reality couples actually survive. In other rare, happy-Bachelor goings-on, Jason and Molly Mesnick are expecting! A child! Jason is that infamous The Bachelor single dad who picked one of the last two women in his season to be his wife, only to break up with her shortly afterward on national TV (we've always suspected the show demanded a public reversal) and propose to the runner-up love of his life. As has been reported, the last bachelorette, Emily Maynard, might or might not have broken up with her beau, Jef Holm. But don't feel bad for the man who lost out on Emily to Jef, race-car driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. He was seen sharing a cozy meal with Courtney Robertson, after she returned the engagement ring that Season 16 Bachelor Ben Flajnik gave her. Got all that?

Just when you thought it was safe to go out in New York City and indulge in a little kickball, the game becomes exciting! Surprising! Titillating! Photogenic! At least, that's what a group of kickball players must have thought last weekend after their game was crashed by none other than funny man and actor Bill Murray, says Entertainment Weekly. One of the players says Murray "popped out of nowhere . . . played for a bit." Then, he gave his new friends high-fives and posed with them for a photo. Seems Murray has been appearing unexpectedly in many random places - a karaoke party (we all know how well he sings in the shower), a Cornell University band practice.

Get ready to ruuuuuumble! That's the battle cry of the Lohan family, which might be about to jump in the ring again. Sources Close to the Lohan Family tell TMZ that Lindsay Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, is pushing her daughter to seek a protection order from court to block Michael Lohan from having any contact at all - phone calls, e-mails, text messages - with Lindsay. Lindsay says she has had it with Papa Lohan, but reportedly thinks getting a protection order would be going a bit too far. Which makes us wonder: Really, is there a "too far" when it comes to the Lohans?

on Twitter @carolyntweets.