“Inside the Actors Studio” host JAMES LIPTON lost his battle with bladder cancer yesterday. He was 93. James wasn’t a celebrity until his late ’60s, when he launched “Inside the Actors Studio” on Bravo in 1994. He did it for 24 years, until his retirement in 2018. The show has continued without him on the Ovation network with rotating hosts. James didn’t do much acting of his own – but he did play himself in a couple episodes of “The Simpsons” – and he also played the warden Stefan Gentles on 6 episodes of “Arrested Development”. Will Ferrell played James in a recurring parody on “Saturday Night Live”, and James enjoyed the sketches. He called them “flattering” – and of Will, he joked, “I think he’s got me cold, the rat.”
A woman is accusing TIMOTHY HUTTON of raping her in a Vancouver hotel room in 1983, when she was 14. He denies it happened, and says he’s never even met her.
JESSICA BIEL was spotted without her wedding ring over the weekend. The tabloids are suggesting that she hasn’t forgiven JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE for fooling around with a co-star in New Orleans last year.
The HARRISON FORD movie “Call of the Wild” is going to lose around $50 million, and it’s at least partly because they used CGI instead of a real dog. That pushed the budget up over $125 million.
ABC has announced that CLARE CRAWLEY will be the next “Bachelorette” – and she’ll be the OLDEST star in the show’s history. She’s also the first Bachelorette to NOT come from the current season of “The Bachelor”. But she’s not new to the “Bachelor” world. She was on the Juan Pablo Galavis season of “The Bachelor” in 2014, where she was the runner-up. Then she did “Bachelor Winter Games” in 2018 – and she did 2 seasons of “Bachelor in Paradise” where she developed a habit of pouring her heart out to the animals on the beach. Clare will turn 39 when her season begins filming later this month, and she says, “It’s more years under my belt . . . more learning what I want . . . what I don’t want . . . and what I won’t settle for. I’m more wondering if they’re ready for me, for my age.”
MSNBC’s “Hardball” host CHRIS MATTHEWS has gotten in a lot of hot water recently, so he’s decided to CANCEL HIMSELF. On last night’s show, he announced that he was retiring, effective immediately. “This is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC and obviously this isn’t for lack of interest in politics – A lot of it has to be with how we talk to each other – compliments on a women’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK were never OK. Not then and certainly not today. And for making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.”
JIMMIE ALLEN is a dad again. His fiancée Alexis Gale gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday – they named her Naomi Bettie. The middle name is in honor of Jimmie’s grandmother, Bettie. Jimmie also has a five-year-old son named Aadyn from a previous relationship.
LEE BRICE was a songwriter before breaking out on his own. You’ll find his name on hits by Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Eli Young Band, and Garth Brooks. CMT asked him if he had any songwriting tips. Sometimes he “sits down with a blank brain and a blank sheet of paper” . . . other times he pulls out an instrument and starts playing just to see what comes out. It’s even more complicated when he’s working on an album because he wants it to have variety. , too.”
ALEX TREBEK donated $100,000 to a homeless shelter, and got a wing named after him.
MICHAEL JACKSON’s 18-year-old son Blanket (who goes by Bigi now) just bought a $2 million home.
CARRIE UNDERWOOD was talking about why she wrote her health and fitness book “Find Your Path”, which is out today. “A lot of people have been asking me over the years to write down what I do, and I thought I’ll give it a shot and see if I have anything to say . . . and turns out we did.”
BLACKBERRY SMOKE’s summer tour is called “Spirit of the South Tour: A Celebration of Southern Rock ‘n’ Roll Music”. The opening acts are the Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers and Jaimoe from the Allman Brothers Band. The tour will kick-off July 17th in Missouri and run through August 22nd in Florida.
Norwegian pop artist ASTRID S asked BRETT YOUNG to join her on a duet called “I Do”. She says, “I’ve grown up with country music. It’s a genre I admire, and it’s been a big influence and inspiration throughout the years in my songwriting. I’m so happy Brett wanted to do this song with me.”
Camila Cabello is 23.
Jessica Biel is 38.
David Faustino is 46.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is 58.
Herschel Walker is 58.
Jennifer Warnes is 73. She sang with Bill Medley on the 1987 “Dirty Dancing” classic “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”, and with Joe Cocker on the song from the final scene of “An Officer and a Gentleman”, the 1982 smash “Up Where We Belong”.
