Dina's Dirt at 6:40
Will Smith has issued an apology to Chris Rock in the wake of the slap heard around the world. As we told you, slap happened on stage at the Academy Awards after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith that she didn't like. Will said on Instagram, "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally." Will went on to say, "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness." He also apologized to the Academy, the attendees, the producers, and everyone watching as well as the Williams family and his "King Richard" family. Referring to himself as a work in progress, he finished with, "I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us." Meanwhile, Hollywood seems completely divided on the issue.
Nick Lachey and his wife Vanessa were out on the town when he spotted a woman taking pics of them. Turns out Nick was not in the mood for photos. The singer lunged into the paparazzo's car in an attempt to grab her cell phone. He didn't get it and went on to spew insults and flip off the camera. The woman said she could smell alcohol on his breath. He apologized on Monday saying that he "overreacted."
Lady Gaga was joined by Liza Minnelli to announce the Best Picture winner at the Oscars, and the sweet moment apparently happened because of Lady Gaga, according to People. Liza's former publicist, Scott Gorenstein, said, "Lady Gaga requested that Liza present the award with her." During the presentation Lady Gaga told the audience, "You know how I love working with legends, and I'm honored to present the final award of the evening with a true show business legend," before turning to Liza and telling her, "I'm your biggest fan." At one point, when Liza seemed to be having trouble with presenting the award, Lady Gaga sweetly bent down at let her know "I got you."
"Law & Order" star Anthony Anderson's wife Alvina Anderson has filed to end her marriage to after 22 years. According to the paperwork she filed in Los Angeles, she not only wants spousal support, she also wants him to pay her legal fees. The two, who met while attending Howard University in 1989, got married in 1999. She actually tried to divorce him in 2015 but they were back together by 2017. They share two adult children, 26-year-old Kyra and 22-year-old Nathan, so no child support. They don't have a prenup so expect everything to be split 50/50. He probably should have waited to buy those five TVs from Best Buy the other day.
Dina's Dirt at 7:40
Jason Momoa was interviewed by Extra at the Academy Awards, and he gave an update on "Aquaman 2," sharing, "I just finished [filming]." Good thing, since he also added, "I had a hernia surgery yesterday… Throwing bodies around… Getting old, bro." He proved his point of getting old ever further when he showed off his special sunglasses. Jason said, "I got to read tonight. I can't see far away…they are prescription." As for his hair, which was in a French braid, he joked that he'll "probably let it out at the parties." In the meantime, Jason dashed all hope for a reconciliation between him and Lisa Bonet. As we told you, it was reported that they'd gotten back together. He confirmed on the red carpet though, "We're not back together. We're family. We have two beautiful children together."
Taylor Swift is getting an honorary doctorate from New York University. The official title would be Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa. She'll speak at the 2022 graduation on May 18th at Yankee Stadium. They'll also have a ceremony for the classes of 2020 and 2021 that evening, according to Billboard, but no word on if Taylor will be speaking at that one.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is exploring action against Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock onstage during Sunday night's Academy Awards telecast. On Monday afternoon, the Academy said in a statement, "The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night's show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct, and California law." As listed in the Academy's Standard of Conduct, unacceptable conduct includes "physical contact that is uninvited and, in the situation, inappropriate and unwelcome." The Standards of Conduct also state that if a member is found to have violated the standards, "The Academy may take any disciplinary action permitted by the Academy's Bylaws, up to and including suspension of membership or expulsion from membership." More than likely, they won't take his award away and his punishment will be light.
Sam Asghari went the 2022 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party, but he didn't bring his fiancée Britney Spears with him. According to Extra, Sam said, "She's at home doing a couple of stuff… She's traveling a lot." One thing for sure we know she was doing was venting online about her mom and her ex. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Britney said she received a "calling last night from Jesus" about those who she thinks betrayed her over the years. That includes mom Lynn and Justin Timberlake. About JT, she wrote (from Jesus POV), "Your ex did the same thing … he served with his first album using your name claiming you did him dirty!!!!" Then she targeted sister Jamie Lynn for mentioning her over 300 times in her book, according to Daily Mail. JT apologized publicly to Britney in February, but she either forgot or chose for it to not matter.
Dina's Dirt at 8:40
Kim Kardashian is addressing the backlash over her advice for women in business when she told Variety, "I have the best advice for women in business: Get your f—king ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days." Now, Kim is clarifying her comments on an ABC Special with Robin Roberts, according to Extra. In a clip of the interview, Kim said that was a "soundbite, really, with no context." She explained that the previous question leading into the quote was about "being famous for being famous" and she said, "My whole tone and attitude changed with the previous question that went into that question about what advice I would give to women." She went on to explain, "The advice that I would give is that having a social media presence and being on a reality show does not mean overnight success and you have to really work hard to get there even if it might seem like its easy and you can build a really successful business off of social media, and you can, if you put in a lot of hard work. It wasn't a blanket statement toward women or to feel like I don't respect the work or think that they don't work hard, I know that they do. That was taken out of context, but I'm sorry it was received that way."
If you saw the video of Will Smith giving his speech at the Academy Awards, the video seemed a little disjointed. The camera was panning between Will and the Williams family, but there was an awkward moment. Apparently, there was a good reason for it. The Academy was trying to prevent a full broadcast of a wardrobe malfunction happening to Venus Williams. As Will was giving his speech after being named the winner of Best Actor, the producers started to cut to Venus and her sister, Serena, for their reaction to Will was accepting an award for playing their father in the film "King Richard." After a brief glimpse of Serena and Venus with their family, the camera cut to the Oscars logo while you could still hear Will speaking in the background. The live broadcast cut to the logo multiple times before eventually giving up to focus solely on Will. A photo of Venus has appeared on social media that looks like it answers the question of what went down. Apparently, her dress moved and exposed Venus without her knowing. Good thing someone was paying attention that night.
In light of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, a video is circulating showing Will at a press tour stop where he taught a little kid how to slap. TMZ has the video, taken back in November, showing Will and his "King Richard" costar, Aunjanue Ellis, at a speaking event. He brought a little kid named Chris (ironically) on stage and showed him how to fake slap and fake react. Was this a sign of things to come?
Lin-Manuel Miranda had to miss the Academy Awards because he was home taking care of his wife, who came down with COVID, so he didn't get to see his cast perform "We Don't Talk About Bruno" live at the show. By the way, in case your kids (or you) can't get enough of "Encanto" there looks to be potential for either a sequel or spin-off. The movie's co-director Jared Bush tweeted, "I'm asked a LOT if there'll be more #Encanto — movies, TV, Theater, etc. I'll say this, it was always our dream, but the real deciders are the fans who found themselves in this story, who saw their family in ours, who chose to spend time with the Madrigals … and want to again." I thought the real deciders were the profit makers.
