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Catherine Zeta-Jones doesn’t want you to call her kids “nepo babies.”

Even though her kids are actors who are the children of world-famous actors.

(And, you know, words mean things.)

But Zeta-Jones calls the term “horrible,” and explains why.

Catherine Zeta-Jones abhors the ‘nepo baby’ label for her kids

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Catherine Zeta-Jones is praising the acting talents of her children — while objecting to how some might label them.

“This horrific phrase ‘nepo baby’ is horrible,” she asserted.

Zeta-Jones explained that she feels this way “because these kids didn’t ask to be born into this.”

That is certainly true! We will elaborate shortly.

“They’re finding their own way in life,” Zeta-Jones correctly described.

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Zeta-ones shares 26-year-old son, Dylan, and 23-year-old daughter, Carys, with husband and fellow famous actor Michael Douglas.

Now, both of their adult children are in the acting world.

“It’s hard for them to forge a way forward on their own” because of the baggage from having famous parents, Zeta-Jones expressed.

However, she praised that both of her children are “plugging away” at their careers.

Just to be clear, there are cons to being a nepo baby. There are just, you know, a bunch of pros also.

There was also a lot to say about the (nepo) babies themselves

Catherine Zeta-Jones did not focus exclusively upon the burden of their parents’ legacy when discussing her children’s burgeoning acting careers.

She gushed that both Dylan and Carys “love” acting — and that they are both skilled at it.

“Otherwise Michael and I would be the first to go, ‘You know what? Maybe law school looks really good,’” Zeta-Jones quipped.

Just to be clear, there are many paths outside of acting that are not law school.

To be even clearer, perhaps the children of Zeta-Jones and Douglas could hypothetically lead lives that are not career-oriented, if push came to shove. Just a thought.

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We should acknowledge that Dylan and Carys are no the only nepo babies in the family.

However, Zeta-Jones might feel about the “nepo baby” label, she married one.

Douglas is a critically acclaimed actor and has been for decades, but he is also the son of the late Kirk Douglas.

Their children are not only the offspring of two Oscar-winners, but are also the grandchild of an Oscar-winner.

Here’s the thing: “nepo baby” is an acknowledgment of the reality of having famous parents who know the industry inside and out. It isn’t an accusation. And it shouldn’t be an insult. It’s just the reality of the situation.

Catherine Zeta-Jones Decries ‘Horrible’ Nepo Baby Label (While Both Married … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip

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The twilight years of once-great empires are usually marked by unprecedented corruption and an “everything is for sale” vibe, so we shouldn’t be surprised that that’s the case in America these days.

Presidential pardons are flying off the shelf like hotcakes these days, so when rapper Boosie Badazz found himself in trouble with the law, he figured he could get himself off the hook just by paying the right people.

But it seems that the embattled emcee did not get the outcome he’d been hoping for.

Boosie was arrested on gun charges in 2023. He says he later paid $600,000 to political operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl because they claimed they could help secure a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.

Spoiler alert: That pardon never came.

The rapper, whose real name is Torence Hatch, discussed the failed deal as part of a new 60 Minutes investigation into so-called “pardon brokers” — political operators who allegedly charge enormous sums while claiming they can get clemency requests in front of the president.

Boosie says he handed over the $600,000 upfront after Burkman and Wohl presented themselves as having serious connections inside Trump’s orbit.

At one point, things apparently got even more ridiculous.

Boosie claims his attorney was contacted on New Year’s Day and told that Trump had already signed off on the pardon, with the White House simply having not announced it yet.

That announcement never came.

Boosie Badazz says he paid pardon brokers $600,000 upfront. But he never got a pardon. https://t.co/uBiTNKcqjc pic.twitter.com/CkJd3E9cdl

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 14, 2026

Now Boosie is attempting to recover $300,000, arguing that his agreement with the pair called for half of his payment to be returned if the pardon was not delivered.

Burkman, however, has a very different version of events.

“We tried very, very hard,” he said, while denying that the alleged refund provision was ever actually agreed upon. He also argued that Boosie’s pardon effort became more difficult following the rapper’s arrest in Texas earlier this year.

The 60 Minutes investigation reportedly found that Boosie was far from the only person approached by alleged pardon brokers. Burkman and Wohl were secretly recorded pitching another potential pardon seeker on a $300,000 effort involving events, influencers and members of Congress.

Apparently, getting presidential attention doesn’t come cheap.

Some pardon brokers are reportedly charging as much as $3 million, while Burkman and Wohl deny doing anything improper. 60 Minutes also reported that pardon brokers themselves aren’t necessarily breaking the law simply by offering lobbying services.

The White House, meanwhile, has reportedly warned that people spending money to lobby for clemency are wasting it.

For Boosie, that warning comes about $600,000 too late. He wanted a Trump pardon.

Instead, he’s left fighting to get half a million dollars back.

Of course, “I paid $600,000 and never got the pardon” sounds like the beginning of one hell of an interesting hip hop song, so maybe this will all work out for Boosie in the end.

Boosie Badazz: Rapper Says He Spent $600K For Trump Pardon That Never Arrived was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip

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Last week, Macklemore shared a “Free Palestine” message while opening for Ed Sheeran’s tour.

The audience applauded in support. Some, like Pink, pitched a fit, accusing the rapper of “antisemitism” for opposing genocide. (No, it doesn’t really make sense.)

