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Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
It's not just Brooklyn and Harry! The nepo babies who have fallen out with their famous families - from Kate Hudson to Brad Pitt
Children of the rich and famous have become major conversational sticking points over the past few years - envied for their genetically ordained wealth, prestige and illustrious careers seemingly handed to them a silver platter. But enjoying the riches of inherited cash and status doesn't always guarantee you wealth in all areas of life, as proven by one of Britain's biggest nepo babies, Brooklyn Beckham, who's family relations have recently been the source of heavy online speculation. As his father, David Beckham, celebrated his 50th birthday in style last month, it appeared everyone in the family's address book had been on the guest list, with the former England captain luxuriating in a slew of lavish parties in Miami, Paris and London. However, online sleuths and media outlets were quick to clock two key faces missing from the birthday affairs - his eldest son, Brooklyn Beckham and his wife, Nicola Peltz. The couple's absence has since fed into ongoing speculation surrounding an intensifying feud within the family, with both having failed to publicly acknowledge both David and Victoria's recent birthdays or been since pictured with them since Boxing Day. But Brooklyn isn't the only nepo baby to have held fraught relations with the very family responsible for his fame. Like the rest of the world, even the rich and famous are not immune to troubled family dynamics with Hollywood history showcasing dozens of similar familial breakdowns, bitter feuds and even estrangement. Even when in-part responsible for their family's lineage of fame, it seems there are countless celebrities who have endured painful conflict with their loved ones. Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus Rumours of a rift between Miley Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, first arose in 2022, when news of the divorce between Billy and Tish, led to rumours of the couple's children - Noah, 25, sons Braison, 31, Trace, 36, and daughter Brandi, 37 -having split down parental lines. Suspicions of a rift between the pair deepened a few months later when it a source claimed that the Wrecking Ball singer had said she was worried the row would negatively impact her upcoming album. The songstress, who is currently due to release her ninth studio album titled Something Beautiful, claimed the singer worried tensions would 'overshadow' her career in the run up to a 'new era'. Miley notably did not include her father in her speech last year when she accepted her first Grammy, which she won for Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit track Flowers. Last month in April, Billy Ray also went public with his new budding romance with Elizabeth Hurley - and a separate insider alleged to New Idea that Miley had not been aware of the relationship when it came to light. More recently however - a source recently told TMZ that such rumours were unfounded, and that the father-daughter duo did not have any bad blood. Fans were also left speculating over a potential feud between Flowers singer and her mother, Tish, after she appeared to unfollow Miley on Instagram - a move she insisted was an accident and not a reflection of any altercation. Setting the record straight, the singer took to social media last week to address the rumours, denying claims that she and Tish had fallen out, also using the opportunity to put to bed rumours of any ongoing disagreement with her father. The timing raised eyebrows, as tensions within the Cyrus family have been making headlines for months; (Miley and Tish in February) 'I rarely comment on rumours, but my mama and I are too tight for anything to ever come between us. 'She's my best friend. Like a lot of moms, she doesn't know how to work her phone and somehow unfollowed me — simple, coincidental and uninteresting. 'My dad and I have had our challenges over the years,' she continued. 'Now, in my 30s, family is my priority above all else. I'm at peace knowing bridges have been built and time has done a lot of healing.' She ended her post on a hopeful note, writing: 'Grateful for the good health and love that flows through my family.' Miley and Billy also seemed to have reunited to celebrate the singer's brother Braison's 31st birthday, taking to Instagram last week to share an affection family post with the three. Another Instagram post by Billy on Monday snubbed speculation of their feud, with the father-of-five writing that he was so proud of his daughter's 'guts and courage', and that the pair were 'close to healing'. Suri and Tom Cruise For more than a decade, Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise, has been estranged from her father, having cut ties with the actor when she was just a child. It's thought that her mother, actress Katie Holmes's divorce to the Top Gun actor was the tipping point for the father-duo relationship, with tensions over Cruise's membership to the Scientology church to be to blame for their frosty relations. Now 19-years-old, Suri reportedly has not been photographed with her father since 2013, and vanquished all connection to Tom in 2024 when she removed 'Cruise' from her legal