Playboy's Sexiest Celebrities

he mob is coming for celebrities. With sharpened sticks and torches it's going after its idols. When the deed is done it will elevate new ones and, in turn, tear them down. Pop culture is now the same as tabloid culture. The world's greatest golfer shanks his marriage; the current longest-running late-night talk-show host cops on air to hanky-panky; TV's busiest reality-show dad wakes up to find he's the consensus douche bag of the year. But the beautiful ones are safe. We want them to be safe. We want them, and in 2010 it's better to be desired than admired. Admiration too quickly turns to jealousy— cue villagers with pitchforks—whereas desire feeds on itself. Look at one of our elder stateswomen, the dominant sex symbol of the Aughts, Angelina Jolie. She began the decade in a fatal-attraction-style marriage to an older man named Billy Bob. One could try to tar her as a husband stealer or a baby collector, but it wouldn't stick. In simple terms, we just don't care. As long as Angelina puts on the big bad mama act every couple of years (two Tomb Raider

films, Mr. & Mrs. Smm Beowulf, Wanted—and Wanted 2, rumored to be coming in 2011), we're not giving her grief about her personal life. For a sexy woman at the top of her game there are no disqualifying events. The handsomest man alive, George Clooney, goes steady with an Italian fox, and hearts break around the world; yet Beyonce,

HERE ARE OUR FAVORITE FANTASIES, JUST WHEN WE NEED THEM THE MOST

"So tell me about these hallucinations you've been having, Mr. Prescott, and why

you don't want to cure them."

Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba

get married and we shrug it off. Scarlett has a smile that will slay you and a pout that will make you reach for your wal­let. Admit it, tough guy: You do melt on occasion. If you met Scarlett, Jessica or Beyonce, you'd melt like butter on toast. Either that or you're made of wood. Mar­ried? Not a problem. Spoken for? Even less so. Kim Kardashian (who was mar­ried before and who kick-started her career with a sex tape) is on again with

Reggie Bush. Megan Fox may still be with Brian Austin Green, better known as the luckiest man in Hollywood. The photos of lingerie model Alina Puscau in our November 2009 issue were shot by her boyfriend, Brett Ratner. Holly Madison was the boss's pajama partner, but two Girls Next Door cover pictorials proved the guy is a sharer through and through. He's proving just as generous with current housemates Crystal Harris and the Shannon twins. Vampire bait Anna Paquin plans to marry True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer—call us sanguine,

but we wish them well. And at the same time, we don't care. Their marriage could turn cold and loveless instantly and it would matter to us only if it meant fewer sex scenes for Sookie Stackhouse. When it comes to fan­tasy, the prevailing wisdom is that women desire story and men simply consume with their eyes. Really? Recall Rita Hay worth's remark about her on-screen alter ego: "Every man I knew went to bed with Gilda and woke up with me." Every man wants to be healed by Olivia Wilde's Dr. Hadley from House, and every man wants Christina Hendricks to wear a tight sweater and take his dictation. Aubrey O'Day is bisexual, and Katy Perry piqued our interest when she told us she'd kissed

a girl—raise your hand if you'd like to see them duet or at least make a video. The starlet has always held our attention, but Ameri­cans are increasingly fond of beautiful women in it for the long haul. The Aughts were a glorious decade for young moms who bounced back from pregnancy like Jessica Alba and for such modem Mrs. Robinsons as Lisa Rinna, who was perfect as the 1960s seductress in our May 2009 issue. Come­back kid of the year Tara Reid shed the embarrass­ments of her past (you know, that stuff we said we didn't care about) along with her clothes in our January/Feb­ruary issue. And 37-year-old Carmen Electra simply will not go away—not that we want her to. Mystery has its charms, as does extreme openness. We don't care. Oh, we care about them; we care deeply how they look, talk and walk, what's in their lingerie collection, whether they've ever kissed another girl and what their tattoos mean in English. We

care about the personae they present to the world and the characters they're paid to play. It's 2010, a post-privacy era of OMG TMI. Celebrity is cheap, and celebrities are more mortal than ever. But these aren't merely famous women. Martha Stewart is a famous woman. These are the dreams men dream.

ee more sexy celebs now at playboy.com/celebs.