Christenson, alongside an unidentified little girl singing with him, started things off with “and a one, and a two, and a three,” but just as Christensen and the girl said the first words of the song, “take me out,” all sound was drowned out completely by the aformentioned fighter jet as it flew over. Haydensen handled it like a pro of course, and could be heard audibly laughing when the noise of the jet stopped as he sang “to the ball game.” He and the girl — and a startled, yet highly amused crowd of Cubs fans — then sang the whole song.

You can watch the whole very amusing thing here now:

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In case you’re wondering, the U.S. Air Force wasn’t conducting an operation to take out Darth Vader. It turns out the annual Chicago Air and Water Show — a showcase of daredevil flying, parachuting, jet formation shows alongside boating and water skiing stunts, is happening this weekend. And Friday was the rehearsal. Alongside cool visuals, the event is also known for jump-scaring everyone who isn’t watching, locals and visitors alike.

Meanwhile, Christensen was in the city for an appearance at FanExpo Chicago all weekend. He’s set to reunite with fellow “Star Wars” prequel alum Ewan McGregor for a panel on Sunday night, to close out the show. Naturally, his jersey was numbered 66, as a nod to Order 66 from the film, in which Anakin Skywalker murdered several Jedi.

The post Hayden Christensen Gets Unexpectedly Buzzed by the Force of a Fighter Jet While Singing at a Cubs Game | Video  appeared first on TheWrap.

“Today was the first day of school in L.A., and if you’re wondering why school is starting on a random Thursday in the middle of August, the answer is simple: the state of California hates children,” Byer joked near the top of her Thursday monologue. “But school is important because it prepares kids for all the jobs that will someday be taken away from them by ChatGPT.”

Turning her attention to Swift’s announcement of her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Byer rolled a clip of a Michigan news anchor who could only react this week to his co-host’s Swiftie fan theories with a bewildered, “Huh.” “That was the sound of a man’s soul leaving his body,” Byer remarked with a laugh. 

The “JKL” guest host additionally joked that the names for the different versions of Swift’s new album — which include the “It’s Frightening,” “It’s Rapturous” and “It’s Beautiful” editions — are “also things that have been said to me by my gynecologist.”

Before she wrapped up her final monologue of the week, Byer also highlighted a recent study that revealed only 33% of Americans currently feel like they can trust the federal government. “The study was conducted by the Institute of Our President Is a 34-Time Convicted Felon,” she explained. “Boom! Got him again.”

“Of course we have trust issues with our leaders!” Byer continued. “Back in 2016, we dated this awful guy for four years who cheated on us with a porn star and lied about literally everything. And then we immediately jumped into a relationship with a much, much, much older man who promised to take care of us and then kind of just, like, wandered off into the woods. So now we’re back with our terrible ex and he’s crazier than ever! And we just can’t stop fantasizing about that smokeshow we shacked up with in college who gave us healthcare.”

“Yes, we can!” she exclaimed, as she then looked at a shirtless photo of former President Barack Obama. “Oh my goodness. I got distracted there for a second.”

The post Nicole Byer Jokes School Now Prepares Kids for Jobs That Will Be Taken Away by ChatGPT | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

The Trump administration’s directive called for the Smithsonian to remove “improper ideology” from its museums. According to a letter sent Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, the goal of this internal review is to ensure that the Smithsonian’s exhibits “celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

The directive has provoked outrage from many historians and political pundits who have accused the Trump administration of trying to whitewash and rewrite history. Michaels, for her part, pushed back on that reaction during Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” in which she argued, “[Trump’s] not whitewashing slavery.”

“He’s not,” Michaels insisted. “You cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery just to one race, which is pretty much what every single [museum] exhibit does.”

Michaels received immediate pushback from her fellow panelists, who reminded her that they were discussing the Smithsonian’s exhibits covering American history. “Jillian, I’m surprised that you’re trying to litigate who was the beneficiary of slavery,” Phillip told Michaels. “In the context of American history, what are you saying is incorrect by saying that it was white people oppressing black people?”

“Every single thing is like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, this is all because white people bad,'” Michaels responded. “That’s just not the truth.” After the segment’s airing, viewers swiftly took to social media to blast Michaels for her comments. Viewers also questioned why CNN would even let Michaels appear on the program at all given that she is known for her fitness training not her historical or political prowess.

Michaels: You cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single exhibit does… Only less than 2% of white Americans own slaves. You realize that slavery is thousands of years old?

