wife

California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership confirmed in a social media post Tuesday morning.

“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in an X post. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”

LaMalfa, 65, was a rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Prop 50.

LaMalfa’s death reduces the GOP’s already slim House majority to 218-213.

This story is developing.

Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro stood in a Manhattan courthouse Monday a captive criminal defendant: surrounded by heavy security, deprived of his power as a head of state and facing drug, weapon and conspiracy charges likely to keep him behind bars for years.

“I was captured,” he said in Spanish, before pleading not guilty during a brief arraignment. “I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

Just two days prior, more than 2,000 miles away in Caracas, Maduro was seated “atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” according to a sweeping indictment unsealed Saturday.

What preceded Maduro’s swift downfall was not just his weekend capture in what President Trump called “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might” in U.S. history, but decades of partnership with “narco-terrorists” from Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico to enrich himself and his family through “massive-scale” cocaine trafficking, the indictment claims.

The allegations, built off a 2020 indictment, stretch back a quarter-century and implicate other Venezuelan leaders and Maduro’s wife and son. They suggest extensive coordination with notorious drug trafficking organizations and cartels from across the region, and paint a world Trump himself has long worked to instill in the minds of Americans — one in which the nation’s southern neighbors are intentionally flooding the U.S. with lethal drugs and violent criminals, to the devastation of local communities.

It is a portrait of drugs, money and violence every bit as dramatic as the nighttime raid that sent jets and helicopters into Venezuelan airspace, U.S. special forces into Maduro’s bedroom and Maduro and his wife into U.S. custody and ultimately to their arraignment in court Monday.

It appears to rely on clandestine intelligence and other witness testimony gathered over the course of decades, which Maduro’s defense team will undoubtedly seek to discredit by impugning the cast of characters — some drug traffickers themselves — whom prosecutors relied on.

Legal experts said it could take years for the case to reach trial, slowed not only by the normal nuance of litigating a multi-defendant conspiracy case but the added complexity of a prosecution that is almost certainly predicated in part on classified intelligence.

“That’s very different than a typical drug case, even a very high-level drug case, [where] you’re not going to have classified State Department cables the way you’re going to have them when you’re actually prosecuting a head of state or a former head of state,” said Renato Stabile, an attorney for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a similar cocaine trafficking case in 2024 before being pardoned by Trump last month.

Joe McNally, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, said he expects the case will take at least a year to get to trial, after prosecutors “show their cards” and Maduro’s attorneys review that evidence and seek out their own witnesses.

He said he expects a strong case from prosecutors — despite it being “not easy to prove a case that involves high level cartel activity that’s happening thousands of miles away” — that will appropriately play out entirely in public view.

“He’ll have his day in court. It’s not a military tribunal,” McNally said. “His guilt or innocence will be decided by 12 people from the district [in New York where he’s been indicted], and ultimately the burden will be on the prosecutor.”

The case against Maduro

According to the indictment, Maduro and his fellow indicted Venezuelan leaders have since about 1999 “partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” — including the FARC and ELN groups in Colombia, the Sinaloa and Los Zetas cartels in Mexico and the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela.

Among the others indicted in the case is Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka “Niño Guerrero,” a purported leader of Tren de Aragua.

Trump has accused Tren de Aragua of committing violence in the U.S. and used alleged ties between it and Maduro to justify using a wartime statute to deport Venezuelans accused of being in the gang to a notorious Salvadoran prison. However, Maduro’s links to the group have been heavily questioned in the past — including by U.S. intelligence agencies — and the indictment doesn’t spell out any specific links between Maduro and Guerrero Flores.

The indictment alleges Maduro and his co-conspirators “facilitated the empowerment and growth of violent narco-terrorist groups fueling their organizations with cocaine profits,” including by providing “law enforcement cover and logistical support for the transport of cocaine through Venezuela, with knowledge that their drug trafficking partners would move the cocaine north to the United States.”

It specifically alleges that between 2006 and 2008, when he was foreign affairs minister, Maduro sold diplomatic passports to people he knew were drug traffickers, specifically so they could move drug proceeds from Mexico back to Venezuela “under diplomatic cover” and without military or law enforcement scrutinizing their flights.

It also alleges that between 2004 and 2015, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “worked together to traffic cocaine, much of which had been previously seized by Venezuelan law enforcement, with the assistance of armed military escorts.”

It alleges the couple “maintained their own groups of state-sponsored gangs known as colectivos to facilitate and protect their drug trafficking operation,” and “ordered kidnappings, beatings, and murders against those who owed them drug money or otherwise undermined their drug trafficking operation, including ordering the murder of a local drug boss in Caracas.”

The indictment references a half-dozen other criminal cases already brought in the U.S. against others with alleged ties to Maduro and his alleged co-conspirators, several of whom have been convicted.

What’s ahead

Stabile said the legally questionable nature of Maduro’s capture will no doubt be a factor in the criminal proceedings ahead, with his defense team likely to argue that his detention is unlawful. “That’s going to be front and center, and I assume it’s going to be the subject of a motion to dismiss,” he said.

Whether anything will come of that argument, however, is less clear, as courts in the U.S. have in the past allowed criminal proceedings to continue against individuals captured abroad, including former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega. Part of the U.S. argument for why Noriega could be prosecuted was that he was not the legitimate leader of Panama, an argument that is likely to be made in Maduro’s case, too.

Beyond that, Stabile said how the case plays out will depend on what evidence the government has against Maduro.

“Is his case just gonna be based on the testimony of sources and cooperators, which is pretty much what it was in President Hernandez’s case?” Stabile said. “Or are there recordings? Are there videos? Are there bank records? Are there text messages? Are there emails?”

McNally said he will be watching to see whom prosecutors have lined up to testify against Maduro.

“In most of the high-level narcotics trafficking cases, international narcotics trafficking cases that have been brought and go to trial, the common thread is that you end up with cooperators — individuals who were part of the conspiracy, they were the criminal partners of the defendant, and they ultimately decide, hey, it’s in my self-interest to come forward and testify,” McNally said.

