Michael Phelps Shark Week race, Bill Cosby mistrial and Carrie Fisher

Celebrity Gossip: Aisha Tyler, Michael Phelps, Carrie Fisher, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bill Cosby and Tyler Henry back for more reading celebrities.

michael phelps taking on shark week great white race

UPDATE: As expected, the jury was unable to come up with a verdict in the Bill Cosby trial so a mistrial has been declared.

The judge in the Bill Cosby trial declared a mistrial Saturday after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the case. The jurors — five women and seven men — were unable to come to a unanimous decision in a courtroom battle closely watched by the public as well as dozens of women who have accused Cosby of similar misconduct in the past. Cosby faced three charges of aggravated indecent assault.
Here are the latest developments following the mistrial:
• Prosecutors announced they will retry the case.
• A spokeswoman for the comedian read a statement from his wife, Camille Cosby, who criticized prosecutors, the judge and the media.
• Her statement read: “How do I describe the District Attorney? Heinously and exploitively ambitious. How do I describe the judge? Overtly and arrogantly collaborating with the District Attorney. How do I describe the counsels for the accusers? Totally unethical. How do I describe many, but not all, general media? Blatantly vicious entities that continually disseminated intentional omissions of truths for the primary purpose of greedily selling sensationalism at the expense of a human life.”
• Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of Cosby’s accusers, said she hopes the court will allow other “prior bad act witnesses” to testify at the next trial. “If the court allows more accusers to testify … it might make a difference. In other words, it’s too early to celebrate Mr. Cosby.”
• Linda Kirkpatrick, one of the accusers who stood with Allred outside the courthouse, said of Cosby, “He thought he could bury us. He didn’t know we were seeds. We are sprouting up. We are looking for reform, uncovering the rape culture in this country where victims are blamed and shamed.”
• Angela Agrusa, a member of Cosby’s legal team, said outside court: “This is what happens. Juries are stuck when a prosecutor seeks to put someone in prison for things that are simply not presented in the courtroom. And the jury stuck to what they were asked to do and that is to review the evidence before them and there simply wasn’t enough.”
• At a news conference, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said prosecutors will “evaluate and review our case” and retry Cosby. “Our plan is to move this case forward as soon as possible,” he said. He expressed disappointment over the mistrial, praised the “extraordinary sacrifices’ of the jury and said a “good outcome” of the trial was that two Cosby accusers “got to face the defendant in court.”
After 52 hours of deliberation, jurors in Bill Cosby’s trial began their six day of deliberations Saturday morning.
“We’ve been at this now for 10 days (including testimony). There has been nothing but a supreme effort on your part,” Judge Steven O’Neill told the jury on Friday.
“Go through your routines, which have probably become very habitualized at this point.”
As the 79-year-old comedian exited the courthouse Friday, he talked to the cameras and crowds outside. “I just want to wish all of the fathers a Happy Father’s Day and I want to thank all of the jury for their long days, their honest work individually,” Cosby said.
He said, “I also want to thank the supporters who’ve been here and please to the supporters, stay calm, do not argue with people, just keep up the great support. Thank you all. Thank you.”

After 6 seasons, actress and TV personality Aisha Tyler announced that she would not be returning as a co-host on CBS’ The Talk. Aisha has been part of the show since 2011, when she joined on the second season of the daytime talk show. However, on Thursday’s (June 15th) episode, the Criminal Minds actress told fans and viewers that she would be moving on to the next stage of her career.

While making the announcement, the beauty explained, “At the end of this season I’m going to be leaving the show…I have had an amazing six years with you guys. We’ve had babies and weddings, and you know good things have happened, and you know I went through the biggest breakup of my life with you. I could not have done with this without you. I’ll never be able to thank you guys enough.”

aisha tyler leaves the talk and tyler henry reads kylie jenner 2017 images

Inevitably, Aisha got emotional when she made her unexpected announcement, as did her fellow co-hosts, Sheryl Underwood, Sharon Osbourne, Julie Chen and Sara Gilbert.

