Beyonce and Jay-Z performing at Radio City Music Hall in June, 2006
Beyonce and Jay-Z got married in a moderately top secret small wedding and reception at Jay-Z’s Tribeca penthouse apartment in early April. The paparazzi were crowded outside, surrounding guests limos like zombies hungry for brains, but apart from some subdued photos of people coming and leaving there were no pictures of the event. For a female performer known for multiple elaborate costume changes and extravagant wigs, Beyonce kept her special day surprisingly private. It wasn’t without its luxuries of course. The venue was decorated all in white, guests were instructed to wear white, and 50 to 60 thousand white orchids were imported from Thailand.

Rumor has it that Beyonce is expecting a child with Jay-Z, and that may have prompted the longterm couple to get married quickly, but the date of their wedding had special significance for them and suggests it was planned well in advance. Their birthdays both fall on the fourth of separate months, they have roman numeral IV tattoos on their ring fingers, and their wedding was held on 4/4/08.

If Beyonce is pregnant, a potential child with Jay-Z is worth $5 million under her prenuptial agreement. She has her own empire and is a multi-millionaire in her own right. Jay-Z is worth at least $300 million, though, and his financial advisers are said to have encouraged him to draw up a prenup to protect his assets. He supposedly made it generous in order to be fair:

“The prenup calls for Jay-Z to pay Beyonce $10 million if the marriage ends after two years, and $1 million dollars a year for each further year she remains in the marriage, up to 15 years,” revealed a source familiar with the deal.

“If they do split, he’s promised to pony up $10 million to buy her a home..

“He’s promised to pay her an additional $5 million for each child she bears him - for her ‘loss of income’ during the pregnancy and child-rearing years.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 12, 2008]

Other provisions in the rumored prenup include “access to their private jet and a fleet of cars,” and all expenses paid college educations for their future children.

Doesn’t it seem like the prenup should pay out more the longer you stay with the person, like the amount increases per year so that spouses aren’t encouraged to cash out early? Maybe they assume that if you’re with someone for financial reasons it’s better not to include incentives to stick it out under false pretenses.

It seems like a necessity for celebrities and people with money to get prenuptial agreements since everyone’s chances at a lasting marriage are about 50/50. You also never know if you’ll have a successful career and eclipse your spouse’s earnings, and how your circumstances may change. I remember reading Suze Orman and being impressed by her reasons to always get a prenup.

Beyonce and Jay-Z have been together for a while, and there have been faint rumblings that they’re fighting or having trouble, but they’ve stuck it out and kept their relationship private. I bet they’ll last, and that they’re aiming for 4 kids.

Beyonce made a brief appearance at Jay-Z’s concert at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The first few bars of “Crazy in Love” came on and Beyonce did a dance on stage briefly. Jay-Z said “that’s some good shit right there,” which may have been a reference to the rumor that he got mad andmade the DJ stop playing “Crazy in Love” at an earlier show.

Beyonce sure can move, but it’s hard to tell if she’s pregnant or not. The camera stays on her upper body on the big screen on stage and never moves down.

Thanks to NecoleBitchie via ONTD for this video.

30 year-old Liv Tyler has been married to British musician Royston Langdon, formerly of the group Spacehog and now in Arckid, for five years. They have son Milo, nearly three and half, and live a relatively low-key life in NY together. All may not be well in their relationship, however. US Weekly reports that Liv was overheard on the phone talking to a lawyer about a potential divorce. She is also said to have been looking for a townhouse without her husband.

Liv Tyler [was] overheard… talking on the phone with a lawyer and seeking advice on getting a divorce without surrendering much of her money. “In the conversation, she complained about her husband being a ‘leech’ on her assets, and said she got married too young,” says the source. (The duo began dating when she was just 21.) Tyler - who said in 2004, “I don’t believe in divorce” - admitted to Hot Stuff in February that she had no plans for Valentine’s Day and even forgot about the holiday…

On April 9, the actress… was seen hunting for townhouses in nYC’s West village - without Langdon, who was playing with their son in a nearby park.

[From US Weekly, print edition, May 12, 2008]

I almost bought US’ claim that Tyler was looking for a townhouse on her own, but if her husband was playing with their son in a park right near where she was, it sounds like he just was taking over daddy duties and letting her have the first look.

If it’s true that she was on the phone complaining about her husband, maybe she was just talking to a friend and it was misconstrued by someone who overheard.

Tyler is about to play the heroine in The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton, which is out on June 13. Once she start making more public appearances look out for more gossip about the state of her marriage.

