Arnold Schwarzenegger has a new interview with German tabloid, Bild, to promote The Last Stand, a new action movie co-starring Johnny Knoxville. The film was out last week in the US and bombed at the box office, but there’s still the European market and Ahnold is doing his promotional duties. The 65 year-old told Bild that he spent Christmas with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver and their kids, that he still loves Maria and he hopes to reconcile with her. Here’s a translation from Huffpo, and the original German source is here:

Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted in an interview in Germany’s top-selling newspaper saying he’s still in love with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver.

Schwarzenegger is quoted in Tuesday’s Bild newspaper as saying that despite their separation he spent Christmas with Shriver and their children.

Schwarzenegger is cited as saying “we’re not fighting any war: I still hope for reconciliation; I still love Maria.”

Shriver filed for divorce last year after 25-years of marriage following Schwarzenegger’s admission he fathered a child with the family’s housekeeper.

He has also admitted to other affairs.

[From The Huffington Post]

We’ve heard rumors that Arnold was holding out hope for a reunion, and we’ve heard that Maria might be open to it. (We’ve also heard that Arnold told a neighbor that if it didn’t work out with Maria he was planning on “getting a 20-year-old honey.”) A reunion wouldn’t sound as outrageous if Arnold was sorry for what he did and if he were willing to go to counseling. The last we reported on Arnold, when he was promoting his tell-all book back in October, he didn’t sound contrite at all. He paid lip service to “protecting his family” but he still publicly revealed how much his infidelity, and the news of his love child, devastated Maria. He didn’t sound sorry at all and he opened old wounds just to promote himself and his memoir. Of course Arnold wants Maria back, she put up with his crap for decades and stood up for him. He expects the status quo and a lot of ego stroking, at home and wherever he can get it on the side, preferably conveniently. I just hope Maria stays strong and that she lets their divorce go through. She filed last summer.

Arnold is shown at the premiere of The Last Stand in Cologne, Germany on 1-22-13. His dye job looks awful! He’s also shown on Extra on 1-15. Maria is shown on 12-16-12 after lunch with her kids Katherine and Patrick. Credit: FameFlynet

These are photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger out promoting his book yesterday in NY, and outside The Daily Show. His face looks so orange and tight, and you can see the makeup around his hairline. I believe he’s had a facelift that settled moderately well, and that he’s not getting botox and fillers at least.

In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, he gave the impression that his estranged wife Maria Shriver was completely aware that he had cheated on her multiple times during their marriage. Arnold was talking about his admitted affair with actress Brigitte Nielsen in the mid 80s, when he was living with Maria but had not yet married to her. 60 Minutes’ Leslie Stahl asked him if that was his only affair, and he said “No. I had others. But I mean… it’s something that’s obviously between Maria and me.” So even though Ahnold didn’t state it outright, he definitely made it sound like Maria knew he was a serial cheater.

According to sources who spoke to TMZ, that’s not the case and Maria is peeved, especially because she defended him against sexual harassment and groping charges in 2003. First of all, 60 Minutes never asked Maria for her take on the story before it aired. This seems standard for their celebrity profiles, but in this case Arnold was talking about how his wife confronted him about his love child, and how she reacted to the scandal, and we had to take his word on it. He admitted that Maria hadn’t read the book at all, but said that she gives him a kind of blanket approval and “is wishing me well with everything I do.” When that involves sharing such personal and painful details of her life, I doubt that’s the case, but we can’t expect Arnold to try and spare his wife’s feelings after 25 years of marriage.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was lying through his gap teeth when he claimed Maria Shriver KNEW he was banging other women during their marriage … this according to multiple sources connected to Maria.

Arnold fessed up to cheating on Maria multiple times during his interview with “60 Minutes” last night … saying Maria knew about ALL of his trysts.

But one source close to Maria tells us … “BULLSH*T” — saying Maria never would have defended him against all of the groping claims several years ago had she known Arnold was stepping out. The source also says Maria would have ended the marriage had Arnold told her.

Another source tells TMZ … Maria definitely suspected Arnold was screwing around behind her back … but it was never discussed until she confronted him about his love child with the maid.

But we’re told Maria was really in love with Arnold during their marriage … and was truly crushed when she learned of his betrayal.

