American Idol finalist Emmy Russell, who is the granddaughter of late country legend Loretta Lynn, is going to be a mom!
“Y’all, me and Tyler [Ward] are expecting a baby girl,” Russell, 25, said during a recent taping of the “Got it From My Momma” podcast. “I’m so excited.”
Ward, 40, immediately ran up on stage to rub Russell’s belly before taking his seat in the crowd.
“Right out of American Idol, I didn’t know,” Russell, who was a finalist on season 22, said. “So, that’s kind of been the journey. I’m so excited and looking forward to it.”
Russell was joined by her mother, Patsy, on the episode, who also teased her reaction to her daughter’s pregnancy news.
“I always said it’s ‘Emmy and Tyler that’s having a baby’ because they’re both having to go through [it],” Patsy said. “It’s so true. I keep sending Tyler the memes of these girls going, ‘I can’t wear anything, I’m fat.’”
While Russell and Ward have not publicized most of their relationship, he was instrumental in her Idol journey.
“I do feel that distinct voice of, ‘You do have a job to do,’ and I think it was also just so out there. I was so tired of listening to that inner voice critiquing ourselves all the time,” Russell, who tried out for the singing competition without informing her mother, explained. “I was just like, ‘I want to prove everyone wrong.’ … Everyone was like, ‘She’s probably not going to do it.”
She added, “I remember just even looking at Tyler and I was just, like, ‘I’m going to do this and I’m not going to hide anymore.’ I remember when MeeMaw passed away and we got to just be alone with her, I remember holding her hand, just like, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, but I’m gonna do something with my gift.’ It was almost like a scary praise that I was making.”
Russell then remembered that Lynn used to tell her, “God, doesn’t give a plumber tools to not use them.” (Lynn died in 2022 at the age of 90.)
“She always used to say, ‘He gave you a gift. You gotta use it.’ And so, I’m navigating that and I’m still navigating it today, but I knew that might be the place to do it.”
Russell auditioned for Idolwith a piano rendition of an original song titled “Skinny,” which was a collaboration with Ward.
“I released that song with Song House, and Tyler actually runs Song House,” she said. He was like, ‘You gotta do it. We just got to release the song.’ Then, seeing all the feedback of it, I was like, ‘This is bigger than me. I need to get out of the way.’ … Releasing it [was] special.”
Bradley Cooper will be celebrating a milestone birthday in the next couple of weeks, but to him, age is just a number. “He doesn’t think too much about turning 50 other than how proud he is of his career trajectory and his most important job as a dad,” a source reveals in Us Weekly’s latest cover story, noting Cooper will likely celebrate his big day in NYC. “It won’t be a Leonardo DiCaprio–style party, as that’s not Bradley’s [vibe], but there is a celebration in the works.” The actor is also enjoying his romance with model Gigi Hadid, with the insider noting that the duo are “the real deal.” Read on for more exclusive updates and top stories:
Home Alone director Chris Columbus said he didn’t work on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation because a conversation with star Chevy Chase rubbed him the wrong way.
Jennifer Lopez shared photos of her family Christmas celebrations with 16-year-old twins Max and Emme, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul and on-off partner Dakota Mortensensparked split rumors after they celebrated the holidays separately.
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Jason Kelce has a reputation for being charitable around the holidays — but this year he wanted to level up.
In accordance with the release of his holiday charity album, A Philly Special Christmas Party — which benefited local Philadelphia charities for the third year in a row — Kelce, 37, and musical collaborators Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson got in touch with their former Eagles teammate, Connor Barwin, with an unprecedented idea.
“This last year, Jason, Jordan and Lane came to me and said they wanted to do something really big,” Barwin, 38, said in a video posted to Kelce’s YouTube channel on Thursday, December 26. “They wanted to use the proceeds from the record to get a gift for every single kid in the Philadelphia public school district.”
Barwin added, “I initially thought it wasn’t possible. Jason pushed me.”
With the holiday season quickly approaching, the group got to work on what became known as Operation Snowball.