“They obviously are cross-examined, and they’ll frequently be accused of … lying for their own self-interest,” he said. “But in my experience, cooperators in these types of cases are especially valuable, and the key is to then corroborate them with other witnesses who tell the same story or documentary evidence.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – recently abducted with his wife by US commandos from his home – has appeared in a federal courtroom in New York City for a hearing on alleged “narco-terrorism” and other charges.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought before US District Judge Alvin K Hellerstein at 12pm (17:00 GMT) on Monday for a brief legal proceeding that kicks off a long legal battle over whether they can face trial in the United States.

Handcuffed and wearing blue jail uniforms, Maduro and his wife were led into the court by officers, and both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.

Maduro pleaded not guilty in the US court, telling the judge: “I was captured. I am innocent and a decent man, the president of my country.”

Across the street from the courthouse, the police separated a small but growing group of protesters from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators, including one man who pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting the US abduction.

The left-wing leader, his wife, son and three others could face life in prison if convicted of allegedly working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the country. Some observers say there is no evidence linking him to cartels.

Maduro’s lawyers said they’ll contest the legality of his arrest, arguing he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of a foreign state, though he is not recognised as Venezuela’s legitimate leader by the US and other nations around the world.

Flores also pleaded not guilty to US charges against her during the arraignment. Hellerstein ordered the Venezuelan leader to next appear in court for a hearing on March 17.

‘Attacks’ against US people

Near the end of the hearing, Maduro’s attorney Barry J Pollack said his client “is head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” that the status ensures.

Pollack said there were “questions about the legality of his military abduction”, and there will be “voluminous” pretrial filings to address those legal challenges.

Earlier, images showed the pair being led handcuffed and under heavy guard from a helicopter en route from a detention facility to the courthouse, two days after they were forcibly removed from Caracas in a brazen US special forces operation.

“The United States arrested a narco-trafficker who is now going to stand trial in the United States,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told an emergency UN Security Council meeting about the US attack on Venezuela on Saturday.

Waltz accused Maduro of being “responsible for attacks against the people of the United States, for destabilising the Western Hemisphere, and illegitimately repressing the people of Venezuela”.

Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, accused the US of carrying out an illegal armed attack against his country.

Venezuela was subjected to bombing, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the loss of civilian and military lives, and the “kidnapping” of Maduro and his wife, Moncada said.

The abduction of a sitting head of state breached a core norm of international law, the personal immunity of leaders in office, he added, warning that such actions set a dangerous precedent for all countries.

Vast oil wealth

All eyes are on Venezuela’s response to the swiftly moving events after US President Donald Trump said late on Sunday that the US is “in charge” of the South American nation, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took the place of her ally Maduro, initially took a defiant stand against the seizure of the president in what some observers labelled a return to “US gunboat diplomacy”. But she has now offered “to collaborate” with Washington.

Venezuela’s opposition appreciates US intervention to remove Maduro from power, but is alarmed by Trump’s comments about US plans to “run” Venezuela, apparently with members of his government, one analyst said.

“Trump doesn’t recognise the decision of the Venezuelan people. We are not a colony of the US. We are an independent country,” Jose Manuel Puente, a professor at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion, a private university in Caracas, told Al Jazeera.

“We want to initiate a transition to democracy, to rebuild the institutions, to rebuild the economy, to rebuild the oil sector. And we don’t see that from Trump until now.”

Rodriguez has served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and its feared intelligence service, and was next in the presidential line of succession.

She’s part of a band of senior officials in Maduro’s administration who now appear to control Venezuela, even as Trump and other US officials say they’ll pressure the government to fall in line with their vision for the oil-rich nation.

On Sunday, some 2,000 Maduro supporters, including rifle-wielding men on motorcycles, rallied in Caracas with crowds shouting and waving Venezuelan flags. The Venezuelan military, loyal to Maduro, announced it recognised Rodriguez and urged calm.

The White House indicated on Sunday that it does not want regime change, only Maduro’s removal and a pliant new government that will enable US companies to exploit the country’s vast oil reserves – even if the government is filled with his former associates.

CARACAS, Venezuela — It was about 2 a.m. Saturday Caracas time when the detonations began, lighting up the sullen sky like a post-New Year’s fireworks display.

“¡Ya comenzó!” was the recurrent phrase in homes, telephone conversations and social media chats as the latest iteration of U.S. “shock and awe” rocked the Venezuelan capital. “It has begun!”

Then the question: “¿Maduro?”

The great uncertainty was the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been under Trump administration threat for months.

The scenes of revelry from a joyous Venezuelan diaspora celebrating from Miami to Madrid were not repeated here. Fear of the unknown kept most at home.

Hours would pass before news reports from outside Venezuela confirmed that U.S. forces had captured Maduro and placed him on a U.S. ship to face criminal charges in federal court in New York.

Venezuelans had watched the unfolding spectacle from their homes, using social media to exchange images of explosions and the sounds of bombardment. This moment, it was clear, was ushering in a new era of uncertainly for Venezuela, a nation reeling from a decade of economic, political and social unrest.

Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas on Saturday.

(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)

The ultimate result was an imponderable. But that this was a transformative moment — for good or bad — seemed indisputable.

By daybreak, an uneasy calm overtook the city of more than 3 million. The explosions and the drone of U.S. aircraft ceased. Blackouts cut electricity to parts of the capital.

Pro-government youths wielding automatic rifles set up roadblocks or sped through the streets on motorcycles, a warning to those who might celebrate Maduro’s downfall.

Shops, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed. There was little traffic.

“When I heard the explosions, I grabbed my rosary and began to pray,” said Carolina Méndez, 50, who was among the few who ventured out Saturday, seeking medicines at a pharmacy, though no personnel had arrived to attend to clients waiting on line. “I’m very scared now. That’s why I came to buy what I need.”

A sense of alarm was ubiquitous.

“People are buying bottled water, milk and eggs,” said Luz Pérez, a guard at one of the few open shops, not far from La Carlota airport, one of the sites targeted by U.S. strikes. “I heard the explosions. It was very scary. But the owner decided to open anyway to help people.”