[From TMZ]

So here’s the thing. Maria “suspected” that Arnold was screwing around, but she stayed. A lot of women do that and I don’t blame them. They have kids and families and a life with these men, and they want to believe the best of them, and that they’ve changed or that it was a one-time thing. They stick their heads in the sand instead of doing some digging. The reality is often a lot harsher than they believe, and Maria’s being faced with it full-on now that Arnold is promoting his book – which she allegedly hasn’t read yet. Sources tell TMZ Maria doesn’t want to read it, and that “What Maria has already been through.. nothing surprises her anymore.” As for what’s in the book, The Daily Beast has a nice overview of the best parts, most of which we’ve already heard in the press. It doesn’t sound like Arnold admits to groping women, cheating on his wife, and generally being an a*hole beyond the minor details of his indiscretions he’s shared and tried to gloss over. (Love child – no biggie! It was a one time thing with the maid. It wasn’t hush money, I just wanted to help her out. I did cheat with a co-star but I wasn’t married yet.)

Arnold had a live interview on ABC News yesterday. He bragged about his accomplishments, but he did seem to be trying to sound more contrite than he did on 60 Minutes. He must have realized how poorly he came across, and how arrogant he seemed. He called his affair with the maid “one of the disastrous situations I’ve created and the worst thing that I’ve ever done.” He also dismissed it as “one stupid mistake.” He also said that he hopes to reconcile with Maria and thinks she wants it too. “Maybe Maria doesn’t say that, but I’m sure that Maria wishes that we could all be together and I definitely wish that we could all be together.” Keep dreaming. Stay strong, Maria, don’t take him back!

Here’s Arnold promoting his book in NY City and outside the Daily Show yesterday. Maria is shown on 6-13-12. Credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet

Arnold Schwarzenegger was on 60 Minutes in an extensive profile and interview last night to promote his new book, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, which is out today. The first part of the interview was a kind of tribute to the success he’s achieved in life, which is of course considerable. The second part was more about his screw ups, and his messed up relationship with Maria.

When it came to discussing his admitted infidelity he was arrogant, smug, and looked pleased with himself. If you want to see what I mean, scroll to around 10:00 into the first part of his interview, available at this link. He smirks when he describes cheating on his then live-in girlfriend, Maria Shriver, with Brigitte Nielsen when they made Red Sonja together in the mid 80s. Leslie Stahl asked Arnold if that was the only time he’d cheated on Maria and he said “no,” but didn’t get into details, simply saying “it’s something that’s obviously between Maria and me.” Damn this guy is cold, he really is. He’s not defensive and he’s not playing the victim card like Jesse James. It’s like he thinks things just happen and he doesn’t have to make excuses or apologize. He plays lip service to feeling bad, but Leslie said he didn’t even express regrets in his book.

On the scandal over his love child with the maid, he was vague and didn’t get into details, using the excuse that he wanted to protect his kids. It was weak, lame, and insincere considering he just put out a book describing how his wife found out about the boy, who was 13 at the time. Instead of focusing on what he did, Arnold chose to tell the story of how his wife confronted him with her suspicions and how it affected her. It seemed like a way to deflect blame from himself and to further humiliate his wife. Arnold claims he didn’t know he was the boy’s father until the child was around 7 or 8, meaning he’d known for at least five years and kept it quiet. As for why he never told Maria, he simply said, he didn’t know “How to tell her without worrying about, you know, that it would get out or whatever.” That’s exactly what he said. Here’s more of his interview:

On his affairs
Stahl: You write in the book that you had an affair with the actress in that movie. You cheated on Maria. And you were in your relationship. And you don’t even write that you felt bad about it. You just write it.

Schwarzenegger: Actually, you know, I did feel bad about it. But, I mean, all of my various different things, they were mistakes. And this is, you know, my failure. My screw-ups.

Stahl: Was that the only affair?

Schwarzenegger: No. I had others. But I mean, ah, but you know, it’s something that’s obviously between Maria and me.

Stahl: She knew?

Schwarzenegger: Yeah.

Stahl: So it’s a recurring issue with you.

Schwarzenegger: I’m not perfect.

On his child with the maid
But by this time Arnold had already had the affair with the family housekeeper, Mildred Baena. And would later learn there was a son, Joseph. He says there were strains in his marriage while he was governor. The day after he left office in 2011, Maria wanted to talk.

Stahl: Maria wants to have a meeting with your marriage counselor. Tell us about that meeting.

