divorce

AFTER referring to her new record I Know Too Much as a “divorce” album earlier this year, Ellie Goulding’s fans were convinced it was about the her marriage split.

But after having a sneak preview of her upcoming record, some might think she’s crooning about another break up, which became public earlier this week.

The Burn singer is taking legal action against her old team TaP Management.

And it’s little wonder Ellie is saying she’s so miffed.

To keep it brief, Ellie signed with Ben Mawson and Ed Millett — whose previous clients have included Dua Lipa and Cruz Beckham — in 2018.

She claims they failed to disclose that TaP’s parent company, HNOE, was partially, then fully, owned by Live Nation.

BATH BOMB

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HIT YOU FOR SIX

Ellie Goulding gives update on upcoming sixth album & teases unheard hits

During her seven years with TaP, Ellie signed agreements with Live Nation for tours and merchandise, plus a documentary film which she argues financially benefited Mawson and Millett.

Ellie pumped in almost £4million as part of those deals, unaware her managers had a vested interest.

When I first listened to I Know Too Much — which I think is Ellie’s most powerful body of work lyrically — I immediately connected the dots to her ex-hubby Caspar Jopling.

The couple, who have a five-year-old son, split in 2024.

But now I know about her row with TaP and looking back over my notes, it seems some of it could have been influenced by Ellie’s experiences in the music industry.

This is Ellie’s first album since Higher Than Heaven hit No1 three years ago.

And she’s already hinted that she opens some old wounds on the record, saying of her new album’s title track: “It’s probably the most honest song I’ve written. It is what it is. I know too much.

“It’s tongue in cheek but it’s also some kind of comment on my life so far and music. I couldn’t think of a more apt title for everything I was singing about.

“I do know too much. Way too much.”

I’m sworn to secrecy on the album, which comes out on September 4, and would be strung up if I gave too much away.

But if you take a quick glance at the lyrics to Black Prada Dress, the single Ellie released earlier this year, you’ll see what I mean.

“I heard what you said, just as I was tasting freedom,” Ellie sings at the top of the track.

“Don’t want the pills, but you kinda make me think I need ’em.

“I’m tryna be a Hollywood baby, cause you made me think that London hates me.”

Intriguing. The gloves are off.

PHOEBE BRIDGERS received the worst 32nd birthday gift on Monday – appendicitis.

he US singer, who is set to top the album charts tomorrow with Lost Weekend, has had to postpone intimate shows in Kingston, Brighton and Bristol.

She told fans: “I got appendicitis for my birthday. But I’ll make it up to you!”

Phoebe got a boost from Taylor Swift who bigged up her record to her 273million Instagram followers.

Tay wrote: “Haven’t been able to stop listening. This album is an absolute triumph in every way.”

ROBBIE WILLIAMS has teamed up with Ukrainian DJ and producer Miss Monique for single Beauty In Us, which they performed for in Ibiza at the weekend.

He said the track, out on September 18, is “inspired by our different but equally defining experiences of electronic music and clubbing in Stoke-on-Trent and Kyiv . . . from the Nineties to the 2010s.”

YOU could be in Guy Ritchie’s next movie.

A walk-on role in one of the upcoming films Guy is directing is up for grabs as Children With Cancer UK puts on its most showbizzy auction yet.

You could bid for afternoon tea with EastEnders’ Natalie Cassidy, or a Picasso painting and VIP festival tickets. While Mel C, Katherine Jenkins and Jack Whitehall are offering meet and greets.

It is all to raise funds for groundbreaking research into the prevention and treatment of childhood cancer, as well as support for affected families. The auction runs from today at 8am until Friday.

• See thereallybigauction.com.

Maura’s totes gorgeous

MAURA HIGGINS looks absolutely fabulous in her latest major fashion campaign – seven years after Love Island changed her life.

She is the new face of Guess as it launches its Allegra bag – which she modelled in this photoshoot as she opened up about her upcoming stint on America’s answer to Strictly, Dancing With The Stars.

Maura, who will start on the show on September 15, told Grazia: “Confidence isn’t something you magically wake up with every day.

“I still get nervous. But I trust the people around me to help me feel my best once I’m on set or in front of a camera.

“Dancing With The Stars is definitely a different kind of pressure because you’re learning something completely new every week and have to perform live to an audience of millions watching, but that’s also what makes it exciting.

“Growth only happens when you push yourself a bit.”

Matt’s date tops the bill

THE MOLOTOVS’ MATT CARTLIDGE looks to have found a Hollywood love interest after growing close to actress Kathryn Newton.

The notoriously private rocker was reluctant to be drawn on their relationship, but his bandmate sister Issey let slip the pair met on The Jonathan Ross Show.

Londoner Matt took the Big Little Lies star to LA’s Beverly Hills Hotel, and one thing he wasn’t quiet about was the cost.

Chatting to him at King’s Cross Summer Sounds, in partnership with Lightroom, home of David Bowie: You’re Not Alone, I asked how much it came to, and he said: “For an omelette at the Beverly Hills Hotel?

“Omelette –  ham and cheese, two coffees and pancakes, but she got all the add-ons, you know, like strawberries. It was $80 – way more than I wanted to spend, mind you.”

The band go on tour next month and there are still tickets for their show at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum on September 26. That should help pay for the second date.

Joan makes Billy Ray’s day

NOW here’s a holiday snap I didn’t think I’d see.

Elizabeth Hurley and her director son Damian, posing in the sunshine with her boyfriend Billy Ray Cyrus. . . and Dame Joan Collins.

Liz shared snaps on Instagram of their surprising trip, revealing they joined Joan and her husband Percy on an “enchanting holiday” at their home in St Tropez.

Superstar Joan still manged to look super cool in the pool with Liz, who also posed in a chic summer dress.

The most-liked comment on Liz’s post said: “Billy Ray hit the jackpot.” I couldn’t agree more.

Weeknd’s fireworks fall flat

By Jack Hardwick

WITH 129million record sales and a seriously big budget behind him, expectations were high as The Weeknd took to the stage at Wembley Stadium.

