The special administrators of Michael Jackson’s estate recently scored a big one by reeling in $3 million from the company that issued a life insurance policy to the late singer. John Branca and John McClain quietly cashed in the policy. It was previously reported that the policy was upwards of $20 million but that’s just not true as they only got a $3 million payout. It’s still quite a swift move though as the coroner hasn’t even released the autopsy report yet. Most life insurance companies would wait before paying out proceeds until the official cause of death is known.

Russell Brand is reportedly planning to give away all his money as it doesn’t make him “happy”.

The 33-year-old comic has made his millions through his legendary stand-up shows, books, DVDs and through appearances in films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the new movie Get Him To The Greek.

He said: “I’ve begun to realise that money and fame are meaningless. I used to be poor. The money does not make me happy.”

It is claimed he said he has thought about giving away all of his hard-earned cash.

The star will be seen hosting the MTV Video Music Awards 2009 later this year.

Source: Splash News

This is one tag that would help Jennifer Aniston overcome any remorse if at all from the split with John Mayer. Jennifer Aniston has earned more money in 2008 as compared to her former husband Brad Pitt’s current partner Angelina Jolie.

Jennifer Aniston is said to have earned a whopping $27 million mainly from endorsement but also because of hits such as Marley & Me. While during the same period the Tomb Raider actress is believed to have made $14 million. Thus Jennifer Aniston has earned $13 million more than Angelina Jolie. But even if the riches of these two actresses are combined then too it cannot match the figure of R&B singer Beyonce who made a staggering $80 million last year.

Jennifer Aniston would not be looking at the earning of Beyonce at all she has enough to boast of by beating rival Angelina. But of course money is not something that will be the ultimate barometer to satisfy Jennifer Aniston because she will always remain bitter about losing Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie.
I think somewhere someplace we all need to get over that break up.

Success pays! I mean it really PAAAAAAAAAAAYS!

According to reports, House star Hugh Laurie will be making $400,000 per episode as dictated by his newly signed contract with the hit TV show.

That amount will make him one of the highest paid actors on TV.

That’s a whole boatload of money! And he’s not even the top earner!

His network mate, Keifer Sutherland, gets about $500K per episode for playing Jack Bauer on 24.

Hugh Laurie started earning a small five figure rate per show when he started in 2004.

Congrats Hugh!

Has Nicole Kidman become a burden on the film makers?

In a recently issued list of least bankable or most overpaid celebrities, Australian actress Nicole Kidman has managed to secure the top position. She was a runner-up last year.

Somehow, the title remains with Australia as the last year’s gold medalist was Russell Crowe.

It is estimated that her films are only earning $1(57 pence) for every dollar she was paid. It is a pathetic ratio as compared to her last years earning of $8 a year ago.

Nicole Kidman was paid $17 million for the remake of 1956 classic movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, which was named “The Invasion”. The movie lost $2.68 for every dollar the Aussie actress was paid.

She is likely to get support from her homeland for her much-anticipated new movie “Australia.”

Are the Australian fans willing to save their drowning ship? Will they make “Australia” a success?

Wait and see for the answers of these questions.

She may get a bit of sympathy from other parts of the world for her past beauty.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take this Goodwill Ambassador stuff pretty seriously. And you have to admire them for giving away money…

Through their Jolie-Pitt Foundation, they are giving $1 million to the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict. The money goes to American and Iraqi children who suffer from the war.

Angelina says, “These educational support programs for children of conflict are the best way to help them heal.” Brad says, “We hope to encourage others to give to these great organizations.”

Courtney Love claims her lawyer and accountant have taken her money fraudulently.

The former Hole singer – widow of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain – also asked fans for help finding a new legal representative in a message posted on social networking site MySpace.com.

The star’s misspelled blog entry reads: “Due to a lawyer without power of attorney illegally signing $2.2 million in cheques when I was in the UK, everything he signed was 85 per cent fraud. Then, out of spite, his friend overpaid my taxes by about 400 per cent.”

Courtney says she believed her lawyer was acting illegally, adding: “So next time the NYC Attorney General calls, I’m happy to speak to him myself. As I understand it he was dismissed by my former lawyer. I don’t get that guy’s motivation, forcing me to sign tax returns I knew were illegal or pay down ‘diversions’ that are exactly the same amount as a business manager’s phoney corporation. Why? Why take an already complicated situation and f**k it up even worse? To break me? Because I’m worth nothing more than Kurt’s publishing? Which they’ll get over my dead body. No lawyer on this earth will agree that your criminal lawyer is by law allowed to write your contracts which include him wetting his beak at 175k for every deal you make! Toxic man. My police report for $2.4 million is filed and public now.”

The entry closed with a plea to fans for help, as Courtney asked: “Is anyone’s daddy a fraud lawyer? Forensic? A great Washington lawyer simple and plain and a winner?” following a tirade of allegations of fraud against her lawyer and accountant.

She added: “I am the champ, by the way, my FBI guy said in 28 years in law enforcement he’s never seen personal embezzlement or even embezzlement at this level, ever.”

Courtney claimed in March she was a victim of identity fraud, but police were said to be skeptical about her allegations.

Movie wizard Daniel Radcliffe has hit the jack-Potter – earning $26million in only a year. And the 18-year-old Harry Potter star has wisely invested millions from his film work in property and businesses.

The actor’s assets have risen by $6million since last year – not including the $16million he made from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Figures for his company Gilmore Jacobs show that in 12 months he put $8million in cash in the bank, had investments of $14million and was owed $4million in outstanding payments.

