FILE: SHOWBIZ 2013 REVIEW OF THE YEAR/YEARENDER PART 3 - A further look at the top entertainment news stories of 2013

Record ID: 393466

  • Title: FILE: SHOWBIZ 2013 REVIEW OF THE YEAR/YEARENDER PART 3 - A further look at the top entertainment news stories of 2013
  • Date: 16th December 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS LOCATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS) BRAD PITT AND ANGELINA JOLIE
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland, Usa, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,General,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8L9NN9O5SKEXBTS5PA6OGA7RD
  • Story Text: From the royal birth of Prince George to the Michael Jackson civil trial, 2013 was a hot bed of showbiz news and milestones.
    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, celebrated the birth of their baby boy on July 22. Named George Alexander Louis, the baby is the third in line to the British throne. His arrival ended weeks of feverish anticipation and an international media frenzy. The proud parents debuted the new prince shortly after his birth on the steps of the hospital.
    Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy. In May, the Oscar-winning actress wrote an editorial in the New York Times saying that she had the procedure as a preventative measure to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer. Jolie said her doctors estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer, which was reduced to five percent following the procedure. She said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.
    The family of late singer Michael Jackson sued concert promoter AEG, but lost the case after a sensational five-month trial that offered a glimpse into the private life and final days of the 'King of Pop.' The wrongful death lawsuit claimed the concert promoter had acted negligently by hiring Conrad Murray as Jackson's personal physician, but a jury concluded Murray was sufficiently qualified for his job. Jackson's mother Katherine has filed additional court documents indicating they plan to seek a new trial. Meanwhile, Murray was released in October after serving half of his four-year sentence in a Los Angeles prison.
    Lindsay Lohan was ordered in March to spend 90 days in a locked rehabilitation facility and undertake 30 days community labor as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors over charges arising from a June car crash. Lohan was accused of lying to police when she said she was not behind the wheel when her sports car smashed into a truck on June 8, 2012. After serving her her time, Lohan has shied away from the spotlight, even skipping a trip to the Venice Film Festival to promote her movie, "The Canyons."
    Despite Lindsay keeping a low profile, her mother Dina did not. She was arrested and charged with drunken driving in September, after she was stopped for speeding in New York. Dina was ordered by a judge to undergo a full psychological exam by a court-appointed doctor after she claimed the media drove her to drink.
    Amanda Bynes left a California facility in December after court-ordered psychiatric treatment. The actress was receiving psychiatric care at a Malibu facility after she was alleged to have started a small fire in front of a Los Angeles-area home. Bynes made headlines throughout 2013 for her erratic behavior, odd posts on Twitter and her bizarre court appearances - including several in New York City, where she faced charges of possessing marijuana and throwing a glass bong out of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.
    Alec Baldwin had a year of highs and lows. The actor was in a New York court throughout November for a trial against a woman he accused of stalking and harassing him and his wife, Hilaria. A judge found the woman, Genevieve Sabourin, guilty and sentenced her to 210 days in jail.
    Baldwin's late-night talk show on cable TV news network MSNBC was also canceled. The talk show, "Up Late with Alec Baldwin," was suspended after the actor apologized for comments he made to a New York photographer that a gay rights group described as homophobic.
    On the bright side, however, Baldwin and his wife welcomed a baby girl, Carmen, who was born in August.
    In other baby news, Simon Cowell found out that he was going to be a dad amid a media scandal. The "X Factor" and "American Idol" creator got embroiled in his friends' divorce proceedings. Court documents filed in New York on July 15 cited Cowell as a co-respondent in a divorce complaint between his friend Andrew Silverman and Silverman's estranged wife Lauren. The legal documents, filed by Andrew Silverman, state the reasons for the dissolution of marriage are the commission of acts of adultery by the defendant, Lauren, and well as cruel and inhuman treatment. Cowell later announced that Lauren and he were expecting a child together.
    Halle Berry gave birth to a baby boy in October. The baby is Berry's second child and her first with French actor Olivier Martinez, whom married in July. Berry already has a five-year-old daughter, Nahla, with Canadian model Gabriel Aubry.
    Kate Winslet gave birth to a baby boy in December. It was the first child for the actress and her husband Ned Rocknroll, although Winslet already has two children from two previous marriages.
    Oscar-winning Spanish actress Penelope Cruz gave birth to her second child with husband Javier Bardem in July, a girl named Luna. The duo married 2010 and also have a boy named Leo.
    Elton John and his husband David Furnish became new dads again in January after the birth via a surrogate mother of Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John. The couple already were parents to a son, Zachary.
    Hugh Grant welcomed a baby girl into his life in November. The mother was Chinese actress Tinglan Hong, who, following the baby's birth, got an injunction from London's High Court "prohibiting harassment" of her and the child after she said paparazzi had made her life "unbearable."
    Drew Barrymore had reason to celebrate this year. The actress is pregnant with her second child. Barrymore and her husband, Will Kopelman, already have a daughter, Olive, born in September 2012.
    Singer Shakira gave birth to her first child, a boy, in January. The Colombian pop star her boyfriend, the Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique, named the boy Milan.
    Fergie and her husband Josh Duhamel had their first child together in August: a boy, named Axl Jack Duhamel.
    And singer Lily Allen gave birth to a baby girl in January. She and husband Sam Cooper named their daughter Marnie Rose.
