Family

The Bill and Melinda divorce has been a done deal for months, TMZ has learned, and they had a plan to announce it back in March ... a plan that included renting a remote, private island where the entire family -- with one BIG exception -- could avoid the media once the announcement was made ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Our sources say Melinda Gates rented Calivigny Island in Grenada ... yes, she rented the entire island for $132,000 a night. The plan was for Melinda and the kids, as well as their significant others, to come to the island -- everyone except Bill. We're told everyone in the family already knew Bill and Melinda were divorcing. There was a considerable amount of acrimony associated with the split and we're told virtually everyone in the family took Melinda's side. Another way of putting it ... we're told they were very angry at Bill, and that's why he wasn't invited.

The reason for going to the island ... so no one from the media could reach them and ask about the split when it was announced during their stay.

But, there was a problem ... lawyers for both Bill and Melinda were trying to hash out a divorce settlement and there were still outstanding issues that couldn't be resolved at the time of the trip. We're told Melinda decided to go anyway ... well, with everyone BUT Bill.

So here's the takeaway. First, we're told this was not a friendly split. We're told Melinda and most of the family were furious at Bill for various things they claim he had done.

Terrifying incident involving cricket legend Stuart MacGill ... who was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted at gunpoint in Australia last month -- and cops have now arrested his girlfriend's brother over the incident.

50-year-old MacGill was reportedly confronted by 46-year-old Marino Sotiropoulos, the brother of MacGill's GF, Maria O’Meagher, on April 14 near Sydney ... according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

According to the report, while interacting with Sotiropoulos, MacGill was then approached by two other men ... who allegedly forced him into a car and drove him an hour outside of the city.

Cops say MacGill was beaten and threatened with a firearm for an hour straight upon arriving at a home in Bringelly ... suffering minor injuries.

According to cops, MacGill was then driven to Belmore -- another suburb of Sydney -- where he was ultimately released by the group.

The cricket legend reported the incident to police days later ... and the State Crime Command’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad launched an investigation.

Officials believe the incident was financially motivated ... but say a ransom was not given and money was NOT exchanged.

Detective acting superintendent Anthony Holton told reporters Sotiropoulos was close to MacGill and believes his involvement to be an act of betrayal.

"I’d say the 46-year-old man’s involvement, we'll be alleging, was part of the facilitation of his kidnapping," Holton said, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Four individuals were arrested this week in the case -- Sotiropoulos, a 42-year-old man, a 29-year-old man, and a 27-year-old man.

According to the report, Sotiropoulos was charged with "detaining in company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm, participating in a criminal group (contributing to criminal activity) and supplying a prohibited drug (large commercial quantity)."

The 42-year-old was charged with "knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group and detaining in company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm."

Both the 27-year-old and 29-year-old were charged with participating in a criminal group (contributing to criminal activity) and detaining in company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm.

All men were denied bail to appear in court on Wednesday.

MacGill played on the Australian national team from 1998-2008 ... appearing in 44 Test matches.

Britney Spears is itching to talk to the judge in her conservatorship case next month, but not to end the conservatorship ... it's all about giving her dad his walking papers.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Britney does not feel trapped in the 13-year-old conservatorship. As one source put it, "She has 99% of the freedom she'd have if she weren't in a conservatorship, and the only thing she's prevented from doing are crazy things, like buying 3 cars at a time [something she tried to do back in the day]."

Our sources say Britney has been free to travel -- she goes to Hawaii fairly often -- and lives her life in L.A. without real restrictions.

We're also told Britney is aware her life was out of control before the conservatorship was put in place, and it created a structure and also replenished her dwindling assets. As one source put it, "She's taken care of and she knows it."

Britney's problem is Jamie. We're told the two don't even speak anymore, and she's been angry at him for a long time over business issues and certain people Jamie embraced on the team ... people Britney doesn't like because she feels they were motivated not by her self-interest but theirs.

We're told Britney wants Jamie out as the co-conservator of her estate, managing her business affairs, and that's what she wants to talk to the judge about. She has no problem with the current conservatorship of her person. As we reported, Jodi Montgomery is now the permanent personal conservator of Britney, and the two get along.

Britney has said she will not perform again as long as Jamie is part of the conservatorship. That said, she's given no indication she wants to go back on stage and, in fact, has said she has other priorities.

Tom Brady is now closing in on having as many boats as Super Bowl rings ... the QB says he's adding to his watercraft collection by copping an insane $6 MILLION yacht!!

