Emma Watson's manager addresses retirement rumors, more news

Emma Watson's manager weighs in on rumors she's retired

In what fans on Twitter have deemed to be a "horrendous" and "devastating" bit of news, Emma Watson's name started trending this week after the Daily Mail reported the "Little Women" star had "given up acting." The buzz started after the Mail claimed the 30-year-old's career "has gone 'dormant,' according to her agent," which the writer determined was "movie-speak for" retirement. The Mail then claims Emma's publicist had confirmed "her career is 'dormant' and she 'is not taking on new commitments.'" The report goes on to quote a source as saying: "Emma has gone underground, she is settling down with Leo [Robinton]. They're laying low. Maybe she wants a family." And maybe she does — particularly after a recent ring sighting sparked chatter suggesting she and Leo may already be married. But she's not retired — at least not according to Jason Weinberg, her manager at Untitled Entertainment, who told EW in a statement: "Emma's social media accounts are dormant but her career isn't."

Keep reading to see why the head of England's NHS is speaking out about Gwyneth Paltrow …

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NHS chief cautions public about Gwyneth Paltrow's 'intuitive fasting' approach to battling COVID-19 symptoms

It's been a minute since we played a good game of Gwyneth Paltrow Says the Wackiest Things! The latest edition comes via Stephen Powis, England's medical director in the National Health Service (NHS), who recently shared a cautionary message about a post Gwyneth shared on Goop.com in which she recommends a "keto and plant-based" diet along with "intuitive fasting" to battle COVID-19 symptoms that can linger after a person has recovered from the acute illness. In a nutshell, he's concerned Gwyneth and Goop are "misinformation" that wasn't provided by "serious science." Gwyneth's post kicks off by explaining she contracted COVID-19 "early on" in the coronavirus pandemic and was left with "long-tail fatigue and brain fog." She says she had tests done last month "that showed really high levels of inflammation" in her body" so she "turned to one of the smartest experts I know in this space, the functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole." (According to Will's website, he is not a medical doctor, but rather "a Functional Medicine Practitioner … Doctor of Natural Medicine … and Doctor of Chiropractic.") Gwyneth continues: "After he saw all my labs, he explained that this was a case where the road to healing was going to be longer than usual. So we've been doing a version of a protocol he outlines in his forthcoming book, 'Intuitive Fasting,'" for which Gwyneth wrote the foreward. She goes on to describe the plan she's following, which appears to involve mostly "keto and plant-based" meals including sugar-free kimchi and kombucha; fasting until 11 a.m. daily; time spent in the "infrared sauna" she sells on Goop for $500, plus an array of supplements, most of which are also made and also sold by Goop. Here's how the NHS medical director is responding to Gwyneth's plan: "Like the virus, misinformation carries across borders and it mutates and it evolves," Stephen Powis said, per the BBC. "So I think YouTube and other social media platforms have a real responsibility and opportunity here. In the last few days I see Gwyneth Paltrow is unfortunately suffering from the effects of Covid. We wish her well, but some of the solutions she's recommending are really not the solutions we'd recommend in the NHS." He added: "We need to take long Covid seriously and apply serious science. All influencers who use social media have a duty of responsibility and a duty of care around that."

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Ben Affleck explains why his divorce made him a better actor

In a new actors roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Affleck explains how his divorce from Jennifer Garner — and his recovery from alcoholism — have helped make him a stronger actor. While discussing his film, "The Way Back," in which he plays an alcoholic, Ben pointed out that while "alcoholism" isn't necessarily "interesting" from a dramatic point of view, what is interesting is what you discover about yourself in the course of recovery …" He allows that he made "The Way Back" as a recovering alcoholic who'd recently had a relapse. "But for me, the movie was much more about the fact that — whether it's having lived enough years, having seen enough ups and downs, having had children and divorce — I'm at a point now in my life where I have sufficient life experience to bring to a role to make it really interesting for m," says Ben, who shares three kids with Jen. "I'm not good enough to just invent it from whole cloth, you know? I didn't have to do research for the alcoholism aspect of the movie — that was covered," he adds, joking, "It was the Daniel Day-Lewis approach to that!"

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Travis Scott's pop-up event investigated by Los Angeles authorities for possible COVID-19 safety violations

The Los Angeles Department of Public Works has confirmed it's investigating whether Travis Scott's recent "flash mob-like" newsstand pop-up event to promote the release of his i-D mag cover story was in violation of city coronavirus restrictions or other ordinances. TMZ reports the city never issued a permit for the event, which attracted a huge crowd in West Hollywood and featured an appearance by the Cactus Jack label founder. A spokesperson for the public works department confirmed to Fox News that it was in touch with the City Attorney's office regarding possible action that could be taken in response. Photos and videos on social media appear to show a largely unmasked crowd clustering around Travis' limo, seemingly without abiding by social distancing regulations