Two weeks before Christmas, Kelce showed off the impressive fruits of their labor. “We’ve got an entire warehouse being filled with toys,” Kelce said in the video. “I’ve never really seen anything quite like this, to be honest with you.”
Kelce added, “To pull something off like this? Between the toys, the logistics, the schools, the teachers, the faculty. This is a truly monumental lift for a lot of people. I don’t know that this would be achievable in many places other than Philadelphia.”
One week before Christmas, Kelce and the crew enlisted the help of another famous friend: comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson.
“Dude, thanks for coming,” Kelce told Davidson, 31. “Holy cow.”
Davidson helped hand out gifts at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin High School, where he jokingly referred to himself as an “Eagles WAG.”
Meanwhile, across town at Kirkbride Elementary, Kelce was gifted multiple friendship bracelets by excited students, an obvious nod to Taylor Swift, the girlfriend of Jason’s younger brother, Travis.
Jason made another stop at Alliance for Progress Charter School, where he took the mic and addressed the students.
“To see the joy on all of your faces makes the whole thing worth it,” he told them. “I hope you enjoy the gifts. More importantly, I hope you have a happy holiday.”
When Jason was told by a local news reporter that some of the students had already said they planned on giving their gifts to their siblings, he joked, “If regifting isn’t in the spirit of Christmas, I don’t know what is.”
Ultimately, Operation Snowball handed out over 1 million gifts to more than 200,000 students across 338 different buildings.
“To let 200,000 kids know, even in the smallest way, that they’re important and people are thinking about them during the holidays. It’s hard to understate how powerful that is,” Barwin said, “I think Jason and the guys understood that. That’s what this was all about.”
We don’t know about you, but there’s something about New Year’s Eve that makes Us want to put a little extra effort into our outfits. There are so many festive occasions that call for fancy dresses. Whether you’re heading to a fancy dinner or hosting a New Year’s Eve celebration, why not show up and show out in a semi-formal holiday dress?
From velvety soft dresses to sassy styles with daring necklines and slits, there are so many chic styles to choose from. Best of all? You can snag semi-formal dresses on Amazon and get them delivered to your house in no time, courtesy of expedited Prime shipping. With that in mind, we compiled a fun list of stylish semi-formal New Year’s Eve dresses that you can snag on Amazon.
1. Our Absolute Favorite: This dreamy emerald green wrap dress has a ruched detail along the midsection for added tummy control — $58!
2. Olive It: This flowy maxi dress has a plunging V-neckline and a flattering waistband — $55!
3. Velvet Dream: Get ready to twirl the night away in this long-sleeve velvet maxi dress. It features a flowy hemline — was $65, now just $58!
4. Celestial Accents: Shine brighter than a star in the sky, courtesy of this sparkly blue midi dress. Along with dazzling sequin fabric, it comes with flowy mesh sleeves — $60!
5. Cocktail Cutie: Pull out this show-stopping one-shoulder dress the next time you’re headed to a formal occasion. It features flattering fabric that fits like a glove — $56!
6. Accents, Please: We love this neutral-colored dress because it features flattering bodycon fabric and slimming ruching along the midsection. Best of all? It features airy puff sleeves — $53!
7. LBD: Want to opt for a lengthy black dress instead of a chic mini? Snag this midi-length number. It features subtle puff details on the shoulder and slimming ruched details — $!
8. Mocha Madness: Rich chocolatey shades are all the rage. This long-sleeve dress features fun ruffle details along with an asymmetrical slit — $59!
9. Formal Style: Heading to a more conservative occasion? This velvet dress features a modest scoop neckline and comes below the knee — $30!
Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily Baldoni, have welcomed two kids during their relationship.
The duo’s daughter, Maiya Baldoni, was born in June 2015, nearly two years after they tied the knot. Justin and Emily expanded their family in October 2017 by welcoming son Maxwell Baldoni.
“At the end of the day my goal is to raise good humans,” Justin said about being a father during a 2021 interview. “The only way I think we can do that is if we actively teach them the things the world is going to tell them they can’t be. And then they get to decide what qualities they want to have.”
