Estefan says she was molested at 9
Gloria Estefan has revealed that, at age 9, she was sexually abused by someone her mother trusted.
The Cuban American superstar spoke for the first time publicly about the abuse and its effects on her during an episode of the Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk: The Estefans” that aired Thursday.
“He was family, but not close family. He was in a position of power because my mother had put me in his music school, and he immediately started telling her how talented I was and how I needed special attention, and she felt lucky that he was focusing this kind of attention on me,” the singer said.
Estefan, who was born in Cuba and moved to Miami with her family when she was a toddler, revealed the abuse at the top of the show, which featured Clare Crawley, the first Latina “Bachelorette.” On the episode, Crawley talked about child abuse she experienced at the hands of a priest.
Sitting at the round red table with her co-hosts — daughter Emily Estefan and niece Lili Estefan — Gloria Estefan did not name her abuser but described how she tried to stop him. No one knew about the abuse except for her family, said the singer.
Attorney calls father’s removal ‘a loss for Britney’:
A judge’s decision to remove Britney Spears’ father from control of the conservatorship that has wielded vast power over her life is “a loss” for the singer, his attorney said Thursday.
A Los Angeles court on Wednesday suspended James Spears from the conservatorship that he sought in 2008. In a statement, the elder Spears’ attorney, Vivian Thoreen, said he loves his daughter unconditionally and has tried for 13 years “to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father.”
Thoreen called the suspension “disappointing, and frankly, a loss for Britney.”
Mathew Rosengart, attorney for Britney Spears, said they plan to make a formal request to end the conservatorship before a Nov. 12 hearing.
Rocker Hoppus cancerfree:
Blink-182 singer and bassist Mark Hoppus announced Wednesday that he’s officially cancerfree. The musician took to his Instagram stories to share the good news after visiting his oncologist.
In August, he completed five months of chemotherapy for Stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hoppus, 49, said he’ll still be monitored with scans every six months.
Child actor Kirk dies: Tommy Kirk, 79, a child star who played in Disney films such as “Old Yeller” and “The Shaggy Dog,” has died. Kirk’s longtime friend and former child star, Paul Petersen, said he was found dead in his Las Vegas home on Tuesday. The cause of death has not been released.
Kirk started his career with several television shows, but his big break came when he starred as Travis Coates in the 1957 film “Old Yeller,” a story about a teenage boy and his heroic yellow dog. In “The Shaggy Dog,” Kirk portrayed a teenage boy cursed with occasionally turning into a sheepdog.
Oct. 1 birthdays: Actor Julie Andrews is 86. Actor Randy Quaid is 71. Actor Yvette Freeman is 64. Singer Youssou N’Dour is 62. Actor Esai Morales is 59. Actor Christopher Titus is 57. Actor Zach Galifianakis is 52. Comedian Beck Bennett is 37. Actor Jurnee Smollett is
35. Actor Brie Larson is
32. Actor Priah Ferguson is 15.