Phoebe Gates, the 23-year-old daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, has an e-commerce startup called Phia, and she’s often insisted that she’d make it work without any privilege or nepotism. But she never promised not to cut corners . . . and now she could wind up in PRISON because of it. Phoebe and her business partner Sophia Kianni have apparently been caught admitting to “cookie stuffing” . . . which basically means they’ve been crediting Phia with sales that it didn’t drive, and collecting commissions for them. It sounds pretty serious.  A corporate attorney commenting on the allegations said that cookie stuffing is, quote, “typically treated as federal wire fraud in U.S. courts.” He claims Gates could be facing, quote, “a max penalty of up to 20 years in prison plus fines and restitution.” For its part, Phia is blaming “technical anomalies,” and claims it fixed the “problem” as soon as it was made aware of it.  No legal action has been brought yet.

The Rock is ready to explore a music career.  He just released a ballad called “Your Dad” dedicated to his three daughters. He co-wrote it with 2023 “American Idol” winner Iam Tongi for a “Moana” companion album called “Moana: Voices Across the Ocean”. The Rock says music has always been a part of his life.  Quote, “I always like to say I sing from the heart and I sing in keys that don’t exist.  So it’s a good combo.” He wants to make “old-school soul” music with country flavor.  Quote, “At a very early age, my deep influences were Sam Cooke, Elvis, George Jones, Merle Haggard, even Johnny Paycheck . . . “Also Willie Nelson, who, as a matter of fact, gave me my first guitar.  You know the Trigger guitar he has?  The historic one?  I guess Martin only made 100 of those, and as a birthday gift, ’cause I was such a huge fan, he gave me one.” (You can watch the video for “Your Dad” here.)

Courthouse News says a judge in Los Angeles recently cleared Kenny Chesney from any wrongdoing in a scam case. An unidentified woman gave $300,000 to a person who was impersonating Kenny online. The woman sued Kenny after she realized she had been scammed.  She said he was responsible for protecting her against impersonators.

Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation teamed up with Tractor Supply and donated $255,000 to animal shelters all over the country.  The program is called Mutts Across America. One shelter in every state was chosen, plus one “Wildcard” pick, in recognition of her album of the same name.  They each received a $5,000 grant, and didn’t find out about it until it was announced. In other Miranda news, she surprised fans at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota by bringing out Gretchen Wilson and Lainey Wilson for a few songs like “Redneck Woman” and “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”.

Super Bowl 61 is set for February 14th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.  It’s the first time the game will be hosted by ESPN, and it’ll also air on ABC. Disney reported yesterday that all of their ad spots are already SOLD OUT.  58 brands in 34 different categories bought spots, with nine first-time advertisers. 30-second spots were allegedly sold for $8 million to $9 million, but one report claims that Disney was seeking as much as $10 million. The early sellout is notable because NBC sold out of their Super Bowl ads last September, and when Fox had the broadcast the year before, they didn’t sell out their ads until the November before the game.

Brad Pitt tells Page Six that he’s no longer sober after seven years. “I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon. In a more restrained manner, I got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities. I have to be professional about it. I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privilege.”

The Blast says Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston allegedly have a secret standing lunch date. The meetings happened on the set of ‘’The Morning Show.‘’ Pitt goes straight to Aniston’s trailer for a private lunch and then leaves when filming resumes.

Speaking to reporters at Chiefs training camp, Travis Kelce said his wedding night was, quote, “the best night of my life.”  He added that it was a “childhood dream” to be in Madison Square Garden.  He didn’t get to go there for a Knicks playoff game because of training camp.  Taylor very famously did, though. Quote, “I thanked the owners of MSG for allowing us to get the opportunity to [get married there], knowing that we wanted a private event, and it was perfect.” Taylor and Travis got married on July 3rd, in a ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler.  It was attended by just about every celebrity you can name . . . except Blake Lively. (Here’s video.  Travis shows up at 4:42.)

Female First says Chris Pratt is trying to sell his Pacific Palisades mansion. He and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger first listed their home for $32 million in July 2023.  The price was cut to $29.9 million. It has been re-listed again for $19.99 million.  The 13,000 sq foot home has six bedroom suites.

The Daily Mail says “Mary Poppins” star Julie Andrews has officially announced her retirement from acting at age 90. She confirmed that she will not be returning to her role of Queen Renaldi in “The Princess Diaries 3.” Julie tells The Hollywood Reporter, “I think I’m retired, really, would be about the best description for that. [The film’s creative team] asked me all last year if I would be keen to do it. It was very very hard to say no, but I did because I thought I had a wonderful ride, and this one I felt would flourish very well and wouldn’t need Granny going in there at my age.”

