Denzel Washington directs his first film since 2007’s The Great Debaters with Fences, an adaptation of August Wilson’s play of the same title. He also stars as Troy Maxson, a garbage man stymied by life in 1950s Pittsburgh. Troy is expansive to the point of domineering and stern in that mid-centu…

Holy sh-t, is it actually possible that 2016 has finally decided to stop being a f-cking asshole and close out on something awesome?

Last night there was some kind of prom-themed party in LA. Jennifer Lopez was there. With Drake. And, OBVIOUSLY, they were crowned prom queen and king. And rece…

The last time Serena ‘The Greatest of All Time’ Williams was mentioned on this blog, I was basically writing fan fiction about her and her ex Common. In that post, I noted that around Halloween there were rumours she was hooking up with Lewis Hamilton. In late summer 2015 there was that thing wit…

Part 1 happened in November, just after Solange Knowles performed on Saturday Night Live and her ma, Miss Tina, posted and then deleted a photo of Solange, her son Jules, and Jay Z in an elevator. The “Oh My God, mom!” was how I imagined Beyoncé and Solange might have reacted to their mother’s br…

We’ll be back to regular gossiping and posting next week, barring any huge celebrity news breaking over the weekend. 2016 has been the most craptastic year in recent memory, so let’s all hope that 2017 brings us some fun gossip, joy, health and happiness. We hope everyone has a safe & amazing New Year’s Eve. Drink responsibly and we’ll meet again in the new year!

Love,
Celebitchy, Kaiser, Hecate & Corey.

Charlize Theron & Seth McFarlane are happening? [The Blemish]
Who would ever mistake Garrett Hedlund for Charlie Hunnam? [LaineyGossip]
Trey Songz got arrested for acting like a dumbass. [Dlisted]
White supremacist douchebag gets a book deal. [Pajiba]
A Benedict Cumberbatch retrospective, just because. [Go Fug Yourself]
There’s a rumor Katie Holmes & Jamie Foxx got married. They did not. [Wonderwall]
Tarek & Christina El Moussa probably won’t reconcile. [Starcasm]
Hilary Duff is trouble. Or her jacket is Trouble. Or something. [Celebslam]
Steve Harvey sucks at hosting Family Feud. [OMG Blog]
Ashley Greene got engaged to Paul Khoury. [IDLY]
Lord help me, but I think Bella Thorne’s blue hair looks cool. [Seriously OMG WTF]
Chris Martin pays tribute to George Michael. [Socialite Life]

As we discussed yesterday, Brad Pitt apparently did get to see his kids for Christmas, or at least he got to see them at some point over the “Christmas weekend,” which I took to mean that he probably saw them on Christmas Eve. Us Weekly claims that he and the kids exchanged gifts and had a “cordial” visit with each other, while being monitored by one of the therapists overseeing this custodial arrangement. After Us Weekly broke the news, the tabloids picked up the story and tried to make it sound like Angelina didn’t give her permission for Brad to see the kids, which… as everyone keeps pointing out, Angelina is not in charge of the custodial situation – the therapists determine when and how Brad sees the kids.

An insider told In Touch that even though Brad Pitt only saw the kids for part of the day, Angelina wasn’t happy about the visit. “[She’s] furious about this. She’s having a meltdown,” the source revealed. “After being told that the kids were cleared to visit Brad at his house she tried to change the terms and have the visit at her home. But she was firmly told no. And that made her furious.”

[From Life & Style]

But just as quickly as that story came out, Entertainment Tonight’s sources knocked it down. They claim that the meeting between Brad and the kids was not arranged by Angelina, nor was she mad about it:

Brad Pitt spent at least part of Christmas with his six children he shares with his estranged wife, Angelina Jolie. The 53-year-old actor saw the kids — Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8 — over the holiday weekend, a source confirms to ET. The meeting, the source says, was not arranged by Jolie.

