By Mark Gray
7:52am PST, Dec 7, 2018
Splitsville
Cardi B and her husband, Migos rapper Offset, have split up. The "Money" performer announced the news on Instagram on Dec. 4. "I've been trying to work things out with my baby's father for a hot minute now. We're really good friends and we're really good business partners … but things just haven't been working out between us for a long time," she said. "And it's nobody's fault, I guess we just grew out of love, but we're not together anymore." The couple married in September 2017 in their bedroom, but news of the wedding wasn't made public until June 2018. "It might take time to get a divorce," Cardi said before adding, "I'm going to always have a lot of love for him because he is my daughter's father." Offset also responded to Cardi's video writing, "Y'all won." Many, though, weren't buying it, thinking the whole thing was a prank. TMZ reported on Dec. 5 that the split came after text messages surfaced in which Offset allegedly reached out to two women about a possible sexual encounter. Days later, some good news: On Dec. 7, Cardi learned she'd received five Grammy nominations. Kendrick Lamar and Drake lead the pack of nominees with eight and seven nods, respectively.
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Custody win
Jon Gosselin won sole custody of 14-year-old sextuplet son Collin on Dec. 4 after neither his wife, Kate Gosselin, nor her lawyer showed up to court for a custody hearing. "Jon won sole physical and sole legal custody of Collin," a source told Us Weekly. "All other matters were moved to a future court date." One day before the hearing, the "Kate Plus 8" star asked that the hearing be postponed, but her request was not granted. Us reported that Colin — who Kate sent to a live-in treatment facility for kids with special needs a few years ago — has a strained relationship with his mother.
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Confession time
Jackie Chan released a memoir this week in which he admits to cheating on his wife and hitting his child. In "Never Grow Up," the actor opened up about his affair with beauty queen Elaine Ng Yi Lei (which resulted in the birth of a child who he doesn't acknowledge), writing, "In 1999, I made a serious mistake. When the news broke about an affair I'd had that resulted in a child, the media frenzy was like a bomb going off. I wanted to phone [my wife] Joan but I didn't know what to say. I wouldn't be able to explain this." Jackie has no contact with daughter Etta Ng, who came out as a gay woman in 2017. He does, however, talk about son, Jaycee, now 36, in the memoir and details hitting him. "When [my son Jaycee] was still young, I hit him once, and was very heavy-handed — directly lifting him and throwing him onto the sofa," Jackie wrote. "That time I really scared him and his mother to death, and I myself was very regretful."
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Controversy and a resignation
Just hours after Kevin Hart said he refused to apologize for past homophobic tweets that surfaced in the wake of news that he would be hosting the 2019 Academy Awards — he said he'd already addressed them in the past, has evolved and didn't want internet trolls to win — the comedian stepped down as the Oscars host. He also said he was sorry. "I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscars…. this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past," Kevin wrote. "I'm sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."
Christmas came early
Tyler Perry opened up his heart and his wallet, paying over $400,000 to cover the cost of all outstanding layaway items at two Atlanta-area Walmart stores. TMZ reported that Tyler wrote a check for $178,000 to one Atlanta store and another for $256,000 at a Douglasville, Georgia, store. If someone at those stores had an item on layaway before 9:30 a.m., they were in luck: Tyler footed almost the entire bill: Customers would only have to pay a penny to pick up their items. Tyler claimed he didn't want notoriety for the gesture and actually wanted to do it anonymously, but he fessed up to it on Twitter on Dec. 6. "You all know how nothing stays secret these days," he said. "I have paid for all of your layaways for Christmas, so Merry Christmas to everybody." As for why he performed the random act of kindness, he said, "I know it's hard times and a lot of people are struggling and I'm just really, really grateful to be in a position to do this, so God bless you. Go get your stuff!"
Baby news
Eddie Murphy has joined the double-digit kid club. On Dec. 4, news emerged that the actor and his fiancée, Paige Butcher, had welcomed son Max Charles Murphy. The child — Eddie's 10th overall — was reportedly born on Nov. 30. Eddie, 57, and Paige, 39, also share 2-year-old daughter Izzy Oona.