Customers were being allowed to enter three at a time. Most didn’t want to speak. Their priority was to stock up on basics and get home safely.

Rumors circulated rapidly that U.S. forces had whisked away Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

There was no immediate official confirmation here of the detention of Maduro and Flores, both wanted in the United States for drug-trafficking charges — allegations that Maduro has denounced as U.S. propaganda. But then images of an apparently captive Maduro, blindfolded, in a sweatsuit soon circulated on social media.

There was no official estimate of Venezuelan casualties in the U.S. raid.

Rumors circulated indicating that a number of top Maduro aides had been killed, among them Diosdado Cabello, the security minister who is a staunch Maduro ally. Cabello is often the face of the government.

But Cabello soon appeared on official TV denouncing “the terrorist attack against our people,” adding: “Let no one facilitate the moves of the enemy invader.”

Although Trump, in his Saturday news conference, confidently predicted that the United States would “run” Venezuela, apparently during some undefined transitional period, it’s not clear how that will be accomplished.

A key question is whether the military — long a Maduro ally — will remain loyal now that he is in U.S. custody. There was no public indication Saturday of mass defections from the Venezuelan armed forces. Nor was it clear that Maduro’s government infrastructure had lost control of the country. Official media reported declarations of loyalty from pro-government politicians and citizens from throughout Venezuela.

In his comments, Trump spoke of a limited U.S. troop presence in Venezuela, focused mostly on protecting the oil infrastructure that his administration says was stolen from the United States — a characterization widely rejected here, even among Maduro’s critics. But Trump offered few details on sending in U.S. personnel to facilitate what could be a tumultuous transition.

Meantime, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez surfaced on official television and demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, according to the official Telesur broadcast outlet. Her comments seemed to be the first official acknowledgment that Maduro had been taken.

“There is one president of this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” the vice president said in an address from Miraflores Palace, from where Maduro and his wife had been seized hours earlier.

During an emergency meeting of the National Defense Council, Telesur reported, Rodríguez labeled the couple’s detention an “illegal kidnapping.”

The Trump administration, the vice president charged, meant to “capture our energy, mineral and [other] natural resources.”

Her defiant words came after Trump, in his news conference, said that Rodríguez had been sworn in as the country’s interim president and had evinced a willingness to cooperate with Washington.

“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.

Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday after President Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)

Somewhat surprisingly, Trump also seemed to rule out a role in an interim government for Marina Corina Machado, the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime anti-Maduro activist.

“She’s a very nice woman, but doesn’t have respect within the country,” Trump said of Machado.

Machado is indeed a controversial figure within the fractured Venezuelan opposition. Some object to her open calls for U.S. intervention, preferring a democratic change in government.

Nonetheless, her stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, did win the presidency in national balloting last year, according to opposition activists and others, who say Maduro stole the election.

“Venezuelans, the moment of liberty has arrived!” Machado wrote in a letter released on X. “We have fought for years. … What was meant to happen is happening.”

Not everyone agreed.

“They want our oil and they say it’s theirs,” said Roberto, 65, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name for security reasons. “Venezuelans don’t agree. Yes, I think people will go out and defend their homeland.”

Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and staff writer McDonnell from Boston. Contributing was special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City.

PARIS — Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney were granted French citizenship because “they contribute, through their distinguished actions, to France’s international influence and cultural outreach,” the French government said Wednesday, defending their naturalization that was questioned by a junior French minister.

The naturalizations of the Kentucky-born star of the “Ocean’s” series of heist movies, his wife and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and their twins Ella and Alexander were announced last weekend in the Journal Officiel, where French government decrees are published.

Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a junior minister at the Interior Ministry, expressed misgivings Wednesday that some of the Clooneys’ new French compatriots may think that the star couple was granted special treatment. The actor speaks only what he himself says is “horrible, horrible” French.

“The message being sent is not good,” Vedrenne said in an interview with broadcaster France Info. “There is an issue of fairness that, in my eyes, is absolutely essential.”

The couple purchased an estate in France in 2021 and Clooney has said that it’s their primary residence. Non-French residents of France have multiple possible routes to becoming naturalized. It wasn’t clear whether the 64-year-old actor retained his American citizenship. His 47-year-old wife was born in Lebanon and raised in the U.K and naturalized by France under her maiden name, Amal Alamuddin. The 8-year-old twins were born in London.

The Foreign Ministry said the Clooneys were eligible for citizenship under a French law that allows for the naturalization of foreign nationals who contribute to France’s international influence and economic well-being.

It argued that France’s cinema industry will benefit from the actor’s clout as a global movie star and said that as a lawyer, Amal Clooney regularly works with academic institutions and international organizations in France.

“They maintain strong personal, professional and family ties with our country,” the ministry said.

“Like many French citizens, we are delighted to welcome Georges and Amal Clooney into the national community,” it concluded, giving the actor’s first name a French twist by adding the “s” at the end.

The decision was also defended by Vedrenne’s superior at the Interior Ministry, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who said he signed the naturalization decree.

“It’s a big chance for our country,” he said.

In recent media interviews when he was promoting “Jay Kelly,” Clooney said that he is trying to teach himself French using a language-learning app. He said that his wife and children speak the language perfectly.

“They speak French in front of me so that they can say terrible things about me to my face and I don’t know,” he joked, speaking to French broadcaster Canal+.

French media have reported that the Clooneys live part-time in their luxury 18th-century villa outside the town of Brignoles in southern France, where they can keep a lower profile and their children are protected from unauthorized photographs by French privacy laws.

In an interview with Esquire in October, Clooney said: “I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood.”

“I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids,” he said. Growing up away from the spotlight in France, “they have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.”

Pete Holmes understands the art of conversation — especially the way to get people to open up about their secret weird tendencies.

It’s what helped Holmes, known for his youth pastor aesthetic and wholesome jokes, build his more than 20-year-long comedy career (his next show is Jan. 21 at Largo at the Coronet) and create his semi-autographical HBO series “Crashing.”

