Blake Lively — actor, mom, and all-around icon — has completely transformed for her latest role and you might want to prepare yourself before you take a look at just how much she has changed. Lively is currently filming her next film, the thriller The Rhythm Section, in Ireland. Photos from the set leaked over the weekend onto the internet and it's really hard to overstate just how much she has completely changed for this new and challenging role.
Lively was spotted on the set of The Rhythm Section looking rather tired, or rather, that fatigue might just be thanks to special effects makeup used to add some bags and heaviness to her face. Combined with the puffy jacket and layers of careworn clothing piled onto Lively, and it's easy to see why many folks on the internet as shocked at her transformation.
Granted, Lively isn't unused to transforming for a role or, at the very least, not looking super pretty 100% of the time. Take her shark-driven survival movie The Shallows. If you recall, Ryan Reynold's better half had to get pretty bloody and dehydrated (again, thanks to special effects makeup) for that role, too. But the effect of Lively's makeup and costuming for The Rhythm Section, where she plays a woman seeking revenge on the people who are responsible for her family's death, is astonishing because she looks so very tired and not-at-all glamorous.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the idea of Ben Affleck being a part of the solution to ending sexual harassment in Hollywood, and I can't deny that it's good to see him speaking up about changing the dangerous patterns of behavior so deeply ingrained in the entertainment industry.
While on the road promoting his new film, Justice League, the actor sounded truly gung ho about figuring out ways to effectively end the harassment and assault women and men have faced at the hands of powerful abusers in the entertainment industry. In doing so, he made it clear that he now wants to start being a part of the solution rather than just one of the many men who are complicit or silently perpetuating the problem.
When asked about the most important thing men can do to address the issue of sexual harassment, Affleck began by saying, "I think, you know, it's obvious it's a terrible thing; it's happening on a scale that I don't think anybody except maybe women, you know, understood and recognized how terrible it was, and it's opening a lot of people's eyes to this."
He continued, "And, you know, for me, that means also looking at my own behavior and addressing that and making sure that I'm part of the solution and that I'm, you know, making positive steps and that we're... we're calling out other guys when we're seeing behavior that's inappropriate."
But perhaps most interesting part of Affleck's commentary (especially considering this is comingfrom Affleck) was the second part of his proposed solution to ending a culture of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. "Secondarily, I think the problem… two things need to happen," he began. "One: More women need to be pushed to power so that women feel comfortable coming forward and having someone to report to. And two: I think, you know, it's got to become... it can't just be a woman's issue. It's got to be a men's issue as well. Otherwise, it will always be an issue."
That focus on putting women first and making sure men understand this is their problem too feels like an important point to make. Putting the onus on men to recognize and change their own behavior while lifting women up would be a vital and viable way to repair relationships in the industry, to be sure. So in this regard, Affleck's not wrong at all. However, there's a difference between saying it and doing it; considering Affleck's history where allegations of sexual misconduct are concerned, he's got a long way to go in redeeming himself.
Affleck has had some serious accusations of sexual misconduct of his own of late. Most notable is the allegation he groped actor Hilarie Burton. It is also worth noting that his brother, Casey Affleck, has stood at the center of similar allegations of sexual assault in the past. It's under this cloud of allegations and a previously hazy position on how sexual assault should be dealt with that Affleck's latest comments pique our interest. But we should also hold him to the high standard he's discussing in these comments to ensure he becomes a tool for change rather than just an empty voice for it.
Actions speak louder than words, and while it's good that he's focused on repairing his own image, we also hope he acts on the real, tangible changes he's suggesting going forward.
“If you can’t pay, I’m going to call the police,” the cab driver told me.
“Do it,” I taunted him.
I was a struggling 22-year-old, and somehow, after a rowdy karaoke night, I had found myself in a taxi without my purse or wallet — too wasted to know where they’d gone. The driver and I bickered about the payment and eventually he called the cops, who were not impressed by the fact that I’d studied comparative literature “at a really good school.” (Yes, I actually said that.) Next thing I knew, I was in handcuffs, arrested for a misdemeanor called theft of services.
When I found out I was bipolar several years later, my sloppy night in jail made more sense — along with many other regrettable mistakes. In many ways, the diagnosis brought me peace. I liked that there was a name for the problem, and with it an explanation for my more erratic behaviors and impulse-control struggles. The hardest part was accepting that my upswings were unhealthy. I could easily see that crippling depression and drunken chaos were symptomatic of my brain chemistry, but debilitating infatuation? Not so much. I grew frantic as I realized the best parts of my life were aspects of a serious illness.
My symptoms surfaced during adolescence, but I didn’t get the right diagnosis until I was almost 28. My not-a-relationship situation-thing had just ended, and I was unraveling — depressed enough that staring at the ceiling left me drained. But days later, I couldn’t shut my brain off. While trying to sleep, I stared at the walls of my barely furnished room and cried as quietly as I could until the skin beneath my eyes was puffy and the night had become the morning.
