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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According to Sorrentino, he and Cohen met shortly after Cohen arrived at FCI Otisville in May 2019. After hearing that Cohen didn’t eat chicken, Sorrentino asked Cohen if he would give him his uneaten serving so he could have an extra helping after his workouts.
“He’s like, ‘No problem. No problem,’” Sorrentino claimed in a 2020 episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. “Thursday comes around, which is chicken day. Cohen is nowhere to be found. And I’m like, ‘Damn. Cohen was chicken on chicken day!’ I saw him a couple hours later, and I was like, ‘Yo, man, what happened?’ He’s like, ‘Yo, man, they know we’re trying to smuggle chicken!’”
When asked about the alleged poultry smuggling operation, however, a rep for Cohen told Page Six that Sorrentino’s story was “red sauce self-promotional fiction.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at other famous celebrity prison connections through history:
The former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star reportedly bonded with the disgraced Theranos founder when they both found themselves serving time in Texas’ FCI Bryan. Shah was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022, while Holmes was convicted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in January 2022.
“They’re friends. They’re both rehabilitating and have bonded over being on this journey of positive change,” Shah’s rep, Chris Giovanni, told People in September 2023. “Their situations brought them together, and they have a good understanding of one another. They’re getting through it together.”
Giovanni added that Shah has taken a motherly role toward Holmes, who is 10 years her junior. “Jen gets all the ladies together and they rally behind her while she teaches them fitness moves, and Elizabeth has been there right along with them,” he said, claiming that Holmes regularly attends Shah’s “Shah-mazing Abs” workout classes.
Before meeting Cohen, Sorrentino befriended Fyre Festival cofounder Billy McFarland, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud. In April 2019, Vinny Guadagnino and Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio claimed Sorrentino told them he played Scrabble with McFarland, who was released in March 2022.
After his release, Sorrentino claimed he tried to set up a chicken smuggling ring with Cohen, who was convicted of tax evasion, campaign finance violations and making false statements to a federally insured bank in 2018. Cohen, however, denied that he ever had any involvement in Sorrentino’s plans to score extra helpings in the cafeteria. Cohen was released in July 2020.
The former Chrisley Knows Best star isn’t exactly friends with the man behind the college admissions scandal, but at the very least they know each other. According to Savannah Chrisley, Singer told Todd he’s working on a book — and Todd offered him some advice. “Dad was like, ‘Make sure you don’t leave out the chapter where you snitched on everyone,’” Savannah said during a September 2023 appearance on Nick Viall’s “The Viall Files” podcast. “He’s like the president of this place.”
Todd and Singer are both incarcerated at Florida’s FPC Pensacola. Todd and wife Julie Chrisley were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion in 2022, while Singer was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy,conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and obstruction of justice.
While the rapper was serving time for gun possession and tax evasion, he connected with Hevesi, a former New York comptroller who pleaded guilty to a corruption charge in 2010. Ja also connected with Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco International CEO who in 2005 was convicted of grand larceny, falsifying business records, securities fraud and conspiracy. In 2012, Ja told the New York Daily News that the two men — whom he called Hevey D and Koz — gave him stock advice and watched TV with him. "Outside, you don't meet guys like this every day,” he said. “This place is amazing.”
There’s no evidence that these two have met, but in December 2024, Mangione — who has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — was remanded to custody at MDC Brooklyn, the same detention center where Diddy has been held since his September 2024 arrest on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. (Diddy has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintained his innocence.)
MDC Brooklyn is also the current home of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX crypto mogul who was convicted of fraud in November 2023. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024 but has remained incarcerated at MDC Brooklyn while he appeals his case.
More than 75 celebrities have donned elaborate costumes for the Fox series, but only five have ever taken home the top prize: the Golden Mask trophy. As with Dancing With the Stars‘ mirrorball trophy, the Golden Mask is highly coveted among contestants.
After Kandi Burruss won in season 3, her son, Ace, immediately demanded to know where the trophy was. “He was so excited,” the Real Housewives of Atlanta star told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2020. “He said, ‘Mommy, did you win?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I won.’ He was like, ‘Where’s your trophy, mommy?’ But they won’t give you your trophy until after the season ends, so I was just like, ‘Well, I’ll get it one day.'”
Once the prize did arrive, though, Burruss knew exactly where she was going to display it: “I’m going to put it right next to the Grammy.”
Several Masked Singer alums have talked about doing the show because their kids love it, but sometimes their children are the hardest viewers to fool. After winning season 5 in May 2021, Nick Lachey told Us Weekly that his three kids with Vanessa Lachey immediately knew he was under the Piglet mask.
“They guessed it the first day and said, ‘Oh, that’s daddy!’” he said of Camden, Brooklyn and Phoenix. “I was excited they knew it was me, but that surprise was gone really early.”
Bobby Brown, who competed as the Crab in season 5, also couldn’t hide the secret from his brood. “I’ve been telling them, ‘No, it’s not Daddy, Daddy is sitting right here,’” he told Us in April 2021. “They thought I ran out and did it before dinner, so they are really confused right now, actually.”
During his time on the show, he dedicated some of his performances to his late children Bobby Brown Jr., who died at 28 in 2020, and Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died at 22 in 2015. When he sang the Bill Withersclassic “Ain’t No Sunshine,” he left judge Nicole Scherzinger in tears.
“That song means so much to me personally,” he told Us. “I put my everything into that performance and it was touching to hear everyone’s comments.”
Keep scrolling to find out what all the Masked Singer winners have been up to since taking home the Golden Mask.
The "Buy You a Drank" artist became the first Golden Mask winner in 2019 after blowing the judges away with his renditions of songs including "American Woman" and "This Is How We Do It." They were especially stumped by his real singing voice, which has been distorted by Auto-Tune in some of his biggest hits.
The same day he won The Masked Singer, the musician released a surprise album called 1UP. In 2021, he appeared on an episode of the Netflix series This Is Pop to discuss the use of Auto-Tune in pop music. That same year, he provided the signing voice for Tom in the big-screen adaptation of Tom & Jerry.
The Whose Line Is It Anyway? star prevailed in season 2 as the Fox, taking home the Golden Mask in December 2019. Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down live theater, he appeared in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway show Freestyle Love Supreme. In 2020, he starred as Tyson Sykes in the CW's Black Lightning and guested on an episode of Hell's Kitchen. The following year, he became the host of Game of Talents and landed roles in The Good Fight and Mixed-ish. In 2022, Brady competed on season 31 of Dancing With the Stars with Witney Carson as his partner.
The Xscape singer won as the Night Angel in season 3, becoming the show's first female champion. Since her May 2020 victory, she appeared in season 13 of RHOA and landed a recurring role on The Chi. In 2021, she announced her plans to produce the Broadway show Thoughts of a Colored Man. Her RHOA spinoff Kandi & the Gang premiered in March 2022.
The "Blue" songstress blew the judges away in season 4 as the Sun, winning the top spot in December 2020 after performing songs including Lizzo's "Cuz I Love You" and Kesha's "Praying." In 2021, she played herself in the Netflix series Country Comfort. Her latest studio album, God's Work, dropped in September 2022.
The 98 Degrees singer became the fifth winner in May 2021 after performing as the Piglet. After earning the Golden Mask, he became a host of the Fox singing competition Alter Ego. Later in 2021, he reunited with his former band for a remix EP titled Summer of 98. He and his wife are cohosts of the Netflix dating show Love Is Blind.
"I started singing to save my life," the singer, who dressed as the Queen of Hearts, said in her final clue package during the December 2021 season 6 finale. "I sang because I needed it. ... I want my son to see how I walk through challenges. For me, knowing that my son's watching just feels like it's all culminating into this moment."
She ultimately won the season, with Todrick Hall (dressed as the Bull) coming in second.
The "We Got Love" songstress took home the Golden Mask trophy during the season 7 finale in May 2022. "I refuse to fade away, and being on this stage has let me shine bright again," Firefly said during her final clue package. "I was like, this would be something really nice to do to just be able to just sing and be fun again, and it's just, like, no judgment," Taylor explained of why she decided to do the show. "Nobody knows who's behind the mask, and just sing your heart out." In December 2020, the dancer announced her retirement from music six months after releasing her third studio album.
The former Glee star blew the judges away as the Harp, debuting in the season premiere and winning every matchup she faced. Since Glee ended in 2015, Riley starred in NBC's The Wiz Live! and racked up TV credits on shows including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, A Black Lady Sketch Show and Infamous. In 2016, she played Effie White in a London production of Dreamgirls and later appeared in a revival of Little Shop of Horrors. She starred in the Lifetime movie Single Black Female in 2022.
The "River" songstress — dressed as Medusa — took home the Golden Mask trophy in May 2023 when she became the winner of season 9, prevailing over David Archuleta (Macaw) and Pentatonix (California Roll). "It meant everything," Briggs told Entertainment Weekly of her time on the show. "It was such an interesting chapter in my life, and I also think it was a really big learning experience of just knowing that the emotion that I feel every time I sing, that it does translate to the people in front of me."
Before her appearance on The Masked Singer, Briggs released two solo albums and appeared on the soundtrack for Fifty Shades Freed. Her latest EP, When Everything Went Dark, is due out in June 2023.
The “Miss Independent” singer took home the Golden Mask trophy in December 2023 when he finished season 10 in first place ahead of Donut (John Schneider), Gazelle (Janel Parrish) and Sea Queen (Macy Gray). Prior to his appearance on The Masked Singer, Ne-Yo won three Grammys, released nine albums and wrote and produced tons of songs for other artists, including Rihanna.
The former Disney star came out on top in the May 2024 season 11 finale, beating Gumball (Scott Porter) for the Golden Mask trophy. While Hudgens is known primarily as an actress — having appeared in High School Musical, Spring Breakers, The Princess Switch and more — her time on The Masked Singer reminded viewers that she’s actually an accomplished singer as well. She released two solo albums in 2006 and 2008 and has appeared in several Broadway productions over the years.
In December 2024, the iconic boy band became the first group to win the Golden Mask trophy when they prevailed in the season 12 finale, beating runner-up Wasp (Mario). The trio — made up of Shawn Stockman, Wanyá Morris and Nathan Morris (no relation) — hit the height of their popularity in the ’90s, but they’ve never stopped making music. (Fourth member Michael McCary left the group in 2003 due to health issues.)
The band’s most recent album, Under the Streetlight, dropped in 2017. They’ve also played themselves in several films and TV shows, including Long Shot, How I Met Your Mother and Schooled. Ahead of their Masked Singer appearance in 2024, they played a series of shows in Las Vegas, and they’re set to hit the road again in 2025.
During The Masked Singer’s season 12 finale, the Buffalos — now known as Boyz II Men — succeeded where no group has before, becoming the first band to win the Golden Mask trophy, but they didn’t initially have victory on their minds.
“For the umpteenth time they called us … and we decided that we were gonna do it,” Wanyá Morris exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Wednesday, December 18, finale. “Because they called us a couple of times and we weren’t able to do it. So this last time we were like, ‘Alright, let’s just get it over with so they’ll never call us again.’”
Wanyá, 51, and his bandmates, Nathan Morris (no relation) and Shawn Stockman, thought doing the show would be “good exposure,” but they didn’t imagine they could take home the top honor. The Masked Singer has a history of eliminating major recording artists during season premieres, and the guys thought that might be their fate.
“[We thought], ‘We probably won’t win ’cause they’ll know who we are. We’re gonna be either guessed off, or if we mask our voices, we know they won’t like who we are and we’ll get kicked off,’” Wanyá recalled before Nathan, 53, interjected, “We were hoping to get kicked off the first night so we could go back home!”
After they started filming, however, they changed their tune. “Once we got there and we saw the energy and we felt the whole vibe, we were just like, ‘Look, man, as long as we’re here, we might as well stay,’” Wanyá told Us. “And win. And then leave!”
