By Mark Gray
5:14am PDT, Oct 28, 2019
Prison sentence served
For 11 days this month, Felicity Huffman had another name: Inmate 77806-112. On Oct. 15, the actress turned herself in to officials at the Federal Correctional Institution near Oakland, California, to begin serving a two-week prison sentence for her role in a college admissions cheating scandal. After paying her debt to society, she was released on Oct. 25, two days earlier than expected. "Ms. Huffman is prepared to serve the term of imprisonment Judge Talwani ordered as one part of the punishment she imposed for Ms. Huffman's actions," the "Desperate Housewives" star's representative said in a prepared statement as she entered lockup. "She will begin serving the remainder of the sentence Judge Talwani imposed — one year of supervised release, with conditions including 250 hours of community service — when she is released." Felicity pleaded guilty to paying a middleman to have a proctor boost her daughter's SAT scores.
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Rhode Island wedding
Jennifer Lawrence and art dealer Cooke Maroney tied the knot at the Belcourt of Newport mansion in Rhode Island on Oct. 19. On the guest list? Adele, Sienna Miller, Kris Jenner, Emma Stone, Ashley Olsen, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Richie and Amy Schumer. The bride wore a Dior wedding dress (not a surprise since she's the face of the luxury brand).
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Splitsville
On Oct. 1, multiple media outlets reported that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott had ended their relationship of two and a half years — at least for the time being. (Several of those same media outlets have refused to call it an outright "breakup," as sources claim the duo is more "on a break.") TMZ claimed that things had "cooled" between the beauty mogul and the rapper. People magazine reported that Kylie had some "trust issues." "There were several issues that made them decide to take a break," a source said. "Kylie is all about family life and really wants a second baby." Travis reportedly wants to focus on his career. On Oct. 3, Kylie addressed the reports on Twitter, writing, "Travis and I are on great terms and our main focus right now is Stormi‼️ Our friendship and our daughter is priority." They're currently sharing custody of the little girl. A few weeks after the split, Kylie and Travis were seen together, leading many to wonder if a reconciliation is in the works.
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Sobriety relapse
The morning after Ben Affleck was caught on video looking worse for wear as he left the La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood, where he'd attended the UNICEF Masquerade Ball wearing a skull mask — TMZ has a clip of him nearly falling down before he steadies himself by grabbing onto an SUV — he admitted he's relapsed following a 2018 visit to rehab for alcohol issues. "It happens, you slip, but I'm not going to let it derail me," he told paparazzi on Oct. 28.
A return to Italy and a looming split?
While still in the midst of his deportation appeal, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Joe Giudice headed to Italy on Oct. 11 — he just hopes it wasn't a one-way ticket. The reality TV star is in the process of fighting a permanent deportation to his native country, where he hasn't lived since he was a baby. But he was so miserable in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody that he filed paperwork to willingly go to the European country to wait out his appeal. On Oct. 21, Joe — who's lost a lot of weight behind bars — broke his silence in a video message from Italy. "You just gotta look forward and never look back," he said. "At the end of the day, people make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. But I've learned a valuable lesson from all this. I know my family is the most important thing to me, but it's better that I'm out here than in there." On Oct. 27, Joe and wife Teresa Giudice both appeared on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey Special Event: Joe and Teresa Unlocked" for some real talk before Teresa heads to Italy with their daughters to visit in November. They discussed the state of their marriage, cheating allegations on both sides and what the future might hold. "We're both two different people now," Teresa said. "I'm not the same Teresa I was and he's not the same Joe. I do love him as a person. I don't know how I'm going to feel when I see him." Joe's take? "If we stay together, we stay together. If we don't, we don't," he said.
Lawsuit
Reality TV stars Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley filed a lawsuit against a Georgia tax official this month, claiming the tax man began a relationship with Todd's estranged daughter, Lindsie Chrisley, to get dirt on the reality TV family. In the lawsuit, Todd claims that Joshua Waites, the director of the Georgia Department of Revenue's Office of Special Investigation, was part of an effort to "aggressively pursue and prosecute bogus tax evasion claims against the Chrisleys." Todd and Julie say Josh abused his power to violate federal and state law. In the lawsuit, the family patriarch shares several alleged texts between the tax official and Lindsie, one of which says, "So. Some stuff happened today. And we have a meeting the first of the year that is super big. And is all about Todd. Like serious. So. I want to know if you would be willing to talk about him or her." Lindsie insisted she only spoke to the tax man to protect her child. In fact, she said she's never even met Josh. Then, on Oct. 17, Lindsie told TV host Dr. Phil she was coerced by her dad into lying about his taxes. Her dad then issued a statement saying she was lying and called her "Dr. Phil" appearance "unfathomable."
