Hollywood Headlines: A crazy week in review
That’s one way to end the honeymoon early: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel’s recent wedding is at the center of a publicity — and potentially legal — nightmare. According to the website Gawker, guests at the southern Italian nuptials Friday saw a tribute video sent by a friend of Timberlake, a real-estate agent named Justin Huchel, that featured homeless men and one person who appeared to be a transvestite wishing the couple well, following a title card reading, “Greetings from your Hollywood friends who just couldn’t make it.” The Gawker story was later updated with two letters from counsel for Huchel. Justin Timberlake has taken time to “clear the air” and apologize about the video featuring homeless people that was produced by a friend of his, ostensibly in honor of his recent wedding to Jessica Biel. “I want to say that, on behalf of my friends, family, and associative knuckleheads, I am deeply sorry to anyone who was offended by the video. Again, it was something that I was not made aware of. But, I do understand the reaction and, by association, I am holding myself accountable.”
Full story: Timberlake wedding video featuring homeless people makes waves | Justin Timberlake apologizes for ‘unsavory’ video (Charles Sykes / Associated Press)
Lil’ Wayne gets a headache, Jessica Simpson’s parents split and Donald Trump keeps Obama conspiracy theories afloat in this week’s Hollywood headlines.
Looks as if Taylor Swift is too busy to date these days: As the days have grown shorter, she and Conor Kennedy have reportedly broken off their summer fling. “They quietly parted ways a while ago,” a Swift friend told Us Weekly about the 22-year-old singer and her 18-year-old high school student flame. “It was just a distance thing. No hard feelings. They’re fine.” Well that’s good news, given Swift’s penchant for writing songs when she’s vexed by exes — think “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” her catchy hit from the new album “Red,” which dropped Monday.
Full story: Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy call it quits | Taylor Swift makes a grown-up move on ‘Red’ (Mike Coppola / Getty Images)
Sean “Diddy” Combs was in pain after an ugly car accident Wednesday in Beverly Hills, but not so much that he had to be taken to the hospital, police said. Diddy’s driver T-boned a Lexus sedan whose driver had made a left turn in front of the music and fashion mogul’s black Escalade on Sunset Boulevard in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, police told the Associated Press.
Full story: Diddy shaken up but not hospitalized after Beverly Hills car wreck (Charles Sykes / Invision / AP )
In “The Twilight Saga,” Robert Pattinson is required to move at superhuman speed, feast on woodland creatures and rip the limbs off fellow vampires. But the biggest challenge was his love scenes. Promoting the final film in the blockbuster franchise, Pattinson hit Australia for a photo call (the country’s southern region is also a location for his next project, “The Rover”) and stopped by a local chat show to talk on-screen lovin’ with costar Kristen Stewart. “The sex scene in this one is pretty ridiculous,” he said on “The Kyle and Jackie O Show.” “It’s just because you’re kind of shooting stuff to be PG-13 ... it’s just trying to think of inventive ways to make something sexy.”
Full story: Robert Pattinson on ‘the greatest vampire sex you’ve ever had’ (Tracey Nearmy / EPA)
Michelle Williams and Jason Segel have taken their relationship up a notch, moving in together in Brooklyn, according to a couple of published reports. “She is renting it, but he stays there,” a source told People on Wednesday. Segel is reportedly traveling back and forth to L.A. for work on “How I Met Your Mother.”
Full story: Michelle Williams, Jason Segel reportedly living together ( Larry Busacca / Getty Images; Everett Kennedy Brown / EPA)
Jessica Simpson’s mom and dad are calling it quits: Joe and Tina Simpson have filed for divorce. “It is an amicable split, and there is no third party involved,” the family rep told People. “Any other related allegations are completely false. The family appreciates your respect for their privacy at this time.” Those “related allegations” refer to a National Enquirer story in which a “family insider” claims Simpson’s father is gay.
Full story: Jessica Simpson’s parents Tina and Joe Simpson file for divorce | PHOTOS: Celebrity divorces of 2012 (James Devaney / WireImage and Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images)
Perhaps Lil Wayne might want to start going one-for-one with ice water alongside syrup drinks in the near future. The MC had a medical scare aboard a private jet Thursday, where, according to TMZ, he suffered seizure-like symptoms that forced an emergency landing in Texas. He was taken to a hospital and released a few hours later, and is reportedly “doing better” after what his reps said was a case of severe dehydration and a migraine headache. Reps told MTV News that “Lil Wayne was successfully released from the hospital after being treated for a severe migraine and dehydration.... He is at home on doctor-mandated rest and will return to work soon. He appreciates all of his fans for their support and love.”
Full story: Lil’ Wayne suffers severe migraine and dehydration on private jet (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
It can be true in medicine and Tom Cruise may find it’s true in law: Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease. The “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” star filed a $50-million defamation lawsuit Wednesday against the publishers of Life & Style Weekly and In Touch magazines for twice alleging the actor had “abandoned” his daughter, Suri. But as people familiar with litigation know, Cruise runs the risk of turning his private life into a very open book. To prove that the tabloid’s allegations were false and defamatory, Cruise may have to answer any number of questions, under oath, about himself and his parenting. He might even be asked about his past relationship with ex-wife Nicole Kidman and the children from that marriage, as well as his religious beliefs, according to libel and defamation lawyers not involved in the case.
Full story: Tom Cruise lawsuit could open his private life | PHOTOS: Famous Scientologists (Mehdi Taamallah / AFP / Getty Images)
The allegations against Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, poured out Wednesday as Sam Lutfi continued on the stand in his defamation lawsuit against the pop star’s parents and her conservatorship. Lutfi, under direct questioning, said Jamie Spears chased him around Britney’s kitchen, punched him in the stomach and threatened to kill him in the days leading up to the singer’s 2008 hospitalization on a 5150 psychiatric hold, the Associated Press reported. Brit’s former BFF was asking the judge to allow into evidence a text message in which Jamie allegedly threatened to put Lutfi in the hospital, TMZ said.
Full story: Britney Spears’ dad punched, threatened to kill me, Sam Lutfi says | PHOTOS: Celebrity meltdowns (Vince Bucci / Associated Press)
Donald Trump’s Wednesday presidential race “game changer” turned out to be anything but. The “Celebrity Apprentice” host promised he had information that would have a dramatic effect on the race for the White House between President Obama and Mitt Romney, but the short two-minute video released on YouTube turned out to be a bizarre offer from Trump to donate $5 million to Obama’s favorite charity if the president released his college records and passport information sufficiently to Trump’s liking before Wednesday.
Full story: Donald Trump’s ‘October Surprise’ leaves bad taste with celebs | On ‘The Tonight Show,’ Obama pokes fun at Trump, blasts Mourdock (Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images)
