IN a sob-filled audio tape obtained by Page Six, "American Idol" princess Paula Abdul is captured having a meltdown during a recent conference call.

Abdul, who seems to be talking to a group of publicists at some point during the last week, trashes her former rep, Howard Bragman; reveals she's dealing with challenging medical problems; and states she's had enough of the terrible treatment she receives from the "people who are supposed to be taking care of things."

She sobs on the tape: "I've never been treated this way and I've never seen anybody treated this way. This is just too much to stomach." Abdul is assured by those hearing her wails, "You will be treated better starting right now."

"I've been going through tremendous amounts of a difficult time," said Abdul, who recently fibbed to her fans when she said she hurt her nose tripping over her Chihuahua. (We reported the real story last week - that Abdul threw a glass against the wall and a shard of it cut her face.)

Abdul, the former wife of Emilio Estevez, also outlines her health problems, including an adrenal disease called Addison's.

Ranting about Bragman, who apparently didn't appreciate her enough, the petite former pop star says: "I do a call-in every week for OK! Magazine on 'American Idol.' Because of my brilliant job, they want to do a cover on me. I'm being told by Howard Bragman that I'm too old and no one will ever want to do a cover.

"I'm being tested. All I've ever wanted in my life is to be treated fairly and be treated with kindness. And I've never in my entire career been treated this way. The people who are supposed to take care of these things do not. I have to clean up after them everywhere they go. And I'm tired of it.

"Howard Bragman on Monday - he did some disgusting behavior. I had to go to Jimmy Kimmel," Abdul is heard sobbing, "with no publicist there. [Abdul appeared on Kimmel's show on May 15.] I go on with no publicist there and I pay this man . . .

"I don't understand how this man can call me a whining *****. I've never in my life been called a whining ***** and a loser."

When we asked Bragman when he stopped working with Abdul, he said, "I'm not going into it," and added, "I'll stand by my reputation if she'll stand by hers." Her current rep, David Brokaw, did not return calls.

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Mischa Barton jetted off yesterday for Russia - which isn't far enough away from her ex-boyfriend Cisco Adler, as far as her parents are concerned.

The stunning former "O.C." star gave her folks, Paul Marsden Barton and Nuala Quinn, quite a scare on Memorial Day when she was rushed by ambulance to California's Sherman Oaks Hospital after a party.

Barton had "an allergic reaction" after combining antibiotics (which she was taking for bronchitis) with booze, according to her publicist, who vouches that her client was not among guests said to have been munching mushrooms.

Barton did spend over a half hour in the bathroom at the party. And she was in a state of undress when she arrived at the emergency room, according to a source. Not that any of the male orderlies were complaining. (Good thing for Mischa, the paparazzi were stationed outside the wrong hospital.)

Barton's parents met her at the hospital. "They were angry about her condition," says a spy. "When they left the room, she ran to the phone and tried to call Cisco Adler," whom she supposedly broke up with several months ago.

It's no secret that Barton's parents are not the biggest fans of the hard-partying rocker best known to Internet surfers for his dangling participles.

"Her dad came back into the room, and heard Mischa deliriously saying, 'Cisco,' " says our source. "Her dad freaked out. She put the phone down, but he yelled at the staff about letting her use the phone."

After getting some IV fluids, Barton was sent on her way. The experience should help the genuinely talented beauty avoid the excesses of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, who were at the same party. Since the weekend, she's been getting ready for her untitled movie, for which she's been learning Russian.

No doubt she now knows how to say nyet to Stolichnaya.

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Josh Hartnett has been all over town with Penelope Cruz, but it looks like he's not a one-woman man. Our spy spotted the hunk cuddling a blond model at Snitch Bar on W. 21st St. Monday night. Says our sneak: "She sat on his lap in thigh-high black boots and white shorts while he chain-smoked."

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R&B beauty Rihanna is cutting herself a new image. "I wanted to get out of my innocent, generic shell that everyone is used to molding me into," she says in the new picture-packed Giant magazine. "I was like, 'To hell with that!' "

The difference shows in the title of her new CD, "Good Girl Gone Bad," out next week. But the 19-year-old Barbados-born siren won't be following in the footsteps of other bad girl starlets. Her childhood was spent watching her father battle a crack addiction to keep her on the straight and narrow.

"I just knew that my mom and dad would always argue when there was a foil paper with an ashtray," she says. "He would just go into the bathroom all the time. I didn't know what it was. ... [But] he knew that to get closer to [his kids], he had to cut that out. And he did."

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Lindsay Lohan's decision to check into Promises could be the most expensive stay in rehab ever.

In addition to jeopardizing film roles, she could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in sponsorships for her upcoming 21st birthday.

The first sponsor to back away was Svedka vodka, as reported here Sunday. Now other prospective partners, including Caesars Palace, the Social House restaurant at Treasure Island (in Las Vegas) and Pure nightclub, are wondering whether it makes sense for the star to head to Sin City straight out of rehab.

Even David Letterman asked her on May 9 whether it was a good idea to celebrate in Vegas.

Lohan replied, "Probably not. But ... I've never been allowed out anywhere in Las Vegas. They're so strict there."

One insider with firsthand knowledge of the birthday plans tells me: "Rules are much stricter in Vegas than in New York or L.A. because we have casino gaming [licenses]. When Ashlee Simpson did her 21st at Pure, they had to keep her on the red carpet literally until 12:01 a.m. on the day of her birthday."

It is believed Lohan faces a 30-day rehab program, which would discharge her less than a week before she is due for the two-day bash in Vegas.

Pure Management, which is handling the birthday events, would not comment on whether plans are going ahead. "We think the world of Lindsay and wish her the best," a spokeswoman said.

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Gwen Stefani 's fun-loving crew got some advice from management before they headed to Montreal on Monday.

Signs backstage at her weekend gig at the Borgata in Atlantic City reminded team members to "clean out contraband" before the tour crossed the border into Canada.

"We'll have to find something locally," one backstager joked with us. The source also said a highlight was the first birthday of Gwen's son, Kingston, on Saturday.

"We had cake, and he was playing with all the band members. It was a lot of fun. The people here are what really make this tour great."

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Eli Roth is the gore-teur behind "Hostel 2," the messy series in which American tourists are dismembered in Europe. So which Hollywood actress would he like to strap to a chair next? "KateHudson," he told Details magazine. "I'd love to torture her. But then again, sitting through one of her romantic comedies is its own form of torture. If I had to choose between watching 'Raising Helen' or vomiting because of something I'd seen on the screen in 'Hostel Part 2,' I'd pick the vomit every time."

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Carrie Underwood’s football-star boyfriend is calling for a timeout.

The two have been tight for several months: Tony Romo flew to Nashville to celebrate the American Idol cutie’s 24th birthday recently, and she returned the favor, flying to Dallas to celebrate his 27th.

But now, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback has told Underwood that he wants to bench their relationship during the football season, according to the National Enquirer. Football season begins in September and lasts until January.

“Carrie thought that they were moving closer to a more committed relationship,” a source tells the tab. Romo asked Underwood to give him space for his career once before, and she did, but this time, the request has hit a sour note with her, says the source, who adds, “Carrie wants a firm commitment from Tony.”


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Jessica Alba is no fan of the paparazzi. “I could give two [bleeps] about them,” the "Fantastic Four" star tells Parade. “They’re so lame, I can’t even believe that’s a real job. I can’t imagine they even pay taxes.”