By Mark Gray
5:11am PST, Nov 7, 2020
Verdict
Johnny Depp lost a libel lawsuit against a tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom that once called him a "wife beater." On Nov. 2, the court ruled in favor of The Sun. The summer trial that led to the decision was highly publicized and included testimony from his ex-wife, Amber Heard, who alleged he was abusive and threatened her life on multiple occasions (there were far more salacious allegations too). The judge said in a 129-page statement that the newspaper's claims that the actor was abusive were "substantially true." Johnny maintained that he never abused Amber. "I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants rely, as well as the over-arching considerations which the claimant submitted I should take into account," the judge said. The ruling was expected to hurt Johnny's reputation and career, and it did… quickly. On Nov. 6, Johnny was asked to leave the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, which he did.
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She filed
Christina Anstead and Ant Anstead are officially over. On Nov. 3, the "Flip or Flop" star filed divorce papers in Orange County, California. The filing isn't much of a surprise, as the two announced their separation in September. In a statement, Christina said she and Ant "made the difficult decision to separate." The couple shares 1-year-old son Hudson London. While this was going on, Ant announced that he was leaving his hosting gig on "Wheeler Dealers."
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Election 2020
We expected the 2020 presidential election to be tight, but this has been razor thin. For the majority of election night, both major party candidates remained mum while watching results come in. Eventually, former Vice President Joe Biden urged patience. President Donald Trump, however, declared victory and said he wanted vote counting to stop. Hollywood (and many in America) were livid over Trump's premature victory claims and his demand to stop counting legal votes. "We have sent troops to other nations to stop dictators from doing what Trump just did. This is NOT how our elections work. We WILL #CountEveryVote," Sophia Bush tweeted. Padma Lakshmi said, "Like everything else he says- it has no value or legal meaning." Patton Oswalt said, "This is beyond dangerous what he's doing right now."
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She's out — and engaged
Clare Crawley's time on "The Bachelorette" is over. On the Nov. 5 episode of the show, she declared her love for suitor Dale Moss, spent the night with him without cameras, dumped the other 16 guys competing and accepted a marriage proposal from Dale — and this was just days into filming! Her exit didn't exactly come as a surprise, as it had been rumored and reported for months that she left the show shortly after taping began. "This is the happiest time in my life," Clare told People magazine. "Everything [since] has been even more reaffirming of why I chose him." Added Dale: "All I've wanted to do from the beginning is be together. So life is good!" Now viewers will watch as a new bachelorette — franchise alum Tayshia Adams — takes over as the show's leading lady.
Cancer news
On Nov. 6, beloved "Today" show weatherman, journalist and co-host Al Roker revealed on the NBC morning program that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Al — who shared his private news so he could help raise awareness of the disease, which affects one in nine men — said he was scheduled to undergo surgery the following week to have his prostate removed. "It's a good news-bad news kind of thing," he told viewers. "Good news is we caught it early. Not-great news is that it's a little aggressive, so I'm going to be taking some time off to take care of this." He added, "We'll just wait and see, and hopefully in about two weeks I'll be back [on 'Today']."
"DWTS" exit
Jeannie Mai was forced to abruptly quit "Dancing With the Stars" this week due to a life-threatening issue with her lungs called epiglottitis. On Nov. 2, Jeannie said she was "heartbroken" over the decision. In a video filmed at the hospital, Jeannie told the audience, "I found out that I have a throat abscess, where my tonsils and my throat had gotten so infected that it started permeating to the rest of the areas behind my neck and my ears that I had to get emergency surgery, which is why I'm here now." She added that doctors told her, "If you had waited one more day, your throat would have closed up." Thankfully, the surgery was a success.
Famous friend fired amid cheating scandal
This week, Justin Bieber's pastor, Carl Lentz, was fired from the popular Hillsong Church for "moral failures." In other words, he admitted, he cheated on his wife. Although Justin and Carl reportedly had a falling out a few years ago, they'd reportedly reconciled. "Today Hillsong Church East Coast advised our congregation that we have terminated the employment of Pastor Carl Lentz. This action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interests of everyone, including Pastor Carl," the church said. "It would not be appropriate for us to go into detail about the events that led to this decision. Our focus at this time is to honor God and pastorally care for our East Coast church community as well as the Lentz family." After the church's statement was released, Carl took to Instagram where he revealed he was unfaithful to his spouse, who's also a pastor. "I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions," he said. Carl has also been close with many other celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Selena Gomez and more.
Legal matter resolved
Cassie Randolph and Colton Underwood are on amicable terms again. On Nov. 3, she dropped the restraining order she had against the former "The Bachelor" star — her ex-fiancé. A police investigation into Colton's behavior was also dropped at Cassie's request. Cassie had previously accused the reality star of stalking and harassment. She also claimed he put a tracking device on her car so that he'd know her whereabouts. "Today Cassie asked the court to dismiss the temporary restraining order against me. The two of us were able to reach a private agreement to address any of Cassie's concerns," Colton said in a statement. "I do not believe Cassie did anything wrong in filing for the restraining orders and also believe she acted in good faith. I appreciate everyone's respect for privacy regarding this matter."
Divorce
Another "Housewives" marriage bites the dust. After 21 years, Erika and Tom Girardi's marriage is over. The "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star, 49, and Tom, 81, did not have a prenuptial agreement, reports revealed. "After much consideration I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi. This is not a step taken lightly or easily," she said in a statement on Nov. 3. "I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we built together. It is my absolute wish to proceed through this process with respect and with the privacy that both Tom and I deserve. I request that others give us that privacy as well."
Talked out
After four years on "The Talk," Eve will be bidding the show adieu next month. The music star said she's leaving to focus on "expanding" her family in London, where she lives with husband Maximillion Cooper. "It's been a crazy year, obviously for all of us," she said remotely on the show. "And I'm so grateful that I'm able to stay here in London and do the show, but I can't see for me, the foreseeable future of traveling back at the moment, and have decided that at the end of December, this will probably be my last time on the show, in this capacity as a host." Eve has co-hosted the CBS talk show since 2017.