For years, every doctor I saw thought depression and anxiety were sufficient explanations. As I’ve learned, misdiagnoses like mine are quite common. Much of what makes my condition so difficult to identify is the phenomenon of hypomania masquerading as happiness. Hypomania never becomes the full-blown manic state you see in movies. It’s subtle enough to be mistaken for an improvement in mood or the personality traits of a bubblier individual. (This seems like the right moment to mention that I was voted most energetic in high school.)
It took me a while to realize what was going on and describe it to a psychiatrist. This was partially because I liked some aspects of living with untreated bipolar disorder. It feels shockingly good to lose your mind a little — the descent into low-grade mania is like a secret drug you don’t have to pay for. In some of my more manic moments, I brimmed with the confidence that eluded me when I was grounded in reality. In others, my lack of judgment allowed for the momentary bliss of impulsive shopping sprees, drinking binges and texts to people I shouldn’t text. There are days when I wish I could still kiss common sense goodbye.
I recognize that some of these problems aren’t unique to my diagnosis. No matter your brain chemistry, emotions are, by nature, divorced from rationality and reason — at least to some degree.
You don’t have to be bipolar for happiness to reach an unhealthy extreme, as my therapist reminded me during a recent session. We were discussing my romantic feelings for someone I’d recently met. My inability to differentiate between normal infatuation and mania was causing me great anxiety. (One of my least favorite things about living with bipolar is constantly worrying that seemingly normal behaviors are unhealthy.)
“I don’t know if I’m falling in love or if I’m just being crazy,” I lamented. “Like usual.”
“Well, everyone’s a little bit crazy when they’re falling in love,” she said.
Maybe that’s true, but not everyone’s world falls apart when the feeling fades — when love doesn’t last. In fact, it’s not so much that happiness was a symptom of my illness; it’s that my dependency on happiness was and sometimes still is.
My two mental health-related hospital visits both happened after painful romantic rejection. I simply could not see a reason to live without the outside sources of happiness I’d been denied. In these instances, I didn’t value my life enough and prioritized fleeting external joy far too much. I chased happiness at the expense of my own well-being.
With the clearer (and properly medicated) mind I have now, I know that happiness cannot be the only ingredient in a meaningful life. It’s best enjoyed as the cherry on top of a deeper stability. I experience much less in-the-moment euphoria these days, but there’s more room in my life for the things actually worth holding onto: friends who love me and the peace of mind to sit quietly long after the moment’s gone.
When I announced my plan to relocate from NYC to Nashville a year ago, some of the most common responses among my New York friends were: "Do you have to start listening to country music now?" and "Are you going to, like, run into Dolly Parton on the street?" Apparently the answers are: sort of, and sort of.
I didn't "run into" her, but I was able to catch up with dear Dolly during her visit to Nashville's Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, where she recently celebrated the release of her first children's album (I know, how have we all made it this far without one?) with a performance and a whopping $1 million donation to support the kids.
CMT called Parton's children's hospital visit "the medicine the country music community needed following the tragedy at the Route 91 Harvest music festival," and even I — a Dolly/Willie/Hank fan for sure, but hardly a country music junkie in general — would have to agree. For one thing, Parton introduced us and the young patients to her niece, Hannah, who as a teen was treated for leukemia at that very same hospital; Hannah's 29 now and doing great.
Everything about Parton's Vanderbilt visit brightened the days of countless kids who are struggling with cancer and receiving treatment there: her music, her hugs, her rainbow-sequined attire, her sheer Parton-ness. She's bubbly and big-hearted, and although she refused to spill on whether she was a co-conspirator in her co-stars' Trump comments at the Emmys (sorry gang, I tried), she says everything with such a twinkle in her eye, it's hard to believe she's not conspiring in... something. Something we mere mortals will be lucky if we ever learn.
Parton's new children's album, I Believe in You, isn't only filled with catchy songs about rainbows (although that's a draw in and of itself); it also includes songs like "Brave Little Soldier," which Dolly explains is in honor of Hannah, the kids at the hospital and every other kid in the world who is struggling or being made to feel "less than" because they're simply different. "Whether they're crippled children, whether they're sick children... gay children or transgender children," Dolly explained to Rolling Stone. "All those things where you don't even know what you're going through, but you're different and you're going through something. I wanted 'Brave Little Soldier' to mean 'you're not the only one that's ever felt this way.'"
In the midst of Dolly's busy day of performing, speaking, cajoling Dr. Oz into singing a duet (it was somewhat frightening) and hugging adorable children dressed as blue butterflies in honor of the I Believe in You album art, we sat down to ask her a few pressing questions that have been on our minds, such as: Why a kids' album, and why now? What would Baby Dolly think of the dumpster fire that is 2017? And will there ever be a 9 to 5 reboot pretty, pretty please?
Watch Dolly's answers and more in the video below, and get ready for a whole new appreciation for rainbow turtlenecks.
