Penn Puts Career on Pause

Singer worried relationship was moving too fast

(AP) - Aretha Franklin won't be getting fitted for a wedding gown after all: She's called off her engagement . A statement released yesterday by her rep said Franklin's wedding to Willie Wilkerson wasn't going to happen. "Will and I have decided we were moving a little too fast, and there were a number of things that had not been thought through thoroughly. There will be no wedding at this time," Franklin said. "We will not comment on it any further because of the very personal and sensitive nature of it. We appreciate all of the many well wishes from friends." More»

Turning away from stardom 'common sense,' says actor

(NEWSER) - Bad boy Sean Penn is at it again. The eternally angry actor is blasting celebrity as an "obscene disease." "I don't think it's an overstatement to say that it's an obscene disease of celebrity that's taken over far too much of the life we live. I think it's a disease that's diminished the quality of life," Penn told the Huffington Post in an interview plugging his latest movie. "It's clearly something that I've been compromised by. But for the culture at large, there is this kind of herd commitment. I think it's just become cheap." More»

Source says she's fuming over Blake Lively romance

(NEWSER) - Apparently all it took for Scarlett Johansson to start regretting her divorce was for ex-hubby Ryan Reynolds to start dating another blonde bombshell. ScarJo "is pissed that he's not under her spell anymore," and equally unhappy that he has started dating Blake Lively , a source tells Us . "She realized what a great catch Ryan was." Reynolds would have happily reunited with Scarlett after she initiated their divorce, the source continues—until Scarlett " flaunted Sean [Penn] right after their split, and he was done." More»

They've renewed their vows ... already

(NEWSER) - Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are on a post-wedding media blitz, which so far is playing out just as one would expect. Four signs the couple is getting even more ridiculous :

• They've already renewed their vows: Yes, a mere six weeks after getting hitched , Kim and Kris apparently felt the need to re-pledge their eternal love to one another, this time in front of a national audience on the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday. Click to watch the video , which features Humphries wearing a top hat, apropos of nothing.

Wacky comedian appears to be reinventing himself

(NEWSER) - Perhaps you've noticed some screwy behavior from Jim Carrey since his break-up with Jenny McCarthy: the odd tweets , the weird Emma Stone video . Turns out that he has another kinda strange new interest: graffiti. He bought an industrial workspace in Manhattan about six months ago and has since been spotted around the neighborhood, clothes splashed with paint, after working late nights behind closed doors. But last month, he "tagged" his studio door with a levitating figure he calls "Baba" and the initials "FFC." More»