Liv Tyler is shown at the Iron Man afterparty on 4/28/08, and out with her family for her 30th birthday on 7/1/07, thanks to WENN.

Out and proud actor Leslie Jordan, 53, has a new memoir coming out that’s supposed to be full of tales of his debauchery including plenty of sex and drugs. The Emmy-winning actor known for being the bitchy nemesis of Karen on Will and Grace writes that he’s had crushes on his co-stars. Billy Bob Thornton was especially appealing to him after he heard from John Ritter that the guy was hung like a rope. Considering the late great comic John Ritter gave him this information, you have to think that he was putting him on:

“Dean Cain was stunning, and the sight of him strutting about in his Superman outfit was truly magnificent,” Jordan gushes, recalling his cameo on “Lois and Clark.” “I showed up on the set determined not to ‘­peter-gaze,’ or at least not to get caught at it.”

He became obsessed with Billy Bob Thornton while filming “Hearts Afire” after co-star John Ritter hinted to him about the size of Thornton’s manhood.

Ritter explained that he’d gone surfing with Thornton and later hit the showers. Ritter told Jordan the sight of Thornton’s “rope” would cause him to “fall in love.”

Jordan laments that he never got the chance: “There are probably a lot of things I’ll go a lifetime without seeing - the Mona Lisa, the Taj Mahal, the pyramids. And I’ll probably never see Billy Bob’s wiener, either.”

[From The NY Daily News

Jordan's memoir is called "My Trip Down the Pink Carpet," and is available for pre-release through Amazon.

I read an interview with Jordan from 2006 on AfterElton.com, when he was promoting a series of autobiographical plays he was doing with Delta Burke. He said that it saddens him to see young men addicted to drugs and you can tell that he's been through a lot and is wiser for it. His biography is sure to be interesting if this is how he talks:

“I'm sitting here, 51 years of age,” he says. “I survived growing up in the '50s. I survived the '60s where I was a hippie smoking dope. I survived the '70s where I was staggering around in Elton John platform shoes, swallowing quaaludes and going to Studio 54. I survived the '80s where I made a whole lot of money and did a whole lot of cocaine. Then crystal meth came on the scene — that was me in the '90s.”

He continues: “And now I'm sober. I buried an entire phone directory of friends to AIDS. And yet I survived. I feel I have to give back. I'm still at the AIDS walks and the marches.”

“You know what really saddens me?” he asks. “In the early '80s you'd be walking down the street and you'd see someone you hadn't seen in a while, and they were gaunt and really white. It was just heartbreaking. You thought, ‘Oh my God — it has got them.' And now in this day and age, it's almost the same thing. You see someone walking down the street and they are gaunt. Crystal's got 'em. It's a huge problem in our community. It really messes with you.

“I see these young, beautiful gay men jerking and twitching and thinking they look so fabulous, yet their eyes are completely dead. I do a lot of work with recovery programs and houses. It's sad so many young men are getting wrapped up in it.”

He adds: “But one thing I'll say about gay people: We take care of our own. We learned that in the AIDS crisis. And we'll take care of this.”

[From AfterElton.com]

Jordan also said he was glad to get work as an openly gay actor and didn’t worry about being typecast and just accepted the paychecks.

Do you think Billy Bob Thornton is hugely endowed though, or was John Ritter just messing with Jordan? He seems like the type to make something like that up. Has Thornton been nude for any roles so that we can see for ourselves? Frantic googling didn’t produce any results.

Billy Bob Thornton is shown outside the Late Show on 9/13/07 and at The Astronaut Farmer premiere on 2/20/07. Those jeans are too loose and I’ve looked through plenty of photos and he just doesn’t wear tight jeans. Maybe that’s for comfort purposes. Leslie Jordan is shown at the GLAAD media awards on 4/26/08. Thanks to WENN and PRPhotos.

According to Star magazine, Nicole Richie’s life is getting REALLY hard to balance. Before daughter Harlow was born, all Nicole had to balance was shopping and partying. I’m not being sarcastic, according to the mag, that really was about all she did. I guess she occasionally dodged Paris Hilton and randomly recorded a terrible pop song here and there, but that was about it. Now Nicole has a baby – but she still wants to have her old life too. And no matter where she is or what she’s doing, she feels like she should be doing something else. The life of a socialite is sooooooo hard.

Though she says life’s been “beyond amazing” since giving birth to her daughter in January, the diaper-duty demands of motherhood leave Nicole Richie pining for her old party days, according to Star magazine.

“Nicole is torn between being a mommy and being a party girl,” an insider told the publication. “She wants to go out and have fun, but when she does, she’s like, ‘Uh-oh, Harlow needs me.’”