The actor seems to have a supportive family. However, they did not publicly address any allegations when Justin was sued for sexual harassment in December 2024 by his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively. Through his lawyer, Justin denied the claims made in the filing, calling them “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.” Lawyer Bryan Freedman said Lively filed the suit to “fix her negative reputation” and “rehash a narrative” about what happened behind the scenes while filming the movie in a statement to Us Weekly at the time.
Keep scrolling to look back at Justin and Emily’s family photos:
“Maiya hasn’t seen her dada in two days because he’s been working so hard,” Emily captioned a February 2018 family photo.” So tonight, even for just 5 minutes in between takes and before we had to go home for bedtime, we had to make sure they got to squeeze each other. And they didn’t want to let go. It’s the SWEETEST love!!”
“There are days when this is the best. And there are days when this is really hard,” Emily wrote when celebrating Mother’s Day in May 2022. “It’s no doubt my most beautiful work of art and my greatest honor. And yes, I most definitely asked for some alone time today.”
To channel Adam Brody’s character in The O.C., this year was truly Chrismukkah, as the first night of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Day.
Gwyneth Paltrow kicked off the celebrations on Wednesday, December 25, by lighting a menorah with activist and fellow actress Noa Tishby.
“I think my most favorite [memory] is when I go back to being at my grandparents’ house getting the Hanukkah gelt,” Paltrow recalled in a social media video, referring to the traditional chocolate coins. “I have such a strong memory of the gold, round coins and my brother and I tearing into them.”
Paltrow grew up celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah as her mother, Blythe Danner, is Christian, while her father, the late Bruce Paltrow, was raised Jewish.
Now that Paltrow has grown up, she makes sure to bring Hanukkah traditions into her home with husband Brad Falchuk and their blended family. (They each share two children from past marriages.)
“We always light the menorah,” Paltrow said. “We always gather together and after we light the candles, it’s very sweet actually, we all hug and we bring in the light.”
Other stars including Karlie Kloss and Andy Cohen also celebrated the Festival of Lights this year. Scroll below to see their festive photos:
Tishby marked night 2 on Thursday, December 26, with Kunis.
“I never lit Hanukkah candles until I had kids,” Kunis, who immigrated to the United States from Ukraine as a child, said in a YouTube video. “I grew up doing nothing. I always knew I was Jewish, but I was told to never talk about it.”
Once Kunis married Ashton Kutcher and later welcomed two children, she started to see her Judaism as a point of pride. (According to Kunis, Kutcher identifies as Jewish “by choice.”)
“I fell in love with my religion because he explained it to me,” Kunis recalled. “There’s no right or wrong way to be Jewish.”
“Happy Christmas & Merry Hanukkah,” Chmerkovskiy wrote via Instagram, sharing dancing footage with wife Johnson.
The married Dancing With the Stars pros celebrate both holidays.
Bialik acknowledged via Instagram that she set her menorah atop a “cookie sheet” to avoid candle wax dripping on her table, a custom that is all too relatable to Us.
Gomez joined her fiancé, who identifies as Jewish, at a star-studded Hanukkah party that also hosted Debra Messing, Erin Lichy, Alex Edelman and Benj Pasek.
“I don’t need anything else,” the “Dancing With the Stars” pro wrote under a collection of pictures featuring the model and his eldest daughter, Olivia.
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“4 A.M. rain or shine,” Wahlberg, 53, said in a video shared via Instagram on Thursday, December 26. “It’s raining outside, but we’re still gonna plunge.”
In the clip, Wahlberg walked out of a locker-room shower wearing a pair of navy short swim trunks. The actor also rocked a watch on one wrist and a navy blue bracelet on the other. As Wahlberg faced the camera, his abs were on full display as he prepared to exit the facility, and a pair of sneakers were resting behind him.
“Nothing like a cold plunge in the rain @thecoldlife @municipal 4 am club,” Wahlberg captioned the post.
Wahlberg’s fitness routine seemingly takes no days off — especially during the holiday season. The day before his cold plunge, Wahlberg woke up early on Christmas morning to squeeze in another workout session.