From the get-go, it was clear that money was no object, thanks to a giant cross-shaped stage with a 40ft silver “sexy robot” in the middle.

But after a cult-like opening with 30 cloaked dancers, I have to admit things all felt a bit samey.

He’s spent four years touring the world and The Weeknd’s vocals were flawless throughout the two-hour spectacle.

The mammoth 38-track set was punctuated with hits including Can’t Feel My Face, Star Boy and Save Your Tears, before building to a finale including Blinding Lights and his Swedish House Mafia collaboration Moth To A Flame.

But once you get over the giant robot and the stage shooting out pyrotechnics, things all start to blend into one.

Maybe we’ve been spoiled by the high standards of pop shows in recent years but I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed as I left.

And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, either.

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Sohair al-Bordani was displaced and living in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, trying to take care of her four children, as war raged all around her.

And while she survived, her 10-year marriage has not. Al-Bordani, 30, explained that the arguments between her and her ex-husband had intensified since the war began in 2023, as the stress of merely existing in Gaza weighed down on them.

But al-Bordani encountered a problem. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza – in which Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians – has devastated many aspects of the Palestinian enclave’s administration, including its legal system.

To get a court-ordered divorce, with the accompanying financial claims she would be eligible for, al-Bordani would have to go before a religious court and establish her case. She said that she initiated legal proceedings in February 2025. But, because of delays to the judicial process brought on by the war, the case dragged on.

And so, al-Bordani chose the speedier option available to her – khulu, a form of divorce initiated by the wife that can involve relinquishing financial rights. In her case, this meant that she returned her dowry to her ex-husband and gave up the financial support she would have been entitled to.

“I gave up everything because obtaining my rights under these circumstances had become extremely difficult,” al-Bordani said. “I only wanted to find peace and start a new life away from everything I experienced during that period.”

Legal delays

Al-Bordani’s story reflects the experience of many women in Gaza who have found themselves trapped between delayed legal cases and a war that has disrupted access to the justice system, leaving decisions that are supposed to determine their futures suspended until conditions allow courts to resume their work fully.

Some personal status cases – including divorces – have reached Gaza’s religious courts, which oversee the matters.

According to Sheikh Hassan al-Jojo, the head of the Supreme Council of Sharia Judiciary in Gaza, courts have handled more than 8,700 divorce cases from the beginning of the war in October 2023 until the end of May.

That is despite the many challenges they face, including – but not limited to – damage to court buildings and shortages of judges and other staff.

Al-Jojo also said that courts had returned to near-full judicial work, while services continued even during periods when court buildings were closed.

But he also pointed out that the courts were operating with severely limited resources. Each court – according to al-Jojo – has only one computer, while repeated power cuts, shortages of printed materials and a lack of basic office supplies continue to affect their work.

“Essential services, including marriages and divorces, and other procedures needed by citizens, did not stop,” al-Jojo said. “But the priority at this stage is to keep providing the service, rather than improving it.”

Troubling consequences

Yet divorce figures alone do not reflect the full impact of the war on families. The delays in accessing the legal system have meant that women like al-Bordani have been unable to pursue their legal rights after separation, particularly in cases involving child custody, spousal and child maintenance, and other financial payments that are typically due to the wife.

Mohammad al-Talaa, a lawyer in Gaza, says that the war has significantly affected the functioning of judicial institutions, leading to the postponement of thousands of hearings and the suspension of many cases.

He added that thousands of files and documents have been lost due to Israeli bombing and the destruction of offices, making it difficult to prove rights, particularly in civil and property-related cases.

And with regard to personal status cases, al-Talaa pointed out that the suspension of enforcement departments in courts has left women entitled to payments without that financial support, and has also affected child visitation and custody cases, leaving some parents unable to implement decisions related to maintaining contact with their children.

The problems are not just legal. Al-Talaa explained that the continued delay in divorce and separation cases has left some women trapped in marriages they want to get out of. It has also prevented them from moving on with their lives, while delays in access to financial payments they are owed have increased the burden on families, and a lack of resolution on cases involving children has led to increased psychological stress for all involved, alongside the trauma caused by the war itself.

Suad al-Naami was not willing to deal with being stuck in limbo, and decided to get a khulu divorce even if it meant giving up on the rights a court-mandated divorce would have granted her.

The 22-year-old had only been married for five months, but with disputes with her ex-husband increasing, she left.

“I never imagined my married life would begin this way,” al-Naami said. “I hoped we would have a home and a stable life, but displacement and living in a tent made everything more difficult.”

For the young woman, the promise of a new start, amid all the destruction around her in Gaza, was better than a drawn-out case.

“Giving up on my rights was not an easy matter, but I felt that entering a long legal process and waiting for years would only increase my suffering,” al-Naami said. “I only wanted to end the disputes and start over, because staying in a relationship full of problems under these circumstances would have been harder than the decision to separate itself.”

Tom Segura is finally addressing the news that he and Christina Pazsitzky are divorcing.

In July, news broke that the comedy power couple were calling it quits after nearly two decades of marriage, and last week Pazsitzky shared her feelings on the matter during an episode of “Your Mom’s House,” the wildly successful comedy podcast the two launched together in 2010. On Wednesday — a week after Pazsitzky’s episode dropped — Segura stepped in to host the show and share his side of the story.

“My first podcast here in a while,” Segura began the episode, guest co-hosted by fellow comedian Ryan Sickler. “I know that a lot of people obviously heard the news and saw last week’s episode where Christina hosted.”

Segura said although he doesn’t feel like he needs to say much on the matter, it did bother him that fans called him out with jabs like, “I can’t believe you would make her go address this alone.” Segura said that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth and that the former couple had been recording separate episodes since they split earlier this year.

“Everything that people know is not new to us,” he said. “It’s been many, many months.”

Last week, Pazsitzky cried during what she dubbed the “divorce episode” of “Your Mom’s House” and told guest co-host Duncan Trussell that the pair tried to work it out for several years for the sake of their children and family. “We gave it all we could, but we just couldn’t work things out,” she said. “We are no longer a couple.”

