She’s currently in the middle of a custody battle with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry over their daughter Nahla, but Halle Berry has another family issue in her life that hasn’t gained so much press attention — she’s estranged from her siblings.

The actress’s half-sister Renée Berry accused the Oscar winner of cutting off the African-American side of her family. Renée, a food service worker from Alabama, is desperate to reconnect with her famous sister, especially when she is going through such a difficult time in the courts.

Renée is the daughter of Halle’s late African-American father Jerome and Edwina Taylor — who broke up with him shortly before he started dating the actress’ mother Judith Hawkins. Although Jerome and Judith split up when Halle was just four years old, Renée and Halle remained “very close” while they were growing up, despite cutting herself off from her father after the divorce. Renee told the Daily Mirror: “I’m sad to say it seems like she does not want anything to do with us. I have not spoken to her in about five years. I tried to contact her through her website to congratulate her on her Oscar, but no one got back to me. We would love to meet Nahla. We are desperate to understand why Halle is so upset, why she feels she cannot be with us.”

In interviews over the years, Halle has alleged Jerome was a violent alcoholic who beat her mother Judith in front of her and sister Heidi. In an interview two years ago, Halle said: “I saw my mother battered, and could not do anything to stop it. My father was tyrannical, lashing out at her for no reason.” Renée claims Halle was angry with her when she made a public plea for her to visit her father Jerome when he was dying from Parkinson’s Disease.

— Daily Mail

Britney Spears facing lawsuit for ‘ripping off’ song lyrics

The video for her new single Hold It Against Me debuted just last week, but Britney Spears’ first song from her new album has certainly made an impact, although perhaps not in the way she was hoping for. The 29-year-old singer is being accused of plagiarism and is facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit. Spears is accused of ‘ripping off’ the rock ballad If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me by the Bellamy Brothers. The American singers claim Britney’s song is too close to their own 1979 hit which topped the charts in six countries, and David and Howard Bellamy are set to meet with lawyers, according to reports. David, 60, told The Daily Star: “Howard and I have no personal beef with Britney. She’s a talented gal. But professionally we feel completely ripped off.

We will without doubt take the appropriate legal action if our attorneys agree we’ve been ripped off.” A spokesman for Britney told the paper: “If this is now a legal matter then I am afraid we would have nothing to say until our lawyers have been alerted.”

After her music label released a staggering 14 sneak previews, the highly anticipated music video unveiled last Thursday night.

Spears also revealed the clip on Twitter, writing: “Without further adieu, I present my video for Hold It Against Me, directed by the wonderful Jonas Akerlund… Hope you guys love it as much as I do. If you didn’t I’ll kung fu kick you like I did to that chick in the video.”

— Daily Mail

Rihanna smoulders in barely-there outfit for Kanye West’s new video

For a brief moment it almost looked as though the notoriously risqué Rihanna was about to tone down her increasingly provocative antics. The singer, who was ordered to tone down her Brit Awards performance of her song S&M last week, made a demure — by her standards, anyway — in-store appearance on Friday to launch her fragrance. But true to form, the 22-year-old is back to her eyebrow-raising style in the just-released video for Kanye West’s new single All Of The Lights. Rihanna wears a black top in the cameo appearance which barely covers her breasts as she writhes around and pouts for the camera. The video for the single, from West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was released on Friday with just one hour’s prior notice.

— Daily Mail