The daily gossip: Scarlett Johansson's mother-in-law isn't sold on her baby's name, but at least she's getting $40 million from her Disney suit, and more

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1. Colin Jost's mom is not quite sure what to make of her grandson's name
2. Scarlett Johansson is getting a reported $40 million from her Disney lawsuit
3. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar to perform at Super Bowl
4. Here's how Britney Spears' fiancé feels about her posting all those nudes
5. Demi Lovato sang to aliens

published 1 October 2021

1. Colin Jost's mom is not quite sure what to make of her grandson's name

Colin Jost's mom really wasn't sure what to make of her son and daughter-in-law, Scarlett Johansson, naming their son Cosmo. "My mom, I would say, was slightly thrown by it and didn't quite understand it," Jost told Seth Meyers on Thursday. "I don't know if she thought it was kind of, like, a hippie thing. She would call us after three or four days, she'd be like, 'Cosmo … And now, is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?'" Jost said it took his mom learning that Cosmo is a big name in the Italian community for her to come around to it, sort of. "She would call, and she would say, 'I met someone. They said their uncle's name is Cosmo. So it is OK,'" Jost said. "Then she goes, 'There's a patron saint called Cosmos, so that's another option.' [I said], 'We don't need more worse variants on Cosmo. But thanks, Mom.'"

Scarlett Johansson and Disney have patched things up, and all it took was a bombshell lawsuit. After Johansson sued Disney in July, alleging the studio breached her contract and cost her millions with Black Widow's streaming release, the two parties have reached a settlement. Terms weren't disclosed, but Deadline reported the "deal will run to more than $40 million." Johansson's lawsuit had sparked a brutal war of words, with Disney at one point even publicly disclosing her $20 million salary. Despite this, they're apparently ready to work together again on a "number of upcoming projects," per Disney's Alan Bergman. Those projects probably won't include Marvel movies given, you know, the whole death thing. Then again, that didn't stop Tom Hiddleston.

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The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show will be one to remember, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar performing for the first time together on stage. Super Bowl LVI is set for Feb. 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, near Los Angeles. In a statement, Dr. Dre said having the "opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime show, and to do it in my own backyard, will be one of the biggest thrills of my career," adding that it will be "an unforgettable cultural moment." Between them, the artists have 43 Grammy awards and 19 No. 1 Billboard albums, and three hail from the L.A. area — Dr. Dre and Lamar are from Compton while Snoop Dogg grew up in Long Beach.

"Free" is truly the theme of the year for Britney Spears, both in the sense of her now being free of her father's conservatorship, as well as free from, uh, clothes. The 39-year-old pop star has posted nine nude or nearly-nude sets of photographs to her Instagram since the beginning of July, emphasizing that there are "no filters or cover-ups … it's the real deal." Most recently, she posted a number of photos of herself posing next to a hot tub entirely nude (minus some Instagram-friendly censoring with emoji flowers). You might be wondering how Spears' fiancé, Sam Asghari, feels about all this — and he certainly has made his thoughts known. "#FreeTheNipple," he commented on her picture with a laugh-crying emoji. Free, indeed.

Demi Lovato doesn't just want to believe — they actually do. The pop star, who's previously described having a "beautiful and incredible" encounter with the third kind at Joshua Tree, is now starring in a new show called Unidentified With Demi Lovato, in which the singer and their skeptical best friend and sister meet with experts to learn more about UFO phenomena. In promotion for the forthcoming show, Lovato shared a clip of themself serenading aliens with their 2011 hit "Skyscraper" using a device that supposedly receives feedback from an area of space where aliens live. "After the 29-year-old stops singing," The Independent reports, the "device presumably meant to detect extraterrestrial activity makes a noise." But Lovato is clear on what the aliens are trying to communicate: "What's better than a standing ovation from ETs?" Lovato asked.

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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.