The mid-aughts Kim K affair
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Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: a reality star finds her way back into the tabloids, a celebrity couple thinks about “going public,” and Angelina Jolie gets covered in bees.
Does the name Shanna Moakler mean anything to you? If you watched a lot of MTV in 2005, perhaps. For the uninitiated, Moakler, 46, is a former Miss USA who was married to blink-182 drummer Travis Barker for a few years in the mid-aughts. Barker, 45, is now dating Kourtney Kardashian, 42. This means that, for the moment, Moakler can pick up the phone and dial the editors at People and Us Weekly and someone will take the calls.
Over the last two weeks, Moakler has talked to multiple tabloids about Barker and his relationship with the eldest Kardashian sister. She called their PDA “weird” and accused Barker of “recycling” elements of his past relationships with Kardashian, like being into the movie True Romance. But her wildest claim is that back in the day, Barker had an affair with Kourtney’s sister, Kim Kardashian, and that’s why Moakler left him.
“I saw them — I caught them having an affair,” Moakler told Us Weekly this week. “He had already had an affair with Paris Hilton. And at the time Kim was Paris’s closet organizer, they were best friends. And he started using her as a model for Famous Stars and Straps.”
Famous Stars and Straps is a Barker-led clothing brand that, amazingly enough, still exists, though Kardashian doesn’t model for it anymore. But that’s probably beside the point. Did Barker and Kim really have an affair, way back before Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiered?
Fellow unreliable reality personality (and former Trump Jr. girlfriend) Aubrey O’Day says yes. The Kardashians, through sources, say no, and that there is nothing weird or any drama here.
That is literally what a source told Page Six this week: “There is nothing weird or any drama here.”
The source also said that Barker and Kim never had a romantic relationship, which is not to say they never hooked up, but whatever.
“Anyone who is close to them has always known that Travis has been in love with Kourtney for forever [not Kim],” the insider claimed. “They are madly in love and best of friends. Everyone in their circle couldn’t be happier for them.”
On Wednesday, Barker and Kourtney [not Kim] took their respective children to Disneyland together, and it seems like they had fun. At the very least, according to paparazzi photos, they had a private guide named Joseph. Maybe he can tell us if there was anything weird or drama happening! If not, I’m sure we’ll hear from Moakler again by tomorrow.
Speaking of bitter exes, a source told Us Weekly this week that the Bennifer reunion has been a “real kick in the teeth” for Alex Rodriguez. In case you forgot: Rodriguez was engaged to Jennifer Lopez until he got caught FaceTiming a blonde lady from Bravo’s Southern Charm.
“Alex is still very sore and in a world of pain,” said the source to the tabloid. “It’s the first time anyone can remember him being dumped like this, at least publicly.”
Oh yeah, no one remembers any other times, don’t worry, man.
According to E! News, J.Lo and Ben Affleck hooked up again in L.A. this week. “They were excited to reunite after being apart for a few days,” said a source. “She had a break in her work schedule and wanted to see him again."
Despite these near-constant updates about the state of their relationship, another source told Us Weekly that Affleck and Lopez aren’t quite ready to “go public.”
“Right now they’re going with the flow and making plans to meet up as often as possible, but there’s still some discussing to do before they officially go public,” said a source.
What would be more public than going on vacation to Montana together? According to this source who is definitely not J.Lo’s manager Benny Medina, “When the time is right and assuming things continue to evolve romantically between them, likely a month or two, they’ll probably go Instagram official or step out hand in hand at a restaurant somewhere.”
Instagram official?! Unfortunately, the only public gesture I’ll accept is a promise of eternal commitment with an even bigger baby-pink diamond. (N.b. J.Lo also posted an Instagram this week hinting at new music — do you think she wrote another song about Ben?)
Speaking of diamonds, Ariana Grande, 27, got married to real estate broker Dalton Gomez, 25, at Ellen Degeneres’s old house in Montecito over the weekend. I always imagined that she’d have a big, princess-y wedding (to Pete Davidson, I guess), but her rep confirmed to People that this was a casual affair. "It was tiny and intimate — less than 20 people,” said the rep. “The room was so happy and full of love. The couple and both families couldn't be happier.”
According to E! News, Gomez “designed” a custom wedding band for Grande to go with the diamond-and-pearl engagement ring he gave her in December. What do you think goes with this?
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: According to the Daily Mail, Hilary Duff has one of those big water bottles now.
Finally, I’ll leave you with the news that Angelina Jolie gets covered in bees for World Bee Day:
If you want to look further into that, bee my guest.
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