December 27, 2012

Rider Strong, one of the hottest teen actors of the 1990's, is engaged to get married, his representative confirms. The former "Boy Meets World" star popped the question to his actress girlfriend, Alexandra Barreto, on Wednesday, December 26.

Still according to his rep, Rider proposed with "a handmade ring he created himself" consisting of three diamonds and a gold band. The couple has shared a picture of the engagement ring.

James Gunn tells people not to take any casting rumor regarding his new movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" for granted. Via his Facebook page, the director stated, "Almost everything in that Variety article on the Guardians of the Galaxy casting (and all the following articles based on it) was/is completely inaccurate. Just for the record."

The post has been deleted, but some movie sites already cited his statement. When IGN interpreted his statement as a denial, Gunn quickly cleared things up by saying, "I didn't deny (or confirm) specifics. I just said the majority of the Variety article was inaccurate. So your headline is off."

While many are still enjoying their holidays, the beloved detectives of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" are facing yet another case in early 2013. A preview for the upcoming episode sees a priest becoming a victim of assault by Detective Fin Tutuola's ex-brother-in-law, but the SVU soon becomes suspicious that the priest hides something bigger that led to the attack.

Maintaining his innocence despite his criminal record, Fin's former brother-in-law asks the detectives to find evidence that exonerates him. As the SVU is pressing the priest to make a confession, a buried church scandal begins to unravel.

The Black Crowes are set to end their three-year hiatus from the music scene with a series of tour dates starting spring of next year. The band made their announcement on their official website which showed the complete list of concert dates for 2013. The Southern rockers will first arrive in Manchester in the U.K. on March 24 and will kick off their U.S. tour on April 2 in Port Chester, New York.

The tour has been dubbed "Lay Down with Number 13" trek and will take band members Chris Robinson, Steve Gorman, Rich Robinson, Adam Macdougall and Sven Pipien to other key cities in the states such as Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Dallas, and Washington. They will be joined by Jackie Greene on guitar and vocals.

In a broadcast of the pre-taped 35th annual Kennedy Center Honors, Robert Plant appeared to be overwhelmed with emotion when Heart paid tribute to his band Led Zeppelin. The English singer got teary when "Stairway to Heaven" was played at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Another classic "Whole Lotta Love" was delivered by Lenny Kravitz.

"The jams of Led Zeppelin are second to none," presenter Jack Black gushed. "Just ask anyone, from Oliver Stone to Paul Ryan and everyone in between! They sang songs about love, about Vikings, about Vikings making love. You know, they say Led Zeppelin sold their souls to Satan. Come on, guys, you know you did. There's no other way to explain your ungodly talents!"

20th Century Fox has released the first TV spot for "A Good Day to Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis. While the video lacks new scenes, it manages to capture some of high-octane actions set to "Ode to Joy".

In this fifth installment of "Die Hard" film franchise, the iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClane for the first time finds himself on foreign soil after traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack. John is unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist.

Before announcing her split from husband of nearly three years Jason Hoppy, Bethenny Frankel had already poured her heart out about what issues they were trying to resolve to make it work. "Our core issues are wanting the other person to be somebody they are not," she revealed to PEOPLE in a May interview.

"Nothing comes easily for me," she said. "Being successful in business doesn't come easy for me. Marriage doesn't come easily for me. You have to fight for everything." Regarding her husband, she uttered, "Jason is more balanced. He doesn't want to work 24 hours a day. He wants to play golf and go out with his friends."

James Franco is working on a documentary project with up-and-coming female porn director Princess Donna Dolore. According to TMZ, the supposedly super top-secret movie is about the bondage porn site Kink.com. The "Oz: The Great and Powerful" actor and the adult fetish star, who recently met for the first time, seemed to have that instant chemistry that will do wonders for the documentary.

During their meeting, 34-year-old Franco was given an official Princess Donna Dolore shirt. He was photographed wearing the T-shirt, which featured the abbreviation "W.W.P.D.D?", short for "What Would Princess Donna Do?", printed on the front side of the shirt. On the back was a hand forming a fist which is Dolore's trademark symbol.

Tom Cruise reportedly has moved on from Katie Holmes with a 26-year-old restaurant manager named Cynthia Jorge. They were reportedly grinding on the dance floor of swanky Mulberry St. club, Le Baron, two days after she slipped her card to him after he dined in the eatery where she works.

Contrary to the story run by In Touch about Tom's alleged date, a source told Gossip Cop that the "Mission Impossible" actor danced with several women that night. The insider insisted the divorced father of three was not exclusively at the club with Cynthia or any other females.

