The Oscars last night . . .CHRIS ROCK was telling a few jokes while presenting an award, and he turned his attention to WILL SMITH and JADA PINKETT. Jada’s head was shaved, so Chris said, “Jada, I love ya. ‘G.I. Jane 2’, can’t wait to see it.” (“G.I. Jane” is a 1997 movie featuring DEMI MOORE going through military training . . . with a shaved head.) At first, Will seemed to laugh about it . . . but Jada looked annoyed. Suddenly, Will walked right up onstage and smacked Chris in the face. Hard. Then he went back to his seat. Chris was stunned. He said, “Wow, Will Smith just smacked the [crap] out of me.” Will responded by shouting back, “Keep my wife’s name out your [blanking] mouth!” Rock replied, “Wow, dude, it was a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke.” And will repeated what he had said. Chris said, “I’m going to, okay?” Then he went on and presented the award, but he was obviously shaken. There’s one detail that MAYBE justifies Will’s actions: Jada shaves her head due to a medical condition. She has alopecia, which causes hair loss. Sources say Chris approached Will and Jada backstage later to apologize, and DENZEL WASHINGTON got involved. There’s no word how that went down. (But during the commercial break, Denzel and Tyler Perry were seen calming Will down.) Will did sort of address the incident later on when he won Best Actor for “King Richard”. And he apologized to the Academy, and to his fellow nominees . . . but NOT to Chris Rock. He started the speech by saying that his character was, quote, “a fierce defender of his family” . . . and he talked about being a “protector” of his loved ones. And he finished with, quote, “I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.” After the show, Will and son JADEN SMITH Tweeted, “And that’s how we do it.”
Amazon is coming out with a first-ever James Bond series. But it’s not a wild action spy show. It’s a competition series called “007’s Road to a Million”. Two-person teams going on a global adventure to different locations that were used in the filming of “007” movies. They’ll compete in physical obstacles and answer hidden questions in order to advance to the next challenge. The grand prize is actually $1.3 million, which is 1 million British pounds. Production is supposed to start later this year.
FOO FIGHTERS drummer TAYLOR HAWKINS died Friday night and had 10 different drugs in his system, including marijuana, opioids, and antidepressants. The official cause of death still hasn’t been announced. OLD DOMINION paid tribute to him. They also posted a photo of Taylor, and wrote, “Sending our love to the families after hearing the heartbreaking news. A crushing loss. RIP Taylor Hawkins.”
REBA MCENTIRE was “Red Carpet ready” for the Oscars yesterday. And while in L.A., she and her boyfriend Rex Linn went to dinner with John Lithgow and his wife, Mary.
Turnpike Troubadours singer EVAN FELKER is going to be a dad again. His wife Staci is expecting their second child. Their daughter Evangelina was born last year.
Carrie Underwood returned to the stage of her Reflection: Las Vegas residency on Saturday night her mom, Carole. Carrie introduced Carole to the crowd before asking her, “Is there anything you want to say to these fine people?” Carole turned to the audience and said, “I’m so happy you’re here and I hope you enjoy the show.” From there, the two Underwoods launched into a duet performance of “All-American Girl,” The song demands stellar vocal control and plenty of belted-out high notes, but Carole more than kept up, even taking some of the lines solo.
DAN + SHAY have been “social media silent” for the past few months. If you’re concerned about that, you can relax. They Tweeted out a message saying they’ve been spending time with their families, and are now “rested, refreshed, and more excited about music than ever.”
LUKE COMBS’ pregnant wife Nicole posted an update on his COVID-19 diagnosis. She said everyone else “around here” is negative. It sounds like Luke didn’t have symptoms either. He didn’t know he had the virus until he was tested for his pre-taped performance for the CMTs, which he had to cancel.
JEFF CARSON passed away on Saturday from a heart attack. He was 58. His biggest hits included “The Car”, which reached #3 in 1993 . . . and “Not On Your Love”, which topped the Billboard Country Chart in 1995. Jeff retired from country music in 2009 to become a law enforcement officer with the Franklin Police Department in Williamson County, Tennessee.
Bob Saget’s fans will finally be able to see the touching, and sometimes hilarious, tribute his close friends put together for him — and the list of celebs who memorialized him is seriously impressive. It will be coming to Netflix in June.
MALIA OBAMA is one of the writers on the new season of “Atlanta”, and DONALD GLOVER says she’s doing great.
Lady Gaga is 36.
Julia Stiles is 41.
Kate Gosselin is 47.
Vince Vaughn is 52
Rodney Atkins is 53.
Reba McEntire is 67.