“4 am club ,” he captioned an Instagram video of him lifting weights.
Wahlberg donned a cut-off tank top from his Municipal fitness clothing brand as he performed a series of reps with a set of dumbbells. As he lifted the weights, Wahlberg flexed his muscles for the camera.
Hours after the gym session, Wahlberg gathered with his family to celebrate Christmas together. He shared a tiny glimpse of the festivities via his Instagram Story which included family members gathered in a living room with a Santa Claus statue in the background.
In honor of the holiday, Wahlberg posted his brood’s Christmas card which featured his wife, Rhea Durham, and their four kids: Ella, 21, Michael, 18, Brendan, 16, and Grace, 14, all sitting together on a couch.
“Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happiest holidays!” she penned. “Love, The Wahlbergs .”
Wahlberg’s time in the gym during the holidays hasn’t deterred him from the celebrations. He previously opened up about how Durham runs the show during the family time — but he makes sure he takes her and their kids on a special excursion.
“I’m very involved, though I don’t cook all that much. I mean, I’ll grill some steaks and make some burgers, stuff like that,” Wahlberg shared of their traditions while speaking to Us Weekly on the red carpet for his 2017 film Daddy’s Home 2. “But very involved — when it comes to the holiday, my wife does the decorating, my wife purchases the gifts. I make sure I get something special for her. I plan the vacation and take them away on a holiday.”
“Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realized I couldn’t work with the guy,” the “Home Alone” director said.
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Cameron Bure’s exit came one year after former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbottlaunched the new network following his controversial handling of a same-sex commercial for the channel.
Shortly after the release of her first Great American Family holiday film in fall 2022, Cameron Bure made waves for her comments about the network’s faith-based programming. She told WSJ. Magazine that GAF aligned with her beliefs partly because they were focusing on “traditional marriage” story lines, which caused backlash from her fanbase.
Scroll down to see everything that Cameron Bure has said about her transition to Great American Media — and why Hallmark was no longer a good fit — below:
“I’m very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch,” the Kind is the New Classy author said in an April 2022 statement. “I am constantly looking for ways that I can inspire people to live life with purpose. GAC fits my brand perfectly; we share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family.”
“Candy Rock Entertainment’s mission is to bring to life compelling stories that the entire family can enjoy while feeling a sense of togetherness and connection. I’m so proud of the first of these projects because they are exactly that,” the California native said in a September 2022 press release when announcing her first holiday film for Great American Family. “A Christmas … Present is about slowing down enough to recognize what’s right in front of our eyes. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season will arrive before we know it but it’s through the quiet moments that we hear God speak to us, directing our path to what’s most important.”
“The truth is I’ve been under contract with Hallmark for a very, very long time. And those have been absolutely wonderful,” the A Shoe Addict’s Christmas star told Variety in September 2022. “It just so happened that my contract was expiring when Great American Family started up. So we did not start having those discussions until we were well into negotiations with Hallmark Channel for renewing. And as every business person knows, you’ve got to do what’s right for contracts. It didn’t work out with Hallmark and so we started talking to Bill.”
“I’m that person that just sits and watches and observes from the sidelines. Bill has just always been a champion. He’s been a champion for others through his whole career and that’s what has made him an incredible president and CEO of a company — because he knows he’s not doing it himself,” Cameron Bure told the outlet in September 2022 of the former Hallmark Channel CEO. “It takes a team and it takes loyalty and it takes people doing their best. And he acknowledges that always, which makes him a great leader. … It’s been an almost 15-year relationship.”
She added: “I trust what Bill has done over the years and that really means a lot to me. That’s also why a move to Great American Family was a good move for me because of the long standing relationship with Bill.”
“It absolutely is representing family. It’s representing faith, which is a really big component. They are going to move much more forward in the faith content, and having both — still having lots of movies, rom-coms and Christmas movies that don’t involve faith, but also ones that really do,” the Fuller House alum said in September 2022 of Great American Media’s focus. “I think that that’s going to be a big difference in Great American Family channel, as well as patriotic content. I love hearing stories about our veterans, about our servicemen and women, those reunions when they come home. We want to showcase all of that — all of the good that’s going on and we want to tug on those heartstrings.”
