Hollywood headlines: A crazy week in review
“Top Gun” director Tony Scott jumped to his death from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, Calif., on Sunday afternoon. He was 68.
Scott, the brother of fellow director Ridley Scott, was a respected filmmaker whose adrenaline-filled movies include “Man on Fire,” “Enemy of the State” and “Beverly Hills Cop II.” The last film he directed was “Unstoppable,” a 2010 thriller about a runaway freight train. His career in television included executive producing the series “The Good Wife” and “Numb3rs,” both on CBS.
Scott’s fatal plunge shocked Hollywood colleagues who regarded him as a man with few problems and many stories still to tell. Law enforcement sources said that several notes Scott left do not speak of any health problems or offer solid clues about why he jumped.
Full coverage: Remembering director Tony Scott
Prince Harry has a reputation as the playboy prince. Now there are photos to prove it -- straight from Las Vegas. Celebrity gossip website TMZ posted photos online of Britain’s most eligible bachelor naked and cavorting with at least one nude woman in what reportedly is a Las Vegas VIP suite.
Full story: Prince Harry in Vegas: Snapped frolicking in the nude | Photos: Facets of Prince Harry | Video: Prince Harry photos hit U.K. newsstands (Felipe Dana / Associated Press)
Michael Strahan will join Kelly Ripa as co-host of “Live!” next month, according to a report published Friday in Broadcasting & Cable. A former defensive end for the New York Giants, Strahan has guest-hosted “Live!” numerous times and was widely considered one of the leading contenders to fill the void left by Regis Philbin, who retired last November after 28 years on the show.
Full story: Michael Strahan reportedly named ‘Live!’ co-host | Video: Michael Strahan — Highlights from his guest hosting on ‘Live’ (Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images)
Superstar Taylor Swift and her beau Conor Kennedy crashed a wedding Saturday, if the mother of the bride is to be believed. Victoria Gifford Kennedy, once married to Robert Kennedy’s son Michael, hosted the nuptials of her daughter Kyle to one Liam Kerr at a swanky Boston hotel, where she says singer Taylor Swift and boyfriend Conor Kennedy attended despite repeated requests to stay away, so as not to detract from the bride.
The country singer’s camp confirms attendance but denies the drama.
“Taylor was invited to the wedding and the bride thanked her profusely for being there,” a rep for Swift said.
Full story: Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy: Wedding crashers? | Video: Kathie Lee confirms: Taylor Swift crashed that wedding (Charles Sykes / Associated Press)
Advertisement
What began as an act of kindness ended in the insertion of a stent, after doctors discovered a 99% blocked artery in Rosie O’Donnell’s heart.
O’Donnell helped an “enormous” woman in a Nyack, N.Y., parking lot last Tuesday. “A few hours later my body hurt, I had an ache in my chest, both my arms were sore, everything felt bruised,” O’Donnell said. An EKG revealed the massive blockage, colorfully referred to by her doctor as a “widow maker.”
The comedian and talk show host is resting and recovering, but the attack makes for a turbulent August in the O’Donnell house. Rosie’s fiancee, Michelle Rounds, was recently diagnosed with desmoid tumors, a rare disease that can destroy tissue in the same fashion as a cancerous tumor.
Full story: Rosie O’Donnell suffers heart attack, recovering at home (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is about to get a promotion -- to 11:35 p.m. Following a flurry of rumors, the network confirmed Tuesday that it will move “Jimmy Kimmel Live” earlier by one half-hour beginning Jan. 8. That will put the funny man’s show in direct competition with NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” for a three-way ratings brawl.
Full story: ABC moves Jimmy Kimmel to 11:35 p.m. | Photos: TV axings and exits | Time is right for Kimmel to take on Leno and Letterman (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
LL Cool J delivered a broken jaw and broken nose to a suspected burglar at his Studio City home in the wee hours Wednesday. A “knock-down, drag-out” fight occurred after the rapper and actor heard sounds coming from the kitchen and went downstairs to check things out. The intruder, an unidentified transient, was hospitalized.
Full story: LL Cool J puts a beat-down on burglary suspect (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s six kids have been trailed by paparazzi from a very early age. Now, one of Brangelina’s children is stepping into the spotlight in an actual film role. At the tender age of 4, the A-list couple’s daughter Vivienne will make her acting debut alongside her mother in Walt Disney Studios’ upcoming adaptation of “Maleficent.”
The 3-D film, set to hit theaters in March 2014, stars Jolie as the villain from the classic fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.” Though 14-year-old Elle Fanning will play Aurora during the majority of the film, Vivienne will act briefly in scenes that depict the character as younger.
Full story: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt: stage-door parents? | Photos: Movie princesses through the years (Michael Sohn / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Country singer Hank Williams Jr. is back in the political arena after a concert in Iowa on Friday during which he called President Obama “a Muslim president who hates the U.S.,” according to the Des Moines Register. After performing his song “We Don’t Apologize for America,” Williams told an audience of about 8,500 that “we’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S., and we hate him,” drawing cheers from the crowd.
Williams was dressed down last fall and ESPN dumped his theme song for its “Monday Night Football” telecast after the singer compared Obama to Hitler in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
Full story: Hank Williams Jr. says President Obama ‘hates the U.S.’ (Wade Payne / Associated Press)
