By Wonderwall.com Editors
2:50pm PDT, Aug 19, 2020
Katy Perry wants a high chair for '#babycat' when she returns to 'American Idol'
Armed with a brand new "Smile" tattoo in honor of her new album of the same name, Katy Perry made one tiny request of "American Idol" on Wednesday, after the show announced she'd be returning for Season 4 alongside Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Ryan Seacrest. Noting that, "She gonna be a workin' Mama werkin' it" on the show, the ready-to-pop star tweeted, "👶🏼 Can #babycat get a high chair next to the desk?" If her $25M payday for her first season on "Idol" in 2017 was any indication, Katy can probably squeeze a few bucks out of her own paycheck for a chair for the daughter-to-be she and Orlando Bloom are expecting by the end of the summer. As for the new ink, the singer shared a photo of her fresh tat — the word "smile" in simple, black lettering — on Twitter on Wednesday.
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For Jennifer Aniston, playing a celeb on 'The Morning Show' was like '20 years of therapy'
In January, Jennifer Aniston won a SAG Award for her performance as beloved news anchor Alex Levy on "The Morning Show." But her work on the Apple TV+ series did even more for her on a personal level. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in a feature published Tuesday, Jen explained how "cathartic" it was to play a celebrity wrestling with various aspects of her fame … as an actual celebrity who has battled similar demons. "[It was] cathartic, yes, and also interesting for me to look at how I always have tried to normalize being fine and 'everything's great, you know, this is all normal,' and then there are moments when you have your private breakdown," said Jen, who became a household name through her '90s-era role on "Friends." "To actually look at it from an actor brain — observing it and acknowledging it — I had to look at it as opposed to pretending it doesn't exist," she continued. "That show was 20 years of therapy wrapped into 10 episodes. … There were times when I would read a scene and feel like a whole manhole cover was taken off my back." The actress, 51, shared how she related to certain things Alex went through on the series, like the character's breakdown as she heads to an awards show. "There have been moments – not to that level of hysteria – but moments of 'I don't want to … go here,' 'I don't want to walk out onto the carpet,' 'I don't want to be seen,' 'I don't want to be looked at and everyone's going to be talking about me and judging me,' … that's real," Jen said. "I just loved being able to walk into it and lean into it and not be ashamed of it." Jen's currently slated to appear in the upcoming "Friends" reunion for HBO Max, which has been delayed repeatedly by the pandemic. According to reports earlier this month, the cast and network are waiting to green light the production until they can film the special safely, in-person.
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Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B give away $1M to 'powerful women' as Megan claps back at trolls who still don't believe she was shot
This summer's record-breaking music duo, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, are so pleased with the response to their new track that they're giving away $1 million to a whole lot of "powerful women." According to Variety, the pair announced on social media Wednesday that they'd teamed up with Twitter and Cash App for the giveaway, which reportedly features bundles of $500 each given 2,000 individuals chosen randomly from a pool of folks who post on Twitter "with #WAPParty and their $Cashtag" through Aug. 20. "To celebrate and honor the inspirational conversation that's been happening in response to the song," the announcement read, "Meg and Cardi will be giving back to women in a big way, starting today." Megan shared her own heads up, too, tweeting, "To all everyone supporting #WAP. We see you!! we're partnering with Twitter and Cash App to celebrate all the powerful women out there by giving away a total of $1 million dollars. how can some $ help you or a woman you know right now? drop your $cashtag and use #WAPParty." Cardi also thanked fans for their support of the massive summer hit, tweeting an encouragement to "all you powerful women out there" to "tell us why you or a woman you know can use a piece of the $." Judging from the shocked and excited tweets that followed, they started giving away money almost immediately. Megan's day wasn't entirely celebratory, though. In a since deleted post, she also shared a photo of her foot following a shooting earlier this month. Despite the subsequent arrest of rapper Tony Lanez, trolls have hounded Megan about the attack on social media, claiming it never happened. "What I have learned abt majority of the people on social media is y'all like to hear bad news before good news, a lie spreads quicker than the truth, and y'all really be believing … [what] … YALL make up," Megan wrote alongside the photo, according to ET. "Why would I lie abt getting shot? Why are y'all so upset that I don't wanna be in the bed sad ? Why y'all upset that I can walk?" she asked. She added that she recently had her stitches removed following the surgery that was required because of the shooting and that she'd hoped to celebrate her No. 1 song.
Keanu Reeves praises 'thoughtful, effective' COVID-19 safety protocols on the set of 'The Matrix 4'
As the summer winds down with no COVID-19 vaccine in sight, a handful of film, TV and even music productions have cautiously resumed with safety protocols. The fourth installment of "The Matrix" is among them — and Keanu Reeves sounds inspired by the creative thinking that's allowed him to return to the film's set in Berlin. "There's some really thoughtful, effective protocols in place, and the rhythm of filmmaking has not really been impacted or interrupted," the actor recently told the Associated Press. "That's because of the hard work and organization, and again the thoughtfulness that has gone into the protocols." The new "Matrix" began filming in February in San Francisco, according to Variety. Less than a month later, after the film had moved to Berlin, studio execs stopped production as lockdowns began around the world to stem the tide of the coronavirus pandemic. By June, though, Keanu — along with his girlfriend, artist Alexandra Grant — were back in the German capital. "I think everyone loves the project," Keanu explained. "If you're ever going to get into any kind of situation that needs to be figured out, or 'How do we do this?' Show business people are the best. We're just scrappy, we know how to get stuff done, we're inventive, think on our feet, and that kind of kindred spirit of just coming together — it goes back to like, you know, 'Let's put on a show! We'll get some props, we've got some things, we're going to write!' And that spirit is definitely alive and well on 'The Matrix.'" Warner Bros.' initial release date for the Lana Wachowski-helmed flick was May 2021. That's since been postponed to April 1, 2022.