The NFL superstar revealed last week he's in the process of scoring the Wajer 77 -- a 77-foot superyacht -- so he and his family can take more overnight trips on the sea from their Tampa-area home.

You'll recall ... Brady famously already owns the Wajer 55S -- the smaller Wajer boat he got back in December that he later took to the Bucs' Super Bowl parade in February.

But, Tom says the new yacht he's getting will allow him to do much more than the 55-footer ... and he's PUMPED to add it to his growing list of water rides.

"The 55S is an amazing boat, and it’s been an amazing boat for our family," Brady said during a revealing of the new Wajer 77 yacht last week.

"I think the 77 will be a little bit more suited for what we need it for down here, which is a few more day trips and weekend trips. We spend a lot of time in the Bahamas. So going from the East Coast of Florida across into the Bahamas and around the Bahamas would be really great trips for us as a family."

The yacht is absurd ... it features bedrooms that look like hotel rooms -- with the boat company saying nine people can sleep in it comfortably, along with two crew members.

Brady says it'll bear the same name as the 55-footer -- "Viva A Vida" (a nod to a cause very close to his wife, Gisele) -- and he's hoping it'll get delivered before the end of the year.

Silento insists he has a constitutional right to a reasonable bond in his felony murder case ... insisting he's not a flight risk.

The "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" rapper filed legal docs in DeKalb County, GA requesting the court set his bond at $25k. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Silento says he's “not an extraordinary bail risk and will not jeopardize the safety of the community if released on bail.”

He also assures the court that if the judge lets him out he won't flee or go into hiding. He promises to obey all court orders. Silento says denying him bond is not only unjust -- it's unconstitutional.

We'll soon know if the judge agrees with Silento ... a bond hearing's been set for later this month.

As we reported ... the rapper was arrested on February 1 for his alleged role in the death of his cousin, Frederick Rooks. Silento was charged with felony murder.

Cops said they found Rooks shot to death in the street on Jan. 21 ... and found 8 bullet casings at the scene. Silento's rep asked for positive thoughts for the rapper ... claiming he's been suffering from various mental health issues for several years.

Elon Musk still doesn't seem to know what the heck's in store for his big debut on "Saturday Night Live" ... and he's even resorted to asking photogs about what skits he should do.

The Tesla CEO is in NYC Tuesday, days ahead of taking the stage at NBC Studios -- where he'll be hosting 'SNL' -- and the moment he showed his face in the streets he was swarmed ... mostly by autograph seekers who shoved dozens of Sharpies and photos in his face.

Of course, the one thing on everyone's mind is what he's got in store for Saturday's show. Check it out -- sounds like Elon still isn't entirely sure, but hey ... it's only Tuesday.

He regurgitated some ideas he was spitballing on Twitter over the weekend ... including Baby Shark Tank and a Dogecoin riff. Doesn't seem like he's touched base with 'SNL' staff quite yet.

BTW, Elon's appearance in the Big Apple is a family affair ... he touched down at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Monday night with none other this his partner, Grimes, and their baby boy, X Æ A-12, in tow.

EM was handling cradling duties as they exited to a waiting vehicle, and he seemed to be doing a damn good job at it too. Meaning ... he didn't drop the kid!!!

The 6-year-old student from Florida who took a paddling -- with her mom watching -- is still shaken up from the incident ... and is getting professional help.

Brent Probinsky, the family's lawyer, tells TMZ that the girl's mother calls him twice a day with distress about the school beating that happened on April 13 ... telling him the kid can't sleep, cries constantly and feels generally terrorized by what happened.

As you can imagine, we're told her parents are also overcome with emotion ... especially the mom, whom Probinsky tells us is riddled with guilt from watching it all unfold. We're told the family now has a therapist ... and their first appointment should be this week.

BTW, the attorney shed some light on why the mom just stood by instead of stepping in -- he says she and her husband are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, and she was afraid she'd get deported if she reported it. You can see her hesitation first-hand in new video that we've obtained, showing the principal take an authoritative tone right from the jump.

Luckily, the mom reported it anyway ... and now it's being handled by authorities. Probinsky says the case is being reviewed by the state attorney's office, as well as the school district and the Florida Dept. of Education. Probinsky insists this was aggravated battery -- he's pushing for officials to strip the principal and her clerk of their education licenses ... so they can't teach in Florida ever again.

