Stephen Colbert is calling in sick this week from his “Late Show” hosting duties.
Colbert announced on Threads Monday that he has to cancel this week’s previously scheduled new episodes of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as he recovers from surgery.
“Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?” Actually, I’m recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix,” he wrote.
Colbert added that he’s “grateful” for his doctor’s care, and extended his gratitude to his wife Evie McGee-Colbert and their kids for “putting up” with him.
“Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas,” he joked at the end of his statement.
Jennifer Garner, Baz Luhrmann, Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer and Barbara Streisand were set to appear as guests on the “Late Show” starting Tuesday when the show returned from Thanksgiving break, with Grammy-winner Jon Batiste slated as Wednesday’s musical guest.
Last month, Colbert similarly was forced to cancel a week’s worth of shows “per doctor’s orders” after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The “Late Show” airs Monday through Friday at 11:35 p.m. EST on CBS, and streams on Paramount+.
John Travolta remembered a terrifying, midair ordeal while flying with his family over Thanksgiving break nearly 30 years ago.
During the London premiere for his latest film, “The Shepherd,” Travolta, who has a real-life pilot’s license, revealed his own scary experience while flying which mirrored a similar storyline to the movie.
In the flick based on the Frederick Forsyth 1975 novel of the same name, a young Royal Air Force pilot flying his de Havilland Vampire jet suffers total electrical failure and a mysterious pilot (Travolta) appears out of nowhere and guides the aircraft to safety.
“I actually experienced a total electrical failure, not in a Vampire but in a corporate jet over Washington D.C.,” Travolta said during a panel discussion after the movie, according to Variety. “So when I read [Forsyth’s] book, it resonated even more because of this experience I had personally had.”
Travolta, an avid aviation enthusiast, was piloting a Gulfstream II from Florida to Maine for Thanksgiving in 1992 when his own plane began malfunctioning.
“I knew what it felt like to absolutely think you’re going to die,” he said. “I had two good jet engines but I had no instruments, no electric, nothing. And I thought it was over.”
He added, “And then as if by a miracle, we descended, as per the rules to a lower altitude. I saw that Washington D.C. monument and identified that Washington National Airport was right next to it and I made a landing just like [Freddie] does in the film.”
Travolta praised Ben Radcliffe, who was handpicked out of 150 actors by director Iain Softley, for “so beautifully” portraying Freddie’s horror as the gravity of his situation hits him.
“He captured that despair when you think you’re actually going to die,” Travolta said. “And I had my family on board and I said ‘This is it, I can’t believe I’m gonna die in this plane.’”
His plane almost collided midair with a Boeing 747, which resulted in flights being briefly suspended across multiple airports in the area, a Washington Post report from the emergency incident on Nov. 24, 1992 revealed.
The “Saturday Night Fever” star has been a licensed pilot since he was 22-years-old and owns several planes, including a Boeing 707-138 that he keeps at his Florida home.
Travolta has daughter Ella and son Ben with his late wife, Kelly Preston.
Preston died in 2020 following a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57.
The couple also shared son Jett, who died in 2009 after suffering a seizure. He was 16. In April 2022, Travolta honored Jett on the day that he would have celebrated his 30th birthday.
Travolta was pictured waving from the cockpit of one of his planes, which is inscribed with the name of his late son Jett, and daughter Ella, in addition to “Clipper” as an homage to Pan Am airline. (Gregg DeGuire)
In court documents obtained Monday by The Messenger, the trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 4, 2024, in Tampa, Fla., and is anticipated to last five days, though Peter Ticktin — an attorney for Samantha — tells The Messenger it could extend longer.
Earlier this month, a federal judge heard arguments in Samantha’s defamation lawsuit against the Duchess of Sussex. (Samantha first filed her lawsuit last March, but it was dismissed a year later, with Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell ruling that there was no way to prove Meghan wasn’t being truthful.)
In her claim, Samantha accused the duchess of defaming her during Meghan and Prince Harry’s shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
Samantha alleged in court docs that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” and said that she was raised as an only child, causing her half-sister to experience “humiliation and hatred.”
