By Jennifer Odell
3:14pm PST, Dec 11, 2020
Taylor Swift's fans think 'Folklore,' 'Evermore,' are part of a trilogy
Pop music's pandemic overachiever-in-residence Taylor Swift may have one more surprise in store for fans. After releasing a surprise album, "Folklore," this summer, followed by a surprise documentary about the album this fall, followed by another surprise album, "Evermore," this week, Taylor's third gift to her fans might be an album called "Woodvale." That is, of course, if those fans' theories are correct. (Side note: They often are, especially when the theories in question involve piecing together the meaning of Taylor's Easter egg hiding habits.) According to Paper Mag and other outlets, fans have picked up on the fact that the word "Woodvale" appears in the corner of photos from the "Folklore" deluxe CD edition, which is called, helpfully, "Hide and Seek." (Get it?) In another photo released from the same shoot a few months back, fans spotted the word, "Evermore," which of course turned out to be the title of surprise album No. 2. "I think evermore is the second album of a trilogy and ts10 will be released sometime during 2021 and it will be called 'woodvale,'" tweeted one of the many fans convinced a third surprise album will be out in any day now. Woodvale, by the way, is "a town near Britain's lake district," according to Paper. It also happens to be where Taylor and her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, recently celebrated their anniversary.
Keep reading to see which famous 8-year-old just snagged her first Grammy nomination …
RELATED: The business of being Taylor Swift
Blue Ivy Carter, 8, scores her first Grammy nomination
The performance that made Beyonce and Jay-Z's 8-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, the youngest ever winner of a BET award could also make her a Grammy winner. Beyonce's "Brown Skin Girl" video, released as part of her "Black Is King" visual album, is up for the best music video Grammy in 2021. Although the Recording Academy did not initially include Blue Ivy when it announced the nominees in November, the organization has since updated its site to reflect Blue's contribution, which was a featured vocal part that opens and closes the song, according to the AP. In addition to bey and Jay's daughter, the nominee update included the addition of Nigerian singer Wizkid, who joins Bey and her little girl on the song and in the video. Beyonce is up for a total of nine Grammy nominations at the ceremony, which airs on CBS on Jan. 31.
RELATED: Photo flashback: Beyonce's life and career in pictures
Did Ryan Seacrest hint at the Kardashians' Hulu deal in September?
At Disney's Investor Day event on Thursday, the company announced the Kardashian-Jenner family has signed a global, multi-year deal to stream new, original content on Hulu in the U.S., and on Star in various international regions. Given the family's recent announcement that "Keeping Up With the Kardasians" would be coming to an end on E! after the next season, news of the partnership surprised outlets like BuzzFeed, which proclaimed that it was a move, "literally no one saw coming." That might be an overstatement. In September, amid buzz around whether Kris Jenner might join the cast of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," "KUWTK" executive producer Ryan Seacrest told Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show that he didn't see Kris moving on to a new reality show. "She's got friends … on there," Ryan said of "RHOBH," "but no, she had so much success and control over at E! that, um, there might be some other things that you may hear about coming soon." Kris previously cited contract negotiations in explaining why the family opted to end their run now, while BuzzFeed points out the E! show's ratings have been "in a steady decline since 2015." Kris has also pointed out that the advent of social media came after "KUWTK" launched, making it easier (and likely, more lucrative) to follow the famous family on Instagram than on E!.
Blake Shelton wants to book Maroon 5 for his wedding because 'their music is so boring it won't distract from the festivities'
Sorry, Maroon 5. You have a wedding to play. During his appearance on Thursday's "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Blake Shelton said that while he and Gwen Stefani have yet to pick a wedding date, he knows how he wants to approach the entertainment. "I've kind of decided that I've been doing this a long time now and I've got a lot of favors out there. He may not like it, but Adam Levine's gonna have to get the band together and come and play our wedding," Blake quipped (via ET). "I've already seen a music video where they crash people's weddings and he owes me a lot for just putting up with him over the years. So I think we can get Adam to come be our wedding band," he continued, referencing maroon 5's "Sugar" video. "Plus, their music is so boring that it won't distract from the festivities and the reception and all that stuff," he added. Later in the chat, Seth jokingly griped that Gwen appeared on "Late Night" the day before the couple announced their engagement, yet she said nothing about it on the show. "She kept doing this with her hand and wondering if people would figure out that she was wearing an engagement ring," Blake countered, holding up his hand to the camera. "I told her, I said, 'You know, you wear more jewelry than Mr. T, so I don't think people picked up on that.' And they didn't. You could have figured it out though, she was giving you hints." Blake and Gwen announced their engagement in October. Gwen has since implied she's hoping to get married after the pandemic, if possible.
Brad Pitt sent home from 'Bullet Train' test after crew member tests positive for COVID-19
Brad Pitt was sent home from the Los Angeles set of his movie, "Bullet Train," this week after a crew member tested positive for COVID-19, according to Variety. Brad was one of multiple other cast and crew members who had contact with the reportedly asymptomatic person who tested positive. Sources tell the outlet that Brad and the other who may have been exposed have continued to test negative since being sent home. Earlier this week, Ellen DeGeneres' show was shut down until January following the host's positive coronavirus test. Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, has left a hospital in Washington D.C., where he was being treated for the virus.
