The daily gossip: Brad Pitt wore a skirt because 'we're all going to die,' Dane Cook gets engaged to his 23-year-old girlfriend, and more

(Image credit: Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. Brad Pitt wore a skirt because 'we're all going to die'
2. Dane Cook gets engaged to his 23-year-old girlfriend
3. Marilyn Monroe estate defends Ana de Armas casting
4. Dev Patel breaks up a knife fight in Australia
5. Lena Dunham bombed a Penny Marshall audition after refusing to smile

published 2 August 2022

1. Brad Pitt wore a skirt because 'we're all going to die'

Before you go see his fun new summer movie, Brad Pitt would like to remind you of your own looming death. The actor sparked a downright upsetting number of headlines when he recently wore a skirt at the Bullet Train premiere in Germany, citing "the breeze." But asked again about this fashion choice at the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Monday night, Pitt had a slightly different explanation. "I don't know," he told Variety. "We're all going to die, so let's like mess it up, you know?" For this premiere, he donned a green suit with bright yellow sneakers and looked to be having the absolute time of his life on the red carpet. Has finally winning an Oscar liberated Pitt to go full YOLO? Recently, the actor reflected that he's on the "last leg" of his career — so, uh, does he know something about how imminently we're all going to die that we don't?

Dane Cook is set to achieve his dream of marrying someone young enough to have not heard of Good Luck Chuck. The 50-year-old comedian confirmed to People he's engaged to his 23-year-old girlfriend Kelsi Taylor, a singer and fitness instructor, after proposing on a trip to York Beach in Maine. "I was so ready to ask her," Cook said. "I was completely zen about it." Page Six's ensuing headline identifying the 23-year-old as Cook's "longtime" girlfriend raised more than a few eyebrows. But to be clear, they've been dating for five years, so this isn't Cook's way of confessing to Chris Hansen. "Sometimes I actually find myself saying, 'Where has she been all my life?'" Cook joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2019. "And then I realize she wasn't alive for the first 26 years of it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The knives have been out for Ana de Armas since the Blonde trailer debuted, but the Marilyn Monroe estate is sticking up for her. De Armas plays Monroe in the upcoming Netflix movie, but her casting has drawn some criticism, primarily because of the actress' Cuban accent. She says she spent months working on Marilyn's voice, yet critics say de Armas doesn't really sound like her in the early footage. But Marc Rosen, president of the management company that owns the Marilyn Monroe estate, defended de Armas in a new statement. "Based on the trailer alone, it looks like Ana was a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn's glamour, humanity and vulnerability," Rosen told Variety. He added that "we can't wait to see the film in its entirety!"Given Blonde is rated NC-17 and the director promises it has "something in it to offend everyone," though, let's see how well this enthusiasm has aged in a few months.

Dev Patel's representatives insist he's not a hero after he stepped in to break up a knife fight in Australia. The Oscar-nominated Slumdog Millionaire actor was with his friends in Adelaide when they "witnessed a violent altercation that was already in progress outside of a convenience store," his team confirmed to multiple outlets. Patel then "acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight" and was "successful in doing so," they said. According to local 7News, a woman was arrested at the scene and charged after allegedly stabbing a man in the chest, who was taken to the hospital with injuries that apparently aren't life-threatening. Videos showed Patel speaking with police as a witness after the incident. But his reps said there are "no heroes" in this situation, which "highlights a larger systemic issue of marginalized members of society not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."

Lena Dunham's career almost ended before it began — or at least that's how she felt after blowing a Penny Marshall audition when she was 12. On The Jess Cagle Show, the Girls creator recalled her failed audition for a role in Marshall's 2001 movie Riding in Cars With Boys. "I understand why I didn't get the role," Dunham said, explaining that part of the audition was for all the young actors to smile, and she immediately declared her refusal to do so. "I said, 'I'm Lena, I'm from New York, and I don't smile on command.'" Dunham said. "And Penny Marshall said, 'It's called acting, honey.'" Though Dunham now gets why Marshall was right, at the time, she says she spent a week declaring, "My career is over!" Thankfully, she was very wrong about that and would go on to enjoy a long career of offending new groups of people every week.

Explore More

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.