(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kathy Griffin revealed Monday that she has stage 1 lung cancer.
The 60-year-old comedian and actress shared a tweet announcing her diagnosis and said she will undergo surgery. She did not reveal when she received her diagnosis.
“I’ve got to tell you guys something. I have cancer,” Griffin wrote. “I’m about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed.”
Griffin continued: “Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked!”
She said her doctors are “very optimistic” because she said her cancer is “stage one and contained to my left lung.”
“Hopefully no chemo or radiation after this and I should have normal function with my breathing,” she wrote. “I should be up and running around as usual in a month or less.”
“It’s been a helluva 4 years, trying to get back to work, making you guys laugh and entertaining you, but I’m gonna be just fine,” she continued.
Griffin also told her followers she is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “The consequences for being unvaccinated would have been even more serious,” she said. “Please stay up to date on your medical check ups. It’ll save your life.”
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that “about 10% to 20% of lung cancers, or 20,000 to 40,000 lung cancers each year, happen in people who never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.”
Griffin sat down with ABC News’ Juju Chang to discuss her reaction to her diagnosis, admitting she was “in shock.”
“Once a day, I’ll just turn to nobody next to me and go, ‘Can you believe this s***? Is this a b**** or what?” she said.
As of last weekend, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been a couple for over a decade. To celebrate the milestone, the famous duo took a step back in time by recreating their first date.
In a series of adorable Instagram Story updates on Saturday, Lively revealed she had taken her husband to O Ya, a Boston-based sushi restaurant.
“If it weren’t for this place. We wouldn’t be together. No joke,” the Gossip Girl alum dished while sharing a photo of Reynolds posing by the location. “No restaurant means more to us.”
Lively, 33, revealed that the two have made a tradition of celebrating their first date every year, adding in a second update, “10 years later, we still go out on our ‘first date.’ But in much more comfortable shoes.”
The actress wore a gorgeous white and black polka dot button-down sundress and black sandals on her anniversary date, while Reynolds opted for a navy print polo over a white undershirt with dark jeans and tan sneakers.
The Deadpool star also hailed his 10th anniversary on Saturday, taking to his Story to tease his spouse.
“Our favorite restaurant with her 4th favorite date,” he joked while sharing a selfie of the two standing outside the restaurant.
Unfortunately for him, he committed a sin by writing that caption over a portion of Lively’s outfit — so he had to re-post the photo. “Posting this again because I cut out my wife’s cute earrings. She trained me better than this,” Reynolds, 44, shared. “Sorry if I let anyone down.”
Lively and Reynolds wed in September 2012 after meeting the year prior on the Green Lantern set, on which they both starred. They share three daughters.
After 40 years, MTV’s Moon Person trophy is getting a makeover.
The reimagining of the familiar image coincides with the network’s 40th anniversary, which was on Sunday. While the original Moon Person features an astronaut on the moon to planting an MTV flag, the new version, designed by artist Kehinde Wiley, takes a botanical twist.
In a statement, MTV explained, “Kehinde Wiley’s Moon Person sculpture represents inclusivity and diversity marked by the historical, environmental and nature relevance of the botanicals. The design features botanical vines seamlessly flowing up and around the figure’s legs, body, and arms as a commentary on the ethnic histories that surround America. Each intertwined vine or leaf has a different historical relevance, such as the seeds from African slaves, that are woven into the American tapestry.”
“The sculpture complements Wiley’s forthcoming series of portraits, in which he plans to create paintings featuring his subjects lying on their sides as vines encircle their bodies,” MTV added.
MTV launched on August 1, 1981 with footage of NASA’s Apollo 11 expedition, the spaceflight that landed humans on the moon in 1969. To help commemorate the moment, a life-sized version of Wiley’s Moon Person is also available for public viewing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex.
Disney’s Jungle Cruise, the action comedy based on the popular Disney theme park ride, topped the box office with an estimated $34.2 million in its debut weekend. The movie is also available on Disney+ Premier Access, where it added an additional $30 million.
Jungle Cruise — starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt — was originally set to open a year ago, but, like many other high-profile releases, it was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The adventure film had a rougher voyage overseas, where it only managed to snag an estimated $27.6 million in 47 overseas markets, bringing its worldwide theatrical total to $61.8 million.
There’s a tight battle for second place, between newcomer The Green Knight and the M. Night Shyamalan thriller, Old. As of Sunday, The Dev Patel-led Green Knight had the edge, delivering an estimated $6.78 million.
Meanwhile, Old, in its second week of release, slipped from first to second with an estimated $6.76 million, bringing its domestic total to $30.6 million. The film has added $17.9 million overseas, bringing its global total to $48.5 million.