CBS Angelina McDaniel later released a statement addressing Aisha’s decision to leave the talk show, which read, “Saying goodbye to Aisha is a bittersweet moment for all of us at CBS Daytime and The Talk…throughout her six seasons, she has made incredible contributions and shared personal moments, making our viewers, cast and crew all laugh cry and think, as a result of her signature wit, intelligence, and openness. It’s no secret Aisha is one of the busiest women in entertainment, and we support her as she decides to focus more time on her passion for directing, her expanded role on CBS’ Criminal Minds, hosting The CW’s Whose Line is it Anyway? and her other endeavors…and maybe finally find some time to sleep! We love Aisha, and she will always be a part of our family, with a seat waiting for her at The Talk anytime she wants to visit.”

tyler henry reads kylie jenner khloe kardashian

About a year and a half ago, E! Network debuted the show Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry. On it, “clairvoyant medium” Tyler Henry talks with various celebrities and tries to help them connect to their past and inner selves. On the most recent installment of the show, Tyler sat down with reality starlets Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, where he brought up some pretty touchy subjects with the two beauties.

During the sit-down, Tyler warned Khloe about her “susceptibility” to skin cancer. The “psychic” explained, “Okay this just came through really strongly – skin. I’m seeing skin, I’m referencing to what looks like melanoma. I’m getting a reference to three separate situations that I view as being problem areas. You have susceptibility on your back and there’s susceptibility on your leg and I need you to keep both in mind. This is huge.” In response, Khloe revealed, “I’ve had melanoma on my back, but never on my leg…”

Shortly after, Tyler went on to implicitly talk to Khloe about her ex-husband Lamar Odom, who continues to work on recovering from his serious substance abuse issues. Tyler told the Good American entrepreneur, “It’s important that [Lamar] doesn’t isolate himself, as I think he may have a tendency to do. And that’s something that we can only control so much of, you can’t control someone else’s actions, it is not your responsibility. I just hope he stays in the state…. He needs to stay in California.”

When talking with Kylie, Tyler said he sensed an unhealthy relationship in the young star’s life. Kylie asked him to look into her love life, which prompted Tyler to note that he was sensing a situation where “someone tries to get with one sister” and then “tries to get with the other.” He then went on to say that he felt that Kylie had a certain, very unhealthy relationship in her life and that she needed to set boundaries in order to protect herself.

The latest episodes of Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry air on Sundays on E!

michael phelps taking on shark week great white race“Shark Week” has a new star attraction: Michael Phelps.

Discovery Channel’s list of “Shark Week” programming next month includes a July 23 show titled “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.” Discovery Channel billed it as “an event so monumental that no one has ever attempted it before” and added that “the world’s most decorated athlete takes on the ocean’s most efficient predator: Phelps V Shark – the race is on!”

Whether that means the winner of 23 Olympic gold medals is actually racing a shark remains uncertain. The release announcing this event didn’t offer many details or specifics aside from saying that Phelps “has one competition left to win.”

Discovery Channel officials didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking additional information.

jada pinkett angry with tupac bio

Jada Pinkett Smith is calling the Tupac Shakur biopic “All Eyez on Me,” ‘deeply hurtful” for its portrayal of her relationship with the rap legend.

In a series of tweets Friday, just as the film is opening in theaters, Pinkett Smith contradicted several scenes. She said she never had an argument with Shakur backstage, that their parting was fictionalized and that he never read her a poem, as seen in the film. Pinkett Smith said her relationship to Shakur was “too precious” for her not take issue.

Pinkett Smith was close friends from childhood with Shakur. She’s portrayed in the film by Kat Graham, whose performance Pinkett Smith complimented, along with Demetrius Shipp Jr., who plays Shakur.

carrie fisher exposed her own troubles for others to learn 2016 images

Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnea and a combination of other factors, but investigators were not able to pinpoint an exact cause, coroner’s officials said Friday.

Among the factors that contributed to Fisher’s death was a buildup of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a news release late Friday. The release states that the “Star Wars” actress showed signs of having taken multiple drugs, but investigators could not determine whether they contributed to her death in December.

Her manner of death would be listed as undetermined, the agency said.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for additional details about whether a full autopsy report and toxicology results were available.

Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person’s breathing pauses during sleep. The pauses may be brief or last several minutes, according to information from the National Institutes of Health.

Fisher, 60, suffered a medical emergency on an international flight on Dec. 23 and died four days later. Her mother, longtime movie star Debbie Reynolds, died the following day.

The actresses were laid to rest together at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, a cemetery where numerous celebrities are buried.

Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, said he was not surprised by the results. He added that his family did not want a coroner’s investigation of his sister’s death. “We’re not enlightened. There’s nothing about this that is enlightening,” he said.

“I would tell you, from my perspective that there’s certainly no news that Carrie did drugs,” Todd Fisher said. He noted that his sister wrote extensively about her drug use, and that many of the drugs she took were prescribed by doctors to try to treat her mental health conditions.

