By Mark Gray
11:26am PST, Nov 10, 2017
November 10 was a holiday for "Swifties," as their queen, Taylor Swift, released her "Reputation" album. Fans (and media) were very quick to start dissecting the lyrics, hoping to get some insight into her under-the-radar relationship with Joe Alwyn. Most suspect that her previously-released song "Gorgeous" is about Joe. Most think "Call It What You Want" is inspired by him, too. Much of the album appears to be a giant love note. "Delicate" appears to have been inspired by the start of a relationship. "Is it cool that I said all that / Is it too soon to do this yet / 'Cause I know that it's delicate," she says. The relationship, it seems, is fiery (in a good way!). In "Dress" she sings, "Gettin' caught up in a moment / Lipstick all in your face / You know I'm not a bad girl, but I do bad things with you." Taylor seems enamored and head over heels for her beau.
Kate Hudson and Brad Pitt dating rumors
It's not uncommon for Kate Hudson to be linked to some of Hollywood's biggest names, but often times the rumors are just wrong — like that time she was reportedly dating Brad Pitt earlier this year. "That was the craziest rumor of all time," she told Andy Cohen. "There's nothing true to that. As a matter of fact. I hadn't actually seen him in, like, four years. It was kind of an awesome rumor. I kind of liked it. I was like, 'OK, fine. We're having twins!'" Andy joked that Kate should date Brad, even though she's in a committed relationship with Chief guitarist Danny Fujikawa. "Really? Thank you," she joked. "It would give us so much to talk about tonight—so many things!"
$5 million friend?
What we have here is failure to communicate, right? Tyrese Gibson took to Instagram on Nov. 5 to publicly thank Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith after, he claimed, they gave him $5 million to help him stay "afloat" amid his bitter custody battle with his ex-wife. Tyrese shared a slideshow of images of himself and Will, a longtime friend, on Instagram and said, "When we show UP for each-other there's nothing that can't be done I️ repeat nothing…… My wife kept the news away from me cause I've been on with lawyers all day but our family and our sister Jada-Pinkett Smith and my brother Will Smith just sent us 5 million dollars to help keep us afloat." The money, aside from keeping him "afloat," will be used for his legal fees. "The Smiths's and their whole family has always shown up for The Gibson's Uncle Will you're an uncle for real…..," Tyrese said. However, on Nov. 8, Tyrese said he was still "waiting" for Will to wire him the money. That same day, a source told TMZ that Will and Jada never sent him money and never planned to. They are, however, longtime friends of the actor and reports say they are concerned about his mental and emotional stability.
Five-figure painter
A watercolor painting done by Britney Spears sold for $10,000 at a charity auction, and the buyer was none other than "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach. The painting featured five purple, pink and blue flowers. On Nov. 5, Britney donated the piece to the Vegas Cares fundraiser to help victims and first responders of the mass shooting that took place in Sin City on Oct. 1, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500. It's the first-ever original piece of art sold by the pop star. Not a bad start!
Lip-sync scandal
Garth Brooks was criticized by fans after he was spotted lip-syncing during his performance at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 8 — a show in which he won the biggest award of the night, entertainer of the year. Garth admitted that he did, indeed, lip-sync to a pre-recorded live track. The singer said he was sick. "We made a game-time call on whether to sing to a track or lip-sync," Garth said. "And we decided to lip-sync it… My voice just isn't going anywhere, and we wanted to represent country music the best we can." Still, Twitter wasn't having it. It "looks very bad on a legend," one user said. Another twisted the knife a bit more, saying, "Garth Brooks is lip-syncing. Not what entertainers of the year do."
Married
On Nov. 6, Kate Upton and Justin Verlander confirmed reports that they got married. The model and her World Series-winning husband both posted an image to their Instagram pages which showed them after exchanging vows in Italy on Nov. 4. "I feel so lucky that I got to marry my best friend!!" Kate wrote. "Thank you to our family and friends for making this weekend so fun and magical!" Justin, who missed the Houston Astros championship parade for the wedding, wrote, "Happy wife happy life! What an amazing beginning to our journey together! @kateupton #justmarried." So, for those keeping track, Justin won the World Series and got married to a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model within the same week.