Phillip: I’m very surprised you are trying to… pic.twitter.com/KOe9rSAcTV

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 14, 2025

“Truly humiliating stuff here from @JillianMichaels — and from @CNN for giving nonsense like this air time night after night as our democracy hangs in the balance,” wrote The Tennessee Holler on X, while another user asked, “Jillian Michaels is a personal trainer. Why the f—k is CNN putting her on TV to talk about politics?” 

Elsewhere, a different user similarly pondered, “Why is Jillian Michaels on a CNN panel talking about slavery[?] Cable news deserves whatever is coming for it.”

“Are the nonexistent ratings worth it?” another user questioned.

are the producers at @CNN proud to pump out this corrosive societal pollution every night? are the nonexistent ratings worth it? How do y’all sleep at night? https://t.co/cI87Oeue2J

— Peter Twinklage (@PeterTwinklage) August 14, 2025

On X, Michaels penned a lengthy post Wednesday night defending her comments with photos of a Smithsonian exhibit that places the blame for the instability in Latin American countries and the Caribbean in the 1990s on the “contradictions of U.S. foreign policy” at the time.

“This is one of the Smithsonian exhibits I was referencing,” Michaels wrote. “Trump is not trying to ‘erase slavery’ by suggesting some of the instillations there are inaccurate and bias.”

Ok… so for anyone watching me on @CNN tonight battling it out on Abby Phillip's show… this is one of the Smithsonian exhibits I was referencing. Trump is not trying to "erase slavery" by suggesting some of the instillations there are inaccurate and bias. Notice how it omits… pic.twitter.com/P0aLKZmIyV

— Jillian Michaels (@JillianMichaels) August 14, 2025

You can watch the full segment in the video above.

CNN declined TheWrap’s request for comment.

The post CNN Slammed for Booking Jillian Michaels as She Defends Trump ‘Whitewashing’ Slavery: ‘Are the Nonexistent Ratings Worth It?’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Hunt’s comments arrived the same week Swift revealed the release date, title, tracklist and artwork for her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Swift unveiled the first look at the album during an appearance Wednesday on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast hosted by Jason and Travis Kelce, the latter of whom is a Chiefs player who has been in a relationship with Swift since 2023.

“This relationship with Taylor has garnered a whole lot more interest in the Chiefs,” Hunt told Entertainment Tonight about Kelce and Swift’s romance in an interview published Thursday. “I have people come up to me all the time and tell me, ‘Thank you.’ I’m like, ‘Thank you for what?’ And then they tell me, ‘Thank you because my 10-year-old daughter now insists on watching NFL football with me.’ Of course, that’s largely because of Taylor Swift.”

“It’s been fantastic and we love having her as part of the kingdom,” Hunt added, in a reference to the name of the Chiefs’ fandom. The Chiefs CEO went on to praise Swift not only for bringing more attention to the NFL organization, but also for the individual enthusiasm and support she has shown for the team.

“She’s a tremendous fan,” Hunt remarked. “If you’ve ever seen any of those shots of her sitting in the box cheering on the team, when we make a big play she’s as excited as anybody in the stadium. It’s great to have her support, for sure.”

When asked if he is looking forward to “The Life of a Showgirl,” which releases Oct. 3, Hunt admitted that both he and his family are fans of Swift’s music. “I’m very excited. I am a big fan of hers,” Hunt explained, revealing that he attended both of Swift’s Eras Tour performances at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in 2023 with his family.

“She just doesn’t miss a beat. She’s an amazing performer,” Hunt observed. “As a family, we’re really excited about her 12th album.”

As for whether or not Swift chose orange as the primary color of her new, “Life of a Showgirl” era as a reference to the Chiefs’ red-and-gold color scheme, Hunt simply said, “I don’t know, but I like that. I like anything she does that in any way acknowledges or celebrates the Chiefs.”

The Chiefs CEO added that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Swift attends most of the team’s games this coming season, as she is not as busy now as she was during her Eras Tour run over the course of the past two NFL seasons.

You can watch Hunt’s fully interview about Swift in the video above.

The post Kansas City Chiefs CEO Praises Taylor Swift, Calls ‘Life of a Showgirl’ Singer a ‘Tremendous Fan’ appeared first on TheWrap.

“He basically wants anything race-based removed from our history,” Willie Geist said during “Morning Joe’s” Wednesday broadcast.