Segura said Pazsitzky’s episode happened to be the first after TMZ caught wind that the pair had split, so she addressed it first. “It was never like, ‘Hey, you go handle this.’ It was just the the timing … and we both decided to record separately.”

Segura said the split had been a long and horrible experience. “It’s, emotionally, a roller coaster. Your emotions change often many times in a day. If anyone’s ever been through it, you don’t feel the same all the time, and it’s really tough on you. Like personally, it’s really tough.

“Having it be public is awful,” he continued, adding that the former couple hoped to keep the high-profile split private. “It’s a private matter.”

Segura continued that he’s not the type of guy who’s an “open book” with his personal life, and that he understands the public’s interest in their divorce, whether they are trolls or heartbroken fans. “I totally get it,” he said. “I also wanted to reiterate that we’re not combative. We talk every day. I support Christina and everything she does. She supports me, and our focus, as you would imagine, is just on our children. We’re just trying to provide the best life we can for them, and we’re trying to take care of them.”

The comedian, who has previously used his marriage as source material in his stand-up comedy, told listeners that he wouldn’t be doing interviews, podcasts or press about the split and planned to focus on his work and co-parenting with Pazsitzky. “This is me addressing what it is and how it’s been, and it’s been terrible. And I don’t feel like I need to keep talking about this. … As disappointing as it is, it is what it is.”

Comedian and podcaster Christina Pazsitzky just dropped the “divorce episode” of “Your Mom’s House” and addressed her split from Tom Segura after 20 years as a couple: “Mom’s drinkin’ and smokin’ on this episode.”

Pazsitzky told guest host Duncan Trussell that she wanted to formally address the news after word got out that the comedy power couple had separated this year. “Yes, Tom and I are divorcing, and it is extremely sad,” she said, beginning to cry.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to cry this soon. It is very sad. That being said, we have tried to work it out for several years for the sake of our children and our family, and we gave it all we could, but we just couldn’t work things out. We are no longer a couple.”

Pazsitzky said the former couple were trying to make their two children a priority as they navigated the split.

“Look, we had 20 amazing years together, and that’s a really good run, I think, in a marriage,” she said, noting that the two had built their comedy careers, podcasting empire and a family over the course of their relationship.

“I wanted to address the audience specifically because we’ve been through a lot together — for those of you that have listened to us since the very beginning — we’ve been through Tom and I getting married and living in Silver Lake and being two broke comics. We’ve been through births and deaths, tragic accidents, cancer, COVID, all the things, and I want you to know that I’m still your mom, and I’m still here, and we will survive.”

The comedian reassured listeners that she and Segura were amicable and that there was no need to take sides. “This is not an ugly divorce,” she continued. “Like, we’re cool, dude.”

The two became a couple in their 20s while working as stand-ups on the Los Angeles comedy scene. Pazsitzky said the two were “kids” and that people change over the course of multiple decades. She looked back on the “wild ride” of being poor together, living in Silver Lake and getting married with $200 between the two of them.

“Cancer couldn’t kill me, you think a dude’s gonna f— take me out?”

Jelly Roll is taking a break from performing after a highly publicized split from Bunnie XO.

Last week, the “Save Me” singer paused his Salt Lake City concert to announce the hiatus. “This has truly been a lifetime experience for me,” Jelly Roll told the crowd at the Rice-Eccles Stadium, per Country Now. “And in a couple of nights, I go to Colorado Springs and do my last show for a year or two. I’m fixing to take some time off and heal. Thank you for the opportunity.”

The Grammy Award-winning country star (born Jason DeFord) and “Dumb Blonde” podcaster (Alisa DeFord) finalized their divorce last month after nearly 10 years of marriage.

The country music star filed for divorce from his wife in Tennessee’s Williamson County on May 18, citing irreconcilable differences. The announcement shocked country fans who had followed the couple through podcast appearances and acceptance speeches that painted a rosy picture of the pair’s relationship.

Jelly Roll’s the Little Ass Shed Tour concluded last week in Colorado after two months of shows; he also co-headlined several stadium concerts with Post Malone. The musician released his latest single, “Hands Up,” on June 24, followed by the music video on July 17, which was filmed at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and incorporated inmates from the facility. Details on a forthcoming album have yet to be released.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO were regulars on the podcast circuit and spoke candidly about the ups and downs of their relationship. In Bunnie’s 2026 memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic,” she wrote about Jelly Roll’s 10-month affair in 2018 and her subsequent emotional unraveling.

The couple also has been open about their struggle with IVF in recent years. In a since-deleted podcast episode, Bunnie XO said the pair still planned to get pregnant post-split.

IT WAS must-see viewing for Britain’s teenagers slumped on the sofa on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The cool young cast of T4 delivered zany segments and upbeat links between popular programmes including Hollyoaks and Shipwrecked.

And now as a former teen telly icon is given a peer by Keir Starmer we reveal where some of the other popular TV presenters are now.

June Sarpong (2000-2007)

SHE was a working class immigrant kid who grew up on a council estate but now TV star June Sarpong is taking a seat in the House of Lords. 

The proud honour marks a meteoric rise for June, 49, who first appeared on our screens as a host of MTV before joining the iconic Noughties show T4 way back in 2000.

She was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting and has made a name for herself as a high profile equality campaigner.

As she celebrated the political honour yesterday, June said: “Words cannot even begin to describe how truly honoured and humbled I feel to have been appointed to the House of Lords by Keir Starmer on his final Honours list.

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“As a working class immigrant kid from a council estate in East London it is not lost on me what this means.

“As I embark on this next chapter, I look forward to being able to use this role to further champion the causes and issues that are dear to my heart.”

But June is not the only former member of the T4 gang who has gone on to bigger and better things. 

It was a hugely successful launchpad for many of the most familiar faces on TV today.

Dermot O’Leary (1998-2001)

A baby faced skinhead, Dermot was part of the original presenting line up when T4 first launched.

Before that he had been a DJ on Radio Essex but Dermot, now 53, proved  such a success with the viewers that Channel 4 swiftly selected him to front spin off show Big Brother’s Little Brother until 2008.

He has since landed a string of high profile presenting gigs including The X-Factor which he hosted for 11 years.

