In the news
■ A year after calling off his last wedding, Rupert Murdoch is again planning to walk down the aisle. The 93-year-old billionaire is now engaged to Russian-born molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, his office told The New York Times last week, with the nuptials set to take place at his California estate. This will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage. He divorced model Jerry Hall, wife number four, in the summer of 2022 and the following spring proposed to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist. Murdoch broke off that engagement after two weeks and then started dating Zhukova, 67. A respected scientist, she was previously married to Russian oligarch Alexander Zhukov. The upcoming marriage is not expected to affect Fox News parent company News Corp, which is effectively controlled by a family trust whose shares are split between Murdoch and his four eldest children.
■ Several people who underwent radical makeovers on Queer Eye rushed to the defense of Jonathan Van Ness this week, after the celebrity hair stylist was slammed as a “monster” and “nightmare” in a Rolling Stone exposé. Anonymous production members on the show and other sources told the magazine that when the cameras weren’t rolling, Van Ness would lash out at crew members. Three sources labeled Van Ness as emotionally “abusive” and having “rage issues,” and one said the hair guru—who has a sunny public persona—would explode and start yelling on set at least once a week. Several past Queer Eye participants told TMZ that Van Ness was always polite on and off camera. The stylist “seemed well-liked by everybody,” said one.
■ Miley Cyrus has been left “devastated” by the messy fallout from an alleged love triangle involving her mom and younger sister, Us Weekly reports. The third person in that triangle is former Prison Break star Dominic Purcell, 54, who last summer tied the knot with Cyrus’ mom, Tish. A source told Us that when Tish, 56, started “pursuing” the actor in 2022, he was dating Tish’s youngest daughter, Noah. The 24-year-old still hasn’t forgiven her mom, the source said, and no longer talks to pop superstar Miley, who was maid of honor at Tish and Purcell’s wedding. Miley was “fully aware” of the Tish and Noah situation, said another source. “She took her mom’s side.”