The actor, best known for his role as Ari Gold on the HBO series, caused a stir on the Interwebs this week after he claimed he stopped drinking soy milk because its high estrogen levels caused him to grow man boobs.

“I was the guy who dabbled in soy milk, but now we’ve found soy milk estrogen for me to grow breasts, I had to put the soy milk down,” Jeremy said in an interview in Empire Magazine’s December issue. “It was a very confusing time.”

A rep for the actor says Jeremy was just having a little fun with the interviewer: “Anyone who knows Jeremy knows he was kidding around with his answers….”

Jeremy was forced to swear off sushi after a controversial bout with mercury poisoning earlier this year.

New York’s acclaimed Public Theater Arts Group has hit headlines with their new knee-slapping production The Piven Monologues, a spoof look at the fallout form Piven’s illness from eating too much sushi — which prompted the actor to pull out of Broadway play Speed-The-Plow to the chagrin of show producers.

Jeremy doesn’t see the humor, and his legal team recently fired off a letter to theater bosses promising to keep a watchful eye on The Piven Monologues.

“We didn’t say you cannot do the play, we said you can’t make defamatory statements about our client,” the actor’s attorney Marty Singer told The New York Post’s PageSix Column on Tuesday.

Last week, an arbitrator ruled in Piven’s favor after he was sued by the producers of the David Mamet play after he left the production citing mercury poisoning from eating too much sushi. Jeremy insists he had to leave Plow after doctors warned him that he’d have a heart attack if he continued on Broadway in his condition.

Shaq will host Raw — which airs live @ 9PM ET on The USA Network — from the Verizon Center in Washington, DC on Monday, July 27 and Piven will serve as MC August 3 from Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Dr. Carlon Colker, a doctor who has been treating the Emmy award-winner, says Jeremy is suffering from extreme mercury toxicity, adding that the Entourage star had the highest level of mercury in his system that he has ever seen.

Jeremy first began experiencing extreme fatigue late last week, which led to extreme difficulty in lifting his arms and legs. By Sunday, the 43-year-old actor was suffering dizzy spells.

Jeremy is reportedly disappointed Speed-the-Plow producers have accused him of fudging the illness and jumping ship on the production without just cause. Playwright David Mamet even joked that Jeremy was leaving show business to “pursue a career as a thermometer.”

“I pulled Jeremy from the show,” says Dr. Colker. “I’m an unpopular character right now.”

“He’s disappointed that I had to pull the plug. But I think he’s hurt more by the comments that he’s not trying or that he walked away. He’s been working straight for 30 years. He doesn’t walk away; I tore him away from it.”

Mercury poisoning can be fatal. We hope Jeremy feels better soon.

Jeremy Piven is ending his run in Broadway’s Speed-the-Plow due to a condition caused by an elevated mercury count, Variety reports.

“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury,” playwright David Mamet curtly told the entertainment trade magazine late Wednesday. “So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”

“The good news is that some really great actors will be helping out and stepping in, which to me is a sign of great heroism and friendship.”

A rep for Piven says the actor wanted to continue his Broadway run, but doctors advised him against it.

Jeremy Piven has prompted rumors of a romance with glamorous burlesque star Dita Von Teese -after he was caught buying her dresses.

The Entourage star was spied purchasing two mini-dresses from a gift suite in Hollywood last week. He then confessed to staff they were for a “curvy brunette” he had a crush on, before slipping and revealing her identity as the ex-wife of Marilyn Manson. A spywitness spills to the New York Post: “He said he likes her, but it’s not official yet.”

Jeremy Piven NBC Golden Globes Special 2008 Interview