I haven't been watching "Jon & Kate Plus Eight," so when my co-blogger, David Valenzuela, filled me in on the show and the dynamic between Jon and Kate before I wrote today's story, he insisted I watch what is perhaps the most notorious "you need to stop playing toys and come help!" clip. So this was my first exposure to Kate:
Here are a few clips from the season premiere on Monday:
What's your opinion of the imploding family relationships? Is it someone's fault, or just a sad outcome of a marriage that was overstressed and overpublicized?
They call themselves "Dude Perfect," and you will not believe the incredible basketball shots hit by this group of Texas A & M roommates -- with their backs turned, from roofs, banked off everything from a chimney to walls. And don't miss the ones they make when the basketball hoop is moving:
The "Ranch Edition" of Dude Perfect brings water towers, a hunting blind and even a shotgun into the picture. And these guys make it all look so easy that you must stay tuned for the bloopers at the end!
With the finals of "Britain's Got Talent" just days away, the pressure seems to have gotten to international singing sensation Susan Boyle. Judge Piers Morgan has come to her defense, writing on his blog, "Susan Boyle is crying -- and my heart bleeds." Morgan notes that Boyle reportedly shouted an obscenity at a hotel and later having a discussion with police after hearing Morgan say another contestant had given the "best singing performance of the semifinals." Morgan also said that Boyle had packed her bags and threatened to quit the show. Noting that she suffered from bullying in school due to her learning disabilities, Morgan writes that critics have called Boyle "arrogant, insincere, spoiled, fake, mad and so on. ... Susan Boyle has never experienced anything like this ... I am calling today for everyone to just give her a break."
• • •
On the week the latest season of their TLC reality series premiered, Jon and Kate Gosselin were far apart on camera and in reality. Not only were most of their on-camera interviews done separately, Jon showed up in Newburgh, N.Y., drinking at an outdoor bar with two young women, while Kate shepherded the eight children on a boat ride in North Carolina. The pair live in Pennsylvania.
• • •
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, stars of the movie "Twilight," weren't even on the radar screen last year, but this year they will be front and center at Sunday's MTV Movie Awards. Miley Cyrus is not in the front row -- she's a few back, and five rows from the stage is "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert.
• • •
Singer Rihanna has been ordered to appear at ex-boyfriend Chris Brown's next court appearance, a preliminary hearing on June 22. Her attorney says she will appear.
• • •
Candy Spelling, who has been feuding with her daughter Tori for years, but she brings things to a new low with her latest charges -- that Tori's behavior killed her father, mogul Aaron Spelling. "My daughter one day decided that she wasn't speaking to my husband, myself and my son," Candy said during a radio interview to promote her book, "Stories from Candyland. "And it was sad, that's what killed my husband, actually. He just didn't want to live after that."
• • •
"Blossom" actress Mayim Bialik says she "clearly needed help" and appreciated an invitation to appear on the TLC makeover show, "What Not to Wear." With a 3-year-old son and a 9-month old son with husband Michael Stone, she says, "My main priority in my life are my kinds. I'm frugal, I don't have time to shop and I'm usually wearing clothes three sizes too big!"
• • •
Things are looking serious between Paris Hilton and boyfriend Doug Reinhardt, whose parents met at a celebratory dinner in New York this week when Hilton collected the "Celebrity Fragrance of the Year" award. Reinhardt says the two have discussed engagement and "When it happens, it happens ... we're having fun right now." Paris tells People.com, "He's beautiful, he's smart, he's well-educated and he treats me like a princess. We're just very much alike."
• • •
David Hyde Pierce announced on "The View" that he and 25-year companion Brian Hargrove married "very quietly last Oct. 24th." Two weeks later, Californians passed Proposition 8, which banned further gay marriages but does not invalidate those performed. "Great, I made the cut," Pierce said sarcastically.
Kevin Kreider, the brother of Kate Gosselin, appeared on the CBS Early Show yesterday with wife "Aunt Jodi" and continued to fuel the backlash against the Jon & Kate Plus 8 family. The Kreiders say they want to be the voices of their nieces and nephews, and once again asked for a law to protect children of reality tv series.