Schwarzenegger: That particular visit that you’re talking about was the visit where she then said, “Hey, I think that Joseph is your kid. And, am I off here on this or– or not?” And I said, “You’re absolutely correct.” And I had to face up to that, which I have been kind of hiding but no one knew about. And that I knew about at that point maybe for five, six years or so.

Stahl: You just said, “You’re absolutely right”?

Schwarzenegger: I said, “You’re absolutely right, and I am sorry.” It was very painful for her. She was very disappointed.

Stahl: Maria asked you, “Why didn’t you tell me?” And what did you say?

Schwarzenegger: That I did not know how to.

Stahl: You didn’t know how to tell her?

Schwarzenegger: How to tell her without worrying about, you know, that it would get out or whatever.

Stahl: And that she’d leave you while you were still governor.

Schwarzenegger: I don’t think that was as much of an issue as just how do I keep this under wraps.

Stahl: Well, tell us how it happened. This is a woman who worked in your house–

Schwarzenegger: Exactly. And I found out about it kind of– seven years in or eight years in–…

Stahl: So you have this relationship. And she keeps working in the house?

Schwarzenegger: Uh-huh. (affirm)

Stahl: Do you keep having the relationship?

Schwarzenegger: No. But, look, I have caused enough pain to everyone as it is, if it is my wife or my kids. So I don’t want to reawaken and kind of talk about it because it’s not going to help them. And I just want to protect them as much as I can.

[From CBSNews.com]

Later in the interview, Arnold admitted that he started paying the maid, Mildred Beana, money once he knew her son was his. He doesn’t call it hush money, though, and said he never even had a conversation with her about the fact that he believed her son, Joseph, was his biological child. He just said “I gave [the money] to her and she knew what it was about,” and added “Mildred is a good person. She was not out to get me or to take advantage.” As for why he never fired her, he said “it [would] be the wrong thing to do, to let them go. And, not make her feel like she’s being punished when I find out that this is my child.”

I got the impression that this guy does whatever he feels like doing, has the sense to hide it from the people closest to him that would be hurt, but is then surprised when those people learn about his behavior and are actually harmed by it. He’s so smug, so arrogant, and so sure of himself that he thinks he can get away with anything and that what people don’t know won’t hurt them. He’s still acting like he’s entitled to do whatever he wants, and that it’s other people’s reactions that we should be focusing on, not him. If he cares so much about his children he would have the courtesy to stop trashing their mother and exploiting her pain. Maybe if Maria would have put up with his bullsh*t for another decade he wouldn’t have written this book. This is payback for a woman who finally stood up for herself.

Photo credit: WENN and Fame

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, is coming out October 1st. It’s fitting that the book cover looks straight out of the 80s, especially the photo of Arnold. He may have been the governor of California up until last year, but in his mind he’s still living in his glory years at the height of his fame, when he used to pull the chicks.

We previously heard that Arnold refused to go to more than one counseling session with Maria to save their marriage. It’s unknown whether he goes into that in the book, but he does describe the incident in which she confronted him about his love child with the maid. The NY Daily News got an advanced copy of the book, and they claim that Arnold writes that he tried to smooth things over with Maria by telling her she was the “perfect wife” and still turned him on. What a total oblivious tool. Arnold is going to be on 60 Minutes this Sunday to promote his book, and there are some advance details from his interview as well. Here’s more, thanks to Yahoo!’s Shine:

After years of having the wool pulled over her eyes by her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver settled the score in January 2011 when she blindsided him during a couple’s therapy session with the allegation that he had fathered a child with their housekeeper. Although he had denied it for years, that day – just 24 hours after he left office as the governor of California – he finally came clean. Under the impression that the therapy session was to cope with their transition from public life back to a private one, the “Terminator” action star was caught off guard and revealed, “It’s true,” he writes in his memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Story, which hits bookstores October 1.
Schwarzenegger immediately followed up his admission by begging his wife of 26 years to not leave him. Admitting “it was my screw-up,” he told Shriver that she was the “perfect wife” and that he was still “turned on” by her, according to the New York Daily News, which acquired an advance copy of the book.

