December 15, 2012

With L.A. Reid leaving, Simon Cowell starts the search of a new replacement for the upcoming season of "The X Factor (US)". The Sun reports the British media mogul, who helped launch the successful career of One Direction, wants Rihanna and on-off boyfriend Chris Brown on his singing competition.

"Simon is a huge admirer of Rihanna and knows she's star quality. As well as bringing an aura to the panel thanks to her current standing in music, she is also feisty and will make great TV. Simon loves these sort of characters," a source says. He would love to have her sitting on the judging panel of either the U.S. or U.K. version.

Following the tragic mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Paramount Pictures puts on hold a premiere event for its movie, "Jack Reacher" that stars Tom Cruise. The special screening was supposed to take place in the neighboring state, Pennsylvania, at the Southside Works.

"Due to the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and out of honor and respect for the families of the victims whose lives were senselessly taken, we are postponing tomorrow's Pittsburgh premiere of Jack Reacher. Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones," the studio issues a statement regarding the postponement.

In the immediate wake of the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 people most of whom were children, many celebrities urge the U.S. government to take action. The likes of Susan Sarandon and Ben Stiller demanded gun control to prevent another horrific massacre.

Linking her tweet to National Rifle Association, Sarandon tweeted, "How much more suffering & loss will it take before we better regulate the sale of arms in our country? Let @NRA know how you feel." Stiller agreed, "Shocked and saddened by what happened today in Connecticut. We have to stop the access to guns in our country."

AMC is offering a different experience in watching "The Walking Dead". The network will air all episodes of season 1 and 2 of the hit zombie apocalypse series in black and white starting February 14, 2013 at 6:30 P.M.

This special program will kick off with the airing of the first two episodes of the drama series. It will be immediately followed by the second season premiere of Kevin Smith's docuseries "Comic Book Men" at 9 P.M.

Popular boyband Jonas Brothers have announced the twelve dates of the Latin American leg of their concert tour. New songs set for release early next year will be played by the pop group as they trek across eight countries: Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Guatemala for their 12-day concert.

The brothers will kick-off their Latin America concert tour on February 24, 2013 in Caracas, Venezuela, moving next to two stops in Chile, another two in Argentina, and then a show in Bolivia. They will be playing three times in Brazil before heading to their Paraguay and Uruguay performances. Guatemala City will host the final show in the 12-city leg of the concert tour. "We can't think of a better way to start off the New Year than being on the road again. We're excited to see our Latin American fans again and share our new music with them!" so they said.

A strip club offers to pay Lindsay Lohan's bill. The actress has been rumored struggling to pay monthly rent of her Los Angeles house and being at risk of losing her personal belongings in storage locker after her bank accounts were seized by IRS due to massive tax debts.

New York Strip club Scores is willing to give LiLo $16,000 to settle her debt with the storage company and to help her with the rent of her $8,000-a-month Beverly Hills mansion. In exchange of the paycheck, she's asked to host a video chat for their website, ScoresLive.com.

When "Downton Abbey" cast spent a few days in the U.S., Stephen Colbert didn't miss the chance to ask them to take part in his show. While the British actors didn't appear in person on "The Colbert Report" Thursday night, December 13, the episode featured them in a "Breaking Bad" spoof.

Titled "Breaking Abbey", the parody was introduced by Colbert as a preview for the upcoming season of the AMC crime series. The first scene sees Rob James-Collier's Thomas and Jim Carter's Carson cooking up meth in the Crawleys' house as the Earl (Hugh Bonneville) tries to keep his promise to a buyer.

Turns out Peter Jackson makes an on-screen appearance in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" aside from just serving behind the lens. For those who have watched the film, which has just opened this Friday, December 14, they might not notice that the New Zealand director was featured briefly in one scene of the movie.

For those who haven't seen the fantasy pic, this could be a spoilerish tidbit but Jackson's mysterious cameo was featured in [SPOILER ALERT!] a scene taken in Erebor. Hidden among the other bearded, helmeted and armored dwarves, the filmmaker was difficult to notice as he made the appearance.

Marisa Miller welcomed her first child with her husband, music producer Griffin Guess, on Thursday, December 13. Baby boy Gavin Lee Guess was born in Santa Cruz, Calif. at 7:58 P.M., weighing in at 8 lbs., 10 oz. and measuring 22.25 inches long.

The family was overjoyed by the early Christmas present. "I'm completely overjoyed by the birth of our son. I feel so blessed to be a mom and am so excited to experience this next part of life," the new mom gushes about the arrival of the bundle of joy to PEOPLE.

Syfy pulled a new episode of "Haven" at the last minute in the wake of a tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. The cable channel takes the decision not to air the episode since it features violence in school, which would be insensitive to the victims' families considering the timing.

"Tonight's scheduled 10 P.M. episode of 'Haven' contained scenes of fictitious violence in a high school," Syfy announces in a statement. "In light of today's tragedy in Newtown, Conn., we have decided not to air it. At this time, no decision has been made as to when the episode will air."

