December 19, 2012

A magazine publisher fires back at Tom Cruise's lawsuit, insisting they don't publish "verifiably false facts". Cruise made the headlines of Life & Style and In Touch Weekly in late July and early October after his separation from wife Katie Holmes was made public. He was accused of abandoning the couple's only child, Suri.

Cruise then launched a $50 million lawsuit against the mags' publisher Bauer Publishing, Co. in October, saying via his lawyer, "Tom doesn't go around suing people. He's not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he's going to sue."

The magnificent lighting and cinematography of the clip are not the only things that will impress Tim McGraw fans as they watch the country superstar's newest music video. The 45-year-old singer-songwriter likewise impresses with his remarkable physique, as he looks to be in the best shape of his life, not to mention he has never sounded better than on his "One of Those Nights" track.

"One of Those Nights" is the second single released from his "Two Lanes of Freedom" album, set to be released on February 5, 2013. The clip for the song lacks the typical music video storyline complete with actors, but McGraw and his band performing in a warehouse as a makeshift recording studio is more than enough as a setting for the country star's newest single.

On Tuesday, December 18, Joss Whedon presented his blockbuster giant film "The Avengers" during a special screening event hosted by the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood. Whedon was also on hand to answer in-depth questions about the massively successful superhero flick, teasing which characters that didn't make the final cut but could end up appearing in "The Avengers 2".

Whedon spilled the beans that Janet Van Dyne a.k.a the Wasp was initially featured in the script, while admitting that he hesitated to include Black Widow instead. "There was a little bit of time where we thought we might not actually get Scarlett [Johansson]," the New Yorker said. "There was a very Waspy draft that I wrote. But it was way too Waspy. I was like, 'She's adorable! I'm just going to watch her!' "

Another promo for "The Carrie Diaries" has been released by The CW to promote the new series. It has no dialog but opens with the young Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb) narrating her own life story, "They say the key to being a writer is figuring out who you are. But finding my voice wasn't going to be easy."

The trailer shares more scenes from the show set to "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant, bringing more 1980s feel to the sneak peek. Footage of the English singer also intercepts in between the show's scenes.

Season three of the popular TV reality singing competition "The Voice" has just crowned its big winner in a two-hour live finale show that featured a score of celebrity performances. Rihanna, with a performance of her hit single "Diamonds", opened the show that hailed pop-rocker Cassadee Pope as the big winner. Scottish rocker Terry McDermott was the runner-up while soul singer Nicholas David finished third.

Pop-rocker Avril Lavigne took the stage with the song "I'm With You", singing it with Pope, who declared Lavigne as her idol. Pope also performed with rock band The Killers, while the other two finalists also got to sing with musical greats: David with Smokey Robinson and McDermott with Peter Frampton.

"Gossip Girl" series finale featured a major revelation about who the eponymous blogger really is, but there are still burning questions left unanswered. Speaking to E! Online after the last episode aired on December 17, executive producer Stephanie Savage is willing to address things that were not seen in the said episode.

On Dan who was revealed to be the Gossip Girl, Savage claims they always knew it would be him from the beginning. "We never really entertained any other ideas of who Gossip Girl was. It was whether we were going to reveal it," she says.

After the release of his fifth studio album entitled "Illuminations" in 2010 and his 81-city "Straight to You" concert tour in 2011 to promote the said album, crooner Josh Groban returns with his unique vocals as he drops "Brave", the first single off his upcoming album. The pop-rock track, courtesy of super producer Rob Cavallo, headlines Groban's sixth studio set "All That Echoes".

The track sounds less of the pop-opera style that Groban is known for and sounds more like a standard pop song, yet still features the singer's big, theatrical voice. "We wanted the song to have an intensity and an urgency, even if they're in more of a traditional style vocally," he opens up to Billboard. "The goal was to try and bridge those two worlds."

Getting closer to its limited release date, "Zero Dark Thirty (2012)" continues to stir controversy surrounding its much-talked-about "torture scene." The latest influential person who weighs in on the subject is none other than Senator John McCain, who admits to have been left sick of the film after watching it on Monday night, December 17.

As reported by The Associated Press, McCain slams the Kathryn Bigelow-directed movie for being wrong when depicting the waterboarding of Al Qaeda's No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Despite what's shown in the movie, the Republican insists that the method used to Mohammed didn't not lead to information about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in Pakistan.

Breakup rumors keep hounding Britney Spears and Jason Trawick who have been engaged for over two years. The latest one comes from Hollyscoop which claims that the celebrity agent plans to drop the bomb after "The X Factor (US)" current season is finished.

A so-called source close to the couple says, "Jason has told Britney's entire family that he's planning to leave her, so that Britney will have a support system when he breaks the bad news." He allegedly wants to call it quits, but not their professional relationship.