Lamar Odom is mourning the death of his father, Joe -- explaining the two clashed at times, but ultimately loved each other dearly.

The ex-NBA star had announced his father's death back on April 20 -- and Monday night, he thanked everyone who had reached out.

"Thank you to everyone who extended love and prayers to me during my time of bereavement," Odom said ... "I appreciate every single one of you for sending me good energy."

Lamar continued, "Life is not promised. My pops and I had our differences but at the end of the day I knew he loved me and I loved him and that’s really all that matters."

Joe and Lamar had a rocky relationship for years -- in 2013, Lamar quit paying his dad's rent when Joe publicly criticized the Kardashian family.

In 2015, Joe rushed to the hospital to be with Lamar after the NBA star's drug overdose ... but claimed Khloe Kardashian was blocking him from visiting his son.

However, Lamar and Joe seemed to have reconciled over the past few years -- and Lamar is telling his followers to learn from their relationship.

Robert Kraft riding Space Mountain is gonna draw a lot of attention -- which is why a lot of folks at Disney World noticed his mission to help a mournful little girl and her mother smile over the weekend.

Sources inside the Magic Kingdom tell us the Patriots owner and his GF, Dana Blumberg, were all over the park with a woman and her 8-year-old daughter -- the four of them were seen taking snapshots ... one of which caught the attention of a Patriots great.

Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett actually posted one of the group's pics Sunday, saying how proud he was of Kraft and the Patriots organization -- and now we know why.

Our sources at the park tell us the woman they were with is a frontline worker from Long Island whose husband -- himself an essential worker -- caught COVID and died in recent months. The little girl had been struggling with the loss, and we're told Dana and Robert wanted to do something special for her.

From what we're told, they succeeded ... as the group spent 2 days at Disney World and they all stayed at the Grand Floridian -- all on Kraft's dime, we're assuming.

We hear the group got the full VIP treatment ... Fast Passing it on about 20 different rides. We've reached out to Kraft's camp, but haven't heard back.

Chris Hemsworth threw one helluva soiree down under ... and got his pals like Matt Damon to dress right white for the occasion.

The "Thor" star and wife Elsa Pataky showed off what looked like an incredible shindig Sunday in Australia's hot town of Byron Bay. The star-studded affair was a white-themed party, so everyone showed up in their best duds.

That included Matt, who showed up in a white hoodie and white jeans. Matt's in Australia filming alongside Chris in the new 'Thor' film.

Chris' other famous brother, Liam, was also there ... in tow with his model GF, Gabriella Brooks. Elsa posted video of her and Chris arriving at the party busting moves as they walked into the bash. She captioned the video, "With those dance moves how could I say no! #whiteparty."

The Melbourne folk band The Teskey Brothers provided the night's entertainment.

Chris' other brother, Luke, also showed. Ditto Luke's wife, Samantha and Matt's wife, Luciana Barroso. It should come as no surprise an invite was extended to his personal trainer, Luke Zocchi. Chris' stunt double, Bobby Holland Hanton, also hit up the party.

Vanessa Bryant celebrated what would have been Gigi's 15th birthday by announcing a new clothing line in her name -- and Hollywood was quick to jump on board in support.

A score of stars posted selfies and photos over the weekend, showing them in Mambacita hoodies and other apparel being hawked by Dannijo ... the company Vanessa teamed up with for this launch.

Some of the famous faces who snapped up their gear include Eva Mendes, Kate Hudson, Jimmy Kimmel, Ciara, Lala Kent, Jennifer Garner, Kim Kardashian, Cindy Crawford, Lily Aldridge, Tia Mowry, Reese Witherspoon, Khloe Kardashian, Ellen Pompeo, Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland ... with even more plugging the brand on their respective socials.

Oh and BTW, the sports world wasn't sleeping on this drop either -- pro athletes like Russel Wilson, Devin Booker, Kyrie Irving and the ENTIRE WARRIORS TEAM (including Steph Curry) were rocking Mambacita wear Saturday ... and Vanessa made sure to shout them all out.

Vanessa explained diving into the new venture by saying she wanted to find a way to celebrate Gigi -- who would've turned 15 on Saturday -- by capturing her spirit ... and she felt putting out an entire line in her memory was the best way to do that.