The dramatic lifestyle change is catching to the new mom, said another source. “Nicole really misses her carefree life. Before Harlow came along, Nicole never had to worry about anything. All she did was party with her friends and go shopping. Now she’s totally overwhelmed by her new responsibility, even though she adores her daughter. Nicole still can’t figure out if she’s happier when she’s home with the baby or hitting the town with her friends!”

[From MSNBC]

Okay sarcasm aside, being a new mom is obviously incredibly overwhelming. I doubt anyone thinks, “Wow, I am really kicking ass at this.” But complaining because you have to stay home with your kid instead of going shopping and partying makes it pretty hard to be sympathetic. It doesn’t matter if Nicole can’t “figure out if she’s happier when she’s home with the baby or hitting the town with her friends!” (by the way, that quote makes me ill). When you’re debating over spending every night club hopping or staying home and taking care of your new baby now and then, there’s no debate. It isn’t about figuring out which one is more fun.

Every parent needs some time away, and deserves to go out and have some fun. But it needs to be a rational amount. Nicole is “totally overwhelmed by her new responsibility” because she’s never had any responsibilities before. So of course she doesn’t know how to handle it. If you haven’t learned how to juggle the different commitments in your life, it’s going to be hard to figure out how to prioritize. Now would be a great to figure that out.

Here’s Nicole Richie and Joel Madden outside their shop DCMA on Melrose Avenue on April 29th. Images thanks to WENN.

The divorce between Al Reynolds and Star Jones apparently came as a shock to Al. Though the nature of Al’s sexual orientation has long been disputed (it’s really hard not to make a Big Gay Al reference here – so I want credit for holding back) apparently he was head-over-heels for Star, and wanted nothing to do with the divorce. In fact he’s still so into her that Al’s mother is worried he won’t be able to pick himself up and carry on without the former prosecutor/former View co-host/former Court TV host. Star’s a lot of former things – I’m not even sure what she currently is.

Despite reports that he engaged in a post-split champagne party with an entourage of sexy singles, Al Reynolds’ mother claims her son was crushed after his marriage to Star Jones fell apart. In an interview with In Touch magazine, Ada tried to set the record straight.

“(Al) is so hurt and so sad,” his mother insisted. “He did not want this divorce at all. He wanted to stay married. I think Star wanted the divorce, not Al.” Ada admitted the relationship between Al and Star initially came as a surprise to her. “I truly believed that he would never get married. He never seemed interested.”

Now she fears how he’ll make it as a single man. “Honestly, I don’t think that Al will move on from this. I am very concerned for him.”

[From MSNBC’s Tabloid Tidbits]

A lot of people are saying that Star seems to think that she can get someone better, now that she’s thinner. There’s a lot of gossip that she’s dating married NBA player Dwyane Wade, though he has of course issued a “We’re just very good friends,” response.

“Star is an unbelievable woman. We have a great, great relationship. As friends,” Wade said Thursday of the state-of-play between him and the former View co-host. “We’re friends, just like a lot of celebrities.”, he insisted during his guest spot alongside Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith on the light-hearted TNT show Inside the NBA.

“Are y’all close friends? … Are you the kind of friends that drink out of one cup with two straws?” Smith asked, referring to a much-discussed photo of Wade, 28, and Jones, 46, at a tennis match. “Those kind of friends?”

“We are friends. That’s all,” repeated Wade, who is married to his high school sweetheart. The couple have two sons.

[From People]

Married or not, I wouldn’t want to be linked to Star Jones either. That woman will eat you alive. And I don’t mean that in the fat joke way. In Touch noted that Al Reynolds gave up his well-respected banking job to manage Star’s career after she was booted from Court TV. But when he started working on a book at teaching at Florida Memorial University, Star saw that as abandonment. Be wary Dwyane Wade: if you’re not all about Star, she will take one of those straws you two were sharing and somehow manage to strangle you with it. And she’s a former prosecutor, so she’ll probably know how to get away with it too.

Header of Star and Al at Diddy’s “The Real White Party” on February 9th. Images thanks to WENN. Here’s Star and Dwyane watch the women’s final tennis match at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida on April 5th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

OK! Magazine is claiming they have it confirmed that Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds are indeed engaged. Scarlett’s ’s publicist Marcel Pariseau confirmed the engagement today. Johansson and Reynolds have been dating a little over a year, and engagement rumors have been plaguing them for several months. They’ve hardly ever spoken about each other in interviews, and have barely even acknowledged that a relationship exists.