moniker - instead adopting her mother's middle name, Noelle. The teenager now shares an extremely close bond with her mother, Katie, who took full custody of Suri after she divorced the Top Gun actor in 2012 after six-years of marriage. At the beginning of their whirlwind romance in 2005, Katie had agreeably become a member of the Scientology church, of which Tom has controversially been an advocate of for many years. But the church quickly became a source of contention for the couple, with Katie adamant that she didn't want their daughter to follow the faith, according to reports at the time. Sources close to Katie later claimed she feared that he might try to abduct their daughter, and her decision to step away from the Church of Scientology was reportedly an issue in their split. Tom first hinted at the father-daughter schism in 2013 when he was forced to sit down for a deposition in a lawsuit where he revealed that Suri was no longer a practicing member of Scientology. In 2018, a report in UsWeekly revealed that the Top Gun: Maverick star currently has 'no part' in his daughter's life, and that he was only permitted to visit the then 12-year-old up to 10 days a month but chose 'not to because she is not a Scientologist.' Despite their estranged relationship, it was reported last year that Tom was responsible for covering Suri's university tuition fees after she was enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University. However, a source claimed that Suri is not willing to reconnect with her father, despite financial incentive, with reports claiming he 'does not exist ' to the teenager. 'Suri will not have any contact with her father, despite being 18, and even if he called, she would not answer. He does not exist to Katie or Suri, and his daughter does not want to rely on him for anything,' an insider told 'She feels that she has one parent, and that is her mother.' Brat Pitt & his children Brad Pitt has been estranged from his daughter Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, as well as his three adopted children Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, and Zahara, 20, since an explosive fight on their private jet in 2016 resulted in Angelina Jolie, filing for divorce. Brad was investigated by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services for child abuse, which while ruled out, reportedly left his children ' traumatised '. After it was ruled he hadn't physically harmed his children, Brad was briefly granted joint custody of his brood in 2021 - a decision which was then was reverted back to Angelina having full custody, with the Fight Club actor only receiving custodial time with the minors. At the time of the row, Brad has reportedly been suffering with alcoholism and after his split from the family, he entered therapy before spending a year-and-a-half in Alcoholics Anonymous. After his split with Angelina, the Fight Club actor appear to grow increasing distant from his children, who opted to spend time with their mother over Brad. It took a grand total of eight years for Hollywood's golden couple to reach a divorce settlement, with the pair only having finalised their legal split last year. The couple's eldest and first biological child, Shiloh, legally changed her name to remove 'Pitt' from her title 2024 year. At the time, it was reported that Brad was 'aware and upset' about the decision, and that it served only as a reminder 'that he's lost his children', a source told People. 'He loves his children and misses them. It's very sad,' the insider said, adding that the distance between him and his children was a source of immense 'pain'. And her 16-year-old sister Vivienne appeared to have followed suit after she was listed as 'Vivienne Jolie' for a musical, The Outsider. Additionally, the former couple's adopted daughter Zahara, 20, also dropped the 'Pitt' from her name during her induction into the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Spelman College in Atlanta in 2023, introducing herself instead as Zahara Marley Jolie. Maddox, 23, is not believed to use Pitt on non-legal documents either. Of the pair's children to be most vocal has been their son Pax, who in 2023, allegedly called Brad a 'f***ing awful father' and 'world class a**hole', in a private Instagram post. According to the report, the teenager wrote: 'Happy Father's Day to this class a***hole. You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person. You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.' None of the couple's shared children have been pictured with their father in recent years. Even Brad's family have but estranged from the children, with his parents William and Jane Pitt, having desperately tried to maintain a relationship over the years, sending birthday and Christmas cards to no avail. A source told that Brad's family had desperately sought to keep in contact but that growing tensions over the fallout of the incident had lead Angelina to make the decision to cut ties all together. Kate Hudson and Bill Hudson Actress Kate Hudson has spent the majority of her life estranged from her father, Bill Hudson. Bill, who was vocalist in The Hudson Brothers, a band he formed in 1965, married Goldie Hawn in 1976 before divorcing her in 1982 after the births of their children, Kate and Oliver Hudson. He and Goldie split when Kate was just 18-months old, with her mother going on to date actor Kurt Russell, who she and her brother came to regard as their father. Over the years both Kate and Oliver have openly shared how they were estranged from their father for significant periods of time, including their more formative years as kids and as adults. In one fiery episode in 2015, Oliver took to Instagram on Father's Day where he shared a post that read 'Happy abandonment day', tagging his sister alongside. Following the incident, Bill appeared in an interview in which he appeared to suggest he had completely disowned both Oliver and Kate, insisting that he no longer saw himself as a father-of-five, but one of three. 