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

In 2011, Holmes launched “You Made It Weird,” an interview-style podcast that delves into topics like the meaning of life, mental health, art and everything everything in between. More than 1,000 episodes later, he is celebrating the 14th anniversary of the show and has recently signed with podcast network Lemonada Media (which is also home to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ “Wiser Than Me,” “The Sarah Silverman Podcast” and “Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know”).

“I’ve never for a second considered stopping, which is a good sign that you’re doing something you’re supposed to do,” says Holmes, whose guests have included John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Anna Kendrick, Kenan Thompson and Henry Winkler. Once a week, Holmes co-hosts the show with his wife of eight years, Valerie Chaney.

His nervous system also assures him that he’s found the right project. While Holmes says he feels “tense” before his stand-up sets, there’s a sense of comfort in sitting face to face with someone and simply having a conversation. “When I’m doing my podcast, especially in person, there’s very, very little tension,” he says. “It’s the thing in show business, I’ve found, that winds me up in a bad way the least.”

Here’s how Holmes would spend an ideal Sunday in L.A. with Chaney and their 7-year-old daughter, Lila.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

8 a.m.: Visit a coffee shop with a sense of humor

My daughter and I are both morning people, which really works out because her mom is not a morning person. So we get up early and we’ll color, make breakfast, that sort of stuff. But if we were all getting up together — which is what my wife would want to do even though she doesn’t like it — we would go to Bru in Los Feliz. I love recommending Bru to people because it’s in an “I Think You Should Leave” sketch. Tim Robinson is leaving a job interview and he’s pulling the door, but it’s one that you have to push, and he doesn’t want to look stupid so he keeps pulling it. They actually have a little plaque up that says something cool about it without being too obvious. I like drinking espresso by itself, Val likes oat milk lattes and Lila would get a steamed milk because she wants to feel like a grown-up. It’s very cute.

10 a.m.: Read at least seven children’s books at Skylight

Afterward, we’d go to Skylight Books, which is nearby. I can tell you from experience, they’re incredibly generous with allowing you to read your kids seven books without any trouble. On principle, I’ll buy at least one of the books on our way out, because that’s exactly what people are talking about when they’re like, “Shop local.”

11 a.m.: Drink a terrible dark green juice

Then we’ll walk to the Punchbowl and I’m gonna get a terrible dark green juice that nobody wants and would make a goat go blind. I love it because I’m 46 and now I eat almost exclusively for how it’s going to make me feel. So it’s very uncool but that’s what I’m doing. My wife and daughter are going to get a smoothie called the honeybee, which is very sweet and delicious.

Noon: A pancake for the table at Kitchen Mouse

We would go to Kitchen Mouse in Highland Park. It’s really hip. The last time I was there, I ran into Phoebe Bridgers. Literally rock stars are at Kitchen Mouse and there’s a little kids area where my daughter can play with like a fake hamburger and a child she just met. I get the same thing every time: the breakfast sandwich and a snickerdoodle pancake for the table. If you and I went to breakfast together, I would never ask, “Do you want a pancake for the table?” because I don’t need you to be my accomplice. I know you want a pancake for the table because guess who wants pancakes? Everyone. This is going to reverse the juice that I had earlier, but it’s going to be worth it.

2 p.m. Enjoy an Angry Samoa donut at the park

We have friends who live in Highland Park, so we’d visit them and we’d all take a walk to Donut Friend, and eat the donuts at the little park nearby. The park has giant bugs and a tube slide. When you’re 46 and have kids, sitting down is your heroin. Not to keep mentioning veganism, but Donut Friend has really good vegan donuts. You gotta get the Angry Samoa, which is a Girl Scout cookie.

I once went to Donut Friend while I was tripping on LSD and it was the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me. I think it might’ve been my birthday and I was coming down. I’m not a crazy person. I just couldn’t believe that there was another person standing there with all of the donuts in the world. It felt so overwhelmingly loving that they were like “Which donut can I give you?” I was just floored by the generosity. I was probably making an a— of my myself like laughing in that sort of hippie way. Not like a drunk way but like a benevolent alien who couldn’t believe that this planet had donuts. They gave me one and I wish I could’ve seen myself eating it. My wife was there. She doesn’t do psychedelics, so she was just watching me, sort of babysitting me, to be honest. While I’m eating the donut, she was just laughing so hard at just how happy I was. I wouldn’t do that on a normal Sunday. That’s a rare thing for me, but that’s a true Donut Friend story.

4 p.m.: Feel fancy at the Huntington

The greatest hack of parenting is the Huntington. Speaking of Phoebe Bridgers, she mentions in her track “Garden Song,” jumping over the fence [at the Huntington], which I always think is a cute detail. I think they filmed “Beverly Hills Ninja” at the Japanese Gardens there. One of my favorite L.A. things to do is the white glove tea service. It’s not that expensive and you just feel fancy. We’ll also stop at the Chinese [garden] and get noodles there because every step of the way there’s just constant eating.

7 p.m.: Vegan food done right

If it were just Valerie and I, I would want to go to Crossroads [Kitchen]. I love it to death. When the pandemic happened, they would text us and ask if we were OK and if we needed food. We were like “What do you got?” and the manager brought it over. If anyone’s wondering if that’s like a famous thing, I really don’t think so. I really just think they’re really about serving the community because I’m not famous like that [laughs]. We’ve been there enough, we’ve had enough conversations and it’s a real staple for us.

It’s a vegan restaurant and I’ve had meat-eating friends say that their carbonara is their favorite. It’s not like one of those vegan places that’s trying to trick you or deep-fry their way around things. They’re just actually making you eat really delicious things that just happen to be like artichokes. I’ve had so many birthdays there and you can tell this is where people who are looking for the best food in L.A. are going.

9 p.m.: Catch whatever is playing at Largo

My favorite thing that I get to do once a month is Largo at the Coronet. I literally once had a dream about a magical venue that feels safe and the crowd is always good and you just felt warm. Like if twinkle lights became a venue. That’s Largo. It’s the only place where if somebody’s visiting L.A., I would say just go to Largo. It doesn’t matter who’s performing. One night it might be me, the next night it might be Chris Fleming, and then it might be Sarah Silverman. Then it might be improvised Shakespeare, and then it might be a live podcast. It doesn’t matter. If Flanny [Mark Flanagan] booked it, it’s exceptional. He’s from Belfast and he’s sort of mythic.

