By Mark Gray
6:31am PDT, Jun 29, 2023
XXX career
It's been almost a year since former "Wizards of Waverly Place" actor Dan Benson transitioned to a career in adult entertainment, and he wouldn't change his path for anything. "Mental health wise I feel good. I don't feel bad about myself," Dan, who played Zeke Beakerman in the Disney show, said via TikTok. "I feel kind of like a bad*** a little bit." The child star appeared on the G-rated show for five years, often acting alongside Selena Gomez. "I'm feeling good. I'm excited about the future. I don't really feel bad about my decisions at all," he said, adding that he thought he'd be deluged with more hate. Instead, he's received words of "empowerment." "Now, there are plenty of people on a daily basis asking me and demanding I do things that I don't feel comfortable doing, but I've kind of just been in a position to just be like, 'No, you're gonna get what you're gonna get. You're gonna get what I'm comfortable with sharing with the world,'" he said.
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Girl power
Kelly Clarkson is denying the supposed "beef" that exists between her and Carrie Underwood. "People always pit us together and we don't even know each other well enough to be pitted against each other," the singer said on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen." "Like, literally, we've run into each other, like, a handful of times. There's no beef between us. There's nothing. We don't know each other." The two women have easily been the two most successful "American Idol" winners. Because of this, there's an unfounded narrative claiming the superstars must have an issue with the other. Kelly tried to squash the speculation when Carrie appeared as a guest on her eponymous talk show — unfortunately, the appearance was over Zoom. "Look, everyone always asks me the pitted against each other question," she exclaimed while gushing over the "Before He Cheats" hitmaker. "It was great to have her on the show. I think the thing that was cool about it is that everybody always pits us against each other, and I don't know why they do that — they don't do that with dudes. We don't even know each other well enough to do that. But I'd love to have her there in person. It was during COVID, so it was over Zoom." Back in 2018, the two women also had epic conversation on Twitter to show support for each other, too.
Out on Bond
Idris Elba's name was long thought of as a frontrunner to take on the iconic role of James Bond, but the actor was shaken (not stirred) by the reaction to rumors of his casting. He no longer wants to be Bond because of trolls. "The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this," he told the "SmartLess" podcast. "It's one of those coveted [roles]. Being asked to be James Bond was like, 'Ok, you've sort of reached the pinnacle'. That's one of those things the whole world has a vote in." But, there is still a vocal smattering of fans who believe the famous spy should be played by a white actor. "Those that weren't happy about the idea [of me as James Bond] made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race," he said. "It became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it."
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Cancer update
On the road again? It's been nearly two years since Toby Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer, but he's ready to get back to touring — that is, of course, if his body can hold up. "I'm feeling pretty good. Basically, everything is in a real positive trend," the country singer told The Oklahoman recently. "You never know with cancer, so you have to prepare." Amidst the positive trend, the "Red Solo Cup" singer hopes to be back on the road this fall. "I've got more wind. And I'm thinking about bringing the band in and setting up, playing two or three days somewhere just to see if I can get through two hours," he said. "All I gotta do is see if I can get through two or three nights of work and get a little break in this chemo, and we'll go back to work." He then added, "I'm ready. That's living."
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Strike!
Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and 400 of Hollywood's biggest names are threatening to go on strike if a new contract isn't reached with the Screen Actors Guild. The actors as a whole are demanding new negations involving minimum pay, streaming residuals, healthcare, pensions, and how self-tapes are used in the casting process. "This is not a moment to meet in the middle, and it's not an exaggeration to say that the eyes of history are on all of us," the members wrote in the internal Tuesday, June 27, letter, per Rolling Stone. "We ask that you push for all the change we need and protections we deserve and make history doing it. If you are not able to get all the way there, we ask that you use the power given to you by us, the membership, and join the WGA on the picket lines. For our union and its future, this is our moment. We hope that, on our behalf, you will meet that moment and not miss it." The letter — signed by Neil Patrick Harris, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Ben Stiller, Liam Neeson and more — said negotiators will not settle for anything less than a "transformative deal."
Airplane story
A flying figment of imagination! Nicolas Cage once went above and beyond for his son's friend… a friend who didn't actually exist. Earlier this week an Instagram post went viral after a couple claimed they were asked to give up their hotel wedding suite for a "celebrity," who turned out to be the "National Treasure" actor. The message essentially implied that Nicolas was entitled. After the message was posted to the IAmThirtyAF Instagram page, Minnie Driver commented with a sweet message about Nic. "Was once on a plane with NC and his son and a seat had also been purchased for his son's imaginary friend 🖤," she wrote. Like Minnie, few people sided with the couple or their claim, as many instead expressed their love for Nic or spoke of their personal experiences with him. Many others said the fault lies squarely on the hotel, not Nicolas.
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Jaden Smith revealed that his mom, Jada Pinkett Smith, introduced psychedelic drugs to the family. Talk about a different style of parenting! "I think it was my mom, actually, that was really the first one to make that step for the family," Jaden said at the Psychedelic Science conference, according to USA Today. "It was just her for a really, really long time and then eventually it just trickled and evolved and everybody found it in their own ways." Jada shares Jaden, 24, and Willow, 22, with her husband, Will Smith. Will also has a 30-year-old son, Trey, whom he shares with his ex-wife. Jaden said psychedelics strengthened the familial bond. "Siblings can argue so much and fight so much, and lord knows me and my siblings have done so much of that in the past," he shared. "But the level of love and empathy that I can feel for them inside of the [psychedelic] experiences and outside of the experiences has been something that's profound and beautiful." Both Will and Jada have openly spoke of using psychedelics in the past. Of the usage, Jaden asserted, "It will actually help us to open up our minds to get out of the old ways of thinking that got us into lots of these arguments and open it up so that it just releases and makes room for you to work it out and massage it out until it's completely gone."