Samantha said that she has been targeted with death threats and alleged that Meghan ended their communication when she began dating Harry. Samantha noted that her X account (formerly Twitter) was suspended after a Netflix series (presumably the six-episode docuseries Harry & Meghan) accused her of launching a social-media attack against Meghan, which Samantha denies.
Meghan’s attorney previously said that she did not defame her half-sister and that her remarks were no more than what Meghan experienced in her childhood.
A streaker stripped down at Disneyland and started crawling all over the place during the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride … this while folks were stuck in their boats and staring in shock.
Check out these wild videos that are making the rounds online right now … apparently, this happened within the past couple hours or so — although it’s a little unclear what exactly precipitated this. In any case, it left guests with their mouths open … rightly so.
From what we can gather from reports/accounts, the attraction was shut down for a bit Sunday — and, apparently, during that pause … this fella hopped out of his boat, undressed and started monkeying around near the actual robots and all the elaborate set pieces.
In one video, you can hear somebody yelling at him to stop and get down … warning him of the danger he was dabbling in. Of course, he didn’t listen … and kept on scurrying about.
I AM ON SMALL WORLD AND THERE WAS A STREAKER, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING pic.twitter.com/AeP7fiuvwI
— Ashley Esqueda, Christmas Bauble (@AshleyEsqueda) November 26, 2023
At some point, somebody snapped him outside of the ride … and it looks like he went for the full birthday suit look out in the sunshine.
The jury’s out on whether this man has been apprehended yet … but ya gotta imagine it’s only a matter of time. Shield your eyes, children … there’s naked weirdos roaming, and they’re baring it all!
Watch the footage below:
Updates:
11/27 10:34 AM PT — Law enforcement sources tell us the 26-year-old man was arrested for indecent exposure and being under the influence. He was then taken to a hospital to get checked out … but was eventually booked for the two misdemeanors.
4:53 PM PT — Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … this wayward guest was immediately removed from Disneyland following the incident. In other words, he’s long gone.
The California studio broadcasting NFL RedZone was evacuated Sunday while hosts were live on the air and narrating the situation, shocking viewers across the country.
NFL Network host Scott Hanson broke the news while covering a close fourth quarter between the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills, calling the situation “unprecedented.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a first in my 20-something-year broadcasting career,” Hanson said. “We have an alarm going off in the studios of NFL Red Zone right now, in our studios here in Inglewood, California.”
“We are being told we need to evacuate the building. We do not know the nature of the emergency,” he said, addressing the audible alarm heard in the background. “You can probably hear the alarm going right over the top of my right shoulder here, as it is something absolutely unprecedented for us.”
Scott Hansen just announced that he and the rest of the NFL Red Zone crew have to evacuate the building
A spokesperson for NFL Network later told The Athletic that the situation had been caused by a false alarm.
“Thankfully there was no fire,” they told the outlet. “No business functions, including NFL RedZone, were interrupted.”
The situation began with roughly 10 minutes left in the Bills-Eagles matchup, with Philadelphia up 28-24 when the alarm began sounding.
Hanson quickly returned to his seat on-camera while the game continued, telling his viewers that he had been told it was safe to continue from the studio—though the control room remained evacuated through the rest of the broadcast.
Well, that was…. interesting. Alarm has stopped. Apparently all clear. Still waiting on details.
Thanks for watching NFL RedZone week 12 ! One to remember.
The NFL Network host later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the alarm had stopped and building security had given the all-clear. In all, the situation lasted just under 10 minutes.
“Well, that was…. interesting,” Hanson wrote. “Alarm has stopped. Apparently all clear. Still waiting on details. Thanks for watching NFL RedZone week 12! One to remember.”
Bruce Willis’ daughter Scout Willis posted a sweet moment she and her father shared on Thanksgiving.
The 32-year-old daughter of Bruce and Demi Moore posted a clip via her Instagram Story Thursday of her father — who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia earlier this year — gently holding her hand as the two sat together at the dinner table.
In the video, now making its way around X (formerly Twitter), Bruce, 68, wore a gray beanie and a matching light gray pullover for the festive day, while Scout sported a white floral top.
In another clip posted to her story, Scout rested her head in her dad’s right hand as he stood behind her.
It’s unclear if the “Fifth Element” star’s blended family spent Thanksgiving together or not, but Bruce’s wife, Emma Heming, posted a sweet group photo of the family on the holiday.