11 p.m.: Eat at Norms

Norms is literally one block away from Largo, and if Val and I were really having a kid-free night, she, Flanny, and I would go there to eat our celebration. Judd Apatow does the show a lot and he loves food, so he’d be there too. You get a milkshake or you get some fries, but it’s open for 24 hours. I think L.A. gets a bad rep for not having diners. Granted in New York, they’re everywhere.

Midnight: Enjoy “blue couch time”

It doesn’t matter what time it is when we get home, we have to watch at least one episode of something. “30 Rock” or right now we’re watching “Black Rabbit,” but that’s not a good wind down show. Our couch is blue so we call it “blue couch time” and it’s a ritual we just don’t miss. It doesn’t even matter what we’re watching. We just want to be on that couch, even if it’s just for 12 minutes. I can’t go from the car to the bed. I want to go from the car to something else, then to bed. That’s why houses have entryways or a mud room. There’s supposed to be a threshold that you cross over, take off your coat and your shoes. You’re entering a new space. For us, it’s the blue couch.

DAVID Beckham shared a sweet family tribute to mark the end of 2025 – but son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz were noticeably missing.

The former footballer, 50, shared a series of highlights from this year -including pictures of his wife Victoria’s Paris Fashion Week show and him receiving his knighthood.

David also posted snaps of his children Romeo, 22, Cruz, 20 and Harper, 13, on holiday and enjoying quality time together.

Alongside individual pictures with each of his kids, David also shared a family photos alongside wife Victoria from his 50th birthday.

But aspiring chef Brooklyn — who last week blocked his parents on social media — was not pictured in the post.

David wrote: “I feel very lucky to have had the year I’ve had in 2025 full of moments that I will never forget from my 50th to my knighthood (still pinching myself ) and then finishing with winning the MLS as an owner.“

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Nicola and Brooklyn Beckham put on a united front amid family feud

FESTIVE HIT

Brooklyn takes new swipe at Beckhams as he shares Xmas snaps with in-laws

Despite not mentioning Brooklyn by name, David sweetly praised his “kids” and shared his love for them.

He added: “I‘m so grateful to my incredible wife, my amazing children, my friends and team I work with every single day nothing would have been possible without you all… But as Sir Alex Ferguson would say ‘Onto the the next‘.

“Thank you for the incredible memories I will forever remember 2025. Victoria I love you & our kids.”

Just yesterday Brooklyn and Nicola put on a united front amid their feud with his family.

In a photo, the pair are seen relaxing on a sofa in matching clothes.

Writing next to the picture, Nicola said: “We didn’t plan our outfits.”

Replying to her post, her husband wrote: “You’re my sweetie pie!”

WEDDING SNUB

The latest post comes just days after Brooklyn skipped childhood pal Holly Ramsay’s wedding.

The Ramsays and Beckhams are longtime friends and Brooklyn was once close pals with Holly as they grew up in LA together.

All of his family were in attendance to see Holly marry Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty on Saturday at Bath Abbey.

Victoria even designed the mother-of-the-bride’s dress.

Adam hailed the 200 guests’ support during his own “difficult time” after banning his mum Caroline from the wedding. 

FAMILY FEUD

The Beckham family feud has been rumbling on for most of the year, ever since Brooklyn and Nicola snubbed his dad’s 50th birthday.

The couple have also shared subtle digs at his family in recent days after his brother Cruz revealed the Beckhams woke up to being blocked by the couple.

In a TikTok post after Cruz spoke out, Brooklyn played Lady Gaga’s song Telephone and wrote the lyrics: “Sorry I cannot hear you I’m kinda busy.”

Nicola also penned: “I love being home” in a selfie posted to social media, after the couple both shared photos from their Christmas with her parents.

CHRISTMAS WITHOUT BROOKLYN

It comes after Victoria and David revealed a glimpse of their Christmas without Brooklyn.

In a touching video shared on social media, Victoria and David – who have been together for 28 years – sang to each other as they slowed danced on Christmas Day.

And in what appeared to be a pointed message to their estranged son, Brooklyn the couple delivered the lyric: “And we’ve got nothing to be sorry for…”

They were dancing to Guilty sung by Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb.

Sharing the video, Victoria penned: “David and Victoria giving their very best Barry and Barbra on Christmas Day xxx kisses from us both xx @davidbeckham.”

George Clooney, wife Amal Clooney and their 8-year-old twins are officially citizens of France, as of the day after Christmas.

The news was reported by multiple French outlets as well as the Guardian, all citing an announcement published in a French government journal.

The Clooneys bought property in France — a farm, he recently told Esquire — in August 2021, when their twins were 4. He said it was a “much better life” there for Ella and Alexander.

“Yeah, we’re very lucky. … A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it’s like — they’re not on their iPads, you know?” he said in the interview, published in the magazine’s October/November issue.

“I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France — they kind of don’t give a s— about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”

George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin in September 2014 in Venice, Italy.

Domaine Le Canadel in France is, according to Hello, “an enchanting and sprawling 425-acre Provence wine estate” that cost the Clooneys a reported $8.3 million. It has a pool, tennis court, gardens, a lake, an olive grove and a 25-acre vineyard, the outlet said. But, you know, it’s just a farm.

Other celebrity couples have put down roots in the area, of course, with less than charmed results over time. Then again, those folks weren’t French citizens, for the most part.

Clooney’s remarks about the French attitude toward fame echoed previous comments made by Johnny Depp, who years ago found refuge in France for himself and his children, Jack and Lily-Rose, until he split in 2012 from longtime partner Vanessa Paradis, a French singer, model and actor.

The country “afforded [Depp] the possibility of living a normal life. Really a simple life,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor told SFGate in 2001.

In 2010, Depp told People, “With Vanessa and the kids, we live in a sort of little village in the south and I have the impression of being in paradise … and you know what I do there? Absolutely nothing.”