Updated November 7, 2017, 8:50 a.m. PT: Adam Levine is just destined to be surrounded by beautiful women. Two months after his wife, Behati Prinsloo, casually dropped her pregnancy announcement on Instagram, Levine just as casually revealed that they're expecting a second daughter.
On The Ellen DeGeneres show Tuesday, Levine explained, "It’s a girl, we’re having another girl," and then added that he and Prinsloo don't plan to stop at just two.
"I want a lot [of kids], I thrive in chaos," he said. And apparently, Prinsloo feels the same way. "She was an only child, so she wants like 100 babies. I don’t know if I can do that. That’s a lot of babies."
Adam Levine announces he and Behati are having a girl
Adam Levine announces he and Behati are having a girl
Original story:
It looks like Adam Levine has a whole lot more than the upcoming Season 13 premiere of The Voice to look forward to — in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the Maroon 5 frontman's wife, Behati Prinsloo, casually announced that the sweet couple is expecting again.
Already sporting that happy mama glow, Prinsloo shared a photo of herself in a bikini with a noticeable baby bump. The caption simply reads, "ROUND 2...."
Behati Prinsloo Pregnant 1
Behati Prinsloo Pregnant 1
Of course, Levine and Prinsloo's new baby will be in good company. Aside from some pretty stellar parents, the little one joins the couple's 1-year-old daughter, Dusty Rose.
Although Levine hasn't publicly responded to the announcement yet, it's likely only a matter of time before he gushes about his expanding family. At the rocker's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in February of this year (where Dusty made her adorable debut), Levine couldn't contain his pride.
"I have a daughter; I have the most beautiful wife in the entire world. I am one of the luckiest people who's ever lived, and it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the people who love me the most, and so I thank all of those people. I can't do it individually, but I thank you all," he said.
Prinsloo is equally over the moon about their growing brood.
In a recent interview with People, the model-mommy explained, "I love Adam, and when you get married and you fall in love with someone, you think that there's no greater love than that love. And then you have a baby, and it's just next-level love."
Both Levine and Prinsloo have even gotten tattoos to celebrate this "next-level" love. In May, Levine had "True Love" inked across his knuckles. As for Prinsloo, she had their daughter's name, Dusty, tattooed on her left arm. Perhaps the new addition will go on the right, then?
Congrats to the happy couple on this latest chapter in their lives. Levine-Prinsloo, party of four!
We're super-excited the holidays are here, but we're also (not so) secretly dreaming of tropical weather, which makes a toasty beverage totally mandatory right about now — and a delicious mulled wine is just that. Plus, it's about as festive as the holiday season gets. Nothing screams Christmas like carols and a spiced warm beverage — but let's be real; the price tag on those little mulling spice tins in gourmet shops can leave you with some serious sticker shock.
The good news is the same mulling spices can easily be made at home, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.
Allspice and cloves give mulled cider and wine that lovely warming aspect — and when they're combined with cinnamon, citrus peel and ginger, the result is nothing short of magic.
Because I’m lucky enough to play with some of the best gadgets in the kitchen and food industry, I know there’s more than one great way to prepare a turkey. You can deep-fry, smoke or roast your bird with incredible results.
All of these methods make for a mouth-watering turkey, but below are some of my top tips on preparing the perfect classic roast turkey (and trimmings). Happy holidays!
David Venable is the program host of QVC's popular cooking and dining showIn the Kitchen with David. He offers a diverse and unique viewership experience with features such as product information, cooking demonstrations, on-air guests, celebrity appearances and live viewer interaction. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Originally published November 2014. Updated November 2017.
The kids who star in Netflix's Stranger Things have definitely achieved superstar status. The show is one of Netflix's most highly viewed and talked-about shows in years, and a lot of that success is because of its incredibly talented cast of kids.
But child stars who shoot suddenly to fame certainly don't have an easy road. There have already been callouts about people sexualizing the young teen stars of Stranger Things on Twitter and Tumblr. And now, Game of Thrones actor Sophie Turner is calling out more people in a series of tweets asking that those kids be allowed to just be kids even though they're famous.
Turner shot to fame when she landed the role of Sansa Stark at just 13. Now 21, she took to Twitter to defend 14-year-old Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike in Stranger Things, after a tweet went viral criticizing him for not stopping to talk to fans waiting outside his hotel.
"Damn... seeing fully grown adults wait outside the ‘Stranger Things’ kids’ hotels etc , and then abuse them when they don’t stop for them... Is super weird," Turner wrote. "A. What adult in their right mind waits for a CHILD outside their hotel and B is then is offended when the CHILD doesn’t stop[?] It doesn’t matter if they are an actor... they are kids first. Give them the space they need in order to grow without feeling like they owe... Anyone anything for living their childhood dreams."
Several hours after that series of tweets, she added more.