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Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli hid USC scheme from high school guidance counselor, new filing alleges
New court documents show prosecutors in Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli's college admissions scandal case argued that the couple hid their scam from the guidance counselor at their daughter's high school. According to Page Six, the former "Fuller House" star told Olivia Jade in January 2018 not to "say too much" about her interest in U.S.C., in order to avoid tipping off the counselor to their plan. Loughlin and Giannulli are expected to be sentenced this Friday for their participation in that plan, which was to get Oliva into the university as a rowing recruit after paying half a million dollars to "college fixer" Rick Springer. Giannulli, meanwhile, allegedly confronted the counselor for sharing his doubts about Olivia's participation in rowing with U.S.C., the filing claims. "Giannulli aggressively asked what [the counselor] was telling USC about his daughters and why [the counselor] was trying to ruin or get in the way of their opportunities. Giannulli also bluntly stated that [his younger daughter] was a coxswain," the prosecution wrote in court documents filed Monday. "The crime Giannulli and Loughlin committed was serious. Over the course of two years, they engaged twice in Singer's fraudulent scheme," prosecutors continued, referencing Olivia's younger sister, Isabella, who got into U.S.C. by the same fraudulent means as her sister had. "They involved both their daughters in the fraud, directing them to pose in staged photographs for use in fake athletic profiles and instructing one daughter how to conceal the scheme from her high school counselor." Those photos were made public earlier this year. The filing goes on to claim that after the confrontation, the counselor emailed Giannulli to say he'd conveyed to U.S.C. that Olivia was on the crew team. Though the couple initially plead not guilty, they later took plea deals. At Friday's sentencing in Boston, Loughlin is expected to get two months in prison and Giannulli is expected to get five, per the terms of their deals. Those deals also include 100 hours of community service for Loughlin, 250 hours for Giannulli and six-figure fines for each parent.
Kanye West says he and Kim Kardashian West are 'stepping out on faith'
It's already been another busy week for Kanye West, at least on social media. Amid rumors his marriage to Kim Kardashian West is coming undone, the rapper and Yeezy designer shared a video on Wednesday of the two kissing, seemingly at one of his Sunday Service events. "WE'RE STEPPING OUT ON FAITH," Kanye wrote. The post appears to be an acknowledgment of their rumored marital problems, which they reportedly tried to work out while on vacation earlier this month. Some fans have wondered if the couple's increasingly divergent politics are getting in the way of their relationship, between Kanye's on-off support for Donald Trump, his previous criticism of Planned Parenthood and reports his own bid for the White House is merely an attempt to draw votes away from the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. If any of those things have been issues for Kim, who tends to support liberal causes and Democratic candidates, she may not have have responded well to a post Kanye shared prior to his sweet kissing tweet. On Tuesday, he shared pics of himself and Steve Harvey getting a mask-free bite at Chick fil-A in Georgia. Kanye also shared a video of the company's CEO Dan Cathy and exec boss Bubba Cathy singing a hymn at the same location. Chick fil-A, which is closed on Sundays for religious reasons, has been dragged in the past for making donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations, among other things.
Shania Twain talks fighting gender bias in country music
Nearly two years after she wrapped up her Now tour, Shania Twain stepped back into the limelight this month, thanks to "Legends Never Die," her new duet with fellow Canadian country singer, Orville Peck., who has described Shania his longtime musical "hero." On Monday, the duo performed in the "The Tonight Show" studio. And last week, Shania performed on "Good Morning America," for the show's 2020 Summer Concert Series. Shania, who remains the bestselling female country artist of all time in the U.S., also caught up with "GMA" about her difficult climb to the top of a male-dominated industry. "We're always on guard, and I think that that was just my whole feeling growing up, not just because I was a woman, but also just because I grew up poor, I was disadvantaged in a lot of ways," she said. "And being in the country music industry as a woman can be a disadvantage. It's just a fact." On the other hand, she said that while she has yet to see evidence of any tangible gender "equality" in country music yet, she does believe that, as she put it, "we have to make room" for ourselves." For better or worse, Shania says women are unlikely to topple the male-dominated hierarchy unless they go way above and beyond what the guys are contributing. It's worked for her. F"We have to make better music. We have to be at our utmost best, strive for excellence, and that is the only way. We can't be passive and we have to persevere," she said. "Legends Never Die" is out now on Orville Peck's "Show Pony" EP.
Cher is trying to volunteer at the post office but it's not going well …
Cher is getting desperate in her attempt to help save the United States Post Office. The singer's just one of many celebs who've been urging fans to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 election for health and safety reasons as the coronavirus pandemic continues. But with budget cuts, staff firings and the White House's refusal to fork over aid to stave off the potential crisis, Cher's wondering why she and others can't help out at their local post offices for free. "Can ppl volunteer at post office!?" she tweeted Wednesday (via Billboard). "OK,Called 2 post offices In Malibu.They were polite. I Said'Hi This Is Cher,& I Would like to know If you ever take VolunteersLady Said She Didn't Know & Gave Me # Of Supervisor.I Called & Said Hi This is Cher Do U Accept volunteers.'NO,Need Fingerprints & Background Check." Offers to help poured in quickly from Cher's followers, as did suggestions of other ways to help. As of late afternoon Wednesday, however, Cher had yet to announce her next move.