'I no longer recognise Oliver and Kate as my own. I would ask them to stop using the Hudson name,' he told describing Oliver's social media as a 'malicious, vicious, premeditated attack'. Instead of rehashing the past, the singer-songwriter said that he and his kids have decided to focus on the 'present'; Oliver, Bill and Kate pictured in the 1980s In an interview on The Howard Stern Show in 2016, Kate claimed her mother 'never spoke poorly' of her biological father, and that even as a little girl, she understood that her dad leaving the family 'didn't have to do with me and Oliver.' Despite the disappointment surrounding their fractured relationship, Kate still had empathy for her biological father in that same conversation with Stern, telling the host that she forgave her father. Despite the lifelong rift, the warring parties appear to have begun to wave the white flag in recent years, with reports in US Weekly claiming that Kate had been 'warming up' to her biological father. Agreeing with his daughter, Bill said the pair were focusing on growing their relationship organically afters 'years of ups and downs'. He said that instead of rehashing the past, the singer-songwriter said that he and his kids have decided to focus on the 'present.' Alongside her blossoming relationship with her biological father, Kate has also been seen becoming closer with her other half-siblings, whom the Talk About Love singer fathered after his split from Goldie. Last year, Kate revealed she and Oliver were 'communicating again' with their half-sister Emily - who Bill shares with the late American Graffiti star Cindy Williams - something that Bill said has brought him an immense amount of joy. Frances Bean Cobain & Courtney Love The only daughter of the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Frances Bean was born in 1992 just two years before her father died by suicide. Left onto the care of her mother, the two spent the best part of Frances's life enduring a tumultuous and fractured relationship. With both Courtney and Kurt known for having spent years struggling with addiction, Frances was exposed to her parents drug use from an extremely young age, with the musician couple famously admitting in a Vanity Fair interview that they had been using heroin during the pregnancy. The interview, which came just month after Frances's birth, was so serious that it even had her removed from her parents care by authorities. As the years went by, Courtney continued to battle drug addiction, and was embroiled in a number of legal battles throughout her daughter's early years. She lost custody of her daughter again in 2003 after she was arrested for breaking into her then-boyfriend's home and, according to People, overdosed on pain tablets and made a suicide threat. After a two-year stint in rehab, Courtney regained custody of her daughter - but harmony was not to last. Things came to a head in 2009 when Frances filed a restraining order against her mother aged 17, alleging the two had become entangled in a physical fight. At the time, Frances claimed her mother lived on drugs, was a conspiracy theorist and that she had even caused the death of their family cat and dog. She said her mother existed on '...Xanax, Adderall, Sonata and Abilify, sugar and cigarettes' and that she never ate. 'She rarely eats... She often falls asleep in her bed while she is smoking, and I am constantly worried that she will start a fire (which she has done at least three times) that will threaten our lives.' She said her cat died after getting entangled in piles of Etsy fabrics, boxes of paperwork, trash and other possessions, while a dog died allegedly after swallowing a stack of Courtney's pills. She even accused her mother of forcing her into a taxi and taking her to her partner at the time, James Barber's home, where she proceeded to scream, throw rocks at his home and threatened to burn his house down. As a result of the accusations, Courtney was ordered to stay away from Frances, Uncle Fester, her paternal grandmother Wendy O'Connor and aunt Kimberly Cobain. However, as the years have passed, the two have began to repair their relationship and are now working on 'bringing balance'. 'When my mom is on a right and healthy path, she is one of the most fulfilling, beautiful, intelligent and kind people I ever met,' she said in 2019 during an episode of the RuPaul: What's the Tee? podcast. 'This is what I like to call the era of balance, and I hope that we're bringing in the era of balance,' she added.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The rise and fall of Versace: Can Prada's £1 billion buyout save Donatella's legacy?