Shawn, 52, admitted that the trio “didn’t expect much from this experience,” but they soon “really got into” performing as the Buffalos.
Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men.
“It allowed us to be ourselves, believe it or not,” he explained. “The masks allowed us to reveal things about who we are as singers, who we are as people, music lovers, ’cause a lot of people wouldn’t connect Boyz II Men to Toto or other songs that we did on the show, so it was nice for people to get a glimpse of our playlist, songs and music that we love from artists that we enjoyed ever since we were kids in some cases. So it was nice and it became deeper than just winning the whole thing.”
The guys even got choked up on stage during the finale, which Wanyá attributed to the unusual circumstances of competing on The Masked Singer as well as the realization that filming the show had brought them closer together.
“What made us more emotional than anything was the fact that we had overcome a situation that most people would bow out of. It was really hot in those suits, and we didn’t know if we were going to be able to pull off performances like [the finale] from the beginning,” he explained. “It just kind of felt like we were a new group to me. And we were being accepted as good singers, as good performers, and we weren’t even really human. … We all were the Buffalo, you know what I mean? Even though we’re individuals, we all embodied that same character and we overcame every obstacle, dehydration, we overcame anxiety. We overcame everything and we sang our hearts out for the people.”
Shawn agreed, adding: “It just made us understand that we still have the energy that we’ve always had [since] 33 years ago. Sometimes, with any relationship, you tend to take the dynamic that you’ve built on for granted, and this made us refocus. It made us remember why we did this in the first place.”
Boyz II Men doesn’t plan on slowing down in the new year, with tour dates booked all the way through July.
“A lot of people use the word ‘relevant’ in their own terms, and we feel like we are relevant to each other, and that’s more important to us than everything else,” said Nathan. “And as long as we stay relevant to each other, we’ll be able to ride right in with what everybody else is doing. And we got a lot coming up.”
The Masked Singer’s Wasp — now revealed as Mario — tried to fool fans all season long, but they clocked him right away.
“A lot of them knew who I was on the first show,” the singer, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Wednesday, December 18, season finale airing on Fox. “I had family members, friends, other artists, some of my peers hit me up like, ‘Yo, is that you on The Masked Singer? Because I know your voice, you can’t hide it that well.’”
The “Let Me Love You” hitmaker tried to throw viewers off the scent by choosing songs outside his comfort zone — Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper” and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” for example — but he couldn’t hide his signature croon.
“A lot of people reached out to me and were standing on the fact that they knew it was me, and I just had to keep denying it, denying it, denying it,” Mario said. “Even in interviews, even on social media with fans and comments, I’m like, ‘You guys, I don’t know who this Wasp is! Let me go check this guy out, ’cause he really sounds like me.’ I’m just trying to throw people off, but it wasn’t working.”
It didn’t help that he’s in the middle of promoting his new album, Glad You Came, which dropped Friday, December 13. It’s hard to hide out when you’re smack in the middle of a promotional cycle, but Mario said appearing on the show felt like a “full circle” moment for him.
“For me, it’s a win-win, because I like authenticity,” the Empire alum explained. “I really wanted to connect with people and really remind people who I was as a person and as a talent, and I think that’s what this show does for you.”
As part of that connection, Mario asked for some input into his Wasp costume, which he wanted to reflect some of the ups and downs he’s been through in real life.
“We were able to talk about, ‘OK, I want the Wasp to have a little bit of broken wings. I want his wings to have a couple holes in it,’” he told Us. “I wanted it to look like he’d been through something, but he’s pushing through and he’s still standing on what he loves and what he believes. I definitely related to that. I mean, I’ve been on the move, on the go, since I was 14 in the industry, so the fact that the Wasp is always moving and on the go, I can relate to that.”
Mario won’t be getting much of a break next year either as he embarks on Mary J. Blige’s For My Fans tour with pal Ne-Yo (who won The Masked Singer season 10 and served as Wasp’s Masked Ambassador). Starting in April, he’ll embark on his own Glad You Came tour across Europe.
“The fact that record is called Glad You Came is really like the title of everything in my life right now, from being on TV and having an audience to putting this album out that represents the growth and confidence and creativity that I’ve been nurturing for the last few years to arrive at where I’m at now,” he explained. “It’s a feeling, it’s a vibe, it’s an intention. So I think that it’s all connected to how I want people to remember me, how I want people to hear the music and experience it. And I guess at the end of the day, the intention behind all of it is to create things that are timeless.”
Songwriter Amy Allen already has one Grammy win under her belt, but getting nominated never gets old — and neither does celebrating the honor.
Allen, who racked up four nods last month when the 2025 nominations were announced, found out about her latest accolades in the most appropriate place possible: work.
“I was in London in the middle of a session,” the Los Angeles–based artist exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “I was obviously nervous because there’s so many phenomenal writers that are friends of mine, and you just never know which way it’s gonna go. But I was in the middle of a session and my manager texted me just, in all caps, ‘YES!’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And then I checked in and then the text messages from friends started coming in, and it was very exciting.”
Allen couldn’t take too much time out for celebration — she was at work, after all — but she and her fellow musicians broke for “a little congratulatory” toast with Aperol spritzes, “which was very cute and fun,” she said.
The musician — who previously won an Album of the Year Grammy last year for her work on Harry Styles’ Harry’s House — is nominated for four awards at the 2025 ceremony: Song of the Year (Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please”), Album of the Year (Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet), Best Song Written for Visual Media (‘NSync’s “Better Place” from Trolls Band Together) and Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.
Allen is particularly honored to be nominated in the Songwriter of the Year category, which is only in its third year of existence (she previously scored a nod in 2023).
“It’s a chance to be recognized for your body of work and not just one specific song. And for me, that’s really exciting, especially this year, because I have country songs that have allowed me to get to the nomination,” she told Us. “And then I have a whole variety of different genres of songs with the Sabrina project, because she’s such a phenomenal artist and writer. She crosses genres. It’s a really exciting time for me to be able to move through genres and get to showcase the type of songwriting that I love to do, which is really varied and holistic.”
The tracks listed in Allen’s Songwriter of the Year nomination are indeed quite varied: in addition to three Carpenter cuts (“Please Please Please,” “Taste” and “Espresso”), the roster includes songs by Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo and Leon Bridges as well as two hits by country artist Koe Wetzel.
Amy Allen.
In between writing all those songs for other artists, Allen found time to record her own self-titled debut album, which was released in September. While she loves the variety of musicians she collaborates with when she’s writing for other people, she takes a totally different approach when she’s working on songs she plans to keep for herself.
“I usually start the songs at home by myself. It comes out of a place of like, I’ve been writing with and for other people so much that, for my soul, I need to just sit in silence for a little bit with my own thoughts and just write from the heart and get back to what I love about music,” she explained. “So that’s kind of where all the songs off of my first album came from, is just taking a break from always helping somebody else tell their story and giving a ton of my emotions to pop radio. It’s really nice for me to live outside of that world of collaborating all the time and go a little bit more internal, and it’s very cathartic for me. … It’s not swinging for the fences in any way of like, ‘Let’s make this the biggest song possible.’”
Allen certainly can write the biggest song possible, though, as evidenced by her work on Short n’ Sweet. She cowrote all of the songs on the acclaimed blockbuster album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and gave Carpenter her first Hot 100 No. 1 in “Please Please Please.”
The duo first collaborated on Carpenter’s 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send, and Allen “instantly loved” their connection. “The chemistry just started building from day one,” she told Us. “I feel like people can spend their lifetimes as a songwriter looking for collaborators, and I just feel really grateful that I’ve gotten some great ones so far in my career that I really cherish and learn from constantly too.”
Allen said her favorite Short n’ Sweet track changes depending on her mood, but she confirmed that “Juno” was indeed inspired by the teen-pregnancy movie of the same name — and the playfully raunchy idea was “fully Sabrina.”
“I’m so grateful to have her as a collaborator for moments like that, because I think being a pop songwriter, like, five years ago, if somebody had come in with that concept, that would’ve been like, ‘I’m not sure people will get that,’” Allen explained. “But because she’s so authentic and her artistry is so intact and she knows who she is, the second she started talking about her idea for that, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re doing this, it’s gonna be great and it’s gonna be witty and it’s gonna be heartfelt.’ She’s such a fearless leader with ideas like that.”
Allen truly believes in the old adage that it’s an honor just to be nominated — “having your name up there in any capacity already feels like a win because music is so subjective” — but if she wins again in February, her mom has ensured she has a great place to put her second Grammy.
“I actually had [my away] in my little home studio, and then my mom was visiting a few months ago and she moved it from my home studio down to my living room,” she recalled. “So it’s a little bit more visible now, which is a classic mom move. … [My mom’s like], ‘Let ’em know, let the world know!’”
The 67th Grammy Awards air on CBS Sunday, February 2, at 8 p.m. ET.
Daddy Yankee’s divorce from Mireddys González is getting complicated.
The reggaeton superstar, 47, is seeking an injunction against his estranged wife, also 47, alleging she withdrew $80 million from the bank account of his record label “without authorization.”
According to court documents obtained by Billboard, Yankee (born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez) filed the motion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Friday, December 13, against González, her sister Ayeicha González Castellanos and El Cartel Records. While Yankee founded El Cartel in 1997, González reportedly served as the CEO, and her sister worked as the secretary and treasurer.
In his filing, Yankee claimed that “in spite of the plaintiff being the owner of the shares of the company and being the reason for the existence of the corporation Cartel Records Inc., today he lacks access, interference and information, to all that he generated and continues to generate and to which he is entitled.”
The “Gasolina” artist has asked the court to removed González and her sister from “any function or interference in the corporations as officers or administrators thereof and the delivery of the information and documentation that they have illegitimately withheld.”
Yankee further claimed that his ex and her sister attempted to “concentrate in their persons a greater power over the operations of the Cartel than was authorized, which has resulted in a detrimental and negligent performance for the company.” He also alleged they “failed to render an accurate account of their actions, disregarded formalities and requirements of the corporate legislation, irresponsible financial decisions.”
Daddy Yankee and Mireddys González.
According to the filing, the $80 million withdrawal occurred on Thursday, December 12, after Yankee had already advised González and González Castellanos that “they could not carry out any transactions on behalf of El Cartel.”
Yankee’s filing also addresses the recent sale of his catalog for $217 million. In October, independent music company Concord acquired some of the rapper’s music publishing and master recordings, including hits “Gasolina,” “Con Calma,”and “Despacito.” According to Yankee, however, González hired a third party to represent El Cartel in the sale, and the price agreed upon “turned out to be unreasonable, disproportionate and far below the real value.”
The Latin Grammy winner further claimed that “to this day he does not know the real scope of the transaction, nor does he have detailed knowledge of what was or was not sold, nor the limitations he may have on the use of his musical creations.”
Yankee and González announced their split on December 1 after nearly 30 years of marriage.
“With a heart full of respect and honesty, I want to share some important news about my personal life. After more than two decades of marriage and after many months of trying to save my marriage, which my wife and I share, today my lawyers responded to the divorce petition received from Mireddys,” Yankee wrote via Instagram at the time. “I appreciate the time we shared, full of blessings and values, of love and with a beautiful family that will continue to be our priority. This is not an easy time, but I understand that it is part of my life process.”
The estranged couple, who tied the knot in 1995 when they were both 17, share three kids: Jesaaelys, 28, and Yamilet, 27, and Jeremy, 26.
The actor, 58, gushed about daughter Hailey Bieber and her son, Jack Blues, 3 months, ahead of his appearance on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
“He’s grown like a weed. Actually, he looks like a little plump potato,” Baldwin told TooFab in an interview published Monday, December 16. “He’s so cute. I can’t stand it. I want to say so much.”