“When you think about when Jackie Robinson was removed from a Defense Department page, his military services as part of that story and his pioneering life, and then it was put back up. And then later, about a month later, Harriet Tubman was removed from some pages. References to slavery were moved down,” Geist went on. “These are not clerical errors. This is a concerted effort, and the president gave license to all these efforts when he signed that executive order a few months back.”

On March 27, Trump issued the executive order titled “Restoring Truth an Sanity to American History,” which is he and his camp’s mission to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness” that he says will honor “the richness of American history and innovation.” As part of that, Trump has forced the institution to remove and/or revise historical events and facts, including the mention of his name in Smithsonian’s impeachment display and even the Smithsonian’s web page about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, both of which have since been restored.

At the top of the conversation, Jonathan Lemire called Trump’s acts harmful to Americans and their history.

“Let’s be blunt: this is really bad, and really, really dangerous. A nation needs to know its history,” Lemire explained. “It needs to be honest about its history to learn from it, to honor it, and also to then grow and improve for the present and future. There’s no way that rewriting a history to fit one president’s vision is good for a nation’s health or good for our nation’s democracy.”

He continued: “You can be patriotic, you can love your country. We have a 250th anniversary next year. Certainly, President Trump and his team are already gearing up towards really celebrating that. Some of that is good, but to honor a nation’s history, you have to be honest about it and to rewash it, to sanitize it, to whitewash it, to not be honest about it. That’s not good.”

MSNBC contributor, Anthony Coley, jumped in to compare Trump’s mission to his attempt to censor the severity of the Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol. He also added that ultimately, in order to improve one’s history, you must learn from past mistakes.

“The American story is both glorious and painful — it has warts. You don’t lift up and highlight the glorious parts and bury the warts,” Coley explained. “You tell the full American story and all of its truth. What this guy is doing is trying to turn the Smithsonian into a propaganda machine. He is trying to rewrite history, just like he did on Jan. 6. If you think really about what he tried to do with pardoning all of these, the criminal defendants, the people who were serving jail even for abusing and killing police officers, he’s trying to rewrite the narrative of both his narrative and the American history. But even more broader American history. This is dangerous. It’s chilling, and I think every American who supports honest truth telling and fact telling should be concerned about this.”

You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.

The post ‘Morning Joe’ Blasts Trump’s Review of National African American Museum as a ‘Concerted Effort’ to Remove America’s Racist History | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

In honor of his new book, “Cudi: The Memoir,” the rapper — whose real name is Scott Mescudi — sat down for an interview with “CBS Mornings.” The interview was released Wednesday, a little less than three months after Cudi took the stand against Diddy.

“It was really hard. I didn’t want to do it. I got subpoenaed,” the rapper said of being a witness in the Diddy trial. “It was weird, man, because that was the first time I had seen him in a while. We made eye contact a couple times.”

Cudi briefly dated Cassie Ventura, the singer who testified that Diddy had abused, blackmailed and trafficked her during their turbulent, years-long relationship. During his testimony, Cudi alleged that Diddy had been abusive to Cassie and that the music industry mogul broke into his house after he found out he and Cassie were dating. Cudi also told the court he believed Diddy later set his car on fire.

After he realized that he would have to testify, Cudi told “CBS Mornings” that it was the support his testimony would provide Cassie that helped him get through the experience.

“I knew I was helping Cassie. I just wanted to be there and help her out,” he explained. “I know I did the right thing, so that’s all that matters.”

The rapper also addressed the backlash he received from some of Diddy’s supporters for speaking out against him. 

“I had a lot of people that supported me, but there were a few that had some opinions about it,” Cudi acknowledged. “It was interesting because I’m not no street dude. I don’t live by no code, you know? So I guess it’s because I’m a rapper. People just threw that on me. But, like, my music has never been about that and I have never tried to pretend I was about that.”

In July, Combs’ trial ended with him being found not guilty of the federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges against him. He was, however, found guilty of of the prostitution charges against him, each of which carry a maximum potential prison sentence of 10 years.

Despite a release motion filed by his defense team, Diddy has been ordered to remain in federal detention until his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Oct. 3.

You can watch Cudi’s interview in the video above.