Another loss
Miley Cyrus can't catch a break right now. Just a few weeks after the Malibu home she and Liam Hemsworth shared burned down in the Southern California wildfires, she suffered another loss. TMZ reported on Dec. 5 that thieves broke into Miley's storage unit and made off with multiple items, including several guitars worth more than $10,000. Initially, considering all the chaos in her life, Miley didn't think much of the guitars going missing. "We're told Miley initially thought someone in the family had borrowed [the guitars]," TMZ explained. "She didn't realize they were actually stolen until today." It's not known how the thieves broke in.
"Golden" news
It was a good day in the diversity department when the 2019 Golden Globe nominees were announced on Dec. 6. Four of the 10 nominees in the two best picture categories (drama and musical/comedy) this year have non-white directors. Who ultimately wins, of course, will be revealed on Jan. 6. But several films and stars are already basking the golden glow from the nominations alone. "Black Panther," for instance, marked the first time a superhero movie has been nominated in the best movie drama category. The political film "Vice" scored big with six nominations. Many of the nominees took to social media to celebrate. "This is a surreal moment, wow. Thank you," John David Washington wrote after his nomination for best actor in a movie drama was announced. As expected, "A Star is Born" also cleaned up. In a statement, actor and director Bradley Cooper said, "I am very grateful 'A Star is Born' has touched so many people and to the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing our film with such abundance. I've wanted to tell stories through film for as long as I can remember and I feel lucky even to have had the opportunity to do that — to be included in a community of such inspiring artists is incredibly humbling. A huge congrats to all of this morning's nominees and especially to my dear friend, Lady Gaga."
Airport incident
Dog the Bounty Hunter is being investigated after a fan claim he shoved a teenager looking for a photo at the airport. The reality TV star, however, claims he's actually the victim. The father of the 17-year-old alleges that his son spotted Dog at the Denver airport on Nov. 30 and approached him for a pic. He claims Dog got upset and punched the teen in the chest, according to TMZ, which obtained the police report. Dog, though, says the teen actually approached him, stating, "I have a bounty on my head, what are you gonna do about it…" Dog, who was with his cancer-stricken wife, Beth, told the teen to leave. The teen then allegedly said he would "cut [Beth] in half." TMZ reported that police are looking into the incident as an alleged assault.
Scientology stiff arm
Jennifer Lopez was a Scientology conversion target for a while, but she never gave a second thought to joining the controversial religion, according to her friend, former Scientologist Leah Remini. While speaking to the Daily Beast, Leah said J.Lo didn't want to be a part of the "cult" and didn't need anyone to "save her from anything." Leah famously left the religion in 2013 and has been on a scorched-earth tour to take down the controversial faith ever since. The actress claimed church officials allegedly attempted to drive a wedge between her and J.Lo. "Jennifer is a very strong-minded female, and is a seeker of spirituality. She's Catholic — always has been — and her father is a very indoctrinated Scientologist, and has been for quite a long time," Leah said. "He's achieved the confidential levels of Scientology. But Jennifer makes her own decisions." She added, "Yes, I did [run interference], but she disagreed with [Scientology's] disconnection policy, so she wasn't going to submit to any pressures from anybody regardless, and she was a really good friend to me through all that."
Canceled concerts
Justin Timberlake won't be bringing sexy back till 2019. Due to bruised vocal cords, the singer canceled all of his December concerts — an announcement that came after he canceled a string of shows in October for the same reason. "Hey guys, I'm sure you have heard that I've had to postpone several tour dates due to bruised vocal cords," he said in an Instagram post. "My vocal cords are healing, but they are not all the way back to normal, so my doctors want me to continue to rest my voice. They have asked me to hold off on singing until next month. I'm really sorry, I want to be back on the stage and I am doing all I can to get there quickly. Thank you for understanding — I see all of your posts and I appreciate the support and the love. I look forward to coming back stronger than I was before. More to come on the rescheduled dates." JT's first concert of 2019 is scheduled for Jan. 4 in Washington, D.C.
