"Jon & Kate Plus 8" also taking a break

Jon and Kate during filming of Jon & Kate Plus 8. (Clark McCarthy-Miller/TLC)

Well, it was bound to happen...no big revelation here, though the entertainment media will likely call it "shocking news" and "bombshell" more times that I'll be able to count tonight. (Note to self: Add "bombshell" to your list of pet peeve words.)

As the shit continues hit the fan at the speed of light in Jon and Kate Gosselin's lives, production of the reality show that made them famous, Jon & Kate Plus 8, has been suspended following their announcement Monday that they're splitting up.

Uh-oh

Last night's episode attracted a TLC-record 10.6 million viewers, but despite the huge ratings, the network and the family are "taking some time off to regroup," TLC said in a statement.

The network said that next Monday's episode will feature a clip package of the couple's highs and lows during their 10-year marriage and some new footage, but that the next all-new episode won't air until Aug 3. "Then a modified schedule will be in place to support the family's transition," TLC said.

J&K+8 addicts must be reaching for their oxygen tanks and lots of chocolate...

The decision came from TLC and not the family, the Los Angeles Times reported. Because of the couple's faltering marriage, production on each episode thus far has been down to the minute, and word is they simply don't have enough footage now to create fresh installments, according to the report.

Only six episodes of the 40-episode season have aired.

Near the end of last night's episode (the first 45 minutes spent on an excruciatingly long product placement for a playhouse company in Maine), Kate said that she had sobbed and hyperventilated for half a day when she realized that her marriage was over. And Jon, displaying all the emotion of a bottle of Drano, described his failings in terms of passivity and ineptitude as a communicator, The New York Times reported. (I thought this was too funny to pass!)

"Over the course of this weekend, Jon's activities have left me no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children," Kate said in a statement Monday.

The couple reportedly plans to live in different cities. Right now the family, which includes a set of twins and sextuplets, home base is a $1.1 million Pennsylvania house. People magazine recently reported Jon was apartment hunting in New York and might move to Donald Trump's Trump Place (not Plaza, which is way more expensive than what any of them will be able to afford without the show and its perks).

Now, this thing about to become a tale of two cities caught my interest because if you think about it, why the hell is he moving to New York (or wherever)--so far away from his beloved eight kids? Usually, caring parents do whatever they can to remain nearby so they can see their children as often as possible and be a part of their lives. Occasionally, this is not doable because of work or family issues. Fine. What's the issue here?

Hmmm...

During last night's episode, a teary-eyed Kate that in spite of it all "the show must go on."

Well...not really.

Sources: US magazine, E! Online, Los Angeles Times, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009

Stew of News -- Showbiz

OK, so I'm beyond behind today. It's already tomorrow! Still, I don't want to totally blow everything off, so, just as I intended this morning, I'll post the Stew.

Perez Hilton punched by Black Eyed Peas manager

When Perez Hilton was allegedly assaulted on Sunday night by the manager of Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am and didn't get an immediate response from police, the famed celebrity blogger felt he had only one place to turn: the Internet, the LA Times reported Monday.

"When the police are taking their time and not coming, I am freaking out, I took to Twitter," Hilton explained on his website. "Because I was in shock and I felt helpless. That was my very public cry for help."

Oh, brother...so much drama...

Hilton said the dispute started during a dress rehearsal for the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto Saturday when Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie approached the blogger about his recent criticisms of the band's new album The E.N.D. After the ceremony on Sunday, will.i.am confronted Hilton at a nightclub. The altercation led to the band's manager, Liborio "Polo" Molina, allegedly hitting Hilton, the LA Times, EW, AP, TMZ, HLN and everyone else reported.

Above: Perez Hilton sporting a black eye and a tear after his altercation with Molina, on the left.

"I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards," Hilton tweeted at about 1 a.m. PDT Monday. "I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke."

Well, he probably was, though he tends to...you know...kinda, sort of blow things out of proportion.

By the morning, will.i.am had posted a video on his website Dipdive denying the charge and accusing Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, of seeking attention. Hilton posted his own video in response, an 11-minute-plus tirade full of tears and profanity in which he specified that he hadn't been directly assaulted by will.i.am, but by Molina, according to the reports.

Molina, 36, reportedly has been charged with assault and will have his first court hearing on Aug 5. In an interview with the LA Times on Monday, a lawyer for Hilton said the blogger is planning to sue "at least" Molina.