The Wolverine would take part in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" after all. After a long-running rumor, director Bryan Singer finally brought good news to fanboys that Hugh Jackman had been confirmed to appear in the upcoming movie.

Taking to his Twitter account to make the casting rumor official, Singer wrote, "I would officially like to welcome @RealHughJackman to the cast of #Xmen Days of Future Past." He gushed, "Very excited! More to come..."

Megan Fox hasn't introduced her baby boy just yet, but she is willing to give a clue of how he looks like. The new mom gushes to Ellen DeGeneres in a TV interview that her 3-month-old boy, Noah, is like a mini version of her husband, actor Brian Austin Green.

"He looks, I would say, 70 percent like Brian," she says. "He was his identical twin when he came out [but] recently he's been getting chubbier and everyone's like, 'Oh, he's so chubby ... now he looks like you.' " She jokingly adds, "I don't know how I should take that."

Oprah Winfrey had been in a cold war with David Letterman, but that doesn't stop her from inviting him as her guest on "Oprah's Next Chapter". The late-night talk show host has a sit-down with the former daytime talk show queen where "no question is off-limits."

In this very rare opportunity, Letterman opens up for the first time his infamous sex scandal with a staffer that led to an extortion plot and a public disclosure about the affair in 2009. He also answers questions about his battle with depression, his long-running feud with Jay Leno, and the origin of the cold war between him and Winfrey herself.

European fans of the Louisiana hip-hop artist Lil Wayne will finally get to see their idol when the popular rapper goes on a 10-country trek across Europe in March 2013 for his "Live Nation" concert tour. The 15-date concert tour will be Lil Wayne's first-ever tour in Europe which kicks off in Ireland on March 8.

Hip-hop artists 2 Chainz and Mac Miller, who both had their own solo concert tours this year, will be joining Weezy on his "Live Nation" tour. Simultaneously with the timing of his tour, Lil Wayne is set to debut his tenth studio album "I Am Not a Human Being II" by early 2013. Its first track will be Weezy's latest single "No Worries", currently sitting at no. 9 in Billboard's R'n'B/hip-hop charts and no. 39 on the Hot 100.

Jeffrey Donovan, 44, is a proud father to a baby girl. His wife, model Michelle Wood, has just given birth to their first child, a representative confirms the happy news to the press a few days before Christmas holiday.

The couple announces the arrival of the bundle of joy just a few months after getting married. "She is a healthy and happy baby girl, and we are incredibly blessed to have her in our live," they say about their daughter in a statement.

Colorado pop/rock band OneRepublic have unveiled a new single from their upcoming third studio offering, "Native". The track titled "If I Lose Myself", which comes after the group's recent hit "Feel Again", is the second release from the new album due in spring 2013. It presents a very upbeat tempo and some really cool sounding dance beats.

"If I Lose Myself" starts off with a slow, haunting vibe, which quickly picks up as lead vocalist Ryan Tedder gets into the poetic lyrics of the new single. He croons, "I stayed up at the sun/ Thought of all the people, places and things I've loved/ I stayed up just to see/ Of all the faces, you are the one next to me," while electronic keyboard and percussion tunes do their thing in the background. The track then shifts into a David Guetta-sounding pattern of dance and pop rhythms as Tedder sings the catchy hook of the song.

Like the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo's family members go festive in their new family portrait to wish their fans a Merry Christmas. Alana Thompson poses with her parents June and Sugar Bear, sisters Anna, Jessica and Lauryn, and baby niece Kaitlyn.

The "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" clan shows off their wide grins in front of holiday-themed background. They got together for the joyful picture at Smiley's Flea Market and Yard Sale in their hometown of Macon, Georgia on Saturday, December 15.

Singer-songwriter Bruno Mars visited the set of Ellen DeGeneres' daily talk-variety show on December 18 for a touching tribute to the victims and families of last week's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The Hawaiian recording artist opened the show with his "Doo - Wops & Hooligans" track "Count on Me" complete with ukulele in tow for an unplugged rendition of his 2010 hit single.

Supported by a lone back-up singer, Mars flawlessly sang the fitting tribute after a heartfelt introduction by DeGeneres. Like other talk show hosts in the U.S., the comedienne started her show differently today in reference to the recent shooting incident that killed 26 people including 20 school children, and which is currently gripping the nation.

"The Voice" season 3 came to an end with a coronation of the winner. On Tuesday, December 18, after a number of performances by some of today's biggest music acts, Cassadee Pope was officially announced the winner of the singing competition.

She defeated her own team mate Terry McDermott who placed second, while Cee-Lo Green's protege Nicholas David finished on the third place. Cassadee's victory also marks the second time in a row Blake Shelton sent his protege to be a winner on the NBC reality series.