The Kreiders say that they believe the children are being exploited and point to close-ups when children are crying or cameras in the children's bedrooms as examples. They also say that when they questioned Jon & Kate about the cameras in the bedroom, they were told: "This is our choice. This is what we want to do. Just respect that."
They say that their relationship is strained with Jon & Kate, but that they are speaking out, hoping that they will come to their senses and see what the show is doing to their family.
E! News, however, says that the Kreiders are speaking out for money. They report that the Kreiders are shopping their insight on the situation to media outlets for $30,000. No word on whether RadarOnline, the original source for the Kreider's insights, or CBS met that demand for their story. The brother of alleged mistress Deanna Hummel, on the other hand, reportedly told his side of the story to the tabloids for free.
• • •
American Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert is speaking out about his sexuality... sorta. While still being evasive about whether he is gay, he talks about being true to who you are, saying "It feels really amazing to be able to try and pass that on to kids and young adults who don't have a role model like that. It feels great because I never had a role model like that." Lambert will have an interview in Rolling Stone, where he teases that he may discuss his sexuality there.
Meanwhile, Lambert has been offered a gig as the new front man with legendary rock band Queen. Many have compared the flamboyant and theatrical singer to the late Freddie Mercury, who fronted the band during their heyday. Lambert isn't sure whether he will make his own album, or join the band, but he is exploring his options.
And those who wanted Lambert to win, there is new fodder for your angst. It has been reported that AT&T employees in Arkansas held American Idol viewing parties, where they brought demo phones and gave party-goers tips on how to send text message votes for native son and Idol winner Kris Allen. The sessions were also said to include directions on 'power texting,' which allows voters to send text votes in blocks of 10.
But in response to the controversy, FOX says: “FOX and the producers of AMERICAN IDOL are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified. Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process. In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition.”
• • •
Actress Parminder Nagra, of ER fame, has given birth to a son. Kai David Singh Stenson was born May 19th to Nagra and husband James Stenson. "Mother, daddy, and baby are all doing great," the actress' rep said.
• • •
Chris Brown is being sued by a photographer who says that the R&B singer's bodyguard assaulted him after taking a photograph of Brown playing basketball. The photographer says that Brown's entourage chased him down, picked him up by his shorts and assaulted him. The same photographer has previously sued actor Pierce Brosnan for assaulting him.
• • •
Former TV talk show host Gary Collins was fitted for an ankle bracelet yesterday to begin his 4-month sentence -- in home confinement -- for a March DUI conviction. "He's allowed to leave his home to go to work and he can leave for four hours per week to run errands. His sentence is for 120 days, but he will be released from the program in 72 days if he abides by all rules," a Santa Barbara Sheriff spokesman said.
• • •
Singer Courtney Love is being sued by American Express for failing to pay on her credit cards. They say that Love "failed and refused to make payments" on the more than $350,000 balance on her Amex Gold, Centurion and Platinum Cards. They have wisely suspended her line of credit in the meantime.
A lawsuit Ed McMahon filed in 2007 after he slipped on a ramp-like staircase he considered "unsafe" at the mansion owned by Robert and Kelly Day and broke his neck has been settled for an undisclosed sum. This is the second lawsuit the high-profile announcer and Johnny Carson sidekick has filed related to the injury -- he also sued Cedars-Sinai Hospital and a doctor for malpractice for failing to diagnose and appropriately treat the injury. The hospital suit was also settled under secret terms.
• • •
Madonna's companion Jesus Luz calls the Material Girl" a person who I admire a lot, a friend who is in my life. More than that, I can;'t say. She is my friend, just a friend." The model, 22, dismisses the significance of Kabbalah-inscribed jewelry the two have made together, saying, "If I wanted to present them to somebody, it could be my mother or a friend of mine. I don't have any marriage plans or any wedding present." Speaking of mothers -- Madonna, at 50, could be his and then some.