Depp, who started dating his “The Rum Diary” co-star Amber Heard the year he broke up with Paradis, listed his Provence property for sale for almost $26 million in June 2015, then reportedly put it on the market again in the years that followed for more than twice the price. However, despite containing an entire village in its 37 acres, the property appears not to have sold.

Heard and Depp married in 2015 but divorced two years later amid allegations of abuse. Of course, dueling defamation lawsuits followed. It got ugly.

Meanwhile, Clooney’s buddy Brad Pitt and Pitt’s ex, Angelina Jolie, have been battling in court for years over the 2021 sale of her half of their Provence wine estate, Chateau Miraval, which actually produces wine. The former couple signed a long-term lease on the property in 2008 and later bought a controlling interest in the company that owned it.

Pitt and Jolie married at Chateau Miraval in 2014 after meeting in 2004 on the set of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” when he was still married to Jennifer Aniston. (They went official as a couple the following July after Aniston filed for divorce in March 2005.) Jolie and Pitt had kids and adopted kids together over the decade leading up to the wedding, but Jolie filed for divorce after only two years as husband and wife following a fight on a private plane. That also got ugly.

The story of the Pitt-Jolie court battle over the chateau and its winery is long and complicated, but it began with Pitt alleging that he and his ex had an agreement that if either wanted to sell their half of the place, the other would have to consent. Jolie, who sold her shares to Stoli’s wine division, Tenute del Mondo, said they had no such agreement in place.

Although the winery lawsuit remains active, Pitt and Jolie finally reached a divorce settlement in December 2024.

Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a conservative who rebuked political tribalism and stood out as a longtime critic of President Trump, announced Tuesday he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Sasse, 53, made the announcement on social media, saying he learned of the disease last week and is “now marching to the beat of a faster drummer.”

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”

Sasse was first elected to the Senate in 2014. He comfortably won reelection in 2020 after fending off a pro-Trump primary challenger. Sasse drew the ire of GOP activists for his vocal criticism of Trump’s character and policies, including questioning his moral values and saying he cozied up to adversarial foreign leaders.

Sasse was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict the former president of “ incitement of insurrection ” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. After threats of a public censure back home, he extended his critique to party loyalists who blindly worship one man and rejected him for his refusal to bend the knee.

He resigned from the Senate in 2023 to serve as the 13th president of the University of Florida after a contentious approval process. He left that post the following year after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Sasse, who has degrees from Harvard, St. John’s College and Yale, worked as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. He served as president of Midland University, a small Christian university in eastern Nebraska, before he ran for the Senate.

Sasse and his wife have three children.

“I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more,” Sasse wrote. “Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived.”

BROOKLYN Beckham’s wife Nicola Peltz has taken to social media to celebrate her family in a new post – just days after her husband’s decision to block his entire family online.

Brooklyn, 26, allegedly made the decision after Victoria Beckham “liked” one of his Instagram posts about cooking a roast chicken, which caused a frenzy in the comments section.

But it appears Nicola has now broken her silence on the matter, sharing a post of her own about family.

The actress, 30, posted a snap of herself and her father beaming, celebrating Hanukah.

Her billionaire dad, Nelson Peltz, is standing behind the candles placed in their menorah.

Captioning the post: “Happy Hanukah from our family to yours,” Nicola appeared to gloss over ongoing tension with her parents-in-law, who she has also blocked online.

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Nicola has reportedly blocked the rest of the Beckham clan as well, including Brooklyn’s 14-year-old sister, Harper.

Sources confirmed to The Sun that Nicola stands by Brooklyn’s decision wholeheartedly and as such followed his lead in blocking all of the family too.

One insider said to The Sun: “Brooklyn and Nicola have been and will always be a united front.”

Another source close to the couple says: “She will always back him so that’s why she’s done the same and blocked his family.”

After Victoria “liked” her son’s most recent cooking post, it led to a sea of comments from fans who noticed the potential olive branch, urging Brooklyn to make amends with his family.

It’s understood that this annoyed Brooklyn and created pressure, so he responded by cutting contact with all of the Beckham’s online.

Friends of the influencer have deemed Brooklyn’s family’s behaviour as “unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, a source told the Daily Mail: “David and Victoria will never stop loving Brooklyn.

“They will always be here for him and they always want him to know that, they are devastated at this fall out.

“So far from this being them, it appears that Brooklyn has blocked them to show them that’s it, this is final.

“It is very clear that this is a sign of his complete estrangement from his family.

“For David and Victoria it was their last connection to Brooklyn as he has made it very clear he doesn’t want to talk to them anymore, they haven’t spoken for months and months now.

“By following him it was a message to him that they still love him and still want to follow his life. Now they can’t do that, but it’s not their doing.”

Brooklyn’s younger brother Cruz, 20, refuted reports that his parents had unfollowed Brooklyn in an Instagram story post on Saturday, claiming David and Victoria had been ‘blocked’ by Brooklyn instead.

The feud between Brooklyn and Nicola and the Beckham’s first began in 2022 when there were reports that Nicola had refused to wear a wedding gown designed by Victoria.

Rumblings escalated as rumours began to swirl that Brooklyn had dated Romeo Beckham’s ex Kim Turnbull, despite denying ever getting together.

Increasingly distancing himself from his family, Brooklyn has attended less family gatherings including David’s 50th birthday, mum Victoria’s Netflix docuseries premiere and his dad’s knighthood ceremony.

Death in Paradise star Don Warrington has been happily married to actress Mary Maddocks for many years with the couple sharing two children together

Death in Paradise is set to grace our television screens once more with a Christmas Special in just a few days, promising “even more heart” according to the BBC.

The beloved Death in Paradise Christmas cast makes their way back to Saint Marie for another year of holiday celebrations, though what begins as the ultimate office party quickly descends into darkness.

Broadcasting on December 28 at 8.30pm on BBC One, the BBC reveals: “The office Christmas party of a lifetime takes a dark turn when four co-workers wake up with the hangover from hell to find a stranger shot dead in the pool of their villa.

