- Title: A round-up of the year's biggest showbiz stories - Part 2
- Date: 29th November 2018
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 7, 2018) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF SINGER RIHANNA POSING FOR PICTURES AT THE MET GALA NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - NOVEMBER 2, 2018) (REUTERS) ACTOR ALEC BALDWIN WALKING OUT OF GREENWICH VILLAGE POLICE STATION AND GETTING INTO VEHICLE LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE -
- Embargoed: 13th December 2018 23:42
- Keywords: biggest showbiz stories 2018 year end review top stories of the year
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA00D98L46RX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS NOTE: CONTAINS NUDITY IN SHOT 23
July was the month when British singer Cliff Richard heard that he had won his long-running legal battle over privacy with the BBC.
The veteran singing star, 77, was awarded substantial damages for breach of privacy after the BBC used a helicopter to film and televise detectives searching his home, which the singer said had left him feeling violated.
The search was part of an investigation into allegations of historical child sex offences but prosecutors later said Richard, who maintained his innocence throughout, would face no charges.
An attempt to appeal the ruling by the BBC was dismissed by a High Court judge just days later.
The other big celebrity story of the month was the hospitalisation of pop star Demi Lovato due to a reported heroin overdose.
TMZ, quoting law enforcement sources, reported that Lovato was found unconscious at her home and was treated with Narcan, an emergency treatment for suspected opioid and drug overdoses.
Lovato, 26, who has spoken openly about cocaine and alcohol abuse in the past, had released a song in June called "Sober," saying that she had relapsed after six years of sobriety.
July also saw the news that "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp and his former business managers had settled duelling lawsuits over his business affairs, according to Depp's representatives.
They said in a statement that terms of the agreement were confidential.
July was when Elvis Costello announced he was cancelling his tour because he had undergone surgery for cancer.
Costello, 64, whose hits include "Oliver's Army", "Everyday I write the Book" and "Alison", said he had been forced to call off the final six dates of his tour which included concerts in Croatia, Austria, Norway and Sweden on medical grounds.
Scarlett Johansson pulled out of a movie in July in which she was cast to play a transgender character following a backlash from the LGBT community.
"Rub & Tug" was due to star Johansson, who is straight, as the late real-life American crime kingpin Dante "Tex" Gill, who used his massage parlour as a front for prostitution in the 1970s and 1980s. Gill was born a woman but identified as a man.
Johansson said she had decided to withdraw from "Rub & Tug" for ethical reasons.
August saw the announcement that George Clooney had soared to the top of an annual list of the world's highest-paid actors, thanks largely to the sale of his tequila company.
Clooney, 57, earned an estimated $239 million between June 2017-June 2018, marking the highest earnings of his 35-year career in film and television, Forbes said.
August was also when Oscar winner Robert Redford announced his retirement from acting following the release of his film "The Old Man & The Gun."
"Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and (I'll) move towards retirement after this 'cause I've been doing it since I was 21," Redford told Entertainment Weekly magazine.
Another door was closed in Hollywood, as it was announced in August that Danny Boyle was to leave the new Bond movie.
He left due to "creative differences," the producers of the multi-million film franchise said.
In September, Tom Selleck, star of such TV crime dramas as "Magnum, P.I." and "Blue Bloods" and an ardent gun collector, resigned from the National Rifle Association's board of directors.
September was also Paris Fashion Week -- and Saint Laurent's show in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower was among the most spectacular shows.
Models splashed along a water-soaked runway for the label's latest showing.
In October, Oscar winner Ben Affleck revealed he had completed a 40-day residential alcohol rehab programme but said that battling addiction "is a lifelong and difficult struggle."
Affleck, 46, who also went to rehab in 2017 and 2001, said in a posting on his Instagram account that he remained in outpatient care, and thanked his family, friends and fans for their support.
Also in October, former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was sentenced in a Los Angeles courtroom to 28 years in prison for manslaughter for the death of a man he ran over with his pickup truck outside a hamburger stand in 2015.
October was also the month when the worlds of showbiz and politics well and truly collided when rapper Kanye West delivered a sometimes bizarre stream of consciousness speech in the Oval Office, and defended his support for U.S. President Donald Trump, to the great delight of Trump himself.
Towards the end of his speech, Kanye stood up and hugged Trump, saying "I love this guy right here."
October also saw reports that singer Sinead O'Connor had converted to Islam.
Social media videos appeared to show O'Connor reading out the Islamic proclamation of faith with Dr Umar Al-Qadr, chair of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council.
The videos follow a tweet posted by O'Connor on October 19 announcing that she had converted to the religion.
Singer Rihanna turned down an opportunity to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, US Weekly and Entertainment Tonight reported in October, each citing an unnamed source.
The articles quoted sources saying Rihanna rebuffed the offer in solidarity with National Football League players who sparked a national controversy by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the story.
November kicked off with the news that Alec Baldwin, most recently famous for his comic impersonations of U.S. President Donald Trump, was arrested in New York over a fight for a parking spot, police said.
The "30 Rock" sitcom actor, 60, "assaulted someone for a parking spot that they were both going for," New York police department detective Sophia Mason said.
The actor appeared in court on November 26th in connection with the case and is due back in court in January 2019, U.S. media reported.
Representatives for Baldwin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
British pop band the Spice Girls announced they would reunite for a UK tour next year but said it would feel strange performing without "Posh Spice" Victoria Beckham.
Fashion designer Beckham posted on Instagram that she wouldn't join the other four Spice Girls on stage again, but wished Geri Horner (Ginger Spice), Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice) and Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) well for their six-date tour next year.
British actor Idris Elba was named the sexiest man alive in November by People magazine, becoming only the third non-white man to win the annual honour.
Elba, 46, who fans want to be the next person to play James Bond, is one of Britain's best-known stars and won a Golden Globe for his lead role in BBC television detective series "Luther."
In November California rapper Snoop Dogg received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The musician and star of an unlikely television pairing with lifestyle guru Martha Stewart - "Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner" - was awarded the honour on the 25th anniversary of his debut album "Doggystyle." - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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