The figures have just been lodged at Companies House and cover the year to August 2007.

In December last year Daniel – whose total fortune is estimated at $50million – paid $2.5million for a pad in Manhattan that he plans to rent out at $20,000 a month. He also set up Almada Productions to develop scripts, and it made a $130,000 profit last year.

Daniel, who has portrayed the Quidditch-playing hero since 2001, took full control of his earnings when he turned 18 last July. Gilmore Jacobs is owned by his parents Alan and Marcia, but they have stipulated that all the riches belong to him.

Reps confirm that Matthew McConaughey suffered an accident while training for his upcoming role in The Grackie.

Matt was in fight training and ended up cutting his face. The injury required stitches.

The new movie is a comedy about a “fighter for hire”. Matthew’s character “hires himself out for $250 to settle disputes for people who can’t afford a lawyer.”

Maybe the movie will have us in stitches…..

Is there no end to the madness that follows Britney Spears? Accused of stealing a wig and four coats recently; it seems she may be loaded but she doesn’t appear to like paying for things. This time it was a lighter, from a petrol station.

Britney reportedly grabbed the lighter while exiting the store in Sherman Oaks, California, on Friday and was only alerted to her mistake by waiting snappers.

She responded: “Stole something? Oh, I’m bad!”

Ok the girl is finally losing it. Luckily the owner doesn’t want to press charges; happy to wait until she returns to the store and pays him back. He said: “Yes, Britney stole a blue lighter here last night. The lighter is $1.39. I’m hoping maybe the next time she comes back she will pay for it.

“I know she can afford to pay for it, but I’m not planning to file a police report. It’s still not right for her to steal the lighter.”

Hmmm something tells me that in the world of Britney Spears, doing the right thing is not priority right now.

Hollywood finally rolled out of its slump with strong movie attendance over the Thanksgiving holiday. Disney’s fairy tale romance Enchanted debuted as number 1 and took in $35.3 over the weekend and a whopping $50.05 million since its release on Wednesday.

The movie features actress Amy Adams as a cartoon princess who is banised to the real-world by her fiance’s evil stepmother, played by Susan Sarandon. The princess finds herself in busy Manhattan.

Also featured in the movie are cuties Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy) and James Marsden.

This was the second-best Thanksgiving holiday debut ever, topped only by another Disney favorite, Toy Story 2, which brough in a record $80.1 million. Rounding out the top five Thanksgiving debuts are additional Disney releases, Unbreakable, A Bug’s Life, and 101 Dalmations.

Hollywood has seen a decrease in movie attendance over the last two months, but this weekend’s stellar performances give them great hope for the rest of the year.

I haven’t made it out to see the film yet, but who can resist a good love story? Especially if I get to look at McDreamy for 2 hours!

Former supermodel Janice Dickinson has confirmed speculation over the extent of her plastic surgery – she has spent $100,000 on preserving her youthful looks. The 52-year-old admits she has undergone numerous operations recently including a brow and neck lift. A more accurate headline “JANICE DICKINSON CONFIRMS extensive, comprehensive, necessary, required, mandatory, unavoidable, inevitable, expected PLASTIC SURGERY” Well although her face does seem to have almost no expression due to the extensive surgery, I do consider her quite beautiful. Ok, her face looks somewhat mask-like, bec. She can barely move it, but it IS a beautiful mask. I find it refreshing though that she’s honest about her plastic surgery, and i find her self-mockery endearing. She can afford it, it keeps her beautiful, and she’s honest about it. I see nothing wrong here.

Since Britney only has limited visitation rights, why should she be required to undergo drug test when she is not seeing the kids? Why is she required to standby 24/7 * 7 days for drug testing? Can anyone be always on standby 24/7 * 7 days, not even to mentioned just for drug testing? Are the judge and attorneys on 24/7 * 7 days for their client? Is a judge passing a ridiculous ruling and allow Mr Kfred and his attorney to abuse the court for personal financial gains again? Britney also has her own life to lead, move on from her disastrous divorce and deserves to be happy not just for the kids. Does any parents out there really dedicated their whole life for their kids to expect Britney to do that? Is Britney the goddess to set that example? The judge should slammed Mr Kfred and his attorney for using the court time and again, to humiliate an individual causing unnecessary stress, wasting court time for personal financial gains!

Johnny Wright of Wright Entertainment Group (WEG) was once the manager of the hottest teen sensations including NSYNC and Britney Spears. But he is now suing his most famous, albeit controversial client, Britney claiming that she hasn’t paid him commissions which she owed.

WEG managed Britney until February 2003 but was supposed to keep receiving commissions until February 2008. It was for deals that the company negotiated on Brit’s behalf but now WEG is claiming that Brit has stopped paying in December 2006.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, sees WEG seeking for unspecified damages and payment of legal fees.

Sometimes I think Oprah’s a little TOO mushy, but when I saw what she was doing for these girls, I really was touched. I think she’s sharing her wealth in many, many ways, both advertised and not. I’m sure she spends plenty of money on charitable causes here in the US. Such as the Katrina victims and others that I have heard mentioned on her show teasers. (I can’t watch her show as I am still at work when it comes on). Just because she’s spreading money in other parts of the world too doesn’t mean she’s not helping people here. And besides that…it’s her BILLIONS…she can do what she wants with it. As for the beauty salons Dave, if you had seen the special on the opening of the school, you would have seen the harsh back grounds these young girls came from. I don’t think having their hair and nails done is going to turn them into anorexic models, but it just might boost their self-esteem and give them a little more confidence in themselves.