Now Dermot has a Radio 2 show and fronts This Morning on Fridays, as well as publishing a string of hugely successful children’s books about Toto The Ninja Cat. 

Margherita Taylor (1999-2001) 

She was a DJ at Birmingham based radio station BRMB when she took part in a radio contest and moved to Capital Radio. 

From there Margherita landed a spot on T4’s starting line-up alongside Dermot and Vernon Kay and never looked back.

Margherita, 53, went on to present BBC One’s Escape to the Country between 2016 and 2022.

Now she is a familiar guest presenter on  Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, Countryfile and This Morning, but her first love was always radio and she still hosts shows on Smooth Radio and Classic FM.

Ben Shephard (1999-2000)

Ben, 51, was a regular host of Channel 4’s spin-off morning show The Bigger Breakfast when bosses decided to put him on T4.

Just two years later he joined ITV’s GMTV as an entertainment host, then as a main presenter in 2005.

He quit the show in 2010, weeks before it was axed anyway, but returned to ITV in 2014 to front the newly-launched Good Morning Britain, where he remains as one of the country’s most recognisable presenters.

Now the much loved millionaire dad of two is rarely off the box, having swapped his seat at the Good Morning Britain newsdesk for the sofa at This Morning alongside Cat Deeley.

Ben has also hosted hit gameshows including The Summit, Tipping Point and Ninja Warrior UK.

Vernon Kay (2000-2005)

Hunky Bolton lad Vern was working as a model when he was scouted by TV bosses to front T4 and soared to stardom.

After quitting the show All Star Family Fortunes made him a household name.

His 23 year marriage to Strictly’s Tess Daly has crumbled but this week he was named as one of the BBC’s best paid presenters, raking in a staggering £450,000 a year for his Radio 2 mid-morning show, Alternative Dance Sounds of the 90s and other appearances.

Steve Jones (2003-2010)

Welsh lad Steve, 49, – who stripped off several times on the show, was one of T4’s best loved presenters when Simon Cowell chose him to present the American version of The X Factor.

But the show bombed and Steve was axed after just one series.

The former model went on to present a property show called Perfect House, Secret Location and appeared on This Morning before landing a full time gig in 2016 to lead the presenting team for Channel 4’s F1 coverage. 

Miquita Oliver (2006-2010)

While most of the original T4 crew were newbies, Miquita already had five years of telly experience under her belt having fronted Popworld with Simon Amstell. 

But she was suspended from T4 in 2010 after being overheard insulting singer Kesha.

She has also claimed she lost a job on Radio 1 for “saying silly things”.

Since then fashion favourite Miquita, 42, has been on a string of TV programmes, including Celebrity Gogglebox alongside her mum Andi, and has a hit podcast with her pal Lily Allen.

Rick Edwards (2007-2011)

Rick, 47, was performing stand-up comedy at Cambridge University when he was spotted by T4 producers who gave him his first TV job. 

Since then he went on to land a string of presenting gigs including Tool Academy, Made in Chelsea, Freshly Squeezed, E4 Music, and much of Channel 4‘s 2012 Paralympics coverage.

Rick has also hosted a BBC One quiz show called !mpossible and now he can be heard on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast Show every morning, as well as Fighting Talk on Saturdays and their Premier League review on Sundays.

Alexa Chung (2008-2009)

Fashion icon Alexa, 42, began working as a model after she was scouted at the Reading Festival at the age of 16. She joined Popworld alongside Alex Zane in 2006 before joining T4 two years later. 

She famously inspired the Alexa handbag by British designer Mulberry, and has dated big names like Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner and actor Alexander Skarsgard.

She pivoted back to style and lifestyle content on TV for shows like Gok’s Fashion Fix, Next In Fashion and now runs her own lucrative fashion label.

Jameela Jamil (2009-2012)

London born Actress and activist Jameela, 40, was working as a school teacher when she was scouted by a TV producer in a bar.

She followed Alexa on to music show Freshly Squeezed alongside Nick Grimshaw and became a DJ on Radio 1 and the event circuit – with her first show being at Elton John’s birthday party.

In 2016 she moved to LA to become a screenwriter but ended up landing a role in American hit comedy The Good Place as Tahani Al-Jamil.

She’s also become an outspoken campaigner for equality and is dating pop star James Blake.

Nick Grimshaw (2010-2012)

Grimmy started out in student radio before landing a job on Radio 1’s Switch youth programme in 2007.

His career really kicked off the following year when he landed the station’s weekend breakfast show, before moving to a late-night presenting slot.

In 2010, Nick, 41, added T4 to his roster, fronting it until he was promoted to the Beeb’s breakfast show, replacing Chris Moyles.

On TV he’s been a judge on The X Factor, filmed cameos for soaps including EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale and has also starred on Celebrity Gogglebox.

Now he hosts BBC Radio 6 Music’s flagship breakfast show, Sidetracked with Annie Mac and foodie podcast Dish.

ONCE the golden couple of Hollywood, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s multi- million-pound divorce battle rumbled on longer than they were man and wife.

And ten years since proceedings first started, the bitterness between those involved shows no sign of slowing down.

Brad, 62, watched in horror this week as the final steps were taken to remove any trace of him from the once-glorified “Brangelina” clan.

In a brutal move, his children Maddox, 24, and Zahara, 21, have both filed court papers to officially change their surname from Jolie-Pitt to just Jolie.

Siblings Shiloh, 20, and Vivienne, 18, have already turned their backs on the Pitt name, while Knox, 18, has also dropped it from informal documents and is estranged from Brad.

This leaves only Pax, 23, still using the Pitt surname.

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Insiders say that Brad has been left privately “devastated” by the decision.

A source said: “One by one, his children, who he was once so close to, have removed their connection to him.

“He really wonders if he’ll ever rebuild bridges with his shattered brood now.”

It is the latest twist in the family saga, following on from allegations of physical abuse, financial coercion and severe family PTSD as well as a Father’s Day Instagram post from Pax calling Brad a “world-class a**hole”.

It all helps cement Brad and Angelina’s divorce as perhaps the most toxic the entertainment world has ever seen.