The iconic "One Day More" scene in "Les Miserables" has been unveiled entirely in a new clip for the Tom Hooper-directed movie. Coming out via Spanish site LaSexta, the snippet shows the pivotal scene where all the major characters sing together within each of their own background.

From Amanda Seyfried, Hugh Jackman and Samantha Barks to Eddie Redmayne, Russell Crowe and Aaron Tveit, they are all seen delivering the powerful rendition of the famous number that closes off the Act I of the iconic musical. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen also show off their vocal chops, but Anne Hathaway is nowhere to be seen in the clip.

Kristen Stewart finally broke silence about the affair that rocked her life, five months after caught cheating on Robert Pattinson with director Rupert Sanders, a married father of two. When asked how she dealt with the press after the "momentary indiscretion" was revealed, she opened up that she faced the toughest days that forced her into hiding.

"You have to be OK with your own fears," the actress told The Sun. "If you're an honest person you'll make mistakes, but that's when the most interesting things happen. I used to just stay in my hotel room rather than deal with everything, but if you get too caught up in what others think you become a really disjointed person."

Rosie O'Donnell could be the new judge on "America's Got Talent". Following Sharon Osbourne's exit, the show has been looking for her replacement and the actress/comedian recently revealed that she's in talks with the producers.

"Next year there are some things on the horizon," she told The Observer when met last week. "I am very interested in doing 'America's Got Talent' with Howard Stern and I am talking to them. Let's see how that works."

Garnering success with her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" last year, Angelina Jolie is readying her follow-up project called "Unbroken". The Oscar winner is stepping into final negotiations to helm the movie based on the story of Olympian-turned-WWII POW Louis Zamperini.

The prestigious project has been developed at Universal Pictures for nearly 55 years. Should Jolie finally sign on to direct it, it will mark her first helming stint for a major studio pic. According to Deadline, the "Salt" actress "campaigned hard for the film against a number of other directors," but the studio is impressed with her work and sets its eyes on her to tackle the difficult project.

Steven Bauer had a run-in with police in Sweetwater, Florida recently. The Manolo "Manny" Ribera of "Scarface" was behind the wheel of a 2002 Nissan Altima when arrested and booked into Miami-Dade County Jail early Tuesday morning, December 17 for driving with a suspended license.

Steven was pulled over by a cop after making an unsafe left turn at the intersection of Southwest 107th Avenue and West Flager Street. The cop initially let him off the hook with just a warning, but the actor ended up in jail after the cop found an open 12-year-old warrant when running his driver license.

Ke$ha's latest hit "Die Young" debuted at no. 3 on Billboard last Friday, but after the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it has been consistently diving down the charts over the last few days. This is mainly due to the latest move of radio stations to take the singer's single out of their playlists in respect of the shooting's victims and their families, fearing that the song may be deemed insensitive at this time.

"I understand," Ke$ha responds to the news of the pull-out via Twitter. "I had my very own issue with 'Die Young' for this reason. I did not want to sing those lyrics and I was forced to". She adds, "I'm so, so sorry for anyone who has been effected by this tragedy, and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. Words cannot express."

The culprit who made hoax calls about false home invasions in Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher's residences has been found. An unidentified minor was arrested by LAPD officers at his parents' home in Southern California.

Police said they had strong evidence that linked the young boy to a series of swatting pranks that targeted celebrities like singer Justin Bieber and actor Ashton Kutcher. Detailed info about the juvenile's identity, age and background was not revealed.

A few weeks ago, Samuel L. Jackson expressed that he's interested to become a part of "Star Wars Episode 7". Despite the fact that his character, Mace Windu, died in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", Jackson insisted that he still wanted to return to the new trilogy. Sharing to MTV News, the "Django Unchained" star offered his idea about how the filmmakers could bring the Jedi master back to life.

"They can do all kinds of stuff, but I would think that when they start talking about doing 'VII, VIII, and IX', they're not talking about spinning off and going backwards," the Nick Fury of "The Avengers" stated. "They're actually talking about going somewhere."

Jimmy Kimmel couldn't hide his sadness over the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. Hosting "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Monday, December 17, he got choked up as he addressed the tragic incident in his opening monologue.

"I think the president said what needed to be said last night on television, I think he said it beautifully," he began talking about the mass shooting. Offering his condolence to the victims' families, he added, "I just want the people of Newtown to know we're not taking what you're going through lightly, and we are thinking of you a lot, all of us."

It seems that Bret Easton Ellis feels sorry for dissing "Zero Dark Thirty (2012)" director Kathryn Bigelow on Twitter recently. The screenwriter of "The Canyons" has offered an apology for Bigelow, claiming that he went "beyond douchiness into another more insensitive realm."

