January 5, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Laurent KOFFEL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images(LONDON) — Vanessa Kirby, who co-starred in 2020’s Pieces of a Woman alongside Shia LaBeouf, broke her silence about the allegations brought against the disgraced actor.

In a Sunday interview with The Sunday Times, Kirby, 32, stated, “I stand with all survivors of abuse and respect the courage of anyone who speaks their truth.”

The British actress continued, “Regarding the recent news, I can’t comment on an ongoing legal case.”

Pieces of a Woman contains scenes where Kirby’s character is pressured into having sex with LaBeouf’s character, who also tries to hit her with an exercise ball, reports the Times.

LaBeouf, 34, is embroiled in a lawsuit filed by ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, who claimed the actor “hurts women…uses them [and] abuses them both personally and mentally.”

FKA, born Tahliah Barnett, claimed the actor “tormented” her, brandished a firearm while driving, and “knowingly” gave her an STD, among other accusations of similarly violent and controlling behavior. 

One such incident, Barnett said the actor strangled her and slammed her head against his vehicle. 

LaBeouf responded to Barnett’s allegations in a statement to the New York Times that read, “Although many of these allegations are not true, I am not in the position to defend any of my actions. I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done.” 

“Chandelier” singer Sia has also come forward with her own allegations against LaBeouf, stating on Twitter, “I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single.  I believe he’s very sick and have compassion for him AND his victims.”

The actor, who starred in her 2015 music video “Elastic Heart,” hasn’t respond to those accusations.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 5, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — After an erroneous report from her rep claiming that she’d on Sunday — and a subsequent correction from Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles that she was still alive — The New York Times has now confirmed that actress Tanya Roberts died Monday night.

The news of her death was confirmed by Roberts’ longtime companion, Lance O’Brien. The former model and actress, born Victoria Leigh Blum, was 65.

Roberts, who starred as Stacey Sutton alongside Roger Moore in the 1985 James Bond film A View To A Kill, and also appeared in Charlie’s Angels and That ’70s Show, reportedly collapsed while out walking her dogs on December 24 and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai.

O’Brien is the one who informed Roberts’ rep Mike Pingel that she had “died in his arms” on Sunday night.  Pingel subsequently sent out a press release about her passing, only to have to walk back the information on Monday.  Pingel said Roberts was in fact still alive, but in grave condition. 

O’Brien told the New York Post that at the time, he truly believed Roberts had died, because he’d said goodbye to her and left her bedside without speaking to any medical staff. Then, on Monday, he got a call from the hospital saying she was still alive.

“I don’t want to blame [Pingel] in any way, shape or form,” O’Brien said. “I was in total shock, and I did say goodbye to her.’’

O’Brien also told the Post that Roberts died because she had an infection that “got out of control,” which was exacerbated by the fact that she’d had hepatitis C when she was younger.

“What happened was her kidneys degraded, her liver degraded, then her gall bladder degraded, then she got a blood infection in her entire body,” he explained.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 5, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — It seems even Arnold Schwarzenegger has trouble telling some of the “famous Chrises” apart — which is odd because one of them, Chris Pratt, is his son-in-law. 

For the record, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth are all members of The Avengers onscreen.  Fellow heartthrob Chris Pine, the star of the Star Trek and Wonder Woman movies, is also part of the famous Chris quartet.

During a star-studded New Year’s Instagram telethon in which he ultimately raised over $615,000 to feed the hungry, Pratt introduced a series of stars via split-screen video, including his father-in-law, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the father of Katherine, Pratt’s wife. 

“Hello Chris Evans!” Arnold fumbles, to Pratt’s apparent surprise.

“Oh, not Chris Evans. Sorry. I screwed up this whole thing right from the beginning,” Arnold laughed nervously. “I didn’t hold up the cue cards the right way,” Schwarzenegger then explains, holding up an index card reading “Chris Pratt.” Wearing a traditional green felt Austrian hat, Arnold said, “I should know you’re name, that’s for sure. You’re my favorite son-in-law.” 

“I’m your only son-in-law, I better be your favorite!” a laughing Pratt protested. 

Arnold went on to say he “thinks the world” of Pratt, saying he’s “such a giving person [who thinks] not only about yourself and your career, but about other people.”

Chris and Katherine welcomed their first child together, daughter Lyla Maria Schwarzenegger Pratt, in August.

Other stars who virtually joined Pratt during the event included Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Laura Dern, as well as Pratt’s other Jurassic World co-star, actress Bryce Dallas Howard.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 5, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jace Downs/AMC(LONDON) — The Walking Dead baddie Samantha Morton implored fans to “wear a mask” as she apparently tweeted from inside of a U.K. COVID-19 ward. 

The British actress, who plays the villain Alpha on the post-apocalyptic series, didn’t specifically say she tested positive for the virus. However, in her posts, in which she’s pictured wearing a mask and face shield, she thanked the medical staff at Essex’s Conquest Hospital who working in a COVID zone.

“I’m so grateful for our NHS [National Health Service], to see the red zone first hand and the nurses and doctors being so kind and wonderful to us all was humbling,” Morton tweeted. “I’m ok tonight because of them.”

Fans were quick to send their support to Morton, who responded, “I’m on the mend. I’ll get there and thank you so much for the well wishes,” adding the hashtag “WearAMask,” complete with a mask-wearing emoji.

England currently has the second-highest COVID-19 infection rate in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, prompting U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday to declare a mandatory lockdown in England into February.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 5, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Kelsey McNeal(LOS ANGELES) — Dancing With the Stars pro Witney Carson is a new mom.

Carson announced on Instagram Monday that she’d given birth to a baby boy after a “really hard 24-hour labor” and “an unexpected C-section.”

Both she and the baby are “healthy and well,” she added.

“We are so grateful & we’ve been soaking up every moment with our perfect angel boy,” Carson concluded. “Thank you for all the prayers!”

Carson, 27, announced in July that she and her husband, Carson McAllister, were expecting their first child. Carson and McAllister wed in 2015.

“We love this little bean so much already and we can’t wait to start this beautiful chapter in our lives!” she wrote at the time.

This is the second baby to be born to a “Dancing With the Stars” pro in recent months; Lindsay Arnold welcomed a daughter in November.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.