Table of contents for March 18, 2024 in Globe

HOPPY HOUR Former Spice Girl VICTORIA BECKHAM pumps up her lame outfit with a posh $1,040 kitten heel after the fashionista fractured her foot at the gym A BRIEF ENCOUNTER Movie gangster RAY WINSTONE is a good sport as he receives a replica of the skimpy swimsuit he wore in 2000’s Sexy Beast — featuring the logo of his favorite soccer club CLOWNING AROUND Animated Mamma Mia! star AMANDA SEYFRIED is ready for the circus with her red-lipped grin STOOP, LOOK & LISTEN Chances are crooner JOHNNY MATHIS is heading toward his last days — but the hunchbacked hitmaker still hasn’t hung up his hat! HIGH-STEAKS CONTEST Cutup CHARLIE DAY — star of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — beefs up his street cred by judging a burger competition THAT’S…

AFTER moaning that he came in third — just short by inches — in his race, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was blindsided by wife Samantha, who jabbed he’s been doing that for the entire length of their two-decade romance! After her 38-year-old hubby complained he “needed a couple of inches” to win his Feb. 25 race in Atlanta, sassy Sam sniped online, “I’ve been telling you that for almost 20 years!” Hopefully, the brunette bombshell was joking.…

SONGBIRD Taylor Swift is suspected of helping her dad, Scott, who’s accused of slugging a photog, escape Australia by flying him out of the country on her private jet! The 34-year-old superstar, who had just wrapped her Eras Tour concerts Down Under, left Sydney Airport on her Bombardier Global 6000 jet on Feb. 26 — with her 71-year-old father apparently onboard after being accused of a brutal beatdown and being sought for questioning by local cops. According to sources, Tay-Tay, Scott and staffers were traveling on the luxury superyacht Quantum when the aging American whacked cameraman Ben McDonald at 2:30 a.m. on the wharf at the Sydney suburb of Neutral Bay. Swift’s people say the incident happened when “two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her…

HAIR-BRAINED JAMES BROWN! Sex machine JAMES BROWN refused chemotherapy because he was terrified of losing his iconic hair after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004! “He was like, ‘I can’t do chemo, ’cause I don’t wanna lose all my hair.’ I mean, this was a real thing,” reveals his daughter Dr. Yamma Brown. Thankfully the Godfather of Soul only needed radiation because they caught his disease in the early stages. He died of a heart attack at 73 in 2006 — with a full head of hair! SANDOVAL'S SAD FAME GAME America’s most hated man, TOM SANDOVAL, apologized for comparing his cheating scandal to the O.J. SIMPSON murder trial and GEORGE FLOYD’s death at the hands of callous cops. The 40-year-old Vanderpump Rules cheater dished, “I’m not a pop-culture…

LUPITA NYONG’O The Oscar winner’s cowrie crown is unique, but her dull suit is nothing to shell-ebrate TONI GARRN Leo DiCaprio’s model ex has a titanic fashion moment in a showstopping tulle gown NICKY HILTON We have reservations about the hotel heiress selecting purple sequined stretch pants KELLY OSBOURNE Truth be told — Ozzy’s daughter looks like a cartoonish comic book villain KAYA SCODELARIO The Maze Runner heroine cuts a puzzling figure in a humongous hat and kooky corset…

TV CHEF Rachael Ray is literally eating her heart out after she failed to snag a multi-million-dollar deal with Food Network — and sources say she’s packed on at least 28 pounds in nine months! Insiders estimate the 5-foot-3 star is crushing the scales at a whopping 238 pounds, which could have a devastating impact on her health! “She’s gained a ton of weight because she’s chowing down on her homemade comfort food,” dishes an insider. “And she’s drinking red wine like it’s going out of style. She’s a bloated hot mess!” In the wake of losing her Rachael Ray CBS talk show last year after 17 seasons, insiders say the stand-and-stir chatterer was angling to cook up a lucrative new deal with Food Network, but it fell through. She…

