By Mark Gray
2:00pm PDT, Sep 23, 2023
Devastating allegations
Russell Brand has been on the defensive all week after five women claimed he sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013. He's also being accused of grooming young women.
According to TheWrap, The Times reported that during the height of his career, Russell exhibited "controlling, abusive and predatory behavior" toward women. Medical records indicate that one of his five accusers (the women do not know each other) was treated at a rape crisis center in Los Angeles the same day she alleges he raped her at his L.A. home. She also shared text messages in which she purportedly told the actor-comedian she was scared of him and felt that he'd taken advantage of her.
Russell denied all accusations. "These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time… when I was in the movies and, as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?" he said in a video statement.
In the wake of sexual assault allegations, the comedian's September 2023 live stand-up comedy shows were pulled, and his book publisher, Bluebird, paused all future projects with Russell.
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Lawsuit
Sophie Turner has filed a lawsuit against her estranged husband, Joe Jonas, citing a child abduction law and claiming that their two children are being "wrongfully retained."
In a filing made in a Manhattan court on Sept. 21, the "Game of Thrones" star requested to secure "the immediate return of children wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained." The Messenger, which first reported the news, explained that Sophie outlined how she and Joe had agreed to raise their two children in England and had officially relocated from Miami to England in April.
Soon after, she began filming an upcoming TV series, "Joan," in the U.K. and he began touring with the Jonas Brothers. Sophie says they agreed that the children would travel with Joe because he'd have more downtime than she would, but the agreement was supposed to be "temporary," according to her legal paperwork.
Sophie now claims Joe is keeping the kids in New York City and has refused to return them to her so that they can head to England. "The Father has possession of the children's passports," the documents claim. "He refuses to return the passports to the Mother and refuses to send the children home to England with the Mother."
The actress is expected to file a similar lawsuit in England.
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The truth of "The Talk" exit
In her new audiobook, "But First, God," Julie Chen Moonves opens up about her exit from "The Talk" in 2018, declaring that she was forced out.
"Yeah, I never revealed that until 'But First, God.' That was a hard time," she said on "Good Morning America." "I felt stabbed in the back. I was, you know?"
At the time, more than a dozen women had accused Julie's husband, ViacomCBS CEO Les Moonves, of sexual misconduct. Les still denies the claims. Since then, Julie has let faith guide her. "Julie Chen before she found God was a self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy, fun to be with but probably kind of a shallow person," she said. "Julie Chen Moonves, who now knows the Lord, is someone who wants to help others, who wants to look at everyone with a soft heart."
During the "GMA" interview, the "Big Brother" host shied away from speaking about the accusations levied against her husband or the #MeToo movement.
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Divorce filing
On Sept. 18, Bijou Phillips — Danny Masterson's wife of 11 years — filed for divorce. The move came less than two weeks after Danny was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison for two rape convictions.
TMZ reported that she listed their date of separation as "TBD" and is asking for spousal support, attorneys fees and for her legal surname to be restored to Phillips. She's also asking for legal and physical custody of their 9-year-old daughter, with visitation for Danny.
Coincidentally, sources recently claimed that Bijou had no plans to leave the "That '70s Show" star despite his three-decade incarceration.
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Scary hospitalization
Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley — who nearly died a decade ago amid a health crisis — was rushed to the emergency room on Sept. 15 after coming down with pneumonia.
On Sept. 19, he took to X, formerly Twitter, to tell fans that he was fighting but not in the clear. "Although I'm not out of the woods yet and have been told to be prepared for a bit of roller coaster sickness over the next couple of weeks, I'm staying positive and doing my best to get through all of this," he wrote. "I'm still bed ridden, having a hard time breathing, tight chest pains and some pretty wild fever dreams, that I guess are keeping this whole thing somewhat entertaining. I'm in the best hands and am on the right medicine."
Back in 2014, Deryck was hospitalized after his "liver and kidneys collapsed" due to excessive alcohol use, he confrimed. He was in a coma for three days. In his social media message, the musician said he's determined to be on stage with Sum 41 at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas in October.
DUI arrest
"The Real Housewives of Orange County" star Shannon Beador was arrested on Sept. 17 for allegedly driving under the influence and hitting a house in the process.
According to TMZ, the reality TV star drove her car onto a residential property in Newport Beach, California, and "clipped" a residence. Afterward, Shannon stayed behind the wheel and turned back into the road. Reports indicated Shannon then parked her car in the middle of the street and got out with her dog. She "tried to act like she was taking a walk when police arrived," TMZ wrote.
Police, who received a 911 call about Shannon, weren't buying it and arrested her for DUI. The reality TV star was booked into the Orange County jail for hit-and-run and DUI alcohol, both of which are misdemeanors. She was released without bond.
Agreement reached
It's settled. After months of vitriol, Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner have settled their divorce — a decision made after she realized that their prenuptial agreement would almost certainly be enforced.
Details of the settlement haven't been made public, but TMZ reported that Christine's recent request for Kevin to pay $885,000 in attorney fees — for her — so that she could argue an issue in the prenup (whether her waiver of spousal support is enforceable) is now off the table.
Christine is reportedly getting far less than what she wanted but more than what's outlined in the prenup. Kevin agreed to the terms for the sake of settling and ending their four-month child support/spousal support war. "Christine didn't really have a choice but to settle because Kevin had all the power. Had she continued fighting, she would risk losing everything," a friend of the former handbag designer told DailyMail.com.
Money matters
Vanna White is spinning her wheel. The "Wheel of Fortune" co-host had been at odds with show producers over her pay for months, but TMZ reported on Sept. 19 that Vanna signed on for two more years and received a "substantial pay increase" from the $3 million per year she'd been making.
However, that's only half the story. TMZ also reported that despite Vanna finally winning a salary bump, her team was still "mulling over a possible gender discrimination lawsuit against show producer Sony based on the disparity in pay." For reference, it's believed that outgoing "Wheel" co-host Pat Sajak was pulling in about $15 million a year compared to Vanna's annual pay of $3 million (well, $3 million until the new deal for reached).