OK! can confirm that Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds are engaged! So far no wedding date has been set, and sources close to the couple tell OK! not to worry about marking the calendar anytime in the near future. “Scarlett doesn’t want to get married anytime soon,” says the insider. “So expect it to be a long engagement.”

According to the source, the Lost in Translation star’s reluctance to walk down the aisle had been a source of tension between the couple, so they came up with a compromise — “Get engaged now, and worry about the wedding down the road,” explains the pal.

However, says the friend, don’t mistake Scarlett’s hesitancy to mean there’s any lack of love on her part. “She has said time and time again that Ryan is the one who she wants to spend the rest of her life with,” says the source.

[From OK!]

Scarlett’s first album Anywhere I Lay My Head is due to be released on May 20th. It’s pretty interesting how all these starlets keep announcing engagements/marriages/and possible pregnancies right around the time their albums are due, no? First Ashlee Simpson got engaged/maybe knocked up with Pete Wentz, then Mariah Carey got married to Nick Cannon, and now Scarlett and Ryan are engaged. If they elope and/or she’s suddenly maybe sorta kinda pregnant, I’m going to have some serious questions.

- The Photoshop Awards: Mariah Carey’s Vibe Magazine Cover [Dlisted]
- New Kids on the Block released their new song, called “Summertime.” [Lainey Gossip]
- Usher was busy from a life of not pimping his baby this weekend filming the video for his newest single “Moving Mountains” off of his album Here I Stand. We see Usher’s trying to get creative with this one, with the rock climbing action [Bossip]
- Watch Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson Film Marley & Me [Fafarazzi]
- Despite the definite lack of action, David Mamet pins you to the mat with tension in “Redbelt” [Pajiba]
- Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell Bike Riding In Brentwood [I'm Not Obsessed]
- Calista Flockhart and longtime boyfriend Harrison Ford cheered Calista’s son Liam, 7, on at his baseball game in Brentwood, CA over the weekend [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
- The Paparazzi Take A Weekend Trip To Louisiana For Jamie Lynn Spears’ Baby Shower [Defamer]
- Reese Witherspoon was out as Global Ambassador and Honorary Chair of the Avon Foundation at their walk for Breast Cancer in DC [PopSugar]
- Bai Ling slips a nip on the set of Crank 2. NSFW. Or while eating [Celebslam]
- Who Invited Paris Hilton To The Race to Erase MS Event? [The Bastardly]
- Tom Cruise has perfected his own special kind of evil eye. It’s a cross between “you talkin to me” and “who farted”? [CityRag]
- Kate Bosworth Lifts Grocery Bag, Breaks Arm into Three [Websters is my Bitch]
- Sexy Celebs at the Kentucky Derby Gala. Well, some of them at least [Hollywood Rag]
- Mischa Barton’s butt could be a topographic map [The Blemish]
- Jennifer Aniston’s Bikini Pictures (Site NSFW) [Drunken Stepfather]
- Miley Cyrus made her first public appearance since the Vanity Fair “scandal” at the Disney Channel Games concert Saturday night. Oh, and her fans are ‘Praying For Her’ [Yeeeah!]
- A British TV presenter has branded Simon Cowell self-obsessed, insisting his vanity is genuine and not an act for the TV cameras. I’m sorry, was anyone ever challenging that?? [In Case You Didn't Know]
- Angelina Jolie looks ready to pop [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
- Well, mates… it seems the long wait shall soon be over, for Pete Doherty shall leave Wormwood Scrubs prison on Tuesday. Yes, he will have only served 29 days out of his original 98 day sentence, but prisons are overcrowded [Agent Bedhead]
- Heather Mills recently turned down $200,000 to be the face for a UK adult entertainment store. That was easily the best offer she’s ever gotten [Crazy Days and Nights]
- More Mischa Barton butt photos [WWTDD]
- Carrie Underwood looks amazing performing on Day 3 at the Stagecoach Festival [The Skinny]
- Jessica Biel is normally one of the hottest women on the planet, but she looks like she’s infected with some crazy disease here [Derek Hail]
- Good News, Everyone — Seth MacFarlane Ain’t Stoppin’ At Four Shows On The Air Simultaneously [Best Week Ever]
- Of Course, Gary Dourdan’s Run-In With The Law Was One Big Misunderstanding [Mollygood]
- Drew Barrymore & Justin Long: Powerfully Un-Photoshopped [Jezebel]
- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs gets his blvd star [Popbytes]
- ABC Cancels Men in Trees [ShowHype]

Diddy was on Ellen today and she set up a taste test for the mogul in honor of Cinco de Mayo. (Video below) Diddy has developed his own vodka for Cîroc and receives half of the profits. He said in a press conference that his partnership with Cîroc came after a year of negotiations and that he “wanted to build a brand that represents the art of celebration.” He said vodka is his drink of choice and that he wants to stand behind his brands.