Jamie Spears' lawyer speaks out about Britney Spears' conservatorship

Amid a barrage of headlines about Britney Spears' conservatorship, the lawyer representing Britney's father in the singer's battle to remove him from the court-mandated arrangement claims Jamie Spears "rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation" by managing her finances and personal affairs for the better part of the past 13 years. "I understand that every story wants to have a villain, but people have it so wrong here," attorney Vivian Thoreen said on the Thursday, Feb. 25 edition of "Good Morning America." "This is a story about a fiercely loyal, loving, and dedicated father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation. People were harming her and they were exploiting her," she argued, referencing fan concerns that have mounted since the premiere of the recent "Framing Britney Spears" documentary. The evidence of Jamie's alleged positive influence, according to Vivian, includes his help in her fight to "regain custody of her children," his work to bring "her finances back from disaster" and the efforts he's made to create "a safe environment for her to live her life the way she wants, away from the media that cause her so much pain." Vivian also claimed "Britney makes decisions all the time," though she allowed that "Jamie collaborates with Britney to make that happen." As for her request to have him dropped from the conservatorship he previously managed alone — he's now a co-conservator along with Bessemer Trust — Vivian claimed Britney has "never asked" Jamie "to step aside." She added, "Anytime Britney wants to end her conservatorship she can ask her lawyer to file a petition to terminate it." (The singer has not requested the termination of the conservatorship; she's only asked that her father to stop playing a role in it.) The attorney concluded, "Britney knows that her daddy loves her, and that he will be there for her whenever and if she needs him." Another hearing in the matter is slated for next month.

Taylor Swift countersues Utah theme park following 'evermore' trademark lawsuit

Taylor Swift is countersuing a Utah theme park called Evermore that sued her earlier this month on grounds her "evermore" album and merch violates the park's trademark of the same name. According to Forbes, Evermore Park filed suit on Feb. 2, claiming the singer's December 2020 release, along with the "evermore"-branded products she put out in support of the album and "imagery" from her "willow" music video has caused market "confusion" and "crowded out" online traffic tied to the "European-style fantasy village." In response, Taylor's TAS Rights Management Company sued the park on grounds it's "routinely" had Taylor's songs performed at the park without permission since 2018. Taylor's suit also points to cease and desist letters sent on her behalf from Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), saying those were "blatantly ignored" for years before the park "retroactively" reached out to BMI to deal with the matter. Taylor's currently in the process of re-recording her early catalog — with the words "Taylor's Version" in the titles — so fans can choose to avoid streaming or downloading the versions of her music that was sold without her knowledge after she tried for years to buy it back herself.

Tiger Woods crash likely due to speed; 'no evidence of impairment whatsoever'

As fans, friends and loved ones continue to rally around Tiger Woods following his near-fatal car crash this week, the Independent and more outlets have thrown cold water on rumors suggesting substance abuse may have been involved in the accident. "There was no evidence of any impairment whatsoever," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced on social media Facebook on Wednesday, Feb. 24. "He was lucid, no odor of alcohol, no evidence of any medication, narcotics or anything like that. That was not a concern so no field sobriety test and no drug expert needed to respond. This is what it is," the sheriff continued. "An accident." According to TMZ, authorities believe the single-vehicle crash happened simply because Tiger was "going too fast on a treacherous road and lost control of his vehicle."

Pink's daughter makes her Billboard charts debut

Pink and Carey Hart's 9-year-old daughter, Willow Hart, made her official debut on the Billboard charts this week, the outlet reported on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The charting track is a duet by Willow and her mom called "Cover Me In Sunshine," which amassed more than 2 million streams and sold 11,000 downloads in the U.S. last week, giving it a nice No. 4 position on the Digital Songs chart. It's also now on the Billboard 200, while Willow herself has scored a spot on the Emerging Artists chart. The news comes after Beyonce and Jay-Z's 9-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, earned her first Grammy nomination, courtesy of her contribution to her mom's music video for "Brown Skin Girl."

Lady Gaga is 'horrified' after shooting incident that left her friend hospitalized and her dogs kidnapped

Lady Gaga is "devastated" and feeling "helpless" after her dog walker and friend, Ryan Fischer, was shot in Hollywood on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and two of her three dogs were kidnapped. "Lady Gaga is beside herself about this situation. Ryan is not only her dog walker, but also her friend. She is horrified that this happened," a source told ET on Thursday. The singer is currently in Italy preparing to film, "Gucci." "Her dogs are her babies and she is completely devastated and sickened by this," the insider continued. "She feels somewhat helpless because she is far away in Italy, but is doing everything she can and praying for Ryan, Koji and Gustavo." As of Thursday afternoon, Ryan was still hospitalized but expected to recover. The dogs, Koji and Gustavo, were still missing, though lady G. has offered a$500,000 reward for help finding them. Her third dog, Asia, got away from the assailant and was found and returned to safety by police. Ryan's assailant, however, was still at-large, according to the outlet.

Rosamund Pike recalls having her body tweaked in movie posters

In a world of Instagram filters and Photoshop fails, Rosamund Pike thinks "we're all losing our grip on what we really look like." The "I Care a Lot" star checked in with Kelly Clarkson on the singer's eponymous show this week, where the two discussed times when their images have been altered. Looking back, Rosamund recalled that her chest was "augmented" in posters for 2011's "Johnny English Reborn." "In the poster, the kind of character shot, I've got a very impressive chest, which I don't have," said the actress, who told the Sunday Times last year that she had the posters taken down once she saw the changes mae to her body. "For 'Radioactive,' strangely, they made my eyes brown, which I still don't quite know why," Rosamund said. She added that while such instances can be unsettling, the larger issue is how comfortable we've become with the idea that we can or should be represented to look different than we do in real life. "Those are the obvious times, right? When you do notice …," she said, "… but there are probably countless times when our image is doctored, and we don't notice it because I think we're all losing a grip on what we really look like."