"Oh and ps," she wrote. "Imagine.. you, a parent, walking with your 13 year old son/daughter and seeing a fully grown adult pointing their camera phone .. .. at your kid. You would do anything you could to delete that persons photograph, and remove your child from that situation as soon as .. .. you could. It doesn’t matter if that child happens to be an actor and consented to a professional film crew capturing their moves when .. .. in character.. That does NOT mean that this child consented to being followed around with a camera in their face. I don’t care if it 'Comes with the job'. It doesn’t."
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 5
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 5
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 6
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 6
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 7
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 7
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 8
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 8
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 9
Sophie Turner defends Finn Wolfhard on Twitter 9
She continued, "And how dare you shun and demean that child when they don’t pose for an adult strangers photograph or walk over and talk to them when they .. .. take that NOT CONSENTED FOR photo. Doesn’t that go against everything we teach our children anyway? Pshhhh. Some people man."
She's got a point. People, lay off child stars. They don't owe you a single thing. They're just kids trying to navigate growing up, which is hard enough without grown folks being assholes to them.
We're used to having to weigh our luggage and carry-on baggage before boarding a plane, but what about weighing ourselves? That's what one airline is requesting of passengers — in the name of safety, of course.
Since the beginning of November, Finnair — Finland's largest airline — has been asking passengers to step onto a scale before flights out of Helsinki-Vantaa airport. This is entirely voluntary, and all the passenger data will be kept anonymous, CNBC reports.
So why ask someone to weigh in before a flight? The goal of Finnair's policy is to get data from around 2,000 passengers to update nearly decade-old data on customer weights in order to more accurately forecast how much fuel different flights require. This will continue through the spring of 2018, so the airline can include weights of passengers wearing heavy winter coats, as well as lighter spring attire.
"We have a strong safety culture at Finnair, and are also a very data-driven organization, so we want to ensure we have the best possible data in use in aircraft performance and loading calculations," a Finnair spokesperson tells CNBC.
That's not a bad idea in theory, but will the type of people who agree to be weighed prior to a flight possibly skew the survey's results?
"That's a question a lot of people have asked," Päivyt Tallqvist, the communications at Finnair tells the BBC. But she doesn't think it will pose a problem.
"We found yesterday and today we had people of all shapes and sizes. We had Finnish and Asian customers, we had a variety of male and female and of different sizes," she adds.
But this isn't going to end in a plane ticket were passengers are charged by the pound, like Samoa Air's controversial 2013 ticketing policy. Tallqvist also assures those concerned that "this has nothing to do with ticket pricing or anything like that."
Getting on a scale is usually not someone's idea of a fun time, let alone something you want to do before heading on vacation, but if it improves safety and fuel efficiency — something that could potentially affect airfare costs — is it worth it?
Would you volunteer to step on a scale before a flight? Weigh in below.
There's definitely a stereotype out there that newly and/or perpetually single women have to be cat ladies. Leave it to Jennifer Garner to rewrite the script on being a single lady thanks to her choice of a new animal in her life.
Garner may have ended her marriage to Ben Affleck (cue the sound of all of our hearts breaking simultaneously again) earlier this year, but she didn't commemorate this new phase in her life by getting a furry new friend. Instead, she went for the feathered variety. That's right. Newly single Garner is now a self-proclaimed "chicken lady."
Oh, and she walks her chicken on a leash. Nope. Not kidding. She Instagrammed it.
Jennifer Garner walking her chicken on a leash ?
Jennifer Garner walking her chicken on a leash ?
Alongside the photo of her walking her chicken, which was wearing a harness with a matching leash, in what appears to be a suburban neighborhood, Garner unabashedly introduced her new friend to her followers.
"Meet one of our ladies, Regina George," she wrote, revealing that she named her chicken after the queen of the Plastics in Mean Girls, because what else, honestly? "Regina loves long walks, dehydrated bugs, and kale. Regina hates....carbs."
She also wrote, "If there isn't a Chicken Lady Day, there really should be. Man, my life gets more exciting all the time."
Yes. Yes it does.
If this is what single Garner looks like, though, we're kind of here for it. And getting a breakup chicken is probably more practical than collecting cats or giving yourself bangs or any of the stereotypical things we're supposed to do after breakups. At least Garner gets fresh eggs out of this deal.
Luke Bryan is a huge country music star with a heart to match. Bryan lost both of his siblings tragically early. His brother, Chris, died in 2000 in a car crash, and his sister, Kelly, died suddenly in 2007.
“Just when we started picking up the pieces with my brother, then my sister — we lose my sister,” Bryan told Robin Roberts of ABC's Good Morning America. “I’ve watched my family go through ebbs and flows where we get mad at God and we get mad at why this happened.”
The Bryan family struggled to cope with the losses and move on, but another tragedy struck when Kelly's widower, Ben, died in 2014 — leaving Bryan's two college-age nieces and one teenage nephew without parents. Bryan and his wife, Caroline, immediately decided to take in the kids: nephew Til, now 15, and nieces Jordan and Kris.
