Kanye West's friend blames breakdown on his mom's death, plus more news

Kanye West pal blames health scare on mom's death

Theories about what was behind Kanye West's breakdown have surfaced and been shot down repeatedly since he was hospitalized, but the rapper's close friend Fonzworth Bentley believes everything boils down to Kanye's ongoing grief over the 2007 death of his mom, Donda West. "He never mourned his mother, and that's at the root of this, and you don't have to be a clinical psychologist to figure that out," Fonzworth said on the Tequila Avion podcast this week (via the New York Post). "That is at the core of this. I think a lot of these things are coming up and coming out now … You have to look at it from his perspective. You put out the most amazing album. You're breaking records on merch … So, what happens is …. you take that, and then your fashion show just demolishes and fails … We all know more than anything that he wants to be successful in fashion, so when editors and everything are beating him up … That happens and then you're onstage, your wife gets robbed — and it's not like that didn't happen — that happened … It's not OK." Fonzworth also said Kanye asked the Saint Pablo crew to join him backstage in Sacramento, California, before he announced he was canceling the tour. "He went through everybody and was like, 'I'm sorry this didn't happen for you like this, but y'all need to know how important y'all are, and everybody comes and helps me, but we need to be helping each other,'" Fonzworth recalled the rapper saying. "But at the same time I believe in my heart it was a call for help."

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Chelsea Handler, Lena Dunham donate to families of Oakland fire victims

As friends and family mourn the death of their loved ones who died in the warehouse fire in Oakland, California, earlier this month, celebs are pitching in to show their support. TMZ reports Chelsea Hander donated $5,000 to the online relief fund YouCaring, while Lena Dunham gave $500. Zelda Williams and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner made donations as well. Chelsea, who posted a link to the crowdsourcing site she donated to on Twitter, previously pushed for more media coverage and general support for the community at Standing Rock.

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Kerry Washington steps out for first appearance since birth of second child

Two month after she welcomed Caleb Asomugha, her second child with husband Nnamdi Asomugha, Kerry Washington stepped out to help celebrate the work of her friends, Mellody Hobson and George Lucas on Dec. 8. The couple were the guests of honor at the Ambassadors for Humanity Gala in Los Angeles, where speakers including Kerry shared thoughts on Mellody and George's long-term commitment to humanitarian endeavors, according to E! News. "I have known Mellody for many years," Kerry said after thanking Steven Spielberg for inviting her to speak. Describing her friendship with Mellody, Kerry continued: "We met in our work together to end violence against women and girls, and I was quickly enamored with who she is, what she has accomplished, what she wears, how she walks in the world. She is a phenomenal human being — a great girlfriend. She is one of my guiding lights and personal heroes." Kerry went on to discuss the "truly inspiring and transformative education" the Visual History Archive provides, saying, "It is vitally important that students understand the perspective of others their own place in the world. Because if we can build empathy, we can hope that all this hate we are seeing globally will become a thing of the past."

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Lake Bell stork news

Congratulations are in order for Lake Bell and her husband, Scott Campbell! The "How To Make It in America" star and her tattoo artist hubby appear to be expecting their second child. The New York Post reports that while Lake's reps have neither confirmed nor denied the news, the actress appeared at a party in Los Angeles in a form fitting black dress — and a hard-to-miss bump. It's the second child for the couple, who married in 2013 and welcomed Baby No. 1, Nova, the following year.

Jennifer Aniston clarifies mile high club comments

Woops. When Jennifer Aniston played "Never Have I Ever" with Ellen DeGeneres last week and held up her "I have" sign as the talk show host asked a series of mile-high-club-related questions, she thought they were just having fun, even when the line of questioning involved whether Jen had mile-high-ed it "in the cockpit" and "with the pilot." This week, when Jen hit the red carpet for her Los Angeles "Office Christmas Party" premiere, she refused to elaborate — because there was nothing to elaborate on. "First of all, that's not much of anybody's business and you know that was all a goof right?" she asked E! News. "I felt right after that all happened, I didn't know what she was going to ask me. I'm blowing your whole cover Ellen. But she literally just said, 'Just say yes no matter what. You have to say yes,' and now all this stuff is coming out."

