There are few things I love more than when “legit” outlets like People Magazine and Gossip Cop get lied to by their celebrity publicist sources. Last week, the less-legit media outlets were running a decent piece of gossip – that Elton John and David Furnish had welcomed a second child via surrogate. Elton and David are already parents to 2-year-old Zachary Jackson Levon, and it didn’t seem weird or beyond the realm of possibility that Elton and David would have another child. But Elton’s rep went around denying it anyway – like, specifically denying the entire story. The rumor was that Elton and David were angling for the cover of People or Us Weekly to debut their new baby, thus the total denial…? But maybe they weren’t able to work out a deal, because now Elton and David want us to celebrate their new baby which SURPRISE does exist after all.

Elton John is a father again!

The musician and David Furnish welcomed their second child, son Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John, via surrogate on Friday, Jan. 11 in Los Angeles, the couple confirm to HELLO.

Born at 6:40 p.m., Elijah weighed in at 8 lbs., 4 oz.

John and Furnish, who married in 2005, are already parents to son Zachary Jackson Levon, 2.

“Both of us have longed to have children, but the reality that we now have two sons is almost unbelievable. The birth of our second son completes our family in a most precious and perfect way,” the couple say in a statement.

“It is difficult to fully express how we are feeling at this time; we are just overwhelmed with happiness and excitement.”

John, 65, has been open about his desire to expand their family.

“I know when he goes to school there’s going to be an awful lot of pressure, and I know he’s going to have people saying, ‘You don’t have a mummy,’” says the singer-songwriter of his decision to have another baby.

“It’s going to happen. We talked about it before we had him. I want someone to be at his side and back him up. We shall see.”

[From People]

Congrats to David and Elton, and welcome to the world, Elijah Joseph Daniel! He has the name of a prophet or some kind of super-religious figure, but maybe they’ll just call him Eli and it will be fine. I don’t begrudge Elton and David making the announcement in whatever way they want to make it – but I do dislike them for outright lying to outlets last week. If you aren’t ready to make the baby announcement, don’t make it. Don’t comment on the reports. Don’t lie about it.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

Elton John seems like one of those types of people who worry so much and work up such a nervous energy that he’d be exhausting to be around. Last time Elton talked about parenting, he fretted that his son, Zachary, would have a very difficult time growing up if he and partner David Furnish didn’t get busy producing a sibling because, by Elton’s logic, it’s so difficult to be an only child. Not that being an only child is the end of the world, mind you. My daughter seems to be just fine. Would she like to have a baby sister? Sure. But she’s not suffering for lack of one.

Anyway, now Elton is worrying over another issue that seems to be of much more importance. That is, Elton is terrified that Zachary will be teased because he’s the son of two gay men and doesn’t have a mommy. Seems like a legit concern, right? Kids can be so cruel:

He may have riches and fame but Sir Elton John has admitted son Zachary is going to face a “very difficult” childhood because of attitudes to their unusual family set up.

The 65-year-old star and his civil partner David Furnish, 49, became parents on Christmas Day 2010 to a child conceived using a donor egg and born via a surrogate.

But the singer fears his child will struggle with bullies because he works in showbusiness and because of he doesn’t “have a mummy.” Sir Elton told the Radio Times: “Being the child of someone famous is a huge ball and chain around your ankles. It’s going to be very difficult.”

The star revealed that 20-month-old Zachary calls him “daddy” and Mr Furnish “papa.”

Sperm from both men was mixed to fertilise the chosen egg — a process banned in the UK — and the child was carried by a surrogate. The whole process is estimated to have cost the couple in excess of $1million but it has not been revealed who the egg donor or surrogate is.

He added their unconventional family could cause further problems: “At school other children will say, ‘You don’t have a mummy.’ We’ve come a long way, but there’s still homophobia and will be until a new generation of parents don’t instill it in their children.”

Sir Elton insisted he would not push his son to follow him into showbusiness but wanted music to be a “big part of his life.”

[From Daily Mail]

I think that, at this point, Elton and David have probably already considered private tutoring for their son instead of a group education setting, but I think keeping him completely isolated from other children would be a bad move. As much as it might hurt for Zachary to hear other children say things about his daddies, it will probably also be a character-building experience. After all, everyone gets teased about something while growing up, right? Elton and David should just be thankful that Zachary is a healthy and happy child. The rest will come in due course.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

These are some photos of Elton John, David Furnish and their son Zachary on vacation with Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka and their kids last week. I never got around to covering these photos for whatever reason…? I guess I just forgot. The two families went on vacation last year too, and the photos are really similar (except for the size of the babies). But that’s not the point of this post – the point is that Elton John is still a raging bitch. And I love him. Remember this year’s Golden Globes? Madonna won “Best Song” and she was up against Elton John and Mary J. Blige, and both Mary and Elton were PISSED. Mary didn’t say anything, but Elton and David Furnish basically told everyone who would listen that Madonna is a selfish, narcissistic, talentless POS. Madonna was surprisingly gracious about the criticism, telling reporters that she loved Elton and David, etc. Still, Elton seethed. And now Elton is bitching about Madonna in a new interview:

Sir Elton John has reignited his feud with Madonna by labelling her a ‘f***ing fairground stripper’ in an extraordinary new interview.