“We never thought twice about it,” Caroline told Roberts in the same segment. “It was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about. ‘Should we take this on?’ We just did that.” Caroline and Luke already had two children, sons Bo and Tate, born in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
“You don’t want to sound like you love having them so much that you’re glad it’s the situation, but we’re honored to be doing what we feel was the right thing,” Luke previously told Billboard.
Luke said he doesn't expect to ever get over the loss of his siblings. “You keep going and you try to, try to be as positive as you can, and you try to appreciate every day. You’ll never get back to 100 percent. You’ll always be working to get back to 75 percent," he said in the interview.
In February 2017, Caroline's family was also devastated by the loss of her 7-month-old niece, Sadie Brett. Still, Caroline and Luke press on, putting all their energy into raising their large brood. Caroline often posts photos on Instagram of their blended family — and all the love knocks us out.
Bryan beach fam
Bryan beach fam
"Love you boogers to the moon and back. So much," Caroline captioned a shot of all five kids perched on white steps, smiling.
Bryan fam steps
Bryan fam steps
Luke admitted that raising his teen nephew, Til, has been a tricky feat. “We’re buddies now, though, kinda," Luke told Roberts. "...I’m like, ‘All right, you’re making me be an adult; don’t make me be an adult!’"
Bryan fam
Bryan fam
“Me and my family have gotten together and celebrated and cried over winning Entertainer of the Year [at the 2015 CMA Awards],” Luke told GMA. “It certainly makes it special when we’re all together and we know that people are smiling down, and they’re with us, celebrating these amazing moments... Music has certainly helped us through this old, crazy ride of life.”
Entertainer of the Year is a nice accolade for sure, but Luke and Caroline Bryan are our vote for Parents of the Decade.
If someone on your holiday gift list loves ranch dressing (like, really, really loves ranch dressing), Hidden Valley’s new holiday store just may blow their mind.
The mini keg is 9.7 inches high and 6.3 inches in diameter, and the lucky person who receives this gift will be able to use it to hold up to five liters of ranch. To that end, this gift actually includes a year’s supply of Hidden Valley ranch and costs $50. You have to preorder it, and it ships on Dec. 1.
Considering you are getting a keg and a year's worth of ranch, it’s actually an incredible deal and promises to be the most interesting gift under their tree.
If there’s no room in your life for a keg, other options for the festive ranch fan include a Hidden Valley ranch fountain with a holiday skirt for $110 (which is also incredibly cool in an over-the-top, overwhelming way), an ugly Christmas sweater for $40 and a pair of ranch-themed socks for $12.
Wonder Woman star and Israeli native Gal Gadot told E! Newsthat her elder daughter, Alma, is pretty meh about Mom's famous character. However, Alma "really likes Batman," Gadot explained with what we can only assume was a shrug and an eye roll. As for Gadot's younger daughter, Maya — she's only 9 months old and just wants her lunch, thanks very much.
"I am their mother, so it is like, ‘Mom, I am hungry,'" Gadot joked in the interview. She continued, "At the house I am the mother; I am not the star or the character or anything." Take heart, Gal: At least you're definitely Chris Hemsworth's kids' favorite superhero. And if Thor's kids love you, you win.
Gadot occasionally posts sweet snaps to Instagram about her decidedly un-Marvelesque but definitely marvelous mom life — such as this selfie taken after very little sleep.
gal gadot mom
gal gadot mom
Gadot captioned the post, "Sleepless night, colic 3 months old baby and an early wake up by my 5 year old. Went to the garden to get some fresh air with my coffee to help me wake up and now watching The Cat In The Hat with my daughter. It always amazes me how the most simple things are the ones to make us the happiest."
The Insider reports that Gadot loathed being away from her family while filming Wonder Woman — for which she was working six days a week for six months straight. "Back then, I only had my 6-year-old, and I couldn't spend enough time with her," Gadot said. "I felt so guilty... I brought her to set and I did FaceTime with her the entire time. We brought family to be with her. It's been like a circus."
According to The Insider, Alma wanted her mom to tuck her in the night reviews were first coming in for the film. "I told her, 'I will put you to bed,'" said Gadot. "'I'm going to read a story, but by nine, I [have] got to work.'" Alma was having none of that, though, so Gadot read the reviews in her daughter's room, thrilled that the feedback for Wonder Woman was so positive.
Alma may prefer Batman, but she was psyched about her mom's good reviews. "All of a sudden, Alma was sitting like this next to me, looking into my eye and jumped, hugging me," Gadot explained to The Insider. "And she said, 'I'm so proud of you, Mommy.'"
Awww. Sounds like Alma might be a Wonder Woman fan after all. Take that, Bruce Wayne.
