By Wonderwall.com Editors
3:33pm PST, Nov 10, 2020
Hoda Kotb shares an update on Al Roker
Al Roker is doing "great" and keeping a positive mindset after the beloved "Today" star revealed last week that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. That's according to Hoda Kotb, who gamely chatted with TMZ during a run through the Big Apple on Tuesday, Nov. 10. "He's good, I talked to him today," Hoda said. She went on to acknowledge that Al told his "Today" co-hosts about his diagnosis, "a couple of weeks ago," and that as of this week, "he's in a great mood" and told Hoda, "it's all looking good," presumably in reference to his surgery. Over the weekend, Al, 66, shared an update of his own on Instagram, telling fans and followers he's, "beyond grateful for the outpouring of prayers and good wishes" before vowing to "tell that cancer, #you'refired." Keep reading for the latest on Beyonce, Jason Momoa and more …
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Jason Momoa recalls he and Lisa Bonet 'were starving' after 'GOT'
Jason Momoa's memorable turn as Khal Drago in the first season of "Game of Thrones" back in 2011 hardly turned him into a star overnight. In fact, he says in the November edition of InStyle that he and his wife, Lisa Bonet, struggled with serious financial issues after his character was killed off. "I mean, we were starving after 'Game of Thrones,'" he recalls of the almost dire situation. "I couldn't get work. … It's very challenging when you have babies and you're completely in debt." Their kids Lola and Wolf, now 13 and 11, had just been born at the time — and it would be a few years before he got his next break. That came in 2016 when he was cast in "Justice League." His starring role in "Aquaman" followed a couple of years later. Jason retuns to the big screen next October in "Dune."
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Beyonce teams up with Peloton for HBCU homecoming-inspired artist series
Thanks to the pandemic, this year's homecoming festivities have largely been canceled or gone virtual at the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. But they say when one door closes, another door opens — and for fans of the HBCU tradition, that door is being opened by Beyonce and Peloton. On Tuesday, the exercise equipment and media company announced the launch of Peloton x Beyonce, a multi-year collaboration that kicks off with themed workouts meant to honor the legacy of HBCU homecoming season via classes in a wide range of fitness categories, from indoor cycling to outdoor running to overall body strength to yoga and meditation, according to an announcement on Peloton.com. Bey, whose now famous Coachella live film was Homecoming themed and who is herself a longtime member, is also working with the Peloton to give away two-year digital memberships to HBCU students across the country. "I'm proud to celebrate the students at HBCUs with this donation," Bey said in a statement via TMZ, "… to encourage them to find and embrace their own wellness regimens." Back in 2018, Beyonce's first-weekend Coachella performance was the most streamed Coachella set ever, which might help explain why, according to TMZ, Pelton stocks "jumped 7 percent" when the partnership was announced.
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Keith Richards on The Rolling Stones' 60th anniversary plans: 'The plans are to still actually all be alive'
Like a lot of us in 2020, Keith Richards has spent much of the past few months at home, "hunkering down," reading and doing what comes naturally — which in his case, is writing songs — while awaiting news of a vaccine for the coronavirus. He's doing all of that in a familiar 2020 uniform of sweatpants. "I call them comfies," he tells GQ in a new interview. "Very baggy soft things. And some Uggy boots." (When the reporter tries to confirm Keith means Uggs, he says, "the peasant-looking things," to clarify.) Not that Keith Richards, 76, is living an entirely identifiable pandemic life. He's currently promoting a deluxe box set version of his "Live at the Hollywood Palladium" album, recorded in December 1988 with his band The X-Pensive Wino. When the lockdowns began, he and The Rolling Stones were about halfway finished recording a new album. Asked if the band "has any plans for the [group's] 60th anniversary," which is coming up in 2022, Keith is blunt: "Well, the plans are to still actually all be alive," he says. "Apart from that, at our age, I don't know. I haven't heard of any plans, but I'm sure there are things being made. First off, I'm going to get through this year and see how we handle next year. Because I think at the moment, there are more problems than a Rolling Stones celebration. Although I'm very glad that we're all here, but I'll leave it at that if I can." Before the interview wraps up, GQ mentions that Keith's well-documented history of partying has left questions about his potential expiration date for half a century. "How satisfying is it to still be here?" the reporter asks. "Every day is a pleasure," Keith says. "I mean, I don't wish to defy anybody's predictions and I'm really not interested in them. But I'll croak when I croak and everybody will know."
