Rejoice! Your faith in Christian Bale can now be restored — his mother and sister filed those unfortunate assault charges earlier this week after he refused them a $200,000 loan. It’s all starting to make sense now! According to The Sun

The women said sister Sharon needed [$200,000] to help her bring up her three children. Christian was asked to loan [it to] her but refused and that caused an almighty row. Sources close to Bale said Jenny inflamed the situation by hurling insults about his wife.

[His mother and sister say] they did not want any publicity. But they say he bullied them. They are both devastated that it has come to this but want him to be taught a lesson.

You can always count on relatives to show up at an inopportune time and start demanding money. Especially in my family, where the monetary demands occasionally come with a court-ordered paternity test. Did I mention I’m from the South? Woo doggie! Cue the banjo music and the moonshine jug any time now.

At the Dark Knight premiere in Spain (1 & 2) and in London:

Although it seems impossible without the aid of bonfires, Britney Spears has somehow managed to lose nearly $61 million dollars in the last year. According to In Touch Magazine

In addition to the enormous tab for legal bills, rehab and psychiatric care, Britney’s inability to work has cost her a fortune. “By not touring for her last album [Blackout], she lost out on $50 million,” estimates an LA-based CPA. ““It’s staggering how much money has been used up.”

Britney Spears has spent the last six months and the same pair of raggedy-ass boots and covered in stains, so I doubt she’s blowing her money on clothes. I’m thinking more along the lines of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Phillip Morris. Not the actual companies, of course. I’m talking buckets of chicken and smokes. Merrill-Lynch might have tried to point her along the lines of long-term growth, but last time I checked, you couldn’t deep-fry dividends. Plus their pie model of capital structure doesn’t even come with whipped cream! Who are they trying to kid? It’s Britney, bitch!

Working off her return: