Plea Deal

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Emma Roberts made headlines when she remarked that Hollywood women are far more often called out as “nepo babies” than Hollywood men, while appearing on the podcast Table for Two. She pointed out George Clooney as the ultimate nepo baby. Emma had a valid point: although George is talented, his aunt was the iconic Rosemary Clooney which opened doors for him in Hollywood. Although she sort of backtracked her comments, Emma’s aunt, who just happens to also be one of George’s best friends, Julia Roberts, was miffed over the incident. Our source told us that hours after the podcast became news, Julia got on the phone to Emma and gave her quite the earful. We can reveal that Emma, at Julia’s urging, reached out to George and apologized for bringing his name up. Even though Julia was upset, good-natured George just laughed it off.

Alec Baldwin made the news again for all the wrong reasons. This week his attorneys asked the New Mexico judge to dismiss the case against him over firearm evidence. The long shot move is unlikely to fly and here’s what we know. Behind very closed doors Alec’s legal eagles are trying to negotiate a plea deal which will allow him to serve any time in house arrest, pay a substantial fine, and work on legislation banning REAL guns on movie sets. Nothing has been agreed to as of yet, but secret negotiations continue.

Estranged lovebirds Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez created some buzz when they were spotted in the same Beverly Hills office building. Although they arrived and left separately we are hearing that the “meeting” was actually part of a therapy session. Ben arrived first and had an individual session, and then later in the day J.Lo arrived to join him for a joint couples session. Their future together seems to change by the moment, but they want to make sure they give their marriage every chance to survive.

Miranda Lambert’s handsome hubby, former NYC cop Brendan McLoughlin made news and she ain’t happy about it. Brendan was seen getting chummy with other females that weren’t his wife, and he did it at the Nashville bar, Casa Rosa, that Miranda’s OWNS! While Brendan claimed he was just being a good host (he occasionally works there) we are hearing that Miranda was nonetheless irked at his misstep, and put him on notice that he won’t be hanging out in her bar, or any other bar for that matter, unless she’s WITH him!

Finally to end the week on an uplifting note, Selma Blair was spotted all over Paris this week looking great during the countless fashion shows. We know this. Selma’s trip wasn’t all pleasure. The brave MS sufferer also spent a great deal of time meeting with designers to encourage them to include canes in their accessories. Selma relies on a cane to help her with stability issues caused by the MS and she’s made no secret that it’s hard to find anything stylish. As my source puts it, Selma wants to make canes more attractive and fashionable.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Alec Baldwin recently filed a motion to dismiss the charges he’s facing in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, but here’s what we know. Behind closed doors Alec’s legal team is hoping to negotiate a plea deal involving no jail time, a clear record, community service and a HUGE donation. Alec is concerned that a jury found armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty in the case, so he’s secretly done a 180 and instructed his high-priced lawyers to make a deal!

Last Sunday Billie Eilish named dropped her former choir teacher, Mandy Bringham, when she won her second Oscar for Best Original Song for What Was I Made For, from the Barbie movie. Other media outlets tracked down the teacher but only WE will tell you that Billie personally reached out to Mandy days after the historic win, and the two are getting together in the near future. Our source says Billie plans to offer Mandy a job on her team as, what else, a vocal coach.

For reality TV fans, the buzz this week was the final reunion episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the current state of OG star, Kyle Richard’s marriage to estranged husband Maurico Umansky. We can tell you this tidbit: Despite Kyle not revealing many deets on the reunion, our well placed source says that marriage is kaput and a very friendly divorce is being negotiated. If there’s any divorce drama it will only be manufactured for next season of RHOBH, but the soon-to-be exes have already decided who gets what and may plan to live together as friends for a bit until their youngest daughter Portia turns 18 in two years.

Meghan Markle made headlines when she debuted a new website which she eventually will use to hawk merchandise. Way back in November, we told you that Meghan and Harry were looking at wineries to sell their own wine and this latest venture goes along with that. Meghan hopes to be the next Martha Stewart and build an empire based around her kitchen skills, including her own wine as well as olive oils, jams, cookbooks, etc. Our source adds this tidbit you will only read here – Meghan’s Montecito neighbor and good pal Oprah Winfrey is an angel investor in the project.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA