By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:36am PST, Feb 3, 2021
At 45, Angelina Jolie's got plenty of things to be proud of, from the six children she shares with her ex, Brad Pitt, to her humanitarian work with the U.N. to her long career in film. But there's another reason she's enjoying her 40s and looking forward to her 50s — and it has to do with her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand. "I do like being older. I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger," Angelina says in the March cover story for British Vogue. "Maybe because … I don't know… maybe because my mom didn't live very long, so there's something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me." Angelina's mom died of ovarian cancer at 56. But Angelina seems to have no fear about entering her next decade. In fact, she's pretty sure that's when she's "gonna hit my stride," she tells the magazine. In the meantime, Angelina's been enjoying the rare downtime she's had recently with her kids at home in Los Angeles — she bought Charlie Chaplin's old house in part because the kids' dad, Brad "is only five minutes away," she says. This fall, she returns to the big screen in Marvel's "Eternals." "Running around in a gold bodysuit was not how I imagined my forties," Angelina jokes. "But it's good crazy, I think."
Keep reading to find out why Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom and more …
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Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal Medal of Freedom twice — and she might do it again
The first time Donald Trump's administration offered Dolly Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she declined — not because of partisan politics but because, as she said on the Tuesday, Feb. 2 edition of "Today," her "her husband was ill." The administration asked her again but by then, the coronavirus pandemic was in full tilt. "I wouldn't travel because of COVID," Dolly recalled. More recently, President Joe Biden's reached out to the legendary singer-songwriter about the prestigious award. But she has some reservations, given her track record and the polarized state of the country right now. "Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure," said the 75-year-old. But I don't work for those awards," she continued. "It'd be nice but I'm not sure that I even deserve it," Dolly added. "But it's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it." Hoda Kotb then assured her guest, "… everyone thinks that you might deserve it." In addition to her decades-spanning music and film career, Dolly's long been an active philanthropist. Since 1988, her Dollywood Foundation has worked to increase literacy and improve education resources in Sevier County, Tennessee. And last November, social media users discovered Dolly had contributed $1 million to the research efforts that led to Moderna's highly accurate coronavirus vaccine.
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Judge slams Nick Loeb's appeal in embryo case against Sofia Vergara as 'abhorrent'
Sofia Vergara's ex-fiance, Nick Loeb, has once again hit a wall in his legal battle for custody rights to frozen pre-embryos the former couple created back in 2013. Last week, a Louisiana court upheld a previous decision to dismiss Nick's lawsuit, People reported on Tuesday, Feb. 2. The court also reversed a previous order that allowed discovery to remain sealed in the case. Now, documents related to evidence in the case will be unsealed and made public. Nick began fighting Sofia over the pre-embryos in Louisiana, where embryos can have rights, years ago. In 2019, a judge found his claims to be a resident of the state to be questionable. In the latest ruling, a judge wrote that Nick and his lawyers "engaged in forum shopping." In other words, knowing the suit should have been filed in California where both parties live and created the pre-embryos, they looked for a sympathetic place to file. (Production on Sofia's cop film, "Hot Pursuit," began in New Orleans in May 2014, the same month she and Nick called off their engagement.) The judge added that filing suit in Louisiana for improper reasons, "brings disrepute to and makes a mockery of the Louisiana legal system … and is abhorrent." Meanwhile, Sofia's 2017 request in a California court to legally block Nick from using their frozen pre-embryos without her written consent is still pending, according to People. An attorney for Nick told People they plan to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
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Hal Holbrook remembered as 'a giant,' 'a class act' and 'a glorious actor of endless charm'
"The world has lost a class act." So said Steven Spielberg to Variety this week in response to news of Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Hal Holbrook's death. Others in Hollywood praised the late star for his work on films like, "All the President's Men," "Wall Street" and "Into The Wild." Like Spielberg, many of Holbrook's former costars and peers also paid tribute to his character. "We lost another giant today" "Seinfeld" alum Jason Alexander tweeted. He went on to describe the late actor as "a glorious actor of endless charm and dignity and from all accounts a fine and decent gentleman who brought grace and light to his work and his colleagues and his audiences." Holbrook passed away on Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 95.
Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck's friend 'are supportive of him moving on' from Ana de Armas
As Ben Affleck moves forward following his recent split from Ana de Armas, he has the full support of his ex-wife and his friends. "Ben is happy, healthy and doing great since his breakup with Ana," an insider tells ET. "Ben's friends and Jen Garner are supportive of him moving on. Those close to Ben thought the relationship wasn't working for either of them anymore." The source adds that Ben's "taking care of himself and focused on his kids," now that he's single, noting that he and Ana "still text regularly and communicate," despite having gone their separate ways. Ben, 48, and Ana, 32, are said to have simply realized they are "at different places in their lives," according to ET. They began dating about a year ago after meeting on the set of "Deep Water."