The 65-year-old singer didn’t hold back with his criticism of Madonna, with his outburst triggered as he claimed the singer had been ‘horrible’ to Lady Gaga, who is godmother to his and husband David Furnish’s 19-month-old son Zachary.

Elton added that Madonna, 53, had no right to criticise other artists because her ‘career is over’ and her recent MDNA world-tour was less than well received.

Speaking on Australian news and current affairs programme Sunday Night, Elton said: ‘She’s such a nightmare. Sorry, her career is over. Her tour has been a disaster and it couldn’t happen to a bigger ****. If Madonna had any common sense she would have made a record like Ray of Light and stayed away from the dance stuff and just been a great pop singer and make great pop records, which she does brilliantly. But no, she had to go and prove … she looks like a f***ing fairground stripper. She’s been so horrible to Gaga.’

Elton’s comments come after Madonna hit out at Gaga for her track Born This Way having too many similarities to her own 1989 hit Express Yourself.

She said: ‘I thought, “What a wonderful way to redo my song.” I mean, I recognised the chord changes. I thought it was … interesting.’

Earlier this year, Elton reignited his long-running feud with Madonna by implying she wouldn’t sing live at the Super Bowl half-time show, saying she should “lip-synch good” in her performance.

The 65-year-old musician’s comments came after David had branded Madonna ‘embarrassing’ and ‘desperate’ after her song Masterpiece – from her directorial debut movie W.E. – beat Elton’s efforts on animated film Gnomeo and Juliet to win a Golden Globe award.

He wrote on Facebook: ‘Madonna. Best song???? F**k off!!! Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit.

‘Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism. And her criticism of Gaga shows how desperate she really is. (sic)’

[From The Mail]

Is all of this about Lady Gaga? I doubt it. I mean, I think the Gaga thing is an interesting sidenote, of course, and I don’t doubt that Elton and David want to defend their friend. But let’s be real: Elton and David just have a hate-on for Madonna. You don’t get this worked up about Madonna JUST because she points out that your friend Lady Gaga is a copycat. Something else is going on – maybe it’s just Elton’s completely normal, temperamental, bitchy behavior. Or maybe it’s something else.

Also… “fairground stripper”?? Do fairs have strippers now? I haven’t been to a fair in ages.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here’s some photos of Elton John performing at Buckingham Palace yesterday for Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee concert. I’d say that Elton dressed up mightily for the occasion, but he always looks this sparky and spiffy, right? He’s not exactly a man known for casual wear.

Moving right along, Elton has given an interview to The Guardian where he does a lot of talking about his experience (thus far) with being a parent alongside his partner, David Furnish. Elton seems to have substantially expanded his viewpoint from that point in late 2010 when he and David welcomed little Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John into their lives. To recap, Elton went on tour just one month after the baby was born, which seemed a little odd because, well, he could have afforded to take a little more time off for a new addition to the family, right? Then a story from the Mail revealed that Elton and David had set up Zachary in the apartment next to theirs with two nannies, but it was never revealed whether they’d knocked down a wall to connect the two apartments. In all likelihood, that’s what happened. But whatever the case, Elton seems to have settled into fatherhood quite comfortably, and it seems like he makes a ton of time for Zachary during his time offstage (even though 120 gigs a year, which Elton admits to below, sounds pretty exhausting). Here are some excerpts from The Guardian:

He’s still works a ton: “I still work a hell of a lot – I do 120 shows a year, I’m still recording a lot, I’m writing musicals, blah blah, blah – but I do have a wonderful private life and it’s found its feet.”

Will he slow down as Zachary ages? [T]he thing is, he has never enjoyed his career more. “If I was burnt out and just doing it to pay the bills, then it would be different – I would be very resentful of it – but this is the time when I’m actually enjoying it the most. I know when I come offstage, I’m going to be happy. I can go to bed. I don’t have to stay up all night doing drugs. I’m going to get up in the morning and see my little boy and see my partner. We have a life. You think, ‘How the f**k do you do it?’, but actually, you do. You just manage to do it.”

