BRAD Pitt (above) fired a pregnant employee from his production company because she dared speak out on behalf of his estranged wife, Jennifer Aniston. Pitt, 41, was furious that Aniston’s pal Kristin Hahn - an exec with Plan B (the film company he and Aniston, 36, founded in 2002) � told Vanity Fair it would be “beyond painful” for the actress to see Pitt and girlfriend Angelina Jolie, 30, have a baby together. An Us Weekly source claims Pitt “screamed” at Hahn, claiming she violated her contract by speaking about him without his approval - although Aniston had given hers. Hahn claims the departure was “amicable.”

Pissing off your boss is always a bad career move. Or so I’ve heard.

But this being Hollywood and all, he probably never will:

It seems that Saw is turning into a horror for Cary Elwes‘ bank account.

The blood-soaked movie, which also starred Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover and Monica Potter, was made for just $1.2 million but grossed a whopping $102.9 million worldwide and has been a solid seller on DVD. Elwes says he’s gotten peanuts for his efforts while his costars have made millions, and he’s taken his beef to the courts. […]

Elwes claims he was promised “favored nations” status among the cast and was guaranteed at least 1 percent of the producers’ net profits. He also alleges that, during a September 2004 press junket for the film, producer Mark Burg told Elwes he “would make more money [on Saw] than he had ever made before.”

Alas, he has not. Elwes says he only received a salary of $2,587.20 for his work on the film followed by a $53,275 bonus. […]

The suit claims that Glover is getting 2 percent of gross profits, while Potter has banked more than $250,000 in additional compensation.

Lawyers for the defendants aren’t buying Elwes’ argument. Attorney Martin D. Singer told the Los Angeles Times that the suit “clearly has no merit” and points out that Elwes was never forced to make the movie.

Another actor gets to ride the Hollywood “net profit” donkey.

Giddy up, Cary!

There’s nothing like quitting your job and taking off on your private yacht for a well-deserved vacation with your supermodel wife and little son:

A relaxed-looking Lachlan Murdoch jetted into Sydney yesterday morning, ready to make the city his home.

Tanned and tubby, the former News Corp executive appears to have enjoyed swapping designer suits for more casual clobber. […]

His wife, Sarah, and eight-month-old son, Kalan, were not on the 7am flight from Tahiti yesterday. The family has been holidaying in Tahiti aboard their yacht. But Mrs Murdoch, a former model, is also expected home this weekend.

Mr Murdoch was met at the airport by a bodyguard and would not be drawn on his future business plans. “There’s nothing that I really want to go into, but it’s good to be off the plane,” he said. “I’m gonna have some breakfast and then have a kip.”

Reports have suggested that the abrupt departure has put the Murdoch dynasty into a spin. But the one-time heir apparent will continue as a board director and a company consultant.

Insider reports have also revealed a frayed relationship between the young-gun son and the father who refuses to retire.

Let the old man work if he enjoys it so much. Its not like he’s hurting anyone.

Ring in a new round of “pass-the-buck” as “The Island”s blame shifting continues full force.

It’s always funny how producers try to dodge the box-office bomb bullet, but end up with some sticky stuff dripping down their faces:

The star [Scarlett Johansson] is mad as hell at the husband-and-wife producing team of Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald because, as PAGE SIX reported last week, they faulted her and co-star Ewan MacGregor’s lack of star power for the movie’s flop. Parkes went as far as to tell zap2it.com, “Even lesser television actresses, quite honestly, would have more connection to that audience.”

Now the gloves are off, and insiders on the picture are blaming the producers rather than the two young stars.

We’re told that Parkes and MacDonald “were only on the set three times” and that they spent three weeks in June, right before the movie’s release, on vacation in Italy, where they were “basically uncontactable.”

Sources also tattle that director Michael Bay delivered a final print of “The Island” only two days before the press screening and that during a meeting in April at Parkes’ office, DreamWorks publicity chief Terry Press admitted, “I have no idea how to market this movie.”