BELEAGUERED Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka is locked in a bitter 18-year feud with her hated stepmom Melania over the ex-president’s $3 billion fortune — and sources squeal the savage struggle threatens to torpedo his bid for a second White House term! Insiders tell GLOBE the bad blood runs deep with cruel insults, petty cheap shots and dirty tricks on both sides — with the hapless politician trapped between the two most important gals in his life! “Melania and Ivanka hate being in the same room — and never speak except to hiss catty comments,” an insider dishes. “From the very first moment they met, they’ve viewed each other as mortal enemies.” Ivanka, 42, considers her father’s third wife a gold-digging opportunist who can’t hold a candle to her late socialite…

MOVIE stripper Joe Manganiello is so tied to his beloved Bubbles, he’s gotten the mutt a passport so she can go everywhere with him! After the 47-year-old Magic Mike star, who now hosts Deal or No Deal Island, and wife Sofía Vergara divorced last summer, she graciously gave him the five-pound chihuahua because she “wants Bubbles to be happy, which is precisely why she’s letting Joe have custody,” says a source. After Joe obtained Italian citizenship, he got the pooch a passport “so I take Bubbles everywhere,” he explains.…

CHRISTIAN pop super-star Amy Grant barely survived a horrific bicycle crash, and now sources say she suffered brain damage and is tormented by hellish PTSD that causes panic attacks and embarrassing memory loss! Sources snitch the 63-year-old Breath of Heaven singer has tried to pick up the pieces of her semi-charmed life since the horrendous 2022 two-wheeler accident in her Nashville neighborhood, but it’s been a long bumpy road to recovery as she struggles to remember words to her own songs! “Amy puts a brave face on it, but it changed her life and made her rethink everything,” spills an insider. “She’s grateful to be alive and living the best way she can but there’s no doubt she’s deeply affected by the experience. “It was serious, and she has moments…

ARIES March 21 - April 20 Be true to yourself, Ram! It’s more important to tell someone how you really feel than to tiptoe around their feelings. The Cancer moon will draw you closer together! Tuesday, the sun shifting into your sign brings a surge of energy and enthusiasm. Kick off a diet or work on boosting your income! TAURUS April 21 - May 21 The cosmos inspires Bulls to start spring-cleaning — you’ll actually enjoy sweeping, scrubbing and tossing out junk! Look for good financial news to arrive midweek. Although you’re eager to hang out with someone new, delay your first meeting until next week. Fatigue hits at the weekend. GEMINI May 22 - June 21 A moneymaking idea you put on the back burner last year comes back…

THE doo-doo has hit the fan in Donald Trump’s Georgia criminal case with the claims Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis was having an affair with Nathan Wade, an attorney she hired to be special prosecutor in the election racketeering case against the former president. The problem is Fani’s fling with the now-divorced stud muffin is a distraction and mudding the waters of what’s really at issue — whether Trump illegally conspired to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win in Georgia by taking part in a “criminal enterprise” with 18 allies, including four who’ve already pleaded guilty to charges. In addition to the conspiracy, the Republican businessman is also accused of making false claims about the election and racketeering. He denies ALL of the 13 Georgia felony charges — and…

WITH Oppenheimer winning awards for depicting the Father of the Atomic Bomb, it’s time for another look at Godzilla — a 1954 Japanese monster movie where the big beast is a metaphor for the nuclear bombs America dropped there a decade earlier. The bubbled skin of the dinosaur-like demon was modeled after the keloid scars on survivors of Hiroshima, and the monster’s roar — transcribed in comics as Skreeeonk! — was produced by slowing down the sound of a resin-coated glove rubbing on a contrabass string. There have been 38 films starring the colossal creature, but the original rules!…

SEX fiend Danny Masterson’s shattered wife, Bijou Phillips, has turned to hypnosis in a desperate attempt to purge the loser out of her life for good, reveal sources. The 43-year-old actress filed for divorce from the disgraced That ’70s Show alum, 48, two weeks after he was slapped with 30 years to life for raping two women, but she’s still said to be haunted by his unspeakable acts. “Bijou’s been trying to tap into her self-healing powers, and now she’s taking it a step further,” dishes an insider. “Hypnotherapy is helping her to relieve stress and anxiety and find her inner strength. “She sees a professional who specializes in hypnotic medicine and has become hooked. She’s going once or twice a week, sometimes more.” Bijou, who is now raising ten-year-old…