I first met Donatella Versace 19 years ago, but still clearly remember it. The platinum-coiffed queen of bling finished her Italian breakfast – a Marlboro Red and a double espresso – and wiggled through the glass doors leading to her design studio in Milan. She began pinning a navy blue A-line dress on a model and talked and talked and smoked and smoked. She explained her style aesthetic: bleached blonde hair, Bikini Atoll tan, the darkest eye make-up on the planet and dresses cut up to 'here' (indicating the top of her thighs), and down to 'there' (making a plunging V on her chest). 'I don't like natural,' she told me. 'For me, natural has something to do with vegetables.' How we loved her and her brother Gianni. They were the king and queen of 1980s splash 'n' spend luxe. They invented celebrity culture, once persuading the world's top four supermodels of the time – Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington – to walk the runway together to George Michael 's 'Freedom'. They created two of the most famous dresses ever made – Elizabeth Hurley 's safety-pin gown and Jennifer Lopez 's barely there jungle-print number – sanctioning outward displays of self-assured feminine sexuality. Gianni's acid yellow and gold baroque fantasy home on South Beach did more than Don Johnson to put Miami on the global style circuit and Versace was the first label to move on from styling clothes to styling suites. In 2000 the fashion house opened its inaugural opulent hotel on Australia's Gold Coast, south of Brisbane. I checked in shortly afterwards and it is the only hotel I have left, got to the end of the driveway and turned round and checked back in again. How could I resist one more night in Elton John heaven? Gianni was murdered in 1997 and now, after almost 30 years carrying the Medusa-head torch for excess, Donatella has left the palazzo. Last month Prada Group revealed it had bought Versace for £1 billion after its US owner, Capri Holdings, failed to reverse a dip in sales and profits as low as a Versace neckline. Under Capri, Versace's annual sales slumped to a meagre £600 million last year, compared with £6.5 billion for Gucci. 'Commercially, Versace is all but dead,' said Jonathan Siboni, chief executive of Paris-based research analyst Luxurynsight, when the deal was announced. Donatella, now 71, will stay on in an ambassadorial role. Following the news, she told her 12.5 million Instagram followers: 'It has been the greatest honour of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy.' Prada could scarcely be more different from Versace. Miuccia Prada, founder of the label as we know it, is a former communist whose collections are avant garde and come mainly in her favourite colour: grey. But might, just might, opposites attract? Could Prada bring Versace back from the brink? One man who should know the answer is the chief executive who worked with Donatella when the label last turned a healthy profit. Jonathan Akeroyd, Versace's CEO from 2016 to 2022, is 'very excited' by what Prada will do. 'Versace has incredible brand equity. A lot of people can instantly identify Versace, while they wouldn't be able to identify Valentino, Fendi or Ferragamo,' Akeroyd says. He adds that its Milan atelier 'is one of the best in the world' and the brand boasts big fragrance, underwear, homeware and fashion jewellery businesses. Prada is the right owner, he says. It is an Italian family business, 'which matters to a quintessentially Italian family brand like Versace'. It also has cash to invest. Prada Group is listed in Hong Kong, with a market capitalisation of nearly £12 billion. Since the pandemic, sales have continued to grow despite a downturn in the luxury market. Revenues rose 17 per cent to £4.6 billion last year. Prada 'has an incredible awareness of product, merchandising and marketing and it executes it as well as the mighty Louis Vuitton', says Akeroyd. Its expertise in Italian manufacturing, notably shoes and bags, will be a great asset. Versace lacks an It-bag or shoe line, which is odd for a brand that, until the Prada deal, was run by a woman who is so fond of stilettos she once said: 'I never wear flats. Every time I wear them I fall over.' A make-up line could be another growth segment. Fashion analysts say the key to success will be 'persuading people to think about visiting a Versace boutique after years when it has not been on their shopping list', as Luca Solca at Bernstein puts it. After decades of 'doing the same old thing and losing relevance', Versace 'needs to interpret the Versace code in a modern way that creates buzz'. Solca suggests Prada should take a leaf out of the playbook of Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative directors who were hired to revive Valentino. 'They introduced the metal Rockstuds, which instantly made the brand's shoes and bags desirable.' Much rests on the youthful shoulders of Dario Vitale, 41, Versace's new creative director. He helped to create the wildly successful rebel college girl look at Prada's little sister brand Miu Miu. Can lightning strike twice? Fashion and luxury industry adviser Achim Berg sees advantages in Prada's 'growing property portfolio'. Versace's 230 boutiques and 600 other points of sale in department stores and outlet stores are, he argues, too much for a brand with a relatively small turnover. He recommends swapping a few Versace boutiques for Miu Miu. Versace and Prada executives will be swapping places, too, he predicts. 'Renewal will happen on the management and creative side.' Hospitality analysts hope Versace expands its hotel operations beyond Dubai, now its sole venue after the Australian property was sold in 2023 (it had become tired). Better operators could help; perhaps Four Seasons which is on a roll now thanks to its association with the hit TV show The White Lotus. Put it all together and Berg reckons that Versace could generate over £2 billion in annual sales. What of Donatella herself? Those who are close to Prada say that she may have a role in the celebrity side of the business. They point out that she has 'a good eye and has consistently chosen the right supermodels, actors and musicians for Versace', as one puts it – one of the latest being Lady Gaga. She could be key in persuading new stars to front 'fresh and young' advertising campaigns that connect with a generation that doesn't remember the 80s glory days. But Donatella won't be back in the Milan studio. As someone well acquainted with her puts it, 'Prada knows that if they let her in, she wouldn't be able to stop herself getting involved in design because she loves it so much. She'd be in the office all the time and it would be a distraction.' In that case, I should give the last word to Donatella because what she told me 19 years ago seems appropriate today. The queen of glitz said she wanted to re-establish Versace as 'the ultimate Italian luxury lifestyle brand' with clothes, accessories, jewellery, homeware, hotels and travel goods. 'A unique 360-degree lifestyle, 365 days a year – an Italian dream,' she said. Over to you, Miuccia Prada. Dream big.