A spokesman for Johansson tells PAGE SIX’s Tom Sykes, “We find it incredible that the producers of ‘The Island’ have blamed the low box-office results on the film’s two lead actors. This is a clear-cut example of the producers’ passing the buck and not taking responsibility for their part in making calculated mistakes throughout the film’s marketing.”

The rep continues: “Ms. Johansson is proud of her performance and the film… The film and the actors’ performances were overall well received by the critics. We put our trust in the professionals who sold and promoted this film. It is unforgivable that the producers continue to blame everyone but themselves.” […]

Parkes and MacDonald ate their words as PAGE SIX went to press, praising “Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor’s extraordinary work” and alleging that their “comments were taken completely out of context.” DreamWorks had no comment.

Makes me wonder what Steven Spielberg was doing during this clusterfuck.

Oh, that’s right, he was chasing after Kooky Cruise.

If you’re anything like me, you too have spent the last five nights lying wide-awake in a puddle of cold sweat trying to crack the riddle of Lachlan’s abrupt departure.

Well, get ready for a good night’s sleep as I present to you the detailed recount of a heart-broken Lachlan in all its unfiltered tenderness:

Last Friday, July 29, shortly after his sudden abdication as the designated crown prince of News Corp., Lachlan Murdoch went to lunch at Da Silvano. The 33-year-old bluff and hardy publisher and News Corp. executive came in at around 1 p.m. with a group of about eight people, according to one eyewitness.

He stayed for five and a half hours.

“They started with�they all ordered Italian beers, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the best line of Peroni,” the eyewitness said. Then came multiple bottles of Lupicaia wine, and cold cuts, truffled burrata cheese, stuffed zucchini blossoms, branzino, homemade pasta with more truffles. Lachlan Murdoch’s wife, bra and swimsuit model Sarah O’Hare, stopped by, bringing their infant son, Kalan.

By the last half hour of the meal, the bare-knuckled young publisher of the New York Post was in tears. “He was like, sort of crying on an elder gentleman at the table,” the eyewitness said. “It seemed to me like a very tender moment.”

Who could blame him?

I think that’s a rhetorical question.

Right?

PR stunts are not what they used to be.

Gone are the good ol’ days when stars would get hitched on the Eiffel tower before a scheduled press conference or jump on daytime talk show couches to lend credibility to their futile efforts.

Sigh. Yeah, those were the days…

Despite what you may have read, Hollywood bottom feeder Mitch Mortaza is not dating Lindsay Lohan.

For the past several weeks, some apparent associates of Mortaza�party promoters linked to the Cabana and Spider clubs in L.A.�have been e-mailing “exclusive tips” to various publications chronicling a tumultuous romance between the teen queen and the 31-year-old TV producer. Several of the tips have been printed nearly verbatim. None of them appear to be true.

Lohan’s rep, Leslie Sloane, says the starlet doesn’t even know him: “I’ve got tabloid reporters calling me every day with these same items, saying they heard he was seen outside Cartier buying her a ring�all from the same source. She’s not dating him. There is no way they are together. She’s in Long Island with her family and will be returning to L.A. in ten days. I think Mitch needs to get a life.

Or a better PR rep.

Did she or didn’t she?

FOX TV seems pretty determined to get to the bottom of this sleazy story:

Taking a page from Washington, the producers of “American Idol” and Fox TV hired an independent counsel to determine whether judge Paula Abdul had an affair with a contestant on the hit talent show.

“Any allegations against this show we take quite seriously,” Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori said Thursday, calling the competition’s credibility “extraordinarily important to us.”

Liguori refused to say if Fox and producers Fremantle Media and 19 Television would fire Abdul if the claims by Corey Clark, an unsuccessful contestant on season two, were found to be true.

The probe’s results are due soon and will be made public, Liguori said in an appearance before the Television Critics Association.

It looks like someone’s gonna get screwed (no pun intended).