By Wonderwall.com Editors
8:16am PDT, Oct 15, 2023
Panic attack reveal
The first time it happened to Carson Daly, he was getting ready to go on the air on MTV's "Total Request Live," when he was struck with a feeling so scary he thought it might kill him. As it turned out, Carson was having a panic attack, not a heart attack. Now, "The Voice" presenter is opening up about how he overcame his once debilitating anxiety in the hopes sharing his story might help reduce stigma around mental health issues.
"One September day, I thought I was going to die," Carson recalled in a speech from the Project Healthy Minds gala shared by the "Today" show's Youtube channel. He was in his dressing room ahead of "TRL," as usual, when he felt "a snap in my brain," he said, per Entertainment Weekly. "My heart started to race and fear went through my body like I was a kid and wouldn't let go. It was like somebody cracked one of those cold compresses at a Little League game and put it on my neck." He went on to recall being unsure what his producer was saying to him as he stood before him.
"It looked like he was talking in slo-mo. I was literally leaving reality," he said. "I thought, 'My God, I'm having a stroke in front of Hanson.' It passed in 30 seconds, but it felt like 30 minutes."
The experience left him "terrified" of a repeat, he explained, until his doctor told him he'd had a panic attack as a result of severe anxiety. "It was time to start working on myself. And over the years, I put in the work to manage and, ultimately, admire my anxiety," he said. Thanks to therapy, meditation, breathing exercises, medication, the help of friends and changes in his focus, Carson said he's finally "learned to manage" his mental health through the years. "Ultimately, I came to accept that this is who I am and not only do I accept it, I'm stronger because of it," he said.
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Assisted ending pact
Sharon Osbourne says she and Ozzy Osbourne remain committed to a mutual, physician-assisted suicide pact should one of them become mentally and physically incapacitated. "I don't want it to actually hurt," Sharon, 71, said on the Oct. 10 edition of her family's "The Osbournes" podcast. "Mental suffering is enough pain without physical. So if you've got mental and physical, see ya," she told her children when son Jack Osbourne asked if the pact still stands.
"But what if you could survive?" Kelly Osbourne asked her mom. "Yeah, what if you survived and you can't wipe your own a**, you're p****** everywhere, s*******, can't eat?" retorted the host of "The Talk" U.K. edition.
Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003, and Sharon first revealed their agreement to potentially end their lives with the help of physicians in Switzerland in a 2007 interview with The Daily Mirror. Sharon's father, Don Arden, had died earlier that year after a grueling battle with Alzheimer's disease and Sharon said she and Ozzy, 74, never wanted their children to watch them go through something similar.
"[We] have drawn up plans to go to the assisted suicide flat in Switzerland if we ever have an illness that affects our brains," she told the outlet at the time. "At least with something like cancer you can communicate, say how you feel and explain why your body hurts. But my father deteriorated at such a rapid speed he became a shell of himself — dribbling, wearing a diaper and tied into a wheelchair because he didn't realize he could no longer walk," she shared, calling the plan they set up "a final gift of love to our kids."
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Dealer sentenced in actor's death
The third of four people linked to "The Wire" actor Michael K. Williams' overdose death was sentenced on Oct. 10 to five years in prison in New York City. The Associated Press reports Luis Cruz previously pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of narcotics conspiracy before his sentencing in federal court.
Michael died in his Brooklyn home at age 54 in September 2021, just hours after buying fentanyl-laced heroin from a local drug-dealing crew, authorities said. He was found with fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in his system and his death was ruled an accidental overdose. The dealers who sold him the tainted drugs reportedly continued selling to others after the actor's death.
"It was a terrible mistake in judgment," Cruz told the judge in a statement before his sentence was read. Irvin Cartagena, the crew member who allegedly sold Michael the drugs, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2023, according to the Daily Beast. "The Wire" star had spoken openly about his struggle with substance abuse after joining the show.
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Mutual bad blood
Chevy Chase's last jabs at "Community" and his former co-stars on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom are just another example of "Chevy being Chevy," according to fellow "Community" alum Joel McHale. "He stopped hurting my feelings in 2009," Joel recently told People, referencing the show's first year on the air.
Joel had been asked about the former "Saturday Night Live" star's September 2023 appearance on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, where Chevy said "Community" "wasn't funny enough" for him and that he didn't want to spend his days working with the cast, which included Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover and Ken Jeong.
"Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good. It just wasn't hard-hitting enough for me," claimed Chevy, who was reportedly fired from "Community" in 2012 after using a racial slur on the set. "I didn't mind the character. I just felt that it was… I felt happier being alone. I just didn't want to be surrounded by that table, every day, with those people. It was too much."
Joel, for his part, pointed out that Chevy had free will and could have quit. "I was like, 'Hey, no one was keeping there,'" he told People. "I mean, we weren't sentenced to that show. It was like, 'All right, you could have left if you really wanted that.' But yeah, you know Chevy. That's Chevy being Chevy. … I was like, 'Hey, the feeling's mutual, bud,'" Joel added.
"Community" aired for six seasons from 2009 until 2015. In 2022, NBC confirmed a spin-off movie is in development. Chevy is — surprise — not involved.
Celebrity Swifties
From Beyoncé to Mariska Hargitay, Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" concert movie premiere in Los Angeles on Oct. 11 was awash in famous faces as stars packed the red carpet at The Grove to support the 12-time Grammy winner. While Taylor reportedly caught up with Queen Bey for dinner ahead of the screening, celebrities including Julia Garner, Adam Sandler, Simu Liu, Maren Morris and Public Enemy alum Flava Flav were also on hand to check out Taylor's highly anticipated new movie, which is expected to make between $150 and $200 million over the course of its opening weekend.
Featuring a compilation of performances from Taylor's Eras Tour performances at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the film opened one day early, on Oct. 12, due to intense demand for tickets.
"You're stuck with me, because I'm going to sit with you and watch this thing," Taylor, clad in a wavy new faux bob and a blue Oscar de la Renta gown, told her eager fans while introducing the film, according to The New York Times. "Every single person in this theater has been hand-selected and hand-picked and invited to this night because you've shown some sort of extra type of support for this tour, and I appreciate that more than you could possibly know," she gushed, per Variety.
Name-clearing plans
Lizzo is reportedly considering a sit-down interview with "CBS Mornings" anchor Gayle King amid allegations she subjected her former dancers to sexual harassment, assault and more, according to a new report from The Sun.
In August, three former members of Lizzo's Big Grrrls dance troupe filed suit against the star, claiming she routinely demeaned and weight-shamed them while they were working with her. The ex-employees, Crystal Williams, Noelle Rodriguez and Arianna Davis, also accused Lizzo of sexual, religious and racial harassment as well as false imprisonment, all of which the singer has denied in statements on Instagram.
"Lizzo is being guided by her team as to what would be the best course of action to take," a source claimed to The Sun in a report published Oct. 12. "Given the high profile nature of the scandal, Lizzo is reportedly weighing options from 'a number of people interested in a sit-down interview,'" the person said, adding that Lizzo's professional reputation has already been affected by the claims against her.
On Instagram in August, Lizzo said, in part, "My character has been criticized. Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed." She went on to write, "These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional."
Her attorney, Marty Singer, has reiterated that sentiment, telling the Daily Mail and other publications the plaintiffs were photographed "happily cavorting backstage" at a cabaret in Paris shortly after one of the alleged incidents of sexual harassment took place in Amsterdam's red light district. He also told the Mail Lizzo plans to countersue. Over the summer, a Daily Mail source claimed Lizzo was a contender to perform at the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show, but was no longer being considered in light of the allegations.