Baldwin noted that he and the family are “getting ready for Christmas” with baby Jack Blues, who will celebrate his 4-month birthday on December 22. “We’re excited,” Baldwin added.
Hailey, 28, shares Jack Blues with husband Justin Bieber, whom she wed in 2018. The duo announced the birth of their first child in August when Justin, 30, shared a pic of the little one’s foot with the caption, “WELCOME HOME.”
Jack Blues is still too young to talk, but Stephen — who became a grandfather in 2020 thanks to his other daughter, Alaia Baldwin — already knows what he wants to be called.
“Grampy. We’re going with Grampy. But it’s with a W. A lot of people don’t know that,” he told TooFab. “So G-W-A-M-P-Y is Gwampy. So that’s kind of the handle I’ve been going with. It was my granddaughter Iris, my first grandchild. It was the name she gave me.”
Alaia, 31, welcomed Iris, now 4, with husband Andrew Aronow in 2020. (Stephen shares Alaia and Hailey with wife Kennya Baldwin, whom he wed in 1990.)
“It’s total bliss for the two of them,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in August, adding that Hailey is “enjoying and savoring these moments being a new mom.”
Earlier this fall, Hailey opened up about balancing her career with new motherhood, explaining that she took a soft break before returning to work on her skincare brand, Rhode.
“I’m only doing what feels comfortable for me physically, mentally and emotionally,” she told Women’s Wear Daily in October, noting that she thinks of Rhode as the “toddler” in her life.
She went on to say that she’s learned a lot of lessons since launching the brand in 2022. “Mistakes are going to happen,” she explained. “[There] will be bumps in the road, which are out of your control. But you need to pivot, run and work with them as they come.”
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé dominated entertainment headlines this year, but their latest albums — The Tortured Poets Department and Cowboy Carter, respectively — were just two of many bright spots in an overall great year for music.
Charli XCX ruled the summer (and the color green) with Brat, a rollicking album that dared to ask whether club kids have feelings too, while Lainey Wilson topped the country charts with her stellar fifth album, Whirlwind. In the hip-hop world, Kendrick Lamar and Doechii reigned supreme, and folk fans rejoiced at Adrianne Lenker’s latest solo effort.
For more on these and other incredible 2024 releases, keep reading for an alphabetical list of Us Weekly’s favorite albums of the year:
Adrianne Lenker, ‘Bright Future’
Bright Future opens with “Real House,” an achingly intimate reflection on Lenker’s childhood and relationship with her mother. The song’s demo-like feel — with plenty of room tone and breathing sounds — immediately orients the listener to the album’s organic nature. Lenker recorded Bright Future on analog tape at a studio in the woods with some of her favorite collaborators, and that comfort and connection can be heard on the songs.
Despite the unpolished, live sound, the songs on Bright Future are intentional and fully realized. “Vampire Empire,” which Lenker previously released as a single with her band Big Thief in 2023, is particularly masterful with its wordy raging about a codependent relationship. — Sara Donnellan
Standout Track: “Sadness as a Gift,” a bittersweet indie folk song with lilting violin and unassuming vocal harmonies
Benson Boone, ‘Fireworks & Rollerblades’
A one-time American Idol hopeful, Boone ditched the reality singing competition in the middle of season 19 so he could carve out space as an artist without the shadow of Idol looming over his head. Three years after his audition aired, Boone released his debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, and his identity shines through with the confidence of an industry veteran. Throughout the record, Boone plays with the contrast between power and tenderness, exuding earnestness on “Friend” and “In the Stars,” the latter of which was inspired by the death of his late great-grandmother. Along with the TikTok-approved single “Beautiful Things,” Boone demonstrates his arena-rock readiness on the bouncy bop “Be Someone” and makes Us swoon with his sultry vocals on “Drunk in My Mind.” Even with his Freddie Mercury mustache, flashy jumpsuits and perfectly cued stage backflips, Boone’s first full-length record proves there’s substance to his style. — Meredith Nardino
Standout Track: “Cry,” a slow-burning ballad turned electrifying takedown of a manipulative ex
Beyoncé, ‘Cowboy Carter’
Michelle Obama’s famous “girl, you have done it again” Beyoncé speech was recorded five years ago, but it still applies to basically everything she does — including her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter. After putting her own spin on house music with 2022’s Renaissance, Queen B dove into the world of country, a genre that she holds dear to her heart after growing up in Houston, Texas.
The Grammy winner cited an experience where she “did not feel welcomed” as one inspiration, leading fans to theorize that she was referring to her performance with The Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards. Bey never confirmed whether that was the case, but the music is evidence that she can truly do whatever she puts her mind to. She waltzes through the full history of country on Cowboy Carter, incorporating gospel sounds on opener “Ameriican Requiem” and drawing from the world of folk for “16 Carriages” and “Protector.” Songs like “Tyrant” and “Spaghettii” highlight the slipperiness of genre, blending contemporary pop and hip-hop elements with Americana motifs. Beyoncé also spotlights a new generation of Black country artists including Tiera Kennedy, Shaboozey and Willie Jones while giving her flowers to undersung greats like Linda Martell, who was the first Black woman to play at the Grand Ole Opry. — Eliza Thompson
Standout Track: “Ya Ya,” a Nancy Sinatra–sampling romp that hints at more greatness to come on the rumored rock entry in Bey’s reclamation trilogy
Frontman Jack Antonoff kicked off 2024 in a familiar way for Bleachers fans with a simple tweet. In release years past, Antonoff teased that “a” Bleachers album would drop in the next 365 days, but this January’s message made an important distinction. “I’m going to put out **the** bleachers album this year,” he wrote — and he wasn’t kidding. The self-titled effort is Bleachers’ fourth, but the band has never sounded so much like a true ensemble. Lead single “Modern Girl” shows Antonoff at his band leader best with an energizing blend of saxophone and sass (find a better way to describe Antonoff than “New Jersey’s finest New Yorker” and “pop music hoarder,” we’ll wait). He gets sentimental on “Tiny Moves” and “Me Before You,” both of which are heartfelt tributes to his wife, Margaret Qualley. “Call Me After Midnight” takes Us back to the short-lived 2019 side project Red Hearse featuring Sounwave and Sam Dew, the latter of whom is a cowriter on the 2024 track. More than anything, Antonoff can’t help but channel a bit of Bruce Springsteen, both on the album and on stage, where the record really comes to life. — M.N.
Standout Track: “Ordinary Heaven,” a dreamy expression of gratitude for just getting to be here
After years of toiling away as a beloved but still relatively under-the-radar artist, Charli finally had her breakthrough moment with her sixth album, which inspired an entire season (Brat Summer), spawned an inescapable TikTok dance, partially fueled a presidential campaign and soundtracked one of the hottest tours of the year. The music was incredible too: Brat is full of club bangers, yes, but in between lines about feeling so Julia and doing a little key are verses exploring self-doubt and the fear of being unable to balance motherhood and fame.
Then, as if one no-skips LP wasn’t enough to call it a year, Charli returned to the studio for Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat, which is the rare remix album that actually is completely different from its original form. The remixes have new lyrics, new sounds and new collaborators, including everyone from Ariana Grande and Robyn to Kesha, Bon Iver and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. — E.T.
Standout Track: “Sympathy Is a Knife,” an unbelievably catchy bop about the crippling insecurity you can feel even when you’re on top of the world
Doechii, ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’
Doechii’s third mixtape is simultaneously a love letter to her home state of Florida and a sharp declaration that she won’t ever allow herself to be put in a box. On the Grammy-nominated “Nissan Altima,” the rapper calls herself “the new hip-hop Madonna” and “the trap Grace Jones,” two boasts that might sound hyperbolic coming from anyone else but feel extremely true after one listen to Alligator Bites Never Heal. Doechii’s ability to speed through flows and cadences is mind-blowing, recalling the glory days of icons like Missy Elliott. On the ’90s-influenced “Catfish,” Doechii channels Busta Rhymes with her snarling delivery, while the cheeky “Boom Bap” pokes fun at critics who thought she was moving too far from rap on her poppy 2023 hit “What It Is (Block Boy).” If Doechii’s the “swamp ruler,” then we’re happy to be her subjects. — E.T.
Standout Track: “Denial Is a River,” which imagines a conversation between Doechii and her therapist after her whirlwind rise to fame (complete with a fake breathing exercise)
Gracie Abrams, ‘The Secret of Us’
Taylor Swift — who makes an appearance on this record with the song “Us.” — had a monster 2024, but so did her opening acts, and Abrams is no exception. Her second album is proof that sometimes, screaming song lyrics into the void is truly the best therapy. The Secret of Us is full of honest lyrics and catchy guitar riffs, with songs like “Risk” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry” encapsulating the sensations of both finding and losing love. Not only has she mastered the art of the perfect ballad (“I Knew It, I Know You”), but Abrams can also write a viral hit. Don’t believe Us? Just ask comedian Nikki Glaser, whose “That’s So True” lip-sync videos have become an online sensation. — Shelby Stivale
Standout Track: “That’s So True,” an anthem for the TikTok girlies
Katie Gavin, ‘What a Relief’
It can be hard for solo albums to stand apart from the music of the artist’s band, especially when the solo artist is also the group’s lead singer. Gavin, frontwoman for Muna, had no such trouble on What a Relief, which embraces a rootsy folk sound that’s very different from the danceable power pop of tracks like “I Know a Place” and “Silk Chiffon.” The more stripped-down arrangements give Gavin’s lyrics more space to shine, as on the devastating “Sweet Abby Girl,” an ode to her late dog. “Sanitized” is a languid track about hiding the difficult parts of yourself from a lover, while “The Baton” is a gorgeous message to Gavin’s future child about pushing through generational trauma. Gavin has promised that her solo album doesn’t mean Muna is breaking up, but if this is what she can achieve on her own, then here’s hoping she keeps making time for her own music too. — E.T.
Standout Track: “As Good as It Gets,” a duet with Mitski about whether a disappointing relationship is ultimately worth it
Kendrick Lamar, ‘GNX’
It wasn’t enough in 2024 for Lamar to write a diss track so brutal that his opponent accused his own record label of falsely inflating its popularity — he had to also deliver a surprise album that works as both a victory lap and a step forward for a generational talent at the top of his game. Featuring production by the aforementioned Antonoff, GNX is full of radio-friendly tracks that are far glossier than much of his recent work. There are still plenty of unique flourishes that make the album distinctly Kendrick, though: mariachi singer Deyra Barrera adds dramatic flair to several songs, while frequent collaborator SZA brings smooth hooks to “Luther” and “Gloria.” Lamar can push the boundaries of genre with the best of them, but it’s still fun to see a titan come out swinging with such clarity. — E.T.
Standout Track: “Wacced Out Murals,” a blockbuster rebuttal to all the critics who’ve ever tried or will try to come for Lamar
Lainey Wilson, ‘Whirlwind’
Wilson reflected on the last few years of her life in a major way with her fifth studio album, Whirlwind. She may be trying to “Keep Up With Jones,” but the only person the country star is keeping up with is herself as her meteoric rise to fame continues. Between collaborating with legends (“Good Horses” featuring Miranda Lambert) and offering beau Devlin “Duck” Hodges some low-key shout-outs (“Whirlwind” and “4x4xU”), Wilson has cemented herself as a superstar and member of country music’s guard. The singer balances upbeat tracks — complete with her signature Louisiana twang — alongside slower cuts like “Bar in Baton Rouge,” which declares “up’s the only way” to go when you’ve hit rock bottom. — S.S
Standout Track: “Ring Finger,” a stern reminder from Wilson that men ain’t s—
Lizzy McAlpine, ‘Older (and Wiser)’
On the deluxe edition of her already impressive third album, McAlpine shows listeners she has more to offer than her most viral hit, 2022’s “Ceilings.” McAlpine referred to Older as “the rawest and most honest version of me,” revealing in a statement that she hoped to move away from the “heavily produced and perfected” sound of her first two albums. After some self-exploration — and last-minute changes to nearly half of the songs on the tracklist — McAlpine settled on a stripped back, live-to-tape sound that highlights her vulnerable lyricism and haunting vocals. McAlpine based the majority of the album on one whirlwind relationship, falling in love on opening track “The Elevator” and drifting apart on “You Forced Me To.” Nowhere is the record’s coming-of-age theme more evident than on the title track, and McAlpine continues her tradition of dedicating her 13th song on the album, in this case titled “March,” to her late father. She added five bonus tracks to the deluxe album, including “Spring Into Summer,” a reminder that perspective changes with the seasons. — M.N.
