January 15, 2013

After a recent devastating revelation that she's called off her engagement with Jason Trawick, pop icon Britney Spears stepped out on the streets of L.A. on Monday, January 14. Appearing to be in good spirits, she was holding two cups of iced coffee outside a local Coffee Bean shop, wearing aviator shades and a sweatshirt hoodie with the letters "l-o-v-e" printed upfront and the words "I am love" spelled at the back.

The "Oops!...I Did It Again" singer revealed over the weekend that she and Trawick had decided to call it quits after three years of dating. "Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement," she said on Friday, January 11. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends." Trawick likewise declared about their breakup, "As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever."

Days leading to the season 12 premiere of "American Idol", Nicki Minaj talked to Ellen DeGeneres about her feud with Mariah Carey on the show's set. Asked what led to the argument, she initially responded, "I don't know. It was just two big old divas, I guess."

The Young Money femcee then went on detailing, "I was just like sitting there, and I guess before I went in there I heard all the stuff that was being said, but I didn't believe it. I heard them saying 'Mariah doesn't want you on the panel' but I was like, 'No. I am friends with Mariah.' "

Arnold Schwarzenegger's new actioner "The Last Stand" threw a star-studded premiere on Monday, January 14. Taking place at the Grauman's Chinese Theater, the event was supported by a host of famous faces including Karina Smirnoff, Jaimie Alexander and Genesis Rodriguez.

For the pormo event, Arnie opted to kept it formal in a traditional two-piece black suit. He was all smiles as he posed for the photographers along with director Kim Ji-woon and the other cast members. Jaimie joined him on the black carpet, looking flawless in a plunging white dress that flaunted her inner goddess persona.

"The Walking Dead" has found itself a new showrunner after Glen Mazzara announced that he wouldn't return to the position for the next season. Supervising producer Scott M. Gimple has now been tapped to take over the role starting the fourth season and his deal is being finalized.

Gimple joined the zombie apocalypse series in the second installment as a producer. He was promoted to supervising producer in the third season. He's expected to begin working on the fourth chapter in two weeks.

Santigold debuts a new music video for her track entitled "Girls" off the new album "Girls - Volume 1: Music from the Original HBO Series", the soundtrack of the hit TV series "Girls" starring Lena Dunham. "Girls" is featured in the 14-track standard edition and the 18-track deluxe edition of the soundtrack album released last January 8, less than a week before the HBO comedy series returned to TV screens last Sunday, January 13 for its second season.

"Girls" is an upbeat, catchy tune with a chorus that will get audience hooked for hours on end. The video shows women of all sizes, shapes and forms, dancing and singing to the female power anthem filled with positive lyrics: "I'm the best who can make a mess of something sweet / I'm a fighter so I know that I wont retreat / I'm a stunner if you wanna put this encore / And they cast me out, on the radio / I'm a winner though I am not afraid of defeat / I'm a just make up an army feet."

After getting all-formal for the 2013 Golden Globe Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 13, some celebrities went crazy while having fun at the show's after-party. One of them was Julianne Hough, who literally split her gorgeous gown, which she wore during the ceremony, while enjoying the night on the dance floor.

The "Footloose" actress took to her Instagram to share photos of her ripped Jenny Packham pink dress. Making funny faces, the blond beauty showed how her skintight gown was widely torn in two places. She wrote, "think I may have danced too hard.... Eeek!!!!" and added, "I love to dance regardless of how expensive a dress may be... You can't hold me down!!!"

Howard Stern tried to make amends to Lena Dunham days after he grabbed the headlines for bashing the actress. On Monday, January 14 on his Sirius-XM show, the shock jock apologized for his harsh comment, saying, "I felt bad because I really do love the show 'Girls' and enjoy it. And I admire the girl who writes it."

The judge of "America's Got Talent" went on claiming that the media which portrayed him as bashing the Golden Globe-winning actress was "a hatchet job." He added, "So I said to [producer Gary Dell'Abate], would you please contact Lena Dunham and please tell her that I would like to explain myself to her on the air and apologize to her because I do love the show and it makes me feel bad that she is getting the impression that I somehow think she's just a talentless little fat chick."

The heirs of composer George Gershwin have filed a $15 million lawsuit in a New York State Court against Warner Music. The heirs sued the music giant for the underpayment of royalties and other related discrepancies it has committed against the composer best known for his orchestral works "Rhapsody in Blue", "An American in Paris" and "Porgy and Bess".

The Gershwin heirs claim that Warner Music failed "to protect and preserve Gershwin's copyright interests both domestically and abroad" after they conducted their own audit back in 2007. They also discovered that since Gershwin's death in 1937, Warner Music subsidiaries had been exploiting his work.

