By Mark Gray
6:53pm PDT, Aug 20, 2023
Ill-timed vacation
Paris Hilton was dubbed "disgusting" for vacationing on the Hawaiian island of Maui after fatal wildfires devastated the area just days earlier. Her family jaunt came after local officials begged tourists to cancel trips to Maui to avoid using up valuable resources now needed for thousands of displaced residents. DailyMail.com published photos of Paris, husband Carter Reum and their 8-month-old son, Phoenix, walking along the beach about 30 miles from the town of Lahaina, which was destroyed in the blaze on Aug. 8 — the same day the trio reportedly landed in Maui. The following day, the Hawaii Tourism Authority asked tourists to leave to free up hotel rooms.
"Read the room," one person said. Another called her an "idiot." A source close to Paris told DailyMail.com that critics are misreading her intentions. "She has been absolutely helping. Maui has always held a special place in her heart," the insider explained. "She has been gathering supplies and taking them to shelters and those [in] need. She already did and continues to do so."
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Kaput
Britney Spears and her husband of 14 months, Sam Asghari, are divorcing. TMZ reported on Aug. 16 that the duo separated after a "nuclear argument" in which he confronted her over unconfirmed rumors she'd cheated on him. "It's only a matter of time before Sam files for divorce," a source said. That was incredibly accurate, as he filed a few hours later. Sam already moved out of their house and has been living on his own. Although the couple has an ironclad prenuptial agreement, a report claimed that the actor-trainer is planning to challenge the prenup and is threatening to release "extraordinarily embarrassing" information about Britney if he doesn't get what he wants. TMZ claimed it's likely the Britney will write a check before that happens.
With the divorce, the pop star will lose an incredibly large part of her support system, particularly given her frayed relationship with her family. Sam is fully out of Brit's life and "there's no family around her to pick up the pieces," TMZ wrote. Said one insider, "She has one confidant, [her manager] Cade [Hudson]. Then there's her security team, and after that her support system falls off a cliff." On Aug. 17, Sam broke his silence. "We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always. S*** happens," he wrote on social media. "Asking for privacy seems ridiculous so I will just ask for everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful."
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His "Side"
Michael Oher, the NFL player whose life story was depicted on 2009's "The Blind Side," filed a lawsuit on Aug. 14 claiming he was never actually adopted by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy as the film suggests. Instead, he alleged that he was forced into a conservatorship that the Tuohys profited from. He also maintained that he's received no royalties from the movie and suggests that the Tuohy family has lined their pockets thanks to the popular film. The Tuohys called the allegations "hurtful and absurd." In a chat with the Daily Memphian, Sean, who denied massively profiting from the film, said his status as an NCAA "booster" required the conservatorship. "I sat Michael down and told him, 'If you're planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.' We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn't adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."
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Freak accident, tragic death
Katharine McPhee and David Foster's son's nanny, Yadira Calito, died in a freak accident after being run over by an SUV while inside a Los Angeles-area car dealership. According to reports, an unnamed 84-year-old woman went to a San Fernando Valley car dealership on Aug. 11 to get her Toyota RAV4 serviced. After arriving, she allegedly hit the gas rather than the brake pedal, sending her vehicle from the service bay driveway into the customer reception area. Yadira, who was at the dealership, suddenly found herself pinned under the car before she was dragged for about 20 feet, TMZ reported. Kat and David's nanny was eventually freed from under the car and, according to DailyMail.com, an off-duty nurse started performing CPR on her before emergency services arrived. The nanny to Kat and David's 2-year-old son, Rennie, was eventually transported to a hospital in critical condition but later died. Two other men were injured in the incident, but their injuries were not fatal.
Almost fully recovered
"Cake Boss" star Buddy Valastro's right hand was impaled multiple times in a horrific accident at his home bowling alley in 2020, but the celebrity chef says he's almost completely healed. "Thank God, I don't think I'm going to be a hand model but I have a lot of mobility and strength," Buddy told "Extra" on Aug. 14. "I've got one more surgery I've got to get to get this finger straightened out, but considering? I'd say 95%." In the incident, the home bowling alley's pinsetter rod repeatedly drilled into his dominant hand during a malfunction. His teenage sons reportedly rescued him by sawing through the metal rod, and a series of surgeries were necessary to treat the resulting nerve, tendon and muscle damage. "My hands are everything to me. Without my hands, in the decorating world, I'm nothing," he said.
Speaking out
"Vanderpump Rules" star Rachel Leviss — who was previously known as Raquel Leviss — is airing it all out. While on the "Just B" podcast on Aug. 16, the reality TV star spoke candidly about her affair with Tom Sandoval, becoming the Bravo show's villain and her decision to seek mental health treatment. "Part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, 'OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behavior?'" she said. Rachel also thinks it's incredibly unfair that she became the show's punching bag since she claims a lot of her castmates have cheated on their partners over the years. "With the cast it's almost been normalized," she said of cheating. "It's uncanny to see the hate that this specific affair brought up in people when almost every single one of the cast members have been in an affair." She added, "It's bad in normal life, but with producers it's good … affairs are good for TV."
Rachel had an ongoing relationship with Tom despite his being in a nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix. Initially, Rachel "believed" that she was "in love" with Tom. With time to reflect, she now says that's not the case — not even close. "I also don't believe that he truly was in love with me either," she said. In detailing what she saw in Tom throughout the secret romance, she said, "I felt seen and heard by him. I haven't really had that connection with other people in the cast, nor people in my real life. I was filming in a tumultuous environment. I was needing some validation and somebody to hear what I was going through. Here comes along Tom who really gave me that time of day to share my side of the story in a non-judgment zone. That's exactly what I needed in that moment."
