Did Paula Abdul get hotel workers fired?

Did Paula Abdul get two hotel workers fired when they were trying to be helpful?

That’s what they’re telling a Las Vegas newspaper. Carol Good and Damon Rosa were working the overnight shift on Jan. 2 at the Silverton hotel and casino in Las Vegas when Paula Abdul called the front desk at about 6 a.m., wanting to change a 7:40 a.m. flight, they say.

Good adds that although her shift was ending, she stayed to help Rosa because of the New Year’s rush of guests checking out. “I stayed over and printed out the flight schedules,” Good told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I then took the flight schedules to [Rosa].”

As she was about to call Abdul, the phone rang and it was the “American Idol” hostess who “went off on me,” Good told the paper, adding that Abdul said all the flights were booked and she blamed the workers for making her miss her plane. The pair was suspended on Jan. 5 and fired Jan. 6.

A Silverton rep didn’t respond to the story and Abdul’s lawyer didn’t respond by deadline.

What’s in a name?
Get ready for Dellen Cruise.

That’s what Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes told Ellen Degeneres that they’d name their unborn child if it’s a boy. If it’s a girl, the name will be Ellen. They were kidding, of course. We hope.

DeGeneres also offered to be the child’s godmother — and to babysit. “Send it over because, babysitting I think is like $12.00 an hour,” the talk show host tells Cruise on a segment of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that airs today.

“Is it really?” Cruise asks.

“And they will take advantage of you for like $15.00,” DeGeneres adds.

“Can we negotiate?” the mega star inquires.

“Oh,” replies Degeneres. “I’ll do it for less.”

Notes from all over
Kevin Federline is telling people that his much more famous wife, Britney Spears, sings backup vocals on his debut album.  . . . Playboy magazine asked Hugh Laurie — a Brit who plays an American on the show House — which American actor had the worst British accent. “I suppose at the top of every Englishman’s list would be Dick Van Dyke in ‘Mary Poppins,’” he replied. “That would have to be construed as a virtual act of war.”  . . . Naomi Campbell says that record producer Quincy Jones is as wise as South African leader Nelson Mandela. “I am attracted to wisdom,” the fiery model told the London Observer. “You can’t get any more wisdom than Mr. Mandela, and Quincy is on the same level.”

Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com