• • •
Seems like the former "Girls Next Door" have moved on. Kendra Wilkinson gushes about her wedding and family plans with Eagles' wide receiver Hank Baskett and the activities -- indoors and outdoors -- that are keeping her trim. By the way, Kendra's reality show, "Kendra," will start airing on E! at 10 p.m. June 7. And Holly Madison is having the bunny tramp stamp erased from her lower back.
• • •
Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima is expecting her first child with her husband, NBA player Marko Jaric. The Brazilian supermodel and the Memphis Grizzlies player are expecting the baby's arrival this winter.
• • •
James Brown's six adult children and widow have reached an agreement over his estate, which they had been battling over since his death from heart failure on Christmas in 2006. About half of Brown's estate will go into a trust for his grandchildren and poor children in Georgia and South Carolina; another quarter will go to widow Tomi Rae Hynie and her young son with Brown, and the rest will be divided among his adult children.
• • •
Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter Exodus died Tuesday in a Phoenix hospital after her neck became entangled in a cord of a treadmill at home while her mother, said to be Sol Xochitl, 34, was cleaning in another room. Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident but flew to Phoenix and was seen entering the hospital. The family issued a statement thanking the public for their prayers and support and asked for privacy "at this difficult time."
Jon & Kate Plus 8 premiered last night on TLC with obvious tension that was thick, and body language that screamed that there is big trouble in Gosselin-land. Kate started by planning the sextuplets birthday alone, because Jon needed a weekend off. She shopped, decorated and hosted alone. He showed up in his 2-seat sports car, and there was distance between them. No eye contact, little conversation.
The children treated him as though he had been away for weeks, and one child even said, "I don't want you to leave anymore," to which he said, "Daddy has to work." Unfortunately, we see in an interview later that he quit his job 2 years ago for the show, so where has he been?
Kate said in interview segments that she has a lot of anger, and that she doesn't think he is the same person anymore. Jon says he got married early, then had 8 kids by 27. Kate said she does it all for her kids, and when she's not traveling, she is home, willing to make it work. Jon said he is there for his kids. Kate says parents of multiples have 3x the national divorce rate.
Hard to say where the marriage is headed, or who is telling the truth based on the tabloid reports, but it was very obvious that the kids are being hurt by it all.
• • •
Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter is on life support after an accident at his Phoenix home involving exercise equipment. The girl was discovered entangled in a treadmill cable by her 7-year-old brother, and rushed to a hospital.
A Phoenix police spokesman says: “Somehow she was playing on this treadmill, and there’s a cord that
hangs under the console – it’s kind of a loop. Either she slipped or
put her head in the loop, but it acted like a noose, and she was
obviously unable to get herself off of it.”
Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the accident, but rushed home after learning the news.
• • •
Mel Gibson and his girlfriend are expecting. Six weeks after filing for divorce, Gibson and his rep both have confirmed that girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva is pregnant and due in the fall. "He couldn't be happier. He loves being a father," the rep said.
Meanwhile, Gibson joked on Jay Leno last night, "This is true. We're gonna have a child. ... I guess I'm Octo-Mel."
• • •
Musician Jay Bennett, formerly of Wilco, has died in his sleep at the age of 45. Bennett recently sued his former bandmates for royalties that he said he was owed. A cause of death has not been determined as of yet.
• • •
Clay Aiken has apologized to American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert for comments made about Adam's singing style. Aiken recently quipped that Lambert's screaming caused blood to pour out of his ears, which caused Adam fans to go on the offensive about Aiken, and prompted the apology of sorts. "I obviously meant it as a colorful statement to imply that I did not
enjoy what I heard. Any performer hopes that their music will appeal to
all people, but no singer realistically expects it to."
• • •
Actress Brooke Shields tells Health magazine that she wishes that she would have lost her virginity earlier than she did at 22. Shields says she struggled with body image, and thinks that being sexually active younger may have helped her with those issues.
• • •
Natalie Cole has been released from the hospital after receiving a new kidney last week. Cole has been battling Hepatitis C, which damaged her kidneys during treatment making a transplant necessary.
