The wildfire raging near Santa Barbara, Calif., has sent thousands of people fleeing their homes, among them Brothers %26 Sisters star Rob Lowe.

“It was just like Armageddon,” the actor tells KABC-TV.

Lowe, 44, was at home and initially thought wife Sheryl was joking when she informed him of the blaze in the upscale Montecito community where Oscar-winner Michael Douglas and talk-show maven Oprah Winfrey also have homes

“My son and I were watching the football game,” the father of sons Edward, 15, and John, 13, said in an interview with the L.A. station. “And my wife, who was out running errands, called and said, ‘Get out. The mountain’s on fire.’ And I thought she was kidding. There was no indication that anything was going wrong, that anything was up.”

“I put the kids in the car,” he recalled, “turned out of the driveway and the entire mountain was on fire with flames shooting 200 feet in the air. There was literally no warning. It came out of nowhere.”

Lowe’s home was not damaged, nor were Douglas’s or Winfrey’s, according to reports.

But the fire, which was 40 percent contained by Saturday morning, had destroyed 111 residences and damaged nine before winds died down and the fire stabilized. Another 1,500 homes were still threatened and mandatory evacuations remained in effect, the Associated Press reports.

Source:www.People.com

In a new interview with Oprah Winfrey Wednesday, Jennifer Aniston continues to open up about her love life - past and present.

When asked about her candid interview with Vogue, and it’s cover line calling Angelina Jolie’s past behavior “really uncool,” Aniston says she was merely responding to the reporter’s question. “I basically just answered it as honestly as I could,” Aniston says on The Oprah Winfrey Show, airing Thursday.

The actress has kinder words for ex-husband Brad Pitt, saying, “He’s done some amazing things in the last couple of years. So I just think he’s doing great.”

“We all want our movie to do well … Can we have a tie?” she quips.

As for her romantic life, she echoes her comments to Vogue. “I’ve been unbelievably lucky in love,” she tells Winfrey. “It just might not look the way it’s supposed to look at this point.”

Aniston also opens up about John Mayer - and addresses those pregnancy rumors - on Thursday’s show.

Source:www.People.com

Sitting on a sofa beside his 71-year-old mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago just after 10 p.m., with his family having broken away from the bigger returns-watching party downstairs, Barack Obama already started to hear from campaign aides that news organizations were close to calling the election for Obama, PEOPLE reports in its latest cover story, on sale Friday.

But his uncle, Steve Robinson, beat them to it. “He said, ‘I told you,’ ” Marian Robinson tells PEOPLE. “We all had our little laugh, our little enjoyment when he said it. It was like, OK, that means it’s true.”

By the time CNN made it official, Robinson adds, “Everybody was quiet. I can’t tell you how subdued it was. We weren’t like the people in the stands - you know, yelling and screaming.”

“For even as we celebrate tonight,” he said at his victory rally in Chicago, “we know that the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime.”

But celebrate they did. After the speech, Barack and his wife, Michelle, 44, spent several hours with friends, staffers and supporters. Their daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, had been sent home after their turn on the stage.

“They’re big huggers, so there’s a lot of hugs, a lot of thank-yous, a lot of warmth,” said one campaign aide. And Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey were on hand to show their support.

For more on Obama’s family celebration, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

RELATED GALLERY:
• See Barack Obama’s first PEOPLE cover!
RELATED ARTICLE:
• 25 Questions for Barack Obama

Source:www.People.com

Oprah Winfrey has long been Barack Obama’s No. 1 fan, so it’s no surprise she wasted little time in speaking out about the Democrat’s historic victory Tuesday night.

“It feels like hope won,” the TV icon told Britain’s BBC. “It feels like there’s a shift in consciousness. It feels like something really big and bold has happened here, like nothing ever in our lifetimes did we expect this to happen.”

The talk-show host was on hand in Chicago to watch Obama’s victory speech, along with Brad Pitt and Jesse Jackson.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Courteney Cox and hubby David Arquette hosted a Barack Obama victory party Tuesday night at their Beverly Hills home, E! Online reports. Jennifer Aniston, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher were reportedly among the guests.

• Actor George Clooney: “I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory, and now it’s time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces.”

• Singer Usher: “This will go down in history, in black history, for all of the sacrifices that the great Joseph Lowery and Martin Luther King made, this actually pays off for their sacrifice. … I’m speechless. I don’t even know what to say.”

• Music mogul Diddy: “I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office. … And that may not be true but that’s how much power it felt like I had.”

• Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz to PEOPLE: “My parents met working for %26#91;Obama’s running mate on one of his early campaigns%26#93;. If it weren’t for Joe Biden, I would not exist as a human being. … I am proud to be a part of history in the making.”