He’s a proud papa: [P]erhaps uniquely in the world of rock’n'roll, Elton John’s pre-gig preparations involve bathing an occasionally recalcitrant 15-month-old boy and reading him a bedtime story – and showing me photos on his iPad. There’s Zachary on his lap at the piano, Zachary kissing his housekeeper’s daughter (“He’s so straight”), Zachary playing football.

He worries about spoiling Zachary: It’s not him and David who are the problem, he says, so much as a global army of well-wishers. “You know what? At Christmas we bought him a swing for the garden and a little slide, and this was his Christmas present and his birthday present from us. But he had so many presents from other people throughout the world, which is touching, but we actually found it obscene. I said, ‘This is shocking. It’s four hours we’ve been opening these presents.’” They ended up giving most of the stuff to charity, and are trying to encourage people to donate money to an orphanage in Lesotho instead. “We had nine strollers given to us,” he sighs. “It’s crazy.”

He wants Zachary to have a sibling: “I think it’s difficult to be an only child, and to be an only child of someone famous. I want him to have a sibling so he has someone to be with. I know when he goes to school there’s going to be an awful lot of pressure, and I know he’s going to have people saying, ‘You don’t have a mummy.’ It’s going to happen. We talked about it before we had him. I want someone to be at his side and back him up. We shall see.”

[From The Guardian]

It sounds a little excessive for Elton to complain about all of the gifts that people around the world have sent to little Zachary, but at least he gave all the extra stuff to charity. I wonder if these gifts were sent by Elton’s fans or if they were actually from his celebrity friends — because I’ve never dreamed of sending a stroller (or anything else) to my favorite singer or celebrity, but I guess it’s possible that Elton’s got some really rich fans who want Zachary to have the very best.

I do wish Elton and David luck in adding to their family. While I’ve never really had the urge to have a second child myself, I see Elton’s point about how being an only child might be especially difficult when one has a famous parent. No matter how hard Elton tries not to spoil Zachary, there will always be the bubble of fame to cope with, and a sibling might cushion the inevitable need to step outside that bubble at some point.

Elton John and David Furnish shown with son Zachary in Honolulu on 1/6/2012; Elton and David shown attending the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscars viewing party on 2/26/2012; photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Elton John is talking about bullying in a new interview with E! News – done by David Burtka, who is Neil Patrick Harris’s partner. Unlike many of the other celebrities who talk about bullying these days, Elton isn’t discussing the bullying issue as it relates to his childhood – Elton claims he was bullied as an adult. Here’s video of the interview, plus some highlights:

If you thought bullying stops after high school, you’re sadly mistaken. As the constant debate concerning the theatrical release of Bully continues, Elton John got candid with E! News’ David Burtka during an exclusive interview recalling his own struggle with being bullied, even as an adult megastar.

“It was about control and them being able to keep me under their thumb,” he tells us. “And I was the perfect candidate for it. Even though I was famous and a big deal, it doesn’t matter, it’s who you are underneath that, and I was always kind of shy and intimidated.”

Elton adds, “One was violent and the other two were mentally violent. They were very important people in my life. They were important people in my career and and in my personal life.”

The Grammy-winning artist admitted to being physically hit by his tormentors, and although he kept mum on the situation, he urges others that are victimized to contact someone about their issue.

“Speak out, speak out. Snitch on them. Try to defend yourself, not like me, who hid it and thought it was OK to just go on like it.”

As for the bullies, “Your insecurities are what drive you to do this. You need to consider your consequences. I’m sure underneath it, you’re all very nice people. We’ve all made mistakes in our life—this is a good time now to correct your mistakes and help people.”

He continues, “We have to nip this in the bud, too many people have died. Too many young people have committed suicide because they’ve been frightened of 15-16-year-olds.”

Elton John has been working closely with Lady Gaga on an anti-bullying campaign, and truly feels that this “cruel and disgusting” behavior can be stopped. But he’s also preparing to deal with the possibility of his son, Zachary, coming into contact with a few bullies at school.

“I know by being two same-sex parents that when my boy goes to school he’s probably gonna have some people saying, ‘Oh you don’t have a mommy.’”

If that should happen, Elton hopes that his “pride and joy” will do what he urges everyone else to do in this type of situation, and speak out.

[From E! News]

Do I believe Elton? Sure. I think he’s probably faced a lot of torment, criticism, and bullying because of his sexuality (and because of his weight too, right?). And yes, I believe bullying is an issue amongst adults as well as kids, and that should be discussed more often. I also think Elton makes a good point about generational worries – that his son might fall victim the same kind of cycle of abuse.