In Total Recall, Schwarzenegger, 65, writes that he gave Shriver three “lame” excuses for why he hid Joseph, now 14, the son he fathered with Mildred Baena in 1996 during an extra-marital romp in the family’s Pacific Palisades guest house while Shriver and their children were away. Not only was he embarrassed by his indiscretion, he told her he had a “compulsion for secrecy” and also that he was afraid to tell her family, the very powerful Kennedys. “But instead of doing the right thing, I’d just put the truth in a mental compartment and locked it up where I didn’t deal with it every day,” the former Mr. Universe bodybuilder says.

When Baena gave birth – just months after Shriver delivered her fourth child with Schwarzenegger, Christopher – she put her husband’s name on the birth certificate, and the actor says he wanted to believe that the man was truly that father of Joseph. But as the boy grew older, his resemblance to Schwarzenegger was undeniable … and Shriver had her suspicions. After Baena’s husband left her, Schwarzenegger says he then began secretly supporting her and her family, in addition to keeping her as the family’s housekeeper so he could “control the situation.” He adds that he did nothing wrong politically speaking by hiding his illegitimate child because family values was never his platform. “I blocked out the fact that as a husband and father, as a man with a family and wife, I was letting people down,” he writes.

A few weeks after Schwarzenegger’s admission, Shriver’s father Sargent Shriver died following a battle with dementia. During her eulogy, the grieving daughter stated that her father’s greatest accomplishment was teaching her brothers “how to treat a wife,” a remark that Schwarzenegger believes was a dig “partly directed at me.”
Despite the fact that Shriver, 56, filed for divorce last July (they announced their separation in May 2011), Schwarzenegger writes that he still holds out some hope the two can reconcile, although in a “60 Minutes” interview set to air this Sunday, he adds that the divorce is going forward.

In a preview that aired today, he says that Shriver did not read his book before it was published, and despite the fact that it reveals he had cheated on her, “I think that Maria is wishing me well.”

The two things Schwarzenegger does not go into on “60 Minutes”? His four children with Shriver and love child with Baena. “He felt some obligation to protect them,” says Lesley Stahl, who interviewed the actor. “Otherwise, he sat there and took the questions.”

[From Yahoo!]

Yahoo has a clip from the upcoming 60 minutes interview, available here, and Arnold admits that Maria hasn’t yet read his book, but he claims she “wishes him well.” He already publicly humiliated her, how does he think she’s going to feel now that he’s sharing such personal and painful details of their lives? How does he think his kids are going to react to this book? He sounds as self-involved and delusional as Rielle Hunter. He was dumb enough to think that telling Maria he still wanted to sleep with her would somehow comfort her after she learned he was hiding a love child, and he’s still so up his own ass that he thinks he should share that asinine detail with the world. You know, I might actually read this book. Should I be ashamed of that?

Maria is shown out on 8-17 and 7-7 (outside the gym) credit: FameFlynet. Arnold is shown on 9-17 and 8-15 credit: WENN.com

The Daily Beast has a new profile of Arnold Schwarzenegger in light of his upcoming autobiography, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story (GMAB), out October 1st. Apparently the book will cover his affair with the family maid, Mildred Beana, who had his illegitimate kid and went on working for Ahnold’s family for another thirteen years – until Maria got wise to the resemblance between Mildred’s kid and Arnold. The fact that Arnold is going to cover this subject is of course potentially painful for his estranged wife, Maria Shriver, and their kids. Arnold doesn’t care, though, he’s acting like he doesn’t need Maria at all. In Arnold’s mind, he’s still the womanizing, bodybuilding superstar he was in his heyday. This piece fills in some blanks for me about Arnold and Maria’s relationship, and what happened after the whole paternity scandal came out in May, 2011.

According to the Daily Beast’s Laurence Leamer, Maria wanted to reconcile and was willing to forgive Arnold, but he refused to go to more than one session of counseling and he refused to move out of the family mansion, which led her to check into a hotel. Leamer paints Schwarzenegger as a stubborn, foolish ass. It sounds pretty likely to me, and it does jibe with a lot of reports we heard at the time. Leamer also quotes from Mildred Beana’s single interview, with Hello! Magazine, in which described how she broke down crying and begged for forgiveness when Maria asked her point blank if her son was Arnold’s. So Maria is the one who figured it out, and someone in her camp leaked it to the press. Then she was willing to work things out with Arnold, but he wasn’t and seems not to care.

