Barbie is unstoppable… Meghan Markle makes subtle return to Instagram… Michael Oher lawsuit update… Doja Cat will “explore acting”… and Britney Spears & Sam Asghari Split

Listen to “Showbiz – Aug 17, 2023” on Spreaker.

We don’t have the box office totals from yesterday, but on Tuesday, “Barbie” earned another $6.1M. It is now the biggest Warner Bros. movie EVER in North America, with a domestic box office total of $537.4M. Until this week, that honor belonged to “The Dark Knight,” which topped out at $536M. Worldwide, “Barbie” has made $1.2B, but they’re still Warner Bros.’ second-biggest global hit. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” is still their top earning movie globally, with $1.34B. But it’s not all good news for Warner Bros. “The Flash” lost over $200M for the studio, and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” lost around $150M. Warner Bros. “Blue Beetle” premieres tomorrow. Depending on who you ask, the movie is expected to earn anywhere from $12M to $32M — quite a wide spread! But it ultimately needs to earn around $240M just to break even.

#Barbie is unstoppable.

With $537.5 million, the comedy is now Warner Bros.' biggest domestic earner in history (beating "The Dark Knight").

In the coming days, “Barbie” will surpass Super Mario Bros." as the biggest domestic release of 2023.https://t.co/e9PwUHzfWY
— Variety (@Variety) August 16, 2023

Meghan Markle gave up a lot for love. When she got with Prince Harry, it wasn’t long before Meghan had to give up her beloved blog “The Tig” and sacrificed her Instagram. But earlier this month, we learned she’d secured @Meghan on Instagram, with the intention of using it to promote her Spotify podcast. A source told Page Six, “Meghan was set to go live on Insta, but changed her mind shortly before she launched her ‘Archetypes’ podcast, so it’s just sitting there now.” Now, sources say Meghan has been biding her time, waiting for the right moment to make that first impactful post. As of right now, the profile picture is still pink wildflowers and the follower count is closing in on 71K. She follows no one. But Megan may be close to her big return because yesterday, her friend shared a photo where they’re belatedly celebrating Meghan’s 42nd birthday.

Meghan Markle makes subtle return to Instagram https://t.co/XFH4KsijyS
— The Independent (@Independent) August 16, 2023

Fans of “The Blind Side” were shocked on Monday when Michael Oher said he was going to sue the Tuohy family tricked him into believing he was adopted when it was only a conservatorship, and then used their power to enter into contracts that earned THEM millions, and giving Michael basically nothing. Michael said he only found out the truth about the conservatorship earlier this year and after trying to work things out privately, he had no choice but to sue. But Sean Tuohy denied all that, saying he and his wife wanted to adopt Michael, but because he was over 18, they legally couldn’t do that. Their only option was the conservatorship, and to make sure everything was on the up-and-up, they had Michael’s mother in the courtroom when this all went down. He said Michael has been pulling away from the family for the past year or so and came to them demanding $15M, or else he’d file this lawsuit and expose their lies. Now Michael’s own words are coming back to destroy his case. In his 2011 memoir “I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond,” Michael wrote, “It kind of felt like a formality, as I’d been a part of the family for more than a year at that point. Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators.’ They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.”

‘Blind Side’ subject Michael Oher wrote about conservatorship in 2011 memoir: Here’s what he said https://t.co/OSRu8Af5up pic.twitter.com/3eYqGKITQs
— New York Post (@nypost) August 17, 2023

About a month ago, Doja Cat got into a back and forth on her Instagram when her fans basically said, “Tell us you love us” and she said she didn’t love them because she didn’t even know them. Doja also didn’t like the fact that her fans called themselves kittenz — and then someone reminded her that SHE gave them that name! But Doja said she was drunk and 18 at the time and they needed to get off their phones, get jobs and help their parents with the house. As a result, Doja lost 300K followers, but she is so okay with that. She posted yesterday, “Seeing all these people unfollow me makes me feel like I’ve defeated a large beast that’s been holding me down for so long and it feels like I can reconnect with the people who really matter and love me for who I am and not for who I was.” Meantime, Doja — who has threatened to quit music in the past — told “Harper’s Bazaar” that she’s considering pausing her music career to try standup comedy or acting. She said, “ I love comedies and action films. I want to learn martial arts and be in a film like John Wick.”

Doja Cat Opens Up About Being in a ‘Committed’ Relationship and Plans to Pause Music to Pursue Acting https://t.co/avmRlbi3Rv
— billboard (@billboard) August 16, 2023

Sam Asghari has filed for divorce from Britney Spears, citing the usual “irreconcilable differences.” The rumor is, they got into a huge fight after Sam accused Britney of cheating on him, and we have to assume it’s with her agent Cade Hudson, because she’s always taking him on vacation. It’s interesting to note that in his filing yesterday, Sam listed July 28 as their legal date of separation. He also wants Britney to pay him spousal support and cover his lawyers’ fees. Britney has powerhouse attorney Lauren Wasser representing her, and the prenup she had Sam sign before they got married 14 months ago is reportedly ironclad. However, a source told Page Six that Sam is “attempting to negotiate concessions beyond his prenup and threatening to go public with extraordinarily embarrassing information about Britney unless he gets paid.” Britney’s baby sister Jamie Lynn hasn’t commented publicly, but she did like “People” magazine’s Instagram post announcing the divorce. And Britney’s big brother Bryan posted on his IG Story, “Sam is a scam.” Britney responded to the divorce news by posting a picture of her sitting on a horse on the beach, captioning it, “Buying a horse soon !!! So many options it’s kinda hard !!! A horse called Sophie and another called Roar ??? I can’t make up my mind !!! Should I join the camaraderie and put a pink cowboy hat on ??? Either way I think I found my sweet spot with Roar !!!”