Domestic violence incident
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Jen Harley have reportedly split up for good in the wake of the latest drama surrounding their off-and-on relationship. On Oct. 4, Ronnie was accused of chasing Jen with a knife during a moment of rage, allegedly threatening to kill her. (He denies it.) He was arrested after he holed up (with their toddler daughter) in a home he and Jen were renting — police had to taser him when he refused to come out. Though prosecutors decided not to file felony charges against Ronnie, later in the month he was still hit with five misdemeanors: one count of domestic violence, one count of brandishing a weapon, one count of child endangerment, one count of resisting arrest and one count of criminal threats.
Rape accusation, denial
More allegations of sexual misconduct were levied against Matt Lauer this month, but this time, the claims were far more serious: rape. Matt — who was fired from NBC in 2017 following a credible claim of inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace — vehemently denied the accusation. In the new book "Catch and Kill" by journalist Ronan Farrow, which came out in October, former NBC staffer Brooke Nevils came forward to share her account of how the disgraced newsman alleged raped her in his hotel room while they were in Russia covering the 2014 Winter Olympics. Brooke eventually went to human resources after confiding in former "Today" host Meredith Vieira, for whom she'd worked. In an open letter issued on Oct. 9, Matt claimed their sexual relationship was consensual. According to the former "Today" show host — who was married at the time — Brooke "seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do." She branded his response "a case study in victim blaming."
New romance
Miley Cyrus has officially moved on from both Liam Hemsworth and "The Hills: New Beginnings" star Kaitlynn Carter. Early in October, Miley and Australian singer Cody Simpson flaunted their new romance, posting a kissing picture to Instagram. Then, a few days later, the "Party in the USA" singer was hospitalized after being diagnosed with tonsillitis. Cody, naturally, was there to support Miley: He wrote a song in her honor and sang it to her while she reclined in a hospital bed. "I'm very happy. We are very, very happy," Cody later told reporters. He added, "She's creative. She's very passionate about what she does, and I'm very similar in that sense. That's why we get along so well… We just have a ball, yeah, and that's the most important part of a relationship, you know?" He later released the aforementioned song, "Golden Thing," as a single.
Insta-gal
Jennifer Aniston is a social media success. On Oct. 15, the actress finally joined Instagram, and she literally broke the site doing it: After she posted her first photo, the platform temporarily crashed. As for her first post, well, it was epic. Jen shared a selfie alongside her "Friends" co-stars — all five of them! The picture seemingly came from a recent dinner they had. "And now we're Instagram FRIENDS too. HI INSTAGRAM," she captioned the pic along with a waving-hand emoji. Jen got over 8 million followers within a day and broke a Guinness World Record for fastest time for an Instagram account to reach 1 million followers (it took just five hours and 16 minutes). She started following a handful of friends, including ex-husband Justin Theroux. "Woot-Woot [raised hand emoji] [heart emoji]," Justin commented, adding the hashtag #first.
Expecting!
It'll be a boy for the "Girl" singer. On Oct. 22, Maren Morris and her husband, fellow country music singer Ryan Hurd, announced that they're expecting their first child. "The irony is just too rich that after a year of living in the 'GIRL' headspace, the universe would give us a baby boy to even things out," Maren captioned a snapshot of her growing bump on Instagram. "See you in 2020, little one." Ryan referenced a "Seinfeld" episode in his announcement. "MY BOYS CAN SWIM. BABY BOY HURD 2020!" he wrote. "Look at her…cannot believe this life with this girl. Also, thank you George Costanza for this caption that I've been sitting on my entire life…"
More accusations
There was more legal trouble for Cuba Gooding Jr. this month. The Oscar winner was already facing sexual abuse charges in New York City when new allegations of sexual misconduct were added to the case: An indictment unveiled on Oct. 15 reveals that another woman has claimed Cuba assaulted her. She said he pinched her buttocks without consent and also made sexually suggestive remarks to her at a nightclub in 2018. He's denied the accusation. The new indictment also includes 12 allegations for which Cuba is not being charged — prosecutors wanted them in there to show what they allege is a pattern of bad behavior. On Oct. 22, he was indicted on an additional count of forcible touching and another charge of sexual abuse in the third degree charge. In all, Cuba is facing six charges related to three different accusers. His attorney is confident the actor will be exonerated.
Married
On Oct. 21, rapper Nicki Minaj announced on social media that she and Kenneth "Zoo" Petty had gotten married. Nicki posted a video to Instagram that showed matching "Mr." and "Mrs." mugs and black and white baseball caps that had "Bride" and "Groom" written across the front. She used bride and groom emojis in her caption along with her real name. "Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty 10•21•19," she wrote. Nicki had been calling Zoo her "husband" for months, but it's now official. They plan to have a bigger celebration for friends and family in the future.