Standout Track: “Vortex,” an ode to the situationships we can’t let go of but know we should leave behind
Megan Moroney, ‘Am I Okay?’
Moroney is more than OK — she may be referred to by some observers as an up-and-coming artist (even though this is her sophomore album), but her latest release ought to make her a household name. On Am I Okay?, the country upstart pulls from past romances for a collection of no-nonsense tunes about love and heartbreak. She won’t be naming names when it comes to her inspirations, but that doesn’t matter because songs like “No Caller ID” could be about literally anyone’s ex. Moroney knows how to write a love song (“Third Time’s the Charm”), perfect the lyrics to a breakup anthem (“Mama I Lied”) and get ready for the next chapter in her dating life (“I’ll Be Fine”). From start to finish, the album encapsulates what it’s like to fall head over heels — and then pick up the pieces after the relationship is over. — S.S.
Standout Track: “Am I Okay?,” a song to scream along to with a group of your closest friends
Kahan’s Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) Tour was one of the hottest tickets of the year, but don’t worry if you weren’t able to be there IRL — he captured the incomparable atmosphere of his concerts in an album you can play over and over again. Even through headphones, the anticipation builds when the opening chords of “Dial Drunk” kick into gear. Any Kahan performance is a special one, but the proud New England native’s Fenway Park shows were some of his most sentimental. “It’s so good to be home,” he told the crowd, teasing, “I’m just gonna play my sad, f—ing depressing music.” He whirls through new hits, debuting “Pain Is Cold Water” and dueting with Abrams, and plays a few old favorites like “Mess” and “Maine.” Live From Fenway Park transports listeners to the stadium, putting them right alongside the fans who sang their hearts out to every word. — M.N.
Standout Track: “The View Between Villages,” an already chill-inducing album closer made even more memorable with a live audience
Orville Peck, ‘Stampede’
On his third LP, Peck proved cowboys don’t always have to walk alone. While he wears a mask to conceal his face, Peck lets fans see a different side of him on Stampede, an album entirely made up of duets. He joins Willie Nelson on a cover of “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” — a.k.a. “the gay cowboy song” — and teams up with Elton John for an exceptional rendition of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” Along with longtime legends, Kylie Minogue included, Peck highlights fellow up-and-coming voices such as Teddy Swims and country band Midland. “I think there [were] only about three people on the album I didn’t know beforehand,” Peck exclusively told Us in October. “It felt very much like reaching out to just friends and peers.” That sense of camaraderie shines through on the album, which bends the conventions of genre while still leading with a country-fied perspective. Peck changes the narrative of what it means to be a country artist, simultaneously honoring the artists who paved the way for his success and looking ahead to the future. — M.N.
Standout Track: “How Far Will We Take It?” with Noah Cyrus, a master class in harmony and heartbreak with a hypnotizing melody
Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Short n’ Sweet’
Carpenter’s music career began in 2015, but Short n’ Sweet launched her to new levels of stardom. The first three singles, “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste,” all reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Please Please Please” becoming Carpenter’s first No. 1 single. All three tracks foreshadowed what was to come on Carpenter’s most anticipated album to date: relatable anthems about the pitfalls of modern dating with insanely catchy melodies and clever lyrics peppered with cheeky innuendo. Short n’ Sweet reminded Us that pop songs don’t have to take themselves too seriously to be seriously good.
For all the mischievous wordplay — e.g., “Come ride on me, I mean, camaraderie” — Short n’ Sweet has genuinely vulnerable moments too, like “Lie to Girls,” a ballad about self-deception in the name of toxic love. — S.D.
Standout Track: “Taste,” where Carpenter taunts an ex’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, reminding her that they’ll always be connected whether she likes it or not.
More than a decade into their tenure as a band, State Champs has definitely found their sound — and yes, they’re skewing on the pop side of pop punk. The New York–based foursome tapped into the classic angst fans know and love with their fifth record, proving that emo culture is back and better than ever. The album starts strong with “The Constant,” which reaches a level of high energy that some artists only dream of achieving. The fast-paced tone continues throughout, with singer Derek DiScanio’s signature gritty vocals anchoring the music, especially on “Silver Cloud.” While there are plenty of dance vibes throughout the LP, the band knows how to slow it down for songs like “Sobering,” which details the ins and outs of a bad breakup. — S.S.
Standout Track: “Light Blue,” a love song for both current and retired emo kids
Taylor Swift, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
While traveling the world during her record-smashing Eras Tour, Swift also managed to write, record and release her 11th studio album. The Tortured Poets Department marked Swift’s first release following her split from Joe Alwyn, but it’s far from a straightforward breakup record. It seemingly delves deeper into her short-lived fling with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy than it does her long-term relationship with Alwyn, yet it’s her most personal and vulnerable album to date.
As Swift noted in a poem released alongside the album, what happened between her and the ex she doesn’t name was “not a love affair” but a “mutual manic phase.” TTPD documents Swift’s journey to that realization, oscillating between delusion and painfully acute self-awareness. Many of the tracks feel more like diary entries — or, ahem, poems — than pop songs, which speaks to Swift’s frame of mind when she wrote them. She wasn’t casually stopping by the studio to play around with loose ideas; she was pouring her heart out, knowing that she had to document this era of her life before she could move on.
TTPD is not for everyone. It’s long and winding, just like Swift’s career. (The back half of the album, subtitled The Anthology, was initially kept secret and released two hours after the front half.) But those who are patient enough to sit with all 31 songs will find some of Swift’s most fearless songwriting. — S.D.
Standout Track: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” a poignant and biting reminder that you shouldn’t underestimate a woman who has been publicly scrutinized since she was a teenager — no matter how sweet and polite she might seem
Various Artists, ‘Twisters: The Album’
Nothing could have prepared Us for the monster record that was the Twisters soundtrack. Luke Combs started things off strong with his monster hit “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” as the movie’s first original song, and things just got better from there. Country music’s biggest names stepped up and stepped out with some of their best tunes yet, and new kids on the block like Moroney (“Never Left Me”) and Bailey Zimmerman (“Hell or High Water”) confirmed they have what it takes to rub shoulders with legends. Shania Twain collaborated with Breland for the memorable song “Boots Don’t” that might make for the newest line dancing craze, while Jelly Roll got the honor of appearing twice (“Dead End Road” and “Leave the Light On” with Alexandra Kay). Some songs perfectly encapsulate scenes from the film, but others bear the stamp of their creators: Thomas Rhett fully leaned into his Southern roots with references to both Tecovas and Miller Lite on “Feelin’ Country.” — S.S.
Standout Track: “Ain’t in Kansas Anymore,” because watching Glen Powell dance to it on TikTok was a huge win this year
Waxahatchee, ‘Tigers Blood’
On Tigers Blood, Katie Crutchfield, the seasoned singer-songwriter behind Waxahatchee, doubles down on the alt-country sound she explored on her last release, 2020’s Saint Cloud. While the Americana instrumentation is familiar, Crutchfield’s voice — both as a singer and a writer — is something special. Her lyrics are somehow both vague and frighteningly precise, which is by design.
“I think my life gets weirder and less relatable the older that I get. So, I try to write in a way that’s relatable to anyone with any problem,” Crutchfield told Pitchfork in March. “There’s some universal emotional truth that people can get to the bottom of, even if they don’t understand everything I’m talking about.”
There’s something for everyone in Crutchfield’s dense stanzas. Different lines jump out on each listen, like an audial Rorschach test. — S.D.
Standout Track: “Right Back to It,” a refreshingly authentic ode to a long-term relationship featuring guest vocals by MJ Lenderman.
Willow, ‘Empathogen’
Willow’s pop punk and grunge influences were front and center on 2021’s Lately I Feel Everything and 2022’s Coping Mechanism, but the genre chameleon embraced a jazzy, progressive rock sound on Empathogen. As Willow demonstrated her vocal versatility and musical sophistication, she didn’t abandon her roots; the alt-rock angst of her and Tyler Cole’s 2021 sleeper hit “Meet Me at Our Spot” can be heard on Empathogen tracks like “Run!” and “Big Feelings.” Willow’s love for a wide range of musical genres has never been more apparent than it is on Empathogen — the album features collaborations with both Jon Batiste and St. Vincent — and the result is a true feast for the ears. — S.D.
Standout Track: “Symptom of Life,” which opens with an arpeggiated piano lick in 7/4 before the hugely satisfying chorus takes Us back to common time as Willow notes that you must make a conscious effort to look for beauty in the world.
Kayvan Novak as Nandor and Harvey Guillén as Guillermo in ‘What We Do in the Shadows.’
What We Do in the Shadows may be over for good, but its cast members will always have the memories — and a few souvenirs they took from the set.
“I took a lot,” Harvey Guillén, who played Guillermo, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Monday, December 16, series finale. “I took a lot of [Guillermo’s] sweaters. … I’m a big collector of stuff, and I collected some of the lamps that were in Nandor’s room that are now in my guest house that goes with the vibe. For me, it was the perfect match.”
Mark Proksch, who starred as energy vampire Colin Robinson, said that he occasionally kept things he thought fans might want down the line or that could be donated to charity. But he also kept a few things for himself, including the locket — complete with a picture of Vanessa Bayer’s character, Evie — that features in the finale. (Colin briefly dated Evie, a fellow energy vampire, in season 1.)
“I ended up giving Vanessa that locket,” Proksch, 46, told Us, joking that most of the vampires’ decor doesn’t really jibe with his home’s aesthetic. “Stuffed beavers and vampire pictures don’t really go with what I have going on.”
Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson in ‘What We Do in the Shadows.’
Kavyan Novak, who played Nandor, took his character’s portrait home, while Kristen Schaal, a.k.a. The Guide, kept the Guillermo frog and the portrait of Paul Reubens that appeared in season 1 when the late actor appeared on the show.
While fans are devastated that WWDITS is over for good, the cast is satisfied with how the finale wrapped things up. (The documentary crew stopped filming the vampire squad, but Nandor and Guillermo agreed to keep working together as crime fighters.)
“I think it’s a great way to wrap all of these character stories. And something fun for the audience to watch,” said Guillén, 34. “It was a perfect ending to a perfect series.”
Proksch agreed, noting that he thinks this was an ideal time to end the show. “The danger that you can fall into is keeping a show going longer than its life, keeping it on life support,” he explained. “This is a show where we all have fun working together. The scripts are really funny. You can become complacent and overstay your welcome simply because you’re enjoying all these other things, so I think ending it after 6 seasons is a perfect spot to end it while it’s still making people laugh.”
Some fans are still holding out hope that the gang will return in a movie, à la Entourage or Sex and the City, but the cast is split on whether that should happen (and Proksch pointed out there was already a What We Do in the Shadows movie in 2014, which inspired the show).
Kayvan Novak as Nandor, Kristen Schaal as The Guide in ‘What We Do in the Shadows.’
Novak, 46, said the chance of another movie happening is “slim to none,” but Schaal, also 46, is thinking positively. “There will definitely be a movie. You heard it here first!” she told Us.