It's been a few months since it was announced that Len Wiseman was tapped to direct "The Mummy" reboot for Universal Pictures. Sharing a little update on the upcoming project, the "Total Recall" remake helmer opens up about his viewpoint on the reboot, which will be a completely new mythology that has nothing to do with the previous versions.

"There was skepticism. The difference between the two, if The Mummy is to be the next movie for me, is that The Mummy is a completely different film," so the husband of Kate Beckinsale tells MovieWeb, "It is a modern day take. It doesn't have anything to do with the Brendan Fraser films, and it is not a remake of any kind."

Legendary rock band The Rolling Stones may be joining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2013 as they unintentionally hinted in their mobile app. The Coachella Festival runs for two weekends in April 12-14 and 19-21, and the two new dates appeared on the tour section of the band's mobile app, before it was removed shortly after.

The apparent accidental posting of the dates was corrected later on in the morning but not before fans were already able to spread screenshots of the new tour dates. The only other confirmed date after the band's anniversary concert tour that concludes this week is their appearance at U.K's Glastonbury Music Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts.

In the wake of tragic shooting that killed at least 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a number of celebrities took to Twitter to condemn the incident and send prayers to victims and their families. Among them were Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian.

"This is absolutely horrifying. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families in Newton, CT. So unbelievably sad," LiLo tweeted. Bieber sent a similar message to his followers, "Heard about what happened in CT, my prayers go out to all those suffering in this tragedy. it's just wrong. Everyone please pray for them."

Music fans best know Dido's voice from the 2000 Eminem hit "Stan". Now, the English singer has a new melodic tune and she does the right thing as she teamed up with another hip-hop great, Kendrick Lamar. The track titled "Let Us Move On", which is part of Dido's fourth studio LP, "Girl Who Got Away", presents a smooth blend between her distinct vocals and K-Dot's inspirational rhymes.

The tune kicks off a nice, laid back atmospheric beat which transitions perfectly with Dido's angelic, lounge-vibe opening. It continues to bring in more pleasant sounds as the singer gets into the hook and a vibrant mix of drums and keyboards take over. K-Dot then seamlessly dives into the rap, which will make listeners totally dig the track even more. The "good kid, m.A.A.d city" artist spits out some inspiring lyrics this time with lines such as, "Got these burdens under my wings, but I'm still free."

A&E has unleashed a new promo for "Bates Motel", sharing first footage from the upcoming series. Also taking viewers behind the scenes and including interviews with the cast and crew, the video features Vera Farmiga who plays Norma Bates saying, "We're not remaking 'Psycho'. We're using it as an inspiration."

The scenes from the show, meanwhile, offer glimpse at a tragedy that happened to the Bates family before they start over their life in a Northern California coastal town, where they open the infamous Bates Motel.

After hinting about a new album on Twitter the entire week plus posting a photo of himself working in the recording studio booth, Canadian pop star Justin Bieber visited the set of the popular talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Friday, December 14, to announce that he's finishing-up work on a new acoustic EP targeted for a January 29, 2013 release. The album entitled "Believe Acoustic" will feature 7 songs and a bonus track, and will showcase Bieber in unplugged renditions of hits from his third and latest studio set "Believe".

This is not the first acoustic album for the young singer-songwriter. In 2010 he released "My Worlds Acoustic" that carried the re-visited version of his massive hit "Baby". "It's something I think the fans really like because, you know, I started out on YouTube just playing my guitar, just singing without all the production and stuff, so I like to just put out acoustic albums," Bieber told TV host and stand-up comedian Ellen Degeneres. "I think it's more intimate."

Mark Wahlberg lets out his inner badass in a trailer for "Broken City". Making its way out via MTV News, the action-heavy video is studded with scenes of the "Ted" actor wielding his guns, taking down bad guys and doing other brutal scenes after getting hired by Russell Crowe.

It begins when Crowe's Nicholas Hostetler, a popular New York mayor, taps Wahlberg's Billy Taggart to find the man who slept with the mayor's wife played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. As he goes into his mission, Taggart discovers that the problem is not as simple as just a love affair. Trapped in Hostetler's game, Taggart tries to seek revenge by asking the help from the mayor's wife.

After releasing a wacky video for their holiday track "I Feel It in My Bones", rock group The Killers unveiled a creepy one for their new single "Here With Me". The new clip, directed by gothic and macabre filmmaker Tim Burton, brings in a lot of those familiar strange images, such as lifelike wax figures, spiral tunnels, woman spinning on a roulette, and scary facial masks. It also stars frequent Burton collaborator, Winona Ryder, as an eerie looking theater mannequin.

The band, who previously enlisted Burton's talents for "Bones", star as in-house entertainment at a ballroom where the doll version of Ryder and British actor Craig Roberts are dancing. At the start of the clip, the "Submarine" star snatches Ryder's mannequin and takes it with him for some alone time at the beach, at the ballroom, and eventually ending up in his expressionist designed abode. He then pulls out a candle lighter and removes the mannequin's wig to light up the wick on top of its head. To the shock of every viewer, Roberts then lights his own wick and the doll comes to life.

