By Wonderwall.com Editors
9:29am PST, Feb 2, 2022
Jennifer Lopez talks Ben Affleck romance: 'You do things better the second time'
Jennifer Lopez steps back into rom-com-land with next week's release of "Marry Me," in which she plays a pop star whose love life is very much in the public eye. And yes, she's aware of the parallels to her own life. In a pair of new candid interviews this week, the 52-year-old actress, singer and producer shares new insight into her rekindled romance with Ben Affleck — including how the couple deals with public interest in their love now, versus in the early aughts. "I would say we learned our lesson the first time," Jennifer told the New York Times when asked if the two had planned out how to handle the "media frenzy" their reunion was likely to (and did) create. That "lesson," she said, is "to hold it sacred," perhaps in a way they didn't know how to do way back when. "You have to do what feels good to you all the time. But at the same time, you learn from the past, you do things better the second time," she explained. "There's a part of it that, yes, we're together. But there's a part of it that's not, you know, being so open the way we were when we were so young and in love many years ago."She echoed those sentiments while speaking to People for the magazine's new cover story, before acknowledging that she and Ben, 49, both feel lucky to have the chance to try again after having called off their engagement nearly 20 years ago. "There's more of an appreciation and a celebration for it, which is nice," she told People. "When you find somebody and you really, really love them and you get a second chance at that? That is a really rare, precious, beautiful thing and we don't take it for granted." "Marry Me," starring J.Lo and Owen Wilson, hits theaters and Peacock Feb. 11.
Keep reading for the latest on the Whoopi scandal …
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Can Whoopi Goldberg's career survive backlash over Holocaust comments?
Late on Feb. 1, the official Twitter account for ABC News' public relations department released a statement announcing that, "effective immediately," Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks from "The View" over "her wrong and hurtful comments" about the Holocaust. Said Kim Godwin, the president of ABC News, "While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities." Earlier in the day, Page Six reported that insiders and staffers at "The View" and at ABC and Disney were angry both that Whoopi claimed the Holocaust was "not about race" on "The View" this week, and that she had not been "disciplined" or fired by the network or completely retracted her comments, despite having apologized on Twitter, on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and on "The View." "ABC staffers and Disney Network execs are saying Whoopi went way too far. And board members are not happy with her apology and want a fuller retraction," an ABC source told the New York Post's gossip column. "Why does Whoopi seemingly get a pass when others don't? Perhaps this time she won't," the insider added. After her initial remarks, Whoopi said on Twitter that she'd asserted the Holocaust was "not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man.' I should have said it is about both." She went on to write: "As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, 'The Holocaust was about the Nazis' systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.' I stand corrected. The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver [sic]. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused." On "The View" the next day, she told the audience she wanted viewers to hear from her "directly" on the matter. "My words upset so many people, which was never my intention. I understand why. The information I got was really helpful," she said, in part. "I said the Holocaust wasn't about race and was instead about man's inhumanity to man. It is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be the inferior race. Words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected."
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Rihanna's pink coat-clad pregnancy pics spark baby gender theories, search trends
On Jan. 31, Rihanna and her boyfriend, rapper ASAP Rocky, quietly announced they're expecting by releasing photos of the couple strolling through New York City together, with Rih's very pregnant bump on full display beneath a puffy pink Chanel jacket and a waist-length tangle of chains and pearls. Shot by famed photographer Miles Diggs, the photos were hailed by the likes of the New York Times and Vogue as a "fabulous" and street style-forward take on the usual celeb pregnancy photo announcement. But Rihanna's fans soon honed in the pink Chanel coat for a different reason. "Rihanna wore that pink on purpose. She's having a girl," one fan predicted on Twitter. "Rihanna told us she's having a girl without telling us. Peep the pink," wrote another. Of course, Rihanna — who happens to be the world's highest paid female music star — is also currently promoting her very pink (and red)-themed Savage x Fenty Valentine's Day lingerie pieces. And according to the Times, "searches for 'pink padded coats' increased 200 percent" on the shopping site Lovethesales.com "in the hours after the photos were posted."