In September, it will have been a decade since Maleficent star Angelina, 51, first filed for divorce from movie heart-throb Brad.

Their relationship started not long after they met on the set of 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, when Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston.

They wed in 2014 but, less than two years later, in September 2016, they split in explosive fashion.The former couple had previously adopted Maddox, Zahara and Pax before having Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox.

But Brad, who was once inseparable from all six kids, has now been well and truly frozen out.

Legal notices published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal yesterday reveal that both Maddox and Zahara have filed petitions to change their surnames.

If approved, the changes will become official in court, with Maddox’s hearing set for September 14 and Zahara’s two weeks later.

Zahara has publicly gone by Zahara Jolie since starting university.

Shiloh legally dropped “Pitt” after turning 18 in 2024, while Vivienne was credited simply as “Vivienne Jolie” as a production assistant for the Broadway show The ­Outsiders.

Pax is the only one still using the Pitt surname, but he has an incredibly difficult relationship with his dad, who he once claimed made his younger siblings ­“tremble in fear”.

Brad’s relationship with his children seemed to change for ever after an ill-fated flight in 2016, which also marked the end of the high-profile showbiz marriage.

The couple are said to have tried to keep their blistering rows from the children, but that became impossible in the confines of a private jet.

In a report filed by the FBI about the incident, Angelina claimed Brad yelled at her before pulling her into the toilet, where he pushed her against the wall and punched the ceiling repeatedly.

It is also alleged that when one of their kids tried to protect their mum, Brad “choked one of the children and struck another in the face”.

It has long been rumoured that it was Maddox who was assaulted.

The report said Brad then poured beer on his family as they tried to sleep.

The incident led to an investigation by children’s services, with Angelina being awarded temporary full custody and Brad only allowed supervised visits. He was later fully cleared.

Just days later, Angelina filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable diff­erences.

Pax’s private Instagram post on Father’s Day 2020 suggests the kids experienced problems before and after the plane incident.

He wrote: “You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person.

“You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children, who tremble in fear when in your presence.

“You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you’re incapable of doing so.”

Brad later confirmed that his boozing had become a problem, revealing he had visited Alcoholics Anonymous groups.

He said: “I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges.

“You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard.

“It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself. It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself.

“There’s great value in that.”

The confession did nothing to quell the animosity between the parties, though.

And while the divorce might have been finalised in 2024 — after eight agonising years — another legal fight is still rumbling on.

The former lovers are locked in an acrimonious $350million court battle, known as the War Of The Rosés, over Angelina’s decision to secretly sell her stake in their ­Chateau Miraval vineyard and home for $64million to Russian booze tycoon Yuri Shefler in 2021.

Brad then sued her in a bid to void the sale.

The couple bought the 1,300-acre Miraval estate in Provence, southern France, in 2008 and married there in 2014.

Angelina claims she originally wanted to sell her stake to Brad, but he demanded she sign an $8.5million non-disclosure agreement as part of the deal.

Her legal team argued it was a coercive tactic to prevent her ­talking about his alleged abuse.

A trial has been scheduled for February 1 next year.

Insiders have claimed that Brad’s partner of four years, Ines de Ramon, 33, has tried to persuade him to end the hostilities.

A source said: “Ines wants to have a life together — with possibly children in the future — without the albatross that is the eight-year War Of The Rosés.”

While Angelina’s attorneys have filed explosive allegations in court, she has kept a mostly dignified silence.

In 2020, the actress turned human rights advocate addressed the ugly split in a rare interview with Vogue.

She said: “I separated for the wellbeing of my family. It was the right decision.

“I continue to focus on their healing.”

During another interview, when asked if she worried about the safety of her children, she said: “Yes, for my family. My whole family.”

And during the Press tour for her 2021 Marvel film Eternals, in which she played Thena, a warrior battling memory loss and a fantasy-world version of PTSD, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with the condition.

She said: “I had talked to the director about experiencing PTSD myself a few years ago and my own fears about not being strong enough to protect those that I love.”

And while Brad might have moved on, Angelina, who was widely once considered one of the world’s most beautiful women, remains single.

Last month, she said: “To be candid, I haven’t dated since I divorced a decade ago.

“So I kind of get in my head that that aspect of me is not centered in my life if I’m focusing on my children, my family.”

It is true that all six children have certainly been caught up in the crossfire of their parents’ decade-long war, with the sorry saga serving as a cautionary tale to other Hollywood couples on the cusp of divorce.

Now, as the February 2027 trial over the battle for the French vineyard looms, peace still seems a long way off.

And while Brad might still be fighting over his financial future, his legacy with his family appears to be long gone.

CARA Delevingne has confirmed she dated actress Amber Heard in the midst of her messy divorce from Johnny Depp.

Supermodel Cara was linked to Amber back in 2016, the same year the latter filed for divorce from Pirates Of The Caribbean actor Johnny.

The tumultuous divorce later turned into a very public defamation case, which saw Johnny win $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

But amid the split, Amber’s speculated relationship with Cara was never confirmed – despite the pair seen together several times.

Now, in a new interview with Louis Theroux, Cara described the relationship as an ‘entanglement’ and confirmed things did turn romantic.

“Are we going to mention the Johnny Depp thing?” Louis asked Cara during the interview.

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As she agreed, he then expanded: “He was driven crazy by the idea that Amber might be sleeping with you.”

“Am I meant to comment?” replied Cara.

She continued: “It’s because we did a movie together, and it was called London Fields. He was also doing the movie.

“I think he was pretty driven crazy by jealousy. Nothing was happening at that point. Later, after they divorced, it had, I suppose.

“You suppose?” quizzed Louis.

Cara confirmed: “No, I don’t suppose. I know. Yeah.”

As Louis questioned whether the relationship was “an entanglement?”, Cara struggled to find the right words to describe the historic romance.

Louis expanded on the phrase entanglement as he said: “I think it means a relatively short-lived liaison or series of physical encounters.”

Cara confirmed: “We were close for a long time, and then when they were going through the divorce, yeah, we were entangled, I suppose.