• • •
Paul McCartney successfully sued Google to have his home removed from their Google Maps "Street View" function. Street View will give searches a 360-degree view of his property, and McCartney's security team complained it put the singer in potential danger.
• • •
Former Dancing With the Stars champ Helio Catroneves has had his tax charges dropped by federal prosecutors, after a jury acquitted him on two tax evasion charges and were unable to reach agreement on five others. Castroneves celebrated by winning his third Indianapolis 500 title.
• • •
Kiefer Sutherland is trying to be proactive about his assault case, and has apparently made amends with his alleged victim, fashion designer Jack McCollough. The two released a joint statement indicating that Sutherland has apologized and that McCollough has accepted. Now it is up to prosecuors as to whether they pursue charges which may see Sutherland imprisoned for probation violation.
Take a herd of sheep wearing LED bodysuits, shepherds with a keen eye for design, and clever sheepdogs, and you have the Internet sensation "Extreme sheep LED art." They start slowly -- with the sheep herd forming a huge gray-faced sheep that runs on the mountain -- and it gets better from there.
The on-again, off-again divorce action of Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn is off again. Court records show that Sean Penn has now asked for a dismissal of the legal separation order he asked for in late April. The two have a daughter, Dylan, 18, and a son, Hopper, 15. "It was an arrogant mistake," Penn told the New York Daily News.
• • •
Canadian hip-hopper Aubrey "Drake" Graham says he and Rihanna, who were spotted canoodling at the Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge, an upscale Manhattan bowling alley and lounge, early in the week, are "just friends." Interviewed on a New York radio station, he said, "I have the utmost respect for her," but said, "It's not like that at all," when the interviewers asked if the two were dating.
• • •
Patrick Swayze looked thin and drawn but very much alive as he posed for a photo with his wife, Lisa Niemi, and their dogs on the family ranch in New Mexico. Swayze released the photo after his death was erroneously reported by a radio station and then spread via Twitter. The memoir he has been writing with his wife of 34 years will be released in the fall.
• • •
A British actress who played a reporter in the 2007 film "Spider-Man 3" was found dead in the Paris apartment she shared with her boyfriend. Although the unnamed man, who found her dead when he woke up, was being questioned by police, they reportedly believe that Lucy Gordon's death two days before her 29th birthday was suicide.
• • •
The woman who allegedly attacked Teri Seymour, Simon Cowell's ex, outside the "American Idol" final competition in Los Angeles Tuesday night has been charged with battery and assault, both misdemeanors. Janice Thibodeaux pleaded not guilty and will be back in court June 2. The motive for the attack was not known. Cowell told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show that first he thought the attack was a joke, but learned it was not: "Literally [it was] a frenzied attack. [She was] nearly strangled."
Jason Hummel, the brother of alleged mistress Deanna Hummel, tells E! News that he was telling the truth in the Us Weekly magazine interview where he confirmed Jon Gosselin is dating his sister and that the two has been intimate at the apartment Jason shares with his sister. "I am not a liar. The rumors are true. It feels good to let people know that I am not the liar," he said.
Jason says that Gosselin would take her out three nights a week, beginning in January in February and that he took an immediate dislike for Gosselin when introduced. He also confirms that he was the one who leaked video of Jon sneaking off, pre-dawn, from the apartment he shares with his sister. He says he did it because he was tired of all the rumors, and wanted to prove that it was all true.
Deanna's other brother, John, is also confirming the affair and defending Jason from the smear campaign of their sister. "[Jason] is telling the truth, and they paint him in a bad picture, and
that's why I'm here—to let people know he's telling the truth," John
told E! News.
Jason says he suspects that Jon and Deanna will continue dating: "Personally, I do think they're going to continue seeing each other. I think they think they can get away with it.
• • •
Meanwhile, Kate Gosselin tells People that the tabloids are making her life a 'living hell.'
Kate says that she never understood what grief was behind the
supermarket tabloids, but now she understands what is behind the chase
for photos and headlines."[N]ow, I understand what they live with: Everywhere you go you're being
stalked, you're being followed -- it's hell, on the cover of a
magazine,"she tells People.
