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People: Prince William and Kate Middleton, Taylor Swift, Katherine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lily Allen, Chris Hemsworth, Beyonce
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Do they give out gold medals for most enthusiastic spectators? Because if they did, the spectacular cheer squad of Prince William and Kate Middleton would be a shoo-in, E! News reports.
The royal couple were once again out in full force in London Thursday, turning up to cheer on Team GB (specifically, Andy Murray) in his quarterfinal Olympic tennis match.
The duke and duchess wasted no time in gamely getting into the audience mindset, taking part in the wave as it made its way around the stands.
It's also not the first time the two have lent their considerable support to Murray, who played Thursday against Spain's Nicolas Almagro, as they both turned up to Wimbledon back in June to root on the apparent royal fave.
While Wills was in his now standard Olympic sport-watching uniform of navy blazer, shades and white shirt, Kate once again recycled a familiar frock, opting to don the blue Stella McCartney dress she wore to the National Portrait Gallery opening last month.
In any case, their support (and that of Murray's adoring nation) seemed to do the trick, as Andy won the match and will be moving on to the semifinals.
Taylor Swift is a self-professed Kennedy fanatic, but apparently the fandom runs both ways, People reports.
"She's awesome," Rory Kennedy, aunt of the singer's new beau, Conor Kennedy, said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills. "She's a great friend of all of ours."
Rory spoke out at an HBO panel for "Ethel," the documentary she directed about the life of her mother, Kennedy matriarch Ethel Kennedy.
The Grammy winner first befriended the Kennedy clan when Rory took her two daughters, Georgia, 9, and Bridget, 8, to one of Swift's concerts.
"Rory went to a concert with her two little girls, and that's what started it all: her children," revealed Ethel Kennedy.
And should the budding romance between Swift, 22, and Conor, 18, heat up, would the country star make a good addition to the famous clan?
"We should be so lucky," said Ethel.
A judge on Thursday reinstated Katherine Jackson as the guardian of Michael Jackson's three children in an arrangement that also keeps their cousin as temporary co-guardian, The Associated Press reports.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said during a hearing that an investigator who looked into the children's care found that the late pop star's 82-year-old mother was an excellent guardian and the children love her very much.
"I think the kids are in terrific hands," the judge said. "It appears from the report that Katherine Jackson has done a wonderful job and cares about the children very much."
Beckloff noted that the children, Prince, 15, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 10, also have a close relationship with their 34-year-old cousin TJ Jackson, who was named temporary guardian last week after working closely with Katherine Jackson since Michael Jackson died.
TJ is "incredibly respectful" of the family matriarch and she is respectful of him, the judge said.
Beckloff said he will finalize the arrangement later in the month but for now will issue letters of co-guardianship allowing both Jacksons to make decisions about the children's welfare.
TJ Jackson's new co-guardianship status is temporary, but the judge could make it permanent when he convenes the next court hearing on Aug. 22.
A court hearing was held last week after a bizarre episode in which Katherine Jackson was reported missing but later turned up at an Arizona spa with family members.
The changes in guardianship come on the heels of family dissension over Michael Jackson's will, which left nothing to his siblings when he died three years ago. Several of them signed a letter that was leaked to the media alleging the will was a fake and calling on executors of the estate to resign.
The dispute at one point led to a driveway confrontation involving several family members at the Calabasas mansion where Katherine Jackson and the children have been living.
On Wednesday, Jermaine Jackson issued a plea for peace in the family and withdrew his support of the letter.
"Mistakes have been made, and irrational things have been said on both sides in a highly charged emotional environment," Jermaine Jackson wrote. "It is time for us all to draw a line in the sand and move toward peace, co-operation, love and healing."
Oprah Winfrey has tapped La Toya Jackson to star in her own reality show, the AP reports.
"Life With La Toya" is described as a "candid look" inside Jackson's life as she juggles family, friends and business. It will air next year on Winfrey's TV network, OWN.
La Toya is one of Katherine and Joe Jackson's nine children and is the late Michael Jackson's sister.
She isn't the first Jackson to get a reality show. "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty" aired for six episodes on A&E. It followed Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito Jackson.
La Toya also competed last year on "Celebrity Apprentice."
On Thursday, OWN also announced a slate of celebrities sitting down with Winfrey for upcoming episodes of "Oprah's Next Chapter." They include Stephen Colbert, Bette Midler, Jennifer Hudson and Kelsey Grammer.
A bartender who claimed that Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pushed her doesn't plan to pursue criminal charges against him, managers at a New Orleans bar said Wednesday, the AP reports.
On Tuesday, police issued an arrest warrant on a misdemeanor charge of municipal battery for the 44-year-old Gooding. Police say the bartender at the century-old Old Absinthe House told them that Gooding became upset after patrons started asking him to pose for photos with them at about 3 a.m. The bartender told investigators that Gooding pushed her after she asked him to calm down and again after she told him he should leave and that police had been called.
Gooding left the bar before police arrived and he met Wednesday morning with New Orleans police and was issued a court summons.
However, in a statement to The Associated Press, the French Quarter bar said its employee wouldn't press the case.
"The witness indeed has indicated that she is likely to drop the charges," said Ryan Berni, a city spokesman. "If she does, and after prosecutors review the evidence, a determination will be made as to whether to dismiss the charges."
Call her the artist formerly known as Lily Allen.
The 27-year-old British singer says she is changing her stage name to reflect her marriage to Sam Cooper - and she's working on new material, the AP reports.
A statement Thursday from publicist Ambrosia Healey says the singer will now be known as Lily Rose Cooper, the name she already uses on her Twitter account.
She and Sam Cooper married last year, and the pair have a daughter.
Healey says the singer has booked time at a studio in Britain work on new material.
Cooper, whose hits include "Smile" and "The Fear," said in the statement that she was "excited to be heading back into the studio."
Thor obviously hasn't met his match, but it sure sounds as if he'll be given a run for his hammer.
British thesp Christopher Eccleston is set to play Marvel super villain Malekith the Accursed opposite Chris Hemsworth's helmeted hero in next year's sequel "Thor: The Dark World," according to Deadline.com.
Eccleston, who played the invisibility-enabling Claude in "Heroes," has more than made his bones in the fanboy world and should make a grand, dramatically accented ruler of the Dark Elves.
In addition to "Heroes," if you didn't catch the season in which he played the ever-evolving title character in "Doctor Who," you may know Eccleston from "Shallow Grave," "28 Days Later," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "The Others," "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" or "Amelia."
The 48-year-old joins a cast that, in addition to the returning Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins, now also includes Zachary Levi.
Beyonce is teaming with the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations on a global campaign to encourage people around the world to get involved, the AP reports.
The international pop star and songwriter Diane Warren will donate a video of "I Was Here" that will be filmed in the UN General Assembly Hall in New York in front of a live audience. The video will premiere Aug. 19 on World Humanitarian Day, and the UN hopes it will help the campaign reach 1 billion people.
A news release says the campaign website launched Thursday and allows people to share individual acts of good.
Beyonce says in the statement that World Humanitarian Day is a chance to work together and "this is our time to leave our mark on the world."
First Published August 3, 2012 12:00 am