• Former Secretary of State Colin Powell: “We’re very, very proud to have a new American President who also happens to be African-American … As I watched %26#91;the news anchors call the election%26#93; - pretty moving moment. Everybody cried … I am overjoyed.”

RELATED GALLERY:
• The Obamas spill on family life on the cover of PEOPLE!
RELATED ARTICLE:
• 25 Questions for Barack Obama

Source:www.People.com

Barack Obama addressed an ebullient crowed at an enormous victory rally in Chicago’s Grant Park celebrating his election as 44th President of the United States on Tuesday night.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy,” said Obama, 47, “tonight is your answer.”

The President-elect, who made history by becoming the first African-American elected to the highest office in the country, was joined by his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7 onstage. Also among the estimated 240,000 people who came out for the rally were a tearful Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, and politician Jesse Jackson.

He thanked his number one supporter - his wife - whom he called, “the rock of our family and the love of my life.” And offered up a reward to his two daughters for enduring a long campaign, saying, “You have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House.”

Obama also made special note of his beloved grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died this week, saying, “I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am… I miss them.”

As for his his rival, John McCain, Obama praised him for his long years of service and sacrifice to the country, calling him a “brave and selfless leader. ”

Earlier in the day, 70,000 guests received coveted tickets to the rally - and up to 1 million people were expected to attend, according to Chicago authorities. At the moment when news organizations declared Obama the next president, the crowd erupted in shrieks and screams of “Wow!” and “My God!” People shook, wept and hugged each other.

“Everyone wants to be part of American history,” Mayor Richard Daley said earlier in the day, predicting the enormous crowd.

Grant Park was transformed for the occasion with white tents and a stage lined with American flags and adorned with red, white and blue bunting. Due to security concerns, the new President spoke to the crowd from behind a wall of thick bulletproof glass surrounding the podium.

Election Day Ritual

On Tuesday, after a final burst of campaigning in Indiana, Obama retreated into a private comfort zone - an Election Day ritual game of hoops with staff and buddies. He then shared an intimate dinner of steak at his Hyde Park home with his family, including his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, and brother-in-law Craig Robinson.

Obama’s daughters went to school as usual on Tuesday, then got their hair done for the big night. Their grandmother, Marian, who has taken care of the girls while their parents traveled with the campaign, laughed when she told PEOPLE: “I hope %26#91;Michelle%26#93; doesn’t make them go to school tomorrow - but if she does, I’ll be there to take them.”

As for her son-in-law’s history-making win, Robinson said: “Is this exciting or what? I cannot wrap my head around it.”

Source:www.People.com

The results are in: Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States. This win makes him the first African-American chief executive in the 232-year history of the country.

While handily taking the New England states, Obama gained the lead in the race by also winning the hotly contested Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Western states helped put him firmly in the victory column, and the announcement that he had the necessary electoral-college votes was made immediately after the polls closed in California at 11 p.m. ET.

Though race was a theme that wafted throughout a tough fight against Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin, most political pundits credited the poor economy as the central factor in the minds of Americans once they closed the curtains in polling booths.

McCain said he’d called Obama to offer his congratulations, and acknowledged the historic nature of his rival’s win. “This is an historic election and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans,” said McCain. “I have always believed that America offers opportunities for those who have the will to seize it … Let there be no reason for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth.”

President Bush also called Obama to congratulate him on his victory.

Obama’s onetime rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, said in statement, “Tonight, we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people. This was a long and hard fought campaign but the result was well worth the wait.”

In a presidential campaign that stretched over two years, Obama triumphed with the help of early support from Oprah Winfrey and endorsements from a variety of Hollywood stars like Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon. Only last weekend, he was serenaded in concert by Bruce Springsteen.

‘Transformational Figure’

Since first appearing on the national stage only four years ago, when he walloped Illinois radio host Alan Keyes to become a U.S. senator, the Chicago Democrat, 47, has emerged as his generation’s political rock star, forging a path to the White House with sharp focus and stunning speed.

Always, it seemed, there were huge crowds gathered to see the charismatic candidate, whom Colin Powell, in his own endorsement of Obama, labeled “a transformational figure.”

But there were tough personal times, too, such as when Obama broke off campaigning for two days in the final stretch to visit his gravely ill grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, 86, in Hawaii. Dunham died two days before the election, never living to see Obama rise to this pinnacle.

The president-elect takes with him to the White House on Inauguration Day Jan. 20 his wife of 16 years, Michelle Obama, and their two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

Obama is expected to make his victory speech at a rally in Chicago’s Grant Park, where 70,000 guests received coveted tickets to the event - and up to 1 million people could show up, according to Chicago authorities.

