Scoop: Is Money Keeping Ed and Jillian Together?

Also in the Scoop: MJ's birthday burial, "Sir" Ben Kingsley and Top Chef's return

Despite cheating allegations, the newly betrothed “Bachelorette” couple Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski, are staying together.

A show insider told In Touch Weekly that the two remain engaged, and plan to try and work through any problems.

“When Jillian accepted Ed’s proposal, she was starting to fall in love,” the magazine reports.

It wasn't until after accepting the $60,000 ring that Harris started to hear rumors that Swiderski might have kept company with a past girlfriend, among others.

So why make it work? Money might be the motivator, according to former “Bachelorette” contestant DeAnna Pappas.

“Hours after my finale, I was bombarded with offers for endorsements, special appearances and more,” Pappas told In Touch. “But the catch was they wanted both me and my fiancé (Jesse Csincsak).”

Pappas and Csincsak, who broke up four months after the show ended, were offered $10,000 to appear at a nightclub and $5,000 to appear at a mall and pose for photos with fans.

“If Jesse and I stayed together, we could have easily cashed in,” Pappas said. “But for me, it felt like selling out.”

Jackson’s birthday burial a family issue
Michael Jackson’s Aug. 29 burial points to a power shift within the Jackson family that could ultimately affect Jackson’s three children.

Up until recently, Michael’s mother Katherine was making the major family decisions, but the decision to schedule the burial for Jackson’s birthday was largely Joe Jackson’s.

“Katherine didn’t want it (the burial) on his birthday, neither did Rebbie (Jackson’s oldest sister),” said a close family friend. Both Katherine and Rebbie Jackson are Jehovah's Witnesses, and do not celebrate birthdays, but the religious reason isn't their only objection.

“(Katherine and Rebbie Jackson feared) it would turn the burial into a spectacle that will be hard for the kids to not be swept up in," the friend said. “Katherine is having a really hard time with Michael’s death, but she puts the kids first. She and Rebbie have been doing a good job of keeping separate from the drama. Joe doesn’t factor how Paris, Prince and Blanket will be a part of the equation. The more decisions he gets to be involved in, the worse it is for the kids.”

That’s ‘Sir’ Ben Kingsley to you
Ben Kingsley is hitting the interview circuit, promoting his new film “Fifty Dead Men Walking,” and actors who’ve worked with him in the past are keeping count of who remembers to refer to him as “Sir.”

After Kingsley was knighted in 2001, his requests to be referred to as “Sir” instead of “Mr.” created a stir.

“There was a directive not all that long ago that cast and crew should remember that it’s Sir Ben, not Ben, not Mr. Kingsley,” said an actor with firsthand knowledge. “It’s ridiculous. He’s an actor, just like all the other actors.”

Read This, Watch that
I had no intentions of plugging “Mad Men” again, but The Footnotes of Mad Men is so worth the read. It explains the back story behind themes and products in the show, including Enovid, the contraceptive prescribed to Peggy in the pilot, an the Reader’s Digest lung cancer story that got in the way of Don’s Lucky Strike pitch. Even if you’re not into this particular program, think about how this concept — a site explaining topical props and themes — could enhance any well-produced and written show. 

And what to watch? “Top Chef,” of course, which returns Aug. 19 on Bravo. Nothing about this show ever feels old, even as we enter the sixth season. Well, maybe the product placement gets a little tired, but it's offset by Padma Lakshmi, with her syrupy delivery of Quickfire descriptions and questionable kitchen attire, and Tom Collichio’s “Oh, am I on TV? I didn’t really notice, now what were you saying?” approach to the show, all of which makes for reliably fantastic television.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com. Follow Scoop on Twitter: @ courtneyatmsnbc.

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