Now, all that being said… Elton is known as one of the meanest, most tantrum-prone bitches out there. He regularly hurls abuse at his perceived enemies, publicly and privately. So let’s not pretend that Elton is only a victim – he’s capable of bullying the hell out of people too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Elton John lost the Golden Globe for “Best Song” to Madonna. And dear God, was he pissed, as was his husband, David Furnish. While Elton simply let his bitchface do the talking, David Furnish went on a rampage regarding Madge’s win – he gave quotes to media outlets (“Did Madonna get the Golden Globe because she attended the awards and agreed be a presenter? The award should have gone to Mary J. Blige or Elton. I like Madonna’s music, but not her movies. She should stick to what she is good at.”) and then he took to Facebook to blast Madge – “Madonna. Best song???? F**k off!!! Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism…”

So, it was ugly. And Madonna kept her head up, surprisingly enough, and simply told the press that she hoped she and Elton weren’t fighting (again). Well, now that several days have passed, David Furnish has finally decided to bury the hatchet. Except he’s blaming all of us for blowing his words out of proportion. Yes, because WE are the ones with issues.

David Furnish has described his and Elton John’s spat with Madonna over the Golden Globes as “a tempest in a teapot.”

After blasting Madge as “desperate” and “narcissistic” after she beat Elton for Best Original Song, a not fully apologetic Furnish wrote on Facebook, “Wow! What a tempest in a teapot. My comments regarding the Golden Globes have been blown way out of proportion. My passion for our film ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ and belief in Elton’s song really got my emotional juices going. But I must say for the record that I do believe Madonna is a great artist, and that Elton and I wish her all the best for next week’s premiere of the film ‘W.E.’ ”

[From Page Six]

Yeah, right. I wonder why David is changing his tune so suddenly? Did Madonna call Elton and tell him to get a grip? Did Elton realize that David probably wasn’t helping his (Elton’s) Oscar campaign? Or did David – who is 49 years old – realize he was acting like a gigantic baby? Let me clear – I think Madonna’s Globe win was terrible and undeserved too, and I think Madge deserves a lot of scorn for a lot of stuff, but really, does it matter? Madonna doesn’t matter anymore, and by picking a fight with her, it just makes her seem more sympathetic and professional (by comparison).

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Alright, as I’m sure you’ve already heard, Elton John and Madonna are back to bitch-fighting. I think they hated each other for several years, and then made up, but Madonna’s win at the Golden Globes just heated everything up all over again, and Elton’s husband David Furnish has even gotten into the mix. So… I’m going to do this in chronological order.

*Madonna, Elton John and Mary J. Blige were up against each other for “Best Song” at the Globes. When asked about Madonna’s chances on the Globes red carpet, Elton said Madge had “no f–king chance of winning.”

*Madonna wins Best Song. I’m just including video of the whole mess below – note the camera pan to Elton’s bitchface during Madge’s speech. Note Madge’s weird accent. Note how many times she uses “me, I, or my.”

*Elton was so obviously unhappy with the turn of events that Madonna had to take questions about Elton backstage, when she talked to the press. (Incidentally, Mary J. Blige was shooting eye-daggers at Madge too, but no one is discussing that). When asked about Elton, she said, “I hope he speaks to me for the next couple of years. He’s been known to get mad at me so I don’t know. He’s brilliant and I adore him so he’ll win another award. I don’t feel bad!”

*Chronologically, David then went to the Globes after-parties with Elton, and David was telling every reporter he could find about his Madonna-hatred. He told Page Six, “I think it was a fluke . . . When this happens you have to question the integrity of the awards. Did Madonna get the Golden Globe because she attended the awards and agreed be a presenter? Can you sing Madonna’s song? Can you hum it? It’s a song nobody has heard, from a film few have seen. The award should have gone to Mary J. Blige or Elton. I like Madonna’s music, but not her movies. She should stick to what she is good at.” A source close to Madonna tells Page Six, “W.E. has not officially opened . . . so [it is] accurate that many people haven’t seen it yet. There was no deal made about an award for her attending.”

*David then went into a Facebook rant after the Globes. He wrote: “Madonna. Best song???? F**k off!!! Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism… And her criticism of Gaga shows how desperate she really is.” David was referring to Madge’s 20/20 interview, where she said Gaga was “reductive.”