And in the latest cover story for Us Weekly, a former nanny for the Gosselins claims that she was a demanding woman, and fired as many as 40 people over a 3 month period. Baby nurse Angela Krall tells Us Weekly that she witnessed a lot of bad behavior over the course of a year of watching the sextuplets.
Krall talks about an incident where Kate's father, a minister, asked for and received six donated cribs from his parishoners, only to have Kate reject them because they did not match. She also says that Kate would "flip" if someone washed their hands at the kitchen sink instead of a bathroom sinking, claiming it would cause "cross contamination."
A 2005 article by the Associated Press rediscovered by Us Weekly has a startling line: "Kate Gosselin said she feels society has a responsibility to help with
the children, since modern medicine promotes the use of fertility
drugs, which can lead to multiple births." The article was about the Gosselin's desire to have Krall's salary paid by the government.
• • •
The wife of rapper Nas has filed for divorce, and now the rapper is asking that the court not award her any spousal support, according to court documents. Wife Kelis, a singer too, is pregnant with the couple first child, due in July, and both have filed for joint custody of the unborn child. The two were secretly married in 2003.
• • •
Actor Chad Lowe and girlfriend Kim Painter have welcomed a daughter to their family. Mabel Painter Lowe was born on Saturday to the couple. It is the first child for both Lowe and Painter, who met in 2007, after Lowe divorced from actress Hilary Swank.
• • •
Singer Natalie Cole is recovering from a kidney transplant, performed on Tuesday. The singer has been on dialysis since fall when her kidneys failed after chemotherapy treatment for hepatitis C.
• • •
Redmond O'Neal, son of Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett, is heading to a new correctional facility where he is expected to receive a year-long drug treatment. The spokesman for the L.A. Sheriff department says that a judge denied O'Neal rehab in a private facility, and instead sent him to a correctional facility in Castaic, California.
• • •
Rihanna was spotted kissing a new man. Canadian rapper Aubrey "Drake" Graham was seen kissing the singer at the Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in New York City. The two danced all night and were spotted leaving together at the end of the night.
• • •
Michael Jackson's week of farewell concerts in London are already delayed. The opening show -- July 8th -- has been delayed 5 days, then the remainder have been pushed back to March 2010. The promoters and Jackson's handlers claim that the high level of production on the concert makes it necessary to push the dates back, to ensure that fans get the best show possible.
• • •
Terri Seymour, the ex-girlfriend or American Idol judge Simon Cowell, was attacked after the Idol finale last night. Seymour was approached by a woman who asked whether she was Cowell's ex, and when she confirmed that she was, the woman grabbed her by the throat and attacked her. Witnesses say that the attacker said she was doing it in the name of justice for Paula Abdul.
Tonight's the night we find out whether Adam Lambert or Kris Allen will wear the "American Idol" crown for season 8. Besides bragging rights, this doesn;t make as big a difference as it did in the early seasons -- both will probably be signed to 19 Entertainment contracts and both will have professional singing careers, although Adam, if he's runner-up, will certain headline on Broadway rather than be an understudy in a touring musical.
Join us back here tonight at 8 p.m. to comment as the two-hour show entertains and exasperates us as we wait for the results, which will certainly be announced right at 10 p.m. or slightly afterward. Note to people using TiVo or DVR for later viewing -- if your recorder clicks off at 10:00, you will certainly miss the results!
If you missed this finale, you missed the best show all season. Bikini Girl and Kara went head-to-head in a singing competition, with Kara ripping open her dress at the last minute to flash her own bikini body to win money for charity. Stars ranged from Jason Mraz and Keith Urban to KISS (Adam sang for them) and Queen -- Adam and Kris both sang "We Are the Champions." But at the end, after nearly 100 million votes, there was only one winner, and it was Kris Allen, who looked and sounded the most shocked of anybody in the room.
What do you think of the outcome? Was it a surprise? Did Adam deserve it more?