Here’s part of the story:

As Arnold and Maria sorted through the wreckage, the next few months proved a study of two people of very different character. Family members and friends say Maria told them that despite Arnold’s betrayal, she loved her husband still and she believed in marriage. Maria was a Kennedy, and she was a Shriver, brought up never to bring shame to the family. Beyond that, she was a shrewd political woman. Like Hillary Clinton at the time of Monica Lewinsky, Maria was willing to consider standing by Arnold’s side. But she needed time and space to figure out what she could do. She needed quiet, too, and beyond anything she needed this matter to stay private.

Arnold is a very different kind of person. Anything that posed emotional pain or difficulty, he was out of there. He could not understand why Maria could not just forgive and get on with things, and when Maria said she needed a trial separation and told Arnold to move out, family and friends say that he refused. It was his house, and he wasn’t budging.

Maria could not stay with her estranged husband. The California-style mansion had the scent of the affair in every bed and sofa, and wherever Maria looked she saw pictures and memorabilia of her husband. And so she moved into a hotel, where her children came to visit her. She had lost her mother and father within a year, and now she had lost her marriage.

In early May 2011, the couple gave a joint statement to the Los Angeles Times announcing that after 25 years, they had separated. They thought the details of why they were contemplating a divorce were between them, but a week and a half later, the Times ran the story that the couple had “separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago with a longtime member of their household staff.” Schwarzenegger has told his advisers that he blames Shriver’s four brothers for having leaked the story to shame their sister into leaving him for good. But the brothers adamantly deny having anything to do with the story. They say they did not try to talk their sister into divorcing Arnold, but only gave her support so that she could decide what to do. When Arnold refused to continue with therapy after the one session, Maria decided she had no choice but to ask for a divorce, people close to the couple say. “If he had character, he would have done what had to be done,” says a family member. “He would have gone to therapy and truly faced what he had done. He probably would have gotten Maria back if he had done that stuff. She truly loved him. She was looking for a basis to go back, but he was incapable of giving it to her.” Their divorce is still being finalized.

Ever the philosopher, Schwarzenegger told his next-door neighbor in Sun Valley, “I think things will work out OK with Maria, but if they don’t, I’m getting me a 20-year-old honey,” according to one of Arnold’s friends.

Schwarzenegger does not seem to realize all that he has lost. He no longer has the wife who brought him to a world beyond the furthest parameters of Hollywood. Everyone who knows Arnold well says that the purest feeling in his life is his love for his children, yet he does not have the affection of his children in the same way he did before. His son Patrick has started calling himself “Patrick Shriver” on his Twitter account. His two daughters, say family members and friends, fear that he wants to use them as part of his campaign to rehabilitate his image. He still tries to protect them, and when 60 Minutes wanted to interview them, according to those close to him, he said no. And yet, I am told by family members, the children remain suspicious of their father’s motives.

In earlier years, Schwarzenegger would have had pals with whom he could discuss his life, but he has turned away from several longtime friends and seems to have no one in whom he can truly confide. He has a movie star’s entourage, but they are not friends. One Saturday night a few weeks ago, Arnold was spotted bicycling by himself through the darkening streets of Santa Monica.

“Arnold’s always been alone,” says a longtime friend who no longer sees him. “It’s just that it’s more obvious, and maybe now even he recognizes something of his fate.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I’m not really buying this story that Arnold doesn’t have any friends left. I think this is more Maria’s take on his life than reality, but it could be true.

Arnold is going to be on 60 minutes on September 30th as part of his book promotion. I wonder how he’s going to handle questions about this affair, but more than how he’ll talk about what happened with his marriage to Maria. I have the sense he’ll play lip service to he feels bad but that he’s not really feeling it. At least he owned up to having a kid with the help back when we first heard about it.

Arnold is shown at the End of Watch premiere last night. He’s also shown driving his big old ridiculous truck in LA on Saturday. He drove that thing just to go to lunch with his sons. Credit: WENN.com. Maria is shown out at a Springsteen concert with her son on 4-27-12. Credit: Visual/WENN.com

Here’s a photo of Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme together at The Expendables premiere in Paris a few days ago. Who would have thought that Dolph would be holding up so much better than the rest of these beefcakes? And it’s not just a matter of age either even though Arnie is pushing 65, and Stallone is 66. Comparatively speaking, Dolph is one of the younger ones of the group at age 54, but Jean-Claude is 51 and looks (much like Arnold and Sly) like melting wax. I guess five marriages and a $10,000 per week coke habit for years will do that to you, but Jean-Claude has reportedly cleaned up his life quite a bit in the past several years and now has a new role as the lead villain in The Expendables 2. It’s his first role in a major film in well over a decade, and he’s obviously trying to make the most of it even though the poor guy looks pretty rough in these photos.

