The daily gossip: Taylor Swift sends her fans on another hunt for music clues, country music stars are headed to the silver screen, and more

Today's top entertainment and celebrity news

Taylor Swift.
(Image credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

1. Taylor Swift sends her fans on a 'casually cruel' search for clues about Red

America's workforce likely lost hours of productivity on Thursday after Taylor Swift released a word search with clues about her re-recorded version of Red. "*presses post* *cackles maniacally* Level: casually cruel in the name of being honest," wrote Swift as she likely directly damaged the U.S. economy by sending thousands of fans scrambling to decode the word jumble. "Phoebe Bridgers," "Chris Stapleton," and "Ed Sheeran" all emerged as words in the puzzle, as did "Ronan," "better," "winter," "nights," "message," and "bottle." The three-word title "All Too Well" was also hidden, as was "ten" and "minute," an apparent reference to the 10-minute version of the track Swift teased in June. Just when it seemed like people might have a chance to accomplish something today, though, Swift tweeted: "Your next clue will be in the spot where you hear red…"

2. 2 country music legends are set to star in the Yellowstone prequel series

Yellowstone's fourth season might cruelly have been delayed to the fall, but that doesn't mean we're going to spend the entire summer without news of the Duttons. On Thursday, Deadline reported that country music legends Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will star alongside the epitome of Western manliness — Sam Elliott — in 1883, Yellowstone's origin story series. The story will reportedly follow the Duttons' journey across the Great Plains from Texas to Montana, with Elliott playing the group's "tough-as-nails, handsome cowboy" guide (checks out). Hill and McGraw will play Margaret and James Dutton, the matriarch and patriarch of the clan. At this point, the prequel series is still expected to come out later this year on Paramount+ — while a second spinoff, called 6666, is also in the works. Saddle up.

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Deadline

3. Cardi B attempted rhythmic gymnastics because she wants Kulture to be gymnast

Cardi B has been watching the Olympics and is apparently considering signing up her 3-year-old daughter, Kulture Kiari, for gymnastics classes as a result. "I just want her to be really flexible because being flexible always takes you a long way with everything," Cardi explained. But since Kulture is Cardi's mini-me, Cardi decided to test the waters first — while very, very pregnant. In a new episode of Facebook Watch's Cardi Tries, the 28-year-old rapper takes instruction from Stasya Generalova, a member of the United States' rhythmic gymnastics national team. Though Cardi definitely has the ribbon twirling down, "after I give birth, I'll probably try artistic [gymnastics]," she said, "because right now I can't really cross my legs together or nothing."

People

4. Seth Rogen has most likely not been kidnapped

Has anyone seen Seth Rogen lately? That's the question on TikTok user @chriscanbefunny's mind. The comedian created a song and music video about how Rogen may have been kidnapped by a ceramicist, a hypothesis stemming from the actor only posting images of his pottery, not his face. The TikToker admits he's not even the biggest Rogen fan, he's just concerned. "Can we check on Seth?" he asks in the catchy two-minute tune. "I'm worried that the vases are a cry for help." Rogen tweeted the video, assuring fans he is alive and well: "This video is very funny and not at all true! I have not been kidnapped! This is not a kidnapper writing this from Seth's account! I promise!" But he has yet to post a picture of his face, so we can't be too sure.

BuzzFeed

5. Mariah Carey's 'Fantasy' inspired Ryan Reynolds' new movie

Ryan Reynolds describes Mariah Carey's 1995 hit "Fantasy" as "the engine" of his new movie, Free Guy. "I am a huge Mariah Carey fan," the actor told Variety. He was writing the script while listening to music, and when 'Fantasy' came on his playlist, "everything clicked in." The film's trailer starts off with Jodie Comer's character singing along to the song, which Reynolds noted he spoke to Carey about using. He said he "talked to her a little bit about how much of an engine and an agent of progress that this song had been in terms of our creative process and the scripts. She's just been awesome about it." One could say, for a Lamb like Reynolds, it was a fantasy.

People Variety

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.