Sideshow: Sarandon, Robbins make it official

Although they split up last summer, actors

Susan Sarandon

and

Tim Robbins,

made the official announcement of their breakup this week. Publicist Teal Cannady said in a statement that the two actors separated after 23 years together, a union that produced two sons. Sarandon, 63, and Robbins, 51, met while shooting the 1988 film

Bull Durham

, which was nominated for an Oscar for original screenplay. Sarandon stars in

The Lovely Bones,

which opens next month while Robbins last appeared in 2008's

City of Ember.

Billy Ray Cyrus

is perhaps best known to today's teens as the father of pop star

Miley

, but in a holiday special for TV, he evokes his own dad. Cyrus said he has been preparing his whole life for the role of Daniel Burton in the Hallmark Channel movie

Christmas in Canaan,

which is airing this month. He plays a widowed father of three, living in Canaan, Texas, at the start of the civil rights movement. Cyrus said he thought that if he could just "be

Ronald Ray Cyrus

in 1964 - then that's this guy." He then dug up old photos of his father and cut his hair to match those Polaroid pics.

The roster of stars presenting at next month's Golden Globe Awards now includes

Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston

and

Mickey Rourke.

Roberts is also a nominee this year in the category of best comedy actress for her performance in

Duplicity.

Robert De Niro

and

Leonardo DiCaprio

were previously announced as presenters for the Jan. 17 show. The nominees for this year's awards were unveiled on Dec. 15 with

Up in the Air,

starring

George Clooney,

capturing six nominations.

Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock

and

Matt Damon

each received two nominations.

Danny Gokey

may have only finished in third place on season eight of TV's

American Idol,

but the title of his new album is very optimistic.

My Best Days

is scheduled for release in early March 2010, but fans can preorder it from Gokey's Web site now and get an autographed CD cover after it's released. Gokey sang "O Holy Night" at a holiday party for his label in Nashville this past week, and last summer he toured with the Top 10 Idols.

The New Jersey Italian American Legislative Caucus is pressuring MTV to cancel its

Jersey Shore

reality show. The caucus says the show promotes derogatory ethnic stereotypes of Italian Americans and described it as "wildly offensive." In a letter sent Tuesday to the president of Viacom, MTV's parent company, caucus chairman

Joseph Vitale

asks that the show be immediately taken off the air. The lawmakers also want advertisers to boycott the show, which focuses on eight tanned twentysomethings and their escapades in Seaside Heights. On Wednesday, a Viacom spokesman referred a request for comment to an MTV spokesperson, who did not immediately respond. MTV has said its intention is not to stereotype or offend.

Rapper

T.I.

was released from prison Tuesday and will serve the rest of his sentence on gun charges at a halfway house. T.I.,

Clifford Harris,

left federal prison in Arkansas and will move into the Dismas Charities halfway house in Atlanta, where he will stay for up to three months. He was arrested in 2007 for attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. He began serving the jail term in May.