Now, he has been removed from future tour dates, sending a chilling message within the music industry and beyond.

The legal implications of this case are pretty interesting. We’ll explain.

‘Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates’

Unfortunately, Macklemore has been booted from the remainder of Ed Sheeran’s tour.

(A few years ago, we could not have imagined feeling invested in the rapper or this tour, yet here we are.)

The cause is that multiple venues at which they were scheduled to play allegedly threatened to ban the tour altogether if the rapper remained part of the lineup.

That’s complex and may lead to legal issues (more on that later).

First, let’s delve into exactly what the tour’s promoter is saying happened.

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Messina Touring Group, the US promoter of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, explained to Rolling Stone how it went down.

“As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour,” MTG explained, “we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”

This is a situation “which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

A little vaguely, MTG confirmed: “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

The rapper was supposed to appear at eight of the tour’s 10 remaining US shows. Now, he’s out.

#FreePalestine 🇵🇸
I support Macklemore. What he said, needed to be heard. Stop this genocide.

[image or embed]

— MadGreek 🧿 (@madgreek2024.bsky.social) September 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM

What did Macklemore say to get into ‘trouble’ like this?

To put it simply, Macklemore told the crowd “free Palestine,” referring to the plight of Palestinians who live under apartheid, settlement, bombing, and are well beyond the threshold for genocide by any reasonable metric as Israel continues to wage a campaign of terror upon a captive population.

He also played “Hind’s Hall,” a protest song about the ongoing atrocities.

Pro-Zionism organizations began to claim that the rapper’s statements were “antisemitic.”

This critique is, in and of itself, antisemitism, as it conflates the Jewish people — a vast and diverse array of people with a shared heritage and a tapestry of shared histories — with the criminal actions of the monstrous Israeli regime.

Pink was among those who shared this deplorable message. That said, even she clarified that she was not calling for Macklemore’s firing.

A couple of the studios remaining on Sheeran’s tour are privately owned. Within certain legal limits, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough can do whatever they like.

However, that is not the case with all or even most of the stadiums remaining on the tour. Many of them are operated, at least in part, by the government.

The United States government is not allowed to discriminate against people based upon their free speech. The First Amendment could be a major issue.

Unfortunately, any settlement through the courts will likely happen long after these tour dates are over.

Still, it’s nice to think that the rapper could win big in court on solid constitutional grounds. We certainly hope that he presses the issue.

Macklemore has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights and critic of U.S. foreign policy since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.

“It’s my moral obligation,” says Macklemore. “I’m not going to stop.”

[image or embed]

— Democracy Now! (@democracynow.org) March 28, 2025 at 9:38 AM

The double standards are obvious

By the way, as Rolling Stone notes, one of the stadiums — Raymond James Stadium in Tampa — recently allowed Kanye West to perform.

Interesting when the Hitler enthusiast isn’t too antisemitic to play, but the guy who opposes genocide is a dealbreaker.

It almost sounds like this isn’t really about protecting Jews or about antisemitism, but something else. Something less noble. Something less good.

Now, Macklemore is pointing the finger at Robert Kraft specifically as the ringleader of this, to be blunt, cruel and unjust crusade against the simplest appeal to decency.

Kraft is one of the private stadium owners. Can the folks whom he allegedly roped into this vileness however say the same? We hope that he will take them to court.

Macklemore Booted from Ed Sheeran Tour After Saying ‘Free Palestine’ was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip

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By now, you’ve probably seen Sydney Sweeney’s ads for the sports betting app Novig. After all, they’re pretty much inescapable.

In addition to the fact that the company has gone all-in by posting the spots everywhere, the ads have also sparked widespread debate about everything from the ethics of legalized gambling to Sydney’s career choices.

Some of the harshest criticism has come from female athletes who believe that Sydney’s racy campaign has done tremendous damage to the cause of women in sports.

One such critic is British sprinter Amy Hunt, who addressed the controversy after winning the 200-meter dash at a meet in Budapest over the weekend.

“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” she told the BBC after her race.

Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer echoed those remarks.

“Just absolute utter disbelief, incredibly disappointing, like, how far you can put women’s sports backwards in the space of a 42-second commercial,” she told CNN this week, adding that the campaign “is very damaging, especially for young females getting into sport, for females in sport, for females in general, just hypersexualized content.”

“We want to be valued for what we can do, not what we look like,” Palmateer continued.

Palmateer and Hunt were far from alone in their annoyance. In fact, it seems that Sydney’s latest controversial ad campaign has infuriated female athletes all over the world.

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“I wasn’t going to share this as I didn’t want to give this any more attention. But I can’t keep my mouth shut,” Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus wrote on her Instagram Story, according to CNN.

“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Titmus continued, adding:

“Not only is this a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is — teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity … the list goes on.”

“Don’t know what Sydney thinks sport looks like, but THIS is what sport looks like,” swimmer Lani Pallister wrote on her own page.

You get the point. In general, athletes tend to not be fans of legalized sports betting. And it seems they’re really not fans of using nudity to advertise betting apps.

Sydney is no stranger to controversy, but this is some of the most widespread criticism she’s faced in her career.

Defenders have noted that her partnership with Novig is no mere endorsement deal, and she’s actually a stakeholder in the company.

So the situation might be more empowering than her critics have considered. Either way, Sydney stands to get very rich from the deal, so she might not be too worried about what her haters have to say.

Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Novig Ad Slammed By Female Athletes was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip