Ana de Armas Update
It's Gossip Time!
Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: an actress dumps her 48-year-old boyfriend, an actor apologizes to a beauty pageant, and Matthew “Matthew” Broderick makes bolognese.
It’s a brand new world, and Ben Affleck is apparently single again. On Monday, People reported that his very photogenic girlfriend of one year, Ana de Armas, broke up with him. An Affleck source told the tabloid that “she broke it off,” but also the breakup was “mutual” and “completely amicable.” And they included all the usual caveats: Affleck “continues to want to work on himself,” he’s a “solid father at home,” etc.
So what really happened? According to Page Six, de Armas, 32, wants to have kids, and Affleck, 48, does not want to have (more) kids. “It was a deal-breaker,” said a source. Shortly after this report was published, paparazzi caught some yard workers disposing of a life-size cutout of de Armas in the trash cans outside Affleck’s Pacific Palisades mansion. This man loves creating tabloid moments, despite all his assertions to the contrary.
The Twitter account “Ana de Armas Updates,” normally the most reliable source of updates about Ana de Armas, claimed that Affleck’s brother Casey Affleck was the one to trash the cutout. But Casey, who was sued for sexual harassment in 2010 and never faced real consequences, says it wasn’t him. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight to promote his new movie Our Friend, he said, "No, that's not me, and I can't even really say if they have totally broken up for good or whatever.”
That last bit, I think, is the ticket: We can’t really say if they have totally broken up for good or whatever. Ben usually goes back and forth a few times with his girlfriends before a breakup really sticks (see: J-Lo, Lindsay Shookus). I would bet several iced coffees that we haven’t seen the last of Affleck and de Armas walking very slowly down the street outside his house in front of ten photographers. “They could get back together,” a source told Page Six. “They are in love. People who know them believe it’s temporary.”
For now, I’m left to wonder: What did Affleck say on July 1, 2020 that was so funny?
Hopefully Affleck doesn’t breakup-spiral quite as hard as Armie Hammer. Since the 34-year-old actor announced his separation from his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, last July, things have gone from a little shady to full-on disaster. At first, it just looked like Hammer, the great-grandson of a literal oil tycoon, was dating a lot in the midst of a divorce. But recently, women have started to speak out about their experiences with him. (I’m sure you’ve seen at least some of the as-yet-unverified DMs that are floating around.)
Here’s what we know so far: A few women have accused Hammer of sending them messages detailing fantasies about cannibalism and rape. Others have accused him of emotional abuse and manipulation. (A former girlfriend named Courtney Vucekovich told Page Six that Hammer manipulated her into doing sex acts that made her uncomfortable. When they broke up last summer, she checked herself into a 30-day partial hospitalization program for PTSD and trauma.)
Hammer has not commented on any one specific claim. But last week, he pulled out of his next film gig — Shotgun Wedding with J-Lo — because of the accusations. “I’m not responding to these bullshit claims,” he said in a statement to Deadline, “but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that.”
Shortly thereafter, Hammer did make an apology … to a beauty pageant organization. After a video from his private Instagram leaked, in which he called a lingerie-clad woman “Miss Cayman,” Hammer apologized to the real Miss Cayman and the rest of the organization. (Hammer spent part of his childhood in the Cayman Islands, and Chambers currently lives there with their children.)
As you can see, this story is going nowhere good, and Hammer is managing it quite poorly. Meanwhile, 2010 rom-com king Josh Duhamel is reportedly in talks to replace Hammer in Shotgun Wedding. Good for him!
Remember how Kim Kardashian was thisclose to filing for divorce from Kanye West? Well, it hasn’t happened yet, but sources close to the reality star keep talking to the tabloids about it. People reported this week that Kardashian and West have “completely” stopped going to marriage counseling. A source also noted that West is “talking to divorce lawyers this week.”
We know Kardashian’s had Laura Wasser on speed dial since this past summer. Could they be waiting for West to file first? Perhaps Kardashian will explain on the final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which is set to air later this year. A source told Page Six this week that the divorce will be a major storyline, which, yeah, I would hope so. I can’t watch another season of Khloe Kardashian and Scott Disick painting flowers in a garage. (JK, of course I can.)
Elsewhere in the extended Kardashian universe, Kendall and Kylie Jenner are currently vacationing together in Mexico, pandemic be damned. Kendall celebrated the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday by posting a carousel of bikini photos on Instagram, which made me genuinely laugh. Her caption: “a new day! a good day!”
Kris Jenner commented, “Cute hat!!!!!” Idk, maybe they weren’t talking about the inauguration. Glad everyone is doing well.
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: Hilary Duff made the Daily Mail a record four (4) times this week. Her crimes include showing off her baby bump in a tie-dye maxi dress, keeping her baby bump warm in two different overcoats, bundling up her baby bump while filming Younger in NYC, and wearing a mask on the same Younger set “after complaining about pregnancy.”
I’d complain, too!
Finally, I’ll leave you with a little gift: Sarah Jessica Parker did a Grub Street Diet. It has lines like this:
“Matthew makes Bolognese once a week; everybody goes crazy for it.”
Will you watch the zombie SATC reboot? I will, why not. But I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s all just watch it, whenever it comes out, and then go to bed.
Thanks so much for opening this email. If you have a friend who likes celebrity gossip, go ahead and forward it to them. And please feel free to weigh in on any celebrity events mentioned or not mentioned here in the comments. (You can also reply right to this email, if you have a secret, or something.)
In bullets for brevity/clarity
- Thank u for dragging Casey.
- Call me by your name was a fluke
- Please investigate the wherabouts/current ownership of the Ana cutout.
That is all