“It basically is a completely different network than when I started because of the change of leadership,” Cameron Bure told WSJ. Magazine in November 2022, when asked about her departure from Hallmark Media.
When it comes to the stories being featured on Great American Media’s channels, she confessed, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
The comment came after Abbott’s 2020 exit from Hallmark Media following his choice to cut a same-sex commercial from the network. Hallmark has since begun to feature more diverse couplings and lead characters — but Great American Media has hinted that won’t be its focus moving forward.
“I want to be able to tell that story in a beautiful way, but also that is not off-putting to the unbeliever or someone who shares a different faith,” the former child star added.
Cameron Bure told the magazine in November 2022 that she was ready to make movies that didn’t include the stereotypical rom-com tropes such as cocoa dates and snowball fights that lead to forever love.
“My own kids have said, ‘Mom, are you leaving the big city and going to the farm, meeting the love of your life?’” she quipped, noting that she will still make rom-coms for Great American Media in the future. “Those are all fun things that we love, but we see over and over and over.”
Cameron Bure responded in November 2022 to claims that she’s a “bigot” after she told WSJ. Magazine that Great American Media would focus on “traditional marriage” story lines.
“It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone,” she wrote in a lengthy social media statement. “It saddens me that the media is often seeking to divide us, even around a subject as comforting and merry as Christmas movies. But, given the toxic climate in our culture right now, I shouldn’t be surprised. We need Christmas more than ever.”
The former View cohost also clarified why she chose to move to Great American Media, implying that her original interview comments were taken out of context.
“I have long wanted to find a home for more faith-based programming. I am grateful to be an integral part of a young and growing network. I had also expressed in my interview, which was not included, that people of all ethnicities and identities have and will continue to contribute to the network in great ways both in front of and behind the camera, which I encourage and fully support,” she claimed. “I’ve never been interested in proselytizing through my storytelling, but in celebrating God’s greatness in our lives through the stories I tell.”
Cameron Bure gave insight into her reason for switching from Hallmark to Great American Family during a May 2024 Instagram Story Q&A. “It wasn’t so much about leaving as it was about an opportunity to grow a new network that puts faith and family at the forefront of its content,” she replied. “I’m very proud of the work I did at Hallmark for 15 years and love all my friends there.”
The actress explained, “I’m more than an actor. Growth in my company as well as my achievements in business is extremely important to me.” She also confirmed two new projects from Great American Family: The Ainsley McGregor Mysteries and A Christmas Less Traveled.
“Hallmark has been so loved for so many years, and I loved working there. So it’s like, how can you leave?” Cameron Bure exclusively told Us in November 2024, reflecting on her network move. “And it’s just like, well, things grow and things change and there are new chapters, and I love that I’m getting to build a new network and one that truly carries a message that’s more meaningful for me personally.”
She explained that with Great American Family she gets to bring “stories of faith” to the forefront. “We have ones that aren’t about faith and more in the traditional rom-com space, but our viewers really want messages that are more meaningful,” she said.
Cameron Bure added that with her new projects she is able to include “biblical message[s]” and remember “the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of the birth of Christ.”
Two years into her time with Great American Family, Cameron Bure told The Hollywood Reporter that they’re still “relatively new.” She explained in December 2024, “Like any new business, you have your core demographic and what you’re looking for, and you’re going to produce the product that will best suit that audience.”
Cameron Bure noted, “Most networks are not trying to be all things to all people. What really differentiates our channel from some of the other ones out there is that we’re not afraid to talk about God and God’s hand in our lives instead of fate or providence.” The actress added that Great American Family isn’t afraid to lean into “faith” that aligns with their tagline for the channel which is: “Christmas as it’s meant to be.”
With that tagline in mind, Cameron Bure has focused on finding stories that “touch the heart and have more purpose to them than just the magic of Christmas or the Santa Claus of Christmas.”
She concluded: “It’s always been the spirit of all the movies that I’ve produced. God loves all of us, and so that’s the spirit in which I make everything.”
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