Guillén, for his part, would also be down for a film — just not right away. “We could definitely revisit these characters in a couple of years and see what they’re all up to,” he said. “I’m on board with that.”
One thing Nandor and Guillermo won’t be up to, however, is having a romantic relationship. The finale definitively crushed the dreams of those fans who were hoping the two would share a kiss before the series ended. Once again, the cast is split on how these two feel about each other, with Schaal saying she wanted to see the duo smooch and Guillén expressing support for the more platonic way things ended.
Matt Berry as Laszlo, Harvey Guillén as Guillermo, Kayvan Novak as Nandor in ‘What We Do in the Shadows.’
“At the end of the day, they ended up together,” he said of the ending, which showed Guillermo and Nandor descending into the depths in Nandor’s newly modified coffin. “We have to normalize having a relationship with same-sex friends that is not sexual and normalize that you can be friends and have love as a man for another man, and generally have love for them and want to be in their lives and care for them, and want to wish them all the best, and not in a romantic sense. And that’s OK.”
Guillén noted that even though the kiss never came, the fans kind of did get exactly what they wanted: Nandor and Guillermo riding off into the sunset.
“I’m the first one to say yes to queer love,” Guillén added. “But I think that their love is there. They ended up together. You got what you wanted! They ended up together in a coffin, literally in the coffin together, plummeting down to a secret lair. Like, they ended up being partners. If you really love someone, isn’t that what you want? Just to have them in your life every day, and that’s it. They ended up together, and I’m happy with the way that things wrapped up.”
All six seasons of What We Do in the Shadows are available to stream on Hulu.
Yellowstone’s fifth season has finally come to a close, and nothing will ever be the same at the Dutton Ranch.After weeks of threatening Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly) came through on her promise to avenge the death of her father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), in the Sunday, December 15, season finale. Following John’s funeral, Beth waits for Jamie at his home and then attacks him with bear spray. The two get into a violent altercation before Beth lets him know she sold the ranch for $1.1 million to the reservation. Rip (Cole Hauser) arrives and gets Jamie off of Beth, only for Beth to stab him to death. (Rip later took Jamie’s body to the train station to hide the evidence.)
Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly
Earlier in the episode, Kacey (Luke Grimes) refers to the vision he had in the season 4 finale, in which he realized he had two paths: to save his family or the ranch. He decides to save his family and sells the land to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) for $1.25 per acre — the same price his ancestors bought it for — under the condition that Kayce can keep East Camp and that Thomas will never develop or sell the land. Thomas and Kayce share a blood oath, making them brothers to each other and to the land.
As for the bunkhouse crew, Walker (Ryan Bingham) follows Laramie (Hassie Harrison) to Texas, Jimmy (Jefferson White) heads back to the Four Sixes with fiancée Emily (Kathryn Kelly) and Teeter (Jen Landon) asks Travis (Yellowstone cocreator Taylor Sheridan) for a job at Bosque Ranch. Jake (Jake Ream) and Ethan (Ethan Lee) take jobs at N Bar Ranch in Montana, while Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) looks for work in West Yellowstone. Ryan (Ian Bohen) is the first to leave, heading to Fort Worth, Texas, to see Abby (Lainey Wilson) during her show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Forth Worth, where he professes his love for her.
Looking toward the future, Beth purchases a ranch 40 miles west of Dillon for her, Rip and Carter (Finn Little), while Kayce — who teased that he planned to start his own brand — enjoys life in East Camp with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill).
The second half of Yellowstone’s fifth season premiered in November, nearly two years after season 5A wrapped in January 2023. The show’s return was initially delayed amid reports Sheridan and Costner were feuding over filming schedules. Both men denied the speculation at the time, but Costner, 69, confirmed his departure from the western drama earlier this year. Season 5B was further delayed by the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of last year.
The season 5B premiere finally confirmed how Sheridan, 54, wrote off Costner’s character. Police discovered John’s body in the governor’s mansion and initially ruled his death a suicide. It was soon revealed that Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) had hired a hitman to murder John and stage the scene.
Wes Bentley
Sarah claimed she did it for Jamie — who last season implied he wanted his father out of the picture — but the estranged Dutton wasn’t happy with the way she took matters into her own hands. Things only got worse for Jamie when Sarah died too, meeting her end when the hitman’s team assassinated her as an attempt to distance themselves from John’s murder.
Beth and Kayce, meanwhile, never believed that their father had died by suicide and quickly figured out that a nefarious operator was at work. They immediately suspected Jamie and made it their mission to ruin his life (with Beth reminding him along the way that he was never really a Dutton to begin with).
While the season 5B finale was originally set to be Yellowstone’s series finale, it now appears the show will continue in another form. Earlier this month, Variety and Deadline reported that Reilly, 47, and Hauser, 49, had finalized deals to reprise their respective roles as Beth and Rip in a spinoff series. According to Deadline, the new show will have the word “Yellowstone” in the title — unlike previous spinoffs 1883 and 1923 — because it will share “the most DNA” with the flagship series.
Last month, Reilly said she would be happy regardless of Yellowstone’s fate.
“I loved this season. There were some really different territories to explore, so I’m not clinging to her. I’m happy to put her back in her padlocked box,” she told Town & Country in a November cover story. “I am definitely interested in Beth, and who she is after some things have happened. Who is she in peace? As an actor you’re like, ‘Ooh, let me at that.’ Wouldn’t it be fun to watch Beth go to therapy?”
Before Yellowstone announced it was ending with season 5, the cast had plenty to say about its future.
Speculation about the show’s finale began in February 2023 when Deadline reported that Paramount Network was considering ending the show after season 5 because of scheduling conflicts with Kevin Costner, who plays lead character John Dutton. The outlet claimed at the time that the network was also exploring the possibility of moving forward with a spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey in a lead role.
A rep for Paramount Network, however, denied the report, saying only that they hoped Costner, 68, remains part of the Yellowstone family “for a long time to come.” The spokesperson added: “Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
Costner denied Puck‘s report through his lawyer, Marty Singer, who slammed the exposé as an “absolute lie.” Paramount Network, meanwhile, added in a statement: “As we previously stated, Kevin has been a key component of the success of our Yellowstone series, and we hope that continues from here on out.”
Paramount officially announced in May 2023 that the second half of season 5, premiering in November, would be the show’s last. An untitled sequel show is set to debut in December 2023.
Keep scrolling to see what the cast of Yellowstone has said about the series:
After speculation about why the cast missed PaleyFest, Reilly — who plays Beth Dutton — said her absence was caused by a scheduling conflict. "I was filming in the UK at the time, and let them know in January I wouldn’t be able to attend," the Flight actress wrote via Instagram in April 2023, responding to a fan who asked where she was. "I was sorry to hear my name was still on the list of attendees, as it is unfair to our fans. Xx."
“Some local folks asked me about [the exit rumors] and I honestly have no answers. I don't even know what's going on. I just stay in my own lane,” the actor, who plays Mo on the Paramount drama, exclusively told Us Weekly at PaleyFest in April 2023. “I have a great deal of respect for Kevin and who he is and what he does and everyone else. And so I just mind my own business.”
Moniz, who portrays Lynelle Perry on Yellowstone, also spoke with Us at PaleyFest about the speculation that Costner may be ready to hang up his cowboy hat.
“I don't know. I have no news to report about it. We're all just, you know, finding out what everyone else is finding out as it's going and just, I'm excited to get back to work,” she told Us in April 2023, noting they haven’t started filming but Sheridan is busy writing the scripts.
“I hope in my heart I get to work with him before whatever happens, happens. I don't know what's gonna happen,” Olivieri, who plays Sarah Atwood, told Us in April 2023 at PaleyFest. “We don't know. But I do hope I get at least one moment to be opposite that great legend of a man.”
Through his attorney, the Oscar winner denied reports that he is responsible for delays in filming the rest of season 5. “The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie,” Singer told Puck in February 2023. “It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second. As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
In February 2023, the American Horror Story alum, who plays Jamie Dutton, said that he had nothing to report about the alleged drama on set. “The news that’s come out recently about the show is, you know, it’s above my pay grade. Different people making decisions,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I know that they’re still working on … working things out with everyone, to make sure we shoot. And I’m confident we will. We always have before. I think it’s probably a bit of drama over nothing.”
The Coyote Ugly actress, who appears as John's paramour Summer, advised fans to take speculation about the series with a grain of salt. "I mean, there's always a lot of drama when it comes to Yellowstone," she told Entertainment Tonight in March 2023. "Don't believe everything you hear!"
"You know what, I don't know much, but I have a feeling they're going to end it the right way, and there's gonna be more of it," the country singer, who plays Abby, told Entertainment Tonight in March 2023. "And I'm hoping I'm gonna be back in it!" The "Hold My Halo" artist went on to say that she hasn't met Costner yet because they haven't shared any scenes together, adding, "From everything I've heard about the man, he's just as kind as he is talented."
One month later, the CMA Award winner revealed that she still didn't know when she'd be returning to film the second half of season 5. "I'm planning on getting an update today. It's wild," she told ET in April 2023. "Like, just tell me when, man. Yeah, I have no clue what's going on. ... I'm waiting on that phone call. I feel like I've learned that TV business is even crazier than the music business. And that's the truth."
One month before the rumors about Costner's exit appeared online, Hauser — who plays ranch hand Rip Wheeler — claimed that Yellowstone will return for seasons 6 and 7. "I can tell you there will be [season] 6 and [there] will be a 7th, that's all I can say," he told Entertainment Tonight in January 2023. "That's all I can tell you."
Ahead of the season 5 premiere in November 2022, Asbille — who stars as Monica — said she believes the show won't last must longer. "You know, they haven't given us a number. But I think that we are nearing the end," the Teen Wolf alum told Entertainment Tonight at the time. "We've got a story to tell and we don't want to drag it on too long. We want to do a good job for y'all."
In April 2022, the True Blood alum — who plays John's son Kayce Dutton — hinted that Sheridan won't keep running forever. “I know what I’ve heard firsthand from the source himself. But I also heard that before it became the biggest show on the planet, and when something becomes this big, I know there’s a lot of pressure to keep it going," Grimes told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "But I do know that Taylor would never let it go past its due date."
Bohen, who plays ranch hand Ryan, said in January 2022 that he would be shocked if seasons 6 and 7 don't happen. "We are starting season 5 and I would be completely astounded if we didn’t shoot 6," he told TV Insider as production on season 5 began. "And I’d say that there’s a fair chance we might shoot a seventh season. Just depends on whether [Sheridan] wants to write another 10 episodes or if his story is finished at the 60th episode or not. So, that’s it. And he’s gonna sit down and go, ‘What do I want to do? Do I want to keep doing this or do I want to do something different?'"
Ahead of Yellowstone’s finale, Bohen opened up about what it was like to lose Costner earlier than expected.
“I would use the analogy of a football team. If your quarterback gets hurt and he has to come out of the game, you have to play. So you gotta figure out another way to run the ball or throw the ball or just do different things because you can’t quit,” Bohen exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2024. “So that’s what happened. We lost our quarterback and we still have to play the game.”
Yellowstone is known for its over-the-top plot lines and complicated family drama, but the show’s cast and crew has also been involved in plenty of offscreen controversy over the years.
Since the Paramount Network series premiered in June 2018, actors along with cocreator Taylor Sheridan have fended off criticism that the show is written with a conservative audience in mind. “They refer to it as ‘the conservative show’ or ‘the Republican show’ or ‘the red-state Game of Thrones,’” the Oscar nominee told The Atlantic in November 2022. “And I just sit back laughing. I’m like, ‘Really?’”
