This Week: A Family Affair
Families were at the heart of matters this week.
Goodwill ambassador, philanthropist and sometime actress Angelina Jolie traveled to Vietnam to collect another member of her ever-expanding brood with Brad Pitt.
She greeted the newest member of her family — a boy she named Pax Thien Jolie — with a kiss and an embrace. The 3-year-old tyke reportedly was shy and cried when he first met his new mom, who was trailed by paparazzi en route to the orphanage in southern Vietnam.
Pax is the third adopted child to join the Jolie-Pitt clan; son Maddox was adopted from Cambodia and 2-year-old Zahara is from Ethiopia. Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh in May. The family has been nesting in New Orleans since the new year.Photos: Angelina Jolie: Viet Mom
The Spelling dynasty got a little bigger this week when Tori Spelling gave birth to a baby boy they named Liam Aaron Spelling, in honor of her deceased TV mogul father who died last year at 83.
Apparently the new arrival has helped mend fences between Tori and her mother, Candy. They had been feuding since before the patriarch's death in June.
"They are going to be there for each other and (Tori's) baby. My mom is having a grandchild, and it puts things into perspective," her brother, Randy Spelling, told People magazine just before the birth.
And it seems TV must be in the Spellings' DNA. Tori's new reality show "Tori & Dean: Inn Love," debuts on March 20. Randy's new show, "Sons of Hollywood," launches on April 1.Timeline: Anna Nicole Smith
DNA is at the center of the always developing Anna Nicole saga, which still rolls on even after her burial in the Bahamas. The focus has shifted to little her daughter, Dannielynn, and who will take on the responsibility of raising her.
Smith's ex, Larry Birkhead claims to be her father, and so does her last companion, Howard K. Stern. The battle made its way to the Supreme court in the Bahamas on Friday.
In another family battle, Michael Lohan, father of starlet Lindsay Lohan, left prison this week after serving some hard time for attempted assault and other charges.
Lohan, who told New York Newsday that he became a minister behind bars, served nearly two years and now has high hopes of seeing his famous daughter.
"I'm going to wait, and when she sees I'm walking the walk, I'm hopeful she'll open the door," Michael Lohan told Newsday. "My relationship with Lindsay — that's personal, I just want to be there for her. She needs both parents, not just one."
No word yet on whether the actress is going to see her father. Lindsay recently added to her own immediate family; she adopted two puppies that she named Brooklyn and Dakota.
Meeting the parentswas difficult for Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend, supermodel Bar Refaeli, this week in Israel.
The pair were hounded by photographers when they headed to her family's home in Tel Aviv, so much so that a restraining order was taken out against four of the shutterbugs.
The trouble began when paparazzi swarmed the couple as they toured near the Western Wall. But things turned nasty when they attempted to leave and bodyguards clashed with photographers.
Family, friends and colleagues were mourning the loss of comedian Richard Jeni and musician Brad Delp who died suddenly this week.
Jeni's loved ones confirmed that he had taken his own life at his West Hollywood home. In a statement, the family said it "would like to put to rest any assumptions as to the cause of death … Richard Jeni did take his own life." The family revealed the comedian was diagnosed with clinical depression earlier this year coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia.
Delp, 55, the lead singer for the rock band Boston, was also found dead at his home. His family also ruled his shocking death a suicide.
"He was a man who gave all he had to give to everyone around him, whether family, friends, fans or strangers," the family said. "He gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired. We take comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace."