E!'s Gossip Guru.

TEN CASABLANCA HAS MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF DISHING DIRT ON THE HOLLYWOOD ELITE

THERE'S so much to keep track of in Hollywood -- and we're not talking about the latest wheeling and dealing. We're talking about the real skinny over Ben and Gwyneth, Matt and Winona, Julia Roberts and whoever.

E! Online's Ted Casablanca keeps millions of loyal gossip hounds happy by dishing the dirt on celebs once a week in his column, "The Awful Truth." A typical example: "'The Sixth Sense' certainly seems to be churning things up, doncha' think? Who knew? (Bruce) Willis actually emoting. Hit me with a few hair plugs, already."

Outside the gossip sphere, Casablanca is known by his real name, Bruce Bibby, which is the byline he uses for non-Ted reporting. His nom de gossip was bestowed upon him by an editor at Premiere, and he seems to handle the duality well. Right beside his computer there are two boxes of E! Online business cards: one for Bruce, another for Ted.

Question: So how did you into the gossip biz?

Answer: It was an accident. I never intended to become a gossip columnist. My mother is horrified that this is what I do for a living. Sometimes I'm horrified that this is what I do for a living.

I actually have a degree in journalism from NYU -- not in gossip, in magazine writing. I started working at Esquire, through an internship when I was at NYU, and that led to a job as a researcher. There was something about the anal glory of fact-checking that I took to. I stayed on staff for a couple of years. My beat was the celebrity stories, the Hollywood stories.

I went on to work at Rolling Stone as a researcher, then I went to Premiere magazine. That's where my real Hollywood training began. I stayed on there for nine years and wore a lot of hats. Editor, writer, I was managing editor at one point. I started the column, The Awful Truth, there. Then the (E! Entertainment Television show) "The Gossip Show" came calling.

Q: Who are your sources? Are they every disgruntled personal assistant on sets throughout L.A.?

A: Actually, I have some very happy sources. They're not all disgruntled, and I have to say that those that are, are in the minority. People like to dish in this town. They see it as a way of empowering themselves when they pass along information to me. They're mainly just people who have fun with gossip and want to get the dish out.

Q: Are there things you just reject on their face because they're too salacious?

A: Too salacious? No! (Laughs.) if I see someone trying too hard to get publicity or if there's someone with a personality that I just don't dig. But mostly I like the people I write about.

Q: Do they like you?

A: Some like me very much. But I haven't met everyone I write about.

Q: Whom have you met?

A: I'm in love with Alec Baldwin. He kneeled beside me at a party once, as though to worship me. You see how easy I am? You just have to kiss my butt a little bit and I'm all yours.

Q: Have you ever been sued for anything you've written?

A: Never. Note, I'm knocking on wood right now. (Knocks on his desk.) Go through my column carefully and you'll see that often what I've written is not litigious. It's tacky, it's salacious, it's extreme, but more often than not, it's not litigious. I'm not Matt Drudge. I'm not hunting for a big, flashy lawsuit. That's not what I'm about.

Q: Do you have attorneys, read over what you've written?

A: Absolutely. I'm not a fool.

Q: But you said before you're sometimes horrified by what you do.

A: There was a movie star once who was thought of as a family man, but everyone behind the scenes knew he was a player with the ladies. And I wrote about that once, and even though I had checked out what I had and had good sources on it and went with it, it was the only time that something kind of bothered me. And I think it bothered me because even though he was engaging in some very semi-public behavior, which is the reason I wrote about it in the first place, it bothered me because he had a family and I just felt like it was more between him and his family.

Q: Who do you think is the most publicity-crazed person out there?

A: In general, I would say Ben Affleck. He's new to the scene, he had a somewhat humble upbringing and I think he's absolutely dazzled by all that has been bestowed upon him. He's eating it up and it's great fun to watch. Why shouldn't he be having fun? Someone like Leo DiCaprio gets a little darker. He seems to not be enjoying himself as much.

Q: Everyone always makes the James Dean comparison with Leo.

A: Which is the obvious one, and I do think it's fair because Dean was talented and Leo's very, very talented. He's one of the most talented of his generation. I think often with any artist there's some devils that come along with tremendous talent. And you add to the scenario millions and millions of dollars to a young man and it's a recipe for disaster.

Q: At the same time, you have the public saying, "Oh, poor movie star." It's kind of a love-hate relationship.

A: It's a very old story. Look at Michael Jackson. They love to build them up and they love to tear them down. Julia Roberts is another one that had a lot of devils. When success hit her so big at once, it was during the Kiefer Sutherland period, and she was having a lot of difficulty coping. Why else would you ask your agent to relay the news to your fiance that the wedding's not going to happen? And then go off and meet some hunk on an airplane. Talk about delicious column fodder.

Q: Who would you like to meet?

A: I've already met the Queen of Hollywood. (Motions to glam shot of Elizabeth Taylor in his office.)

Q: What is she like?

A: She knows how to do scandal right. She knows how to do it all right. She's very seductive. I would have slept with her right there if she had asked me to. She's old-fashioned Hollywood -- she wears makeup and jewels and too much perfume and has the dogs running around the house. She's all about excess. And today, stars just aren't about that. They're all about dressing down -- from Meg Ryan with her horrible hair to Drew Barrymore with her very normal figure. There's nothing movie star-ish about these people. It's almost like it pains them to go to work and earn their $17 million.