Entertainment News, Celebrity News Online

Ellen DeGeneres has quit ‘American Idol’, while Kara DioGuardi has reportedly been sacked.

The talk show host decided to quit her judging role after just one season because it wasn’t the “right fit” for her, while the pretty songwriter is said to have been asked to leave as part of a shakeup of the programme following head judge Simon Cowell’s departure.

Explaining her departure in a statement, Ellen said, “A couple months ago, I let FOX and the ‘American Idol’ producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for.

“I also realised this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on Idol and I am very grateful for the year I had, I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”

Meanwhile, gossip website TMZ reports that the show will return to having just three judges, with Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith star Steven Tyler favourites to join Randy Jackson.

The website states, “Sources connected with the ‘American Idol’ negotiations tell TMZ Kara DioGuardi has judged her last contestant on ‘American Idol’ – because she’s been fired.

“We’re told the show will be going back to a three-judge format and assuming all deals are finalised, the judge’s panel will consist of Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

“We’re told the only way Kara could get a reprieve is if the J-Lo deal falls apart – but we’re told that deal is done.”

Singer-and-actress Jennifer has reportedly been in talks with show boss Simon Fuller for several weeks.

Chris Tucker reportedly owes $11.5 million in unpaid taxes.

The actor-and-comedian, who was paid $20 million for each film he starred in for the ‘Rush Hour’ franchise, is believed to owe the huge sum to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after failing to pay taxes in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

In addition to the $11.5 million figure, the 37-year-old star is also reportedly in $3.6 million worth of debt to the state of California.

Officials at the IRS have now filed documents with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office to launch legal proceedings in the hope of retrieving the unpaid taxes.

Tucker is not the first celebrity to fall foul of the US tax system.

In 2007, Jennifer Lopez’s husband Marc Anthony was ordered to pay $2.5 million in back taxes, after he failed to file returns from 2000 to 2004 – a period when he is believed to have earned $15.5 million.

Similarly, ‘National Treasure’ actor Nicolas Cage was forced to sell off many of his assets – including properties, yachts and a 67-million-year-old dinosaur skull worth $276,000 – after being hit with a $6.3 million tax bill last year.

Earlier this month, Wesley Snipes lost his appeal against a three-year jail sentence for wilfully failing to file federal income tax returns in April 2008.

Zac Efron reportedly spent more than $2,000 on lap dancers and vodka at a New York strip club.

The actor and two male friends, including his ‘High School Musical’ co-star Corbin Bleu, visited Flashdancers Gentlemen’s Club on Broadway on Sunday night, June 25, and stayed until 3am.

The ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ star, who has been dating actress Vanessa Hudgens since 2005, is said to have requested dances from three pretty brunettes.

A witness at the club told the New York Post newspaper, “Zac came in Sunday night around midnight with Corbin and one other male friend, who paid for everything. They were seated in the VIP lounge behind the main stage. There was only a rail between them and the girls who were dancing.

“They ordered one bottle of Belvedere vodka and were enthralled with the dancers. They were interacting a lot with the girls and reaching out and showering money on them. There were three girls who Zac and his friends particularly liked and they asked to do personal dances at their table.”

The source continued, “The girls were all slim pretty brunettes, a bit like Zac’s girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens. They were two Americans, called Shannon and Brandi, and a gorgeous Brazilian called Raquel.

“Zac and the boys had a great time and left around 3am.”

The next day Zac attended the New York premiere for his new movie ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ – in which he stars alongside Kim Basinger.

Jennifer Aniston would choose Mexican food as her final meal.

The actress, who is well-known for her strict diet and exercise regime, says the spicy South American cuisine is her favourite food and she would happily pick that if she had choose a meal to tickle her taste buds for the last time.

When quizzed on what she would have for her last meal, she said, “It’d be chips and guacamole, quesadillas, enchiladas and a big tostada salad – and nachos!”

But the ‘Bounty Hunter’ actress is disappointed with the quality of Mexican eateries when she comes to the UK, and thinks the British need to up their game when it comes to the dishes.

She told Stylist magazine, “I’ve said this before but you British guys have really gotta work on your Mexican restaurants. You really do. You gotta get homemade tortillas and home-fry those things.”

However, when asked if she has mastered Mexican cooking, Jennifer replied, “No! But I can make tortilla chips and great guacamole. In fact I can cook and I actually would like to, if I had time to…”

This isn’t the first time the former ‘Friends’ star has spoken about her hunger for Mexican meals.

She recently revealed one of her favorite pastimes is to meet friends for a taco-based treat.

She said, “We always used to meet on a Tuesday and go for Mexican food – Taco Tuesdays – which were great fun.”

Oh be still my heart, the dream movie of every male geek’s heart is coming to the movie screen next March but Warner Bros. gave everyone at this year’s Comic-Con, and now us, a tease of what is t o come when they released the trailer for Zack Snyder’s new movie – Sucker Punch.

I mean, seriously, hot looking babes, steampunk, fantasy, swords, kick-ass smack downs of the bad guys and all in one movie. What more can a guy ask for?

via FirstShowing.net (thanks guys)

Liam Neeson initially found working with Bradley Cooper “terrifying”.

The 58-year-old actor co-stars with ‘The Hangover’ hunk in ‘The A-Team’ and admits he struggled at first to keep up with his younger co-stars.

