From PEOPLE Magazine
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MEL GIBSON'S
$850 MILLION DIVORCE
In what's considered the most expensive breakup in Hollywood history, Mel Gibson, 56, split his fortune-once estimated at $850 million-with his wife of 30 years, Robyn Moore, as their divorce was finalized Dec. 23. Gibson was required to pony up half his earnings because the couple, who have seven children together, didn't have a prenup. But a big payday was never her goal: "Robyn's focus is on their children," says a family source, adding the couple never fought over money. "They worked together to protect their [wealth] for their kids' sake. She's never lived a lavish lifestyle; that will not change."
EX-WIFE ROBYN GETS HALF HIS EARNINGS ...
They'll likely split future residuals for films like Lethal Weapon.
The Passion of the Christ alone grossed more than $600 million.
The couple once shared this $11.5 million Malibu home.
BRITNEY SPEARS & JASON TRAWICK
ENGAGED!
Britney Spears and Jason Trawick haven't stopped celebrating since getting engaged Dec. 15. After Jason popped the question on his 40th birthday in L.A. with a Neil Lane sparkler (estimated value: $150,000), the couple kicked off a night of dinner and dancing at Las Vegas's Planet Hollywood, then flew to Spears's Louisiana hometown for Christmas. "Britney and Jason were very happy to show everyone her ring," a source close to them tells Scoop. "They'll see Jason's family soon for a couple of days." The pair hope to wed this summer, adds the source. "Britney's already started to fantasize about the wedding," says another insider. "She's on cloud nine."
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
POPS THE QUESTION
After five years of dating, two kids and a shared home in Los Angeles, Matthew McConaughey, 42, finally proposed to Camila Alves on Christmas Day. McConaughey announced the happy news online and included a photo of the two embracing with a kiss: "Just asked Camila to marry me," he wrote. "Merry Christmas." No word yet on when the nuptials will take place, but it's a safe bet the couple's son Levi, 3, and daughter Vida, 2, will play important roles. Life, as McConaughey said in March, "is just as it should be."
ALL ABOUT THE RING
"Jason wanted simple, elegant, classic," celebrity jeweler Lane tells Scoop of the "princess" ring he designed for the pop star, which features a round-cut perfect diamond weighing just over three carats, plus 90 smaller round diamonds on an eternity band to "represent their eternal love."
MELANIE AMARO
WINS BIG ON X FACTOR
After her soulful rendition of Beyonce's "Listen" and tearful celebration, what's next for Melanie Amaro, the 19-year-old who nabbed a $5 million recording contract on the Dec. 22 finale of The X Factor? "I want a first-class plane ticket to Hawaii!" the Sunrise, Fla., college freshman tells Scoop (the prize will be paid in five installments over five years). "That's my dream vacation." She also plans to buy a home for her mother-and to hire a trainer and nutritionist so she can triumph on the Grammy red carpet. "I want to be healthy and not overweight," she says. She'll have support from her new boyfriend, Trace Kennedey, 24, who was eliminated earlier in the competition. "He pushes me: 'You gotta believe in yourself.'"
IT'S OVER
FOUR LONGTIME CELEBRITY COUPLES CALL IT QUITS
Kobe Bryant & Vanessa Bryant
Vanessa Bryant, 29, filed to end her 10-year union to the NBA star, 33, on Dec. 16. She famously stuck by Bryant-with whom she has two daughters, Gianna, 5, and Natalia, 8-when he was accused of rape in 2003. (The criminal case was later dropped.) No word on the fate of the $4 million "apology" ring he gave his wife that year.
Debra Messing & Daniel Zelman
Actress Messing, 43, and producer Zelman, 44, married for 10 years, have separated. The two met at NYU and were together for eight years before their 2001 wedding. Her rep tells Scoop the pair "remain supportive of one another and committed to raising their son [Roman, 7] as a family."
Chaz Bono & Jennifer Elia
Bono, 42, and Elia, 36, broke up last month, though they had recently gotten engaged after six years together. "I'm doing fine," Bono tweeted. "We remain on good terms with nothing but respect and affection 4 each other." Reports that Bono moved out of his house post-split are false, says his rep.
Jessica Lange & Sam Shepard
American Horror Story star Lange, 62, knows how to keep a secret. She quietly split from her partner of almost 30 years, playwright Shepard, 68, two years ago, her rep confirms. Though the pair never married, they have two adult children. "They are both pursuing independent lives," says a source.
RYAN GOSLING
ON HIS TOES
Call him Twinkle Toes! For more than a year, Ryan Gosling, 31, has been stealthily slipping into Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles for twice-weekly ballet classes. "He just said that he wanted to learn the technique of ballet," says his instructor, Jaclyn Betham, a professional ballerina. "It's not for a role. He's really into dance. It's the coolest thing." The dashing actor has been polishing his pirouettes in basic-level classes and laboring to loosen up. "He's really buff," says Betham, "and when men are really strong like he is, sometimes the flexibility isn't as good, so he's working on that." He sometimes cuts corners, though. Once, "we were doing a really hard combination across the floor, and he was waiting in line with everyone else," Betham recalls. "All of a sudden, I see him walk out the exit door and then walk back in the entrance door to be on the other side of the room, standing there with everyone else acting like he went. I just started to laugh."
SIMON COWELL
NEW YEAR, SAME WAVE
CARIBBEAN BEACH? CHECK. HIGH-HORSEPOWER TOY? CHECK. PROUDLY FURRY CHEST? CHECK! ON VACATION, HE'S A CREATURE OF HABIT
MERYL'S GIRLS
It's time to get to know the Gummers! Meryl Streep's look-alike daughters prepare to form an unstoppable acting dynasty
MAMIE
Age: 28
Early promise: Mamie (real name: Mary) appeared as a tot alongside her mom and Jack Nicholson in 1986's Heartburn.
Acting cred: Since graduating from Northwestern, Mamie-who wed actor Ben Walker last year-has starred on Broadway, appeared on the short-lived TV series Off the Map and guested on The Good Wife. On her mom's fame, "I got wise to the fact that we were different when we got to cut the lines at Disney World," she told Marie Claire.
Streep, 62-an Oscar frontrunner for The Iron Lady-married sculptor Don Gummer, 65, in 1978.
GRACE
Age: 25
Flirtation with fashion: She interned for Zac Posen after graduating from Vassar ...
Acting cred: ... but she caught the acting bug too. She has appeared in films (Larry Crowne), on TV (TeenNick's Gigantic) and, of course, on Broadway.
LOUISA
Age: 20
She's got next: The baby of the family acted in high school and now attends her mom's alma mater, Vassar.
THERE'S A BRO TOO!
Henry Wolfe Gummer, 32, studied acting for two years at NYU but dropped out to be a singer-songwriter and now lives in L.A.
- Contributors:
- CONTRIBUTORS Lorenzo Benet,
- Sabrina Ford,
- Julie Jordan,
- Marisa Laudadio,
- Ken Lee,
- Lesley Messer,
- Charlotte Triggs,
- with Pernilla Cedenheim,
- Jennifer Garcia,
- Mark Gray,
- Catherine Kast,
- Elizabeth Leonard.