Updated Nov. 7, 2017, 10:40 a.m. ET: Late-night favorite Jimmy Kimmel has been open — and emotional and understandably political — about his son, Billy, and his struggles with a congenital heart condition. Now, after a short break from the land of late night, Kimmel returns to the set this week with news on 6-month-old Billy's health.
"Officially, I was off because my son Billy was supposed to have his next heart surgery," Kimmel explained, adding that the surgery still hasn't happened: "We had to postpone it because we all had colds."
"But the truth is I was waiting in line for the new iPhone all week," Kimmel joked about his absence. "Anyway, my son is doing fine."
Kimmel then proceeded to thank the long and illustrious list of folks who filled in to host his show in his absence: Dave Grohl, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Lawrence and Shaquille O’Neal, whom Kimmel said he "would like to thank twice — because he’s enormous."
Original story:
Late-night comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel got uncharacteristically serious on Monday night during his opening monologue when he revealed that his newborn son had just undergone open-heart surgery for congenital heart disease — a terrifying experience for any family.
Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, welcomed their new baby boy — William "Billy" Kimmel — on April 21. A few hours post-birth, a nurse discovered the newborn's color had gone purple. Doctors ultimately determined that the infant had a heart defect. And at only 3 days old, Billy underwent open-heart surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
"Six days after open-heart surgery, we got to bring him home, which was amazing," a tearful Kimmel told his audience. "He's doing great. He's eating. He's sleeping. He peed on his mother today while she was changing his diaper. He's doing all the things that he's supposed to do."
Billy will still have to undergo at least two more heart procedures when he's older, but for now, he's out of the woods. Still, Kimmel — father of four — was clearly shaken by the experience, as any parent would be (even the funny ones).
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
Sharing family photos (also featuring his 2-year-old daughter, Jane), Kimmel perked up talking about his loved ones.
"You can see Jane's pretty excited about having another kid in the house," he quipped about one picture.
"This is me in a coma," he narrated over another picture of him passed out in exhaustion next to baby Billy.
Kimmel's gratitude to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Children's Hospital Los Angeles was palpable. He thanked the medical staff profusely and encouraged his fans to donate to CHLA to help other families with sick children.
Fans of Kimmel were more than happy to answer the call for financial assistance to the hospital. Kimmel thanked viewers on Twitter for their "loving tweets about our son Billy and for your donations."
Kimmel will be off the rest of this week on much-needed paternity leave, but fans, fear not. He's lined up a pretty impressive roster of substitute hosts and guests, including friends Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Anthony Anderson, David Spade and others. Not too shabby, Kimmel, not too shabby at all.
This story was originally posted in May 2017 and was updated in November 2017.
After her winning lawsuit against the radio DJ who groped her, Taylor Swift was kind of a poster child for fighting the good fight, even if it took her to a courtroom. That may have all come crashing to a halt this week after news got out that the ACLU is calling Swift out for trying to use her high-powered attorneys to stifle a critic.
A blogger named Megan Herning at a small culture site called PopFront wrote a post months ago about how the alt-right has embraced Swift's music, which is what kicked this whole bizarre story off. Somehow, Swift's camp found that small, obscure site, and then her lawyer, William J. Briggs II, sent Herning a letter demanding a retraction of the post.
Briggs wrote to Herning that her blog was "provably false and defamatory" and demanded that she remove it from the site and from her social media. He also told Herning that publicizing his letter to her was a violation of copyright law, and that if she didn't comply, "Ms. Swift is prepared to proceed with litigation."
Herning, to her credit, is standing up for her First Amendment rights. In a statement, she revealed that she's being backed by the ACLU.
"The press should not be bullied by high-paid lawyers or frightened into submission by legal jargon," she wrote. "These scare tactics may have worked for Taylor in the past, but I am not backing down."
Lawyers for the ACLU say Swift has no case and that forcing Herning to retract her post would violate her right to free speech.
"Intimidation tactics like these are unacceptable," one ACLU attorney wrote. "Not in her wildest dreams can Ms. Swift use copyright law to suppress this exposure of a threat to constitutionally protected speech."
In an official letter to Swift's attorneys, the ACLU also trolled her with some of her own lyrics.
"Criticism is never pleasant, but a celebrity has to shake it off, even if the critique may damage her reputation," the letter read.
With her new album set to drop this Friday, this is probably not the kind of press Swift is looking for. But she has certainly weathered bad press before, and Swifties will stick by her side through anything, so we're sure she's going to make it out of this OK.
When I heard about vaginal cleansing, I thought it was the same as vaginal steaming, the old-but-made-new phenomenon made famous by actor Gwyneth Paltrow that involves steaming one’s vajayjay. But it’s not. It’s not even close.
Still, women need to know about it — especially those who are or who are planning on becoming pregnant.
Vaginal cleansing is a simple, inexpensive process conducted prior to a C-section. It involves wiping the external portion of the vagina with a sponge stick with povidone-iodine (that reddish-brownish antiseptic known as Betadine) for at least 30 seconds.