Yellowstone lead actor Kevin Costner, meanwhile, has faced criticism from conservative viewers for his personal political opinions. After he wore a shirt supporting former Congresswoman Liz Cheney‘s 2022 re-election bid, he clapped back at fans who claimed they would stop watching the show because he took a stance on the campaign. Cheney, who lost her primary election to Harriet Hageman, has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.
“I was clear that she probably wasn’t going to win her election. But I wanted to let her know, as a citizen, how much I appreciated her brave, clear-headed stance,” the Oscar winner told USA Today in November 2022. “I didn’t really care how the cookie crumbles, that people that liked me now don’t like me. That’s OK.”
Cheney is a Republican, but Costner has also shown his support for Democratic candidates. In December 2019, the Dances With Wolves director endorsed Pete Buttigieg for the 2020 presidential nomination. “When Pete speaks of unity, it’s the kind of unity I’ve been waiting and hoping to hear about,” Costner said of the Secretary of Transportation at the time. “The strength he describes isn’t the kind that limits compassion in the name of America.”
Though some viewers have threatened to stop watching Yellowstone for one reason or another, the series remains one of the most popular shows currently on the air. The season 5 premiere in November 2022 drew 12.1 million viewers, making it the most popular scripted series of the 2022-23 TV season. “We’ve been able to create a show that didn’t start out being popular, but did it on its own terms,” Costner said of the show’s massive success at the time in an interview with the Associated Press.
Keep scrolling for a look back at Yellowstone‘s biggest offscreen drama:
Years before Yellowstone premiered, the Fifty Shades of Grey actor — who stars as Kayce Dutton — played a character named James on season 6 of True Blood. In December 2013, however, Grimes left the series because of what HBO described as the character's "creative direction," and Nathan Parsons landed the role for season 7. BuzzFeed later reported in June 2014 that Grimes exited the show because he didn't want to play an LGBTQ+ character, as James was set to strike up a romance with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). At the time, a rep for Grimes told BuzzFeed that his client's departure was due to scheduling conflicts.
Ellis, who died in 2017, hinted at the controversy during a July 2014 interview with Vulture, saying that he was confused by the situation. "I mean, I can say I’m not going to make a comment, but I just think that, you’re an actor, you’re an actor on a show that’s True Blood, we’re all sitting there going, 'You quit your job because … really?'" Ellis said when asked about Grimes. "I’m just ... I’m over him. You quit your job because you don’t want to play a gay part? As if it’s … You know what? I’m going to stop talking."
The year before Yellowstone premiered, Sheridan slammed Trump in an interview, saying: “Can we just impeach that motherf---er right now? Like what are we — I don’t understand … It’s just, it’s so embarrassing.”
When asked about the comment for a November 2022 article in The Atlantic, however, Sheridan claimed he didn't "recall" saying that. “I had just wrapped a movie and I was in Cannes,” he added, though the 2017 interview was actually filmed in Los Angeles. “I was mad about everything. Twelve-hour press junkets with no food or water will do that to you.”
After asking about the comments, Atlantic journalist Sridhar Pappu claimed that Paramount Network publicists threatened to cancel his planned trip to the Yellowstone set if the Trump discussion wasn't removed from the story. The final version of the article included the exchange, and Pappu disclosed that he was ultimately allowed to visit the set.
The Teen Wolf alum, who plays the Native American character Monica, identified herself as being of Cherokee descent in a 2017 interview with The New York Times. "This role, more than any other, it’s in my blood," she told the newspaper at the time, referring to another indigenous character she played in Sheridan's film Wind River.
After the interview appeared online, actor and producer Sonny Skyhawk made an inquiry with the Cherokee Nation's Tribal Enrollment Office, which said they had no record of Asbille and couldn't find any evidence that she is a Cherokee descendant. Asbille, for her part, has not publicly addressed the controversy.
The New World actress, who appears as Angela Blue Thunder in Yellowstone, was charged with workers’ compensation fraud in July 2022 and accused of collecting more than $90,000 in disability benefits. In February 2023, however, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office dismissed all charges against Kilcher.
“Today, I am beyond grateful that my case has been dismissed — tomorrow my journey begins to help raise awareness and demand more transparency for worker’s rights within the workers comp system,” she said in a statement after the case was dismissed. “I want to thank my family, friends, fans and fellow industry peers whose support has kept me going. I look forward to shedding more light on this experience and continuing to do the work I love.”
The Gettysburg actor, who plays Shea Brennan on Yellowstone spinoff 1883, came under fire in early 2022 when he insulted director Jane Campion's western The Power of the Dog. “What ... does this woman from down there ... New Zealand, know about the American West?” Elliott asked during an interview with Marc Maron. “And why ... did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana and say, ‘This is the way it was?’ That rubbed me the wrong way, pal. ... They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the f–king movie."
After Campion said Elliott's comments "hit the trifecta of misogyny and xenophobia and homophobia," the Justified alum apologized for his remarks. “I wasn’t very articulate about it. I didn’t articulate it very well,” he said during a Deadline event in April 2022. “And I said some things that hurt people and I feel terrible about that. The gay community has been incredible to me my entire career. And I mean my entire career, from before I got started in this town. Friends on every level and every job description up until today. I’m sorry I hurt any of those friends and someone that I loved. And anyone else by the words that I used.”
Costner, who plays ranch patriarch John Dutton, made headlines in February 2023 when Deadline reported that Paramount Network was exploring the idea of ending Yellowstone in its current form because of scheduling disagreements with Costner. The outlet added that the franchise would reportedly move forward with a spinoff series starring Matthew McConaughey in the lead role.
The network, however, denied reports that Costner was planning to leave and didn't confirm any projects in the works with the Dallas Buyers Club actor. “We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come,” a Paramount spokesperson told Deadline at the time. “Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
After an additional report surfaced that same month, Costner’s lawyer referred to the claim his client only wanted to work “one week on the second half of season 5 of Yellowstone” as “an absolute lie.”
Marty Singer added: “It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second. As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
Days later, Wes Bentley assured fans there was nothing to worry about regarding the future of Yellowstone. "The news that's come out recently about the show is, you know, it's above my pay grade. Different people making decisions," the American Horror Story alum told Entertainment Weekly in February 2023. "I know that they're still working on ... working things out with everyone, to make sure we shoot. And I'm confident we will. We always have before. I think it's probably a bit of drama over nothing."
According to a Puck report in early 2023, there was tension between Costner and Sheridan since season 1 — and the two men reportedly blamed each other for season 5 scheduling issues. The outlet alleged that Costner’s longtime assistant Glenn Kleczkowski once slammed Sheridan’s show Tulsa King in a since-deleted post. “Stick to westerns, bro. You don’t know S--- about THIS life,” Kleczkowski allegedly wrote via Instagram. “Stay in your lane, country boy. I’m actually embarrassed for you as a writer and creator.”
Costner, Sheridan and fellow Yellowstone stars Bentley, Asbille, Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Gil Birmingham and Jacki Weaver were all slated to attend a Paley Center panel and screening in April 2023. However, “scheduling conflicts” forced them to drop out last minute. Four of their costars — Josh Lucas, Wendy Moniz, Mo Brings Plenty and Dawn Olivieri — attended the event in their places.
PaleyFest came on the heels of season 5’s filming delay and rumors surrounding Costner’s potential exit, though the network’s development president, Keith Cox, confirmed during the panel that he was “very confident” in the Dances With Wolves star’s commitment to Yellowstone and is hopeful that production would begin soon.
In May 2023, Costner's wife, Christine Baumgartner, filed for divorce in Santa Barbara, California, after 18 years of marriage. Baumgartner cited “irreconcilable differences” as the cause of the split. “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,” Costner’s rep said in a statement to TMZ at the time. “We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”
The pair, who wed in 2004, share three children: sons Cayden and Hayes and daughter Grace. Costner, for his part, also shares Annie, Lily and Joe with his first wife, Cindy Silva, and son Liam with ex-girlfriend Bridget Rooney. According to TMZ, Baumgartner asked for joint custody of their kids.
In August 2023, Baumgartner’s legal team claimed that Costner “refused” to say whether he was offered a role in a potential sixth season of Yellowstone “or if he simply chose to quit.” The questioning came in a deposition about his income ahead of a hearing to determine the amount of child support he will pay Baumgartner.
In May 2023, an insider exclusively told Us Weekly that the production "holdup" was not coming from Costner. “He is also very disappointed by the delays, which are beyond his control," the source explained, adding that the set had been "troubled" for a while. “The drama is between some of the writers and producers. They all have busy schedules and other projects, and that has caused delays. It’s been upsetting for Kevin because he has a family and a schedule to stick to.”
In November 2023, Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch filed a lawsuit against Hauser’s coffee company, Free Rein, for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising. The suit alleged that Bosque Ranch has a logo similar to the one used by Hauser’s coffee brand and thus “constitutes false and misleading descriptions of fact which are likely to cause confusion or to cause mistake” as to which goods are associated with Bosque Ranch.
The documents also alleged that Bosque Ranch publicly announced a new craft coffee reflecting the “cowboy way of life” in June 2023. Sheridan claimed the rollout was similar to the one for Hauser’s brand, which was launched “a little over three months” later. The filing claimed Hauser did “not receive permission or authorization” from Sheridan.
Just one month after the suit was filed, however, Sheridan’s legal team filed a request to drop the case. The suit was dismissed, and as a result, Bosque Ranch cannot file another complaint against Free Rein in the future.
In June 2024, Costner confirmed that he had officially exited Yellowstone to focus on his four-part movie series, Horizon: An American Saga. One month earlier, he blamed the production delays on the scripts, which he claimed did not exist when it was time to shoot season 5B.
“I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December [2022]. What they called 5B. The whole month of March [2023]. I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. And then things imploded,” he claimed to Deadline in May 2024. “I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10.”
After his character’s death in the season 5B premiere, Costner said he hadn’t seen the episode. “I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it,” he said on a November 2024 episode of SiriusXM’s The Michael Smerconish Program. “Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”
If musical soulmates exist, Taylor Swiftand Aaron Dessner would be strong contenders for the title.
The pair have collaborated on multiple albums together, including Swift’s hotly anticipated 11th record, The Tortured Poets Department. Dessner, a founding member of the rock band The National, has lent his producing and writing skills to many of Swift’s tracks, including beloved tunes like “Willow” and “Cardigan.”
Outside of the studio, the duo frequently share high praise for one another, with Dessner telling the “Broken Record” podcast in April 2023 that they’ve had “amazing moments” during their songwriting sessions. “We’ve become really close friends and she couldn’t be more lovely and fun,” he said. “Legitimately, she’s just a really lovely, hyper-intelligent, down-to-earth person.”
Keep scrolling for the complete timeline of Swift and Dessner’s friendship:
Dessner first crossed paths with Swift on the set of Saturday Night Live. The National was featured as a musical guest on the sketch comedy show when Lena Dunham, a close pal of Swift’s, hosted the show. Five years later, the pair reunited when Swift attended a National concert in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
“She talked a lot with my brother [Bryce] and me,” he recounted in an interview with Pitchfork. “That’s when we realized how much of a fan she was, and how lovely and down-to-earth.”
April 2019
Swift reached out to Dessner via text and suggested the pair collaborate on her album Folklore. “I got a text and it said, ‘Hey, it’s Taylor. Would you ever be up for writing songs with me?’ I said, ‘Wow. Of course,’” he told Pitchfork.
July 2020
Folklore featured 11 songs cowritten by Dessner, including “Seven” and “Hoax.” Dessner later opened up about the experience of recording the album amid the COVID pandemic, explaining how the songs came together during such a complicated time.
“I thought it would take a while for song ideas to come and I had no expectations as far as what we could accomplish remotely. But a few hours after sharing music, my phone lit up with a voice memo from Taylor of a fully written version of a song — the momentum never really stopped,” he wrote via Instagram after the album’s surprise release, adding that he had “rarely” been so inspired by someone.