FORMER romcom queen Meg Ryan was once Hollywood’s cutie-pie, but her obsession with plastic surgery has horribly backfired, leaving her with misshapen, swollen lips, insiders dish. The 62-year-old Sleepless in Seattle siren revealed a freakishly plumped pout at the Critics Choice Awards, leaving sources snitching Meg is desperate to beat Father Time with cosmetic fixes that have left her looking weird. “She never knew when to stop with the Botox, fillers and other procedures, but her lips are looking weirder than ever,” tattles a tipster. “She can’t even smile without people gawking and whispering about what she’s had done to make them so twisted and contorted.” The divorced mom of two lives a quiet life away from the cameras in California’s Montecito celeb colony and has long denied tampering with her…

RENEGADE Prince Harry’s hopes of returning to the royal fold have been totally dashed — by his big brother, who doesn’t trust the red-haired royal as far as he can throw him, palace insiders tattle. “Prince William doesn’t trust Harry and it’s hard to imagine he ever will again,” insists a well-placed courtier. “Even their father King Charles’ desperate health crisis won’t reunite the feuding siblings. “But apparently Harry’s publicly suggested the monarch’s deadly cancer diagnosis will bring everyone in the feuding family back together — but he’s totally fooling himself. “William will never forgive the betrayals and accusations of racism and cruelty Harry and his fame-obsessed wife, Meghan, have leveled at the family since they quit their duties and bolted to America. “His anger is so intense, he’s making…

CODE BREAKERS Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a number. Use the given letters to get started by filling them in throughout the puzzle. Look out for patterns like repeated letters. Codebreaker puzzles use all 26 letters of the alphabet. There are no trademarks, abbreviations, hyphenated nor foreign words on the grid. UNION OR LEAGUE Mystery words clue: British ball game with scrums REFERENCE GRID WORD SEARCH Circle the hidden words in the grid, crossing them out in the list as you find them. Words can go horizontally, vertically, diagonally and backward. ANGOLA BENIN BOTSWANA BURKINA FASO COMOROS CONGO EGYPT ERITREA ETHIOPIA GHANA GUINEA KENYA LIBYA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALI MAURITANIA MAURITIUS NAMIBIA NIGER ALGERIA ANGOLA BENIN BOTSWANA BURKINA FASO BURUNDI CHAD COMOROS CONGO EGYPT ERITREA ETHIOPIA GABON GHANA…

FORMER plus-sized TV host Ricki Lake proudly reveals she’s dropped 30 pounds — without using any of the fad diet drugs like Ozempic. The 55-year-old, 5-foot-4 cutie, who soared to fame as pleasantly plump teen Tracy Turnblad in the hit 1988 movie Hairspray, showed off a sleek, under 140-pound bod in black leggings and a sports bra on social media, saying: “Hi friends. I’ve been wanting to share with you what I’ve been up to these last four months. On October 26th, 2023, I made a commitment to myself to get healthier.” She noted hubby Ross Burningham “joined me in this effort” and “together we have each lost 30-plus pounds. I really want to share, because we did this without relying on a pharmaceutical. Not that there is anything wrong with…

SO YOU Think You Can Dance judge Nigel “Nasty” Lythgoe has a date with a real jurist! A fourth woman, whose name hasn’t been revealed, is accusing the dancing Don Juan, 74, of sexual assault in a shocking civil suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The woman alleges Lythgoe “forcibly kissed, groped and digitally penetrated her” in 2016 after giving her a ride home. Actress-singer Paula Abdul also accuses Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her in 2002 and 2014, as have two contestants from 2003’s All American Girl. He insists all the allegations are untrue.…

BASKETBALL Wives’ Brittish “Cierrah” Williams, 34, had her bond revoked and was taken into custody to serve a four-year sentence for financial fraud! The ex-galpal of jock Lorenzo Gordon sought to delay her surrender while filing a motion to reduce her punishment to 32 months. But when the reality star didn’t show at a West Virginia jail at her originally appointed date, the feds cuffed her in St. Louis! Her attorney blames “miscommunication” for her failure to report.…

