Movie star needs girlfriend
It's Gossip Time!
Welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: a 56-year-old actor is single again, a celebrity couple considers a Catholic wedding, and Selena Gomez votes for the first time.
With all the uncertainty in the world right now, would it comfort you to know that Brad Pitt is single? The 56-year-old actor has reportedly broken things off with his latest PR girlfriend, a 27-year-old model named Nicole Poturalski. This relationship didn’t last long, because it turns out that the association was not, in fact, good PR for Pitt: A few days after the Daily Mail broke the news of their romance in August, we learned that Poturalski — model name “Nico Mary” — happens to be married. To a 68-year-old German restaurateur named Roland Mary. Whoops!
Mary and Poturalski share a seven-year-old son, and they reportedly have an “open marriage,” whatever that means these days. According to the Daily Mail, Pitt actually met Poturalski at Mary’s restaurant in Berlin last summer when he was promoting Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood. She was later photographed sitting with Pitt at a Kanye West concert last fall, and then the pair flew to France together at the end of the summer, which is when the tabloids picked up on the relationship. At the time, sources told People that Poturalski was perfect for Pitt, but now Us Weekly is reporting that it was never too serious.
“Brad and Nicole have been over for a while now,” a source told the tabloid this week. “They had a short-lived relationship that was never too serious.”
Pitt, of course, has not officially commented on any of this, but Poturalski hinted at a possible reconciliation on Instagram this week.
The caption reads, “Hang in there for just a little bit longer…” It’s a message to all of us, really.
One man who is officially not single? That would be “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost, 38, who married Scarlett Johansson, 35, last weekend in an “intimate ceremony with their immediate family and loved ones, following COVID-19 safety precautions as directed by the CDC.” (Probably in the Hamptons, where the couple has been spending most of their time.)
We learned this news not through People or Us Weekly but from @mealsonwheelsamerica — Jost and Johansson’s preferred charity.
As LaineyGossip points out, the couple is not the first to highlight a charitable cause while sharing a life milestone this year: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom gave the first photo of their new baby Daisy Dove Bloom to UNICEF, and Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski announced the birth of their son with INARA, a relief network for children affected by war. In a year when big celebrations are out of the question, this is an easy way for celebs to call attention to causes and get their feel-good stories out there without relying on the tabloids.
I don’t think every celebrity couple will follow their lead, however. For example: This week, Gwen Stefani, 51, and Blake Shelton, 44, shared the news of their recent engagement on their personal Instagram pages and then immediately went to the tabloids to offer every detail of the proposal and their future wedding plans.
“Gwen is ecstatic,” an insider told People. “The proposal was a surprise. Gwen and Blake kept the proposal quiet for a few days, but were very excited to share."
Another source told Entertainment Tonight that Shelton involved Stefani’s three sons (with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale) in the proposal. Page Six reports that the diamond ring could be worth up to $800,000. (While we’re on the topic, Johansson’s engagement ring from Jost deserves a second look.) And according to Us Weekly, wedding planning has already started.
“Blake is just ready to be married and wants it to happen very soon,” a source told the tabloid. “Don’t be surprised if it happens by the end of the year.”
I know what you’re thinking: Will it be a Catholic wedding? Stefani, a practicing Catholic, insisted on one when she married Rossdale in 2002. They also had an Anglican ceremony in London and a regular, old Hollywood bacchanal in L.A. I’m sure they hoped, after paying for three weddings, that they’d be together forever, but it was not to be: Stefani filed for divorce in 2015 after discovering that Rossdale was cheating with the nanny. The evidence was on the iCloud!
Last year, Us Weekly reported that Stefani was taking steps to have her first marriage annulled by the church, so that she could again marry in the church, but as a lapsed Catholic, I will tell you that is not an easy process. In the course of my research, however, I did find this delightful student newspaper interview with the priest who married Stefani and Rossdale. His name is Fr. Christopher Drennen, and it sounds like he had a great time meeting celebrities. I recommend reading the whole thing, but here’s a snippet:
“Usually the couple comes to the rectory to talk but I was generous and offered to go to her house; mainly because I wanted to see her house. They had a really nice home. They did not have a ‘mansion’ but they had a very nice home.”
Maybe he’s still available? I’m sure whatever happens, we’ll hear about it.
How much do you wish to know about celebrities’ voting histories? We sure are learning a lot about them in the run-up to this election. Last week, Jennifer Lawrence made the startling admission that she voted for John McCain in 2008. And this week, Selena Gomez one-upped her by telling a fan during a “Voting Power Hour” livestream that she’s never voted at all. Hm.
After chatting about the importance of voting with La La Land director Damien Chazelle (?), Gomez took some questions from fans around the country. Sam J. from Michigan asked what her first time voting was like, and after a terrifying pause, Gomez said this:
“Honestly, I'm not ashamed to say this, but I kind of, I kind of — this was my first time. And I'm going to say that because I've never felt — and this is so true — and I'm now like admitting it to people, like my vote counts. Like, every little thing counts.”
Gomez is 28 years old, which means she’s had several opportunities to try out voting before this year. In the last presidential election, it appears that she at least supported Hillary Clinton with vibes: She wore a jean jacket with “God Bless Nasty Women” emblazoned on the back to Rihanna’s Grammys after-party in February 2017.
This was back when Gomez was first dating The Weeknd — remember when they got papped at Dave & Busters that one time? They attended Rihanna’s party together but broke up at the end of the year, after which Gomez briefly reunited with Justin Bieber, who then went on to marry Hailey Baldwin. (Baldwin voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, despite her dad’s avid Trump support. She’s been actively supporting Joe Biden this cycle.)
Four more days!
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: Hilary Duff pregnant.
Finally, I’ll leave you with a recommendation: Rich Juzwiak’s supercuts of Drew Barrymore’s new daytime talk show. I have yet to watch an actual episode of the show, but I look forward to these every week.
And there’s a new Ariana Grande album! I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m sure I love it.
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