Posted Dec. 16, 2008

Scarlett Johansson isn't the only celebrity who says she's the victim of sloppy journalism. Eva Mendes and Hilary Duff are also crying foul over some tales that have been spun about them.

(©Allure) More photos

First up is Mendes, 33, who tiptoes around a question about her reported rehab stay earlier this year in the January issue of Allure.

"Ummmmm ... I'm not confirming or denying rehab," says the shapely looker, whose rep announced in February that she'd checked into Utah's Cirque Lodge "to proactively attend to some personal issues."

But when rumors of a "coke habit" are mentioned, Eva is quick to set the record straight.

"Well, that is completely false!" she maintains to the magazine. "Completely, completely, totally, totally false! There's a couple of things that have been printed -- so terrible! And it's still new to me."

Among those things is a purported rivalry with fellow Latina star Jennifer Lopez, which was touched off in 2005 after a British tabloid quoted Mendes as saying, "She manages her career like the head of a big corporation, whereas the only thing I care about is becoming the best actress possible."

Eva's ostensible snipe got a second wind when it was recycled on several blogs in October, but she insists to Allure, "I didn't say that! That is so awful. And I am not an idiot."

Then there was a story from September about how she allegedly went on a nationwide nookie spree in her youth, but all those cold showers the anecdote likely inspired were prompted by a piece of fiction.

"I supposedly told a reporter I had taken a crazy road trip when I was younger and had sex in all 50 states," explains Mendes. "The story went on to say what my favorite states to have sex in were [note: Arizona and Colorado -- you're welcome]. I found it so upsetting. Because I have a certain image out there. And I'm responsible for that image. And I stand by it. No apologies."

Eva poses next to one of her Calvin Klein billboards in Berlin on Sept. 18. (©Reuters)

She's not kidding. In a refreshing change of pace from stars who complain about how their thespian talents are not taken seriously because of their inherent hotness (*cough* Jessica Alba *cough*), Eva, who's out stumping for the Frank Miller-directed "The Spirit," acknowledges she's used it to her advantage.

"I'm OK with being pigeonholed right now because I created most of it. If I don't want to be offered sexy roles, then I shouldn't be on a humongous billboard half-naked," she says, referring to her steamy, skin-heavy ads for Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume. "But I want to be on that billboard. I'm not one of those actresses who says that because of my good looks I don't get offered the right things. No! I'm not being offered the things I want because I haven't shown my ability as an actress. ... It'll happen. You can pigeonhole me now. But it won't stay that way."

Meanwhile, Duff, 21, is also on rumor control, using her cover spot on Maxim's "Sexiest Stars of 2009" issue to dismiss talk that she once treated her hockey-playing boyfriend Mike Comrie to a grind-fest in the middle of a crowded New York hot spot.

"I've been accused by the press of giving lap dances at clubs," she recalls when asked about the "worst thing" ever written about her. "I mean, little ol' me? It's shocking. People love to believe it -- it's way more exciting to talk about than the truth! And they're so descriptive about these lap dances."

(©Maxim) More photos of Hilary

And despite her bendy, sultry pose on the cover of the men's mag, Hilary declares, "I don't even know how to do a lap dance!"

Then there was the starlet's 2006 interview with Elle, when she supposedly said her virginity "is definitely something I like about myself. It doesn't mean I haven't thought about sex, because everyone I know has had it and you want to fit in."

But the Duffster, who was dating the significantly older Joel Madden at the time, insists she never uttered those words.

"You know what? I was quoted saying I was a virgin, but I absolutely did not say that," she asserts. "That's nobody's business but my own."

And while she describes herself as a "relationship person," she laughs off persistent aisle-walk chatter as so much bauble-inspired hooey.

"Now it's all over the Internet that I'm getting engaged to my boyfriend," she says. "The truth is, I just like to wear rings!"