Bradley Cooper was terrified to get into direction, Lady Gaga pretended to be her own manager, ‘The Mule' to release in December, and other Hollywood updates

MUMBAI: Here we bring you the news and happenings from the world of Hollywood. So, read on to know what your favourite celeb is up to.   

Nelly settles rape case with accuser   

Rapper Nelly has settled a year-long legal spat with a woman named Monique Greene who accused him of raping her on a tour bus.

A lawyer for Nelly said both parties agreed to dismiss their cases and no money changed hands, according to a leading publication.

Greene had claimed in October 2017 that she was sexually assaulted by the "Hot in Herre" hitmaker after a concert he performed in Seattle, Washington.

In court papers, she alleged that Nelly invited her onto his tour bus, assaulted her and had both oral and vaginal sex against her will.

Greene said she screamed and demanded to be let off the bus. The rapper, who was arrested after the incident, allegedly threw her off and hurled a $100 bill at her, reports tmz.com.

He countersued, claiming that sex was consensual and that he had been defamed.

Prosecutors dropped the case in December 2017 after Greene refused to co-operate with them or testify against her alleged attacker.

Following the dismissal of the criminal case against Nelly, the rape accuser launched her own defamation and sexual assault suits against the star.

Greene also filed documents asking the judge to dismiss Nelly's countersuit, saying her statements were true and protected by US freedom of speech laws.

She also accused Nelly's girlfriend, Shantel Jackson, of falsely corroborating his alibi to "further his defamation campaign" against her.

Owen Wilson to be father for third time

Actor Owen Wilson, who has already two children with two different former girlfriends, is going to be a father for a third time.

According to pagesix.com, the 49-year-old star is expecting a child with Varunie Vongsvirates, 34.

Earlier, there were reports that the Wonder star underwent a paternity test, after a third woman came forward claiming that he was the father of her unborn child.

Now it is believed that Vongsvirates, whose LinkedIn lists her job as a business development representative for American Addiction Centres here, is that mystery woman.

Vongsvirates on Thursday shared several posts on Instagram about the pregnancy. A recent post showing her and Wilson at the premiere of his movie Father Figures was captioned "father figure".

When a follower asked if Owen is the father, Vonsvirates responded "Yes".

Owen fathered seven-year-old Robert Ford, born in 2011, with Jade Duell, and had his second child with personal trainer Caroline Lindqvist, who was married at the time.

Donald Sutherland joins 'The Burnt Orange Heresy'

Veteran actor Donald Sutherland has joined the cast of Giuseppe Capotondi's directorial The Burnt Orange Heresy.

According to hollywoodreporter.com, Sutherland will star as an enigmatic painter who becomes the target of an art-world heist in the thriller film.

The movie is based on the book of the same name by Charles Willeford, with a script penned by Scott B. Smith.

Actors Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki and Mick Jagger also star in The Burnt Orange Heresy. The film is being produced by David Zander of MJZ, William Horberg of Wonderful Films and David Lancaster of Rumble Film.

Sutherland recently worked in The Leisure Seeker with Italian director Paolo Virzi.

'The Mule' to release on 14 December  

Clint Eastwood's crime-based movie The Mule will release on 14 December.

Along with direction, Eastwood will also feature in the film, reports suggest so.

The 88-year old stars in The Mule as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. After being assigned a menacing handler, Stone also attracts attention from DEA agent Colin Bates.

The other cast includes Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, and Michael Pena.

The Mule will clash with Universal's sci-fi fantasy Mortal Engines, STX's Jennifer Lopez rom-com Second Act and Sony's animated adventure Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse at the box office.

Amazon sued for copyright infringement

Amazon Studios had been sued over the film Suspiria by The Estate of Ana Mendieta, which has alleged it is copied from the late artistes work.

According to variety.com, director Luca Guadagnino's film and the trailer used images which were derived from two of Mendieta's pieces from the 1970s, Rape Scene and Untitled (Silueta Series, Mexico)", and the estate is seeking damages and a restraining order to bar Amazon from using the infringing images.

The suit was filed in federal court in Seattle.

Earlier, Guadagnino gave interviews in which he said he was inspired by Mendieta's work and wanted to remake the original Suspiria because it was "soaked in the ideas of feminist art".

As per the lawsuit, her estate is managed by her sister, Raquelin Mendieta, and her niece, Raquel Cecilia Mendieta. The estate allows her work to be reproduced for scholarly purposes, but not for commercial use.

The estate sent a cease and desist letter to Amazon in July. In late August, Amazon dropped a second trailer that did not contain the images. The studio screened the film for the estate's agent in early September, after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Some of the images had been removed from the film, but the agent flagged eight others that also bore similarities to Mendieta's work.

