Paris Jackson opens up about her sexuality, dad's support, plus more news

By Wonderwall.com Editors 2:39pm PDT, Jul 1, 2020

Paris Jackson recalls her father, Michael Jackson's early support of her interest in girls

Paris Jackson's new Facebook Watch docu-series costars her boyfriend, Gabriel Glenn. But as she revealed in the premiere on Tuesday, June 30, she never expected to find love with a straight man. Or as the 22-year-old singer and actress put it in "Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn," via E! News, "[I] never thought I'd end up with a dude." Explaining that she was always sure she'd "end up marrying a chick," since she's "dated more women than men," Jackson pointed out that she's kept most of her romances under wraps. "The public only knows about three long-term relationships that I've been in and they've been with men. The public doesn't know about most of the relationships I've been in," she said, adding that she's "dated more than just men and women." Ultimately, Jackson said what's drawn her to fall in love with someone has been unrelated to their anatomy. "It has nothing to do with your XY chromosome makeup…It's literally just like what are you like as a person?" she said. Making sense of that interest took some work and time, though, particularly since she didn't have any understanding of sexual identification beyond straight. "… I was a little conflicted about it because all I'd ever seen were men and women on TV together and so, these thoughts didn't really make sense to me," she explained. But through the support of her father, Michael Jackson, she began to understand. "My dad caught on pretty quick," she said. "I think he just felt the energy and he would like kind of tease me the same way that he would tease my brothers, like 'Oh, you got yourself a girlfriend.' … I'm very lucky to have that, especially so young — I think I was like 8 or 9," she added. As for Glenn? "The only home I've ever had before was my dad," Jackson admitted, "and now I have Gabe, so…I'm very lucky.

Keep reading to see how Jennifer Garner helped a fan through a rough divorce …

Jennifer Garner shares heartfelt love, advice with struggling fan

Jennifer Garner used her own experience to bring some light into a fan's life on Instagram this week. On Tuesday, the actress posted a silly gallery of pics of herself decked out in various costumes she captioned, "quarantine, but make it fashion." It wasn't long before someone wrote in the comments that they're struggling with a painful split but long to feel as good as Jen seems to in her reliably hilarious posts. "I wish I had your happiness and feeling of security. And I don't say that resentfully because you present yourself as a good and kind person. Your actions show you to be good and kind," wrote the fan. "It's that I have finally gotten the courage to tell my husband to leave after years of emotional abuse and I feel like I will never find happiness or security. I find a sense of balm from seeing yours but it's also mixed with a winsome feeling because I don't think I'll ever be there. He is so vindictive and powerful and I have nothing and no one. Why am I saying this to a stranger? I really don't know." Jen, whose own, high-profile divorce from Ben Affleck was finalized in 2018, didn't let the fan's words go unnoticed. "Your heart sounds heavy, I am so sorry," she replied. "Hopefully you have powerful women in your corner, reminding you of your strength and your worth. Hopefully, you are able to calm your mind with prayer/meditation/ exercise/ art. Laughter will come and really ― it is worth fighting for. Until then, all of my love." Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2016, the "Alias" star and mother of three admitted that she got through the pain of her split by doing what she did as a little girl to feel better. "All of a sudden I'm sitting down at the piano. I went back to church. I sat down and wrote bad poetry all day because I was so sad," she said. "I look forward to getting past the pity stage," she added. "I look forward to just having a sense of humor." If Jen's steady stream of giggle-inducing, cat thwarting quarantine posts are any indication, she seems to have gotten over the hump.

Film Academy invites Cynthia Erivo, Awkwafina, Lakeith Stanley and more to join its ranks of Oscar voters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the names of the 819 people it invited this year to join its Oscar-voting ranks. Among them is two-time Academy Award nominee, Cynthia Erivo, who's just an "O" win away from scoring an EGOT, as well as Awkwafina, Zendaya, Eva Longoria, John David Washington, Ryan Murphy, "Knives Out" star (and noted gal-pal of Ben Affleck) Ana De Armas, Constance Wu and Lakeith Stanfield ("Sorry To Bother You," "Get Out"). The list of new invitees is diverse by design, according to CBS News, which reports invitees come from "some 68 countries," making the 2020 class more international as well as more diverse than in many years past. The organization vowed in 2016 to "[double] its female amd minority membership by 2020," a promise that came amid widespread criticism via the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. Most invitees accept the offer to join The Academy, thereby making them eligible to vote on the Oscars. Next year's awards show is currently scheduled for April 25.

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North West, Travis Scott make cameos in Kanye West's new music video

Kanye West released his first new music since 2019 on Tuesday, and the accompanying video for the track is a family affair, featuring appearances by both Travis Scott and North West, Kanye and Kim Kardashian West's 7-year-old daughter. "Wash Us in the Blood," West's first collaboration with Dr. Dre., focuses on recent stories related to the Black Lives Matter movement, including protests in reaction to the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. "Wash us in the blood/ Wash us in the blood/ Whole life being thugs/ No choice selling drugs/ South Side what it does," West raps in the song, which is slated to appear on his forthcoming tenth studio album. "Rain down on us/ Genocide what it does," he continues (via EW), "Slavery what it does/ Rain down on us." Scott, who shares a daughter, Stormi, with West's sister-in-law Kylie Jenner, remains close with the Kardashian-Jenner family, and he makes an extended cameo on the mic in West's new track. But it's North whose dancing skills get top billing as the video comes to a close, showing her rocking out to what looks like a rehearsal for her dad's Sunday Service choir right before the end.