Swift, alongside Dessner and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, starred in the Disney+ documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. Shot at Dessner’s Long Pond Studio in Hudson, New York, the film featured conversations with the artists about bringing Folklore to life, along with live performances.
While the trio were filming the documentary, they started plotting their second collaboration: Evermore.
December 2020
Evermore, a sister album to Folklore, also featured multiple songs cowritten by Dessner, including “‘Ivy” and “Willow.” That same month, Dessner told Billboard that he imagines he and Swift will “make music together in some ways forever.”
July 2021
Swift took to Instagram to share the Big Red Machine song “Renegade,” which she cowrote with Dessner. “When Aaron came into my life, I was ushered into his world of free-flowing creativity where you don’t overthink, you just make music,” she captioned her post. “His generosity of spirit and humility bleeds into every part of his life.”
October 2022
Although Dessner didn’t share any writing credits on the standard edition of Swift’s 2022 album, Midnights, fans were delighted to discover that he took part in the deluxe version of the album, cowriting and producing “The Great War,” “High Infidelity” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.”
After the bonus tracks dropped, Dessner tweeted, “Congrats @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff and all who contributed to the brilliant main album and [applause] to the chaotic 3am deluxe shift also…..incredibly honored as always to help make songs with you.”
June 2023
Swift brought Dessner on stage for the first-ever live performance of “Seven” during The Eras Tour in Pittsburgh. “A lot of you know who this man is right here,” she told the crowd. “This is someone I’d categorize as a soulmate collaborator. He’s an incredible musician, instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and without him this whole tour wouldn’t have happened.”
April 2024
Dessner worked on 17 songs with Swift for her album The Tortured Poets Department, including “So Long, London,” “Clara Bow,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “loml,” “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” and “How Did It End?”
“We started working on these songs over two years ago and it feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process,” Dessner wrote via Instagram after the album’s release. “It’s hard to believe Taylor and I have now recorded over 60 songs together (17 across this anthology!!) in the 4 years since we began working together on Folklore in 2020. I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music. I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer.”
November 2024
The duo earned an Album of the Year nomination for the 67th Grammy Awards for The Tortured Poets Department. The album also earned a nod for Best Pop Vocal Album. Dessner praised Swift via Instagram, writing, “Congratulations @taylorswift13 on all of your Grammy nominations including these ones … so honored and grateful as always to be part of your incredible music.”
The country icon first met her future spouse when she moved to Nashville in 1964 to start her music career. They tied the knot within two years of meeting each other, but as Parton’s star rose, Dean kept to himself.
They celebrated their 50th anniversary in May 2016.
“We’re the perfect partners,” Parton exclusively told Us Weeklyin January 2022. “We both have a great sense of humor. … We’re able to solve any problem and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”
She added, “You know, most people can keep a marriage [going strong] if you make a little effort. Some people just get slouching and lazy and about stuff that ain’t important, like leaving the toilet seat up. And if that’s the worst thing you’ve to worry about, you’re already in trouble.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Parton and Dean’s romance:
The day after graduating from high school, Parton moved to Nashville from her hometown of Sevierville to pursue her singing career. That same day, she met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat. "I guess kind of in the back of my mind I was maybe flirtin' a little," she recalled in a 1970 interview with The Tennesseean. "But mainly I was just bein' friendly because I'd always been the kind of person who would speak back and smile."
The duo tied the knot in a ceremony attended only by Parton, her mother, Dean, the preacher and his wife. "I like the way he loves me," Parton told Playboy of her husband in 1978. "His understanding of me and the things I do. The way he lets me be free. And lets me be me."
While interviewing Parton for a profile, a Cosmopolitan reporter finally caught a glimpse of Dean. "Tall and good-looking, rather like a young Gregory Peck, he has a way of moving his angular body so that he seems to come toward you in sections," the article read. "He is a fan of television and nightclub comic Steve Martin."
The "Eagle When She Flies" songstress opened up about her relationship with Dean in a candid interview with Playgirl, saying that the pair "never" argue. "Sometimes we'll get a little touchy if we're tired or aggravated," she explained. "We never put ourselves in a situation where we bicker back and forth."
The Steel Magnolias star and Dean renewed their vows to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, Parton's 1966 wedding dress and Dean's suit were displayed in the Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood.
Parton recorded some of her favorite love songs for her 45th studio album, Pure & Simple. She originally wrote and recorded two of the tracks, "Say Forever You'll Be Mine" and "Tomorrow Is Forever," early in her marriage to Dean.
Parton explained that she keeps Dean out of the spotlight because he would "never get a minute’s peace" if he accompanied her in public. “He's right about that,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s just not who he is. He’s, like, a quiet, reserved person.”
During an episode of the "Table Manners With Jessie Ware" podcast, Parton joked that she and her husband may finally have tired of one another after nearly 60 years together. “I’m sure he’s sick of me,” she quipped. “My husband and I have been together for 57 years, been married 54, and I’m sick of him.”
After joking that she wanted to pose for Playboy again for her 75th birthday, Parton recreated her Playboy cover for Dean's birthday. “My husband always loved the original cover of Playboy, so I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy," she said in an Instagram video that showed her dressed in bunny ears and a bowtie. "He still thinks I’m a hot chick after 57 years — and I’m not going to try to talk him out of that."
Parton gave fans a rare glimpse of Dean when she posted a throwback photo of the couple for Thanksgiving. "Happy #Thanksgiving from me and mine to you and yours," she wrote via Instagram.
“You find little ways,” the Run Rose Run author exclusively told Us about how the pair kept the romance alive after more than 50 years together. “Like, last year on his birthday, I dressed up in my Playboy bunny suit, made him breakfast and [ran] around in that for a little while.”
She continued: “You know, most people can keep a marriage [going strong] if you make a little effort. … We’re the perfect partners. We both have [a] great sense of humor. We’re able to, like, solve any problems and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”
"I like it when people say, 'How did it last so long?' I say, 'I stay going.’ You know, there's a lot to be said about that. So, we're not in each other's face all the time. He's not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So, it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa,” Parton told ET Canada, adding that their "warped sense of humor" keeps the pair laughing. “And I think humor, honestly, is one of the best things when you're married like that. Even if you have a problem, if you have a great sense of humor, if you say something you can't take back, [you] usually have some crazy way of getting out of it.”
She concluded: "We’ve never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back."
Parton exclusively told Us Weekly that she and Dean "have a lot to talk about" because they don't do the same things. "I wanna know what's been going on in his world," she explained. "He enjoys hearing about what's going on in mine as long as he doesn't have to be part of it and be put on the spot with doing any of of that. But we get along great. We've had a good life. We're really compatible as people."
The country star revealed which one of her famous hairdos her husband doesn’t love. "When I wear my hair too stationary,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I said, 'You don't like my hair?' And he said, 'Well, it looks too important.' There's a certain look that looks important."
While appearing on Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast, Parton explained why Dean doesn’t join her at public events.
“Well, he was a homebody, and that worked well for us,” Parton said. “He was in asphalt paving, but his sign is Cancer and I’m Capricorn, and those are compatible signs. The Capricorn is the mountain goat because it's always climbing and the Cancer is more of a homebody. He really was.”
Parton continued, “He wanted to be around home. I loved to go and see what else is out there, but I think that’s worked well for us. He loves music, but he’s not the least bit interested in being in it — and he told me that right up front.”
Parton even “begged” Dean to attend her 1967 BMI Song of the Year award ceremony, her first major career win.
“I rented him a tux and begged him to go and, oh, he was so uncomfortable the whole night,” she recalled. “As soon as we hit the door, he started pulling off stuff. He said, ‘Look, now, I want you to do everything you want to do and I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’ And he never did!”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s feelings toward her late mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, have changed over the years — and she explained how in her new memoir, My Time to Stand.
“Regardless of everything that my mother and I went through with each other — what I did to her and what she did to me — I’m now carrying her grandchild,” Gypsy, 33, wrote in the book, which hit shelves on Tuesday, December 10. “Later today, when I see my baby on the doctor’s monitor, I will wish that my mom was here for this.”
In June 2015, Gypsy and her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were arrested after Dee Dee was found dead in her home at age 48 with multiple stab wounds. Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Godejohn, now 35, was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Since her December 2023 release on parole, Gypsy hasn’t shied away from opening up about what really led to Dee Dee’s murder, and her memoir is no exception.
“When Dee Dee Blanchard was 24 years old, she gave life to me. When I was nearly 24 years old, I took life from her,” Gypsy wrote. “I firmly believed that by doing so, I was saving the life she had guarded with all her might: mine.”
Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations about Dee Dee from My Time to Stand:
According to Gypsy, she served as her mother’s “emotional support surrogate” even in her youngest days. “I’m all for the idea of ‘us against the world’ if you are a fierce single mom, raising strong daughters, modeling what can be accomplished when you stick together,” she wrote. “But our ‘us against the world’ looked more like her sticking to me. While I was very young, that stickiness was sweet like molasses.”
Gypsy went on to write that she and her mom bathed together, slept in the same bed and watched the same TV shows. “Her interests in sci-fi and fantasy and The People’s Court became my interests,” she recalled. “When I showed my own curiosity for things separate from her, like Barbie dolls, she’d be there to deflect: ‘Now, you don’t want those dolls when you have so many stuffed animals to play with.’”
The Alleged Abuse
The book goes into horrifying detail about the alleged physical and verbal abuse Gypsy suffered at the hands of Dee Dee. After Dee Dee caught her daughter talking to a man named Dan on the phone, she called her a “whore” and punched her legs “like she was a boxer and I was a piece of meat hanging in a freezer locker.”
Following another encounter with Dan, Dee Dee allegedly “handcuffed” Gypsy to a dog leash and connected it to her body. “If she fell asleep, I couldn’t move without waking her up,” Gypsy recalled, noting that the leashing went on for two weeks. “I was at her mercy for everything — to go to the bathroom, for food, for everything. As punishment, she would not feed me every day, just a little bit of broth every other day. I would frequently get hunger pains. She was right beside me and would eat whatever she wanted. She kept a knife by her bedside table, which she said was for protection if I attempted to run away or do anything to leave.”
At one point, Gypsy shot her mother with a BB gun, firing 10 rounds at her after asking again to leave their home. “I saw her flesh wounds, and I felt sorry and apologetic that it had escalated to this,” she recalled. “She didn’t hit me or tie me up again. I think she was afraid of me. … I was scared s—less of her, and she was scared s—less of me.”
The Movie Theater Aftermath
After Gypsy attempted to meet up with Godejohn at a movie theater, Dee Dee allegedly locked her in an outdoor shed overnight. “When I woke up, I was disoriented,” she wrote. “I looked around the shed and could see some sunlight peeking in. My fingers and toes were numb, and I must have slept hard because I had drool on my cheek. She had left me there all night, overnight, alone and scared.”
The 1 Real Ailment
While Gypsy says that her mother fabricated most of the claims about her health, there was one that was real, and Gypsy initially thought her mother used this one abnormality as a “smoking gun” to justify other unnecessary medical treatments.
“I actually do have what’s known as a microdeletion, 1q21.1, which is a chromosomal change in which a small piece of chromosome 1 is deleted in each cell,” she explained. “This microdeletion is known to ‘increase the risk of delayed development, intellectual disability, physical abnormalities, and neurological and psychiatric problems.’ Wow. What a coincidence. Every illness my mother claimed I had had fallen beneath all of these umbrellas. Except I didn’t actually have a single one of them.”
