Celeb Nation: Joan Rivers, Brad & Angelina Jolie-Pitt, Award Shows, and More

Mary E. O'Connor

Joan Rivers was placed in a medically induced coma Thursday and remains in critical but stable condition.

At approximately 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Rivers was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan from Yorkville Endoscopy, where she underwent a minor procedure on her vocal chords. She stopped breathing during the procedure, which was not a major surgery, though she was under sedation and no one knows how long she was deprived of oxygen.

She will remain in a coma until this weekend when doctors will discuss the damage with her daughter, Melissa. No major medical decisions have been made at this time. Melissa and her son, Cooper, flew from Los Angeles to New York, arriving at 8pm EST Thursday evening. Melissa released a statement, saying "I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother," she said. "She is resting comfortably and is with our family. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers."

We’re praying for you Joan! 

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Mr. and Mrs. Smith are officially Mr. and Mrs. Pitt!

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married last weekend !! Finally!! The happy couple was married last Saturday afternoon in a chapel on the grounds of their residence in France, “Château Miraval.” Prior to the civil ceremony, Jolie and Pitt obtained a marriage license from a California judge, who also conducted the ceremony in France. Jolie walked down the aisle with her elder sons, Maddox, 13 and Pax, 11 and her daughters Zahara, 9 and Vivienne, 6 were flower girls; they carried baskets of rose petals. In fact, the flowers were handpicked by the children from the garden that morning. Daughter Shiloh, 8 and son Knox, 6 served as ring bearers. The Pitts exchanged hand written vows and he reported gasped when he lifted her vail at her beauty. After the ceremony, the couple and their guests dined on a lunch and 3 choices of wedding cakes.

The private and intimate ceremony was attended by very close family and friends. A source stated that "The only guests were Brad's family from the states—his mom and dad, Bill and Jane Pitt; his brother, Doug; sister Julie; and their kids, so it was no more than 22 people in total." The ceremony was so private that Jolie’s father, Jon Voight, was not aware of the event until the public was. He revealed 'I'm going to Europe to see them all this week, I've been waiting a long time for this wedding to happen, everything is cool, I'm very happy.'

Brad and Angie have spent this week in Malta with their children enjoying their honeymoon as a family. Just in case anyone has their doubts about the accuracy of reports, Brad has the wedding ring to prove them wrong. He was spotted Thursday during a photo call in the UK. Huge Congrats to the happy couple!!

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Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy to Wed this Weekend

The Wahlbergs’ are getting another family member this Saturday! Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy are tying the knot in New York with a glamourous ceremony to celebrate. Jenny said there are 2,000 McCarthys (including cousin Melissa McCarthy) and Donnie is flying in his large family from Boston and those of you that watch “Wahlburgers” on A&E know this family well…this will be quite the party! Donnie is a member of Boston’s famous boy band, New Kids on the Block and stars on CBS’ ‘Blue Bloods.’ Jenny and Donnie met on Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” and have been engaged since April. They have hinted that Andy will officiate the ceremony when it happens and chances are, he will. Even though Jenny lost her job on ABC’s “The View” earlier this year, it seems that marrying the man of your dreams overcomes that letdown by a longshot.

Congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Wahlberg! They are such a great couple!

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All good things come to an end, some in the form of revivals

This week was meant to be Jen Aniston’s week in the spotlight and it was until the Brangelina wedding news came out. Prior to that, Jen was front page news. She was busy making the rounds to promote her new movie “Life of Crime” being released Friday. She even helped her close friend Chelsea Handler close her talk show “Chelsea Lately” after a 7 year run on E!.  Jen, along with many other celebs including: Ellen DeGeneres, Sandra Bullock, Miley Cyrus, 50 Cent, Alanis Morrisette, LeeAnn Rimes, and many others. Let’s hope they all stick around when she vacates to ‘Netflix.’

Jen’s other notable appearance was on Jimmy Kimmel Thursday evening.  She was able to catch up with her former ‘Friends’ co-stars Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox and the trio re-enacted a “fan fiction” playing their respective characters and Kimmel played the character “Ross”.  The quasi reunion happened as Friends prepares to celebrate their 20 year anniversary of the series premiere this fall.

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Another reunion in the works is “Full House”, marking almost 20 years since the series finale. Have mercy! It’s early in the development stages but it seems that this really is happening. Not the entire cast is game to return (The Olsen Twins) but reports  say that Candace Cameron-Bure (D.J.), Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie), and Andrea Barber (Kimmy) are set to join the series (yes, Series!). The project is being backed by John Stamos (Uncle Jesse) and has original producer Bob Boyett and creator Jeff Franklin for the project.

Though not a revival, The Sopanos’ have made headlines again and fans can finally have some closure on the more than questionable series finale. In what seemed like a prelude to a second installment of the series (a movie or revival), viewers were left with nothing, literally nothing as an end to the show. Unfortunately, any type of reunion of the entire cast is impossible because James Gandolfini is no longer with us. However, the show’s producer, David Chase, provided some insight. He told film critic, Martha Nochimson, while out for coffee recently when she asked if Tony Soprano was dead, he replied ‘Why are we talking about this?’ ‘No he isn’t’. There it is – Tony Soprano is alive! Now, I’d like to ask Mr. Chase if Meadow was able to learn how to parallel park a car properly. 

VMA’s and Emmys

The MTV Video Music Awards were held last Sunday evening and Miley Cyrus was there, though her appearance was not outrageous this time. When “Wrecking Ball” won an award for Best Video, she sent a 22-year-old homeless man named Jesse Helt to the microphone in her place: “My name is Jesse” he said.  “I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now. I know, because I am one of those people.” A wonderful gesture on Miley’s part to bring awareness to this serious issue of runaway and homeless teens until it was revealed that Mr. Helt had an arrest warrant outstanding for violation of probation in the state of Oregon. He has since turned himself in. Miley continues to stand by her friend. 

Beyonce closed out the show with a 20 minute blockbuster performance. She was greeted at the end by her husband, Jay-Z and daughter, Blue-Ivy as she was presented with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. "I have nothing to say but I am filled with so much gratitude," she told the cheering crowd. The family is clearly making a statement: they are not on the outs and want to remain intact. It’s not over! 

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The Emmy Awards, not to be confused for the MTV Video Music Awards, even when they air on consecutive nights, had some memorable moments. Modern Family won Best Comedy for the 5th consecutive year, Netflix took over cable and network TV for wins and Julia Louis Dreyfus and Bryan Cranston made out. When they were presenting an award, they had a gag that Louis-Dreyfus couldn't remember that Cranston was a guest star on "Seinfeld," as her date. So, Cranston decided to improvise when she walked toward the stage to accept her trophy for best actress in a comedy series for "Veep." He swept Louis-Dreyfus into a fervent make out session until Jimmy Fallon forced them to separate. He clearly refreshed her memory, she quipped ‘Yeah, yeah, he was on 'Seinfeld!’ I guess that did the trick, Bryan!

Billy Crystal paid tribute to his friend, the late Robin Williams, in a touching speech lasting about 5 minutes. "It is very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in our lives," he said of Williams. Unlike MTV who paused for 23 seconds to remember Robin, this tribute was beautiful.

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