Victoria Beckham trolls David Beckham for his weird boots
The fashion police are alive and well chez Beckham … On Sunday, Victoria Beckham and David Beckham showed off their poppy pins on Instagram as they marked Remembrance Sunday, a day set aside in the U.K. to honor British and Commonwealth servicemen and women. The photo on Victoria's 'Gram showed the award-winning designer in a cozy yet stylish turtleneck sweater and flared jeans, while David opted for a tailored wool blazer, casual button-down shirt and brown cords. It was the footwear beneath his pants, however, that caught Victoria's attention, for better or worse. David had donned a massive and rather banged up pair of brown boots that ballooned out from the ankles as they traveled up to the top of his calves. They were, without a doubt, made for swashbuckling — a point Victoria made perfectly on her Instagram Story when she shared the same photo, this time alongside a certain determined hunter from Disney's animated "Beauty and the Beast." "Gaston wants his boots back @davidbeckham," Victoria joked in the caption, according to Marie Clarie. Yet another version of the photo then popped up on David's Story — and it included Gaston, but David labeled the cartoon "me" and himself "GASTON." "So my wife decided to post before asking me or cropping my last minute shoe option," he wrote. "Revenge will be sweet @victoriabeckham."
How the late-night hosts covered the 2020 election results their first night back on the air
After four years of rehashing the day's often tumultuous current events during Donald Trump's presidency, reigning late-night host Stephen Colbert cracked a bottle of champagne on Monday's show and took a moment to soak in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' historic win. His late-night peers on other networks did the same. "Finally, after four years, Americans can exhale," Stephen said, glass in hand. "Unless you're near other people, then please don't because of the pandemic," he quickly added. Later, he allowed himself a bit of gloating with the crack, "It feels like America is, what's the word … great again." Over on NBC's "Tonight Show," Jimmy Fallon wondered how the country adjusted to the president-elect's more traditional speech after the AP projected him as the winner. "Americans are so damaged from the last four years, they're like, 'When's he gonna call somebody an idiot? When's he gonna insult somebody? Come on, spice it up, man!'" Jimmy joked. "It's a very different presidential speech than we're used to. White supremacists were like, 'No shout out?" Jimmy Kimmel, meanwhile, raised the president's claim Democrats "stole" the election — then asked, "Why would the Democrats have cheated and stolen the presidency, but given up the Senate and House seats on the ballot? Is it like when you cheat on a test and you purposely get a few wrong to throw the teacher off the scent?" One of few sympathetic remarks from any of the hosts came on "The Daily Show," where Trevor Noah referenced the jeering crowd of haters that "greeted" the president as he returned from the golf course on Saturday. "No matter what you think about Trump, I think we can all agree that that is a terrible way to find out that you're fired," Trevor offered. Finally, on "The Late Show," Seth Meyers showed footage of Americans celebrating in streets across the country over the weekend. "You know you were a bad president when people were celebrating and old, white centrist like he was the sunset at Burning Man," he joked.