The photo appeared to be a throwback, as Bruce’s eldest daughter, Rumer Willis, was pregnant in the group snap. (Rumer, 35, gave birth to her baby girl, Louetta, in April.)
It was revealed in October that the film star was “not totally verbal” as his disease progressed.
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” friend Glenn Gordon Caron said of his visits with Bruce.
“He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce.”
Bruce’s wife and his five daughters have been open and transparent about their journey amid his health struggles.
After revealing the “Die Hard” actor’s original diagnosis of aphasia had progressed in a statement made in February, the family shared that the moments they get with him are precious.
“He is the same, which I think in this regard I’ve learned is the best thing you can ask for,” his third oldest daughter, Tallulah Willis, said on “The Drew Barrymore Show” earlier this month.
“I see love when I’m with him, and it’s my dad and he loves me, which is really special.”
The family has also shared their pain over social media, with Rumer taking to Instagram last week to post a throwback snap of her and her father with a heartwrenching caption.
“Really missing my papa,” she wrote alongside the photo.
Heming, 45, has also opened up about how family life has been amid his diagnosis, revealing that she sometimes feels “guilt” for having access to resources other families suffering from similar health struggles don’t.
“When I’m able to get out for a hike to clear my head, it’s not lost on me that not all care partners can do that,” she explained.
The actor’s wife and daughters have been open and vulnerable about his health struggles and how it affects them.
“When what I share about our family’s journey gets press attention, I know that there are many thousands of untold, unheard stories, each of them deserving of compassion and concern.”
Despite the guilt she felt from her family’s privilege, Heming — who shares daughters Mabel Willis, 11, and Evelyn Willis, 9, with Bruce — acknowledged the positive impact their public vulnerability has had on others.
“I see that what I share matters to others who may be struggling, and in a small way makes them feel seen and understood,” she wrote, adding, “I want people to know that when I hear from another family affected by FTD, I hear our family’s same story of grief, loss, and immense sadness echoed in theirs.”
A royal insider reveals that Prince William is currently in “heir mode,” leading to conflict with King Charles. William “knows his father’s reign is only transitional, and is acting accordingly.”
Apparently, Harry and William’s relationship is even worse. Shortly after the publication of his memoir Spare, Harry asked a mutual friend to help organize a conversation with William. “It got nowhere.” The insider quotes Harry talking to a friend: “I’m ready to move on past it. Whether we get an apology or accountability, who knows? Who really cares at this point?”
The insider also stated Kate and Meghan have had “almost zero communication” since late 2019. For Kate, “there’s no going back, even in her relationship with Harry.”
Of a “rumor being spread by a friend of the royal family” that Harry is so miserable that he regularly sleeps in a local hotel, the insider says, “I know a lot of people that know them (Harry and Meghan), that are in their world, or their space, and I’ve just never come across anything of the sort,” adding that the couple have a “massive guesthouse” at their disposal on their property. “If you wanted to spend a night away, you don’t have to go as far as some janky hotel in Montecito town center.”
Will Smith has had another controversial claim made about him by a former assistant. This time it’s that he allegedly assaulted his wife Jada Pinkett Smith after he caught her in an intimate moment with singer-songwriter Marc Anthony.
The latest jaw-dropping allegation comes from Smith’s former assistant Brother Bilaal, who recently sat down with blogger Tasha K. In the interview, he gave his take on the dynamics of the superstar couple.
“Will’s comfortable with someone fucking his wife when he’s there. It’s when he’s not there, it’s the insecurities,” he alleged, suggesting the pair often welcomed others into their quarters. “There’s a comfortability when men and women come into have sex with them. Will’s fine with that.”
However, according to Bilaal, things would take a dark turn after the Fresh Prince allegedly walked in on his wife having sex on their sofa with Anthony, unattended.
“Will lost it and beat the shit out of Jada — I mean beat the dogshit out of her. So bad that they had to make a makeshift hospital in their home so that it couldn’t get out to the public,” Bilaal claimed.
“That pain of Will seeing Jada fucking Marc Anthony on the couch in their home — he know they were already fucking on the set [of Hawthorne] — this is fact. He just couldn’t take it and he whipped her ass.”
