Everyone who has dreams of stardom already knows what they’re gonna buy when they cash that first big, fat paycheck. Here’s what some of the people who DID make it bought with their first payday:
Johnny Depp: A horse farm in Kentucky for his mother.
Nicole Kidman: A washing machine for her parents. Later on, she bought, “the coolest boots I had ever seen in my life.”
Tiffany Haddish: “A big box of Snickers and lollipops, Jolly Rancher sticks and Blow Pops. Oh, and Corn Nuts.” (Her first check was only for $120.)
Jennifer Lopez: A new Mercedes.
America Ferrera: A Mitsubishi Mirage.
Serena Williams: Nothing. She put it straight in the bank. All SEVEN FIGURES of it.
Kerry Washington: Her first laptop.
Ashley Graham: A personal trainer . . . and shoes.
Brad Pitt: “A period Craftsman chair and a Frank Lloyd Wright–wannabe lamp.”
Brie Larson: An electric guitar.
Cindy Crawford: Wallpaper.
Kathy Griffin: A home for her parents.
You may remember earlier this year when TRACE ADKINS posted a video warning about fake social media accounts. That’s where someone pretends to be a country star hoping to lure fans in with false offers and promises. But all they’re doing is trying to rip you off by asking for your personal information. The best way to know that a site is authentic is if it has a BLUE CHECKMARK. If you see that, then you know it’s verified and official. Despite all this, the problem isn’t going away so a bunch of artists did a video hoping to raise awareness. It includes Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Darius Rucker, Maren Morris, Rascal Flatts, Cole Swindell, Jake Owen, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Dustin Lynch, Kip Moore, Michael Ray, and Kelly Clarkson.
It’s been two years since we’ve heard something new from RANDY HOUSER. But he has a new track out called “What Whiskey Does”. He released a video for it that was filmed in the studio while he was putting the final touches on the track. He tells “Rolling Stone”, “We had [everybody] in the studio on standby while we finished the lyrics, so it was written and recorded in one day. Sometimes it happens like that, lightning strikes and you just sort of go with it. I’m so thrilled to finally share the first piece of what we’ve been working on and I can’t wait to let everyone hear the rest of this album.” No word yet a release date.
A report claiming that Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes had been planning a wedding and called it off, and that they have split amid “trust issues,” was shot down by her rep.
PORTIA DE ROSSI says she and ELLEN DEGENERES welcomed the divorce rumors, because it meant they had finally been accepted, and were being treated like every other celebrity couple.
DALE EARNHARDT JR. was once fired from his dad’s own car dealership.
It sounds like ROSEANNE BARR retained the rights to her TV character, so ABC couldn’t have recast her even if they wanted to.
KELSEA BALLERINI posted a clip on Instagram of a video chat she did with a fan named Tori who was in a Detroit hospital battling an undisclosed illness. Tori couldn’t see Kelsea when she opened on Keith Urban’s recent tour stop. In the caption, Kelsea promised to give her a hug when she comes back to town. Speaking of Kelsea . . . she’s all over her husband MORGAN EVANS’ “Day Drunk” video. It’s filled with footage of a vacation they took in Hawaii.
KIP MOORE partnered-up with a friend to open a hiking lodge in Red River Gorge, Kentucky. It’s called Bedrock at the Red and it features small, bare-boned rooms to sleep in . . . and a community space to eat and socialize. It’s all about being close to hiking trails and the great outdoors.
DAN + SHAY posted video of themselves going out of their way to check out a billboard with their faces on it. They captioned it, “Took a detour on the way to Virginia to see one of our billboards in Nashville. Man, this has been the coolest week ever.”
“Backstage at the Opry” released video of CASSADEE POPE doing a cover of Lee Ann Womack’s classic, “I Hope You Dance”. She’s up to the task.
DAVID NAIL has changed things up. He’s formed a band. They’re named WELL RAVENS, and they have a new song called “Heavy”. You can check it out at RollingStone.com.
BRETT YOUNG. He says, quote, “I was never into fireworks. I was afraid one was gonna blow up in my hand or something. So if we’d go to an event where I could watch from afar I was into to it, but I never wanted to be the one setting them off.”
BRANTLEY GILBERT will probably have much tamer 4th of July this year than last. One reason is because he’s a dad now. The other is because he and a buddy almost started a brush fire with their fireworks last year. “One of ’em shot across the lake and got into a brush pile and we thought we’d about burned down that whole little community there for a minute. But thankfully it went out before it spread too crazy.”
SATURDAY BIRTHDAYS
Mike Tyson is 52.
Michael Phelps is 33.
