Gayle King's Stingray Firestorm, Bret Michaels' Reunion Greed, Lamar Odom's DUI Mess & More
Ego clashes & troubling run-ins bring another rough week for the rich and famous.
Hollywood’s polished illusion cracks wide open this week – as a beloved morning-show fixture sparks fury with a controversial vacation stunt, rock icons torch a long-awaited reunion over money, and familiar names re-emerge in stories involving drugs, arrests, and near-disasters.
From animal-rights backlash and greedy band feuds to shocking DUI claims, domestic blowups, and stars shaken by sudden brushes with danger, the headlines all point in the same direction: fame still offers zero protection when chaos comes calling.
Hollywood 411 by KEEPING TABS has all the messy details… let’s get into it.
GAYLE’S STINGRAY SMACK
OUCH! CBS Mornings host GAYLE KING followed a local legend by kissing a stingray for luck and was immediately stung by an avalanche of angry animal lovers.
The 71-year-old chatterbox innocently triggered fury when she showed a video of her and her sister during a sunny Caribbean vacation on Grand Cayman island where they swam with the creatures at the tourist attraction Stingray City. Her guide told her about a local myth so Gayle writes:
“Rumor has it that you get good luck for seven years if you kiss a stingray - so l kissed that sucker twice! Hope this really works.”
Unfortunately, bad luck suuck immediately when social media users saw the smooch. Wrote one furious fan: “Gross... leave them alone. Kissing them upsets the natural bacteria on their skin.” Said another: “Why are you doing that? Good God, leave nature alone! They’re not here for your entertainment!” A third added: “Imagine the germs and viruses WE are spreading into their world! Get the HELL over yourselves.”
Gayle likely feels the need for “luck” since rumors buzz that CBS brass is considering booting her from her current job when her $15 million yearly contract expires in May.
ROCKER MICHAELS 'POISONS' REUNION
Rock band POISON’s plans for a 40th-anniversary gig titled Poison Tour 2026 turned toxic when sources tattle that lead singer BRET MICHAELS demanded a monster share of the loot - a whopping 500 percent MORE moolah than his mates.
According to drummer RIKKI ROCKETT: “We had a great offer, I thought ... [but] It didn’t work.” Rockett says he and bass player BOBBY DALL “were all in, and I thought Bret was, but he wanted the lion’s share of the money ... It’s like $6 to every one of our dollars. You just can’t work that way.” The disappointed stickman adds: “I don’t do this just for the money ... [but] you don’t want to go out and work really hard just to make somebody else a bunch of money.”
BILLY BOB BLASTS GOLDEN GLOBES
BILLY BOB THORNTON is in a snit because TAYLOR SHERIDAN, the brains behind his current series Landman and huge hits like the Yellowstone franchise, is mostly frozen out at awards shows like the Golden Globes. Billy Bob thinks it’s because liberal Tinseltown believes Sheridan is pushing a conservative Republican agenda. But he insists that while Landman is “about the oil business, he just shows you what it’s like. He’s not saying Rah, rah, rah for oil?” Previously, Sheridan defended Yellowstone, saying:
“They refer to it as ‘the conservative show or ‘the Republican show’ or ‘the red-state Game of Thrones’ - and I just sit back laughing... The show’s talking about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and land-grabbing. That’s a red-state show?”
LOOPY LAMAR BUSTED AGAIN!
KHLOE KARDASHIAN’s ex-hubby, former NBA star LAMAR ODOM, is in trouble with drugs again. Las Vegas cops say the 46-year-old admitted smoking pot around 4 p.m. - 10 hours before they nabbed him Jan. 17 on suspicion of DUI while driving over 100 mph.
Police say a black SUV shot past them and changed lanes without signaling around 2 a.m. Officers say Odom was unable to touch the tip of his nose in six tries during sobriety tests. Asked if he’d suffered previous brain trauma, he reportedly said he’d survived “12 strokes and six heart attacks” after being “poisoned at a brothel.” In 2015, the 6-foot-10 Odom nearly died of a cocaine overdose after being found unconscious at Nevada’s Love Ranch. Three days after his current DUI bust, Odom insisted he had not had drugs or booze when arrested.
ARRESTS AND CELEB SCARES
Muscle-bound Gladiator hunk DJIMON HOUNSOU’s baby mama, RIZA SIMPSON, was arrested by Atlanta cops after the star claimed she punched him in the face when he told her he wanted her to move out of their townhouse where they live with their two young kids. Simpson was charged with misdemeanors of domestic violence and obstruction for allegedly giving false information to police. She was released on $500 bond but moved to Fulton County Jail on an arrest warrant.
Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 reality mom KATE GOSSELIN had a terrifying run-in with a thief in a New Zealand grocery store. The 50-year-old said she was recovering trom a leg fracture operation and unsteady on her feet when the robber raced by trying to escape and nearly smashed her to the ground. “He ran past me and I’m just now starting to walk... and it sent me off my feet for a second,” says the shaken former reality star. She says her boyfriend STEVE NEILD and “all the Kiwi men were running after him. Everyone’s on the phone to police. It’s a big deal here, because honestly, there’s not much crime.” However, the thief and his partner managed to escape in their car, she adds. Neild is Kate’s former bodyguard who she met 20 years ago when her reality show shot her to fame.