Madonna is coming under fire for using fake guns in her stage show just days after the Aurora, Colo., movie theater massacre, according to the Daily Mail. The singer was reportedly warned by police before her first performance in Scotland not to use the props, but did so anyway. The fake guns used in the show include replicas of an AK47 assault rifle and a few handguns. “Madonna and her dancers using replica guns was always in bad taste, but given what happened in Colorado it is even worse. She should know better,” a spokesperson for Mothers Against Guns tells the newspaper. But a source close to Madonna insists the singer is just sticking to her principles. “Madonna would rather cancel her show than censor her art,” the source tells the Huffington Post. “Her entire career, she has fought against people telling her what she can and cannot do. She’s not about to start listening to them now.”
Katy Perry may have found a new bad boy to keep her company in the wake of her split from Russell Brand. Less than a week after her divorce from Brand was finalized, Perry was reportedly spotted getting cozy with John Mayer, according to Hollyscoop. A source describes their meeting as very flirty, adding that the two “definitely appeared to be very into each other.” Meanwhile, Perry says she plans on taking a somewhat “darker” path for her third album — but not completely. “I would love to just let it be the black box of who I am,” she tells the U.K.’s Capital FM in an interview. “I’d never devote a whole record to heartbreak. I’m happy, I’m in a good place, I’m looking forward to my future.”
Just one day before filing for a divorce from Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes gave an interview to C magazine for its September issue — and she didn’t necessarily do a great job of hiding that something was up. “Going back over the tapes, there were signs. Holmes was certainly very aware of herself, laying a couple cards on the table by never showing her whole hand, C senior editor Kelsey McKinnon tells WWD. “Most noticeably, the one name decisively absent from her lexicon: Tom Cruise. She never actually refers to him by name over pages and pages of transcription.” And a question about whether daughter Suri brought Holmes and Cruise closer together left the actress flustered: “I don’t know. I mean … I don’t know,” she said. “People have been having babies a long time.”
Not only is Mariah Carey confirmed as a new judge on “American Idol” this fall, but she’ll also reportedly be the highest paid, according to Us Weekly. “Mariah is getting paid $18 million with a one-year option to do ‘Idol,’ making her the highest paid judge on any music competition show,” a source says. Jennifer Lopez, who recently left the show, earned about $12 million per season, while “The Voice” judge Christina Aguilera will reportedly get $10 million for the next season, and Britney Spears previously held the record, getting a reported $16 million for current gig on “the X Factor.”
While Katherine Jackson may no longer be considered a missing person, her grandchildren still reportedly haven’t been able to reach the 82-year-old, according to Us Weekly. Katherine’s son Jermaine insists that she’s resting in Arizona on doctor’s orders, while other family members are crying foul. Michael Jackson‘s 14-year-old daughter, Paris, in particular, “is a wreck and wants her grandma back immediately,” a source says, adding that Paris and her brothers haven’t spoken with the grandmother and legal guardian in more than a week. “It is a war between family members. Paris is broken-hearted about what is happing and has begged the family to call a truce to allow her grandma back.”