Tom Hanks: 'Shame on' anyone who 'cannot find it in themselves' to wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash their hands

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first celebrities to test positive for the coronavirus back in early March. Now, Hanks is using the platform he has while promoting "Greyhound," his new Apple TV+ movie, to urge the public to take safety protocols seriously as positive case numbers continue to spike in the U.S. "There's really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow: Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands," the actor, 63, told People and other outlets at a press conference this week. "Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things – I just think shame on you," he continued. "Don't be a p—-, get on with it, do your part. It's very basic. If you're driving a car, you don't go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it's common sense." Asked about his and his wife's recovery from the disease, Hanks said the couple is "fine" after "about 10 days of very uncomfortable symptoms." He stressed that while they were lucky to not have required medical care, he and Wilson,"were also isolated so that we would not give it to anybody else that we came in contact with, and since then have been doing the same isolating, social distancing that is being asked of the world …"

Patrick Dempsey brings back iconic McDreamy line to promote mask-wearing

"It's a Beautiful Day to Save Lives." Sound familiar? It should if you're a "Grey's Anatomy" fan. Patrick Dempsey reincarnated his famous McDreamy line this week in a bid to inspire mask-wearing among his Instagram followers. "WearAMask," he wrote after the Dr. Derek Shepherd quote, adding the hashtags, "#COVID19" and "#YourActionsSaveLives." Dempsey's part of a growing contingent of celebs speaking out on social media about the importance of wearing a face covering during the pandemic, a move that's been proven to reduce the spread of the virus that causes the potentially lethal disease, COVID-19. Other stars who've posted about the importance of wearing a mask in the past week include Kerry Washington, who warned — while clad in Rihanna's Fenty shades — that she's"throwing @fenty shade" at non-maskers — and Reese Witherspoon, who reminded Insta users last week, "Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It means you care about other people's health and safety." On Wednesday, the actress riffed on a "Legally Blonde" meme, adding a mask to Elle Woods' face in the first day of school scene. In a split screen, Warner asks if she wears a mask "in public," instead of asking if she got into Harvard Law — and Elle's classic answer is the same: "What, like it's hard?"

Jennifer Hudson opens up about how playing Aretha Franklin affected her off-set

For Jennifer Hudson, every time she gets the chance to honor Aretha Franklin publicly, as she did with her rendition of "Young, Gifted and Black" during the BET Awards over the weekend, it "feels like the first time," Hudson tells People. The Oscar winning star recently spoke with the outlet about her experience playing Franklin in the new biopic, "Respect," sharing how the movie and Franklin herself stuck with Hudson long after filming was complete. "I started piano lessons," Hudson says, offering an examnple. "Aretha got me back in music school. It's still a process, but the film has made me more passionate about learning an instrument and expressing myself musically." Hudson also admitted she hopes Franklin, who reportedly "hand-picked" her to star in the film, is pleased with the finished product. "I still feel like she's in me, I really do," Hudson says. "I just hope to meet her requests. You think you respect Aretha, but once you see the film and you learn her story, you can't help but to have a newfound respect for her."

Lil Nas X celebrates 'one year of being gay' by crowd-sourcing his next project

Last year, Lil Nas X closed out Pride month by coming out as gay a message he shared by tweeting a video for his song "C7losure," telling fans to "listen closely" before "the month ends" and tacking a rainbow Emoji on the end. He eventually had to spell out what he was trying to say — which might be why he revisited the idea this year on Tuesday, posting the same video — but with a much more clear post. "I have officially been gay for a year," he tweeted, "… wow that was fun what should i do next!?" As his millions of followers chimed in with ideas, Nas X interrupted the flow to praise one as a "top contender." That idea, according to Billboard, said Nas X should become "an interdimensional [sic] shapeshifting ball of energy that procedurally engulfs all matter in its path until there is nothing left of the universe. then you should try an r&b album." The Grammy winner said he loved the R&B album idea … to be fair, he kinda already has the whole "shapeshifting ball of energy" thing down pat.

Nikki Bella shares an update on her mother's brain surgery

Nikki and Brie Bella's mom, Kathy Laurinaitis, successfully underwent brain surgery on Tuesday and was recovering in the ICU. "Mama Bella had a very successful surgery! Can't thank you all enough for your prayers, love, light and beautiful words," Nikki shared on Instagram Tuesday night. She added another "thank-you" to the doctors involved in the procedure, and said her mom was expected to remain in the ICU "for a few days" to recover. "Took a lot longer than expected but it's because the doctors really wanted to make sure that everything was taken out because if we didn't catch this, it actually could have been fatal," she explained in the video post. The update came after Nikki and her sister told fans their mother needed to have a mass on her brain stem that was causing partial paralysis removed."She's loved by so many of us and just pray that her road to recovery is exactly what we are hoping for so we can put two new grand babies in her arms soon," wrote Nikki before the surgery. The "Total Bellas" star is currently expecting her first child with fiance Artem Chigvintsev. Her twin sib, Brie, is pregnant, too. She's reportedly expecting her second little one with her husband Daniel Bryan within two weeks of Nikki's due date.

Harvey Weinstein's accusers awarded $18.8M survivors' fund as part of class action settlement

The plaintiffs who filed a 2017 class action sexual misconduct lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and The Weinstein Company have been awarded an $18.875 million survivors' settlement fund, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Assuming the payments are approved by bankruptcy and district courts, they'll represent the final chapter of both the class action suit and a separate suit filed by the New York Attorney General in 2018. The fund will reportedly allow survivors to make their own individual claims "describing their experience and its effects," related to Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment, assault and rape, THR reports. Plaintiffs in the case are separate from the three women who accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting and raping them in a New York criminal trial. The former producer is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York after more than 100 women accused him of sexual misconduct.

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