“DI Mervin Wilson and the team identify the murder weapon, but they’re left baffled after discovering that it was locked in a drawer when the shooting took place… thousands of miles away from the crime scene.”

Running for approximately 90 minutes, the festive episode promises the return of beloved characters, reports the Express.

Earlier this year, the 14th series concluded, leaving fans anxious about Don Warrington’s character Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

After 14 years on the programme, the actor became a viewer favourite, making his departure in March all the more heartbreaking for audiences.

During the final series of Death in Paradise, Selwyn decided to leave Saint Marie following the loss of his Commissioner role, turning down the opportunity to reclaim his position when it was offered back to him.

Nevertheless, fans must wait patiently to see whether the Commissioner will make his comeback… particularly given his recent appearance in the Christmas special of Beyond Paradise. But who exactly is Don Warrington and what’s his marital status?

Don Warrington is happily married and has been for quite some time. The Death in Paradise actor is currently married to Mary Maddocks, with the couple enjoying many years of marital bliss.

Don prefers to keep his personal life private and away from the public eye, with their exact wedding date remaining a mystery, but it’s clear that his family life continues to thrive away from the limelight.

His wife Mary has herself graced several iconic productions including ITV’s Coronation Street as well as Doctor Who and Midsomer Murders.

She has also directed numerous theatrical productions ranging from musicals to dramas, and even took centre stage in the hit musical The Rocky Horror Show.

Don and Mary are parents to two children, Jacob and Archie, both carving out their own paths in the entertainment industry.

As a playwright and comedian, Archie has contributed to the creation of the 2023 thriller Gassed Up as well as the TV series Intergalactic, receiving full backing from his parents.

It was previously reported that Archie paid tribute to his parents, stating: “Both my parents are actors. My mum, Mary Maddocks, is an actress: she was in The Rocky Horror Show when it was in the West End and my dad is Don Warrington.

“The main thing I get from both of them is they understand the art of performance and the need to perform.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

Death in Paradise Christmas special will air December 28 on BBC One.

Khan and his wife have denied accusations that they misrepresented the value of state gifts, including jewellery, and profited from them.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 17 years in prison after a Pakistani court found them guilty of illegally retaining and selling valuable state gifts.

The sentence, handed down on Saturday, capped a years-long saga that saw the duo accused of selling various gifts – including jewellery from the Saudi Arabian government – at far below market value. They have denied all charges.

In order to keep gifts from foreign dignitaries, Pakistani law requires officials to purchase them at market value and to declare profits from any sales.

But prosecutors claimed that the couple profited from the items after purchasing them at an artificially low price of $10,000, compared with their market rate of $285,521.

Khan’s supporters were quick to denounce the ruling, with his spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari saying that “criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, gain, or loss, relying instead on a retrospective reinterpretation of rules”.

His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, wrote on social media that the proceedings were a “sham” and criticised international media coverage of the case.

The 73-year-old former leader served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until April 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

He was imprisoned starting in August 2023 on various charges of corruption and revealing state secrets, all of which he has denied and claimed to be politically motivated. He has been acquitted of some charges.

An internationally famous cricket player in the heyday of his sporting career, Khan remains popular in Pakistan, with his imprisonment leading to protests throughout the last two years.

The former leader is now confined to a prison in the city of Rawalpindi and “kept inside all the time”, his sister, Uzma Khanum, told journalists earlier this month.

Khanum, a doctor who was the first family member allowed to visit Khan in weeks, described him as “very angry” about the isolation, saying that he considered the “mental torture” of imprisonment to be “worse than physical abuse”.

THE slashing deaths of Hollywood star Rob Reiner and his wife have sparked a raft of questions, many of which stem from their alleged killer son, Nick.

Here is a look at five mysteries that leave glaring holes in the murder investigation, from hazy information about Nick’s mental health to debates on his unconfirmed motivation.

Nick, 32, is accused of murdering his parents, filmmaker Rob, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, after a chaotic weekend that spiraled from a celebrity bash to a late-night arrest near the University of Southern California.

The couple was found dead at their Brentwood home on Sunday with their throats slashed.

Nick was arrested later that night and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted.

However, his fate is still hanging in the balance, as his arrest is complicated by missing hours, unclear motives, and unanswered questions about what he did while his parents lay dead.

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Here is what has been revealed about the case and what remains to be revealed.

WHAT HAPPENED AT CONAN O’BRIEN’S PARTY?

On Saturday night, Rob, Michele, and Nick were all said to have attended a star-studded holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.

And according to several insiders, the night reportedly went sideways for the trio.

Guests present at the party claimed that Nick behaved erratically the entire night

According to the Wall Street Journal, there was one awkward moment where Nick interrupted Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader during a private conversation and was told to butt out.

Nick was said to have asked Hader odd questions like ” What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous?”

One witness told the Daily Mail, “Nick just stood there and stared before storming off.”

Tensions escalated when multiple attendees saw Rob, Michele, and Nick locked in a heated argument.

At one point, a guest suggested calling the police, Daily Mail reported.

“They got into an argument, the father and son. It got so bad and loud someone wanted to call the police to report it,” an insider told the outlet.

Timeline of Rob and Michele Reiner’s death

Rob Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.

Timeline:

• December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
• Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
• December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
• The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents’ bodies.
• Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
• December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
• Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and was being held on $4 million bail, which was later revoked.
• December 16, 2025: Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman formally charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder.
• Hochman said his office would consider the death penalty in Nick’s case.
• Nick’s scheduled court appearance on December 16 was postponed due to what his attorney said was a procedural issue.

But O’Brien reportedly intervened before anyone rang 911, the insider claimed.

“But Conan stepped in and said, ‘it’s my house, my party, I’m not calling the police.’ He talked them out of calling the police.”

“When the s**t was hitting the fan, somebody said we need to call the police. The conversation was about getting this kid put into a mental-health hold,” the source told the Mail.

Nick eventually stormed off the party.

Outlets have also reported that Rob confided to friends that he is scared of Nick.

“I’m petrified of him,” Rob told his friends.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m afraid of my own son. I think my own son can hurt me.”

WAS NICK HIGH ON DRUGS?

