Burning Q’s: Jonas Bro Theft & Way Broke Stars
Did Selena Gomez steal Nick Jonas from Miley Cyrus?J.D.
Selena Gomez? The baby-faced 15-year-old? Oh, come on. How can a zygote steal a fetus from an embryo? Honestly, people. I step out for three seconds and the quality of your questions just plummets. Plummets! Let’s dispose of them quickly and neatly in a new round of Burning Q’s.
Why are there so many reports of broke celebrities? A lot of them earned millions during their careerswhere did all of this money go?M.M., Colorado
Actually, once A-listers pay off their “teams”agents, managers, business managers, attorneysand taxes, they’re left with only 10 to 15 percent of their paychecks, one manager tells me.
So if a movie star gets $15 million a film, that’s $1.5 million left over. You and I could live quite well on that. That is, unless you’re a twit who needsjust needsa compound in the Malibu Colony, a pied-à-terre in London and a place in the Bahamas. (Malibu Colony homes, popular with the Paris Hilton crowd, go for about $18.5 million, unless you rent.)
Don’t forget the household staff, which stars also feel they just need, need, need: assistants, nannies, security, trainer, nutritionist, butler. Throw in the flying monkeys at the high-powered publicity firm, which can set a star back maybe $55,000 a year. And then add a few shady so-called friends from back in the day who come strolling by with their hands out, andstarting to get the picture?
What is going on with R. Kelly? What is taking so long with this sex-tape case?Ann, Osceola, Kansas
Actually, despite what it may look like, this is not an episode of Law & Order: SVU. This is a real case, which means it takes time. The 2005 Michael Jackson child-molestation case took three and a half months. (He was acquitted.) Jury selection for this trial just started in May.
Hey! Am I hearing things, or did I read that that Gwyneth Paltrow works out for 40 hours a day?Alphea
Yes, absolutely. Forty hours a day. Because once you hit a certain level of stardom, the dweebs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology reach into a secret compartment, created by ancient astronauts and nestled deep within the atomic clock, and give you more hours. The rest of us drones have to get by with just 24 in a day. I hear Clooney gets like 1,500.
Got a question about Hollywood? ASK IT!
Oh, and be my fan on Facebook, ’kay?
R. Kelly Trial Kicks Off
Time for R. Kelly to finally face the music.
After six years of delays, the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B was in a Chicago courtroom today for opening arguments in his kiddie-porn trial.
Prosecutors hope to prove that the 41-year-old "Snake" singer slithered his way into bed almost a decade ago with a then-13-year-old girl and recorded their sex acts for posterity. The tape was an underground sensation before being anonymously mailed in 2002 to the Chicago Sun-Times, which then alerted authorities.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
And the case is hardly a slam dunk for the Cook County District Attorney.
For one, the alleged victimwhose identity has not been disclosed because the purported crime occurred when she was underagehas repeatedly insisted she's not the girl in the 26-minute video, which concludes with a man resembling Kelly urinating on his costar.
Lead prosecutor Shauna Boliker will aim to show that the now-23-year-old woman was pressured into making those denials and establish through the testimony of other witnesses that indeed she was the minor in question.
The defense's job will be to plant enough reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury to acquit the chart-topping Grammy winner on charges of soliciting a minor for child pornography, videotaping the sexual activity and producing child pornography. They'll probably start by arguing that he's not the perp in the video, which will no doubt be screened at some point for the panel.
The panel, seated last week, includes eight white members and four African-Americans. One juror is a Baptist preacher's wife; another is a young woman who said she was once raped; there's also a business executive who said during jury selection he had believed Kelly was guilty.
Judge Vincent Gaughan, a 66-year-old Vietnam vet who has a reputation for running his courtroom a lot like basic training, has imposed eyes-only secrecy to ensure Kelly gets a fair shake and avoid having the trial morph into a full-blown circus, à la those of Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson.
Gaughan has sealed many court documents, held closed-door hearings, imposed a decorum order barring both sides from discussing the case publicly, set stringent rules regarding how reporters cover it and briefly jailed a woman for openly snapping cell phone pictures in court.
Kelly faces up to 15 years in jail, if convicted.
R. Kelly Jury Selection on Track
Jury selection in R. Kelly's child pornography case is continuing in Chicago today, with attorneys for both sides expected to question roughly 150 potential jurors.
The prosecution and defense teams will question the Chi-town residents, who filled out a questionnaire on Friday, over their level of familiarity with the case, and determine whether they've been trapped under a rockor, for poetic justice's sake, in a closetfor the past six years.
The first group of 10 has reported to the courthouse this morning for querying, while a second group of 10 will come this afternoon. Both sides estimate it should take roughly one week to winnow down 12 jurors and four alternates.
The 41-year-old R&B star faces child-pornography charges stemming from a videotape in which he allegedly engaged in sex acts with a girl who may have been as young as 13. The girl has denied the allegations and Kelly has pleaded not guilty.
R. Kelly Jury Selection Begins…Finally
The time has finally come for R. Kelly to face the music, and by the look of things, he may have a few more notes to account for than first thought.
Jury selection in the 41-year-old's absurdly delay-plagued trial on child pornography charges finally kicked off in Chicago today, a date more than six years in the making, but not without one final bid for a postponement.
Despite a last-minute motion filed by Kelly's legal team to delay the trial, Judge Vincent Gaughan ruled that the jury selection would, at long last, begin after a brief recess.
That makes two strikes for the R&B star, as the Chicago Sun-Times also dropped a bombshell on the forthcoming proceedings this morning, revealing that an aide to the singer allegedly paid off an Atlanta woman for the safe return of a sex tapeone separate from the footage allegedly starring Kelly and a 13-year-old girlfeaturing the singer.
It's unclear whether Kelly was privy to the deal.
Further complicating matters, the woman, who is described as having been in love with the star, is also expected to testify that she had a ménage à trois with Kelly and yet another underage girl. The woman has received immunity for her testimony.
As for the more infamous videotape at the heart of the case, the one allegedly starring Kelly and an underage girl, the now 23-year-old female is expected to testify in the trial that she is in fact a victim…of mistaken identity.
While prosecution is adamant otherwise, the woman claims she's not Kelly's costar in the footage.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the charges; he faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.