Eventually, however, Gypsy realized that the microdeletion test didn’t occur until two decades after she’d already lived with a bevy of fake illnesses. “Either my mother knew I had this condition before the 2012 test, researched the potential outcomes, and ran with them … or, this one time, the disorder she claimed for me turned out to be real (though without real symptoms),” she wrote. “This was a rabbit hole my brain went down and I still can’t climb out of. Different scenarios keep me up at night.”
In the book’s epilogue, Gypsy theorized that her mother would forgive her for her actions — in part because the ninth anniversary of her death coincided with the day Gypsy got the first sonogram of the baby she’s expecting with boyfriend Ken Urker.
“I like to think that my mother is telling me that she wants me to move on with my life, that she forgives me,” Gypsy shared. “And what I will do on this anniversary is her way of helping me change the way I think of myself every June 10. Maybe now, with my freedom, we can both be released from our purgatories. Maybe now she can be free too. She always said we were two sides of the same penny.”
The book, which hit shelves on Tuesday, December 10, details her relationship with Nicholas Godejohn, who is currently serving life in prison for his role in the murder of Gypsy Rose’s mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. In June 2015, Dee Dee was found dead at age 48 in her and Gypsy’s Mississippi home with multiple stab wounds. Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Godejohn, now 35, was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In her memoir, Gypsy, now 33, recalled meeting Godejohn in 2012 on a Christian dating website, but their relationship soon turned explicit.
“Nick exposed me to a lot of sexually perverse things and ideas, but 10 years later, knowing now what I know about sex, he taught me all wrong,” she wrote. “From what I’ve read, he didn’t have an accurate idea of BDSM (bondage, discipline, submission, and masochism), and he made it up as we went along.”
Godejohn and Gypsy’s relationship was initially long-distance, but once they met in person, they began discussing the possibility of Gypsy moving to Wisconsin to be with him. At that point, the idea of killing Dee Dee began to come up in conversation.
“We felt like our relationship was on the brink of collapse,” Gypsy recalled. “We believed we’d tried everything to be together, and now it was a matter of taking extreme measures.”
Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations about Gypsy’s relationship with Godejohn from My Time to Stand:
A Quick Escalation
Soon after meeting Godejohn online, Gypsy began recording sexually explicit videos at his direction. “The more he praised me for a ‘good job,’ after sucking on a dildo he had ordered from Japan, the more I believed he loved me,” she recalled. “Of course, when I would do the videos ‘wrong,’ e.g., forgetting to call him ‘master’ or not being a dirty enough girl, he’d threaten to pull that love away.”
Godejohn also detailed an elaborate fantasy world in which he “lived amongst 12 alien soulmates of different species.” This world included a villain named Victor, a 3,000-year-old vampire that thirsted “for rape and murder.” Gypsy also claimed that Godejohn had an interest in necrophilia and told her about a fantasy of murdering and then raping his ex-girlfriend.
According to Gypsy, Godejohn’s other demands included things like slathering her breasts with peanut butter or barbecue sauce and asking her to act out “unusual sexual behaviors with phallic objects.”
In March 2015, the duo arranged their first in-person at a movie theater where Gypsy and her mother were planning to see the live-action Cinderella. Godejohn would meet them there and Gypsy would try to convince Dee Dee to let her sit with Godejohn, but Dee Dee quickly caught on to the plan. Still, Gypsy and her then-boyfriend managed to sneak off to the bathroom, where they attempted to have sex. They didn’t go through with it, but Gypsy claimed “Nick said we were married now, because what we just did, according to him, was sex.”
No ‘Master Plan’
Nicholas Godejohn
According to Gypsy, she and Godejohn’s discussions about Dee Dee were initially about how to get Gypsy away from her. “It wasn’t one discussion like, ‘OK, how do we get rid of your mom?’ They were gradual conversations that were baked into an elaborate fantasy world Nick created,” she recalled. “He shared with me that he got sexually aroused when he fantasized about murdering and then raping his ex-girlfriend, but our plot was more reminiscent of a soap opera.”
One of their first ideas involved Gypsy getting pregnant, which she believed would force Dee Dee to let her go live with Godejohn, but they soon agreed that wouldn’t work.
Making a Pact
Finally, Godejohn and Gypsy discussed a plan where he would come get her and take her to Wisconsin to live with him and his family, but they eventually decided this wouldn’t work either. “And then I made the suggestion [of murder], to which Nick said, ‘Victor can do it. But you need to be the one to beg him,’” Gypsy wrote, referring to the vampire villain from Godejohn’s fantasy world.
They then agreed upon a “contract” where Godejohn as Victor would kill Dee Dee and then rape Gypsy. “What was in Nick’s brain? I don’t know for sure, but it felt like I was being used to help him live out this fantasy as if he was playing around with characters that he created in his mind or in a video game,” Gypsy wrote. “And some of them were evil killers, and maybe it might be fun for him to play around with that darker side of life. Were we using each other?”
When Godejohn arrived at Gypsy and Dee Dee’s house the night of the murder, he told Gypsy to leave the room while he carried out the murder. “I went to the bathroom, sat on the floor, and covered my ears,” she recalled. “Except I heard. I heard everything.”
Afterward, Godejohn allegedly ordered Gypsy to go to her bedroom, where he raped her and told her to say “thank you” for killing Dee Dee. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to let Nick rape me, but I know I didn’t believe it was going to be a real rape,” Gypsy wrote. “I thought, at worst, Nick would just pronounce aloud over and over that he was raping me or something. Like dirty talk or kink. But I was feeling pressure and sharp pains, like he was trying to stuff himself inside me just like he had tried to in the movie theater bathroom.”
Gypsy noted at the trial that she said Godejohn hadn’t raped her because she felt like that’s what she “had to say” when the defense asked her that question. “So, regretfully, I said, no; he didn’t rape me,” she explained. “But to me, it was rape. I said no. I said stop. I cried for my mom, my mom who was dead.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Yellowstone isn’t ending after all — or at least not entirely.
Following the upcoming season 5 finale, the Yellowstone universe will continue with a spinoff series starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, per a Wednesday, December 11, report from Deadline. According to the outlet, Reilly and Hauser will reprise their respective roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, and Yellowstone cocreator Taylor Sheridan will handle the creative side of things.
Yellowstone previously spawned the spinoffs 1883 and 1923, but Deadline reports that this one will be the first to actually use the word “Yellowstone” in the title because it “shares the most DNA” with the original series. Other cast members from the series are expected to appear as well.
Fans of the western drama have long been confused about the future of the Paramount Network flagship series. The network announced in May 2023 that the show would end for good after the second half of season 5, the premiere of which was delayed till last month because of schedule issues and the dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
In the lead-up to the season 5B premiere, however, reports circulated that season 6 could still be in the works, or the network might move forward with a spinoff centered on Beth and Rip. Once the new episodes began airing, fans couldn’t help but notice that the advertising billed season 5B as “the epic return” rather than the show’s final outing. The teaser for the Sunday, December 15, episode, meanwhile, billed the episode as the “season finale” rather than the series closer.
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser in ‘Yellowstone.’
Reilly, 47, has played coy about the situation in recent interviews, hinting that she would be open to playing Beth again in the future.
“I am definitely interested in Beth, and who she is after some things have happened,” she told Town & Country in a cover story published last month. “Who is she in peace? As an actor you’re like, ‘Ooh, let me at that.’ Wouldn’t it be fun to watch Beth go to therapy?”
In any case, Dutton patriarch Kevin Costner will not be back for the reported spinoff. Costner, 69, officially exited Yellowstone earlier this year to focus on his Horizon film saga. He also shut down rumors that he was responsible for the season 5B delays.
“I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December [2022]. What they called 5B. The whole month of March [2023],” he told Deadline in May. “I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. And then things imploded.”
He added: “I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Paramount Network for comment.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard received plenty of charitable donations while she was living with her late mother, Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, but it’s not something she likes to think about now.
Gypsy Rose, 33, wrote about growing up with Dee Dee in her new memoir, My Time to Stand, which hit shelves Tuesday, December 10. Throughout her childhood, Dee Dee allegedly abused her daughter by falsely claiming she had numerous physical and mental ailments. According to Gypsy, her mother then solicited relevant charity organizations for donations.
“I didn’t know I could think for myself until I began to search the internet with an HP notebook laptop. I was told the computer was a gift from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society one Christmas,” Gypsy wrote, adding that the organization thought she was 13 when she was actually 18. “We received a lot of help and gifts from charities along with government entitlements, like food stamps, disability checks, and Section 8 housing. It’s a fact that makes my skin crawl.”
Gypsy said she watched her mom “maneuver her way around the system, craftily researching” nonprofits and groups that could help their family.
“I didn’t know it was a scam until about a year after I found my Medicaid card with my correct birth date listed, when Mama became more physical and violent with me after I re-questioned her about it, pushing back against her storytelling,” she wrote. “The discovery of my real birth date was not my ‘aha moment’ per se, but it did act as a warning siren to be more alert and observe more closely.”
In June 2015, Dee Dee was found dead at age 48 in her and Gypsy’s Mississippi home with multiple stab wounds. Gypsy was subsequently arrested alongside her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. She later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In September 2023, Gypsy was granted parole after serving seven years of her sentence, and she was released from prison in December 2023. Godejohn, meanwhile, was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Earlier this year, Gypsy announced that she is pregnant with her first baby with Ken Urker. She and Urker met while she was still incarcerated through a prison pen pals program. After they split, she married Ryan Scott Anderson in 2022 during her time behind bars, but she filed for divorce in April. Later that month, she confirmed that she was back together with her former fiancé Urker.
In the book, Gypsy revealed that her first sonogram was scheduled for the ninth anniversary of her mother’s death, which she previously marked by speaking aloud to her late mom.
“Whether it’s a message, a sign, or the balance of the universe (or all three), what had been a date defined by scandal and horror and sadness beyond comprehension has now become a day of excitement, joy, and celebration of life itself,” she wrote. “With one phone call and a calendar appointment, a day of darkness has been transformed into a day of light.”
“Hi everyone, I posted a scary emergency situation on my Story and I know many of you have been concerned,” Upton, 32, began in an Instagram Story post on Monday, December 9. “But a few people mistakenly thought the situation involved my husband.”
The model went on to note that she and her spouse, Justin Verlander, share a daughter, but she’s not the same age as the one in the original story. (The pair, who wed in 2017, welcomed daughter Genevieve the following year.)
“To clarify: we do not have a 10-year-old. Our daughter is 6, and Justin would never put her in such a terrifying or life-threatening situation,” Upton continued. “He is a wonderful father whose unwavering priority is ensuring our daughter is safe, loved, and protected every single day.”
In a second Instagram Story, Upton noted that her original post was actually about her niece.
Kate Upton and Justin Verlander
“Navigating this situation to protect my niece has been so challenging, especially knowing that her safety is ultimately in the hands of professionals in Brevard,” she wrote. “The legal system can be so complex and in my opinion has raised alarming questions about whether the priority is protecting a father’s privacy and privilege over the wellbeing of innocent children.”
Upton concluded her update in a third post, writing, “My sister, Justin and I are doing everything we can to protect her. My niece inspires me daily with her bravery and resilience after facing a situation no child should endure.”
Last month, Upton shared a cryptic message about an unidentified father who had been driving under the influence with his child.
“Truly asking … lawyers/judges/advocates/parents: A Dad, recently out of rehab is traveling alone with his 10-year-old daughter,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on November 15. “He gets drunk and high on pills, says he has a gun on him and threatens to SHOOT the taxi driver if he does NOT drop them off on the highway at midnight to walk home.”
Upton added a “Feedback” box to the post, allowing Instagram users to share their own thoughts on the situation. “Is this an emergency?” she asked at the time. “A crime? Would you be scared for your child?”
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model didn’t offer details about who she was referring to, but some social media users worried that she was talking about Verlander, 41. Monday marked the first time since her original post that she addressed the topic again.