No official details have been released saying Nick was on drugs or drunk at the time of the alleged killings.

But questions are swirling because he has a documented history of substance abuse, and the hours after the party, and after he is believed to have fled the family home, are still largely unaccounted for.

Nick had a substance abuse problem for years, his parents also tried to help him recover from it.

WAS NICK ON MEDS FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA?

According to a TMZ report, Nick was receiving care from a Los Angeles-based rehab facility that focuses on mental illness and substance abuse, and costs $70,000 a month.

Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and a report claims his behavior became increasingly “alarming” as doctors worked to fine-tune his treatment.

Things got worse three to four weeks before the murders after doctors changed his medication, leaving him even more unstable.

“Nick was out of his head,” a source told TMZ, with the report also alleging his substance abuse made his condition worse.

COULD HE GET OFF ON MENTAL HEALTH GROUNDS?

Nick’s defense could try to lean on mental health in court, but that doesn’t mean he will walk free.

One avenue his attorney, Alan Jackson, could explore is having him declare mentally unfit for trial, which would pause the proceedings while he is evaluated and treated.

That’s different from an insanity defense, which argues he wasn’t legally responsible at the time of the alleged killings.

Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Daniel Rubin told Fox News the defense strategy will depend on “the weight and admissibility” of evidence, witness testimony, the events before the deaths, “the defendant’s mental health issues,” and any mitigating factors.

Rubin said if Reiner is found mentally incompetent, a judge can order a formal competency assessment by specialists.

“If he is found ‘incompetent,’ he will need to be medicated or treated to the point where he will be able to assist in his own defense and understand the proceedings,” Rubin added.

This process could take several weeks to several months.

If a judge finds him unfit, the case typically goes on ice while doctors work to restore competency, and it can restart if he stabilizes.

Even if he’s never restored, that doesn’t mean he goes home; he could still be held in a secure hospital setting rather than a prison.

And if he’s found fit and later convicted, prison is still very much on the table.

WILL HE GET HIS PARENTS’ FORTUNE?

If Nick already has cash or there is a trust that allows discretionary payouts, it’s possible funds could be used toward his legal bills while the criminal case is pending – because he’s presumed innocent and the inheritance question isn’t “final” yet. 

Some reports say that, until there’s a conviction or a civil finding, he isn’t automatically treated as disqualified in every setting. 

But any move to use estate or trust cash could trigger an immediate probate war, with other relatives or beneficiaries pushing to freeze payouts while the murder case is pending.

If Nick is convicted, California’s so-called “slayer statute” would likely kick in, a law that blocks someone from inheriting from a person they feloniously and intentionally killed.

In that scenario, he’d be treated as if he died before his parents for inheritance purposes, meaning he wouldn’t collect from their estate.

If he’s barred, the money would typically flow to other heirs or whoever is next in line under the will or trust.

Rob and Michele’s combined estate has been estimated at around $200 million, making the financial stakes enormous as the case heads toward court.

Therapy often gets mined for comedy but we don’t often see comedy treated as sincere therapy. “Is This Thing On?” from director and co-writer Bradley Cooper, makes the case that glum dad Alex (Will Arnett), new to Splitsville after he and his wife of 20 years, Tess (Laura Dern), mutually agree to separate, may have figured out an ideal coping mechanism by signing up for open mic night.

Not that we see this by-day finance guy reject professional help in favor of some untapped passion. (Vamping for five minutes in front of strangers negates the cover charge.) But in bringing his marital woes to the stage and getting some chuckles, Alex believes he’s hit upon something: a talking cure that comes with a fresh identity, new friends, an acceptable level of risk and a way out of unhappiness.

It’s such a frisky, alluring idea for a character study — meeting failure with the potential for more failure (and night after night to boot) — that when the movie proves to actually be about whether the marriage can be saved, instead of the granular, temperamental world of stand-up newbies, it almost feels like a bait and switch. Fortunately, the divorce saga is interesting too, featuring Dern at her best, and is plenty intelligent about the nuances of couples who have built something solid (stable lives, nice 10-year-old twin boys, etc.) at the same time they’ve grown apart. “Is This Thing On?” is that rarity: a perfectly worthy dramedy that sometimes feels off because it’s trying to cram two good movies into one.

The confidence comes from Cooper, who, after only two films in the director’s chair (“A Star Is Born,” “Maestro”), has shown himself to be not only a powerful chronicler of artistic lives but especially couples in the showbiz sphere. This time, he tantalizes us with the milieu of nightclub self-expression and a group of regular amateurs Alex gets comfortable hanging with. But over two hours Cooper makes it clear he’s simply followed his protagonist into a safe space of encouragement (featuring Amy Sedaris as a helpful veteran comic), not necessarily a complex world of personality types to be navigated. It’s codified by Cooper’s visual approach, a handheld intimacy reminiscent of European movies, in which Matthew Libatique’s camera rarely strays from tight shots of Arnett’s face, looking for change — circling it, centering it, trailing it when Alex is on the move.

Though Alex is earnest if a tad hacky with his relationship jokes, Arnett (credited as a co-screenwriter with Mark Chappell, from a story they created with John Bishop) captures a fizzy, awkward energy of midlife discovery. Invariably, the movie is unconcerned with whether Alex might be any good as a stand-up because soon it’s about how this new pep in his step registers with Tess, who’s struggling with her own sense of personal fulfillment as a former volleyball legend turned mom and how it affects their on-the-brink married friends, Christine (Andra Day) and Balls (Cooper, hilarious as a spacy actor). Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds, as Alex’s parents, humorously weigh in too on what long-term togetherness entails.

After a narrative coincidence that’s entertainingly handled, “Is This Thing On?” aims to be a more serious-minded, less rom-com-ish “It’s Complicated,” with Tess and Alex seeing if there’s a new way for them to acknowledge where they went astray. The actors sell it, especially when Dern is unafraid to mix revitalized pleasure with pushing for answers. But the stand-up storyline, so promising, is dropped and it feels like a missed opportunity. Still, the highs and lows of marriage aren’t merely a punch line in “Is This Thing On?” — and that’s good.