Monthly Archives

February 2020

Duffy Reveals Tragic Reason for her Disappearance from the Spotlight

-This is harrowing. Remember Duffy? She came up around the same time as Adele and for awhile was just as big. And then she disappeared. On Instagram today she posted: “Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why…The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time.” She says she will be posting an interview in the coming weeks.

–Pete Davidson just ran through his romantic relationships in a very “thank u, next” kind of way. In a YouTube interview with Charlamagne Tha God, he discussed his split from Kaia Gerber, saying “She’s very young, and I’m f*cking going through a lot and it was before I went to rehab. It’s just like, she should be having fun. She shouldn’t have to worry about some dude that just has issues and shit. She should be enjoying her work. It just wasn’t the right place or the right time at all.” He also said he’s “learned a lot from the awesome chicks that I’ve been with” and mentioned Margaret Qualley (“she will win an Oscar”), Kate Beckinsale (“f*cking legendary…all my uncles freaked out”), Ariana Grande (“I pretty much knew it was around over after [her ex Mac Miller died]. That was really horrible, and I can’t imagine what that shit is like. All I do know is that she really loved the shit out of him, and she wasn’t putting on a show or anything”) and Cazzie David (“one of the funniest people I’ve met”).

-He also hinted that his time with SNL might be coming to an end, saying “I personally think I should be done with that show because they make fun of me on it. I’m like, cold open, political punchlines. I’m like, Weekend Update jokes…I have a weird feeling in that building, where I don’t know whose team they’re playing for — if I’m the joke or I’m in on the joke.” After the interview dropped, Page Six posted a story about how he gets preferential treatment from Lorne Michaels and doesn’t contribute much in the writers’ room. Said a source: “Pete has a pretty cushy gig, to say the least,” while another added, “The cast isn’t into him. He’s just there — he doesn’t add much.”

-The interview was to promote his new Netflix special, which isn’t getting great reviews.

–Jodie Turner Smith making fun of Joshua Jackson while the Dawson’s Creek theme song plays in a Home Depot is a whole lotta cute.

-Photographers were “banned” from taking pictures of Beyoncé at the Kobe and Gigi Bryant celebration of life yesterday.

–Lady Gaga‘s new single “Stupid Love” is dropping on Friday.

-Disney is doing a Bob swap. Their chief executive, Bob Iger, will step down after 15 years at the helm of the company, replaced by Bob Chapek, who was most recently chairman of Disney’s parks business. The timing of all this is very head-scratchy.

-Filming on Mission: Impossible 7 has halted in Venice, Italy due to fear of coronavirus.

-For months, Tyra Banks has been trying to hype her forthcoming venture: ModelLand, a model-themed attraction (in a mall!). Tickets are now on sale — and everyone is still very confused.

-In her new EW cover story, Danai Gurira opens up about life after The Walking Dead, and putting big-screen stardom on hold to fulfill her life’s mission behind the scenes.

-Legends of Tomorrow’s Caity Lotz is making her directorial debut with tonight’s episode and despite having no personal connection, I’m weirdly proud of her.

-I finished Sanditon and what was that ending?! Jane Austen would never!

-This is an eye-opening post on how Ford v Ferrari’s opening weekend debut of $31M was hailed as a box office triumph in the press, while Birds of Prey’s $32M debut was treated as a failure, even though it had a lower budget and was R-rated.

–David Chang shares meals with Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Padma Lakshmi, Bill Simmons, Nick Kroll and more in the Ugly Delicious season 2 trailer.

-Paramount has also released a new teaser for A Quiet Place Part II. Cillian Murphy is in this? Sign me up!

Lana Condor Teaches Ali Wong About the Art of Pizza Dough

lana condor ali wong interview
Alexis Hunley/Interview

–Ali Wong interviews Lana Condor for Interview and it’s great. They talk about making a conscious decision to keep their families off their social media, the joys of learning how to cook, and their career goals (Condor: “I want to play Sandra Oh’s daughter more than anything in this world. I would work with her in any capacity.”)

–Harvey Weinstein is now a convicted rapist. In his New York trial today, he was found guilty of sexual assault and third-degree rape. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison on the charge of sexually assaulting Miriam Haley at his Soho apartment in 2006. (He was acquitted of the two more serious counts of predatory sexual assault involving actress Annabella Sciorra.) He’ll be sentenced on March 11 — and he still faces 4 more charges in LA.

-His lawyer Donna Rotunno says of the verdict: “He took it like a man.” Always a charmer, that one.