Disney also nabbed fourth place with Marvel’s Black Widow, earning an estimated $6.4 million from the box office in its fourth week of release. The film’s stateside haul now stands at just shy of $167.1 million. Its worldwide total hovers around $343.6 million.
As with Jungle Cruise, Black Widow can also be streamed on Disney+ Premier Access, where it raked in $60 million on the streamer in its opening weekend.
Disney is the parent company of Marvel and ABC News.
Rounding out the top five is another newcomer, Stillwater. The thriller, starring Matt Damon, delivered an estimated $5.1 million in its opening weekend.
As an actor, sometimes you may have to cuddle up with someone who isn’t your significant other — and for Ellen Pompeo‘s husband, that was something that took some getting used to.
Pompeo, who stars as Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, recalled how her husband reacted to her on-screen affairs with love-interest-turned-husband Dr. Derek Shepherd aka McDreamy — played by Patrick Dempsey. The actress, who’s going on 14 years of marriage with Chris Ivery, said her spouse “had no idea what he was getting into.”
“I remember in the beginning it was really hard for him,” Pompeo admitted while on July 27th episode of the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast. “He was like, ‘This is not what I signed up for. You go to work and make out with that? I like Patrick and everything, he’s a good dude, but like really?'”
Dempsey left the popular medical drama in 2015 after 11 seasons, however, he did return as a guest star during season 17.
An 18th season of Grey’s Anatomy is set to premiere in September.
Taika Waititi is bringing Flash Gordon back to the big screen. The Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner, who is currently working on Thor: Love and Thunder, apparently had a change of heart while working on an animated version of the Flash Gordon property, according to producer Jon Davis.
“It was a movie that was a huge influence on him growing up,” Davis tells Collider of the New Zealand filmmaker. “It is one of his favorite movies. He initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we…started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better.'”
Flash Gordon has influenced generations of filmmakers since Alex Raymond‘s 1930s comic strip debuted, including George Lucas, who fashioned Star Wars after the episodic theatrical serials of Flash that Lucas enjoyed in his youth.
Most famously, in 1980, Flash Gordon was converted into a campy space opera that starred Sam J. Jones as the earth athlete who finds himself fighting in an intergalactic war.
That film came to a new audience thanks to Mark Wahlberg‘s character in Seth MacFarland‘s Ted films, who, along with his teddy bear buddy, idolized Jones — who appears in the comedies.
Davis, who co-produced Disney’s just-released Jungle Cruise, tells Collider this version of Flash Gordon will be very, well, Taika. “He has the most fantastically interesting vision for this movie. And you can only know it is Taika. It is what he does. It is the way he looks at the world…He is the funniest guy in the world. And he thinks on a different plane.”
Davis continues, “This movie embraces everything that’s special about Taika, and his vision,” while noting that “it harkens in a very interesting way to the original conception from the comics.”
A short time after his friend and former comedy partner David Crosstweeted that the Better Call Saul actor was “doing great,” Bob Odenkirk himself took to Twitter to confirm he’s on the mend.
“Hi. It’s Bob. Thank you,” he began. “To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week. And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and care for me. It’s overwhelming. But I feel the love and it means so much.”
Odenkirk continued, “I had a small heart attack. But I’m going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery.”
The Nobody actor added, “Also, AMC and SONYs support and help throughout this has been next-level. I’m going to take a beat to recover but I’ll be back soon.”
Odenkirk collapsed on the Albuquerque set of Better Call Saul on Tuesday, and was rushed to the hospital.
News of the incident led to an outpouring of support on social media, so it’s not surprising his two new tweets immediately went viral.
Hi. It’s Bob.
Thank you.
To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week.
And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and care for me. It’s overwhelming. But I feel the love and it means so much.
I had a small heart attack. But I’m going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery.
Also, AMC and SONYs support and help throughout this has been next-level. I’m going to take a beat to recover but I’ll be back soon.
That’s what anyone with cable TV who happened to be up at midnight on August 1, 1981 — 40 years ago this Sunday — heard, as MTV: Music Television signed on the air for the very first time. At the time, it wasn’t even available in most major markets, including MTV’s home base, New York City. And that first day was a little rocky.
“The plan was that Mark Goodman would begin the welcome,” recalls original VJ Alan Hunter of MTV’s first moments. “After you had the Buggles and Pat Benatar videos, Mark comes on and says, ‘Hey, welcome to this thing called MTV and here are my pals'” And it would roll down to JJ [Jackson] and Martha [Quinn] and Nina [Blackwood]. And I was the last guy to say, ‘and I’m Alan Hunter.'”
But because the guy loading the videotapes screwed up, Hunter ended up being the first VJ we ever saw, saying, “…And I’m Alan Hunter.”