Fisher long battled drug addiction and mental illness. She said she smoked pot at 13, used LSD by 21 and was diagnosed as bipolar at 24. She was treated with electroshock therapy and medication.

“I am not shocked that part of her health was affected by drugs,” Todd Fisher said.

He said his sister’s heart condition was probably worsened by her smoking habit, as well as the medications she took. “If you want to know what killed her, it’s all of it,” he said.

Todd Fisher said it was difficult to blame doctors who treated his sister because they were trying to help her.

“They were doing their best to cure a mental disorder. Can you really blame them?” Todd Fisher said. “Without her drugs, maybe she would have left long ago.”

Carrie Fisher made her feature film debut opposite Warren Beatty in the 1975 hit “Shampoo.” She also appeared in “Austin Powers,” ”The Blues Brothers,” ”Charlie’s Angels,” ”Hannah and Her Sisters,” ”Scream 3″ and “When Harry Met Sally …”

She will reprise her role as Leia Organa in the eighth installment of the core “Star Wars” franchise, “The Last Jedi,” which will be released in December.

bill cosby jury returns with deadlock

Bill Cosby’s lawyer repeatedly demanded a mistrial in his sex assault trial as five days of deliberations on the fate of the man once known as America’s Dad pushed into Father’s Day weekend, but the judge said there was no precedent to shut down the jury’s talks.

“I have no authority to do this,” Judge Steven O’Neill said in the 52nd hour of deliberations on Friday night. “I’m sorry it’s causing everyone frustration.”

Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle fired back that jurors might be under the assumption they have to deliberate until “the cows come home.” They will resume deliberations Saturday morning.

O’Neill grew testy on the bench as he questioned McMonagle’s requests to end the trial without a verdict. The jury might be working toward an acquittal, the judge said.

“You don’t know why they were deadlocked. Everyone is assuming one way or another,” said O’Neill.

As jurors left for the night, O’Neill praised their “hard work, dedication and fidelity to your oath.” The jury, from the Pittsburgh area, has been sequestered for two weeks about 300 miles from home.

The 79-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a Temple University employee in 2004 at his home near Philadelphia. As deliberations wore on, Cosby thanked his fans and supporters – first in a tweet, then in brief comments as he left the courthouse Friday night.

“I just want to wish all of the fathers a happy Father’s Day,” Cosby said. “And I want to thank the jury for their long days. Their honest work, individually. I also want to thank the supporters who have been here. And, please, to the supporters, stay calm. Do not argue with people. Just keep up the great support. Thank you.”

A conviction could send Cosby to prison for the rest of his life, but the case has already helped demolish Cosby’s nice-guy image, cultivated during his eight-year run as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” the top-rated 1980s and ’90s sitcom.

Dozens of women have come forward to say he drugged and assaulted them, but this was the only case to result in criminal charges.

On Friday, the jury asked to review multiple pieces of evidence, including Cosby’s decade-old deposition testimony about quaaludes.

Cosby, who gave the deposition as part of Constand’s lawsuit against him, said he got seven prescriptions for the powerful sedative in the 1970s for the purpose of giving them to women with whom he wanted to have sex.

The testimony is relevant because Cosby is charged with giving pills to Constand, former director of operations for the Temple women’s basketball team, to incapacitate her before their sexual encounter. He has said it was Benadryl, a cold and allergy medicine. Prosecutors have suggested he gave her something stronger, possibly quaaludes.

Jurors also asked for, and received, a definition of reasonable doubt, the threshold that prosecutors must cross to win a conviction, and reviewed testimony from Constand and her mother about phone conversations they had with Cosby after the encounter. According to the testimony, Cosby called himself a “sick man” but refused to identify the pills he gave to Constand.

Cosby’s lawyers have said he and Constand were lovers and that the encounter was consensual.

McMonagle objected in court to the panel’s repeated requests to review testimony, saying it suggested some jurors were trying to coerce other jurors in an attempt to bring an end to the deadlock.

The judge said he saw no evidence of coercion or trouble in the deliberating room after the jurors reported their impasse on Thursday and he instructed them to keep trying for a verdict.

“There’s a misperception that there’s a time limit,” he said.

Jurors got the case on Monday. They must come to a unanimous decision to convict or acquit.

If they can’t break the deadlock, O’Neill could declare a hung jury and a mistrial. Then, prosecutors would get four months to decide whether they want to retry Cosby or drop the charges.