The daily gossip: Britney Spears torches Jamie Lynn, Neve Campbell was attacked by a bear, and more
Today's top entertainment and celebrity news
1. Britney Spears calls Jamie Lynn a 'scum person'
Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears' family feud is getting pretty brutal. On Thursday, Britney released a lengthy statement slamming her sister's recent ABC interview, criticizing Jamie Lynn's claims that "my behavior was out of control." Britney shot back, "She was never around me much 15 years ago at that time ... so why are they even talking about that unless she wants to sell a book at my expense?" She also again took issue with Jamie Lynn performing remixes of her songs in 2017, proclaiming, "She never had to work for anything. Everything was always given to her!!!!" Jamie Lynn hit back on Instagram, slamming Britney's "vague and accusatory posts" and writing, "I hate to burst my sister's bubble, but my book is not about her." On Friday, Britney came for Jamie Lynn's claim that Britney once grabbed a knife and locked them in a room. Britney wrote that "only a scum person would make up such things about someone." Oh baby, baby.
2. Neve Campbell was attacked by a bear on a film set
There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a bear attack, and Neve Campbell could probably break them down. The Scream star revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show she was attacked by a bear when she was 17 — not while camping, but on a film set. In a scene where her character was chased by a bear, she was told to dip her hand in honey, run off into the distance, and stick her hand out to feed the animal. Shockingly, that didn't go well. "He grabs me by the leg and he pulls me through the forest," Campbell said. "All I could think to say was, 'he's biting me!'" Campbell made it out of the encounter after a bear wrangler started "throwing rocks," she said. Let's just be thankful she didn't say "I'll be right back" beforehand or it might have turned out differently.
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3. Tim Allen to return as Santa Claus on Disney+
Disney is making a list of nostalgic properties to revive, and they're checking it twice. Tim Allen is set to star in a limited series revival of The Santa Clause on Disney+, the streamer announced Friday. He'll be reprising the role of Scott Calvin, a man who unexpectedly becomes the new Santa. The series will follow him as he approaches his 65th birthday and begins "realizing that he can't be Santa forever," so he "sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa," Disney said. This will be Allen's first time playing the character since 2006's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and will also join The Mighty Ducks, Home Alone, and High School Musical among kids franchises rebooted for Disney+. Of course, the original Santa Clause film involves Calvin taking over after the original Santa straight up falls off a roof and dies, so we're gonna assume we're in for an emotional, Logan-style tear-jerker here.
4. Brian Cox turned down Robert Baratheon on 'Game of Thrones'
Brian Cox could have been playing a cantankerous leader on HBO a few years earlier. The Succession star revealed he turned down the role of Robert Baratheon on HBO's Game of Thrones. "When it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say," Cox wrote in a book excerpt published by GQ . "Plus I was going to be killed off fairly early on." The role ended up going to Mark Addy, and Cox suggested in 2016 he regretted passing on it, calling the decision "silly." Cox also discusses why he wasn't in, as he puts it, "Harry f---ing Potter" as Mad-Eye Moody, a role Brendan Gleeson got. "Brendan was more in fashion than I was at that point," he writes. The Logan Roy actor also says he "turned my nose up" at the part of the governor in Pirates of the Caribbean, which went to Jonathan Pryce, though he has "no regrets" about that one — possibly because thinks Johnny Depp is "so overrated."
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5. Pete Davidson reportedly won't be your 2022 Oscars host
Live from the 2022 Oscars, it's not Pete Davidson. After it was revealed this week that the Oscars will actually have a host this year, Page Six reported that the Saturday Night Live star was in talks for the gig, with a source saying, "His people are talking to producers." But on Friday, Variety reported that Davidson won't be getting the job after all. The report says an "informal conversation" did take place but that it's unlikely he would be picked, in part because he's more associated with NBC and the Oscars will be on ABC, so hiring him "would be free promotion for a competing network." Meanwhile, Oscars organizers are reportedly "intrigued" by the idea of having Only Murders in the Building stars Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short host together. Sadly, the dream of seeing The Muppets host may have to wait for another year.
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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