Divorcing
It's curtains for Jill Scott and Mike Dobson after just 18 months of marriage. Multiple outlets reported on Nov. 7 that the Grammy winner filed for divorce on Sept. 15, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split. According to her divorce petition, she also cited, "inappropriate marital conduct that such further cohabitation would be unsafe and improper," although she didn't detail what that alleged misconduct was. In the documents, Jill states that she and Mike have been separated and living in separate homes since Sept. 5. In an interview with Bossip, Mike denied any abuse or infidelity took place. The former couple did have a prenup, and she's made it known that she wants it enforced.
Settled
"America's Got Talent" judge Mel B and Stephen Belafonte settled their nasty domestic violence case on Nov. 9. TMZ said the former Spice Girl withdrew her domestic violence restraining order against Stephen as part of the settlement. The agreement now makes it possible for Stephen to see their 6-year-old daughter, Madison, who he was prohibited from going near as part of the restraining order. Mel and Stephen's divorce has been nothing short of explosive. She's alleged abuse and claimed in court documents that Stephen impregnated their nanny, Lorraine Gilles, and used Mel's money to get an abortion. The nanny denied the accusation.
RIP
Jimmy Fallon canceled all tapings of "The Tonight Show" this past week following the death of his mother. His mom, Gloria, passed away on Nov. 4. The late-night TV host told People in a statement, "Today I lost my biggest fan." NBC aired reruns of the show while Jimmy mourned. A family spokesman said in a statement, "Jimmy was at his mother's bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time."
Under new management
Mariah Carey's friends think her boyfriend, Bryan Tanaka, is ruining her life, at least in the professional world. According to a new report by the New York Post, Mariah's boyfriend has taken control of her day-to-day operations even since she split with her longtime manager, Stella Bulochnikov. "Bryan is behind the whole split between Mariah and Stella. Bryan believes that he should be the one running Mariah's day-to-day life, and he's been orchestrating Stella's exit for a long time. No one enjoys working with Stella. There's no secret that some people are happy she's out of the picture," a source told the Post. But, "the boyfriend backup dancer definitely isn't the right person to run her career." Her friends are predicting a career disaster. "This is a full-on Britney-and-Kevin Federline situation," a separate source said. "Brian is a backup dancer, and knows nothing about managing an iconic artist."
Sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct continues to dominate the news cycle. This week, it was comedian Louis C.K.'s turn to be on the wrong end of a sexual misconduct scandal. Five different women spoke with The New York Times on Nov. 9 (four of them on the record) and went into great detail about Louis allegedly masturbating in front of them. The incidents were said to have taken place between the late 90s to 2005. The same day the story was published, the premiere of his new movie, "I Love You, Daddy," was canceled. His appearance on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" was also canceled. On Nov. 10, Louis admitted that the stories about were were true and expressed remorse. "The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly," he said in a lengthy statement. He added, "The hardest regret to live with is what you've done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them." The dominos continued to fall for some of Hollywood's biggest names. On Facebook, Ellen Page shared a damning story about director Brett Ratner, who had previously been accused of sexual harassment. Kevin Spacey, who's been accused of sexual assault by multiple men, was replaced on a film that was basically finished (and there were buzz that he could be in the running for another Oscar for it). The Hollywood landscape is changing rapidly on the heels of these stories coming to light. With many of the situations, it was famous women on the receiving end of harassment or assault. This week, though, Terry Crews walked into a Los Angles Police station and filed a police report, alleging that he was sexually assaulted by a "high level Hollywood executive" at a party a month ago. Terry actually detailed the incident last month just after it happened. "My wife n I were at a Hollywood function last year n a high level Hollywood executive came over 2 me and groped my privates… Jumping back I said What are you doing?! My wife saw everything n we looked at him like he was crazy. He just grinned like a jerk," he tweeted, without naming his alleged abuser. "Hollywood is not the only business [where] this happens, and to the casualties of this behavior— you are not alone. Hopefully, me coming forward with my story will deter a predator and encourage someone who feels hopeless." TMZ confirmed that the incident Terry tweeted about is the same incident that he filed a police report about.