Travis Kelce tells the NY Post that his wedding night at Madison Square Garden was the best night of his life. “Wedding was the best night of my life. That’s about all I really got from that night. It was a crazy night. It was full of a lot of celebration. So it’s kind of cool to be able to live out my childhood dream of being in that venue, the Mecca of all sports venues, being able to get married in there. I can’t thank the owners of MSG enough for allowing us to get the opportunity to do that, knowing we wanted a private event. And the AC was cooking. That was the best part.”

Country Now says Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany recently broke down in tears after taking her children back to school. She posted a picture along with the caption; “Tears were flowing this morning. Can’t believe we have a 2nd and 3rd grader.”

Ewan McGregor tells E! News that he wants to play Obi-Wan again. The actor says the ball is in Disney’s court regarding his future in the Star Wars saga. He says he is ready for more and would take a new story in a movie or a series. “The next time we find Obi-Wan Kenobi, he’s Alec Guinness up in the mountains. What happens between those two moments is what I want to do and spend the rest of my career doing these stories. Stories, you know, series or movies. We’ve got plenty of time; I’ve got 10 years before I am Alec Guinesses’ age. So come on, Disney!”

Collider magazine says the search for the next James Bond is in the final rounds of auditions. Amazon is working on the film and wants a young actor. They want someone young enough to carry the franchise for ‘three or four movies’.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan tells Mandatory magazine that he still gets hate for Negan’s killing of Glenn on “The Walking Dead”. “Oh, I get people all the time that are just furious with the fact that I killed Glenn. He was so loved, and I never understood how they didn’t know it was going to happen.”  Morgan says an elderly woman once slapped him while he was out for coffee

Ella Langley tells Billboard magazine that she has several current goals on her career bucket list. “Saturday Night Live –  to be a musical guest and then one day, maybe host. Sell out stadiums, that’s always been my goal. I want to start acting in the next year. I like thrillers but also love comedy. I’m not a big romantic movie lady, so probably something funnier or a little more intense.”

Stella Lefty is set to take the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first time on September 2nd. She says the Opry debut is a dream come true. Her hit ‘’Boston’’ is in the Top 5 and her debut album Long Way Home is due out August 21st.

A new parent survey says Barbie is the favorite character of girls ages 3 to 8.  Spider-Man is the favorite for boys in that age range. recent poll

The News International says Keith Urban allegedly doesn’t care that he and Nicole Kidman are no  longer together. A source says, “Keith’s been unhappy for a long time. He didn’t want to be on another red carpet or have a staff full of people and be forced to wear designer [clothes]. He doesn’t care about any of that. That’s not who he is, and he’s been dealing with it for a long time. He just wants to make music and play music. The rest was all very complicated and outside of his comfort zone.”

Holler Country says Riley Green recently bought a guitar from a stranger on Facebook Marketplace. The seller, who works for Front Beach Softwash in Panama City, Florida, posted the listing. They met at the agreed spot. Green walked away with the guitar.  The seller said, “When I seen that he was the one buying it, it made selling it feel a little better. There will be another J-45 in this guy’s future. Thanks, Duckman!”

IGN News says Tom Holland’s brutal Spider-Man workout recently went viral. Fans are now trying it. The routine is five pull-ups, ten push-ups, and fifteen squats as many times as you can in 20 minutes.

Geo TV says Jason Sudeikis recently attended the Mumford & Sons concert at Madison Square Garden dressed as Ted Lasso. The band performed the Ted Lasso theme song. The crowd went wild.

Naughty But Nice says Brad Pitt revealed in a recent Esquire interview that he has started drinking again after seven years of sobriety.  Bradley Cooper who helped Brad stay sober is worried but not judging. A source says, “Bradley knows how difficult sobriety is, and he knows this isn’t black and white. He loves Brad. He is never going to lecture him or tell him how to live his life. There is no judgment — only concern. Bradley knows how quickly drinking can become complicated, and he wants Brad to be honest with himself.”

Riley Green is just like us . . . he shops on Facebook Marketplace, too.  He bought a Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar from someone, and even met up with the seller in person.  There’s no word how much he paid. The seller posted a photo with Riley and said, quote, “When I [saw] that he was the one buying it, well it made selling it feel a little better!  I hope to see him throwing them pic marks on her soon . . .Thanks Duckman!”

Garth Brooks announced that the fourth city on his upcoming arena tour is Washington D.C.  He’ll be at the Capital One Arena on September 18th and 19th.  Tickets go on sale Friday the 21st. Based on the trend with previous cities, it wouldn’t be surprising if two additional shows are added in D.C.