I don't understand why celebrity news is so popular. Why do adults care about Angelina Jolie (and other celebrities') private lives?

Celebrity news is big in America.

I was trying to read some real news on Huffington Post, and even over there I was subjected to vast wastes of space devoted to the private lives of celebrities.

Isn’t it kind of pathetic for adults to care about these things?
What is the allure of celebrity news, and why do people seemingly prefer it over international news?

And doesn’t the focus on celebrities cause people miss out on more important and more interesting things?

I’m not talking about teens here; I do understand why teens would be interested in such things.