He went on to allege that after the beating, the Set It Off actor had to get reconstructive surgery “around her cheeks and all that stuff.”
Bilaal provided no evidence for his stories, and the Smiths have denied (and threatened legal action over) other parts of his interview.
Bilaal suggested that Smith was so torn over his wife’s “full-on” fling with Anthony that it led to suicidal thoughts. It also allegedly played a role in the split between Anthony and his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez, Bilaal said.
Speaking of how he learned of the incident, Bilaal claims to have talked to Will — a “basket case” at the time.
You can check out Smith’s ex-assistant’s claims around the 1:25:11 mark in the video below:
This is not the first time Smith’s ex-assistant has made bombshell claims about the Smith family.
Earlier this week, a clip from the interview made its rounds on socials in which, speaking of intimate moments he had with their family, Bilaal recounted an alleged incident where he was trying to find the Men in Black star, only to discover him having sex with Martin in the latter’s dressing room.
“I opened the door to Duane’s dressing room and that’s when I see Duane having anal sex with Will,” he claimed. “There was a couch and Will was bent over the couch and Duane was standing up killing him, murdering him. It was murder in there.”
In the days since, Jada has responded to the allegations about Will Smith and Duane Martin, revealing that she and Will plan to take legal action against Bilaal.
“It’s ridiculous,” she said during a visit to The Breakfast Club. “This is a person that tried a money shakedown that didn’t work. We’re going to take legal action because it’s one thing to have your opinion about somebody versus just making up salacious, malicious stories.”
After explaining that the entire matter is rooted in salty business dealings between Smith and Bilaal, she briefly talked about how her husband has dealt with the ongoing situation.
“Here’s one good thing about Will,” she explained. “He’s always going to find the funny, y’know what I’m saying? […] You just got to laugh about it.”
Marty Krofft, who created a string of otherworldly children’s shows with his brother Sid, including H.R. Pufnstuf, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Land of the Lost, has died at age 86. His publicist told reporters the cause was kidney failure.
Krofft also co-produced a string of prime-time adult shows starring A-list celebrities including Donny and Marie with the Osmond siblings, Pryor’s Place with Richard Pryor and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.
The Canadian-born children of puppeteers, the Krofft brothers followed in the family footsteps, developing a risque puppet show for adults in California.
They broke into TV when they were asked to design costumes for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. What followed next was the trippy 1970 Saturday morning show H.R. Pufnstuf, set on an island where a dragon was the mayor.
“We screwed with every kid’s mind,” Marty once told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s a Krofft look—the colors. There’s an edge. Disney doesn’t have an edge.”
The pair—Sid was seen as the creative genius and Marty the business brain of the operation—also created a theme park and traveling live shows. Their last production was a Nickelodeon show in 2015.
Sid paid tribute to Marty on Instagram after his death:
“I’m heartbroken over the loss of my baby brother. I really know that all of you meant the world to him. It’s YOU that made this all happen. Thank you for being there with us all these years. Love, Sid.”
Prince Andrew has slowly found his way back into the royal fold as King Charles invited him to a royal event at Windsor this week.
The disgraced Duke of York was pictured at Windsor Castle to welcome the new Dean of Windsor with the King and Queen on Thursday before the inauguration of Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth at St George’s Chapel, The Sun reported.
The disgraced Duke of York was pictured in his suit and tie driving his £220,000 green Bentley along the Long Walk on Thursday ahead of the ceremony.
But his attendance was kept out of the official Court Circular which is a public record of all royal jobs.
The Duke of York appeared at the bash as a private individual and not in any royal role, it is understood.
The 63-year-old royal was reportedly given a “royal pardon” before the royal engagement and attended the ceremony as a private individual.
Andrew stepped down as a working member of the Royal Family in 2019 due to his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and allegations – which he has vehemently and repeatedly denied.
King Charles and Andrew are reportedly still in dispute over the Royal Lodge. Andrew, who has been living in the Lodge for years, was evicted by the monarch and asked to move into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s previous Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage.
However, the disgraced royal is adamant to stick to his current residence, which he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, despite being divorced for 27 years.
A poll earlier this year saw Brits name Andrew as the nation’s least favorite royal.
