A bartender who claimed that Cuba Gooding Jr. pushed her doesn’t plan to pursue criminal charges against him, managers at a New Orleans bar told The Associated Press. Earlier in the week, police issued an arrest warrant on a misdemeanor charge of municipal battery for the 44-year-old actor after a bartender at the Old Absinthe House told them that Gooding became agitated when patrons started asking him to pose for photos. She told him to calm down, and then she said he pushed her. Berni said Gooding’s arraignment is set for Friday. It was not immediately known whether he was required to appear.

Not my guy

Jennifer Lopez has had it with people slamming her relationship with a much younger man. Now she’s defending Casper Smart like a lioness protecting her cub. The entertainer, 43, is fighting back at Star and In Touch articles saying her 25-year-old dancer beau recently visited an exotic massage parlor and a gay porn shop in NYC. “These statements are false, malicious and defamatory,” her attorneys, Howard Weitzma n and Shawn Holley, said in a statement. “Ms. Lopez and Mr. Smart will pursue all remedies available to them under the law.”

And just because a person is gaunt doesn’t mean he has substance-abuse issues. “The report in the National Enquirer that Macaulay Culkin is addicted to heroin and assorted hallucinogens is not only categorically without merit, but it is also impossibly and ridiculously fictitious,” Culkin’s rep told E! News.

Flat broke

Jon Gosselin may be regretting the decision to pull the plug on his TLC reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8 and its spinoff. There ain’t nothing going on but the rent, he told Star. Forget about child support for his kids with ex Kate Gosselin. “I am a single father who’s trying to make ends meet during a recession,” Jon, 35, tells Star. “What do I do — pay child support or rent? I’m doing the best I can, but life is so expensive with eight kids!” Too bad Kate didn’t get picked up for Dancing with the Stars: All Stars.

Fortunate gig

Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler says he liked the paychecks on American Idol, but that’s about it. He told Rolling Stone the Fox show wasn’t his “cup of tea,” but he “made a ton of money.” Tyler says he took the job because it was a good way to pass the time while he and his band worked out their conflicts.

Couples corner

Gary Busey’s new role: grandpa. April Hutchinson, the fiancée of Starship Troopers star Jake Busey, has given birth to a baby girl, Life & Style reports. Her name is Autumn.

Married Odd Life of Timothy Green stars Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt are expecting their first baby. The couple met on the set of Fox series Standoff in 2006.

The New York Post is reporting that Chelsea Handler and hotelier Andre Balazs are over for good.