By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:00am PST, Nov 7, 2023
'Complicated' love
"Friends" alum Matthew Perry, who died over the weekend at age 54, "would love that the world is talking about how talented he was," his former fiancée Molly Hurwitz wrote, in part, on Instagram on Monday, Oct. 30. "And he really was very talented," she continued before recalling the joy of seeing Matthew come to appreciate his acting talent as they rewatched "Friends" together. "Being with him as he rediscovered his brilliance was magical," Molly shared.
"But, I obviously knew that man in a very different way, too. While I loved him deeper than I could comprehend, he was complicated, and he caused pain like I'd never known," she said of the star, who wrote about his long struggle with addiction in his memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing." "No one in my adult life has had a more profound impact on me than Matthew Langford Perry. I have tremendous gratitude for that, for everything I learned from our relationship." Noting that Al Anon "is an invaluable resource for those who love someone struggling with this destructive disease," Molly added, "Matty, I feel relief that you are at peace."
Matthew was found dead in his hot tub on Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed in a statement over the weekend. The investigation into the actor's cause of death is ongoing and "could take weeks or months," experts told the New York Times. Prior to his death, Matthew was working on a foundation he hoped would help others with addiction issues, People reported on Monday.
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'Small Town' song defense
Jason Aldean remains confused by the backlash sparked by his 2023 song "Try That In a Small Town" and the video he originally released with it. In a new interview for "CBS Mornings," the country star was asked to share his first response to critics who said, as interviewer Jan Crawford put it in a preview clip (via Entertainment Weekly), the music and footage "had racist, undertones and … was like a call to arms." Looking taken aback, Jason replied by asking "how?"
The video was shot at the site of a 1927 lynching and paired Black Lives Matter protest footage with lines like, "Got a gun that my granddad gave me/They say one day they're gonna round up/Well, that s*** might fly in the city/Good luck." As Jan reminded Jason, it was therefore received as "a threatening kind of video for Black people." Jason seemingly disagreed.
"There was people of all color doing stuff in the video, that's what I don't understand," he said. "You know, there was white people in there. There was Black people. I mean, this video did not shine light on one specific group and say, 'That's the problem.' So, and anybody that saw that in the video, then you weren't looking hard enough in the video is all I can tell you."
The full interview aired on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
Courtroom drama
"Shame on you, Chase Robinson!" a visibly irked Robert De Niro told his former assistant in a federal courtroom in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 31, according to The New York Times. It was the Oscar winner's second day on the stand as he defends himself against an ex-employee's allegations that he subjected her to gender discrimination and retaliation. The jury is also slated to hear claims Robert made about Chase in the lawsuit his company filed against her following her 2019 resignation from Canal Productions, where she started in 2008 as the star's assistant before being promoted to vice president.
Chase claims in her lawsuit that Robert referred to her as his assistant long after she was promoted to V.P. of Production and Finance, assigning her tasks like "vacuuming his apartment and mending his clothes" while paying her less than male employees. Robert, meanwhile, claims Chase improperly used company money on personal expenses, binge-watched "Friends" on the job and diverted more than $450,000 worth of airline miles to her personal account, among other things.
During his tense time on the stand on Tuesday, the actor was asked about Chase's claim he routinely called her while he was using the restroom. "Give me a break with that nonsense," he reportedly replied. At another point, he admitted he "berated her" and may have called her a "spoiled brat," but said, "I was never abusive. Period." He also reportedly said he may have asked her to scratch his back once or twice, as she's alleged, though he denied the request was "lewd."
Psychotic breaks
Shortly after wrapping the first season of Netflix's "Bridgerton" in 2019, Ruby Barker says she suffered her first of two "psychotic breaks from that show" and was quietly hospitalized. The actress (seen here between co-stars Polly Walker and Kathryn Drysdale) says she had "no support" from Netflix or show creator Shonda Rhimes' team during that time — and soon experienced a second psychotic break and hospitalization.
"It was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out," the British star said on Oxford University's "LOAF Podcast" on Oct. 28, according to E! News. "Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask if I'm OK, or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support," she alleged.
It didn't help matters that her character on the Regency-era drama, Marina, "was very alienated, very ostracized" in the storyline, which involved a secret pregnancy, an unsuccessful abortion and a forced marriage to the brother of her late lover. "During filming," Ruby said her own mental state "was deteriorating." She was hospitalized one week after shooting the show's first season, then discharged amid massive "Bridgerton" buzz, a demanding promotional schedule and an exploding fan base.
"My life was changing drastically overnight, and yet there was still no support and there still hasn't been any support all that time," she recalled. "So it was trying really, really hard to act like it was OK and that I could work and that it wasn't a problem." Shonda and Netflix have yet to comment on the claims.
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Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, could have a reality show in the works starring the couple and their seven young children. In a recent edition of SiriusXM's "Let's Talk Off Camera" podcast, Alec, 65, told Kelly Ripa that he and Hilaria have been pitched ideas about appearing on their own show and they are considering it, in large part because it's not feasible for Alec to work on location for long stints.
"Everything's about my family," Alec said, according to "Entertainment Tonight." "I have really tried in the last several years — once we had five and then six, and then seven kids, I can't go anywhere for any length of time." The actor and his wife, 39, share daughters Carmen, 10, Lucia, 2 and Ilaria, 1, and sons Rafael, 8, Leonardo, 7, Romeo, 5, and Eduardo, 3. He shares 28-year-old daughter Ireland Baldwin with ex-wife Kim Basinger.
"In the old days I'd jump on a plane and go to L.A… It was easy to pick up and go. [Now] I need 12 plane tickets — nannies, kids, my wife. … I need, like, 11. They don't even have 11 seats in the business class section of the plane," he explained. "So everything we did and then shows we have considered and pitches we've heard, and even one or two pitches we've made about our family and that reality show has all been so we could stay home and just work from home. I'm desperate to try to work from New York."
MORE: Cam Newton gearing up to welcome eighth child, more stars with lots of littles
Engagement news
Actors Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz are engaged, multiple outlets reported on Monday, Oct. 30. The news first surfaced after the couple was photographed in costume — channeling the classic horror flick "Rosemary's Baby" — while leaving Kylie Jenner's Halloween bash over the weekend, with Zoe's new sparkler in view on her left hand. Sources later confirmed to People and "Entertainment Tonight" that the two are engaged.
Asked about their relationship in 2022, Zoe told GQ, "He makes me laugh and we both really love art and talking about art and the exploration of why we do what we do. We love to watch a film and break it down and talk about it and challenge each other."
The "Magic Mike" and "Big Little Lies" stars were first romantically linked in 2021 after their respective splits from Jenna Dewan and Karl Glusman.