Mendieta was a Cuban-American artist who addressed themes of violence against women, and used images of nature to create silhouettes of her body. She died at 36 after a fall from a New York apartment tower in 1985.

Jodie Sweetin opens about a sexual assault encounter

Actress Jodie Sweetin has come out in the open about her own sexual assault experience amid American professor Christine Blasey Ford's testimony.

On Thursday, in light of Ford's emotional testimony at a Supreme Court hearing, Sweetin spoke out in support about her own experience, via Instagram.

Wearing a camouflage jacket with the words "What doesn't kill you f***s you up mentally" written on the back, Sweetin explained to her social media followers why she supports and identifies with Ford, reports suggest so.

I stand with her. I am her. I was the girl who never reported because I blamed myself. I was the woman who never reported because I didn't want to go through the pain and ridicule.

"What we saw today is about a much bigger issue of survivors of sexual assault being persecuted, judged and re-traumatised when they do come forward. We are told that if it were "real," we would have reported it at the time. Often when we were merely children or young girls," the Fuller House actress wrote.

Giving examples of what young girls have to endure if they do speak out, Sweetin, a mother of two daughters -- Zoie Laurel May, 10, and Beatrix Carlin, 8 -- came to a simple conclusion: "It was easier to stay quiet."

She added, "As we grew older and it happened again, we had been trained to remain silent. We had learned the lesson that no one will believe us. That even if someone does, it holds no consequence. We had watched other women come forward, only to be told 'there were no witnesses, so it's your word against his', knowing that 'his' story is always more believed than 'hers'."

She finished her post by encouraging others not to be dismissive of the courageous survivors, like Ford, who have spoken up and shared their stories.

Sweetin also promised her followers that she would take action moving forward.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday where he strongly denied Ford's claim that he sexually assaulted her in high school.

Bradley Cooper was terrified to get into direction

Actor Bradley Cooper says he wanted to direct for a long time, but was terrified about it.

"I always wanted to direct but I guess I was terrified to do it and at the same time I knew that I can only do something for which I had my point of view about, and the story I wanted to tell right," Cooper said in a statement to a leading publication.

"I always had it in my mind that 'I was in my 40s, so as long as I don't wait too long'. So I was about 40 years old that I had a mind that I got to do this. I wanted to tell a love story and this was the right moment," added the 43-year-old.

He is making his debut as a director with A Star is Born, based on the eponymous 1937 film, which was directed by William Wellmam. The story centres on a fading movie star who helps an aspiring actress while his own career spirals downward.

Warner Bros Pictures will release the film, which also features Lady Gaga, in India on 12 October.

I've pretended to be my own manager: Lady Gaga

Singer Lady Gaga has revealed that she pretended to be her own manager at the start of her career in order to book shows.

While appearing at The Ellen Show, the 32-year-old has even admitted to using a fake English accent to boost her chances, reports suggest so.

She said, "When I started my career, I decided around (at) 19 years old that I was going to go for it as a singer, because I couldn't get any jobs as an actress. I just hit the pavement running and I was dragging my piano around New York City banging on doors.

"I would call up and I would be like: 'Hello this is Lady Gaga's manager, she's really hot right now, we would like the 10 p.m. slot for her if you can...'. I used to just pretend I was my own manager to try and get the best gig that I could."

On the work front, Gaga will be next seen in the musical romantic drama A Star Is Born alongside actor Bradley Cooper.

DJ Snake, Gomez, Ozuna, Cardi B unveil new track

"Taki Taki" by DJ Snake featuring singers Selena Gomez, Ozuna and rapper Cardi B is out now.

DJ Snake, known for global hits like "Turn down for what" and "Let me love you", tweeted on Friday: "'Taki Taki' is out now everywhere."

Gomez and Cardi B also tweeted about the song.

The new single comes ahead of his new album which is set to drop soon.

Meanwhile, he will headline a sold out New York City's Avant Gardner on 26 October and Los Angeles' Shrine on 31 October.

Kim Zolciak's husband not happy about her breast reduction

TV personality Kim Zolciak, who underwent breast reduction surgery, revealed that her husband Kroy Biermann is not happy with her decision.

While interacting with listeners on her podcast called "House Of Kim", Zolciak opened up alongside her husband about her choice to having the surgery, reports suggest so.

She said, "It's like you know what, I'm 40, my back was hurting me and it wasn't proportionate. I almost felt like I was hunching my back a lot to not really show them off."

The star of The Real Housewives of Atlanta may have felt confident in her reasons to go smaller, but she claimed: "Biermann, the whole time, has not been that happy about it."

Beirmann added, "I loved them and I'm sure I'm gonna love these too."

Zolciak went from a size DD to a size C to improve her quality of life.