Britney Spears confirms she's writing a memoir
Britney Spears has finally broken her silence on reports she's writing a memoir. On Instagram on Monday, April 4, the singer, 40, opened up about her writing process so far, telling fans: "Well, I'm writing a book at the moment and as it's actually healing and therapeutic… it's also hard bringing up past events in my life… I've never been able to express openly. I can only imagine that I do sound childish but I was extremely young with those events took place … and addressing it now … I'm sure it seems irrelevant to most and I'm completely aware of that !!!" The long post also mentioned Brit's ex, Justin Timberlake, praising him briefly for the public apology he wrote to her and Janet Jackson after watching the recent "Framing Britney Spears" documentary about her conservatorship battle and public image. "My mom and sister also did the 'intellectual approach' in indulgence by writing their own books as I couldn't even get a cup of coffee or drive my car or really anything," she continued. Britney's sister, Jamie Lynne Spears, released a memoir called "Things I Should Have Said" in January in which she made claims about her relationship with Britney that the singer has strongly denied. According to a previous Page Six report, Brit's book deal was inked with Simon & Schuster for an estimated $15 million. After spotting the book update on the 'Gram, Britney's fiance, Sam Asghari vowed to buy "the first copy."
Willow Smith tweets about 'reactions' and life's challenges amid dad's Oscars drama
Is this Willow Smith's response to her dad's now-infamous Oscars slap? One day after Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, calling his behavior at the 2022 Academy Awards "shocking, painful, and inexcusable," Willow, 21, shared a pair of cryptic tweets. "The meaning of life is found in challenge," the singer and "Red Table Talk" co-host wrote in one. "Life is a series of reactions," she added in a second post. Commenters largely seemed to think the "reaction" Willow was referencing was her father's decision to slap Chris Rock over a joke he made about Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's hair onstage during the 2022 Oscars, and the "challenge" had to do with the ongoing fallout Will's now facing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, at least two major projects on Will's roster, "Bad Boys 4" and "Fast and Loose," have stalled because of the slap. "I have directly responded to the Academy's disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct," the actor said in a statement last week. "My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable. The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy." Will added, "Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason." Per THR, the Academy accepted the "King Richard" star's resignation but still plans to explore disciplinary action against him for violating the organization's conduct standards.
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson's romance is reportedly getting more serious despite Kanye West drama
Kim Kardashian recently made another trip to Pete Davidson's hometown borough of Staten Island, New York, where she met the "Saturday Night Live" star's grandparents, TMZ reported on Monday, April 4. According to sources close to Pete, Kim joined him for a visit to the grandparents' home after Pete wrapped up a movie shoot nearby. An insider tells Entertainment Tonight, meanwhile, that the SKIMS founder, 40, and 28-year-old comic's romance has gotten much more "serious" in spite of the drama Kim's ex, Kanye West, has stirred up by attacking Pete in his music and making (what Kim has said are false) claims about her parenting on social media. ET's source also addressed the texts Pete reportedly sent to Kanye asking him to stop harassing the two. "He is over the negativity that Kanye brought to him and Kim and her family … He is hopeful that all this will dissipate in the future," the insider says. It sounds like Kim is hoping for a similar outcome. "She just wants everyone to move on, be happy and to co-parent in a healthy way," says the source. Kim, who was declared legally single last month after filing for divorce from Kanye in February 2021, shares four children with the rapper.
Kanye West pulls out of Coachella: Report
In the wake of a widely shared petition to have Kanye West removed from the 2022 Coachella lineup, a source has confirmed to Variety that the rapper is, indeed, off the festival bill. Kanye was slated to headline in the last slot of the final night of the event, which kicks off April 15. Reps for Kanye have yet to weigh in on the reason for the change, but Variety's insider says Ye "had not rehearsed or prepared" for the show. Prior to news of the cancelation, music fans on Change.org launched a petition demanding he be nixed from the upcoming music celebration because of his recent antagonistic behavior towards his ex, Kim Kardashian, and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson. The rapper was also barred from performing at the Grammy Awards over the weekend because of his "concerning online behavior," according to previous reports. He reportedly bailed on plans to headline the 2020 Coachella festival, as well. TMZ was first to report the news.
Pink slams 'irrelevant' Rolling Stone for selling out
Rolling Stone magazine's Rob Sheffield shared his top 25 "greatest Grammy performances of all time" over the weekend and it apparently triggered something in Pink. As music fans argued on social media about who should and who should not have made the list, Pink wrote a long and scathing reply to the magazine's Instagram post promoting the piece in which she called Rolling Stone "irrelevant," and accused the publication of having orchestrated "the biggest sellout" of all time. "Bahahahaha you guys have been irrelevant since 1990," Pink began. "This is the magazine that used to feature people like John Lennon and Muddy Waters. Hunter S Thompson wrote political pieces- they put Tina Turner on their cover. Then they sold out and all credibility went to s*** when 'style over substance' and 'revenue over authenticity' went into play," the singer continued. "That's when Snooki became acceptable coverage. Give me a f****** break. Do your homework. You don't have to like me or my music or anything about me- and believe me I could give a s*** but this is the biggest sellout in f****** history when it comes to a publication we all once trusted," she said. Pink, who has performed at the Grammys multiple times but did not make Rolling Stone's "top 25″ list, concluded: "F*** rolling stone. And I've felt that way for decades as so many of my favorite artists and my peers have. This isn't just about their horrendous opinion of 'rating Grammy performances'. It's decades of wasting Trees and people's time." The singer had plenty of support from fans, who chimed in with critical comments in which they dissed the list as "lame," "horrible" and worse. After initially publishing the piece before the 2022 Grammy Awards, the magazine updated their picks, adding Billie Eilish and Finneas' "Happier Than Ever" performance on Sunday, April 3, to the No. 15 slot and BTS' "Butter" to No. 11. The top five included Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing" from 1975 (5); Taylor Swift's 2021 rendition of "Cardigan / August/ Willow" (4); Beyonce's "Love Drought / Sandcastles" performance from 2017 (3) and Prince and the Revolution's "Baby I'm a Star" (2). Kendrick Lamar's 2016 performance of "The Blacker the Berry / Alright" got the top spot.