New year means a new chance at love for a single lady like Mindy Lahiri. A promo for 2013 episodes of "The Mindy Project" shows that the titular character finds herself a new man after breaking up with Josh at Christmas party.

"We are going to have sex, just so you know," Mindy's new love interest tells her in an elevator, prompting the eager girl to make a move and try to kiss him right at the moment. "Not now...in an elevator," the guy says.

Singer-songwriter and all around entertainer Mya has just released her newest music video "Mr. Incredible", the latest track from her seventh album "K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple)". Director Derek Brown made her wear an afro in the clip, as he went for a throwback to the 1970's for the concept of the music video, complete with the colors and effects reminiscent of the disco era, while giving it a home video texture. The storyline has Mya in a foamy bath as she prepares for a night of steamy passion with her lover.

"Mr. Incredible" was voted by fans as their favorite track from the R 'n' B singer's latest album "K.I.S.S.", released in the U.S. earlier this year. Mya reportedly released the video for the track on Christmas Day as a gift for everyone who has supported her album.

YOLO acronym that Drake helped popularize has become so famous that it appears on many merchandises in stores across the country, but it didn't seem to make him happy. The rapper took to Instagram to share his feeling about the matter.

"Walgreens....you gotta either chill or cut the cheque," Drizzy tweeted a caption in a picture that shows many YOLO baseball caps displayed in the store. "Macy's...same goes for you," the Canadian rhymer added in another image that features a YOLO t-shirt put on sale.

U.K. act Mumford & Sons's sophomore album "Babel" is doing very well in the charts, reaching no. 1 both in the U.S. and U.K., and has earned the band six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Americana Album, but it's not keeping the group from exploring an arrangement different from their usual folksy rock sound. The members of the English rock band have revealed that despite their recent success, they won't be resting on their laurels and that they're already back at work on their next album, saying they might use an electric guitar or synthesizer on their third album.

Frontman Marcus Mumford told the UK Sunday Times, "We're not going to be the band that stands for folk music or for organic music. We've always done what feels good, rather than what we've thought long and hard about, and we'll do whatever feels soulful next, whether that's with an electric guitar or a synthesizer." Fellow vocalist and keyboardist Ben Lovett added, "It's dangerous for us to talk about what we've been discussing for the third album, but we do have greater ambitions not to just stay within certain sonic confines."

Chad Ochocinco is upset that a sex tape featuring him and two women appears on the internet without his consent. The former NFL star wants the person(s) who leaked the NSFW footage brought to justice, and has turned to FBI for help to find the culprit.

Per TMZ, the estranged husband of Evelyn Lozada believes the video was hacked from his cell phone. While waiting for news from the people in Federal Bureau of Investigation, he's talked to his lawyer to send cease-and-desist letter to remove the tape from the web.

Rapstress Nicki Minaj seemed to have made amends with radio station Hot 97 as she appeared for a hosting gig for the station's Christmas Extravaganza show. The party, which took place Tuesday night, December 25, saw the Harajuku Barbie arriving not until 2:30 in the morning at Webster Hall in New York. This allegedly caused dismay for the live audience who then sent boos and jeers at Minaj when she finally came out on stage.

The restless and very much irritated crowd also seemed to expect the "Va Va Voom" singer to perform and forgot that she was there to handle the hosting role for the evening. As reported by Hip Hop Wired, Minaj, who wore a figure-hugging black and red spandex catsuit, mainly stayed in her VIP balcony. "Unfortunately that made the crowd even more agitated as boos were heard. The key word here, that some in attendance chose to ignore, is that Nicki was hosting," the site reported.

Questions on how Jessica Simpson's second pregnancy will affect her deal with Weight Watchers have been answered. In a statement, the weight-loss company says the fiancee of Eric Johnson will continue to be their spokesperson, but she will not continue her Weight Watchers diet during the pregnancy.

Fully supporting Jessica and her growing family, a rep for the company says that now that she's expecting another child, the singer "will not be following the program during the pregnancy while her weight and well-being are monitored by her obstetrician, as is recommended for any woman during pregnancy."

"Dallas" isn't the only project that Larry Hagman filmed weeks leading to his death. The late veteran actor will appear posthumously in a new episode of CBS' "I Get That a Lot", the network announces.

The J.R. Ewing depicter shot his segment for the reality special at a Santa Clara, California membership warehouse shopping club in September. He will be featured posing as a Costco employee offering free samples of barbeque sauce to ordinary people.