According to a new study, it could make a huge difference in your recovery from having a cesarean section.
Vincenzo Berghella, a doctor and professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, says it is not currently a routine part of having a C-section, but now should be. He’s studied it before releasing the most recent research.
“Vaginal cleaning before a cesarean done after labor or rupture of membranes [water breaking] is associated with a decreased risk for infection,” he says.
Vaginal cleansing prevents endometritis (a uterine infection) and postoperative fever, he explains.
He hopes his study will educate doctors about integrating the practice. Likewise, women should know about it and talk to their doctors about it — especially if they know they’re having a C-section.
“They could certainly add it to their birth plan,” Berghella adds.
What about all the antibiotics you get before a C-section incision — isn’t that enough? Not so, he says.
“A uterine infection can be considered sometimes as an abscess, with antibiotics having a hard time penetrating to the inside of the uterus to get to all bacteria,” Berghella explains. “Also, some bacteria may be resistant to antibiotics.”
Berghella hopes further studies will evaluate whether vaginal cleansing can be useful for cesarean deliveries performed in women not in labor and for those whose water has not yet broken.
In the meantime, it’s something you may want to discuss with your doctor. The hospital may already do the procedure, but it’s always good to know ahead of time.
We're all about that gluten-free life — but if we're being real, we have to admit it's quite a bit of work. Gluten is in pretty much everything, and the lifestyle takes a ton of meal prep and cooking things on your own. And when the holidays hit, being gluten-free is nothing short of torture. (Hello, have you ever eaten a GF Christmas cookie that was actually good?)
Needless to say, giving a gift that makes ditching gluten easy will score you major points with gluten-free friends and family. However, shopping for someone who avoids gluten can be intimidating. Were those cookies baked in a gluten-free facility? Does that lotion contain gluten ingredients? What do people who can't have gluten really want?
No worries — I've got you covered. Here are 12 great gifts to thrill the no-gluten gals — and guys — on your list, from essential gluten-free cooking tools to tasty treats. Best of all, the edibles and bath products have been checked to ensure they’re safe for those who avoid gluten — even those with celiac disease — so you can rest easy.
As beautiful as it is ingenious, this BPA-free compact food-prep set contains two mixing bowls, a colander, a strainer and a complete set of measuring cups — great for the gluten-free chef with a small kitchen.
Serious bakers know ingredients should be measured by weight, not volume. Given that gluten-free baking can be tricky on a good day, this 5-pound scale with a pullout display helps ensure great results every time.
OXO Good Grips 5-pound food scale, $29.95 at Amazon
Since many people with celiac disease have to eliminate gluten from their kitchen entirely, it’s important to have a repertoire of recipes everyone in the family enjoys. Enter Gluten-Free & Vegan for the Whole Family, a kid-friendly cookbook, which is not only gluten-free but also vegan, so most everyone is covered.
Gluten-Free and Vegan for the Whole Family, $19.96 at Amazon
While a gift card to a pizza place seems like an unlikely present for someone who's gluten-free, California Pizza Kitchen is actually a great choice. As of 2015, all their U.S. locations are Gluten-Free Food Service Certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group, a nonprofit that certifies restaurants and gluten-free products.
Traditionally, beer is made with barley — and barley contains gluten. Imagine how delighted the gluten-free beer lover on your list will be when you get them a sampler of 12 craft beers they can actually drink. Note: When ordering, you must specify if you require beers that are certified gluten-free (as opposed to those that contain no gluten ingredients, but could have contacted gluten during manufacture). Not sure? Ask for certified gluten-free.
This hair and body kit — offering shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body lotion — features the earthy aroma of palo santo and are organic, natural and free of gluten. Perfect for the gluten-free loved one who loves to be pampered.
The Ecco Bella gluten-free lotion is loaded with moisturizers like cocoa butter and coconut oil to send dry skin packing. It's vegan and organic too — you might just want to grab a bottle for yourself.
Organic Water-Free Herbal Body Lotion in vanilla, $25.95 at Ecco Bella
Harry & David’s fruit of the month club is one of my go-to gifts, whether or not the recipient is gluten-free. Healthy and delicious, this gift keeps on giving and reminds people how awesome you are for months to come. Just steer clear of add-ons to keep things truly gluten-free. (I called the company, and they verified the fruit-packing facility is completely separate from the bakery.)
Harry & David Fruit of the Month Club Collections, $79.99 and up at Harry & David
Is your gluten-free friend bummed that they can’t have regular noodles? Treat them to the Veggetti vegetable noodle maker, an ingenious little spiralizer. Unlike countertop contraptions, this gem tucks neatly into a kitchen drawer, yet still makes fabulous “pasta” out of zucchinis, cucumbers and even carrots. It's one of my all-time favorite kitchen tools.