Will Smith opens up about losing his dad

In "Collateral Beauty," due out Dec. 16, Will Smith plays a father dealing with the death of his daughter. As he told Ellen DeGeneres this week, the role ended up hitting home because of his own father's death. "You're playing a guy that's experienced a loss and your dad—you just lost your dad," he said (via Celebitchy). "What was really interesting is I got the screenplay right when my father was diagnosed [with cancer]. You know, so I have the screenplay and I'm doing all of this research about a guy who experiences death you know at the time my father was given six weeks. My father and I were sharing it during that time so, you know, the performance for me, and the movie for me, and the ideas are so deeply personal." Despite his grief, Will said he and his father managed to smile at times before his passing. "My father, he actually he lived for four months beyond that point they gave him six weeks and what happened is everyday became so beautiful beyond the six weeks," Will said. "You know, and then we were sitting one day and it was at about three months and he was like, 'Man this crap is embarrassing.' I said,'What dad?' He said, 'Man, you tell everyone you're going to die in six weeks and three months later…'"

Emmy Rossum demands better pay for 'Shameless'

Emmy Rossum is doing more than just talk about the gender wage gap; she's looking to close it, at least on "Shameless." The 30-year-old actress has reportedly put the brakes on her future with the hit show after demanding a bigger paycheck than her costar, William H. Macy. Insiders tell the Hollywood Reporter Emmy was frustrated that she was paid less than William for years. Now, she wants more than his new deal will earn, which the magazine says is "in the upper echelon" for cable stars. Neither Showtime nor Warner Bros. TV have commented on the report.

Mel Gibson defends Nate Parker on rape trial

Mel Gibson hasn't exactly been an exemplar of feminist ideals over the course of the last 20 years. ("Sugar you-know-whats" anyone?) But that didn't stop The Hollywood Reporter from asking Mel and a handful of other directors to weigh in on whether it was fair that Nate Parker's rape trial affected the reception of his film, "Birth of a Nation." "I don't think it's fair," said Mel, whose ex, Oksana Grigorieva had a restraining order put on him after she alleged he assaulted and verbally abused her. "He was cleared of all that stuff," Mel said of Nate (via Jezebel). "And it was years ago. You have to follow the system there. I think he's innocent of all that stuff. The fact that he has to live with that stigma, and that it affects the art he does, is unfair." The woman who accused Nate and his college roommate of raping her later said she was verbally harassed on campus. Soon afterwards, she made the first of three attempts at suicide, the last of which killed her. Nate was acquitted in 2001.

Judge slams Kesha's legal team

Judge Shirley Kornreich, who ordered Kesha could not be released from her Sony contract due to her lawsuit against the label and Dr. Luke, slammed Kesha's lawyers for suggesting the judge might be biased in the case because her husband is a lawyer for a firm that represents the label. "If it's an issue at all, it's an issue because women are now part of the professional work force," the judge said this week, according to the New York Post. Kesha's attorney said he and his team "never intended to file a recusal motion" and pointed out that they "had nothing to do with the press reports" about a potential conflict of interest. In the lawsuit, Kesha alleges Dr. Luke drugged and raper her while they were working together.

Sofia Richie on social media negativity: It's frustrating

"This s— is crazy!" That's how Sofia Richie sums up her reaction to negative comments she gets — and there have been a lot of them — on social media. in the new issue of Complex. "I was laughing about my life, like, 'Oh my god, people are so psychotic.' Some girl I don't even know commented on my picture a week ago, 'You should go kill yourself.' I just had to say something. I commented back, 'I just want to understand the sadness in your heart.' A lot of people say they know me and my life, but no one really does. Except for, like, my family and Bronte," she said, referencing her friend — and fellow Justin Bieber ex — Bronte Blampied. It's frustrating. My whole thing is I'm trying to spread love to everyone. Some people don't see that, but I really am trying to spread positivity to people."