Also of note is a new revelation from Jean-Claude during a new Guardian interview, in which he reveals that he was totally doing his Street Fighter co-star, Kylie Minogue, while he was married (to one of his random wives). Maybe that’s why that particular divorce happened, no? Or maybe his wife didn’t like that Jean-Claude refers to his wang as “Thailand.” Seriously:

On having an affair with Kylie Minogue while making Street Fighter: “Oh … who said that to you? I tell you what, you should ask her. She’ll have a better memory. I’m 51 years old, do you know how much I was punched in the face on The Expendables? No, no. No. And let’s just say it happened, so what? Who wants to know?

“Sometimes you let go of stuff … I don’t know, maybe.” He sighs, then becomes reflective. It’s rather touching. “Yes. OK. Yes, yes, yes. It happened. I was in Thailand, we had an affair. Sweet kiss, beautiful lovemaking. It would be abnormal not to have had an affair, she’s so beautiful and she was there in front of me every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming, she wasn’t acting like a big star. I knew Thailand very well, so I showed her my Thailand. She’s a great lady.”

On why he was blacklisted: “[1994] saw Van Damme’s biggest box-office success, Timecop, which made $100m in the US. Now he was truly a star. And that’s when things started to fall apart. Universal called, offering him $12m a film for a three-film deal. He demanded $20m. “Like Jim Carrey.”

He laughs at his own arrogance. “I was f#@*ked up, man. But you know, it was not about the money. The people in the UK will read this and say, ‘What a f@#*ing piglet.’ Sorry about my expression! I was making movie after movie, and in between movies I was doing promotion. I was tired. Everything I was touching was making money. Jim Carrey was being paid a fortune. And I wanted to play with the system. Like an idiot. Ridiculous.” They hung up on him. “I was on the blacklist. That was it.”

On his role in The Expendables 2: “You know what? I’m scared. It’s one shot, this film, and hopefully the studios … Ringo Lam once told me they just like new faces — fresh fish. But maybe they would like an old fish. It’s all about business and money and the value of the actor. Up and down. Maybe. Who knows?”

[From Guardian]

Indeed, Jean-Claude finds a rare, non-straight-to-DVD opportunity in The Expendables 2. At least now he realizes how arrogant he was to demand such a huge salary when he was clearly, you know, so expendable in the 1990s. Sorry, I am just filled with awful puns today.

Here’s some photos of Jean-Claude generally acting like a whackjob at the London premiere too. Maybe he’ll have that big comeback after this movie’s (inevitable) success, right? Or maybe he’ll just be back for The Expendables 3, which wouldn’t be such a bad deal either.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

I have a confession to make: I love goatees. I think they’re hot. I’m not talking about those skinny, weak-looking excuses for goatees that are just lines of hair framing a dude’s chin area. I hate those! I’m not talking about a soul patch or a mustache or one of those Abraham-Lincoln looking monstrosities. I talking about a nice, fully developed goatee, as typified by this lovely photo of Colin Farrell. That just made me go to a nice place for a few moments, so I’ll post that photo here.

So in theory I would like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new goatee. Salt and peper and fully silver goatees are hot on dudes. Let’s gaze at Brad Pitt with a goatee for a brief moment, and imagine it tickling us in various places.

I’m just trying to justify my goatee love and put off the inevitable photo of Arnie. Ready?

Yeah, that wouldn’t do it for most of us. It’s the fact that the curtains don’t match the valance. Plus we know what a scumbag this guy is, as powerful as he is. I’ll say something though, before he dyed his hair orange brown and tried to work some high-waisted pants with a little Muhammad Ali t-shirt tucked in, he was looking pretty good with more natural hair at his son Patrick’s graduation earlier this month. I’m serious. Just imagine you know nothing about this guy, and that you’re old enough to consider it. I probably would, in a decade or so.

Here he is at his daughter Katherine’s USC graduation. Still not bad. I like it trimmed up like that.

Now mustache-heavy Tom Selleck, he does it for me right now. Even though he probably uses Just for Men for Beards. That’s more due to the man than the facial hair of course.