“But she was also entangled with other people.”

“Well, with Elon,” interjected Louis as he referenced Amber’s on/off romance with Elon Musk, which is thought to have taken place from 2016 until 2018.

Cara confirmed: “There you go.”

Following her highly publicised legal disputes with ex-husband Johnny in 2022, Amber relocated to Spain for a more quiet life with her daughter, Oonagh Paige.

Last year, she welcomed two more children; a twin girl and twin boy.

While Cara is now in a relationship with singer Minke, whose real name is Leah Mason.

ROCK legend Jack White is heading for divorce court after wife Olivia Jean made explosive claims about their whirlwind marriage in newly filed legal documents. 

Singer-songwriter Olivia accused her rocker husband of “inappropriate marital conduct” in the shocking divorce filing.  

The docs were submitted on June 3, with Olivia marking that same date as the couple’s official split after three years of marriage, TMZ first reported.

In the petition, she claimed Jack’s alleged behavior made “further cohabitation unsafe and improper,” though no additional details were outlined.

Olivia is also seeking spousal support, saying she relies on Jack financially to cover her bills, and has asked that she remain on his life insurance policy as the divorce moves forward.

The breakup marks the end of a wild relationship that played out as dramatically as it began.

Jack, 50, and Olivia, 36, infamously got engaged and married onstage in April 2022 during one of his concerts at Detroit’s Masonic Temple – in front of a stunned and confused crowd. 

The spontaneous ceremony came after the pair performed The White Stripes hit Hotel Yorba together, with Jack dropping to one knee mid-show before a minister walked onstage moments later.

Their relationship had a long history far before the wedding bells rang.

Olivia, who signed to Jack’s Third Man Records in 2009, first met him through the music industry. 

She fronted gothic garage-rock band The Black Belles and later built a solo career while remaining close to Jack professionally. 

The pair kept much of their romance under wraps, with Olivia later revealing they were friends for years before becoming a couple.

As for Jack’s personal life, the split adds another chapter to his famously complicated romantic history.

The rocker was first married to Meg White from 1996 to 2000 – and famously took her last name, which he still uses professionally. 

Even after divorcing, the pair continued performing together in The White Stripes and publicly maintained for years that they were siblings rather than ex-spouses.

He later married model and singer Karen Elson in 2005. 

Their split in 2011 appeared amicable – so much so they threw a “divorce party” to celebrate the end of their marriage. 

The exes share two children together: Scarlett and Henry.

Known for fiercely guarding his private life, the typically recluse Jack has rarely spoken publicly about his relationships, often insisting his music should speak louder than his personal drama.

Jack has not yet spoken out about Olivia’s claims but if his past is any indicator, he may once again let the music do the talking.

Jelly Roll has filed for divorce from Bunnie XO.

The country music star filed for divorce from his wife in Tennessee’s Williamson County on May 18, according to court documents obtained by People — TMZ broke the news. The announcement may come as a shock for country fans who have followed the couple through their sappy podcast appearances and gushy acceptance speeches.

Bunnie XO, who hosts the “Dumb Blonde” podcast, met Jelly Roll at one of his Las Vegas Country Saloon concerts in 2015. Then, a year later on a Las Vegas stage, the “Save Me” hitmaker popped the question.

The pair said their “I do’s” at a local courthouse later than night in a secret ceremony.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO have been candid on the podcast circuit about the ups and downs of their relationship. In Bunnie’s 2026 memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic,” she wrote about Jelly Roll’s 10-month affair in 2018 and her subsequent emotional unraveling.

The couple also has been open about their struggle with IVF in recent years.

As recently as February, while accepting his win for contemporary country album for “Beautifully Broken,” Jelly Roll thanked Bunnie XO in his acceptance speech, saying that he wanted to thank his “beautiful wife” and that he’d be dead or in jail without her.

And during a 2023 appearance on “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, Jelly Roll was overcome with emotion recounting his early days with Bunnie XO. “When Bunnie comes into my life, I have to sit Bunnie down and go, ‘Look, I have a kid that you know about that I’m fixing to have to get full custody of.’”

According to the Grammy winner, Bunnie had his back from the beginning.

“I don’t have a house, I’m homeless. So she’s like, ‘Well, the first thing we have to do is get you somewhere to live in Nashville.’ I was like, ‘Well, I can’t put it in my name, I’m a felon, I don’t have enough proof of income to get the kind of place we need to get her in the right school district.’

“Bunnie’s like, ‘Let’s just go get a condo, so you have a bedroom for her.’ … So Bunnie comes down, and we’re getting a condo. I’ll never forget, Bunnie looked at me, and, man, it makes me emotional. She said, ‘No matter what happens with us. I’m gonna help you get this little girl.’

“And I was like, man, what character this woman has,” he continued.

Hours before news of the couple’s split broke, Bunnie XO posted a video on Instagram dancing to Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me,” and mouthing the lyrics “I said I love you and I swear I still do.”

FATBOY Slim has opened up about the ‘awkwardness’ he felt with ex Zoe Ball after their divorce, shortly after they reunited to take some new family snaps.

The couple tied the knot in 1999 but their romance wasn’t all smooth sailing, with Zoe admitting to having an affair with DJ Daniel Peppe.

After briefly separating the duo got together again three months later up until their divorce in 2016.

Speaking to Davina McCall on her Begin Again podcast about it Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, shared how ‘awkward’ he felt with Zoe initially after the split as they attempted to co-parent their children Woody and Nelly.

Though overall the star praised the dynamic him and Zoe hold today, saying it might even be better now than when they were a couple.

He said: “Our triumph is to remain really good friends and parents, even though we’re not a couple anymore… 

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“It was a bit awkward at first, but then we got this rhythm where… we’re probably actually better than we were when we were a couple.

“You sign on to be parents, that’s for life. 

“You can sign up for marriage and you can get divorced. But you can never stop being parents.”

Norman also praised Zoe for being really good at keeping him “grounded”, noting: “Going through it together was great because, Zoe is a really good teacher, she was really good, really measured and she’s kept me really grounded to earth…”

The podcast chat comes a week after Norman and Zoe reunited to attend a friends wedding over the weekend.

