Tuesday September 9, 2008
In her new memoir Through the Storm, Lynne Spears claims her daughter has overcome her troubles of the past few years and is regaining her "glorious voice."
She adds that they're close again and that Britney
remains a "brave little girl who sang to the skies" so long ago, according to The Associated Press, which obtained an early copy of the 211-page book (out Sept. 16 by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson).
See Britney Spears' baby photo.
Among the highlights:
--She denies pushing Britney into show business, adding that her daughter was always focusing on achievement. (Performing by age 3, Britney was constantly practicing to the music of Madonna and Whitney Houston; friends claimed she'd be a Broadway star.)
--She says she first felt she was losing control of Britney after the debut of " ... Baby One More Time," when she posed in panties and a bra for a 1999 Rolling Stone story.
--She says she felt "shock and dismay" at seeing her daughter shave her head, at her brief marriages to Jason Alexander and Kevin Federline and her highly publicized custody battles over her two children.
--She writes that she felt "punched in the stomach" when she learned that Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant at age 16. (Lynne famously sold the story to OK! magazine for $1 million.)
--She praises Federline as a "caring daddy" and says Britney is "an amazing mother," but only when at her best.
--She fondly remembers Justin Timberlake, but says the willful nature of the young couple helped break them up.
--She writes that she was distraught as then-manager Sam Lufti told her he was grinding pills and putting them in Britney's food, hoping to induce a coma that would enable doctors to cure her of all addictions. She calls her daughter's two hospitalizations this year a "turning point"
Look back at Britney and Lynne Spears through the years.
Tell Us: Should Lynne have written a memoir?
The 39-year-old actress, who is currently training for her first triathalon, is shooting the show Friday, the source adds.
Nina Garcia wouldn't confirm the news, but hinted the finale "is going to be unbelievable."
"The guest star is one of the most iconic women around," she recently told Us. "It’s going to take the cake."
Look back at Jennifer Lopez's fashion highs and lows.
Judge Michael Kors has no doubt Lopez will make a great judge.
He tells the new issue of Elle she could be a fashion editor.
“She is curious about what’s new and what’s next,” he says, “but at the same time she knows how to edit perfectly for her look and lifestyle.”
A Bravo rep would would neither confirm nor deny Lopez's role on the show.
Friends and co-stars of comedian Bernie Mac are speaking out following his Saturday morning death.
"The world just got a little less funny," Ocean's 13 co-star, George Clooney, said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. "He will be dearly missed."
Adds Ocean's co-star Brad Pitt, in a statement to E!: "I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man. My thoughts are with [his wife], Rhonda, and their family. Bernie Mac, you are already missed."
Mac, 50, passed away due to pneumonia complications early Saturday morning in a Chicago-area hospital, his rep confirmed to Usmagazine.com. He had been admitted to the hospital August 1, but was expected to make a full recovery after a few weeks of treatment.
"Bernie Mac was one of the best and funniest comedians to ever live, but that was the second best thing he did," says Chris Rock, who worked with Mac in animated flick, Return to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. "Bernie was one of the greatest friends a person could have.
"Losing him is like losing 12 people, because he absolutely filled up any room he was in," Rock continues. "I'm gonna' miss the Mac Man."
Ocean's Don Cheadle also tells E! in a statement: "This is a very sad day for many of us who knew and loved Bernie. He brought so much joy to so many. He will be missed, but heaven just got funnier."
Cedric the Entertainer, who appeared with Mac on the Grammy-nominated album, "The Original Kings of Comedy," in 2001, says: "It's hard to put into words just how I feel and what a painful loss this is. Bernie was a brother, a friend and one of the comic masters of our time. Sharing the marquee with him during the phenomenon of the 'Kings of Comedy' tour bonded us like family, and created a unique moment in comic history, marking some of the most meaningful, memorable and fun times of our lives. His comedic approach was his own brand and will definitely stand the test of time. The level of his talent always inspired me, and other comedians, to 'bring their A-game.' I promise you that you never wanted to be the guy who had to follow Bernie's set! As a husband and father, he was THE MAN and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will truly be missed, but so well remembered."
Earlier Saturday, former co-star Niecy Nash told Us, "His passing is such a major loss to the acting and comedy communities.
"Bernie Mac was the personification of the word 'real.' He kept it real," she said. "That kind of genuine spirit that he carried all time cannot be easily duplicated, but I will do my very best to try."
The FOX network, which aired The Bernie Mac Show from 2001 to 2006, told Us in a statement, "Bernie Mac was a gifted talent whose comment came from an authentic, and highly personal, place. He was a tremendous live performer, and a wonderful actor. FOX was proud to be the home of The Bernie Mac Show, and all of us at FOX and 20th Century FOX Television extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Rhonda, and daughter, Je'Niece."