Photo credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com

After Christmas there were several reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver might be getting back together. Their marriage famously imploded after it came out last spring that a longterm maid of the family had a 14 year-old son with Arnold, and that she had continued working for them for 20 years, up until just a few weeks before the scandal broke. It was a mind-numbing and very public betrayal, and Maria filed for divorce in July after 25 years of marriage. Maria seemed like she was willing to forgive Arnold though, and TMZ and People reported that they had spent the holidays together with their four children and were trying to work it out. Well now celebrity mouthpiece People is saying that they’re not going to get back together. Maria has been wearing a ring on her left ring finger, but it has nothing to do with Arnold and is her late mother’s ring. That’s good news.

While Internet reports that Maria Shriver is wearing a suspicious ring on that finger fueled rumors of a possible reconciliation with husband Arnold Schwarzenegger, PEOPLE has learned there’s a different explanation.

The bling seen on Shriver’s left hand is actually her late mother’s engagement ring. Shriver, who was extremely close her mom, has been wearing the ring since Eunice Shriver’s death in August 2009.

As for rumors that Shriver is having second thoughts about divorcing Schwarzenegger, a source close to the couple denies it.

“The reports of a reconciliation are not true,” says the source.

The former couple, who announced their separation in May after 25 years of marriage, still spend quality time as a family with their four children, Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher.

Most recently, Shriver and Schwarzenegger enjoyed Christmas together with the kids at their Los Angeles home, and attended the L.A. Lakers’ season opener game that afternoon.

While it appears their divorce is still on track, “Arnold and Maria will always come together when it comes to supporting and loving their children,” says a family insider.

[From People]

So what happened? Did the holiday glow wear off and did Maria realize that all the presents and sweet talk in the world weren’t going to make her husband into a faithful partner? I get that it may seem scary to face life without her husband. She’s been making strides to do that though, and she moved out and filed for divorce. Maybe it was never true that she was considering taking him back, but I tend to believe those earlier stories.

The Enquirer has a possible alternate explanation this week for Maria’s change of heart – her family talked some sense into her. They claim that her cousin, Caroline Kennedy, and her four brothers are telling Maria that it would be foolish to take Arnold back:

“Caroline has been Maria’s harshest critic, saying, ‘Don’t do it, Maria. Don’t be a fool. Once a cheater, always a cheater,’” a Kennedy clan insider said…

“A combination of Arnold lavishing gifts on her, courting her at family dinners, spending Christmas and Christmas Eve with her, and the kids begging her to change her mind and call off the divorce has her seriously contemplating reconciliation.

“But the reaction of Maria’s other relatives has been shock and horror – and the most vocal opponents include Maria’s four brothers and cousin Caroline. They are warning her that she is just asking for more heartbreak and devastation…’

“Arnold has been working on Maria and getting their kids to put pressure on her as well. And he’s told her that she’s the only woman he has ever really loved and that he couldn’t live without her and the children.

“He’s also said that he has been so devastated by her leaving him that he will never cheat again.”

Despite Arnold’s pleas, the Kennedy relatives remain united in their opposition to a reconciliation.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 16, 2012]

That’s low of him to get the kids to put pressure on her. Well at least Maria’s family is warning her about Arnold. That’s probably why we’re now seeing reports in People that they’re not reconciling. I’m actually relieved for her.

Maria is shown wearing her late mom’s ring on 11-29-11. These cute photos of Maria with her dog are from 9-27-11. She’s shown out with son, Patrick, on 9-25-11. Photos of her out with Arnold are from 2-2-11 before the split. Credit: Fame Pictures

We’ve heard for some time that Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t want to lose his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, and has been trying to win her back. Shriver officially filed for divorce in July, signifying that she wanted to finally step away from her marriage and all the scandals and infidelity that she was subjected to. Only now that he’s had a taste of life without his devoted wife, Arnie can’t stand it and has been trying to win her back. It’s been working too, according to articles in both People Magazine and TMZ. Damnit, Maria, just take half the money and coparent. Walk away with your dignity intact.

A source close to the family tells PEOPLE the two spent Christmas together with their children at their home in Brentwood, Calif., and they “had a really nice time” over the holiday.

According to the source, they also attended the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener game at the Staples Center in the afternoon.

Spending time together, however, isn’t unprecedented for the two.

Since their split, Shriver, 56, was by her ex’s side on his 64th birthday in July.

