Debunking This Week’s Tabloids: September 18, 2020

TWO Royal Babies On The Way? A New Report Says Both Kate Middleton And Meghan Markle Are Pregnant With Baby Girls

In Touch reports that both Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are pregnant. Both women will apparently welcome baby girls to their respective families next year, and the timing seems to have been perfect to mend the allegedly frayed relationship between the two. Markle called her sister-in-law and “got so emotional when she heard Kate was also having a girl that she called to congratulate her and broke down in tears.” However, it “went downhill – fast,” a source says. “They started arguing over who would get to name their little girl Diana.” The article refers to all sorts of disagreements, ranging from their nursery choices to their baby showers.

There’s a big problem with this story — none of it is true. There has been no pregnancy announcement from Middleton, Markle, or any legitimate spokesperson for the royal family. Instead, this was just a laundry list of typical targets to make Markle look like a rude and uptight jerk to Middleton’s quaint and kind behaviors. We actually busted this magazine for a previous claim about Markle and Middleton being pregnant at the same time last year, and this latest attempt at the narrative is still fake.

Jennifer Lopez Driven To Drink Amid Problems With Alex Rodriguez, Per Report

According to the latest issue of Woman’s Day, Jennifer Lopez was seen at a “tense” lunch with her sister where the singer seemed to be sipping on a peach Bellini, an “out of character” choice according to the outlet’s sources. “She’s so disciplined with what goes into her body and booze is so rarely on the menu, even a mocktail would have too much sugar for her,” one snitch explains. It comes on the heels of reports of problems in her relationship with fiance Alex Rodriguez. “She’s the main breadwinner,” a source explains, “and he’s got it in his head that baseball is the only way he can contribute. All of this on top of planning a wedding and I can imagine it’s all getting too much.”

In reality, however, there was no underlying drama or fights about money in the relationship. The singer just posted an incredibly sweet photo of her fiance and their kids on Instagram, and there’s obviously no bad blood between the two stars — by all accounts, they’re as in love as ever. Lopez got a drink with her sister, who lives across the country, in a totally normal outing. While she’s got a killer workout routine, there’s nothing stopping her from enjoying a Bellini. Besides, we already debunked Woman’s Day for falsely reporting that Rodriguez and Lopez split last year, as well as a bogus story about the singer taking steroids before her Super Bowl performance.

Julia Roberts’ Husband Jealous Of Her Working With Dylan McDermott?

New Idea reports that Julia Roberts and former fiance Dylan McDermott have reunited to work on a script for the sequel to Steel Magnolias, and it hasn’t been pleasant for her husband, Danny Moder. “Julia and Dylan have been getting super close while working on the script,” an anonymous source reveals, which is just “putting more stress on her allegedly strained marriage to” Moder. The cinematographer “would feel better if [McDermott] were married,” his wife feels differently, however. With Roberts and McDermott, “it’s like they’ve picked up where they left off.”

Here’s the thing: There is no sequel to Steel Magnolias in the works. There’s no script for the two to work on, so there’s no basis to this gossip whatsoever. Even the tabloid’s constant hints about Moder and Roberts’ “troubled” marriage are nonsense. The couple actually just happily celebrated their eighteenth anniversary together. This is a familiar narrative from New Idea — it previously said that Moder was jealous of Roberts flirting with Matthew McConaughey at a table read that didn’t happen. It’s even argued that Roberts threw Moder out of their house in another unsurprisingly bogus tale.

George Clooney Preparing Bachelor Pad Amid Issues With Amal?

As George and Amal Clooney renovate their property, Woman’s Day reports that the actor is secretly planning a back-up home in case he and his wife divorce. The renovation is supposed to be a “play cottage” for his twins, but according to the magazine, “he’s preparing a bachelor pad in the event of a split between himself” and Amal. The giveaway, the outlet says, is the fact that the renovation includes a kitchen since the twins “won’t have the need for all its facilities for at least another 16 years.” It seems to have given “truth to the rumor that there’s been trouble in paradise for some time.” However, the story concludes with a note about how George “would never abandon her or the kids,” and the new renovation might actually “give[ Amal] some space.”

The language of the claims is extremely weak, with the tabloid mostly implying that there might be a hint of truth to possible rumors about what might be marital strife. The fact of the matter is that there isn’t anything true to actually base this rumor on, so it instead smokescreens it with its mediocre word choice. There’s also the issue of the conflict between the magazine’s assertion that George would never walk out and its February claim that he’d actually abandoned his family. Or its previous allegation that the couple was on the brink of divorce. The tabloid just can’t get it right.

Brad Pitt’s New Friend ‘Using Him For Fame’

With news of Brad Pitt’s new relationship with model Nicole Poturalski, New Idea claims that the actor is getting used by Poturalski, the “heartbreaker.” Pitt’s inner circle is reportedly “worried she has an agenda” and is “willing to do almost anything” to “build a name for herself.” As evidence, the outlet refers to the fact that Poturalski’s Instagram account was verified shortly after news broke of her connection to Pitt. “After years of battling it out with [Angelina Jolie], no one wants to see Brad get his heart broken again,” concludes the report.

It’s worth noting that both Poturalski and Pitt have remained pretty mum about the whole ordeal, which makes it a little odd to claim that she’s using him for fame. Besides, Instagram verifies accounts for anyone who becomes “notable” and a “highly searched for person.” Being paired up with Brad Pitt in nearly every tabloid and celebrity outlet would spike those searches, so that’s not a sign of being fame-hungry — Pitt isn’t even on Instagram himself. Despite the tabloid’s rumor, Poturalski just landed the cover of the German edition of Elle, and she’s made a name for herself in the modeling world. New Idea falsely reported that Pitt was having kids with ex Jennifer Aniston just after claiming that he was interested in dating Adele, and this latest gossip is just as false.