Picking nose causes Alzheimer’s + CHRONIC nose-picking is nothing to sneeze at — because scientists say the nasty habit puts people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease! Researchers at Western Sydney University found neuroinflammation caused by viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens entering the brain through the olfactory system via dirty digits may be responsible for the memory-robbing condition. The scientists believe beta-amyloid proteins — which create Alzheimer’s-causing clumps in the brain — are produced by the body to fight off infectious bugs. How to check for bad breath + THE classic cupped-palm sniff is a popular way to test for bad breath. But medical professionals say the unreliable method stinks — and you should lick your wrist instead! Dried saliva will smell if you’re dealing with halitosis because foul sulphur…

COOKING guru Martha Stewart continues to be one saucy senior with her latest revelation — she likes to go without undies! Actually, the 82-year-old doesn’t go commando, as Martha explains: “I like wearing bathing suits under my clothes just in case I want to go swimming. “I don’t wear any of that structured stuff. No tight lace, no Skims for Martha. But I love Skims. I think they serve a very good purpose — but I only wear bathing suits under my clothes.”…

TV PROSECUTOR Sam Waterston’s split from Law & Order after more than 400 episodes has left the crime drama in chaos, with insiders dishing cheapskate bigwigs, who refused his pay demands, are now pressuring the remaining cast and crew to perform — or else! Ironically, sources say show kingpins could have kept 83-year-old Sam, but were too cheap to significantly boost his estimated $100,000-per-episode paycheck. “Bosses wouldn’t offer him the kind of money it would take to stay, so Sam said he was out,” an insider squeals. “They essentially pushed him by being stingy, and now they’re having to deal with a huge mess.” Ghost star Tony Goldwyn, 63, will be taking the role of D.A. Nicholas Baxter after Waterston’s exit and admits he has “some very large shoes to…

EMBATTLED rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been clobbered with an explosive $30 million lawsuit by record producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who claims the fatcat forced him to endure gay sexual abuse at drug-fueled orgies! Jones says he was plunged into a sexual nightmare after he was hired by Combs in August 2022 to produce several songs on The Love Album: Off the Grid, later nominated for a Grammy. For the year he worked for the mogul, Jones claims he was the victim of “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus” at Combs’ New York, Florida and L.A. residences and a yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The suit also claims Jones was sexually attacked by one of Diddy’s pals, who forced him to view a…

RED Lobster’s swimming in a sea of red ink after losing $11 million due to its $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion! Corporate execs say the deal was too cheap and too popular — and have now upped the price by five bucks! PRESIDENT Richard Nixon actually fixed his daughter Tricia up with 21-year-old Prince Charles in 1970! The crazy kids took in a baseball game and had a dinner date in D.C., but there was zero chemistry. ALASKA’S state flag was designed by 13-year-old orphan Benny Benson, who won a watch and a scholarship for his efforts in a 1926 contest. Benny was 45 when Alaska finally achieved statehood in 1959. A WOMAN’S uterus grows from the size of a pear to the size of a watermelon during pregnancy! Incredibly, it…

THE custody war between Spice Girls beauty Mel B and her ex-hubby Stephen Belafonte over their 11-year-old daughter is still raging, with the singer charging her ex is brainwashing the girl against her. A U.S. court awarded Belafonte primary custody of Madison because Mel’s visa expired and she had to move back to England. Now Scary Spice, 48, claims he’s denied her visitation for when she’s in America, telling her, “Madison cannot spend time with her mother for the first three days of my trip because she has plans with aunts and uncles.” Even worse, Mel says he’s brainwashing Madison by speaking “with her about our legal issues and coaches her to say and do certain things. Last week I received a voice note from our daughter stating that she will…

HOW precious! Actress GABOUREY SIDIBE, 40, is expecting twins with hubby BRANDON FRANKEL after two years of marriage. Oh, I believe in Yesterday. American Beauty director SAM MENDES, 58, is looking back at the Beatles and announced he will make four separate fiction films focusing on each member of the group. Hunky STEPHEN AMELL, 42, is taking on the leading role in NBC’s Suits spinoff, Suits: L.A. The original show featured B-list actress turned A-list princess MEGHAN MARKLE. Joe Millionaire leading man STEVEN MCBEE, 31, will flaunt his wealth again in a Yellowstone-style reality show on Peacock about the high-stakes world of farming and ranching in Missouri called The McBee Family Dynasty: Real Life Cowboys. Easy come, easy go. Real Housewives of Atlanta personality PORSHA WILLIAMS, 42, filed for divorce…

