By JM Stephens
8:59am PDT, May 8, 2020
Lori Loughlin is confident her college admissions scandal case will be dropped
Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli believe their college admissions bribery case will be dropped, according to Us Weekly. "Lori's lawyers feel they have a very strong chance of having the charges dismissed because prosecutors withheld key evidence that [ringleader] Rick Singer was pressured by the FBI to lie in the course of his conversations with Lori," a source told Us on May 6. "It was entrapment, misleading a defendant so that Rick could get a favorable sentence for his role. Rick was the mastermind in all of this." The couple was indicted in March 2019 after being accused of paying bribes to Singer to facilitate their daughters' acceptances into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though they did not participate in the sport. The couple pleaded not guilty to bribery, fraud and money laundering charges against them.
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Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman is engaged 10 months after wife Beth's death
Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman has found love again — and he's engaged 10 months after the death of his beloved wife, Beth, from cancer. He announced on May 4 that he'd proposed to his girlfriend, Francie Frane. Francie told The Sun, "I wasn't expecting it at all. I think I had gone to pick up some food and then when I came back he had all the lights turned down with just a few lights on and a bunch of candles lit. So when I came in I was like, 'Wow, this is awesome.' Then he said, 'Come in, sit down because I need to talk to you.'" Dog told The Sun that he wants the "biggest wedding there's ever been." Though some feel their relationship has moved too fast and is disrespectful to the memories of their former spouses — Francie's husband died six months before Dog lost Beth — the Colorado rancher defended their love, explaining that there will always be those "who say we did this wrong or we did that wrong or we've moved on too quickly or too fast. But the truth is that both of us have spent three years walking alongside our spouses sick and we know that God brought us together and that's why we don't believe that it's too soon."
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Before she died, Anderson Cooper told mom Gloria Vanderbilt he was having a baby
Anderson Cooper welcomed his first child, son Wyatt, in late April with the help of a surrogate. And he got the blessing of the most important woman in his life before she passed away last year — mother Gloria Vanderbilt. The CNN anchor revealed on the May 4 episode of "Live with Kelly and Ryan" that he "was able to tell her shortly before she died that I was going to have a baby. Wyatt hadn't been created, was not a being at that point, but I had the idea in my head. I was in the process." Anderson, who lost his father when he was 10 and later lost his brother to suicide, said, "I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him. I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues."
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Rosie O'Donnell reveals Bill Cosby incident on her show
Rosie O'Donnell made headlines when she shared a Bill Cosby story with Bravo host Andy Cohen on May 3, revealing that there was an incident backstage, when she was making her '90s and early-aughts talk show, that made her staff uncomfortable. Rosie explained that Bill was a surprise guest on the show and told her producer before he appeared, "'All [Rosie] has to do is put her hand right here,' and he put his hand near his penis, ]and she'll know it's me.'" After that, the female staffer assigned to Bill asked to leave and a male producer came in to diffuse the situation. Rosie said she was in no way shocked when the TV star long known as "America's Dad" was accused of drugging and raping women. In fact, Rosie said that during her days on "The View," she often tried to have open discussions about the allegations against him but was always told no. Bill is currently serving a three-to-10-year sentence for sexual assault. Bill's team hit back at Rosie, saying in a statement, "Here's the multi-million dollar question: Why Now? The Rosie O'Donnell Show first episode aired in 1996 and the show ended in 2002 but now she waits (24) years later to accuse Mr. Cosby of making lewd comments to a female producer. This is just another attempt for a well-known celebrity like Rosie O'Donnell and many others to create false allegations about Mr. Cosby, in order to gain attention for themselves and their new projects that are not doing well."
"60 Minutes" journalist Lesley Stahl reveals coronavirus diagnosis and recovery
Famed CBS News correspondent Lesley Stahl announced on May 3 that after a lengthy battle with COVID-19, she is finally starting to feel better. After battling the virus for two weeks at home and dealing with pneumonia, the "60 Minutes" star was hospitalized. "One of the rules of journalism is 'don't become part of the story,'" she said at the end of the May 3 episode of her news magazine. "But instead of covering the pandemic, I was one of the more than 1 million Americans who did become part of it." Stahl joins a list of prominent TV journalists who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Nicolas Cage to play "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic in scripted series
Talk about great casting! It was announced on May 4 that Nicolas Cage will star on a scripted series centered on incarcerated "Tiger King" big cat keeper Joe Exotic. The eight-episode show will be produced by CBS Television Studios and Imagine TV studios and based on the Texas Monthly article "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild" by Leif Reigstad. This marks the Oscar winner's first foray into TV. The documentary "Tiger King" was released on Netflix on March 20 and became an instant cultural phenomenon.
Kristin Cavallari reaches custody agreement with Jay Cutler after divorce filing
The surprising and messy divorce of Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler made headlines again this week as the pair finally found some common ground. On May 4, People magazine confirmed that the former couple has reached two agreements. The first involves custody of their three kids, who will remain in their marital home in Nashville while their parents switch off being home with them for one week at a time. The second involves Jay agreeing to release funds so that Kristin can buy a new house — something she said in court documents that she's tried to do previously until the former NFL star blocked her efforts. Neither Jay nor Kristin will get support payments as they both have the means to take care of the children when they are in their custody. When the couple filed for divorce in late April, they cited "irreconcilable differences," though Kristin also added "inappropriate marital conduct" as a reason for their split.
Jerry Seinfeld jumped out of a helicopter in what might be his last comedy special
On May 5, Netflix released what might be the final stand-up special from famed comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry surprised fans by arriving at New York City's Beacon Theater after taking on a secret agent persona and jumping out of a helicopter into the Hudson River. "When I came up with the title "23 Hours to Kill," I thought, 'Oh, that's cool, that sounds like a Bond movie.' My favorite scene in all of James Bond is when he unzips the wetsuit and he has the tuxedo [on underneath], and then I thought, well, how could I do that?" Jerry admitted that although the idea seemed cool, once it came down to it, he was terrified. "I think I completely misunderstood what I had said I wanted to do when I got to doing it. It looks like nothing when you watch people do it in the Olympics, [but] when you stand up there it's really scary." During the special, he addresses his thoughts on ending his televised stand-up career, saying, "I'm not the biggest fan of people hanging on to the bitter end. My pattern is to leave just a little sooner than you think I was going to — even this special, Netflix told me I could make it an hour and five [minutes], an hour and 15 [minutes], and I always like a little economy."
