By Wonderwall.com Editors
3:00pm PDT, Sep 8, 2023
Heart surgery 'disaster'
Arnold Schwarzenegger is opening up about the open heart surgery that nearly killed him a few years back and how his positive mindset helped him recover.
Recalling how he woke up "freaking out" from what should have been a non-invasive procedure, Arnold, 76, says in a new video on his Pump Club YouTube channel that he found "the doctors were in front of me saying, 'I'm so sorry.'" They explained they'd "made a mistake" that left the actor with internal bleeding, he recalled, and told him they'd been forced to "open [you] up very quickly, to save your life."
It was his third heart surgery and Arnold was due on the set of 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate" just a few months later. "It was a disaster. … So now how do I get out of it? You have to shift gears," he continued. "Collect yourself, shift gears and say, 'OK, what I need to do now is get out of this hospital.'"
Arnold enlisted the help of friends to keep him moving around the hospital, sharing clips of his "buddies" helping him count steps and keep his lungs healthy to avoid contracting a potentially deadly bout of pneumonia.
"I had to be in shape, I had to move around, run around, lift things up, do the fight scenes," he says. "And we did it because I had a positive attitude, I knew exactly how I was gonna get there, I had the support system — because none of this we can do by ourselves — and when I started shooting 'Terminator 6,' I was all back together again."
Keep reading for more news…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
Cannibalism concerns
Diplo and Chris Rock were among the throngs of Burning Man attendees who got trapped in the Nevada desert over the weekend after heavy rains turned the Labor Day weekend festival into a mud pit. The DJ and the comic got out safely, thanks to a muddy hike and a fan's pickup truck — but not before Chris became "bizarrely scared of what was going to happen," according to Diplo.
He recounted the ordeal to CNN after using his Instagram Story to document the pair's wild journey out of the festival where more than 70,000 people were told to shelter in place and conserve supplies as organizers barred traffic from entering and exiting.
"[Chris] thought there was going to be cannibalism a day later and didn't know if people were going to run on our camp and steal our stuff," Diplo recalled. The DJ also poked fun at his pal on Instagram. "After walking six miles through the mud, all Chris could think about was a f****** cold brew," he wrote over a video.
"It was a challenge, but honestly one of the highlights of the whole trip was getting out there and enjoying the time out there and seeing the desert, walking through the mud and meeting fans," he told CNN. "We had a good time in the back of the truck. We rode for about four miles into the city, and we sat in a bar for a while and hung out with people and found a ride to Reno. It was like the old times, you know, just caravanning across the country."
MORE: Comedy icons, country singers and more stars attend the 2023 US Open Tennis Championships
Infamous age gap
Priscilla Presley was moved to tears during a seven-minute standing ovation at the 2023 Venice Film Festival premiere of "Priscilla" on Sept. 4, Variety reported. Adapted from Priscilla's memoir, "Elvis & Me," the new Sofia Coppola film tells the often tumultuous story of Priscilla's relationship with Elvis Presley, from the time they met on a military base when she was 14 and he was 24, through the end of their marriage.
Priscilla, who hugged the movie's star, Cailee Spaeny, after wiping away her tears, spoke to press earlier in the weekend about her connection with the King despite their large age gap. "People think, 'Oh, it was sex.' No, it wasn't. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old. We were more in line in thought, and that was our relationship," she explained.
Priscilla also acknowledged her parents struggled "to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why," then said she believes it was because of her listening skills. "Elvis would pour his heart out to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother, which he never, ever got over. And I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection," she said. "Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life — not in numbers. That was the attraction."
MORE: Stars at the 2023 Venice Film Festival
Hospital update
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker were photographed leaving a hospital together over the weekend, shortly after Blink-182 put its European tour on hold because "Travis had to return home" for "an urgent family matter." The couple — who are expecting their first child together — were seen exiting Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on Sept. 2, according to "Entertainment Tonight." Two days later, People magazine reported the reality star had a "brief stay" in the hospital but was "back home" and feeling better.
On Sept. 6, Kourtney and Travis shed some light on what exactly happened: The reality star underwent "urgent fetal surgery" to save their unborn baby's life.
'Feeling strong'
Madonna is "back in work mode" and "feeling strong" as she rehearses for her on-again Celebration Tour after a health scare landed her in the ICU over the summer. Citing a source close to the star, People reported on Sept. 5 that Madge "returned to rehearsals last Monday" and is "so happy to be back onstage and is feeling strong." The singer, 65, was forced to postpone her tour after she became severely ill due to what her manager later revealed was "a serious bacterial infection" in late June. She was reportedly intubated in a New York City hospital after being found unresponsive amid rumors she may have burned herself out while preparing for the tour, a celebration of her 40-year music career.
"She's working closely with her longtime collaborators, Jamie King and Stuart Price, to put the final touches on the show," said the People source. "She enjoyed her birthday in Lisbon with all her kids and close friends. Now she's back in work mode and focused on the tour," the insider added. "This is where she thrives. She loves being back in a creative environment." Madonna's tour kicks off in Europe in October; the North American leg begins in New York City in December.
Shared cancer battle
Jimmy Buffett kept his cancer battle private before he died at 76 on Sept. 1, but he didn't battle the illness alone. The singer-songwriter's younger sister, Laurie Buffett McGuane, says she and her brother "were diagnosed with cancer about the same time" in a new interview with People. "It was four years ago and Jimmy was actually diagnosed first. When Jimmy found out [I had cancer] he brought the whole family and the dogs to Montana to be with me," says Laurie, who's now cancer-free after battling pancreatic cancer. "Jimmy and I became closer because of our cancers. We talked before and after our scans," she continues. "We shared a club that nobody wants to join. I am thunderstruck that Jimmy didn't make it." The musician suffered from Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer. When he died, he was surrounded by Laurie and the rest of his family, his relatives said in a statement.