The post Kid Cudi Says He Knows He Did ‘The Right Thing’ Testifying Against Diddy: ‘That’s All That Matters’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

In 2020, Howard released his Amy Adams and Glenn Close-led adaptation of “Hillbilly Elegy,” which brought to life onscreen Vance’s memoir about witnessing his family’s substance abuse struggles firsthand. Howard’s film received negative reviews upon its release, and its legacy has only become more complicated in the years since due to Vance’s political ascension.

While promoting his latest film “Eden,” Howard told Vulture that he has only had one interaction with the VP since the time they spent making and promoting “Hillbilly Elegy” together. “I did one text, after the election, which was just sort of, ‘Godspeed. Try to serve us well,'” he said.

The Oscar-winning director admitted that he does not actively think about the legacy of his “Hillbilly Elegy” adaptation. “I know it’s a mixed bag and probably quite culturally divided,” Howard shared. “I also know that reviews were bad and the audience-reaction rating was pretty good.”

When he was asked whether he has been able to reconcile the version of Vance that he came to know with the politician he is today, Howard responded, “Well, it’s happened, so I know what I’ve observed.” 

“It remains a bit of a surprise to me,” the filmmaker added. “I would not have seen it coming, and I wouldn’t have expected his rhetoric to be as divisive as it sometimes is. By the way, I’m not following him or listening to every word.”

Howard also divulged that he did get the sense, as many have speculated, that Vance took the negative reception to the director’s “Hillbilly Elegy” adaptation personally.

“He was frustrated by that,” Howard acknowledged. “He loved Glenn Close’s performance and Amy Adams’s performance and liked the film. And he felt that, just as reviews had kind of turned on the book, his involvement was in some way tainting or coloring the critical response, and he resented it.”

The filmmaker chose not to speculate about whether the reviews for “Hillbilly Elegy” motivated Vance to subsequently adopt more right-wing rhetoric. “I can’t speak to that. When I was working with him, all his quotes about the administration were very public,” Howard explained. “He was trying to run an investment fund. So the run for Senate and the strategy he’s chosen to follow are not what I would’ve expected.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Howard noted that, despite its roots in Vance’s life, he does consider “Hillbilly Elegy” a bit of a personal film. “There were aspects of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ that were personal,” he remarked. “I wanted to do something about the heartland that wasn’t a bank-robbing story or about farming.”

The post Ron Howard Admits He Was Surprised by JD Vance’s Move Into Politics, Texted VP After the Election appeared first on TheWrap.

Guiducci, who took over as Vanity Fair’s global editorial director on June 30, told staffers that the publication will be focusing more on entertainment, culture, “money, politics and style” moving forward. As a result, Vanity Fair will be scaling back its “news aggregation, reviews and trade coverage” output.

The publication plans to abandon its “siloed vertical structure,” and phase out its business, politics and technology vertical The Hive. In addition to The Hive, Vanity Fair will also be phasing out its film, TV, and entertainment industry news vertical Hollywood Daily.

“Today, we will start working toward our new editorial strategy, gradually sunsetting our siloed vertical structure to focus on Vanity Fair as a whole,” Guiducci wrote in his memo. “We will no longer think of something as a ‘Hive post’ or a ‘HWD post.’ We will treat each story as a Vanity Fair story.”

As part of the editorial shift, Guiducci announced the opening of multiple new positions at Vanity Fair, including a global creative director to oversee the publication’s “visuals and design across all editions and platforms,” two new senior editors, new producers, three new Hollywood, Washington and style correspondents and “an entirely new social team.”

A number of Vanity Fair employees will reportedly be let go as a result of the Guiducci-led changes.

Before he took over as Vanity Fair’s global editorial director, Guiducci worked for five years as the creative editorial director of Condé Nast sister publication Vogue. His appointment was preceded by former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones‘ April announcement that she was leaving the magazine. Later that same month, longtime executive digital director Michael Hogan announced that he would be vacating his role at Vanity Fair as well.

You can read Guiducci’s full memo to Vanity Fair staffers below:

Hello everyone.

Over the past six weeks, we have talked a lot about focusing on the intersections between Vanity Fair’s core subjects — Hollywood, the arts, money, politics, and style — in modern ways, from newsletters to TikTok to new platforms that don’t yet exist.

Today, we will start working toward our new editorial strategy, gradually sunsetting our siloed vertical structure to focus on Vanity Fair as a whole. We will be moving away from news aggregation, reviews, and trade coverage. We will no longer think of something as a “Hive post” or a “HWD post.” We will treat each story as a Vanity Fair story.