Writing on The Daily Beast, the writer of "American Psycho" admitted that he went too far with his Twitter rants against the Oscar-winning helmer of "The Hurt Locker". He said that his tweets made him "look like I'm attacking Kathryn Bigelow when I just had an urge to tweet about her."

Rumor has it, The Rolling Stones, Daft Punk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Phoenix are among the bands set to play at Coachella 2013. According to an e-mail sent by music and concert event site, Songkick, to their subscribers, the said artists have a concert date for April 2013. This leads music fans to speculate that the date is for the grand music festival happening at Indio, California next spring.

A screen cap of the mysterious e-mail was then posted by music blog, Pretty Much Amazing. It was explained that the event social calendar site has alerted fans about the new line-up for Coachella, which stirred more rumors about the confirmed performers for the show. It's mentioned, though, that there is still no news whether the e-mail alert was a hoax or a mistake on the part of Songkick in releasing such unconfirmed information.

Michael Haneke's critically-acclaimed drama, "Amour", has just dropped a very touching clip. Though focusing on a simple scene where an old married couple sits in their dining room, the snippet is quite emotional because of the powerful performance of Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Donning a green robe, Riva sits alone on her chair with her eyes showing no sign of life. Her on-screen husband, Trintignant, approaches her and tries to make her speak by repeatedly asking, "What's going on? What's wrong?" Still, the wife remains mum and shows no expression in her face.

"Project Runway" will feature a new face in the judging panel when it returns for an 11th season. Lifetime has announced that Michael Kors leaves his regular judge post vacant due to scheduling issues, but he will return as a judge in the season 11 finale.

"Always part of the Project Runway family, Michael will be seen in the future on the show," so the network says, "and we are excited to confirm that Michael will be back as a judge for season 11 finale." Kors joined the reality series in the first season.

Bronson Pelletier, who's well known for playing Jacob Black's wolf buddy Jared in "Twilight Saga", got arrested by police at LAX Monday, December 17. It happened just a week after the star was cuffed in West Hollywood for possession of controlled substance.

The actor, who appeared in four "Twilight" movies, was taken to jail by the cops due to public intoxication. He was about to board a plane, but police took him back to the terminal because of his unruly behavior. He was told to catch another flight after sobering up.

Both Anne Hathaway and Samuel L. Jackson have movies coming out this Christmas Day and they chose to promote them together with a Funny or Die video. Hathaway and Jackson argued which of their non-festive themed movies, "Les Miserables" and "Django Unchained" respectively, is more sad.

Hathaway began with the definition of her movie title, which is "The Miserable [People]". She also pointed out that her character Fantine got her hair cut short and lost her child. People got beaten in her movie and they lose their depressing jobs at factories as well. "The star of your movie had his own sitcom on The WB," she told Jackson.

Hugh Jackman shared another personal life story that led him to adopt his children, Oscar and Ava. The "Les Miserables" actor revealed to Katie Couric that he and wife Deborra-Lee Furness struggled through fertility and suffered two miscarriages in the past.

"To be clear, Deb and I always wanted to adopt. So that was always in our plan," the 44-year-old said. "We didn't know where in the process that would happen but biologically obviously we tried and it was not happening for us and it is a difficult time. We did IVF and Deb had a couple of miscarriages. I'll never forget it the miscarriage thing - it happens to one in three pregnancies, but it's very very rarely talked about."

Donald Trump gained victory on the eve of Miss Universe pageant. His Miss Universe Organization won against former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin who claimed in June that Miss USA pageant is not only rigged but also "fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent and in many ways trashy."

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz, acting as an arbitrator, ruled on Tuesday, December 18 that Monnin was making false claims that defame the organization. The judge stated that "the method in which the Miss USA Pageant is judged...precludes any reasonable possibility that the judging was rigged." Katz awarded the organization $5 million in damages.

TV shows and movie premieres are not the only things pulled following the shooting in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school. Ke$ha's latest hit "Die Young" reportedly is being yanked out of the airwaves in the wake of the tragedy that killed 20 children and 6 adults.

On Friday, December 14, "Die Young" was till number three on radio charts with 167 million hits. However, the massacre led to a decline in the number of listeners worldwide with only 148 million tuning in on Monday. The next day, it plummeted further with 98.5 million listeners nationwide, TMZ reported.

A few extra minutes are added to the upcoming episodes of "Game of Thrones". As it enters the third season, the hit epic series will be longer in duration because the showrunners are adapting it from the first half of George R.R. Martin's third book, "A Storm of Swords", which is considerably longer than the previous two novels.

Telling Entertainment Weekly that the season will still keep the 10-episode tradition, producer Dan Weiss said, "There's almost another full episode's worth of extra minutes spread across the season. One of the great liberties with HBO is we're not forced to come in at a specific time. We can't be under 50 minutes or over 60, but that gives us a lot of flexibility."