FKA Twigs files suit against ex, Shia LaBeouf, alleging emotional, physical and sexual abuse
FKA Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, has filed suit against her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, on grounds he abused her "relentlessly" over the course of their nearly one-year long relationship. Tahliah, 32, began dating Shia, 34, in 2018 after starring with him in "Honey Boy," which Shia wrote about his relationship with his abusive father. In her lawsuit, the musician says she was regularly subjected to sexual battery, physical assault and "the infliction of emotional distress," according to the New York Times. The disturbing incidents she details include one in which she claims Shia was speeding "recklessly" on the road as they returned from a Valentine's day trip, threatening to crash the car if she didn't tell him she loved him. She says that when she demanded to be let out of the car, he threw her bags out, then came after her and assaulted her before "screaming" at her and forcing her back in the car. A second ex-girlfriend makes similar allegations in the same lawsuit. "I'd like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency," Tahliah told the Times in an interview. In an email to the outlet, Shia said: "I'm not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I'm ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say." In another email, Shia wrote, "many of these allegations are not true," but said both women should have "the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done." Tahliah told the Times that despite the "very expensive" work it took for her to "get out" of the allegedly abusive relationship, she intends to donate a "significant portion of any monetary damages to domestic-violence charities." She called her experience with Shia, "the worst thing I've ever been through in the whole of my life."
Kristen Wiig says being a mother has given her 'a sense of calm'
Now that she's the mother of twins, Kristen Wiig understands everything people have said to her in the past about how parenthood changes your perspective. Speaking to ET this week, the "SNL" alum, 47, said being a mom is "the best," before qualifying her statement. "I know everyone always says that, and everyone says, like, it changes how you look at the world and how you, like, see love. Now it's just, like, such a bigger thing, and all of that stuff is so true," she admitted. "Especially being in this business, you're on your own a lot, and you make your own decisions. It can be very sort of, like, an isolated existence. Now that I have kids, it's like, 'Oh, I don't want this to be about me, I don't wanna think about me anymore." Kristen, who welcomed the twins with fiance Avi Rothman in January via surrogate, added that despite having two young babies to care for, a "calm" has come over her since she gave birth. "Just having these two other little beings that I get to take care of is so amazing and, even though it's hard, I feel more relaxed in a way," she explained. "I don't know why, but I had this sense of, like, calm after they were born."
Harrison Ford, 78, will play Indiana Jones once more
Four decades after Harrison Ford first appeared as Indiana Jones in 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the actor, now 78, is due to make one more installment of the adventure franchise. "Lucasfilm is in pre-production on the next installment of Indiana Jones," Disney tweeted Friday. "At the helm is James @Mang0ld, director of Ford v Ferrari, and Indy himself, Harrison Ford, will be back to continue his iconic character's journey." Harrison previously spilled the tea on the new movie during a February appearance on "Ellen," where he said the next installment would go into production this year. "It's going to be fun. I am excited," he said at the time, per CNN. "They're great fun to make." "Indiana Jones" 5.0 is due out in July 2022, according to Disney.
Jenny Slate and Ben Shattuck are expecting their first child together
"How have the exact last nine months been? They've been real pregnant for me!" That's how Jenny Slate announced she's expecting on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Thursday, after showing off her baby bump on their videoconference and joking that she was harboring a carbs baby. "I hunkered down and baked a lot of bread but I just wanna say I might have baked too much bread or eaten too much bread — you tell me. I don't know if you can see," she said at first (via People, turning her belly to the camera. Jenny, who's expecting her little one with fiance Ben Shattuck, added that it's been "nice to have something that is incredibly positive during a time that's hard and sad." She also seems to be taking to the whole stay home and barely work thing just fine. Telling Seth that she's been "chilling out" and "doing exactly what I've wanted to do, not having to see anyone or figure out how to gracefully wear pants," she added that the two are now living in a "seaside town" in Massachusetts. "And just my luck, I moved in with my fiancé, and of course he lives in a very old house that is, I think, most certainly haunted and has an actual pet cemetery," Jenny admitted. "It has been in my fiancé Ben's family since the '30s, I think, so it's like 90 years of pets. At the beginning of the pandemic, when I was just newly pregnant, I started to go out and visit the pet cemetery every day. And Ben told me I started saying things like, 'I'm just gonna go outside and visit the pets,'" Jenny explained through a fit of laughter. "That's how a scary movie starts — a pregnant lady is like, 'My pets. My precious, precious pets …'"
Wendy Williams will take time off, show will go on hiatus following the death of Wendy's mother
Wendy Williams is taking time off to be with her family as they mourn the death of her mother, Shirley Williams. Her eponymous show will also go on hiatus until she returns in early January, Deadline reported on Friday. "She passed away beautifully and peacefully and surrounded by love. She didn't suffer, not one bit, thank goodness," Wendy said on Monday when she announced her mother had passed. She also left a seat in the audience empty in honor of Shirley. "Gone is the best mother, the best girlfriend that a girl could ever have," Wendy said on her show. "I feel fortunate that I had her in my life all of my 56 years because people in my age bracket — many of you, throughout the years — [say], 'You're really lucky to have your mom and dad together in a happy marriage.'" "The Wendy Williams Show" is slated to return with new episodes on Jan. 4.