NEW mom Kourtney Kardashian is struggling to drop 25 pounds gained before giving birth to her son four months ago, but sources dish rocker Travis Barker’s baby mom hasn’t met a hamburger or ice cream cone she didn’t like! Still, an insider says 5-foot-1 Kourtney, 44, is desperate to lose her baby weight overnight and is freaking out because other A-list moms make it seem easy — even though her Blink-182 hubby isn’t the least bit bothered by her new body. The eldest Kardashian first plumped up when she and Travis began IVF treatment two years ago. After she finally got pregnant, Kourtney packed on even more pounds. Now, four months after her fourth baby’s arrival, she can’t get back to her pre-pregnancy weight of 115 pounds. Although many other celebs…

NOTORIOUS method actor Emile Hirsch, 39, headlines the psychological thriller State of Consciousness, which is finally hitting U.S. screens nearly two years after its debut at Italy’s Ischia Global Fest. The scandal-scarred star has sparked a slow-burn comeback since 2015 when his booze-fueled assault on a film executive at the Sundance Film Festival put him behind bars for 15 days. The repentant performer — who’s also done a stint in rehab — says, “No one is perfect.” Here are ten things you don’t know about the California bachelor. 1 He wrote “ridiculously vulgar” rap songs during high school — and now says those freestyle rhymes are “just terrible.” 2 Emile used a body double for his nude scene in 2004’s The Girl Next Door because he was only 17 at…

JAPANESE mob boss Takeshi Ebisawa — a top dog in the Asian country’s notorious Yakuza crime syndicate — attempted to sell over $6 million worth of nuclear material to help Iran build bombs in a sinister conspiracy that threatened to undermine America’s national security, the feds say. According to U.S. lawmen, Ebisawa, 60, sought to peddle uranium and weapons-grade plutonium to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker with links to an Iranian general. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram charges the ruthless thug pursued his plan “fully expecting” the warmongering Islamic republic would use the components for nukes! Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen says, “It is chilling to imagine the consequences had these efforts succeeded.” Documents filed in a New York court accuse…

SITCOM queen Jennifer Aniston’s turning into a mega diva, according to sources who say she’s becoming a modern version of her notoriously stuck-up new pal Barbra Streisand! The 55-year-old Friends legend and Hollywood’s 81-year-old reigning diva have grown so close, Bab’s behavior is rubbing off on Jen, who’s morphed from a sweetheart to a sourpuss, say insiders. “Jen has an arrogance these days and sees herself as Hollywood royalty above everyone else,” tattles an spy. “People are blaming her new friendship with Barbra, the ultimate diva. Jen is doing her best to imitate her idol and Oscar winner Barbra is drumming her diva behavior into the younger actress.” It doesn’t help that Jen’s latest project, The Morning Show, is a massive success, says the source. “She’s an executive producer and…

TRAGIC Wendy Williams is being battered by the same relentless dementia diagnosis that forced Bruce Willis to retire in 2022 and made him a shadow of his former action-hero self! The care team for the 59-year-old former TV personality announced she was diagnosed last year with aphasia — which robs the ability to process words — and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a dreaded progressive disorder that warps the brain. Experts say this could explain the bizarre behavior that led Wendy to lose her talk show in 2022. To address questions about her ability to process information, her team revealed: “In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.” They say Wendy “maintains her trademark sense of humor” during treatment in…

EVIL North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has a secret son he’s been hiding for more than a decade — because he’s ashamed the kid looks pale and thin and isn’t a chip off the old block, intelligence sources say. Insiders dish North Koreans believe chubbiness is a sign of attractiveness and strength, which is why Choe Su-yong, a retired South Korean intelligence bigwig, says Kim hides his skinny 13-year-old son, whose name is also unknown. The boy’s “unappealing physical appearance seems to have discouraged Kim from disclosing his son in public,” says the former spymaster. “Unlike his father, or his 11-year-old sister, Ju-ae, who is plump and well-fed, Kim’s son is said to be pale and thin.” Ironically, Kim was much thinner when young, but was ordered to bulk up…