Young burn victim dreams of a holiday card from Katy Perry
There's one thing that would make 8-year-old Safyre Terry's Christmas wishes come true: a card from Katy Perry. After surviving a fire that killed her immediate family and left her with severe, disfiguring burns all over her body, Safyre moved in with her aunt, Liz Donder, who recently shared her niece's story with national news media. She was speaking out in an effort to help Safyre achieve her goal of filling a card tree with holiday greetings from as many folks as possible — a goal that's already being met with thousands of cards from around the world, including greetings from celebs like Hulk Hogan and Yolanda Foster. Speaking to TMZ this week, Liz admitted that there was one celebrity Safyre admires more than any other — and that she's hoping a card will arrive from Katy Perry before the holidays. If she gets her wish, Katy's memento will snag a special location on the top of the tree. Her address is P.O. Box 6126, Schenectady NY 12306. You know what to, Katy!
One Direction talk hiatus and solo career rumors
1Directions, take heart: Neither the band's current break from touring and recording nor Harry Styles' extra-curricular music projects means the band will lose any more members to solo careers or other pursuits. At least not right now. When Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne sat down with Alan Carr for his "Chatty Man" show this week, Harry assured the host there was no truth to rumors he was planning to go solo. "We all write kind of separately and for other people and do stuff and bring it back and that is it really," he said, according to the Daily Mail. As for their break, soon-to-be dad Louis said the hiatus would last around 18 months, while Niall explained the last four years were so busy that they were all just "looking forward to not having to set an alarm every day." Um, OK Niall. That makes all of us.
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Inside Justin Bieber's $50K Miami accommodations
When the Biebs rolls into Miami, he doesn't mess around. TMZ reports that when Justin Bieber and his crew recently visited the club-packed Florida locale, they stayed in the Versace Mansion for two nights — and Justin dropped $50,000 for the digs. The singer reportedly crashed in what would have been Donatella's room, enjoying 24,000 thread count Egyptian sheets, just like those covering the beds in the other ten bedrooms. Another highlight of the 23,000 square foot abode? The mosaic tiled pool is lined 24-carat gold. The mansion, now called the Villa By Barton G., reopened in 2014 as a luxury boutique hotel.
That time Tina Turner gave Cyndi Lauper a surprise backstage baby shower
What do you give the gal with everything (including the publishing rights to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun")? All kinds of odd gifts, it turns out. Asked about some of her most memorable presents, Cyndi Lauper recalled the Mickey D's ornament set a fan once gave her. "The ornaments were like fries and Big Macs. I didn't put them on my tree, but I gave them to one of my closest friends who likes that stuff," she told Page Six at this week's Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative Gala. Among the gifts that appealed a bit more to the singer were a surprise, "five-minute baby shower" backstage at a concert, courtesy of Tina Turner and a snake ring from Cher. "I always keep [it] with me because I love her – she's always been so sweet," Cyndi said. "Harvey [Fierstein] gave me 'Kinky Boots,' which has been my greatest gift. It allowed me to spread the message of inclusion. After all, things are just things."
Saoirse Ronan calls Donald Trump an 'idiot'
Like Saoirse Ronan's character in "Brooklyn," the Golden Globe nominee's parents both came to New York from Ireland seeking better opportunities. And though she lives in Ireland, Saoirse proudly asserts that she was born in the Bronx. So what does she think of Donald Trump's comments about would-be Mexican and Muslim immigrants? "What an idiot," she said this week, speaking to E! News. "I think he needs more than 'Brooklyn' to sharpen up his mind a bit. Thank God not everyone thinks like that man. To have a film coming out around this time where there are so many immigrants that are just being so kind of thrown into the one group and being tarred with the one brush, it's unfair and it's prejudice. If you can take a story like this and look at one immigrant story and make it something that's individual and personal, hopefully people can then be more empathetic with all these people who are literally giving up everything they know and everything they have to have a better life, to have a life."
Cuba Gooding Jr. 'wept' while playing O.J. Simpson
Playing O.J. Simpson in the Ryan Murphy directed mini-series "The People v. O.J. Simpson," took a toll on Cuba Gooding, Jr. As he recently told the Daily Beast, shooting Nicole Brown's funeral scene left him raw and emotional. "I broke for lunch and wept in the trailer," he said. "When that verdict came out not guilty, I jumped up. I was yelling and screaming. The man who tried to do another black man wrong, and I never grieved for those two families and their loss. It all hit me that day with that scene, the Goldmans, the Browns – their children are gone. If you believed he did it or not, that was something that I personally didn't care about. I felt guilty about that." As an actor, though, Cuba knew he had to find a more holistic approach than his personal, 1995-based perspective on who O.J. was. "It's my job to divorce myself from that," he said. "If I think you are one thing and I'm playing you with that in the back of my mind, I'm missing all the other things you could be."
Mariah Carey's concert plagued by 'unruly' fans
Don't mess with Mimi — or her fans. According to the New York Post, multiple attendees of Mariah Carey's Christmas concert at the Beacon Theater in New York Dec. 9 had to be disciplined by older fans and a member of Mimi's entourage over their "unruly" behavior. It seems a handful of concert-goers booed and talked loudly in the middle of her Holy Glitterness' version of "Silent Night," while others tried to usurp seats that had been reserved for the singer's twins, Monroe and Moroccan. Oh, the humanity …
Ron Howard gets a star on the Walk of Fame
Finally! Ron Howard's mug has been a staple in Hollywood since he was just 2, and this week the 61-year-old at last got his own star on the Walk of Fame. The Daily Mail reports his family, including his actress daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, all came out to support the "Happy Days" alum during the ceremony on Dec. 10. Ron's is star No. 2,568 on the famous walkway. Congrats!