Diddy explained to Ellen that he wants a smooth drink and you want to “preserve your sexy” and that’s why he’s a vodka fan. Ellen put out a taste test with four shots of vodka for each of them with the bottles covered by boxes. Only one of the four was Diddy’s vodka. He realized quickly that his vodka wasn’t the first one, because he made a face when he did the shot. The second two vodkas were hard to tell apart, and he faked like he was getting drunker after each shot. Ellen played it cool and looked amused. He joked with Ellen that her shots must contain water. When he got to the last shot he spit out the vodka, and quickly realized it wasn’t his. It came down to picking which of the middle two shots was his brand and he got it right! He picked his own brand over Ketel One, which he said was also pretty smooth. The first vodka was Absolut and the last was Popov or another cheap brand.

The whole exchange was pretty fun and although Diddy is known for being arrogant, combative and a player he definitely is talented at representing a product.

Cîroc vodka is superior according to Diddy and is not more expensive than its competitors. Cîroc runs at around $30 per 750 ml bottle while Ketel One is only slightly cheaper. Flavored versions of Absolut are similarly priced. I would buy Diddy’s vodka at least once after seeing this video. The man does his job well.

Here’s the video, thanks to rockers94 on Redlasso:

Diddy is also starting a chauffeur service for drunken celebrities, and it sounds like he wants to get them coming and going if he has a vodka brand too.

Here’s Diddy getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Sting and his wife Trudie Styler have a charity they run, the Rainforest Foundation, where they raise money to plant trees. But it seems that in the way of charitable donations, they’re running a little below the average. Trudie doesn’t think much of the criticism.

Newspaper reports claimed only 41 per cent of the funds raised at a starstudded concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall were spent on saving trees.

The New York Post also claimed the Rainforest Foundation was rated one of the worst causes by watchdog Charity Navigator.

Charity co-founder, Belgian photographer Jean Pierre Dutilleux, recently joined the attack and is quoted on blog PerezHilton.com as saying, “I have kept quiet for almost 20 years, hoping for improvement. But enough is enough.

Everything is true or worse.” But Styler has hit back at the reports, claiming the figures are misleading.
She says, “The Rainforest Foundation is celebrating its 20th year. We wouldn’t still be in business or have given out millions of dollars over the years if we’d spent everything we made immediately after it came in.”

PR Inside

Sure, you might have given millions of dollars to charity, but if you’ve raised over twice that, taken money from people that expect all of their donation to go to the cause, then all of it should go to the cause. 41% is not a great deal of money to make it into the fund, around 75% is the average for a charitable event.

Also, if members of your own organization are leaving after 20 years of loyal service to complain about the financial management of the charity, you know something fishy is going on.

Then again, any money that goes to helping protect and maintain the rainforest is going to help the rapidly warming globe.

The Rainforest Foundation concert takes place in New York this month, with Brian Wilson, Billy Joel and James Taylor headlining.

Sting and Trudie Styler are shown outside Scotts restaurant in London on 3/20/08, thanks to WENN.

On 30th April Dennis Rodman was arrested for domestic violence, which his manager brushed off, saying it was just some bruises, and it was brought on by drinking to relieve stress from a bad divorce and not seeing his kids for two months.

He said that Rodman would be entering a rehab facility on his return to Florida, and he has.

Dennis Rodman has checked into a rehab facility in Florida, his manager has confirmed. The news follows Rodman’s arrest on Thursday on suspicion of felony domestic battery.

Cops believe he attacked his girlfriend during a drunken fight at a Los Angeles hotel the day before. He was released on $50,000 bail before heading to Miami, where he was spotted with friends over the weekend.

On Monday morning he entered an outpatient rehab center in Fort Lauderdale, his representative Darren Prince has confirmed to TMZ.com.

Starpulse

I’m glad he’s getting himself into a rehab and sorted out – before he inflicts more than bruises on his girlfriend. Hopefully this trip to rehab is for real and not just to lesson his sentence, which is seems to be for a lot of criminals. I know that any kind of addictive behavior is hard to shake, think of caffeine, cigarettes, and watching reality television for those of you not into more illicit substances. It often takes more than just one trip to rehab to change your ways, but sometimes it seems that criminals – not just celebrity offenders – use it as a way to get lesser prison sentences before going back to their previous behavior.

No time frame for Dennis’ stay in rehab was given.

Dennis Rodman is shown on 3/20/08 at a celebrity poker tournament, thanks to WENN.