VB writes, "Gianna was kind, energetic, a leader, and had so much MAMBACITA swag.  When I thought about who would help me capture her laid back yet girly-edge, I thought of female-owned @DANNIJO. Two fun-loving sisters running a successful clothing line, they jumped on the opportunity to celebrate Gigi’s birthday with us, completely pro-bono."

She goes on to say that the details of the line -- even right down to putting #PlayGigisWay on the right arm of each hoodie (Gigi's shooting arm) -- are perfect in every way.

Anna Nicole Smith's 14-year-old daughter Dannielynn Birkhead is the spitting image of her late mom ... so much so, it's kinda shocking.

Dannielynn and her dad, Larry Birkhead, attended the Kentucky Derby as they have nearly every year, but this time heads turned, because of Larry's daughter's uncanny resemblance to her mom.

Larry made it clear ... his daughter is growing up ... "She said she wanted to wear something entirely different than she had in the past. I guess that means no more “little girl” dresses?? She cleaned out the chocolate brownies, ice cream and nachos while at the same time critiquing my outfit."

Celebrity chef Cat Cora's wife is throwing in the kitchen towel on their marriage ... we've learned she just filed for divorce after 3 years of marriage.

Cat's wife, record executive Nicole Ehrlich, filed divorce docs Monday in Los Angeles County Superior court ... according to online records.

The divorce petition comes just a few days after Cat and Nicole reached their 3-year wedding anniversary. We'll assume there wasn't much of a celebration.

The 'Iron Chef' and "Around the World in 80 Plates" star started dating Nicole in 2017, and in April 2018 they tied the knot with a big ceremony in Santa Barbara. They didn't have any kids together.

It's the second divorce for Cat, who has 4 kids from her previous marriage to Jennifer Cora. They were together for 17 years before divorcing in 2015.

Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner are about to be just a stone's throw away from each other -- their next-door mansions are in the midst of construction ... and they are HUGE.

Khloe and her momager are building side-by-side modern farmhouse estates in an exclusive enclave in the Calabasas area. These new aerial shots show there's still a ton of construction going on, and it looks like daughter built a little bigger than Mom.

When it's all complete ... both Khloe and Kris will have enormous swimming pools where they can entertain, and do plenty of IG photo shoots.

According to reports ... the massive lot used to be one single estate. After it was sold in 2012, another local developer razed the house ... but it sat vacant for years. The new developer's now putting the finishing touches on Khloe and Kris' houses.

We don't have exact numbers on how much Khloe and Kris paid -- but there are reports they each plunked down north of $10 million.

We're told Khloe's home -- on the left -- is 18,000 square feet and features 8 bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms. There's also an 8-car garage, covered patios, guesthouse, movie theater and gym. Kris' place is a massive 17,000 square feet.

Anne Buydens, who married Kirk Douglas a year after meeting him in 1953 on a movie set, is dead.

Kirks' widow died peacefully Thursday at her Beverly Hills home, which she shared with her late husband ... according to reps for the family.

A longtime staple in Hollywood, Anne presided over the Douglas Foundation and The Bryna Company before she died ... but she got her start in Tinseltown as a location scout for director John Huston. Anne also worked as a publicist for the Cannes Film Festival back in the day.

Anne and Kirk married way back in 1954 ... they'd met the previous year while he was shooting his starring role in "Act of Love." Anne applied for a job as his assistant on the movie ... and the rest, as they say, was history.

Anne and Kirk had 2 sons together, Peter and Eric. The latter died in 2004. FYI, Michael Douglas is one of Kirk's sons from his first marriage.

One thing Kirk and Anne definitely had in common was longevity. You'll recall, he passed away in February 2020 at the age of 103. Anne was 102.

Ahmaud Arbery's mother is squashing her beef with an organization that's been raising funds in her son's name, but without her permission -- they've settled the dispute without going to court.

Wanda Cooper's lawyer, J. Carter, tells TMZ ... Ahmaud's mom settled her trademark dispute with the 2:23 Foundation last week, avoiding the hassle of a lawsuit.

As we first told you, Wanda claimed the 2:23 Foundation was using her son's name and likeness ... hauling in massive amounts of cash donations even though she hadn't given her blessing.

We're told the settlement terms call for the 2:23 Foundation to phase out their usage of the marks, for the org to be dissolved and for $345,306 in donations to be transferred to Wanda's newly established foundation, The Ahmaud Arbery Foundation.

Wanda's new foundation, we're told, is officially launching May 8 to coincide with Ahmaud's birthday.