MSNBC is far too august a news gathering organization to deal with petty celebrity wrangling. Or so they'd have you think. Responding to rumors that the network had invited Hills star Heidi Montag to be its guest at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner this Saturday, a rep tells today's Post, "We are not having, nor did we invite, any celebrities to sit at our table."

Which is totally funny, given that this is the e-mail MSNBC's Scoop columnist Courtney Hazlett sent to Montag on Tuesday:

From: Courtney Hazlett
Sent: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 9:39 am
Subject: Correspondent's dinner

Hi everyone:
I really need to get a solid, final commitment. The dinner is, after all, less than three days away and I have other celebrities clamoring for a ticket! Please let me know, Heidi, if you are indeed going to attend as our guest. I need to know in the next couple hours.
Thanks,
Courtney

Montag won't be joining her buddy/Bloomberg guest Lauren Conrad because of a "scheduling conflict," but given the number of other famous folks who are "clamoring for a ticket," the network should have no difficulty filling the void.

Reached for comment, an MSNBC flack explains: "I think [The Post] reporter called MSNBC TV and not msnbc.com. MSNBC TV (the cable news station) did not extend an invitation to Heidi, so that report is correct. Msnbc.com did extend an invitation to Heidi and she declined."

Okay, so they've made Page Six the scapegoat. That's a new one!