Courtroom drama!

"It's going to become a civil matter as quickly as I can type," attorney Bryan Freedman said. "This is certainly about showing Mr. Molina and will.i.am that violence is not the answer." The attorney said it "seems pretty apparent" will.i.am encouraged the altercation.

Hilton has increasingly become the subject of news lately, most notably when he asked then-Miss California USA Carrie Prejean for her view on same-sex marriage during the Miss USA pageant telecast in April.

Brown avoids jail time for beating Rhianna

R&B singer Chris Brown stroke a plea deal today that will keep him out of jail for the brutal beating of girlfriend Rhianna in February.

The fact that Brown will come out of this without spending a single day in jail is pissing off a lot of people, among them CNN's Nancy Grace, who's never better than when she's outraged about something. Kudos to Nancy.

Brown plead guilty to one count of felony assault in the beating (to a pulp) of Rhianna. He entered his plea right before a preliminary hearing in which Rhianna was scheduled to testify. Oh...

According to the terms of the plea agreement, instead of facing a sentence of up to five years in prison, he got five years probation, 180 hours of community service (a.k.a. taking out the trash), domestic violence counseling, and an order to stay away from Rhianna by at least 50 yards. WTF?

Jon and Kate are separating and heading for divorce--duh

Media outlets seeking ratings are calling it a "bombshell" and "shocking news." Are you fucking kidding me?

That was the "big" announcement about "their lives" that was revealed during tonight's episode of Jon & Kate plus 8, the TLC reality series that follows the Gosselins and their set of twins and sextuplets.

How is that news? News would be that they're reconciling, don't you think? News would be Kate showing up with long, curly, red hair extensions. News would be Jon actually talking...uttering more than one sentence at a time.

Photo: The good old days...

Kate said they're doing it in the name of "peace"; Jon said it's because they can't be "cordial" to each other. Kate claims that Jon is very angry with her and won't even talk to her about the decisions he's making. Jon claims...what did he claim? Did he even say anything?

If they aren't talking, how the heck are they reaching agreements about separation and divorce? Lawyers and agents, I suppose. Who would've thought...

I feel bad for everyone involved, especially the kids. Yet, at least they're a big bunch and they have each other. Perhaps that will compensate for the lack of presence of one parent or the other.

I'm sticking to my theory: it all went south when Jon got more hair and Kate turned up with less. Hair alterations = marriage alterations, if you ask me.

Sources: HLN, LA Times, EW, TMZ, AP, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009

The beginning of the end for Jon & Kate Plus 8

Jon and Kate Gosselin celebrate their 100th episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC.

All I'm going to say about the Gosselins is that it's over. The show it's over.

That's what happens when you try to have your cake and eat it too.

Their hit TV show, Jon and Kate Plus 8, has brought them fame and fortune, but it has also changed their lives.The once-normal, everyday couple from next door coping with the extraordinary circumstances stemming from raising a set of twins and sextuplets is now as far from "everyday" as it gets, more than 100 episodes farther.

But that alone wouldn't have been enough to derail the gravy train. They got themselves a scandal.

That's what's happening in the U.S.--you're nobody or next-to-nobody unless you're on television, and once there, you're not a true star until something nasty about you can be reported and milked for all it's worth by the media and the insatiable-for-trash public.

All you need is one thing--one word, one act, one photo--that the self-righteous majority finds reprehensible to end up on the cover of every pop culture magazine, in every entertainment news show, and the subject of daily water-cooler discussions, and you've made it. If genitals are involved, even better.

So finally, after all these years, you've made it to the pinnacle of your TV career. But now everyone...well, not everyone...but a bunch of people who once "loved" you and those who knew nothing about you until the shit hit the fan now hate you.

They'll watch a few episodes of your show, maybe even the whole season, to get a glimpse of the train wreck that is now your life. And rather than feeling envious of you and your vacations, they will cherish their new found power as moral judges. And, soon enough, they will drop you.

I don't mean to be negative. It's just the way it usually goes.

The good ratings-turned-to-awesome-ratings-post-scandal will go down the drain, the show will be canceled, and other than a yearly picture to see how much the kids have grown, no one will buy a magazine or tune into any show to see you.

And that's all I'm gonna say.

Sources: My Twisted Mind, TLC photo
Copyright © 2009