“Children and family come first,” a source close to the estranged couple told PEOPLE earlier this year, with an additional insider adding, “Arnold and Maria will always come together when it comes to supporting and loving their children.”


The family Christmas celebration comes amid online reports that Shriver is having second thoughts about ending her marriage.

The former couple, married 25 years before announcing their separation in May, have four children together: Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher. – From People

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Maria Shriver is telling friends she’s now unsure if she wants to divorce Arnold Schwarzenegger … TMZ has learned.

We’re told Maria is torn, partly because of her strong religious beliefs that do not include divorce.

Making matters even more complicated — we’re told Arnold still desperately wants Maria back, and has been “extremely sweet” to her and has made numerous gestures — which include presents — to win Maria back.

Maria filed for divorce on July 1, though she moved out months earlier. She’s already bought a mansion in Brentwood, CA, which she’s in the process of renovating. – From TMZ

[From People and TMZ]

I know that they have to do what they feel is right for their family, and that it’s their business if they want to work it out. Arnold cheated on Maria in her own bed with the maid that worked for their family for 20 years, and had a child with that woman 14 years ago without ever telling his wife. How do you move past something like that? Do you just ignore all the massive betrayals, and try to push the doubt out of your mind that he did it to you every year, maybe every month, that you were married? How can you ever trust that person again? I get that Maria may feel like Arnold is the love of her life. At some point, though, you have to cut your losses and realize that it’s not worth it. Of course the dude can act all sweet and buy presents after he’s been thoroughly busted. He is incapable of being faithful, and that’s probably not going to change at all in his twilight years. This disappoints me.

Maria and Arnold are shown at a tree lighting ceremony on 11/21/10. Credit: WENN.com. She’s shown alone on 11/29/11. Credit: Buzzpaps/Fame Pictures

This one is a no-brainer: Maria Shriver filed for divorce, officially, on Friday. It seemed like she was headed in that direction since Arnold’s mistress implosion more than a month ago. Both Maria and Arnold had hired divorce lawyers, and it was assumed that they were already in the process of splitting up their assets. Most of their kids (together) are already adults, or almost adults, so I don’t think custody is going to be a huge issue, especially since both Arnold and Maria seem content to stay in California. Previously, sources claimed that Arnold could be paying Maria something like $100 million in a possible divorce settlement – which I think it low-balling it, no pun intended:

Maria Shriver is moving on. California’s former first lady filed for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, a source confirms, two months after the actor’s public admission that he fathered a child with the couple’s longtime housekeeper.

Citing irreconcilable differences, Shriver is seeking shared custody of their minor children, Patrick, 17, and Christopher, 13. The couple also have two daughters, Katherine, 21 and Christina, 19. Shriver is also seeking spousal support from Schwarzenegger and that he pay her attorney fees.

Schwarzenegger’s rep Adam Mendelsohn had no comment on the filing.

According to a source, one of the reasons Shriver had confronted housekeeper Mildred Baena was because it became more and more apparent over the years that Baena’s son, Joseph, 13, bore a striking resemblance to Schwarzenegger.

“While Maria may not have been as angry at Mildred as she was at Arnold, her instinct would be to protect her family,” a source close to the family previously told PEOPLE. “Whatever she did in the aftermath was about taking care of her kids, trying to shield them and trying to minimize the repercussions.”

Shriver, 55, most recently attended the Special Olympics in Athens, Greece, accompanied by her four children.

It remains to be seen what sort of relationship Schwarzenegger, 63, plans to have with Joseph, although a source says the actor has been providing for the boy for many years.

In early May, the couple announced their split as they contemplated the state of their 25-year marriage.

“At this time, we are living apart, while we work on the future of our relationship,” the couple said in a statement at the time. “We are continuing to parent our four children together. They are the light and the center of both of our lives.”

[From People]

I don’t think anybody blames Maria for filing for divorce, right? She gave it a good run, and now she’s got time to map out the rest of her life. My guess is that she’ll follow in her parents’ footsteps and devote herself to charity work. And then, at some point, she’ll begin dating, probably some quiet, rich Democratic party fundraiser or lawyer. Her kids will be pretty well adjusted and everything will be fine. As for Arnold… God knows. I think once the divorce is a done deal, we’ll be hearing a lot more about his skeezy, sleazy ways.

Photos courtesy of WENN.