Their daughter Nelly was a bridesmaid at the stunning event that took place at Parnham Park in Dorset.

Zoe posted a series of sweet clips and snaps from the day to her Instagram account.

She wore a cream dress with a slit covered in ruffles, while Norman opted for a handsome grey suit.

In the post’s caption, Zoe penned: “Congratulations Eva & James & Willow

“We love you so much. The most perfect wedding celebration for our dear magic friends.

“Groomsmen, Bridesmaids & a few close folk to celebrate the Wedding.”

At the recent glitzy PEN America Literary Gala at the Natural History Museum in New York City the evening’s MC, B.J. Novak, declared that the crowd was there to celebrate more than just freedom of speech — they were there for “literary glamour.”

“Writing is glamorous,” he declared. “Reading is glamorous.”

For Novak, bestselling novelist Ann Patchett — who has also worked tirelessly on behalf of independent booksellers and in support of her fellow writers, and was one of the event’s honored guests — epitomizes that allure. “I think it’s great that Ann Patchett is a smoke show. She doesn’t have to be,” he quipped. “It’s just cool that she is.”

With “Whistler,” Patchett’s 10th novel, she definitively proves that the “smoke show” moniker, if at all relevant, is icing on the cake. This exquisite writer has once again delivered an incandescent work of fiction — sweet, but never sentimental, infinitely wise and suffused with love. It’s also an ode to New York City itself.

“Whistler” is narrated by protagonist Daphne Fuller, a 54-year-old English teacher married to Jonathan, a restlessly retired doctor and hospital administrator who dotes on his wife and whom he regards as “extraordinary.” When we first encounter the couple, they’re roaming the Metropolitan Museum of Art — which, one gets the sense, they know by heart. As Daphne ponders the sculpture “Two Horses,” by Charles Ray, Jonathan spots an elderly stranger eyeing his wife, casting glances in her direction. The stranger follows them from room to room fixated on Daphne. Jonathan’s curiosity is piqued, and he slips away from his wife’s side to get to the bottom of why they’re being followed — which is revealed to be the novel’s inciting incident.

Turns out that stranger is no stranger at all. He is Eddie Triplett, a long-lost stepfather whose divorce from Daphne’s mother, Abigail, remains an unhealed wound. Running into Eddie now for the first time in more than four decades, Daphne is startled by the rush of emotion she feels: “I hadn’t known there was something in me to break,” she reflects, “but there it was and break it did. I stepped into an open crack in time and fell backwards.”

Eddie, as it happens, is but one of Daphne and her sister, Leda’s, three dads. By the time Abigail marries her third husband, mild-mannered Lucas, and the couple go on to have three sons, Daphne has grown a protective shell. These facts are narrated with detachment by the protagonist herself. As she and Eddie gently unspool their memories and together fill in the blanks, their bond deepens. The “falling backwards” Daphne experiences in Eddie’s company — traversing time — soothes, softens and delights her.

As the novel unfolds, what becomes ever clearer is that Daphne and her author are undeniably similar, though Patchett has observed: “I am normally careful to make sure there is a big wall between my life and my fiction.” In “Whistler,” she throws that caution to the wind. Easter eggs are scattered throughout. Like Daphne, Patchett is married to an older man — also a doctor — whom she adores. She too had three dads, as she chronicled in a 2020 New Yorker piece aptly titled “My Three Fathers.” Patchett and her heroine also appear to share this enviable trait: They navigate life with grace, generosity and utter competence. IRL, Patchett returns emails on the day she receives them, is an outspoken advocate for free expression, is generally renowned for her good deeds. She’s also widely known for her many devoted friendships, though she doesn’t suffer fools. You’d want to be her ride or die. As you would … Daphne’s.

In an interview 10 years ago, Patchett observed that it wasn’t until she read a piece by Jonathan Franzen, “in which he insisted that the novelist had to do what scares him most, and for him, that had been writing about his family,” that she considered following that path in her fiction. “I thought ‘oh nothing would scare me more. I would happily ride down the Amazon in a canoe and deal with snakes’ ” (as she did for “State of Wonder”) “ ‘than face my family.’ ” In 2016 she wrote “Commonwealth,” which drew on her personal experience of divorce and dysfunction, themes she revisits in “Whistler.” But in “Whistler,” it’s as if Patchett herself is in the reader’s ear. (And, by the way, should you pick up the audio version of the book, she narrates and is literally in your ear.)

Patchett has said she had an ulterior motive for writing “Whistler.” She’d been in the midst of writing a different book, a novel about a Wyoming rancher and her horse, Whistler, but it wasn’t clicking. As she pressed on over the better part of a year, a second idea came to her “like a fever dream.” She immediately filed away the messy work-in-progress and began writing a fictional ode to a cherished friend, former publishing executive Jim Fox, to whom “Whistler” is dedicated. Fox had died two years before, on his 85th birthday, and Patchett was still grieving. Her aim, with “Whistler,” she has said, is to put down on paper how much they loved each other. Fox is reborn as Eddie Triplett in the book, a charming and erudite book editor who radiates joie de vivre and is among the loves of his stepdaughter Daphne’s life.

Patchett’s literary style isn’t of the show-offy variety packed with dazzling sentences and edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers. The drama is quiet. Her words accrue and gain power through their spareness and clarity, and a level of character development that forges an easy intimacy with the reader. There’s also a sly wit and sagacity that have become Patchett signatures, honed to perfection in “Whistler,” whether wrestling with the legacy of family trauma, or the human struggle to accept the transitory nature of it all. Or, as Patchett’s mother once admonished after the failure of her daughter’s first marriage: “Stop trying to make everything permanent. It doesn’t work.”

While Patchett has clearly drawn on actual events and individuals to produce this luminous work, she exhibits the expert novelist’s knack for following a plot where the imagination takes it. I don’t recommend consuming “Whistler” in one enormous gulp. I dipped in and out, savoring scenes, reflecting on them, occasionally shedding a tear. In other words, I didn’t want it to end.

