Ahev you ever seen a Tweet or a Facebook update about a really cool sounding party, and then realized you weren’t invited? Well it happens to country stars, too. John Rich tweeted this earlier in the week: “(Financial Guru) Dave Ramsey speaking at my house tonight to the up and coming country artists! What a deal!” Fellow country artist Jake Owen happened to see this, and feeling like he was an up and coming country artist, tweeted back, “where’s my invite?” Turns out it was a CMA sponsored event and John Rich didn’t have anything to do with the guest list, and I guess the artists were less known than Jake, but still…

No, no, John Rich isn’t gay.  But Chely says it was a comment and question from John Rich that helped drive her to the brink of suicide before she came out and admitted she was gay.  Chely says “John finally asked me point plank:  ‘You’re not gay.  If you are, people won’t have it.  It’s sick, it’s deviant, it’s unacceptable to country music fans.  You’re not are you?’ And I lied.”  Chely says this shift from not talking about it to lying about it was what brought her to a point where she contemplated suicide.  The only thing that madeher feel better was when she decided that God would want her to tell the truth.

Meanwhile, John Rich has this to say about the encounter:  “I would never pass judgement on any friend of mine.  I feel awful that, at this time in Chely’s life, my decade olf comment, ‘Good, thank God”…was taken the wrong way.  I was clumsily trying to express my relief that even a country boy like me had a chance of having a beer with a woman as talented and attractive as Chely.  For years after that conversation, Chely invited me to perform at charity events.  In all that time, I wish she would have said something directly to me before the book’s publicity tour.  Especially since some of the commentsattributed to me are not mine.  I’m happy for her and only wish her the best in her personal and professional life.” 

Here’s Chely’s big interview with the Today Show:

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Most celebrity babies make their debut on the pages of a magazine, wrapped in some pretty little blanket with the proud and glowing parents holding them lovingly. And then there’s John Rich’s kid. The first public picture of him is out, and here it is:

So who’s the happy couple?  That’s two dudes:  Sebastian Bach, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Skid Row, and crazy rock legend Ted Nugent.  Little Cash was on the set of his dad’s music video when someone snapped this shot, and then Sebastian tweeted it.  I have to say Cash, 3 months,  is a pretty cute kid.  But this is one unique debut photo…there’s nothing at all like it in my daughter’s baby book.  Though come to think of it, the picture of her at age 3 with George Jones, where she’s looking over at him like, “who the heck is this dude?” is almost as unusual.

If John Rich’s tweets are any indication, things in his neighborhood of Love Circle are definitely not too lovey-dovey right now.  I told you last week that neighbors hate Mr. Richmore, John’s gigantic house, and they protested the bright lights that shine out from it.  Then John tweeted that he’s bought some night vision goggles and was keeping an eye on everyone.  And now, he’s tweeted this:

“Anybody know who vandalized my gate?  I’ll give ya a grand if ya turn em in.  Cash.”

So it sounds like nobody’s kissing and making up on Love Circle.

Last week I told you about Mt. Richmore, John Rich’s massive block of a house on Love Circle in Nashville that has neighbors up in arms, most recently because of bright lights that face out toward the rest of the neighborhood. After a protest last week where people gathered to shine flashlights toward the house, this message was posted on Rich’s Twitter:

Hey!! Just bought some kick-ass binoculars with night vision!! You’d be surprised what’s happening on Love Circle…I can see you! Watchout.

Just after that, he posted this:

Please tell ur friends to follow me on Twitter at johnrich! LOTS of crazy stuff about to happen! Send em my way…thx couzins!

Now either he’s going to wage war on his neighbors, or as Shannon at Nashville Gab speculates, someone new has hacked into his Twitter account. She noticed that these tweets come from a different source than usual even though they are posted on his account.

Here’s why:

Neighbors of “Mount Richmore” are annoyed by a lot of things about John Rich’s new house.  For one, it’s 73 feet tall and 11,000 square feet, so it’s blocking a few peoples’ pricey views.  But the latest problem is the lighting, which as you can see above, involves these really bright lights facing outward.  So a few disgruntled Nashvillians got on Twitter and organized a sort of flash mob protest, where people showed up with flashlights and aimed them into John’s house to give him a taste of his own medicine.  No comment from Mr. Rich, who is a new daddy, and probably a little sleep-deprived, which makes a person a little more cranky than usual.  Be careful, people!

A rare John and Joan sighting, just before Cash's birth

John and Joan Rich are the proud parents of a brand new baby boy, Cash, who was born over the weekend at a Nashville hospital.  No other details have been released by this notoriously private couple, who dated under the radar for FIVE FULL YEARS before anyone noticed.  But we can confirm that yes indeed, they did name their baby “Cash.”

Remember when it seemed like every week John Rich was getting into trouble in a bar somewhere?  Well things have calmed down a bit, and this latest ruling also helps clean up his image:  Charges that Rich sucker-punched Jared Ashley have been dropped.  The judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence, i.e. there were no pictures of bruising or cuts that would back up his story.  Makes sense, but what doesn’t quite make sense to me is this statement from the judge:  “If he hit (Ashley) in the jaw with that big ring I see he’s wearing, it would’ve cut him, although I don’t know if he was wearing it at the time.”  Okay, that’s weird to me.  He’s looking at the ring that John is wearing in the courtroom, saying if John had punched him wearing that ring, he’d have a mark.  But then he fully admits that he has no idea if John was wearing the ring…so what does that have to do with anything?  At any rate, sounds like there must have been other flimsy things about Ashley’s case that affected the ruling.