More updates on the yet-to-be-titled "Tron Legacy" sequel have been offered, this time by its director Joseph Kosinski. The "Oblivion" helmer gives lengthy updates on the upcoming sci-fi project to Collider, revealing the status of the script, his vision on the project and the possibility of Daft Punk returning to score the movie.

Kosinski claims that he wants "Tron 3" to have a top-notch script compared to its predecessor, which received mixed reviews in 2010. "I've said it would have to be our Empire Strikes Back for me to come back and for me to pull the whole team back together. I think we do have that idea. We do have the idea that feels big and really blows the doors off this franchise," he says.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's convincing performance as two good buddies in 1997's "Good Will Hunting" has sparked "bro-mance" rumors about them. Over the years, the "Contagion" actor never addressed them until recently when he chatted with Playboy.

"I never denied those rumors," Damon said. The 42-year-old hunk explained the reason behind his silence, "Because I was offended and didn't want to offend my friends who were gay, as if being gay were some kind of f**king disease. It put me in a weird position in that sense."

Justin Bieber has inspired a new TV show which is being developed at ABC. It has been confirmed that the Alphabet is planning a comedy series which will focus on the Canadian pop star's life before he was famous.

According to TV Guide which first broke the news, the sitcom will depict The Biebs' awkward teenage years and his unorthodox family. The 18-year-old singer was raised by his mother and grandparents in his hometown of Ontario, Canada.

Pedro Almodovar's "I'm So Excited" has just released a quirky teaser trailer that would make audience burst in laughter. Opened with a serious scene of two cabin crew discussing a "booster" that could increase their mood, the footage suddenly switches to another scene that shows faces of some confused plane passengers.

Then, a funny moment happens as a trio of flight attendants are seen getting so stoned that they shamelessly shake their bums and dance crazily ala girlband in front of the serious-looking passengers. Things get even more hilarious as the three are mouthing the words to Pointer Sisters' disco hit "I'm So Excited".

Hugh Grant has responded to Jon Stewart's complaint about his behavior on "The Daily Show". Instead of hitting back at the host, the British thesp admits he wasn't a nice guest when stopping by the Comedy Central show.

"Turns out my inner crab got the better of me with TV producer in 09," the 52-year-old actor wrote on Twitter Friday, December 14 to express his regret. "Unforgivable," he added, "J Stewart correct to give me kicking."

There may be some good news coming towards Amanda Bynes after all. It was reported that two misdemeanor hit and run charges against her have been formally dismissed in a courthouse in Van Nuys, California this week.

"Amanda Bynes was able to reach a civil compromise in both of her hit and run cases. The two separate victims agreed to dismiss the charges after a financial settlement was reached with both. This is routinely done when both sides are able to come to an agreement, and there really is no need to pursue legal charges because damages to their respective vehicles was paid for," a source close to the situation told RadarOnline.com.

A 24-year-old man with criminal record trespassed the grounds of Taylor Swift's house in Nashville and claimed he was the boyfriend. Jacob Kulke was arrested at 1:45 A.M. on Friday, December 14 after security detained him and police were called.

To the officers, Kulke said that he had traveled from Wisconsin on a bus to be with Swift on her birthday, which was on Thursday. He told them he was the country star's boyfriend and that he had been in contact with someone at the home via social media.

Two months after it was reported that Russell Crowe has split from wife of nine years, Danielle Spencer, the actor confirmed that they went through a rough patch in the marriage. The "Les Miserables" actor wrote on Twitter that his priority now is to fix the situation.

"As soon as I finish this job and can get home, my priority is to try to bring my family back together," Crowe tweeted on Wednesday, December 12, adding "These latest reports are false & cruel." Crowe was referring to the rumor that he was casually dating TV personality Katie Lee.

The botched work of Mexican police officers on Jenni Rivera's plane crash evacuation has disgusted the singer's family. Not only items were stolen from the crash scene but also, video showing gruesome remains of the singer was taken with a cell phone and leaked to the Internet.

According to TMZ, Rivera's family want whoever took the video to be brought to justice. Although the footage has not been confirmed to be authentic, the family believed it was real based on the items and remains that were shown in it. Indeed, Rivera's brothers Pedro and Gus identified her body on the crash site in the northern state of Nuevo Leon on Wednesday, December 12. Therefore they might have a clue of the real situation.

Olivia Wilde is not even close to marrying boyfriend Jason Sudeikis. Both the "People Like Us" actress and her representative have both denied the rumor that the couple was secretly engaged and planning a wedding in Kansas City.

"They are not (engaged)," a rep told the Mail Online in a statement. On top of that, Wilde tweeted from The Rolling Stones concert in NYC Wednesday, December 12 night, "No I'm not engaged but I AM at the Stones show and holy shit Ronnie Wood you got style, boy. It's just a fact. Trying to score a shoe pic."