Drew Barrymore apologizes… Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman… Hugh Jackman addresses split… Chris Brown goes back at Tinashe… and Russell Brand denies accusations

Listen to “Showbiz – Sept 18, 2023” on Spreaker.

 

Drew Barrymore posted a statement on Instagram saying she supports striking writers — reminding us all that she dropped out of hosting the MTV Movie Awards because of it — but she made the decision to start taping her talk show anyway because “this is bigger than just me.” The backlash was swift. But Drew doubled down, saying, “I own this choice…We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind…I know there’s just nothing I can do that will make this OK for those it is not OK with. I fully accept that. I fully understand that. There are so many reasons why this is so complex. And I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anyone. That’s not who I am.” That only made things worse. Rosie O’Donnell said what Drew SHOULD have done was throw herself on the mercy of all the striking writers. Rosie posted, “Stop taping the show. Stop asking audiences to cross the picket line. Then ask someone to help you craft three declarative sentences. They should follow along these lines: I made an error. I apologize to the WGA for disrespecting the work of professional writers. I apologize to all union members who are withstanding real hardship as I live a life of luxury.” Drew received that message. Yesterday she posted, “ I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over. I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.” Seeing what happened to Drew, Jennifer Hudson and the crew at “The Talk” have decided to push back their shows until the strikes are resolved, as well.

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis wrote character statements for convicted rapist Danny Masterson, hoping the judge would take that into consideration before his sentencing. When those letters were made public, Ashton and Mila posted an apology video, saying they didn’t know these letters would be made public. But the fallout from those letters of support continues. Ashton has officially resigned as board chair of Thorn, an anti-human trafficking organization he co-founded. In a letter to the board, Ashton wrote, “I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately. I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve. Victims of sexual abuse have been historically silenced and the character statement I submitted is yet another painful instance of questioning victims who are brave enough to share their experiences. This is precisely what we have all worked to reverse over the last decade.” Mila reportedly resigned as a board member, as well.

In celebrity couples news — Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness made their last red carpet appearance at the Met Gala on May 1, and they went to the men’s finals at Wimbledon together in July. But in a shocking move, the now former couple released a joint statement saying they are getting divorced after 27 years of marriage. It said, “We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.” They made the standard request for privacy, before adding, “This is the sole statement either of us will make.” Hugh and Deborra-Lee share two children, 23-year-old Oscar and 18-year-old Ava. Teyana Taylor also confirmed that she and her husband Ian Shumpert have broken up after 10 years together, 7 of those married. She posted yesterday, “In all fairness, Iman and I are separated and have been for a while. To be 1000% clear, ‘infidelity’ ain’t one of the reasons for our departure. We are still the best of friends, great business partners and are one hell of a team when it comes to co-parenting our 2 beautiful children.” But on the flip side, Adele has us all thinking she’s married again. She’s been with basketball agent Rich Paul for a while now. But Remember last September when Adele posted some award she won sitting on her coffee table and there was a book laying behind it that said, “The Pauls”? Adele never addressed it, but at her Las Vegas residency this weekend, a woman in the audience asked, “Can I marry you?” Adele answered, “You can’t marry me. I’m straight, my love. And husband’s here tonight.”

We’ve got a couple of celebrity feuds brewing! On “The Zach Sang Show” Tinashe talked about how she felt forced to work with some with controversial artists early in her recording career. Of her song “Let’s Be Real Now” with R. Kelly, Tinashe said “I literally block out that R. Kelly song from my mind. I forgot that it even exists…” And of her song “Player” with Chris Brown, Tinashe said she didn’t feel like Chris should’ve been on it, but he “was, like, their biggest artist that they had on rhythmic radio at the time.” Under an Instagram post titled, “Tinashe Regrets 2015 Collaborations with R. Kelly & Chris Brown: ‘That is So Embarrassing,’” Chris commented, “Name 5 Tinashe songs or die… Everybody dead. She full of dat evil. Shawty career is nonexistent. What’s more embarrassing is that she worked with all these people and not one of us could save her career.” And Halle Berry is ticked off at Drake for using a photo of her getting slimed at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards as the cover art for his new song with SZA called, “Slime You Out.” She posted, “Sometimes you have to be the bigger guy…even if you’re a woman!” with the middle finger emoji. When someone commented, “That photo is owned by Getty Images. So I’m sure he got their permission. And paid the fee. Why you mad?” Halle responded, “Cuz he asked me and I said NO that’s why. Why ask I you intend to do what you want to do! That was the (BLANK) you to me. Not cool. You get it?” Drake hasn’t directly commented, but he did post of photo of himself with his back to the camera, wearing a t-shirt that read, “What the hell is going on?” He captioned it with a couple of crying laughing emojis and “literally tho…”

Hours before a documentary hit the airways in London, Russell Brand posted a video admitting to years of sexual promiscuity, but saying all of his relationships were consensual and he was the victim of a targeted attack. Russell said, “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the tie when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the tie, when I was in the movies and, as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous….To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question is there another agenda at play.” Russell suggests that because he is now speaking out about issues — such as Big Pharma and COVID vaccines — he’s the victim of a coordinated attack designed to discredit him, much like they did to Joe Rogan. In a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4, four women claim they were sexually assaulted by Russell between 2006 and 2013. One of the women claims she was sexually assaulted by Russell during their 3-month relationship, when she was only 16 and still in school. Another woman claims she has medical records to back up her rape claims.

 

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