Fresh off his Oscar nomination for Best Actor thanks to "Silver Linings Playbook", Bradley Cooper is closing a new movie deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. Per Deadline, the 38-year-old actor is set to star in spy thriller pic "Dark Invasion", based on a nonfiction book by Howard Blum.

Cooper will not only star in it, but he will also serve as the producer alongside John Lesher and Adam Kassan. No director and scribe have been tapped for the project as Warners has just sealed a high-six-figure deal to acquire the book, which will be published by Crown/Random on September 11 this year.

When "The Bachelor" returned with the second episode of season 17, Sean Lowe began the dates with the girls. Sarah was the lucky one who got the first one-on-one date with the hunky guy.

They were whisked away by a helicopter and landed on a rooftop. Sean told the 26-year-old ad executive that they were going to free fall 300 feet. Once they arrived on the ground, they celebrated it with a toast.

There seems to be no end insight yet for the ongoing was of words between pop diva Lady GaGa and music manager/promoter Sharon Osbourne. Ironically, after both said that the world should be a more peaceful place, Sharon, the wife of heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, fired back at the 26-year-old singer/dancer on her CBS show, "The Talk" on January 14, Monday, two days after GaGa went on Facebook to defend her open letter to "Fashion Police" co-host Kelly Osbourne, Sharon's daughter.

In front of co-hosts Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sara Gilbert and Sheryl Underwood, Sharon openly said that GaGa was setting a bad example for her millions of fans. "Don't let your fans be so hideously damaging, hurtful, violent...on your website," she reprimanded the controversial artist. "If you are a Mother Monster, monitor it. Why haven't you, as a responsible young woman, said, 'No violence on my website, no violence, no threats, no violence'."

On March 5, Boz Scaggs will launch his new album "Memphis" after five years of touring and his stint with The Dukes of September, Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald. The multi-platinum musician comes out with the new album after four decades in the music and entertainment industry.

"It's one of the easiest projects I've ever had. I sang songs that feel entirely comfortable to me," Scaggs reveals. "We recorded the 13 tracks to this record in three days. It just sort of fell out easily in the nicest way."

Will Kim Kardashian get hitched to Kanye West though she hasn't officially divorced from Kris Humphries? Latest report suggests that KimYe are planning to "tie the knot" soon in their own "commitment ceremony" because they are tired of waiting for her to officially split from the NBA star.

The report is shared by U.K.'s The Sun, which claims that Kim and Yeezy will hold a ceremony where they will "exchange vows and rings in front of close family and friends." The private event reportedly will be followed by a no-expense-spared bash at a beach mansion in Malibu.

Jaden Smith has dropped a new song entitled "Kite" featuring her 12-year-old sister Willow Smith. In his latest track, Jaden talks about being lost and wanting to fly away like a kite, and about being sad despite being surrounded by rich and famous people. It comes a week after Willow released her own song, the equally melancholic "Sugar and Spice".

Clearly influenced by rapper Drake, Jaden rhymes about living a privileged life and yet still feeling unhappy, "Half of you jokers don't hear what I'm sayin' / But this is real, I'm feelin' pain," he spits. "Fast as a train, sharp as a brain / I am a poet, I do not explain / These are my feelings, I don't entertain / Keepin' it plane, my take, it look like I'm me / You don't know what I attain."

Lindsay Lohan is seemingly displeased with Shawn Holley's works though the attorney has saved her from serious jail time several times in the last five years. Reports say the troubled actress has fired Holley and appointed Mark Heller to rep her on all criminal matters.

Words are, Holley got the words that she's let go when she was preparing to meet a judge in Los Angeles to try to negotiate a deal for the "Liz & Dick" star regarding the three charges stemming from a car crash in June 2012. One of the charges was lying to cops during the investigation.

Quentin Tarantino is not the only one who disagrees with opinions that movie violence plays role in some shooting tragedies that happened recently in the States. Arnold Schwarzenegger also shares the same idea with QT, insisting that people "know the difference" between scenes in the big screen and real-life violence.

Arnie, who will soon be seen in R-rated actioner "The Last Stand", tells USA Today, "Sane people know the difference... We have to separate the two." He goes, "What's most important is that we, as a society, do a better job to prevent these sort of things. You cannot totally eliminate them. There will always be some crazy guy out there shooting. There are mentally ill people. The question is, what can we do?"

The first clip for "Parker" has just been dropped via Yahoo! Movies. Instead of showcasing the film's high-octane action scenes, the sneak peek sees a conversation between Jennifer Lawrence and Jason Statham at a balcony. The two are making a deal that if J.Lo helps Jason accomplish his dangerous mission, she will get a commission.

Based on the series of bestselling novels by Donald E. Westlake, "Parker" follows Jason's titular character, a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: "Don't steal from people who can't afford it and don't hurt people who don't deserve it." However, on his latest heist, his crew double crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead.