“It was agreed overall,” according to the source. Another source tells ET that the meeting was set up by the therapist and the children, adding that Jolie was not present for it — only Pitt, the kids and their therapist. The source also notes that the tabloid reports alleging that the actress was “furious” over the holiday meeting are completely false.

[From ET]

So, there you go. I’m not sure why we needed that to go through three rounds in the gossip media, but that’s probably how everything is going to go down between Angelina and Brad in the months to come. Incidentally, I did get the date wrong for their next court appearance (or the appearances of their lawyers in court) – I mixed it up with the court date for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, whose lawyers will be meeting soon-ish to hash out their continued divorce drama. Amber and Johnny’s court date is before Brangelina’s court hearing on January 17th.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Burke Ramsey, whose younger sister JonBenét was tragically murdered in 1996, is once again back in the headlines. The 29-year-old software engineer is suing CBS over their two-part docu-series The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. Burke has filed a $750 million defamation suit against the network, claiming the special caused “permanent damage to his reputation resulting from defendants’ false accusation that he killed his sister, JonBenét Ramsey.”

According to Reuters, the complaint filed in Burke’s home state of Michigan on Wednesday alleges he has been “exposed to public hatred, contempt and ridicule” since the show aired in September. The CBS series, one of what were really way too many specials and TV movies commemorating the grisly crime, theorized that Burke was responsible for the death of his sibling. The criminal experts recruited by the show were of the opinion that Burke was angry at his sister for taking a bite of his pineapple and, overcome by rage, delivered a fatal blow to her head with a flashlight. At no time has anyone said the killing was intentional, but many believe this theory to be true, with the killing covered up by Burke’s parents, John and Patsy.

The Associated Press details further allegations in the complaint including the fact that “the network, its production company and the experts interviewed in the series on the unsolved murder conspired to defame [Burke] for publicity and profit” and that CBS created a “sham re-investigation” of the case, “based on a compilation of lies, half-truths, manufactured information, and the intentional omission and avoidance of truthful information about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey.”

This isn’t the first lawsuit coming from the CBS series. Back in October, Burke filed a $150 million defamation lawsuit against forensic pathologist Werner Spitz, who appeared on the special. According to Burke’s attorney, John Lesko, “Spitz claims Burke, age 9 at the time of his sister’s death, bludgeoned her to death.” The suit also alleges that Spitz “made this accusation without ever examining JonBenét’s body, without viewing the crime scene and without consulting with the pathologist who performed the autopsy on JonBenét.”

In addition to seeking $100 million in punitive damages and $50 million in compensatory damages, along with all attorney fees and court costs, Burke is also asking that Spitz be ordered to “remove and retract all defamatory statements” about him.

I know watching lots of Forensic Files and Making a Murderer does not make me a crime expert, but I really think there’s something to these theories and I don’t think Burke will prevail with his lawsuits. If anything, he should sue the producers of Dr. Phil, as he did not come off looking good in that interview at all. It would certainly be nice to have this still officially unsolved case closed though, wouldn’t it?

Photo credit: CBS, Dr. Phil

First look: As a year of 90th birthday celebrations draw to a close, we would like to share this special photo of The Prince and The Queen, taken earlier this year at Windsor Castle. ? @nick_knight

A photo posted by Clarence House (@clarencehouse) on Dec 17, 2016 at 12:05pm PST

The New York Post’s Cindy Adams ran a special end-of-the-year feature with “psychics” predicting what will happen in the year to come. I would have just read this for fun and avoided covering it, except that Adams quotes some predictions from a psychic named John Cohan, who predicted one year ago that 2016 would be the year that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would split. So… maybe it’s spooky, maybe it’s silly, but I’m ready to toss 2016 into the trash bin and we might as well have some fun with what COULD happen gossip-wise in the new year. Here are some of my favorite predictions:

Predictions from Celtic psychic Paula Roberts:
Christine Quinn’s a strong 2018 mayoral contender.
A Broadway theater regains glory after fire damage.
Hillary does not fade from public life. (And, advocating change, wears a skirt?)
Obama. University lecture tour, then Harvard part-time on international law.
Trump. Fewer speeches than predecessor. Loses weight.
USA. No more troops sent abroad.
Hawaii. Volcano eruption. Crops, not lives, lost.
England. Charles finally gets Mama’s job.
Antarctica. International research station cut off for many months.