Associated Press
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Book Review: Ron Chernow's 'Mark Twain' gives readers an honest assessment of beloved author's life
Pulitzer Prize winning author Ron Chernow is known for writing massive biographies of the country's most enduring figures, including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton. So it comes as no surprise that his biography of author and humorist Mark Twain clocks in at more than 1,000 pages. It's also forgivable, considering that Twain was such a colossal figure in American literature and history that his authorized biography was more than 1,500 pages long. Chernow's 'Mark Twain' is well worth that length to learn more about the author best known for introducing readers to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Chernow's aptly portrays Twain as someone who 'fairly invented our celebrity culture,' the precursor to the influencers that dominate our lives today. Twain had no qualms about cashing in on his fame, with his name being used to promote cigars, pipes and other products. But Twain was known just as much for the attitude linked to the humorist and his works. Twain, as Chernow describes him, was 'someone willing to tangle with anyone, make enemies and say aloud what other people only dared to think.' Chernow's biography avoids the trap of idolizing Twain and gives and honest assessment of the author's life, including his flaws and contradictions. Revered for addressing the evils of slavery in 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' Twain was also someone who avoided lending his voice to condemning the practice of lynching. That silence, Chernow writes, was a major missed opportunity to help foster a national debate. Chernow also delves into the uncomfortable subject of Twain's obsession in his later years with teenage girls, developing close friendships with teens that he dubbed his 'angelfish.' Chernow's willingness to give readers the unvarnished truth about Twain makes the biography stand out, as does his ability to simultaneously explore the historical and literary context of Twain's writing. Even Twain's lesser-known works are addressed. Twain comes alive in the pages of Chernow's biography, which shows much he was influenced by his wife and her 'delicate restraining hand.' It also portrays the complex and fraught relationship Twain had with his daughters. The book drags at some points, which is inevitable in a tome of this size, and is strongest when it tells the relationship Twain had with the written word. Chernow writes that 'words were his catharsis, his therapy, his preferred form of revenge.' The recurring theme of Chernow's biography is Twain's love affair with the written word, and it ably demonstrates the impact that relationship had on a nation. ___ AP book reviews:
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ben Affleck feels for Britney Spears and has 'empathy' for her after she claims they once 'made out'
Ben Affleck has lots to say about the 'empathy' he has for Britney Spears during a recent appearance on the podcast This Past Weekend With Theo Von, a year after she made claims that they'd 'made out' years earlier. The actor was possibly referencing to the singer's 2008 breakdown - not long after she shaved off her hair. She was not long after placed under a 13-year conservatorship, which ended in 2021. Affleck said on the podcast: 'A long time ago, years and years ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears. Because I remember it seemed like - I mean it's not somebody I knew, or hung out with but just like everybody else, you see all this s*** that comes through.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Involvement: The actor said of Britney Spears that he 'really had a lot of empathy' for her because he remembered seeing 'all this s*** that comes through' about her Affleck continued: 'But having had my own experience myself, I knew that these are people who are following her around in a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty - I don't know because I don't know her. 'But I do know that the cycle of having people harangue you and yell at you and hassle you and follow you, it seemed like that itself was kind of whipping up the whole thing into a tizzy. 'That's the first time I thought this is kind of a weird, unintentional - I think culturally - but kind of collective cruelty where what's taken out of the image that you see are the people around waving the stick at the tiger or poking on it whatever. 'And all you see is the growling animal or whatever it is, but like a part of that is because somebody is coming around hitting on it to make it get active.' Affleck added: 'And that's where you think, well okay, this isn't really news. It's not even real. It's not what would be happening if this effect wasn't taking place. 'And that's where I thought, okay, the sort of wise thing to do is just maintain one's perspective and try to remove yourself a little bit.' In February 2024, the Spears used Instagram to share a throwback photo of herself with the actor as well as Diane Warren in a since-deleted post. With the caption: 'Cool pic of me and Ben Affleck and Diane Warren years ago. He's such an amazing actor. Did I fail to mention I made out with Ben that night … I honestly forgot ... d**n that's crazy! 'Wish I could tell you guys the story that happened before that. Oh dear, I'm just being a gossip girl. Pssst, I actually forgot!' Post: Spears made claims that she had 'made out' with Ben years earlier
