The daily gossip: Lily Allen emerges as 'chief nepo baby defender,' Dolly Parton wants to dig up the secret song she buried in a time capsule, and more

1. Lily Allen emerges as 'chief nepo baby defender'

For some commentary on the nepotism baby debate, we now turn to a totally impartial source. Lily Allen has come to the defense of celebrity "nepo babies" following a big New York magazine cover story about stars with famous parents. "The nepo babies y'all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics," the singer argued on Twitter. Her parents are actor Keith Allen and producer Alison Owen, so she acknowledged "I literally deserve nothing" in response to those coming after her for "being a nepo baby myself." The comments sparked some backlash, but in a follow-up thread Tuesday, she doubled down on the idea that "nepo babies are being somewhat scapegoated," telling followers, "Nepo babies have feelings." Allen eventually decided, though, "I am abandoning my post as chief nepo baby defender," presumably planning to help her kids get that prestigious job.

Page Six

2. Dolly Parton wants to dig up the secret song she buried in a time capsule

Get this woman a shovel. Dolly Parton has buried a secret song in a time capsule that won't be dug up for over 20 years, and she's seriously regretting it. "I have written a song that nobody's going to hear until I'm 99 years old," she explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show, as it was placed in a time capsule buried at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort that's set to be opened in 2045. But Parton is now questioning the decision to include an unreleased song, especially because she's worried it will disintegrate by the time the capsule is opened. "You have no idea how that has bothered me," she said. "I want to go dig that up so bad! I need to use that song, it's a really good song! … I don't know whose damn idea that was." Well, hopefully our future robot overlords enjoy it.

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

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

Sign up

The Kelly Clarkson Show

3. Edie Falco assumed 'Avatar: The Way of Water' already came out and bombed

Edie Falco is bringing "Gwyneth Paltrow didn't know she was in Spider-Man" energy to the Avatar press tour. The Sopranos alum has a role in Avatar: The Way of Water, but she revealed on The View she shot it so long ago, she just assumed it must have already come out and flopped. "I shot [Avatar] I think four years ago," she said. "And then I've been busy, I'm doing stuff, and then somebody mentioned Avatar, and I thought, 'Oh, I guess it came out and didn't do very well because I didn't hear anything. … And then somebody recently said, 'Avatar's coming out,' and I said, 'It hasn't come out yet?'" The Way of Water sets up Falco to return in 2024's Avatar 3, which was already shot in conjunction with the second film. But nobody tell Falco, who's in for another surprise this time in two years.

Variety

4. 'Little Mermaid' director had 'no agenda' casting Halle Bailey as Ariel

Here's one for the poor unfortunate souls who still can't accept a Black Ariel. Rob Marshall, director of the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid, has addressed the reaction to Halle Bailey being cast in the lead role, which led parents of Black children to share adorable videos of them reacting to the trailer. "I wasn't anticipating that because, in a way, I felt like we've moved so far past that kind of thing," Marshall told Entertainment Weekly, "but then you realize, in a way we haven't." There also, sadly, has been racist backlash to a Black woman playing Ariel. But Marshall told EW he had "no agenda" in the casting and that actors of "every ethnicity" were considered. "We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period," he said. "The end." Are you listening, YouTube commenters?

Entertainment Weekly

5. Aubrey Plaza to Drew Barrymore: 'Be my mommy. Feed me.'

Aubrey Plaza wishes she had been Drew Barrymore's nepotism baby. The White Lotus star sat down for an interview with Barrymore, and after the host shared an anecdote about writing personalized postcards for her children at camp, Plaza declared she's a "dream mom," and "I wish you were my mom." But both of them took this idea to the extreme and really committed to the bit to a somewhat disturbing degree. "Be my mommy," Plaza told her, slightly chanting the words. "Feed me! Feed me! Put me to bed. Put me to bed. Put me to bed. Nurture me. Nourish me." Far from being taken aback, Barrymore assured Plaza "I will" feed and nourish her. "Oh God, what I wouldn't do to put you to bed," she added as Plaza told her "I'm a hungry baby" and Barrymore responded, "And I have everything you need." Wow, we didn't expect to see a sequel to Barbarian this soon.

The Drew Barrymore Show