Madonna and Guy Ritchie at the Cannes Film Festival recently. Photo / Reuters
Pop legend Madonna has hired one of the UK's top divorce lawyers as she prepares to split from her husband of eight years, Guy Ritchie, say news reports.
Celebrity gossip website
claims that Madonna has hired top celebrity divorce lawyer Nicholas Mostyn QC to handle the separation.
Macca Vs Mucca
Mostyn is no stranger to celebrity splits, having represented Paul McCartney in his recent battle with Heather Mills.
Madonna reportedly met with the legal representative at his London office ten days ago to instigate proceedings.
Rumour has it that Madonna and Richie don't have a prenuptial agreement, which could leave the door wide open for the
Snatch
director to swipe half of his wife's fortune (estimated to be at least US $325 million).
Madge and Ritchie have been
for months, and have to date denied that their marriage is on the rocks.
A source tells
Holy Moly!
that the alleged separation is a result of the pair simply
"growing apart". Negative media attention during the adoption of son David Banda has also been blamed for putting a strain on their marriage.
It's also been widely reported that the couple has been
since the beginning of the year, dividing their homes into his and hers quarters so they can avoid each other.
Update:
Madonna's publicist
at claims that the superstar is heading for the divorce courts.
The rep tells Britain's
Metro
newspaper that the rumours are "completely untrue", and the marriage is solid.
Is a split imminent? Or is this all hokum? Only time will tell.
As for the lack of a pre-nup, I scarcely believe. Jeez Germaine, Madge is a notoriously hard businesswoman, and there's no way she'd fail to safeguard her assets.
Stay tuned...when I hear it, you'll hear it.
Quote of the day
"Forget about surviving 40 years in the music business," Lionel Richie told the audience. "Just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie has been a struggle-and-a-half, I want to tell you. I stand here as a survivor, I want you to know, for all the parents out there." - Lionel Richie, adoptive father of angelic Nicole.
Give it a bone
Kate Hudson has laughed off rumours that she's dating cycling guru Lance Armstrong.
Hudson let out a guffaw during a radio interview on DJ Ryan Seacrest's Los Angeles chat show, and giggled hysterically when the host awkwardly asked her if she was dating Armstrong.
"I don't discuss my personal life," she replied.
She added, "My main priority in my life is my son and I've learned these past couple of years... to discuss those things only causes more problems. Everything is always misconstrued."
It's a Dirty business
Former Friends chick Courtney Cox's TV series
Dirt
has been canned. Dunzo.
The network has reportedly
after just two seasons.
Ratings for the show supposedly plummeted following the Writers Guild of America strike, drawing in a lowly one million per episode.
Cox made the announcement, telling TVGuide.com, "It just got canceled."
Nicht gut
The trailer for Tom Cruise's mucho delayed flick
Valkyrie
has been released.
Now the penny drops. There's a reason why the film's release date has been pushed back to February 2009.
It looks like a bonafide turkey.
She popped
Actress Tori Spelling has given birth to a baby girl.
The little bundle of joy is named Stella Doreen (after daddy Dean McDermott's late mother), and weighs in at 6 lbs 8 oz.
Spelling's mouthpiece said: "She's here! She's a healthy baby girl. Tori and baby are resting comfortably."
More details
.
Blind items
You'll never guess...
* Which star of a new TV hit has Hollywood scrambling to the pharmacy? He's spreading herpes around town like wildfire.
* Which gorgeous socialite has a secret side to her sex life? While she's often on the arm of a guy at social functions, we hear she prefers to go home with a lady.
* Which hit TV show's cast members are as bad in real life as the characters in the plotline? At a recent party, two of the hot actors held up the bathroom line while cutting their own lines in the stalls.
.
Burger me
Robert Downey Jr says Burger King helped
.
Downey Jr tells Britain's
Empire
magazine:
"I have to thank Burger King," he said. "It was such a disgusting burger I ordered. I had that, and this big soda, and I thought something really bad was going to happen."
Erm, Perez...
It was only a matter of time before the beast turned on its master.
Celebrity gossip tart Perez Hilton
launched his Hot Topic clothing and accessory line
last week, followed by a hughly-publicised meet and greet with the acerbic blogger.
Trouble is, hardly anyone cared.
An eyewitness at the event says:
"Some freaky lil [Hot Topic] employee with a handful of wrist bands asked if I wanted to meet Perez Hilton at 6pm! I was like NO, I just ate. NO one wanted wrist bans [sic] it was kinda funny."
See photos of the mob
.
NKOTB time
This one's for you, Megan. Your guilty secret's safe with me, and a few others...
Here's NKOTB's new video for
Summertime
, their comeback single.
Could this be any cheesier?
If the scab fits
Amy Winehouse has been told to
before hitting the stage at this year's Glastonbury festival.
The lowdown? Folk are worried the sores on her face could become gangrenous after coming into contact with the inevitable mud the three-day festival will generate.
The solution? Take a nurse along and
in bandages.
Where's the humanity?
Not strictly entertainment, but I had to show you this sickening and disturbing video footage of a hit-and-run victim.
A 78-year-old man is swiped by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy street.
Nobody steps forward to help him.
Video
.
We no longer have a moral compass.
He's not changed his name!
Despite news reports to the contrary, rapper Sean Combs
back to Puff Daddy.
to watch the grumpy rapper obsessing about his name.
Warning: contains swearing
Calm down, mate.
Another quote of the day
"Anyone who isn't into it is probably a c***." - Coldplay frontman Chris Martin on Jay-Z's not-so-popular appearance at Glastonbury.
Trollsen twins
PETA has issues with the Olsen twins.
The fur-friendly pair has been lovingly dubbed the Trollsen Twins by PETA, and is the target of a rather unusual anti-fur campaign.
PETA just posted
on their website:
The twins are still sporting as much fur as ever. Since they seem to be in such dire need of extra hair on their bodies, let's give them some of ours-and send a strong message while we're at it....Save that hair in a bag and mail it to the twins with a note that says, "Please, use my hair instead of the animals'. Happy Birthday."
Popping hell!
It's amazing what three ringing mobile phones can do to innocuous pieces of corn....
This'll make your brain frazzle.
Fast gossip
Get it while it's hot...
* Sandra Bullock proposes to Ryan Reynolds:
* Liz Hurley goes to a wedding:
* George Michael wants Dita Von Teese:
* Megan Fox films Transformers 2:
* Madonna sweats out in bloomers:
* Mischa Barton has bad taste:
* Snoop learned a lot from selling crack:
* Is Mary-Kate Olsen heading for rehab?
* Kevin Spacey is a diva:
* Separated at birth:
* How many stupid faces can Oprah make?
* Nicole Kidman bumps it up:
* Amy Winehouse's dreamboat hubby pleads guilty:
* nzherald.co.nz is not responsible for the content of external websites
Dobbyn feels his musicality has been affected, but remains in good spirits.