After watching Lauren and Whitney ogle Jay (aka. that hot Aussie rocker dude/Justin Bobby lookalike on this week’s Hills), it occurred to us that those far-fetched LC/JB hookup rumors seemed to be dying down. But apparently, we spoke too soon. Recently, Lauren took the opportunity to set the record straight … again. From USA Today (via Usmagazine.com):

Among rumors that have dogged Conrad: a supposed dalliance with [Audrina] Patridge’s boyfriend in Las Vegas. “I wasn’t even there,” Conrad says. “I wasn’t even in the state.”

But the star concedes she has struggled with how to handle relationships while being in the limelight. “With friendships I had kind of a hard time,” she says. “I think the media and fame tie into that. It changes people.”

Translation: LC did NOT hook up with Justin Bobby, and if it weren’t for the media, people wouldn’t even be talking about this.

The way we see it? Lauren’s 1000% right.

After all, if she (and Audrina and Justin) were all completely anonymous and irrelevant, nobody would care what they were saying on the Ellen DeGeneres Show or writing on their MySpace pages. But unfortch, unsubstantiated gossip just happens to be one of the (many) pitfalls of being famous. (Hence, Perez.)

So we say, stay strong, LC! As our dad used to say, “this too shall pass.” Hey, look on the bright side – fans will be onto the next rumor before you know it…