Renee Zellweger ‘found anonymity’ during Hollywood break
Renee Zellweger is opening up about her six-year absence from Hollywood, saying “it was time to go away and grow up a bit.”
The 47-year-old tells British Vogue she “found anonymity” during her time off so she could not be defined by her image and have exchanges with people on a “human level.”
Zellweger put on weight recently to reprise one of her most famous roles in “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” which opens in September. The Oscar-winning actress tells the magazine that she doesn’t understand the extra attention when she changes her body to play the cherubic Jones, saying “no male actor would get such scrutiny.”
Zellweger’s appearance made headlines in 2014 after social media commenters said she was unrecognizable. She attributed the change in her looks to “a more fulfilling life.”
‘Today’ show host Guthrie pregnant, to miss Olympics
“Today” show co-hostSavannah Guthrie says she’s pregnant and will be skipping the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro because of the Zika virus.
Guthrie made the announcement on the NBC program Tuesday morning. She cited doctors’ advice in deciding to skip the Olympics. NBC had announced in April that Guthrie would co-host the opening ceremony of the Rio Games on Aug. 5.
Zika is known to cause birth defects, including microcephaly, in which the baby’s head is smaller than expected because the brain hasn’t developed properly. The virus is now in 60 countries, with Olympic host Brazil the hardest-hit nation.
Guthrie says her second child with husband, Michael Feldman, is due in December. The couple’s first child, a girl, was born in August 2014.
James Corden: I don’t want Stephen Colbert’s job
“Late Late Show” host James Corden says he has no interest in taking over for his lead-in on CBS, Stephen Colbert.
Colbert’s “Late Show” brought in a new executive producer in April and has been running neck and neck with ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in the ratings behind NBC’s Jimmy Fallon. Of the possibility of replacing Colbert at 11:30 p.m., Corden tells Howard Stern “that’s never going to happen” and that Colbert’s show “is working.”
Corden also touched on the origins of his wildly popular “Carpool Karaoke” skits, which feature Corden driving alongside singers like Adele and Justin Bieber belting out hits.
Brown: Family friend to blame for deaths
Bobby Brown is suggesting family friend Nick Gordon is to blame for the deaths of his ex-wife Whitney Houston and the couple’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Houston was pronounced dead in February 2012 after being found submerged in a bathtub. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning. Brown was found unresponsive in a bathtub in January 2015. She went into a coma and died six months later. An autopsy couldn’t determine whether her death was intentional or accidental. Both women had drugs in their systems.
Brown has joined a wrongful death suit against Gordon in his daughter’s death. He tells ABC News that “the same thing that happened to my daughter is what happened to Whitney.” He says “there’s only one person that was around both occasions,” but refuses to speak Gordon’s name.
Gordon denies having anything to do with Brown’s death.
Briefly
■ “Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams has taken to Twitter to rewrite a recent headline about her.
Williams, who plays Arya Stark on the HBO series, tweeted to her nearly 1.3 million followers Tuesday a Daily Mail headline that read Williams “goes braless in sheer lace dress and quirky headpiece at charity masquerade ball.”
Her suggested alternative: “Game of Thrones actor, Maisie Williams, helps raise thousands at a Summer Masquerade Ball for @NSPCC.” That’s the Twitter handle for England’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
■ Sheila E., D’Angelo, The Roots and Janelle Monae will pay tribute to Prince at this month’s BET Awards.
The performers will honor the Purple One on June 26 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, the network announced Tuesday.
Compiled by Janet Graham from Free Press news services.