Filmmaker Wes Anderson has revealed the names of the actors that will make up the star-studded cast for his next movie titled "The Grand Budapest Hotel". During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Anderson talked about his next film and confirmed that some big name stars including Saoirse Ronan and Jude Law were set to take lead roles in the new flick.

Other cast members revealed by the director were Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Mathieu Amalric. Anderson added that Owen Wilson could play a small part in the film as well.

Her album "Warrior" may be dropping down the charts due to recent controversies surrounding her single "Die Young", but it's not stopping Ke$ha from working on her latest music video. The "Tik Tok" singer is currently shooting the clip for her second single, "C'mon", as she reveals to fans by tweeting a photo of herself on the set of the video shoot.

"WTF what is going on??? Will have to wait to find out #C'MON music video, it will keep us awake at night till then, K$", the pop star tweets as she shows a photo of herself with what seems to be The White Rabbit from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", wearing a biker get-up and a bandana, while other puppets from Fraggle Rock appear in the background.

Kate Winslet has got married for a third time without people knowing. "I can confirm that Kate Winslet married Ned Rocknroll in NY earlier this month in a private ceremony attended by her two children and a very few friends and family," her rep says.

According to The Sun, the nuptials was held in a converted barn. Kate's "Titanic" and "Revolutionary Road" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly gave her away on her trip down the aisle, while Ned's brother Jack served as the best man.

Lindsay Lohan gives a look inside her bedroom in a sneak peek for an upcoming episode of "Million Dollar Decorators". In the clip, interior decorator Kathryn Ireland visits LiLo's house, where the actress recently moved in.

Upon entering her room, Lindsay admits she needs more space as she puts a lot of her stuff on the floor. Kathryn, meanwhile, notices that the former Disney starlet's handbags have become sort of decorations in the room.

Patrick Dempsey is leading a group of investors to buy Tully's Coffee, a 20-year-old coffee chain that has become a Seattle icon, out of bankruptcy. The "Grey's Anatomy" actor is aiming to potentially save 500 jobs with the buyout, saying it's one of his ways to give back to his favorite city.

"I've always loved this city, and with the purchase of Tully's Coffee, I plan to spend a lot of time in Seattle and the stores connecting with the community and growing the Tully's brand," he explains in a statement. "Seattle may be my home away from home in the very near future."

Another character will slip into the red-and-blue costume in the 700th and final issue of Marvel Comics' "The Amazing Spider-Man". The said edition, which will be published December 26, will see Peter Parker die once again and Doctor Octavius a.k.a. Dr. Octopus assume his alter ego.

After swapping bodies in their final showdown, Spidey's nemesis is finally able to defeat his former pupil. Peter's trapped in Dr. Octopus' body to death, while Doc Ock will use his newfound youth and power for good deeds.

"Glee" creator Ryan Murphy is celebrating his new status as a dad. The 47-year-old and his husband David Miller announced to their friends and family via email, the birth of their first child, a baby boy named Logan Phineas Miller Murphy.

According to the email sent out on Christmas Eve, Logan was born that morning at 9:47 A.M. He weighed in at 6.6 pounds and measured up at 21 inches. The proud parents also attached a photo of the newborn lying inside a Christmas stocking, E! News reported.

A judge has dismissed Jennifer Lopez's extortion lawsuit against her former driver Hakob Manoukian. The singer sued Manoukian for $20 million back in August for demanding $2.8 million from her and threatening to leak supposed secrets about her to the media and law enforcement.

Manoukian launched a lawsuit against Lopez earlier this year, claiming he was unfairly fired. He said Lopez's manager Benny Medina had publicly berated at him by saying he was not "presentable" and had struggled with his English.

Forbes has released its annual list of Hollywood's most bankable stars, putting Natalie Portman at number one. The Academy Award winner topped the list of Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck, thanks to her role in "Black Swan" and "No Strings Attached" among others.

According to Forbes' calculation, Portman returns $42.70 for every dollar she earns in her box office movies. She had two more movies "Your Highness" and "Thor" but they are not counted because the former was a box office flop while the latter only put her in supporting role. However, "No Strings Attached" earned a respectable $150 million at the box office with only $25 million of budget.

Words on the street are, Janet Jackson is ready to take her relationship with billionaire boyfriend to the next level. The younger sister of Michael Jackson reportedly is engaged to Qatari managing director Wissam Al Mana earlier this year.

Jackson and Al Mana have been dating for two years and the couple is planning to tie the knot this spring in Qatar. According to Us Weekly, he "gave her a huge, expensive ring" earlier this year. The reason she has not been seen with the bling is because "she's afraid it will get lost, so she keeps it locked up!"