“No one really noticed, it was late at night,” Hunter laughs. “There was so many technical glitches that first day…MTV was duct-taped together to start, to be honest.”
But MTV soon took hold across the country — especially in the Midwest, where Hunter and his fellow VJs would find hundreds of people waiting to greet them at in-store appearances.
“They would ask for an autograph and say, ‘I watch this 24/7 in the dorm at college,’ or, ‘in the basement of our friend’s house down the street who has cable’…kids [were] going crazy for it,” Hunter recalls. “And they were beginning to ask for the music that they were seeing on MTV.”
Flooded with requests for songs by MTV faves like U2 and Duran Duran, radio eventually responded and previously unknown bands became superstars. But hey, don’t expect any gratitude from Duran Duran, whose stylish videos were a highlight of MTV’s early years.
“We tend to look at it the other way around,” Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon tells ABC Audio. “We think, ‘How much does MTV have to thank us for the popularity that they had in the 1980s?'”
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes snarks, “Yes, at least with Duran Duran, we didn’t have to resort to game shows in the end. We stuck with the music!”
Indeed, MTV stopped being the place for music videos literally decades ago.
“When I look at MTV’s daily schedule, all I see is Ridiculousness,” laughs Hunter, referring to the viral video clip show. “I think they’re struggling to try to find where they’re going.”
But whatever MTV is today, its impact is still being felt. Rob Tannenbaum, co-author of the oral history I Want My MTV, explains, “It changed record labels because now a certain type of band was more profitable. It changed the TV industry and the movie industry because they all wanted to emulate the fast cutting [and] bright colors. It changed fashion design. It changed advertising. It had a wholesale effect…all over popular culture.”
And the quintessential MTV Video? Tannenbaum says it’s Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher.”
“It has all the things that are supposed to make a video good. It’s got a guitar solo. It’s a band with long hair, chicks in bikinis,” he says, adding, “If you were trying to illustrate to an alien from another planet what MTV was about, you would show them ‘Hot for Teacher.'”
Here were the first 10 videos played on MTV:
“Video Killed the Radio Star” — The Buggles
“You Better Run” — Pat Benatar
“She Won’t Dance with Me” — Rod Stewart
“You Better You Bet” — The Who
“Little Suzi’s on the Up” — Ph.D.
“We Don’t Talk Anymore” — Cliff Richard
“Brass in Pocket” — The Pretenders
“Time Heals” — Todd Rundgren
“Take It on the Run” — REO Speedwagon (interrupted after 12 seconds due to technical difficulties)
“Rockin’ the Paradise” — Styx
Randy Holmes/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Bob Odenkirk‘s friend and one-time Mr. Show comedy partner David Cross gave fans of the Better Call Saul star a much-needed bit of good news after his health scare earlier this week.
In a tweet, Cross just said, “Just got off the phone with Bob and he’s doing great! Joking and japing and joshing.”
Cross added, “Both he and his family are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and concern everyone has shown. You will be hearing from him soon. But he’s doing really well!!!”
The tweet was liked 20,000 times — and counting — within an hour of Cross posting it.
The 58-year-old Odenkirk collapsed while shooting the sixth and final season of the AMC series in New Mexico on Tuesday, and was rushed to the hospital where he was treated for a “heart-related incident,” a rep for the show told ABC News.
Just got off the phone with Bob and he’s doing great! Joking and japing and joshing. Both he and his family are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and concern everyone has shown. You will be hearing from him soon. But he’s doing really well!!!
Rebel Wilson embarked on a “Year of Health” in 2020, and in a recent Instagram live, shared her main reason for doing so.
During a chat with her fans, the “Pitch Perfect” star said it was her desire to have a child that inspired her to lose the weight.
Responding to a fan who asked why she got fit, Wilson shared, “That is such a massive question, but I’m going to try to answer it for you.”
“It first started when I was going through, looking into fertility stuff and the doctor was like, ‘Well, you’d have a much better chance if you were healthier,'” the 41-year-old Australian actress explained.
“I was actually a bit offended because I thought — even though I was bigger — I thought I was pretty healthy,” she added. “That’s, kind of, what started it, that if I lost some excess weight, that it would give me a better chance for freezing eggs and having the eggs be a better quality.”
“At first, it wasn’t even really [about] myself, it was more thinking of the future mini-me really,” she confessed.
However, in May, the Isn’t It Romantic star revealed in an emotional Instagram post that she was struggling with infertility. “I got some bad news today…,” she wrote. “To all the women out there struggling with fertility, I feel ya.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines infertility as the inability to get pregnant after one year of trying to conceive. Infertility affects six percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44, reports the CDC.
Rebel previously revealed she was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, which the CDC also identifies as a leading cause of infertility in women.
