Drew Barrymore has unhappy history with homeless half-brother

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MALIBU, CA - JUNE 04: Actress Drew Barrymore attends Chanel's benefit dinner for the Natural Resources Defense Council's Ocean Initiative at the home of Ron & Kelly Meyer on June 4, 2011 in Malibu, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

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Updated: January 10, 2012 8:21AM

F irst it was Madonna, and now Drew Barrymore has to deal with headlines about a homeless brother living on the streets.

Yet before you rush to judgment about this latest star-ignoring-destitute-relative story, first reported by the National Enquirer, I’ve learned there are some strong similarities between the recent revelation about Madonna’s brother spending last winter living under a bridge in Traverse City, Mich., and Barrymore’s homeless sibling in Los Angeles.

In both cases, the men in question had been given many, many chances by their famous sisters (and other relatives) and had long battled serious addiction issues.

† First of all, John Barrymore III is Drew’s half-brother. They share the same father, the late John Drew Barrymore, himself an actor who was a troubled heir to the famed Barrymore acting clan — and who battled alcoholism and drug addiction his entire life. At the time of his death in 2004 at age 72, the senior Barrymore had been totally supported by his daughter, despite years of an earlier estrangement. Drew Barrymore had her own very public battle with addiction — happily remaining sober now for many years.

As for her half brother, a source close to the actress said he “has never been nice to Drew, in fact he was frequently verbally abusive and simply assumed she should support him. . . . That stunt [wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘Drew Barrymore Is My Sister’] is just so typical of him!

“Just because someone is famous and rich, it doesn’t mean you are obligated to take care of a brother who has been given so many chances — and blown them all,” added the source. “He is a person who has never done anything to warrant help.”

REPLACING MATT? There does seem to be something to the buzz that NBC is in serious negotiations with Ryan Seacrest to replace Matt Lauer eventually as host of “Today.”

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the network’s veteran morning show is ranked No. 1 — and NBC wants to ensure that will continue if and when Lauer gives up his mantle at “Today,” where he’s co-hosted for 14 years.

Currently, Seacrest hosts “American Idol” and anchors both E! News and a daily radio show from his Los Angeles base. On top of that Seacrest has built a huge media empire — producing such reality shows as “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

† The tricky part: So much of Seacrest’s current obligations are West Coast-centric. “Today,” of course, is based in New York and will remain there.

JAY & KRISTIN: Though Kristin Cavallari wouldn’t reveal the reason, the actress told People magazine that she and Jay Cutler “didn’t break up because of love lost. We loved each other just as much as we always did when we weren’t together.”

The couple’s engagement, called off in July, was renewed last week.

According to Cavallari, “Sometimes, in order for things to get better, they have to end, even if it’s momentarily, and that was the case with us.”

TAKING ADVANTAGE: Members of Michael Jackson’s family and those in charge of his estate are not happy about an auction scheduled for Dec. 17 in London — a sale of furnishings of a house the King of Pop briefly rented as he prepared for the London concerts where he had planned to perform. Jackson’s death, of course, led to those shows being canceled.

As my Hollywood gossip pal Janet Charlton points out, the furniture and accessories in that house were not owned by Jackson, and this is just another example of someone using his name to make a quick buck.

COOLING OFF: In the wake of his big American Airlines tweeting controversy, Alec Baldwin’s team apparently persuaded him to stifle things — and deactivate his Twitter account for the time being.

Previously, Baldwin was a Twitter regular — amassing 600,000 followers in the process.

‘GOTTI’ GOING FORWARD? Ted Field — the Chicago native, Marshall Field heir and big producer in Hollywood — may be the guy who saves the foundering “Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father” film, starring John Travolta in the title role.

Field, a key producer of “Gotti,” reportedly has lined up both the additional financing needed, plus a distribution deal with Summit Entertainment (the studio of the “Twilight” films).

WEDDING BELLS: Only a few months after Sinead O’Connor announced she was actively looking for a new guy to be her lover, she obviously has made a pretty serious connection.

The singer announced on her website that she planned to marry fellow Irish native Barry Herridge, a child addiction counselor, on Thursday — with the ceremony rumored to take place in Las Vegas.