Writer Gore Vidal has vouched for the author of a book which reveals shocking Hollywood secrets.

Vidal said he supported Zelig Scotty Bowers, a former gigolo who has written the controversial memoir Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars.

Among the claims in the book is that Bowers set screen legend Katharine Hepburn up with "over 150 different women". He also makes salacious claims about Spencer Tracy and Cole Porter - and details orgies involving the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The New York Post reports that Vidal told guests at a party he had known Bowers for more than 60 years and had never caught him in a lie - in a town "where you can meet 1000 liars a day".

Book reveals more Kennedy sex shocks

THERE seem to be no end to the tales of late US President John F Kennedy's sexual antics.

In the latest revelation, a former White House intern claims the president took her virginity on "Jackie O's bed". Mimi Alford writes in her recently released memoir that Kennedy first had sex with her during a tour of the White House in 1962. He was 45 and she was 19.

Alford says that during the tour the commander-in-chief made a detour into his wife's bedroom.

"The president came very close to me and ... put his hands on my shoulder and guided me down to the edge of the bed ... I lost my virginity, right there," she told the Tonight Show.

In the book, Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F Kennedy and Its Aftermath, she says she also made love with him in a swimming pool.

Alford claims Kennedy asked her to perform sex acts on other men as he watched; encouraged her to take a drug during a party at Bing Crosby's house; and negotiated through the Cuban missile crisis with her in a neighbouring room.

Russell Brand won't take Perry's pennies

COMEDIAN Russell Brand has turned down the chance to get his hands on more than $20-million of singer Katy Perry's fortune.

The couple never signed a pre-nuptial agreement before they married less than two years ago. Under Californian law he is entitled to half of the singer's assets.

According to Forbes magazine, these total $45-million. Brand is worth about $6-million.

The Sun newspaper reports that Brand told Perry he did not want a penny from her and wanted the split to be as amicable as possible. Divorce papers have been signed by both parties, but they have to wait six months for it to become official.

In terms of the agreement, Perry will get back her maiden name, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. The couple were married in October 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India; Brand filed for divorce in December last year.

The newspaper reports that he has been making moves on Perry lookalike Zooey Deschanel, while Perry has been linked with US football star Tim Tebow.

Alonso's love sues call-girl website

THE stunning girlfriend of Formula One ace Fernando Alonso is suing an escort website in the US for offering her for sex at $1000 an hour.

The Swiss-based beauty, Xenia Tchoumitcheva, 24, was "horrified" to find photos of herself dressed in skimpy lingerie on a sleazy call-girl site, The Sun reports. The model and TV presenter is advertised as an Italian "blonde VIP supermodel" named Julie.

Alongside a photograph of her is text likening her to the Italian wine, prosecco.

"Now is the time to sample another Venetian delight - Julie, who has a lot in common with prosecco. She's sparkling, refreshing, brings a lot of pleasure and always tastes good."

But Tchoumitcheva says she has nothing to do with the website and has instructed lawyers to sue. "To be used in this way on a website is absurd and highly offensive." The photographs of her on the site were taken for a modelling shoot and used without permission.

Ferrari driver Alonso, who lives in Lugano, Switzerland, began dating Russian-born Tchoumitcheva after splitting from his wife of five years, Raquel del Rosario, in December. His new love has a degree in economics, speaks five languages and is training as a stockbroker.

Halle asks court for help in France move

HOLLYWOOD star Halle Berry has gone to court in a bid to start a new life for herself in France.

The TMZ website reports that the Oscar-winning beauty has asked a judge to give her permission to move to Europe with her three-year-old daughter.

The child is at the centre of a bitter custody battle. The girl's father, Gabriel Aubry, is refusing to let her leave the US.

However, Berry is determined to join her boyfriend, Olivier Martinez, in France. They were recently engaged and she is likely to argue that it would be safer for her family there, following the release from jail of a man who stalked her.