Team Martha announced

New York – Martha Stewart’s daughter, Alexis, will be one of her advisers on “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” which premieres next month on NBC.

Alexis Stewart and Charles Koppelman, chairman of the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, will be Stewart’s “eyes and ears” during each week’s task. They will join her in the conference room when one candidate is sent home, NBC announced Monday.

“No one knows me better than Alexis and she understands my way of conducting business and dealing with people,” said Stewart. “Charles brings the expertise of a legendary entrepreneur to the conference room each week.”

“The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” in which Stewart will pick a protege, premieres at 7 p.m. CDT Sept. 21.

Ten women and six men, ranging in age from 22 to 42, will compete for 13 weeks on tasks related to Stewart’s area of expertise – publishing, apparel, entertainment and branding.

Tabloid lawsuit settled

London – Justin Timberlake has accepted an apology and damages from a tabloid newspaper that falsely accused him of cheating on girlfriend Cameron Diaz with a British model.

Timberlake had filed a libel lawsuit at London’s High Court over a July 2004 claim in the News of the World that he had a fling with model Lucy Clarkson.

Benjamin Beabey, lawyer for the tabloid’s publisher, News Group Newspapers Ltd., said Wednesday that the News of the World apologized “for the distress and embarrassment caused by this article. It entirely accepts that the allegations are without foundation.”

Clarkson’s lawyer, David Griffiths, said the model acknowledged that the story was “an entire fabrication on her part.”

Timberlake’s lawyer, Simon Smith, said the publisher had agreed to pay “a substantial undisclosed sum as damages.” Clarkson had agreed to pay “a sum equal to that which she agreed to receive from the News of the World” for her story.

‘Best Regis’ nominees

New York – One of the chief teachings of Barney, the purple dinosaur, is to just be yourself. For Regis Philbin, even that’s not enough to win the “Best Regis” award.

Barney is just one of Philbin’s challengers for the honor, which will be announced Sept. 23 at the third annual Relly Awards. The Rellys are a sometimes tongue-in-cheek, self-affirming awards show for “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

Also up for “Best Regis” are David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Dana Carvey, co-host Kelly Ripa, David Duchovny and Michael Gelman, the show’s producer.

Other categories include funniest guest, best nonhuman guest and best host chat. To combat the syndicated talk show’s lack of success in winning a daytime Emmy, “Live” created the Rellys, which give “Golden Stools” – a trophy-size version of the show’s seats for the hosts and their guests.

A partial list of nominees was announced on the program last week, with the entire batch to be shown next week, beginning Monday. Each award will be decided by viewer votes, which can be cast at www.RellyAwards.com.

Last year, Philbin was snubbed for “Best Regis” – comedian Darrell Hammond’s impersonation beat the real deal.

Pitt, Jolie take in exhibit

Calgary, Alberta – Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt toured a dinosaur exhibit over the weekend in western Canada, where Pitt is preparing for his role as a villain in an upcoming Hollywood Western.

Pitt was in Calgary for the shooting of “The Assassination of Jesse James,” which begins Aug. 29.

Wendy Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Royal Tyrrell Museum near Drumheller, said the actor and Jolie, his “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star, dropped in to see the dinosaur exhibit Saturday night. “They arrived around 7 p.m. and stayed for an hour,” Taylor said, adding that Jolie’s 4-year-old son, Maddox, was enthralled by the T-Rex exhibit.

Aside from one couple requesting an autograph, things remained low-key.

“The only unfortunate thing was that word leaked out and quite a crowd collected outside the main entrance, so we had to find an alternate exit for them,” Taylor said.

Seeing less of Moore

Aventura, Fla. – Maverick filmmaker Michael Moore has enrolled in a crash course at a $3,800-a-week celebrity fat farm.

The “Fahrenheit 9/11” director has booked into the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa in Aventura, where he is learning to cook healthful meals and will undergo “life re-education,” according to PageSix.com. Moore’s first goal: lose 12 pounds in the first three weeks.

Teen actress missing

Apple Valley, Calif. – Teen actress Scout Taylor-Compton, known for her roles in “Sleepover,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Hidden Howie,” has been confirmed missing from her Apple Valley home. She was last seen Aug. 12.

A family spokesman released a statement to the Web site of the Warner Brothers TV show “Extra” Wednesday, saying: “We sincerely appreciate everyone’s attention and concern regarding Scout and are praying for her safe return. We have faith in the agencies working on the case and are optimistic that the outcome will be positive.”

The teen, also known as Desariee Starr Compton, is listed as an endangered runaway by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.