Ever since Adele became a megastar with her alternately catchy and tear-inducing album 21, we've been trying to identify the man that broke her heart and spurred her to write such excellent fodder for our own weep-fests. At first, we suspected it might be a gentleman named Slinky Sunbeam, but now it turns out to be someone else entirely—and we never even suspected him.
His name is Alex Sturrock, and he's a photographer. Heat magazine has apparently tapped an unnamed "friend" of Alex who vouched for the fact that he dated the singer from the summer of 2008 until April of 2009. 21 came out in 2011, but Adele began recording it in May of 2009, so the timing works pretty well there. And indeed, here is his website with a bunch of pictures of Adele on it.
The anonymous friend said of their relationship:
It was an intense period for them. They met through mutual friends and hit it off straight away. He shot her a few times and that was just it. They spent all their time together – and when they weren't together they would ring each other constantly.
As they got more serious, Adele apparently hired him as the official photographer for her US tour. They reportedly shared hotel rooms while traveling, and he was there when she won a Grammy in February of 2009. While they appeared to share a deep connection—"He'd say no one knew her like he did," says the pal—Alex refused to call Adele his girlfriend, even though he was living with her. Well, that certainly sounds like the beginnings of a heartbreak worthy enough to inspire the UK's best-selling album of this century. These pieces do fit together pretty neatly, but of course we'll never know for sure who the man behind 21 is until Adele herself decides to confirm his identity for us. But assuming it was him, at least we know he's being forced to watch her become a total international sensation and find what looks like real happiness with her new beau Simon Konecki. [The Sun]
It's been a while since we've had new sexy times with Robert Pattinson, but the trailer for his new movie Bel Ami looks very promising. Watch as he seduces Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, and Kristin Scott Thomas and then everything gets very dramatic and blows up in his face. Period costumes? Check. Intrigue and slapping of people? Check. Interesting actresses? Check. RPatz? Indeed. What more could a moviegoer need? [Vulture]
We have been hearing a lot about them separately, but it looks like Katy Perry and Russell Brand's split is going along smoothly. Proving that he is nothing if not amicable, Brand has given Perry the home they bought together in L.A. It's worth $6.5 million and is in the Hollywood Hills. It's got seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. So it's perfect for the single gal that wants to regularly get lost in her own home. [Us]
Want to get your heart all melty and soft? Then read what 13-year-old Amandla Stenberg, aka Rue from The Hunger Games has to say about her mother, Karen Brailsford, in the May issue of Essence:
My mom reminds me that all things are possible. If I'm feeling unsure, she'll say, "Hey, you're Rue!" Within months after reading the novel The Hunger Games, I went from telling my mom that I could see myself as this character to actually getting the role. My mother reminds me that if I could manifest such an important role just because I wanted it so much, all of my dreams are possible.
Whoa. Well said, kid. I'd probably have said, "I like my mom because she's nice and bought me those jeans I wanted" if someone had asked me about my mom when I was 13. [EW]
Let us veer for a moment into the opposite corner of mother-daughter relationships. Here's Khloe Kardashian talking to Cosmopolitan about why it's fine for her mom, Kris Jenner, to tell her she looks fat:
Listen, my mom believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. But she is also our manager and trying to protect our brand. She'll say, "Oh, you're a little too fat right now." If she were just my manager, I'd have fired her right then. You can't talk to me like that.
Yeah, that doesn't exactly explain why it's a good thing. But we do know that brand management is number one on any mother's list of priorities. So, kudos to Kris for a job well done there. [Us]
- After their engagement was announced yesterday, Alec Baldwin's new fiancée Hilaria Thomas was the subject of some photographers' interest during one of the yoga classes she teaches. Can't say that's too surprising, given that she's marrying into fame, but it upset Alec to no end. So, he did what he usually does, took to Twitter to publicly slam his enemies: "Shame on the no-talent trash from the Daily News for invading the privacy of 75 people in a yoga class to take a picture of someone." Beware the Twitter wrath of Baldwin. [AP]
- Wonder of wonders. Community creator Dan Harmon has apologized for being an asshole to Chevy Chase. He admits playing his voicemail from Chase in public was "childish, self-obsessed, unaware, naive and unprofessional." Now we must wait to see if Chase will accept this apology and put an end to their blood feud. [TMZ]
- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has given his blessing for Ashton Kutcher to play the part of Steve Jobs in the upcoming movie Jobs. Woz says he "is glad that he's on board," despite the widely-held reservations that Kutcher is not the man for the job, er, Jobs. [EW]
- Jennifer Lawrence is looking like her usual badass self on the cover of this month's Rolling Stone. [Twitter]
- Oh, look, it's Minka Kelly and Wilmer Valderrama walking arm-in-arm in Australia. Just friends, my ass. [People]
- Has anyone developed some sort of app we can use to keep track of all these celebrity pregnancies and babies? My notebook is getting full up. Anyway, add this to whatever database you've created for yourself: Molly Sims is going to have a boy. [E!]
- Beyonce usually looks so good in most anything she wears, which is why her choice of these strange patterned pants all the more noteworthy. [Us]
- Jerry Seinfeld got asked some dumb questions from a TMZ interviewer so he decided to lecture him on how to do a better interview. It's pretty funny, but mostly because it makes Jerry sound like a crotchety old man. [TMZ]
- After comedian Jackie Mason and his girlfriend Kaoru Suzuki-McMullen got into a strange-sounding scuffle at his apartment in New York on Friday, she's been charged with assault and harassment. Apparently, according to the official complaint, she "scratched and grabbed [Jackie] by the wrist, causing redness, swelling and abrasions to [his] left wrist and substantial pain." They reportedly tangled after she refused to leave his home. [TMZ]
- Fans of Patton Oswalt will be happy to know he's been picked to host the Webby Awards on May 21. Maybe they'll be smart and give him the Oscars next. I think that's the usual progression, from Webbys straight to Oscars. [AP]
- In other hosting news, Neil Patrick Harris will MC the Tony Awards for the third time. [Deadline]
- It'll be more of the same during the late night slots on CBS. It's been announced that David Letterman and Craig Ferguson have both signed on to stay put through 2014. That'll be enough to secure Letterman a slot as the longest-running late night TV program in history. [AP]
- The madness is beginning for the locations that were used in The Hunger Games. Fans are starting to flock to Katniss's house in North Carolina, and there's even a Hunger Games tour you can take DuPont State Forest where the hunting scenes and the Games themselves were filmed. Looks like you know where you're spending your summer vacation. [People]
- Some things just never change. Vince Neil, of Mötley Crüe fame, got himself banned from The Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas last night. He apparently was kicked out of one of the restaurants for behaving inappropriately and then he threatened some of the hotel staff with "negative publicity." Oooh. They must have been shaking in their boots. [TMZ]