So… that’s the bitch-fight. It seems like David is the one who is really pissed off, but you know Elton is the bitchy puppet-master. As for the legitimacy of Madonna’s win – look, it’s the Golden Globes. I just don’t believe any of the awards are really that scientific. And I have to say… even though Madonna’s victory and acceptance speech was really depressing, she’s the one acting like a professional. Elton and David are acting like gigantic babies.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Since you guys seemed to enjoy yesterday’s photos of Elton John and David Furnish’s big gay vacation, here are even more pics. Elton, David and their baby Zachary are currently in St. Tropez where they are partying and hanging out with Neil Patrick Harris and his partner, David Burtka and their twins.

According to People Mag, the two families went for a cruise around the Italian Mediterranean, stopped in Portofino for gelato, and then returned to St. Tropez. Throughout the trip, NPH and Burtka each held on to a baby (I have no idea which is which), while Elton’s partner David Furnish held on to Zachary. Leaving Elton the odd-man-out, baby-holding-wise. This is my favorite part of the People story:

“It took a bit of organization,” one source tells PEOPLE, “because they had to come ashore by launch. And that has to be done very carefully with infants.”

After arranging the three children in sun caps and pint-sized life jackets, the group disembarked their yacht, loaded up a Zodiac craft from St. Tropez beach restaurant Club 55 at noon and sailed to the wooden pier at Pampelonne Beach – where dozens of locals had gathered to see them come ashore.

[From People]

Sun caps and “pint-sized life jackets”. WANT. So cute.

You know what this makes me nostalgic for? Will & Grace. I loved that show! Remember when Elton John came on the head of the Gay Mafia? I feel like that’s for real. NPH and Elton are the de facto heads of the (fabulous) Gay Mafia and seeing them vacation together with their babies… it’s all so amazing. I bet they’re plotting their takeover.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

I had kind of forgotten that Elton John and David Furnish were fathers now. Their baby boy, Zachary Jackson Levon, was born right around Christmas last year, which makes him seven months old now. These are photos of Elton, David and Zachary in St. Tropez today. I like that David is carrying him, just because… I’ve always thought that David was the one who wanted to be a dad. I don’t mean that in a harsh way or anything, and I’m not calling Elton a bad father. I just think that Elton was pretty happy with the way his life was, but that David wanted a baby and Elton went along. Soon after Zachary came along, Elton let it be known that they had already hired a bunch of nannies, that Zachary already had his own apartment, and that he (Elton) was already going back on tour.

I will say this – Zachary is super-cute! That is one chubby, adorable baby. My favorite baby (currently) is still Flynn Kerr-Bloom (he just looks gigantic and happy!), but Zachary is totally a doll. I think David looks great with him too – they look bonded and happy together. Elton seems more like, “Er, okay, what now?”

Oh – and Elton, David and Zachary are vacationing with Neil Patrick Harris, David Burthka and their twins. OMG! So many gay men, so many babies! I think Rick Santorum’s head just exploded.

PS… Zachary looks like Elton, right? Or am I imagining that?

Photos courtesy of Fame.

At some point, Elton John became the den-mother to all of the broken, drunken, and drugged-out musicians in the world. Elton famously battled his own addictions, and now he steps in and speaks out when he thinks he sees another celebrity who is going down the path of addiction. Eminem memorably gave Elton credit when Em spoke about his own rehab and recovery – Em and Elton are tight now, and Elton was one of the people who encouraged Em to get clean. And now Elton is stepping up for another friend – Billy Joel. Billy and Elton have done tours together, and I believe that they are close friends in real life. Now, Billy Joel has, like, a million DUIs and various incidents of drunken shenanigans. It’s been going on for years, and now Elton is stepping up – in a new Rolling Stone interview – to say that Billy needs rehab, and he needs to take it seriously.

Elton John says Billy Joel needs to get serious about rehab and “do something better” with his life. John makes the comments about his former touring partner in the Feb. 17 edition of Rolling Stone magazine. He tells the magazine the pair canceled many tours because of Joel’s illnesses and “alcoholism.”

He also says Joel should do rehab like he did it – with patients cleaning floors, not watching television.

John says he knows Joel is going to “hate” him for this. But he says Joel needs tough love.

Joel spent a month in a California rehab center for treatment of alcohol abuse in 2005. He spent about two weeks at a Connecticut facility in 2002.

A representative for Joel hasn’t returned an Associated Press e-mail request for comment on John’s remarks.

[From The Huffington Post]

Billy Joel is 61 years old… which is younger than I was expecting. I really thought he was in his late 60s or early 70s! That’s what alcoholism does to you, children. It ages you like a mofo. Anyway, my point about Billy being 61 years old: perhaps he thinks he’s just too old to start a new, sober life? Perhaps he just wants to go out in an alcoholic blaze of glory? I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying that it might have been more interesting if Elton had stepped up years ago.

Photos courtesy of WENN.