Predictions from John Cohan, who last year predicted Brad and Angelina wouldn’t last — a huge, enormous, mind-boggling, large, really big, tall, wide, fat stunning blow of a surprise to us all — now presages:
Anderson Cooper marries partner Benjamin Maisani.
Rihanna and Pitt? A decision that’s in the Pitts.
Lady Gaga teams with m’lord Harry Connick.
Billy Bush: depression, medical help.
Oprah goes blond. Like Kim’s husband, Kanye (or Kan’t-ye) Worst.
Kathie Lee Gifford marries a younger guy.
Streisand and husband James Brolin separate. This I don’t believe. I don’t even think Brolin believes. I mean, where’s he going?

Cindy Adams’ predictions:
Madonna enters a monastery with a vow of nudity.
DiCaprio’s pants make the Smithsonian.
Amazon techies arrange it so that you can buy a politician in the privacy of your own home.
Downturn: McDonald’s, from golden arches to fallen arches.

[From Page Six]

I don’t think Trump will lose weight. If anything, he’ll gain weight from stress-eating. And Charles ascends to the throne in 2017? A few months ago, I would have said no dice. But given the strange happenings around the royal Christmas this year… maybe. Maybe. What else? Brad Pitt and Rihanna… that would not surprise me in the least, but is it weird that I think Rihanna would treat him like she treats all of her boyfriends and lovers? Like, Brad Pitt would be her f—kboy. And I could also see James Brolin and Babs separating too. Those are the solid predictions. The rest of the predictions are crap.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.

While I’m loath to take the side of a donut-licking America-hater, I have to give props to Ariana Grande this week. She did something interesting. First, she posted a disturbing story about a weird and sexist interaction with a fan, and then when people yelled at her on Twitter, she defended herself by making a really great feminist argument.

First, Ariana posted this on Twitter – go here to read her whole story (which includes some NSFW language). Basically, she was out with her boyfriend Mac Miller and a guy came up to them and told Mac that he was a big fan, then the guy said (in front of Ariana) “Ariana is sexy as hell man I see you, I see you hitting that.” Ariana wrote that she felt “sick and objectified” and that’s the kind of thing that contributes to women’s “sense of fear and inadequacy.” She writes that she is not a piece of meat and she’s in a relationship with a man who treats her with love and respect, not some object. When Ariana’s followers and random Twitter people were like, “Hey, but it was a compliment, you dress sexy so why are so bothered that someone thinks you’re sexy,” Ariana responded:

seeing a lot of “but look how you portray yourself in videos and in your music! you’re so sexual!” …. please hold.. next tweet… i repeat

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016

expressing sexuality in art is not an invitation for disrespect !!! just like wearing a short skirt is not asking for assault.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016

Women’s choice. ? our bodies, our clothing, our music, our personalities….. sexy, flirty, fun.
it is not. an open. invitation.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016

You are literally saying that if we look a certain way, we are yours to take. But we are not !!! It’s our right to express ourselves. ?

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016

Pretty much. While I think Ariana had every right to be offended by her boyfriend’s fan objectifying her, I also think she knew she was going to get attention when she posted the original story on Twitter, and she was prepared to make the argument for making her own choices about being sexy or whatever, but that doesn’t give anyone else the right to treat her like a piece of meat. Anyway… well done, Ariana.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.

Brad Pitt’s lump of coal for Angelina Jolie (Dlisted)

Michael Fassbender could have been in Star Wars (Just Jared)

Tobey Maguire’s Wolf Pack holiday season (Cele|bitchy)

The SVU reunion – and they haven’t changed (TooFab)

Is this going to stop in 2017? (Hollywood Tuna)

Demi Lo…