Chadwick Boseman picks up two NAACP Image Award nominations
Chadwick Boseman continues to pick up awards season love for his final two performances. The late star, who passed away last year at age 43 following a private battle with cancer, was nominated by the NAACP Image Awards for his work on both "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods," according to the Associated Press. He's already been honored with at least a dozen awards for the same roles by organizations around the country. In January, the National Board of Review recognized his career's worth of acclaimed contributions with a posthumous Icon Award. The NAACP Image Awards air on March 27 on CBS.
Salma Hayek weighs in on Hilaria Baldwin heritage controversy
As far as Salma Hayek's concerned, Hilaria Baldwin can trace her roots wherever she likes — she's a "good person," Salma said, and that's way more important than where she's from. Speaking to Andy Cohen this week on his SiriusXM Radio show, Salma, who's counted Alec Baldwin as a close friend for many years, weighed in on a controversy that surfaced in December regarding the heritage — and occasional Spanish accent — of Alec's wife, Hilaria. Born "Hilary" and raised in Boston, the yoga instructor and TV personality has since clarified that her family spent time in Spain when she was growing up. As a result, she told the New York Times in December, she speaks with an amalgam of Spanish and Americanized English. "We all lie a little bit," said Salma, who was born in Mexico (via ET). "She makes my friend happy. … She fooled me because she's such a good mother and she has five of them. And you know, I don't care." Salma also pointed out that she's not of just one heritage herself. "I am Mexican, Lebanese, but my grandparents, my ancestors on my mother's side, are Spanish," Salma explained. "I think she's smart to want to be Spanish. We're cool, you know? So, it's a bizarre story. … But don't we all create our own character in life? I mean, this might be extreme, OK, but she's not a bad person. [She's] a good person, a good mother, and a good wife. … She's very kind to me, and that's all I care about."
Prince Harry announces Invictus Games will be postponed for a second year in a row
In the early days of the pandemic last spring, Prince Harry announced the 2020 Invictus Games, due to take place in the Hague in May, would be postponed. The new date was set for May 2021. But this week, Harry and the other organizers of the event announced they've been forced to delay the games again, due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 around the world. "To the key workers on the frontlines in the battle against the pandemic, we are with you. And when the world is ready, we will compete," he said in a social media video posted to the Invictus Games' social media accounts on Tuesday, Feb. 2. "For so many around the world, the Invictus community included, COVID-19 has changed our expectations, hopes, and plans," Harry added in a joint statement with two of his co-organizers, Mart de Kruif and Keith Mills, per Vanity Fair. "But our unwavering mission is one bound by resilience and community — and that mission will continue to shine through between now and Spring 2022, when we hope to see everybody in person again in The Hague." The announcement comes after Harry pledged on Monday that the damages he recently won in a court battle with the publisher of the Daily Mail regarding his military service would be donated to the Invictus Games Foundation.
Will Smith to host Netflix series about the 14th Amendment
Last month, as President Biden signed an executive order on racial equity, he vowed to reaffirm "the federal government's commitment to diversity" and "equity." If you need a refresher on the history of that commitment, Will Smith and Netflix have you covered. On Feb. 17, the streaming service debuts a new, limited series documentary about the Fourteenth Amendment, which promised "liberty and equal protection for all persons." Helmed by Smith, "Amend: The Fight for America" features discussions about the amendment's legacy by contemporary thought leaders. The six, hour-long episodes also include presentations of historic writings and speeches about the amendment, from the likes of Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane and Samuel L. Jackson. "We are living in unprecedented days as a society, as a country, and as a human family, Smith said in a statement announcing the series (via THR). "I believe that the cultivation of personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of desperately needed compassion and healing."
Jenna Jameson makes new, disturbing allegations about Marilyn Manson
On Monday, Feb. 1, Evan Rachel Wood went public with allegations singer Marilyn Manson groomed her and abused her physically, sexually and psychologically during their years-long relationship. Her statement sparked at least four other women to come forward with similar allegations, all of which the rocker, whose real name is Brian Warner, has categorically denied. But Jenna Jameson tells the Daily Mail, she, too, found Warner to be violent when they dated briefly in 1997. "We didn't go out long because I cut it off after he would nonchalantly say he fantasized about burning me alive," she told the Mail. "Once he started speaking to me violently, I was like … goodbye, Brian … Also the bruises from him biting me weren't fun." She added, "He is a lot. To say the least." In Woods' statement on social media, she detailed her alleged experiences of being "horrifically abused," "brainwashed and manipulated into submission," by Warner, whom she began dating in 2007 when she was 19 and he was 38. In his own social media statement, Warner called the accusations, "horrible distortions of reality" and insisted his "intimate relationships have always been consensual with like-minded partners." Wood, by the way, has discussed her surviving abuse and sexual assault under oath, having testified about it before Congress in 2018. She did not name her abuser at the time, though. Since she went public with Warner's name, both his record label, Loma Vista, and his talent agency, CAA, have reportedly dropped him.
