What’s the Cost of Happiness?

Santa Barbara, not surprisingly, is the most expensive city to be happy in the U.S.

An Australian-based money exchange service, S Money, has ranked the most costly cities in America based on data from a 2018 Purdue University study on the relationship between happiness and income to find the price of happiness in every metropolis.

Our Eden by the Beach is the most expensive, with the cost of living here 57 percent above the national average, according to the Economic Research Institute.

The price of happiness in our rarefied enclave is $162,721, according to the S Money report.

Honolulu, Hawaii, was second with an annual price of $148,943, and New York third with $145,028.

A Record Deal

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry has sold the rights to her entire music catalog for a hefty $225 million nearly 20 years after starting her successful recording career.

The 38-year-old “Teenage Dream” singer has reached a deal with Litmus Music, who now owns the rights to all five of her studio records, according to Billboard.

The deal means the company now owns the “Harleys in Hawaii” hitmaker’s stakes to her masters, as well as publishing rights to all five of her albums.

Universal Group will continue to own Perry’s masters.

Music to everybody’s ears…

New Memoir in the Works

Meghan Markle is following in husband Prince Harry’s literary footsteps and writing her own memoirs, according to royal author Tom Bower.

Bower, who penned Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors, tells British TV: “My information is that she is writing her autobiography and it will be a huge money spinner.”

It comes after the Duke of Sussex’s bestselling ghost-written book Spare earlier this year.

Both Harry and Meghan have been in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the Invictus Games for disabled veterans.

En route, Harry stopped off at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, the venue for his 2018 wedding, to pay his respects to his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on the first anniversary of her death after a record 70 years on the British throne.

She was laid to rest in the King George VI chapel, with her husband, Prince Philip, and her parents.

Lawyers’ Fees May End

The very bitter divorce battle between actor Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner has come to a shocking conclusion with both sides settling with the prenuptial agreement enforced and a hefty monetary penalty if challenged.

The 68-year-old Oscar winner and his 49-year-old wife of nearly 20 years have been embroiled in a months-long legal battle which has met a surprise ending.

According to TMZ if Baumgartner challenges the judgment “she would have to repay Costner more than one million dollars and pay his attorney fees for the prenup fight.”

Upon hearing this, the mother of three “agreed over the weekend to the terms of the three-page settlement letter.”

Just Trying to Help

Oprah Winfrey says she is shocked by the backlash and ‘online attacks’ over a multi-million-dollar fund she started with actor Dwayne Johnson to help victims of the devastating fires in Maui, Hawaii, where she owns three different properties on more than 2,000 acres.

Both Oprah, 69, and Johnson, 52, contributed five million dollars each to get the People’s Fund of Maui started, stating in a video the money would be directly distributed to those in need who were affected by the fires in the historical town of Lahaina.

However, many were enraged that Montecito resident Oprah, with a reported worth of $2.8 billion, and Johnson, supposedly worth $800 million, are still asking fans to chip in.

“So all of the online attacks, lies, conspiracy theories, really took the focus off what was the most important thing, which is the people of Maui,” Oprah explained in a CBS-TV interview in New York.

Sightings

Meghan Markle noshing sans Prince Harry at Lucky’s… The Weakest Link host Jane Lynch in line for breakfast at Jeannine’s on CVR… Maroon 5 rocker Adam Levine in his vintage Aston Martin DB4 at Pierre Lafond.

Pip! Pip!