Read more about the new president in the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Source:www.People.com

In her first interview since being released from federal prison for lying to federal investigators about her steroid use, former Olympic gold-medal winner Marion Jones opens up about how she explained her actions to her children - and why she hid the truth.

“I truly believe that the reason I made the awful mistake and a few thereafter was because I didn’t love myself enough to tell the truth,” Jones says on The Oprah Winfrey Show Wednesday.

During her chat with Oprah Winfrey, the athlete discusses the process of returning her gold medals to the United States Olympic Committee.

In January, Jones sat down with Winfrey, granting her the first interview after she was sentenced to six months in federal prison. She began her prison term in March in a Texas facility.

RELATED GALLERIES:
• Read about other Olympians on the cover of PEOPLE
• From Paris to Martha, celebs do the time for their crimes!

Source:www.People.com

Showing there were no hard feelings - well, maybe a few - Tom Cruise skewered his one-time Today show adversary Matt Lauer with one-liners in a surprise appearance Friday at a Friars Club roast.

“Believe it or not, Matt and I are friends. Some of you may find that hard to believe,” said the actor, who famously scolded Lauer on-air and called him “glib” during a discussion of psychiatry and post-partum depression during a now-notorious 2005 interview.

The roasts specialize in dirty humor that poke fun at their honorees. Cruise had a field day at Lauer’s expense.

“We go on vacation together,” claimed Cruise, who also said they speak on the phone “sometimes four times a day” and watch TV together “for hours.” Cruise also credited Lauer with advising him not to talk about his movie War of the Worlds when he appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show (on which he jumped on Winfrey’s sofa), but to talk about his then-new girlfriend, Katie Holmes.

“He said, ‘Tom, Tom, don’t be glib, You’re in love.’ ” Talk about Holmes, Lauer suggested. “Be inspiring … People will love you for it,” Cruise quoted Lauer as saying.

The actor also credited Lauer with advising O.J. Simpson to go into a Las Vegas hotel room and reclaim his sports memorabilia, and with advising Katie Couric to leave Today for the CBS Evening News.

“Lose my number, you glib putz,” Cruise joked to Lauer.

Spaceship Jokes

When Cruise left the luncheon immediately after his remarks, Lauer shouted after him, “Tom, can you stay? We can get %26#91;you%26#93; a booster seat.”

Al Roker, who emceed the roast, also took a shot. “Tom can’t stay,” Roker said, after Cruise exited the stage. “His spaceship has to leave tonight.”

Others who raked Lauer over the coals included Couric and Meredith Vieira, as well Richard Belzer, Martha Stewart, Bob Saget and others.

Once the roast had finished, Lauer had his chance to get even with those who took potshots at him.

“I guess this means we’ve officially buried the hatchet,” he said of Cruise. “But if he pulls that f—— s— again … I will drop a building on this guy.”

RELATED ARTICLES:
• 2005: Tom %26#38; Matt go head-to-head over psychiatry
• 1997: Matt is PEOPLE’s sexiest anchor!
RELATED GALLERY:
• Read about more anchors in broadcast news

Source:www.People.com

Il Divo, the operatic pop vocal group created by Simon Cowell, will release its fifth album, The Promise, on Nov. 18 - and PEOPLE has the exclusive first-listen of one of the album’s Spanish tracks, “Hallelujah.” (The album is a mix of Spanish, Italian and English songs).

Listen to the song here:

The band - consisting of multinational musical hotties David Miller (American), Sebastien Izambard (French), Urs Bühler (Swiss) and Carlos Marin (Spanish) - will perform another track, “Amazing Grace,” on The Oprah Winfrey Show Friday. The group will also soon announce plans for a 2009 tour.

The group has sold 22 million albums worldwide. So not surprisingly, an unabashed Cowell, who signed the group to his Syco record label, said: “Il Divo now is probably one of the most successful groups in the world.”

Source:www.People.com

She can’t go anywhere without causing a scene, and yesterday Ashley Olsen attracted massive paparazzi attention while trying to enjoy a lunch date with boyfriend Justin Bartha.

The former “Full House” cutie satisfied her appetite for delicious Italian cuisine with a trip to Orso restaurant in Los Angeles, looking a bit frumpy in a baggy brown sweater and vintage wash jeans.

And for all of you Mary-Kate and Ashley fans, make sure to tune in to the Oprah Winfrey show on October 23rd, where they’ll be making their first appearance since they were 18 (they’re 22 now).

According to the promo, the designer twins will be talking mostly about their high-end fashion lines The Row and Elizabeth and James, as well as their contemporary sportswear line.

Source:http://www.celebrity-gossip.net