Haber is a writer, editor and publishing strategist and co-founder of the Ink Book Club on Substack. She was director of Oprah’s Book Club and books editor for O, the Oprah Magazine.

Ben Gibbard remembers late 2023 as a time of competing realities.

Onstage, the frontman of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service was thriving as his two bands toured together to mark the 20th anniversaries of Death Cab’s “Transatlanticism” and the Postal Service’s “Give Up.”

Behind the scenes, Gibbard’s personal life was in shambles.

“I was getting off phone calls — very difficult phone calls — 20 minutes before going on in an arena,” he says. The singer and his wife, photographer Rachel Demy, were in the middle of an agonizing breakup that would eventually lead to divorce. Yet audiences in the thousands were turning up nightly to see Gibbard reanimate the peak-millennial classics that made him one of indie rock’s defining stars.

“I’d just tell myself, You’re a professional — you’re gonna go out there and do it, and no one’s gonna know,” he recalls. “It was all waiting for me when I got offstage, of course. But for two hours I was able to disconnect and be a performer, which was incredibly …” Gibbard, 49, trails off into a laugh.

“I don’t know if it was healthy,” he says. “But it was helpful.”

Two and a half years later, that split-screen experience — “this idea of how we compartmentalize our pain or our grief or our trauma,” as Gibbard puts it now — forms a through line of Death Cab’s ruminative new album, “I Built You a Tower.” Due Friday from Anti Records, where the group landed after leaving its longtime home of Atlantic amid a corporate shake-up, the LP sets thoughts of broken fences and never-ending storms against tuneful arrangements that can churn, shimmer or chime.

“I pledge myself to your misery / I kneel at its throne,” Gibbard sings in his still-boyish tenor over the sleek new wave groove of “Trap Door,” “Respecting your proclivity / To languish on your own.” In the fuzzed-out “Envy the Birds,” the frontman recounts an argument between two lovers “spraying bullets of grievances”; the driving “Riptides” is narrated by a guy “too tired to end the war.”

“This record is definitely the result of a divorce,” Gibbard says plainly during a recent visit to Los Angeles from his home in Seattle. “But I didn’t want to make a score-settling record or an angry record. This wasn’t an opportunity to defame someone or make this about how I’d been wronged. People drift apart — relationships don’t work. And I think how that’s affected me at almost 50 is a very different mindset than I found myself in when I was 33 or whatever the last time it happened.”

Gibbard means his first divorce, in 2012, from the actor and singer Zooey Deschanel — a split that inspired Death Cab’s 2015 album “Kintsugi,” on which one song asks, “Was I in your way when the cameras turned to face you?” and another chides an unnamed celebrity: “You’ll never have to hear the word ‘no’ if you keep all your friends on the payroll.”

“There’s some gnarly stuff on that record,” says Gibbard, who’d moved to L.A. to be with Deschanel then promptly left as soon as their marriage collapsed. “It’s not exactly a kind album.”

Bassist Nick Harmer, who formed Death Cab with Gibbard in the late ’90s after the two met as students at Western Washington University, agrees that “I Built You a Tower” represents a shift in perspective. “There’s so much more self-examination — and so much more self-indictment,” he says. (Death Cab’s other members are drummer Jason McGerr, guitarist Dave Depper and keyboardist Zac Rae.)

Which isn’t to say that Gibbard entirely resists placing blame. In “Trap Door” he sings about “a trap door in your heart and a button on your desk well-worn from being pressed.”

The frontman says that in recent years he’d “tried to get away from using the word ‘heart’ because that had been a touchstone for so many of our early records.” Yet this line seemed worth holding onto when it came to him.

“I Googled it to see: Did I already write this?” he says, laughing. “Or is there a very popular song called ‘There’s a Trap Door in Your Heart,’ and now I’m just rewriting it? We’ve made a lot of songs at this point — you gotta check your work.”

Indeed, “I Built You a Tower” is Death Cab’s 11th studio LP. After the band’s previous album, 2022’s “Asphalt Meadows,” fulfilled its deal with Atlantic, Death Cab reupped with the major label for one more record, Gibbard says, based on its strong relationship with the company’s then-CEO, Julie Greenwald.

“Julie was our shepherd and our protector the whole time we were there,” the singer says of Death Cab’s nearly two-decade run at Atlantic, which began with 2005’s Grammy-nominated “Plans.” Yet just days after they reached an agreement for “Tower,” Greenwald was fired and replaced by a new leader, Elliot Grainge, about whom the band felt less than optimistic.

Ben Gibbard

(Cielito Mercado Vivas / For The Times)

“We weren’t given the impression that Elliot had spent a lot of time with ‘Transatlanticism’ in college,” Gibbard says of the 32-year-old exec, who made his name signing rappers like Ice Spice and Trippie Redd. With Greenwald’s help, Gibbard says, Death Cab negotiated an exit from Atlantic with ownership of the new album.

Did Grainge try to persuade the band to stay?

“Never heard a word,” Gibbard says.

In an email, Grainge (whose father is Universal Music Group Chairman and Chief Executive Lucian Grange) said that Death Cab’s music “has meant a great deal” to him.

“Working together may not have been in the cards for us; however, that does not lessen my enthusiasm for the band,” he wrote. “They have delivered an impressive body of work over their decades-long career, and I am looking forward to their new music.”

Death Cab’s Harmer says he and his bandmates “talked for half a beat” about putting out “Tower” on their own before thinking better of the idea.

“We’re not businesspeople,” Gibbard says. “Music is the only thing we know how to do.”

At a friend’s wedding in 2024, the frontman had been seated next to the musician Allison Crutchfield, who was then heading up Anti’s A&R department; early this year, Death Cab announced that it had signed to the indie label, whose other acts include Fleet Foxes and Madi Diaz.

This summer, the band will tour behind “I Built You a Tower,” including two shows in August at L.A.’s Greek Theatre. After the “Transatlanticism”/”Give Up” anniversary outing — not to mention a subsequent tour on which the group looked back at “Plans” — Gibbard is “very ready to play some new material,” he says.

Doing the hits was fun. “But at a certain point,” he adds, “it’s really about moving ahead.”