Apparently it was all about the money. Debbie Rowe, for the second time in five years, has given up visitation rights to Michael Jackson of their two children. In exchange, Rowe gets her alimony reinstated, Us Weekly magazine reported. Rowe voluntarily gave custody of Prince Michael, 9, and Paris, 8, to Jackson in 2001. Three years ago, Rowe sued for custody after Jackson was accused and later indicted of child molestation. Jackson was acquitted of the charges. In July, Rowe revealed Jackson had stopped alimony payments – $1 million a year for three years, then $750,000 yearly for six years. “It’s hard for Debbie, but she’s broke,” a source told Us Weekly. Jackson’s lawyer, Michael Abrams, said: “Michael is satisfied with the results, and I believe Ms. Rowe is satisfied.”
Jennifer Aniston denied during a Wednesday taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that she and boyfriend Vince Vaughn have broken up. An audience member told People magazine that Aniston, 37, denied the tabloid rumors about the couple’s split as she hawked “Room 10,” the short film she co-directed as part of Glamour magazine’s “Reel Moments” series. Tuesday, before the taping, Winfrey and Aniston had dinner at the upscale French-Asian restaurant Japonais that Aniston and Vaughn frequented while they were in Chicago filming “The Break-Up” a year ago.
Usher ended his run in the Broadway musical “Chicago” when doctors diagnosed the singer with an extreme case of strep throat, his manager/mother announced Thursday. Usher had extended his portrayal of Billy Flynn through Saturday but became ill on Oct. 6, and his condition worsened until doctors ordered him to rest. Usher, who turned 28 Saturday, missed 11 performances of the play.
Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson’s divorce could get messy. Star magazine reports Robinson has become “increasingly irate” after reports of Hudson and her “You, Me and Dupree” co-star Owen Wilson being spotted out together. “(Robinson) hears all this stuff about his wife and this actor. There’s no doubt he’s angry,” the source told Star. “When (their marriage) was good, it was really good – and since it’s turning bad, it’s turning really bad!”
Kevin Federline wants Britney Spears to send her male back-up dancers packing, In Touch Weekly reported. K-Fed, himself a former dancer for Spears, is peeved his wife hired hunky Matt Felker to appear in her new video. Federline “insisted that Britney fire Matt and all of the other male dancers she’d hired and replace them with females,” a source told the magazine. Too bad Spears didn’t get this advice before she married K-Fed.
“Smith” has been canceled by CBS, but the network loves the Smiths – Will and Jada Pinkett Smith that is. The couple are backing a pilot project about doctors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The drama chronicles the medical adventures of CDC doctors who fight the diseases and viruses that threaten people worldwide.
Martin Bashir, the ABC news reporter-anchor, has a hard time trying to watch the screening of Robin Williams’ new comedy, “Man of the Year.” It had nothing to do with the movie, but Bashir told a PR flack for the event, “I kept receiving text messages from my 15-year-old daughter saying her 10-year-old sister had vomited.” The New York Post reported Bashir rushed home to attend to his sick daughter and hoped to return to the after-party. “Then, I received frantic calls from ABC. Terry Moran was due to anchor ‘Nightline,’ but a wall cupboard crashed into his head just after 10 p.m. I therefore had to rush to the studio and anchor the show.”