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Here's how much Tom Brady reportedly earned from his 22-year football career
Star NFL quarterback Tom Brady finally addressed retirement rumors on Feb. 1 with a formal announcement that he's leaving the league after 22 seasons. Given the buzz around his future after this season, it wasn't a huge surprise when he shared the news on Instagram in a message that ended with a shout-out to his "loving and supportive wife" Gisele Bundchen and their kids, whom he called his "greatest achievement." What's a bit more shocking, however, is the jaw-dropping amount of money he's made over the course of two decades and seven Super Bowl wins. E! News reports the 44-year-old has already raked in "roughly $450 million." That number comes courtesy of contracts as a player, which Sportrac estimates earned Tom $293 million, plus $160 million or more in extracurricular ventures like his podcast, clothing line and endorsements, according to Forbes. Tom has yet to reveal what he plans to do next.
Hailey Bieber shares an update on baby plans with Justin
Looks like fatherhood may have to wait for Justin Bieber. In his 2021 Amazon Prime documentary, the singer, 27, said he hoped to at least "start trying" to have a baby with wife Hailey Bieber by the end of the year. Hailey, 25, sounded skeptical of the idea in the scene. Now, she's opening up about her hesitation to start a family just yet. "I think ideally in the next couple of years we would try," Hailey recently told WSJ Magazine for its Spring Women's Fashion issue. "But there's a reason they call it try, right? You don't know how long that process is ever going to take. Definitely no kids this year; that would be a little bit hectic, I think." The way the model sees it, she has plenty of time to move into a parenting phase of her life and she has no plans to rush it. "There's this thing that happens for women when you get married. Everybody always assumes it's: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby. Well, what about all the things I want to accomplish in my business?" she says. "I think I had it ingrained in my head that I was going to want to have kids right away and I was going to want to have kids super, super young," Hailey adds. "Then I turned 25 and I'm like, I'm still super, super young!" Hailey and Justin tied the knot in 2018 after years of dating on and off.
Hundreds of Astroworld lawsuits against Travis Scott, Live Nation, to proceed as one giant case
Travis Scott and Live Nation will face hundreds of Astroworld Festival lawsuits as one huge case, Billboard reported this week. The consolidation was green-lit last week by the Texas Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation, which agreed to the change after hearing requests from victims and organizers alike. As the case moves into its next pre-trial phase, a single judge will reportedly be involved in hearing from the "nearly 2,800 alleged victims" of the chaos that ensued during and after a deadly crowd surge that took place while Travis performed, leaving 10 people dead and hundreds more injured, according to Billboard. The 387 (or more) lawsuits being combined into one accuse Travis and Live Nation of negligence with regard to the festival's planning and production. Defendants are reportedly seeking billions of dollars in damages.
Rachel Zegler responds to Snow White casting criticism
In the wake of her award-winning turn as Maria in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," Rachel Zegler's preparing to play Snow White in Disney's upcoming live-action remake. But news of her casting in the fairytale role sparked a good deal of criticism from people who've made it clear they don't think a young Latina woman should play a princess whose skin is famously "white as snow." Rachel, 20, recently chatted with Andrew Garfield about the response for Variety's Actors on Actors series, where the two reflected on recent changes in Hollywood around issues of diversity and representation. "Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me … even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries," she said of her new role. "Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it. But you don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that," she added. "When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry." When Andrew remarked those are "the people that we need to love into awareness," Rachel concluded, "We need to love them in the right direction. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess."
Cara Delevingne opens up about 'stressful,' chaotic childhood
At 29, Cara Delevingne remains one of the world's most successful fashion models, she's currently shooting "Only Murders in the Building" with pal Selena Gomez and she's working on documentary about sexuality, gender and identity for the BBC. Those accomplishments are even more impressive, given the challenges she overcame growing up, from her mom's mental health and drug abuse issues to her own battle with anxiety and depression. "Everyone has something they go through with their family," Cara tells Harper's Bazaar UK in the magazine's March cover story. "My life I feel was very stressful, because there was quite a lot of chaos, not being sure if people were OK or not." She goes on to recall how she dropped out of school at an early age. "I really just wanted to be able to prove that I wasn't the deadbeat I thought I was," she explains. "When you have mental health struggles, you can't see anything, it blinds you." Cara began modeling at 17, but she was still trying to come to terms with her mental health and her sexuality (she came out as pansexual in 2017). "I do think I would have hated myself less, I would have not been so ashamed, if I'd had someone [to look up to]," she says. "The one thing I'm happy about growing up queer and fighting it and hiding it is it gives me so much fire and drive to try to make people's lives easier in some way by talking about it."