"I think many of our problems as a country would be solved if people had thick passports," the actor, 37, tells Conde Nast Traveler in its September issue.
"There's just no substitute for actually going and seeing things," he says.
Damon, who says only 21 percent of Americans have passports, says that fame has made him want to do good.
"You start to feel a level of responsibility to direct attention to things that actually matter more than to silly things like who you're dating," he explains.
"For a lot of actors, our biggest fear is that we're going to start talking about things we don't fully understand and sound like idiots," he says. "In the long run, I'll do much more good if, when I open my mouth, I have something worth saying."
The father of 2-year-old daughter Isabella and step-father to 10-year-old Alexia is expecting a baby girl this fall with wife Luciana.
Damon described a trip to Tanzania, where he visited a clinic and witnessed children receiving anti-malarial medicine.
"I realized that because of President Bush's malaria initiative, this baby had survived," he told the magazine. "American taxpayer money saved this baby's life."
He has encouraged both presidential candidates to increase aid to Africa.
"When you go to a country and see your fellow Americans feeding people or getting clean water or saving their lives, you are really seeing the best of us. We are exporting the best of who we are — and who we should be," he says.
Damon also reflected on his rise to global stardom.
"I remembered as a kid sitting with Ben Affleck, dreaming of someday going to New York and becoming actors," he recalls. "Dreaming is a great thing."
celebrities news from: www.usmagazine.com
Elizabeth Edwards is speaking out on her husband, John's, affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter.
"Our family has been through a lot," Elizabeth, who is battling an incurable form of cancer, wrote on Daily Kos. "Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some - most recently - cased by desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences.
"None of this has been easy," admits the 59-year-old. "But we have stood with one another through them all.
"Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him," she adds.
Watch video of John Edwards speaking about the extramarital affair on Friday's Nightline.
The former Democratic presidential hopeful, 55, admitted to the long-rumored affair with Hunter, 44, on Friday afternoon. John denies he's the father of her baby daughter.
John and Elizabeth have been married since 1977. They celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary in July.
Elizabeth says John told her of the affair in 2006 - when she was in remission from cancer.
"John made a terrible mistake in 2006," she writes. "The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done.
"And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007."
Celebrities News From: www.usmagazine.com
Republican presidential candidate John McCain's daughter Meghan is just 23-years-old, but she's had her own political evolution.
"I almost registered as a Democrat to be rebellious, but I registered as an Independent instead," she tells Glamour in its September issue. "Then my dad bragged about it, so it backfired."
Meghan, a self-described "total daddy's girl," registered as a Republican as a Father's Day gift last month.
Though she's been crossing the country by bus to help the campaign, she takes issue with parts of the GOP platform.
"I don't relate to the hard right," she admits. "I think it's time to reinvent the Republican Party. And I think my dad can do it."
Watch a new John McCain ad featuring Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Meghan tells Glamour that she has a tattoo on her foot and wants another.
"I was thinking about the nautical star [like] my dad's [campaign] sign," she says. "I love stars and obviously it's meaningful. Getting 'McCain' on my back was vehemently shot down. If my brother Jimmy [who is in the Marine Corps] gets deployed [to Iraq] again, we'll get matching tattoos."
Meghan – who lunched with Hills star and McCain supporter Heidi Montag earlier this month – also opened up about dating in the shadow of her father.
"I go on dates and guys are like, 'Oh, you really look like John,' and I'm like, 'As I get older, I'll look more like him. You could actually be dating John McCain," she says.
Tell Us: Do you think Meghan would make a good first daughter?
Celebrity news from: www.usmagazine.com
Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong called it quits this weekend after a three-month romance that went public when they were spotted in Austin, Texas in mid-May, Usmagazine.com exclusively reports.
"There was no drama or ugliness – They just decided to end things," a source close to the couple tells Us. "There is no hatred, just sadness."
The pair quickly became inseparable with sightings of them in Austin, New York and Los Angeles – though both dodged questions about their relationship.
In the short time they were together, the 29-year-old actress was seen with the 36-year-old cyclist at many of his races and events, including his three-day Lance Armstrong Livestrong Summit in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend.
It was at the conference that Hudson and Armstrong decided to go their separate ways, a source tells Us.
See photos of other stars single this summer.
Each had introduced the other to family. Hudson's mom Goldie Hawn gave what seemed to be her approval at a July 1 lunch at The Ivy at the Shore. Also, Hudson's four-year-old son Ryder went to a Father's Day brunch with Armstrong — and dad Chris Robinson – in June.
A rep for Armstrong had no comment while a rep for Hudson could not be reached.