He recalled, “We did a scene in the van which was my first time with Bradley. He starts this improvisation, prompted by the director, and I’m there going, ‘What the hell is this?’ So it was terrifying for the first few days, and then it got to be inspiring actually.”

However, Liam’s co-stars, which also included Jessica Biel and Sharlto Copley, admit that his presence on the set encouraged them to work harder.

Bradley explained, “It was like stepping on the court with Michael Jordan how it raised everybody’s game.

“That’s just what happens when you get a talent like that to work with.”

Liam had to die his hair white for the role of John ‘Hannibal’ Smith in the movie and rather than worry about the aging effect it would have on his appearance, the actor embraced his new look.

He said, “It was the director Joe Carnahan’s idea originally. But I’m a huge Lee Marvin fan so I basically wrapped my character around a vague impression of Lee Marvin of ‘Dirty Dozen’ fame, which I’ve watched more than 10 times. I think it was a good choice.”

Kimberley Walsh is “rubbish” at working out.

The Girls Aloud beauty admits she often can’t always be bothered to exercise, because she finds keeping fit too boring.

She said, “I’m a bit rubbish. I’m like most girls in that I go in and out of phases for a couple of weeks. I think, ‘Right, I’m going to go to the gym or do a DVD workout’ for a few weeks but then I’ll be rubbish for a few weeks and that’s just the way it goes. I know a lot of my friends are the same. I’m out of the zone at the moment, but who knows – at some stage I might come back. I just struggle to make that a big priority in my life – it’s a bit boring.”

Although she doesn’t enjoy exercise, Kimberley is constantly watching the calories because of her sweet tooth.

She explained, “I’ve always had to be aware of what I eat. If I just ate what I wanted I would be twice the size that I am. So I am aware of it, but again, I have good and bad days, good and bad weeks. If I’m being bad, I love sweet things like chocolate, ice cream, cakes – all the really bad stuff. But if it isn’t really bad, it doesn’t seem worth it! And when I stop myself, I just want it more, so I try to have everything in moderation.

“There is pressure to look good, but for some reason I seem to manage to put it to the back of my mind and not let it bother me too much. You just have to be happy and comfortable in yourself. I’m 28 now – I’ve been through all those times of feeling insecure and having those worries, and I’m not going to do that anymore. I don’t care what anyone says.”

Eminem worries he will become an embarrassment to his daughters.

The ‘We Made You’ hitmaker, who raises his 14-year-old child Hailie, 17-year-old adopted niece Alaina and former wife Kim’s seven-year-old girl Whitney – admits it is growing increasingly different to show his love for the trio as they get older.

He said, “It’s a catch-22: I want to, as a father, express my love for my girls, but I don’t want to go too far with it, where it becomes a hindrance in their lives. When they were younger… it was easier.”

The 37-year-old star, whose records have infamously mocked other people in the public eye, has previously battled an addiction to prescription drugs and admits his problems started when he “ran out” of enemies to target.

He explained to Spin magazine, “I was trapped in my head. I’d spent most of my career going against the grain. Calling bulls**t. And suddenly, I started running out of enemies.

“I started to become that cliche – my own worst enemy.”

The Detroit-born star also revealed he sometimes goes back to the poverty-stricken neighbourhood where he grew up to remind himself of how far he has come in life.

He said, “It may sound corny, but I’ll go by and try to remember how things were when I was in those houses.

“I’ll go back and remember, like, f**k, man, how life was back then. How much of a struggle it was. As time goes by, you might get content and forget things.”

Mel Gibson has reportedly been given the support of Britney Spears.

The 54-year-old actor – who is the subject of domestic violence allegations from ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, has been receiving regular phone calls from the ‘Womanizer’ singer after he previously helped her out following her much-publicised breakdown in 2008.

A source told In Touch weekly magazine, “Mel has been talking to her a lot. They speak on the phone all the time, usually late at night.

“Mel was one of the only people who reached out to help Britney when she was at her lowest point, and she believes that demonstrates what a loving and wonderful man he is.

“She wants people to give him a second chance – just like he gave her one when everyone else turned away.”

Speaking about lending 28-year-old Britney support, Mel admitted he wanted to help her because he felt no one else wanted to step in.

He said at the time, “She’s a nice kid. She was just going through a rough patch. You see kids that you know in the industry… I just felt like this poor kid she’s lining up to be stoned. I just thought, ‘I wonder if anyone is reaching out to her’, so I just called her and she’s doing great now.”

Mel received a visit from child protection services in Los Angeles yesterday, July 21, following allegations from Russian singer Oksana he had hit her and their eight-month-old daughter Lucia.

Another day, another Bieber rumor and today’s hot gossip suggests that Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber has converted to Scientology.

We’ve done our standard background checking on the rumor, and besides some contact with Will Smith’s kid, Bieber has had no contact with Scientologist that we can find.

This isn’t to say that the rumor might not be true: Scientology has strong entertainment industry backers and are always on the lookouts for converts.

However we’re calling rubbish on this, and without checking would suggest the rumor probably originated on a particular forum rules 1 and 2 of the internet don’t allow us to mention.

Still, we’ll score Justin Bieber converts To Scientology a 4/10 on the original rumor scale.