Grammy winner Jon Batiste secretly wed longtime partner in February
Jon Batiste took home five major awards at the 2022 Grammys, including Album of the Year. But the 35-year-old "Late Night" bandleader has another reason to smile. On the April 3 edition of "CBS Sunday Morning," Jon's longtime partner, author Suleika Jaouad, revealed the two secretly tied the knot back in February. "We got married the day before I was admitted to the hospital to undergo my bone marrow transplant," said Suleika, who wrote about her cancer battle in "Between Two Kingdoms," according to People. "We have known that we wanted to get married, I think, from the first week that we started dating. That's when Jon first brought up the topic of marriage to me. So, we've had eight years — this is not, you know, a hasty decision!" she quipped. Suleika, 33, went on to recount how Jon proposed, including the fact that he was sure to tell her his interest in getting hitched "had nothing to do" with her second leukemia diagnosis. "It's taken me a year to design your ring," he said of the timing according to Suleika. "'But what I do want you to know is that this diagnosis doesn't change anything. It just makes it all the clearer to me that I want to commit to this and for us to be together,'" she shared. "But once we realized we had this tiny window before the bone marrow transplant, we decided to go for it." Despite the circumstances, the "tiny" wedding was "perfect," she added, revealing they "used bread ties" for their rings. "And I'll tell you, we walked into that bone marrow transplant unit on cloud nine. We were so happy, so brimming with love and positivity from this beautiful evening that we'd had. And I really believe that that carried us through," she said. Asked about the "duality" of positive and negative forces happening in his life right now, Jon said in the Grammys press room: "It puts it in perspective. Life has ups and downs. And sometimes the ups and downs occur at the same time. And when you have that happening, it really lets you know by shaking your consciousness and saying, 'Be present. Be here.' So what's going on back home and what's happening today are both in their proper place for me."
Cardi B deactivates her Twitter and Instagram on Grammy night
Cardi B deactivated her Twitter and Instagram accounts on Sunday, April 3, after slamming fans who criticized her for skipping the 2022 Grammy Awards that evening. The rapper explained why she was leaving Twitter shortly before her page went dark, according to Complex. "I'm deleting my twitter but On God I hate this f***** dumb*** fan base," she wrote. "You got the slow dumb*****dragging my kids all cause y'all though I was going to the Grammys and I didn't the f*** ?" After demanding to know when she "hinted" she'd attend the ceremony, which was held in Las Vegas this year, she called the whole situation "stupid." "I can't I needs to protect myself," Cardi wrote. On Instagram Live, she told followers she was in New York City for the weekend, indulging in some "girl-day" activities. The two kids she shares with her husband, Offset, appeared to be there with her as well. What seemed to bug Cardi the most was the fact that her fans had started attacking her and, in a few cases, her children. "And I'm chilling and everything and then I'm going through my Twitter, and I see people in my Twitter—my fans, my own f****** fans … Practically saying that I'm lazy, and that I was giving hints that I was going to the Grammys," she snapped. Cardi went on to point out that although she was nominated ("Up" got a nod for Best Rap Performance), she didn't win and she doesn't have new music to promote. Cardi's Twitter exit is hardly out of left field, though. Speaking to Mariah Carey for Interview magazine last February, she said of the platform: "I try to stay off it most of the time, because sometimes it's such a bad vibe."
Alec Baldwin's wife Hilaria asks him to 'dial down the negative noise' on his birthday
On Alec Baldwin's 64th birthday on Sunday, April 3, his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, urged her husband to "dial down the negative noise" and "live life to its fullest," in the wake of the "Rust" set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last year. Sharing a long message on Instagram with a photo of the couple, Hilaria addressed Alec directly, telling him that she'd repeat the life they've shared "a million times," including, "the joyful moments, the scary moments, the passion, the sadness, the amazing people, the frustration, the confusion, the adventure, the laughter…the being a wife and a mother." The photo she posted showed Alec standing behind Hilaria with his arms around her as they faced a crowd of reporters and paparazzi. "I was so nervous with all those cameras. But it was safe and stable, as I leaned back, in your arms. That's where our power together has always been..and may we always come back to this," she wrote. "On your birthday, may I remind you, as your best friend, to live life," she continued. "Those who truly know you, who know your heart, your courage, your fears, your weaknesses, your strengths and your joys…we want you to live and enjoy each moment. Dial down the negative noise. It is a distraction from what life is about." Hilaria then praised her husband for having "lived amazing moments" and "given to so many," before acknowledging that he's also "suffered incredible pain that has left such a visible mark of trauma." She added: "We are here to help you heal and get back to YOU, as we all love you, Alec…me, your children, your family, your friends…and so many people who are reading this now. We want you to celebrate life and live it to its fullest. You deserve this and so much more. We love you and happy birthday." Alec, who's expecting his seventh child with Hilaria, is currently facing a wrongful death suit for his role in the fatal "Rust" set shooting.