As Seen on TV Veggetti spiral vegetable slicer, $8.59 at Target
Gluten can lurk anywhere — even in salad dressing. Luckily, this Cuisinart immersion blender is perfect for making homemade dressings in a flash. It’s also fantastic for puréeing hot soup right in the pot. The bottom half goes right in the dishwasher, and the mini food processor attachment is worth its weight in gold when making small batches of hummus or sauce. I own this set and love it.
Cuisinart CSB-79 Smart Stick 2 Speed Hand Blender, $46.34 at Amazon
Coming up with a fitting name for your baby can feel daunting as all get-out. Sure, you want it to be aesthetically pleasing. But more than anything, you want it to have real weight and purpose — maybe even a name that reflects your kid's character.
That's why the meaningful names below are so perfect and can help you whittle down your name list (don't pretend it's not a mile long). Because these names don't only look and sound cool; they also have meaningful definitions, root words or histories that will help you choose which ones go from your maybe column straight to the yes list.
Popular boy names & what they mean
Now that more and more parents are picking names based on their meanings, they don't get popular because of sound and spelling alone. Here are some of the most popular boy names of last year — and the meanings that got them there.
Baby boy names that mean "faithful," "honest" & "just"
There are so many important character components we parents home our kids will have. Just a few of these are loyalty, honesty and justice. Here's hoping all our kids grow up to stand up for what's right.
Is there anything better to wish for your little bub than a lifetime of peace and prosperity? Give him a head start with one of these beautiful baby names.
This much is for sure: No matter who your kid turns out to be or what his personality is like, you will love him to pieces. These sweet names are perfect for a beloved little boy.
Choosing a name for your as-yet-unborn child to tote around with him his entire life can feel like a pretty major undertaking. But no pressure: These meaningful names will ensure he knows you had your highest hopes for him when you chose it.
Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick is at the center of shocking allegations made by another actor, Kristina Cohen. Late Monday, Cohen posted a lengthy Facebook testimony, graphically claiming that Westwick raped her while she and her then-boyfriend, an unnamed producer who was friends with Westwick, were at Westwick's home for a small gathering. Westwick responded within hours of the post going public.
Cohen wrote on her personal Facebook page late Monday evening in full detail the alleged events that occurred three years ago involving herself and Westwick. Cohen credits the recent spate of testimonies from high-profile women and men wherein they detail their own alleged assault as the reason she has felt so comfortable to come forward now and speak.
She writes that she and her boyfriend at the time were at Westwick's house one evening for dinner when, seemingly out of nowhere, Westwick suggested that they should all have sex. Cohen then writes that "Ed insisted we stay for dinner. I said I was tired and wanted to leave, trying to get out of what was already an uncomfortable situation. Ed suggested I nap in the guest bedroom. The producer said we would stay for just another 20 more minutes to smooth everything over, and then we could leave."
Cohen continues to detail what happened after she went to lie down in one of the bedrooms in Westwick's home. "So I went and laid down in the guest room where I eventually fell asleep, I was woken up abruptly by Ed on top of me, his fingers entering my body. I told him to stop, but he was strong. I fought him off as hard as I could but he grabbed my face in his hands, shaking me, telling me he wanted to fuck me. I was paralyzed, terrified. I couldn’t speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me."
Her allegations are horrifying, to say the least, and she says her then-boyfriend blamed her for allowing the alleged rape to occur because he couldn't see how she didn't willingly participate in the act. That instinct to victim blame, it would appear, had led to Cohen's silence — until now.
In the aftermath of the post, Westwick issued a firm denial of the allegations on his Instagram. "I do not know this woman. I have never forced myself in any manner, on a woman. I certainly have never committed rape," he wrote.
If you're like me and your daily routine almost always involves swinging through Starbucks for a delectable morning treat, then you may want to sit down for this news. Starbucks is opening an Italian bakery at its Starbucks Reserve Roastery location in Seattle — an entire bakery filled with Starbucks' delicious pastries.
But hold on; it gets even better. Multiple locations are also set to pop up in Shanghai, Milan, New York, Tokyo and Chicago within the next few years.
This bakery, called Princi, will bring to baked goods what Starbucks has brought to coffee, with Italian-style sandwiches, fresh breads and other baked goods.
The newest Princi location will have a menu of 100 items — from flaky cornetti to focaccia sandwiches filled with salame Milano and mozzarella di bufala or crostata fragole — and will feature ingredients imported from Italy.
“Today, I am realizing a dream that I have had since I was a young man, and I am grateful to Howard for his vision to bring Princi to the world,” said Rocco Princi, founder of Princi, in a statement to media. “Having worked side by side with the team that Starbucks has assembled, I have seen firsthand their talent as well as the attention they have given to ensuring that the fresh, authentic, handcrafted ingredients that define the Princi experience are being honored. I am excited and humbled that the people of Seattle will now be able to experience our food.”
In case you were wondering, yes, the Princi bakery also serves your favorite Starbucks drinks as well. So what are you still doing here? Go book your flight to Seattle ASAP.