    Oprah Winfrey found herself at the center of what she says was a racist encounter with a store clerk in Zurich, Switzerland. The superstar talk show host and actress, currently appearing in "Lee Daniel's the Butler," was in the Alpine nation for friend Tina Turner's wedding when she said she was denied from buying a 35,000 Swiss Franc ($38,100 USD) crocodile handbag, claiming it was because she was black. The store, Trois Pommes, denied race was a motivating factor.
    Tina Turner, who has lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years, married German-born record producer Erwin Bach in July and relinquished her American citizenship in October. Turner became a Swiss citizen in 2009.
    Actress Keira Knightley married musician James Righton on May 4th after a two year relationship.
    Matt Damon renewed his vows with wife Luciana Barrosso on April 13, in an intimate Caribbean Islands ceremony. They married in 2005.
    "Scandal" actress Kerry Washington married San Francisco 49ers player Nnamdi Asomugha on June 24. She was also named best dressed by People Magazine.
    It was a good year for "Star Wars" filmmaker George Lucas, who married businesswoman Mellody Hobson on June 22. They became parents to a baby girl born via surrogate, on August 22, and Lucas sold Lucasfilms to Disney for 4.05 billion dollars in cash and stock.
    Octogenarian Playboy founder Hugh Hefner briefly swapped his iconic silk pajamas for a tuxedo to marry Crystal Harris, the one-time "runaway bride," at a wedding that took place on New Year's Eve 2012. It is Hefner's third marriage.
    And "Star Trek" actor Patrick Stewart married jazz singer Sunny Ozell in September.
    It was a big year for breakups and separations too.
    "Twilight" megastars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson finally called it quits after a rocky relationship, made difficult by photos of her cheating on him with "Snow White and the Huntsman" director Rupert Sanders in 2012.
    Oscar-winning couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have separated in what could spell the end of their nearly 13-year marriage. Douglas, 68, and Zeta-Jones, 43, married in 2000 and have two children. Both have struggled with health issues in recent years. Zeta-Jones said in April that she was seeking help for bipolar disorder, her second-known trip to a healthcare facility for the condition since 2011 when she sought treatment for what aides said was the stress of coping with Douglas' advanced throat cancer diagnosis in 2010 and subsequent treatment.
    Academy Award winner George Clooney has split from his girlfriend of two years, actress and former professional wrestling personality Stacy Keibler. During their relationship, the two had been a stylish fixture on the red carpet, from the Academy Awards to the Golden Globes, charity events and film festivals.
    Katy Perry, who rebounded after divorcing Russell Brand by dating John Mayer, broke up with the guitarist and singer songwriter in the spring.
    Dina Eastwood, the wife of actor-director Clint Eastwood filed for legal separation after 17 years of marriage in September. Dina Eastwood, a former television journalist, married the 83-year-old Oscar-winning actor and director in 1996.
    Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have finalized their divorce two years after first separating, bringing official closure to one of Hollywood's most prominent pairs. The end to Kutcher and Moore's eight-year marriage was approved in November. When they first started dating, Kutcher and Moore became tabloid fodder due to their 16-year age gap. They married in September 2005 in Los Angeles.
    Diane Lane and Josh Brolin began divorce proceedings in February, after more than eight years of marriage. The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin. They have no children together. Lane, 48, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the 2002 film "Unfaithful," and Brolin, 45, married in August 2004 after being introduced by Barbra Streisand, the actor's stepmother through her marriage to James Brolin.
    Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell are divorcing after 11 years of marraige, Kardashian reality television family matriarch Kris Jenner and Olympic gold medal athlete Bruce Jenner have separated after 23 years of marriage, and TV chef Nigella Lawson was embroiled in a bitter divorce battle with advertising executive Charles Saatchi, after he was photographed in a physical altercation with her at a London restaurant.
    It was a big year for gamers, with the release of two high profile video games in the autumn, "Grand Theft Auto V" and "Call of Duty: Ghosts." Both games, from controversial franchises due to extreme violence, surpassed the $1 billion dollar mark within days of debuting.
    Famed British street artist Banksy took the big apple by storm in October with his residency called "Better Out Than In," in which he debuted a new piece of art every day for a month. The works included elaborate graffiti, sculpture, video, installation and performance art, causing a feverish desire by New York City residents to find the pieces daily.
    "Breaking Bad" ended its five season run on a high note this year. The show took home the top honor at the Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the best drama series prize for the first time. The show centered around Bryan Cranston as a schoolteacher turned meth kingpin.
    Also at the Emmys, Claire Danes clinched her second consecutive best drama actress Emmy for her role as a bipolar CIA agent in "Homeland."
    TV wasn't just successful for networks this year; online streaming service Netflix garnered big audiences. First with a new season of "Arrested Development" - reuniting the cast for the first time since the series ended its run in 2006. Second, the Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black" become a fan favorite and a critical success, even garnering actress Taylor Schilling her first Golden Globe nomination for portraying Piper Chapman, a New York yuppie sent to prison.
    Finally, TV's unexpected hit this year was the low-budget TV disaster movie "Sharknado," which aired on the Syfy network and was such a success, that it was released into theaters for a one-night performance. The campy film gained a cult status when it debuted in July and generated a significant 5,000 tweets per minute at its peak. A sequel is in the works.
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