This does not mean we are becoming less ambitious. The opposite is true. Transformations are not without difficulty, but I’m thrilled to say that we are hiring for a number of new positions. They include a global creative director to oversee visuals and design across all editions and platforms. They also include two senior editor positions and three new correspondents, each focusing on Hollywood, Washington, and Style, as well as producers and an entirely new social team. We will continue to add roles.

As we look ahead to the Hollywood Issue, my first, we are working on a redesign of the magazine that will influence the look of Vanity Fair on every platform, including our live events, from the Oscar Party to our presence at film festivals.

I’m also thrilled to announce that Claire Howorth will be stepping into the role of Deputy Editor, overseeing our stories everywhere that they may live. In this role, Claire will guide our day-to-day assignments, from quick turn reporting to longform narrative features to live events coverage.

I’m also happy to announce that Daniel Kile will become VP, Global Content Strategy. Video, social, operations, audience development, and events teams will report to Daniel, who will also work closely with departments across the building, from Revenue to Product and Technology. In this role, Daniel will also be collaborating with Simone Marchetti and our global HOEC as we look to grow Vanity Fair internationally.

My favorite thing about the past six weeks has been meeting each of you 1:1 and seeing firsthand the immense talent here at Vanity Fair. I also know that these weeks have been busy, often exhilarating, and I appreciate everyone who has stepped up.

Today and always, I want to encourage all of you to come to me with your ideas and questions. My door is always open. Most importantly, thank you for welcoming me to the team.

Mark

Editor’s note: The original headline of this story incorrectly stated that Vanity Fair plans to scale back political and business coverage in its redesign. The headline and story have been corrected.

The post Vanity Fair Overhauls Web Strategy to Consolidate Hollywood and Politics, Sets Magazine Redesign appeared first on TheWrap.

The announcement came via the singer’s official website, where fans can preorder the album, and on her Instagram account, where she also teased that she will be appearing on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast on Wednesday to discuss it.

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Fans who preorder “The Life of a Showgirl” can choose between the vinyl release, a cassette version for people who enjoy retro, rapidly declining sound quality, and a CD version that also includes a poster. The vinyl, cassette and CD releases will all have unique designs, just in case you want to go multi-format.

And per the website, there’s a limited supply. As such, only 4 copies will be sold to any one individual, presales are available only in the United States, and to enforce that, customers must have both a U.S. shipping and billing address to order.

There’s no release date yet — aside from news that your copy of the record “ships before 10/13/2025.” And just to make it murkier, Swift’s official website informs fans “this is not the release date, official release date to be announced.” It’s easy to deduce from this that the album comes out at some point before Oct. 13. Then again, maybe Swifties will get the record days or even months before the rest of us do.

On the other hand, we know Swift considers 13 her lucky number, so maybe it’ll Oct. 13th after all. Stay tuned!

And before you ask, as you can see in the image of the vinyl release at the top of the page, the album cover art is also being held back for a later announcement. That said, the orange background with a lock over it would honestly make a really good cover on its own.

The post Taylor Swift Reveals Title of Her 12th Album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Her comments were featured in an interview published Monday with Vanity Fair. The actress worked with Perry for 10 years on “Friends,” the beloved NBC sitcom that launched them both into full-fledged stardom. In 2021, Aniston reunited with Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for the HBO Max special “Friends: The Reunion.”

Two years later, Perry died in October 2023. It was subsequently reported that he died due to the acute effects of ketamine. Coronary artery disease and the effects of both drowning and buprenorphine were also listed as contributing factors in his death.

“We did everything we could when we could,” Aniston told VF about Perry’s passing, reflecting on collective attempts to get him help for his struggles with addiction. “But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.”

“As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better,” she added. “I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”

The actress previously penned an Instagram tribute in 2023 to her co-star shortly after his passing, writing, “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain.” In October 2024, Aniston also commemorated the 1-year anniversary of Perry’s death by sharing a number of photos taken of the two of them together over the years.

In her latest interview, Aniston talked openly about her enduring love of “Friends” and the gratitude she feels for the global, decades-spanning impact it has had on viewers. “If [‘Friends’] was the only thing on my résumé, I would be very happy and blessed,” she shared.

The post Jennifer Aniston Says ‘Friends’ Cast Did Everything They Could to Help Matthew Perry: ‘I’m Glad He’s Out of That Pain’ appeared first on TheWrap.