LEANN WHINES

Catherine Dickenson Rimes, LeAnn Rimes' stepmother, recently released two taped phone conversations of the 18-year-old country singer to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. One of the recordings features LeAnn plotting to cry in court, hoping her sob story would cause a judge to let her out of her recording contract with Curb Records.

Catherine released the tapes to counter accusations made by LeAnn in a legal battle against her father, Wilbur Rimes, claiming that he and his former business partner Lyle Walker stole $7 million while co-managing her. She says the tapes were secretly made by LeAnn during the past two or three years, and were turned over by LeAnn's lawyers as part of their lawsuits. In response, LeAnn issued a statement from the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., claiming that she has done nothing wrong, she is "not a crook" and the missing 18 minutes from the tapes will be available on the Internet any day now.