Amidst recent reports that Jennifer Lawrence has broken off with her boyfriend Nicholas Hoult, the 22-year-old actress and her co-star in romantic comedy-drama "Silver Linings Playbook", Bradley Cooper, are rumored to be dating. The two Academy Award-nominated stars vehemently denied the dating rumors as they strode the red carpet during the 2013 Golden Globes last Sunday, January 13.

Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell caught up with both Cooper and Lawrence to ask if they were seeing each other. Cooper was quick to shoot down the rumors, saying, "Oh my God. That's very funny... No, my God. No." He added, "We've done two movies together. If it didn't happen by now, it's not going to happen." Their upcoming film "Serena" will be the second time they share screen after "Silver Linings".

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has announced the release dates for its big movie projects in 2014 and 2015. Those which already have the confirmed dates include "The Muppets 2", "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" and "Maleficent".

The sequel to "The Muppets" is now dated for March 21, 2014 release Stateside. The puppet film, which has tapped Ty Burrell, Ricky Gervais and Tina Fey as the lead human cast, will face off Summit Entertainment's "Divergent", a fantasy movie helmed by Neil Burger and stars Shailene Woodley.

Ann Romney has passed on an offer to compete on "Dancing with the Stars". According to TMZ, the wife of former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will not star on the ABC dancing competition series although she showed a great interest before.

Sources say the show's producers had several meetings with Mrs. Romney, but she eventually "decided against it." Her representative reportedly also confirms, "Ann Romney was approached, but she declined. She will not be appearing on 'Dancing with the Stars'."

Three decades after Natalie Wood died, new details on her tragic death surface. On Monday, January 14, Los Angeles County Coroner's Office released explanations as to why it changed Wood's cause of death from "accidental drowning" to "drowning and other undetermined factors." The statement included re-opened questions of the bruises on the actress' body when she was found floating on Catalina Island in 1981.

"With the presence of fresh bruises in the upper extremities in the right forearm/left wrist area and a small scratch in the anterior neck, this examiner is unable to exclude non-accidental mechanism causing these injuries," chief medical examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran wrote in the report.

A day after dropping his new single, the Timbaland-produced "Suit & Tie" featuring rapper Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake announces the title of the new album from which his latest track has been taken. To be called "The 20/20 Experience", his latest studio effort is a compilation he's been working on since June last year and is set for release sometime in 2013.

It will be the 31-year-old singer-actor's third solo album since his boyband NSYNC split up more than ten years ago. It also marks the pop/dance superstar's return to the music scene since his 2006 sophomore studio set, the commercially successful "FutureSex/LoveSounds". In recent years, Timberlake had been busy on his acting career, starring in films such as "The Social Network", "Bad Teacher" and "Friends with Benefits".

The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards has delivered big ratings for NBC. The Sunday, January 13 ceremony hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler lured 19.7 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.

It's up 17% from last year's telecast and marked the biggest audience for the Golden Globes in six years. It's also the second-highest-rated Golden Globes in nine years, placing only behind the 2004 telecast which pulled in 26.8 million viewers.

After garnering critical acclaim for her acting stint in "Les Miserables", Anne Hathaway already prepares herself for a new high-end film project. The Wrap reports that the Catwoman of "The Dark Knight Rises" is sealed to star in "Taming of the Shrew", which is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play.

The new project already has Abi Morgan working to pen the script. The scribe, who worked for such films as "The Iron Lady" and "Shame", will adapt the story into a modern-day setting. The original Shakespeare play itself was set in mid-20th century in Italy. Serving as the producer is Debra Hayward.

Jodie Foster has garnered reactions from fellow celebrities for addressing her sexuality without explicitly saying it at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards. Taking to their own Twitter pages, most of the stars gave a thumb up to her "coming out" speech.

Rosie O'Donnell, for instance, wrote, "Jodie Foster - rather amazing speech." Kathy Griffin declared herself a big fan of the "Carnage" actress, "I'm a big #JodieFoster fan, especially 2nite. Her speech tells LGBT youth: America has evolved, b proud of who u are!"

Earlier on Monday, January 14, there was an Internet frenzy as news broke out that Zack Snyder was preparing a new "Star Wars" movie that had no connection to the upcoming trilogy. Quickly responding to the gossip, Snyder's rep released a statement to clarify that the "Man of Steel" helmer was not working on the space saga franchise.

To The Hollywood Reporter, the rep claimed, "While he is super-flattered because he is a huge fan, Zack is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars. He is currently in post on his two films, Man of Steel and 300: Battle of Artemisia [now known as '300: Rise of an Empire']." The rep confirmed that Snyder wouldn't work in Episode VII, VIII, IX or any spin-off of "Star Wars".