–Vanessa Bryant delivered a heartbreaking tribute to husband Kobe and daughter Gianna at their Celebration of Life ceremony today: “God knew they couldn’t be on this earth without each other. He had to bring them home to heaven together.”

-Here’s Beyonce’s opening performance from the celebration, Christina Aguilera singing “Ave Maria” and Jimmy Kimmel’s incredibly emotional speech.

–Zendaya and Jacob Elordi traveled to Australia together again. They were photographed arriving in Sydney.

–Jason Lei Howden, the director of Guns Akimbo starring Daniel Radcliffe, just did his best to torpedo his own movie weeks before its release by falsely accusing two black female movie critics of online bullying. The fact that he was allowed to send multiple tweets about it not only from his own account but from the movie’s official handle without the studio immediately shutting it down is puzzling.  His subsequent non-apology was predictably terrible.

-The way Rihanna says “Tell your friends to pull up” at the 2:40 mark of her NAACP speech gives me chills.

–Gigi Hadid owned YouTuber Jake Paul so hard this weekend. It was glorious.

-The TV adaptation of Love, Simon is moving from Disney+ to Hulu, reportedly because “Disney thought the half-hour comedy featured more adult themes than it was comfortable featuring on family-focused Disney+”. I don’t really get how it’s not wholesome enough for a streamer that also has Runaways and 10 Things I Hate About You.

–Chris Evans is in talks to star in Greg Berlanti’s Little Shop of Horrors. I liked everything about that headline until I read further and realized its for the women-hating dentist role. No thanks.

-Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy just landed the lead in a new dark comedy from AMC.

-I kinda love that this 2008 interview with Amy Adams about how she was once too distracted by Lee Pace‘s hotness to act is making the rounds again. It deserves to be remembered.

–Lena Waithe is being accused of stealing the concept of her new anthology series Girls Room from filmmaker Nina Lee.

–Mark Ruffalo says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige almost quit over the studio’s lack of diversity and representation. “When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, ‘Listen, I might not be here tomorrow.’ And he’s like, ‘Ike [Isaac Perlmutter, Disney’s largest shareholder at the time] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring superhero movie. So if I am still here tomorrow, you will know that I won that battle’…Because Kevin wanted black superheroes, women superheroes, LGBT superheroes, he changed the whole Marvel universe.”

-Has anyone ever looked as happy about working out as Michelle Pfeiffer does on her Peloton?

–Sarah Paulson plays a creepy mom with a secret in the first trailer for Run.

 

Emily Blunt Collabs with Kids for Marie Claire

Emily-Blunt-Marie-Claire

–Emily Blunt covers the new issue of Marie Claire, and the interview is great — mostly because it’s conducted by an 11-year-old boy who wants to know how she overcame stuttering. The (very good) cover image was shot by a 17-year-old.

–Justin Bieber‘s week on The Late Late Show continued last night. He was asked to rank wife Hailey’s friends (Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne) or eat bull penis. He was quick to rank them: Kendall, Gigi, Cara, saying “Here’s the thing … I know Kendall the best. I’ve spent the most time with Kendall. She’s a good friend of ours. I haven’t spent a lot of time with Gigi, and I haven’t spent a lot of time with Cara.” Not long after, Cara posted the video on her IG with the caption “If you have nothing against me, then why don’t you unblock me? Love you @haileybieber – he should have just eaten the bull penis.”

-The Friends reunion is officially a go. It will be in May on HBO Max.

-The writer who did the NYT profile on Ben Affleck has been sharing quotes on Twitter that didn’t make it into the article, including his thoughts on ex Jennifer Lopez’s Oscar snub: “She should have been nominated. She’s the real thing. I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s fucking baller.”

-Also, Ben apparently deleted his Raya profile.

–Kate and Oliver Hudson were on the Ellen show this week to promote their new podcast (which features celebs and their siblings — I would actually listen to that!) and they told a story about how Tom Cruise once crashed their party by scaling the 8-foot gate at their parents’ house.

–Sandra Oh has been tapped to lead a new Netflix dramedy from Amanda Peet and the creators of Game of Thrones.

–Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced they will no longer use the “Sussex Royal” brand after their official exit.

-They also updated their website to say they “will continue to require effective security to protect them and their son” — but didn’t mention who will be paying for it.

-Cindy Crawford is reportedly “very worried” about her 20-year-old son after he got a face tattoo. Same, tbh.

–Danai Gurira‘s post-Walking Dead career is coming to life. She’s landed a development deal with ABC Studios.

–Reese Witherspoon delivers some more big little lies in the first full trailer for Little Fires Everywhere, costarring Kerry Washington and Joshua Jackson.