Jeremy Renner joins the cast of Knives Out… Mel B’s ex-husband demands $5 million… The Matt Rife shows postponed… Madonna is being sued… and Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck’s united front…

Listen to “Showbiz – May 31, 2024” on Spreaker.

 

Jeremy Renner is the latest star to sign on for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. This is Jeremy’s triumphant return to acting after almost dying in a snow plow accident on New Year’s Day of 2023. Yes, Daniel Craig is back as the Southern detective Benoit Blanc. Joining Jeremy in the cast of suspects — or as the murder victim — are the Scandal-ous Kerry Washington, the rabbit killer Glenn Close, Challengers star Josh O’Connor, Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, and Fleabag star Andrew Scott. Production kicks off this month, with the film to launch sometime in 2025.

Scary Spice Mel B was married to Stephen Belafonte for 10 years, until she filed for divorce in March of 2017. The next year, Mel released her memoir Brutally Honest. In it, she accused Stephen of years of abuse, including punching her in the face when he thought she was getting too flirty with Usher on set of The X Factor Australia. Stephen says that was just one of her many lies, and he’s now fighting back with a $5M defamation lawsuit. Stephen told People that he waited so long to take action to protect their 12-year-old daughter Madison, who lives full-time with her dad. Stephen won primary custody of Madison in 2019 and he claims Mel rarely sees her. But now, Stephen says it’s time to stand up for himself. He shared some stories with People that he believes back up his claims that his ex-wife is a liar. For instance, when she filed for divorce, Mel also filed for a temporary restraining order against Stephen, only to withdraw it later because she had no evidence to support her claims. But because of her claims, Stephen temporarily lost access to his home and children. He also noted another defamation lawsuit that their former nanny filed against Mel, who claimed the nanny and Stephen were having an affair that resulted in a pregnancy. Mel later admitted her claims were false and paid the nanny a settlement of over $2M. In his defamation filing, Stephen is asking for at least $5M in damages, a jury trial, punitive damages and a gag order.

Under doctors’ orders, Matt Rife is taking a break. TMZ reported that as he was on his way to perform two shows at the University of Indiana on Wednesday, Matt experienced symptoms of extreme exhaustion and almost passed out. Matt’s medical team advised him to take a break, and Matt decided to put his health first. So he’s taking 2 weeks off, picking up again June 12 in Memphis. Ticketholders who can’t attend rescheduled shows will receive a refund.

Madonna is facing another lawsuit over her Celebration World Tour. This time, it’s not just about starting too late. This time, it’s for being too porny. Justen Lipeles wasn’t thrilled that the show started 2 hours later than stated on the ticket. He didn’t like that Madonna kept the venue at a “hot and uncomfortable temperature.” He also didn’t love that she lip-synched so much of her performance. But what really sent Justen over the edge was being “forced to watch topless women” simulate “sexual acts” onstage, therefore “subjecting them to pornography without warning.” He has now filed a class action lawsuit against Madonna, Live Nation, and four venues, seeing unspecified damages for him and his fellow concert-going complainants.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s 18-year-old daughter has graduated high school! But Ben and current wife Jennifer Lopez weren’t exactly looking celebratory as they headed into his ex-wife’s home for the graduation party. This was the first time they’ve been seen together since May 19, when they attended an event for JLo’s daughter, Emme. Ben and Jen only stayed about an hour before leaving together and heading back to Ben’s place. They’ve been living separately for a couple months now. On top of their marital issues, the couple has been very busy. Jennifer is in rehearsals for her upcoming tour, which launches June 26 in Orlando, while Ben has been filming The Accountant 2.

 

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