'SNL' recreated Kamala Harris' white suit for Maya Rudolph in just 85 minutes
Here's a fun fact: It's not just the actors and writers who have to roll with the punches of live, current events satire on "Saturday Night Live." It's the costume crew, too. On Saturday, Maya Rudolph performed her (terrifyingly accurate) Kamala Harris impression in the opening skit of "SNL." She was wearing a near-perfect replica of the white Carolina Herrera suit the country's first female Vice President-elect had worn less than 90 minutes earlier when she took the stage in Delaware to address the nation. So how does something like that get pulled off? Not so easily, according to Popsugar, which did a little digging to find out. "I had a member of my team working on each piece: the blouse, the jacket, and the pants," said the show's wardrobe supervisor Dale Richards. Producer and costume designer Tom Broecker, meanwhile, said he had his assistant snapping screen grabs of every detail of the outfit they had to recreate. "By 9 p.m. we had pulled all the 'research' photos together and started looking through our stock to see if there was anything that could work. Every store in the city had been closed for hours. There was no way to shop this look anywhere, except in our back rooms," Tom revealed. They found a white suit the department planned to put on Cecily Strong when she was playing Melania Trump last year. They immediately altered the suit to match Harris'. "It would require an incredible amount of work to recut a double-breasted suit into a single-breasted suit, but I work with the most incredible tailors in the world," said Tom with pride. "They put the jacket on Maya's mannequin form in the office and went to work, just like in the movie 'Cinderella.' Eighty minutes later, and four tailors exhausted, Maya did a fitting. It was perfect and she was ready to go to the stage." They even managed to snag a last-minute flag pin for her lapel just before she kickedf off the show.
Alton Brown clarifies he voted for Joe Biden amid fan backlash
And in other pop culture fallout from Election 2020 news … Food Network star Alton Brown sparked confusion and criticism among many of his fans Monday on Twitter when he weighed in on the conservatove response to Donald Trump's refusal to concede his loss to Joe Biden. At issue was part of a tweet in which Alton was slamming "GOP leaders" for being obsequious in their support of the president. "I have voted Republican most of my life …," said the Georgia native, before taking issue with Republicans who support the president's claims of voter fraud, despite the lack of evidence. Fans seemed less interested in Alton's point, though, and went after him for leaning red. "You made me a better and more adventurous cook. I'm not angry….just incredibly disappointed," wrote one detractor. "Frankly, you have no right to be disappointed in me," Alton replied. "None whatsoever. I have used my own platform to speak my mind. You may dislike me, certainly but disappointment in me should be reserved for say…bad recipes." Still under attack Tuesday morning, Alton revealed he voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in a tweet aimed at Newsweek, which initially branded him a "Republican" while covering the fan response. "Dear @Newsweek I think you owe me an apology. Saying that I have voted for republicans in the past is not the same as being a republican," Alton posted. "Let me clarify: I have voted republican in previous years. But, I voted for and strongly support #BidenHarris2020 as well as @ReverendWarnock and @ossoff in my state. It's time for decency and unity to trump tribalism, racism, and disinformation." Newsweek has since updated its headline.
Mariah Carey just admitted she's already had a Christmas tree up for a month
When you have a Christmas tree calendar question and know just about every celeb in Hollywood personally, there's really only one place to turn for answers. And Ryan Seacrest did just that on Twitter on Monday night. "I'm told it's too early to put up a Christmas tree," Ryan tweeted at the world's so-called Christmas Queen, Mariah Carey. "Need you to weigh in on this," he added. As Billboard would later point out, the "All I Want For Christmas Is You" hitmaker's answer indicated what we all should already know — that only Mariah is Mariah and as such, she gets to play by her own Christmas rules. "It's definitely early Ryan! I told you to get through Thanksgiving first." she said, adding, "(but I've had one up for a month now … more to come)."
David Arquette reflects on Wes Craven while shooting 'Scream 5'
It took a good amount of work for the directors of "Scream 5" — the first "Scream" movie without Wes Craven at the helm — to get Neve Campbell to sign on, precisely because the late horror film icon wouldn't be involved. Now that they're shooting, David Arquette's also struggling with some leftover emotion about the director five years after his death. David recently chatted with The Independent, and when the outlet reminded him something Wes said about David back in 1997 — "when I'm around him, I feel this enormous sense of pain and longing for a simpler world — for love" — David broke down a bit. "I'm sorry. I've been having a really hard time lately missing him," he admitted. "That's such a beautiful thing to say. And, you know, I was tortured. My mother was dying around that time, so that was a really difficult and dark period. And it's true. I do, like, long for a world of love." While on the set of "Scream 5," David said he's felt Wes' presence and made a point of listening to music he knows the director liked. He added that at one point, he found himself "looking up old tweets and who he followed because I wanted to follow who he followed." "Scream 5" is due out in January 2022.
