The daily gossip: Embattled Golden Globes group to shutter, Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup get married, and more

1. Embattled Golden Globes group to shutter

Say goodbye to everyone's favorite awards season punching bag. Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge have acquired all of the "assets, rights, and properties" of the Golden Globes from the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association. This comes more than two years after the Los Angeles Times reported on alleged ethical lapses within the HFPA and revealed the group had zero Black members. "The transaction will result in the winddown of the HFPA and its membership," an announcement said, while HFPA president Helen Hoehne said "we are excited" to "transition from a member-led organization to a commercial enterprise." In other words, the HFPA, "at least on paper, is no more," the Los Angeles Times noted. But proceeds from the acquisition and the HFPA's resources will "transition into" the new Golden Globe Foundation, while Dick Clark Productions and partners will "plan, host, and produce" the Golden Globes going forward. Who better to oversee the one broadcast a year where everyone's more drunk than on New Year's Eve?

Golden Globes

2. Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup get married

Watts Naomi been up to? Getting married, it turns out. Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup have tied the knot, the actress confirmed over the weekend. Watts shared a photo of herself and Crudup outside a Manhattan courthouse, writing, "Hitched!" She also shared a look at her "flowers from the deli!!" Andy Cohen commented that he feels "partially responsible for this," to which Watts replied, "Yes you can take a decent to large portion of the credit." Watts and Crudup have been dating since 2017 after they worked together on the Netflix show "Gypsy." Fans suspected they were engaged earlier this year after Watts was spotted wearing a diamond ring, though she played coy about it on the "Today" show. Both Watts and Crudup have children from previous relationships, as she shares two kids with Liev Schreiber, while Crudup shares a son with Mary-Louise Parker. "Congratulations!!!" Schreiber commented on Instagram. "Gorgeous!!!"

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3. Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee become first nonbinary acting winners at the Tonys

Happy Pride Month from the 2023 Tony Awards. History was made twice over during Sunday's awards show, as Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first openly nonbinary people to win acting Tonys. "Thank you for seeing me, Broadway," said Newell, who won best featured actor in a musical for "Shucked." "I should not be up here as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts." Ghee also won best lead actor in a musical for "Some Like It Hot," saying, "For every trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn't be seen, this is for you." The night's big winner was "Kimberly Akimbo," which took home five awards. Ariana DeBose hosted the ceremony, which didn't have written material due to the writers strike. "I am live and unscripted," DeBose announced at the top of the show, pointing out that there would be no teleprompters all evening. With or without a script, she did the thing.

4. Megan Fox blasts claim she forces her kids 'to wear girls clothes'

Megan Fox isn't taking claims about her parenting sitting down. The "Jennifer's Body" star hit back on Instagram after Robby Starbuck, a former congressional candidate, accused her of "pure child abuse." Starbuck tweeted a photo of Fox with her kids, claiming he "saw 2 of them have a full on breakdown saying they were forced by their mom to wear girls clothes as their nanny tried to console them." Fox responded by telling Starbuck to "never use children as leverage or social currency," adding that "exploiting my child's gender identity to gain attention in your political campaign has put you on the wrong side of the universe." She went on to declare that she has "been burned at the stake by insecure, narcissistic, impotent little men like you many times," and he just "f--ked with the wrong witch." Brian Austin Green, Fox's ex-husband and father of her kids, also weighed in, telling TMZ, "It's a totally bogus story."

Instagram

5. Joseph Fiennes admits he shouldn't have played Michael Jackson

That casting idea was bad, it was bad, shamone. Joseph Fiennes admitted to The Observer that he shouldn't have played Michael Jackson in 2016 for an episode of the anthology "Urban Myths." The actor wore makeup for the role so his skin would appear lighter, meaning he could simultaneously "be accused of both blackface and whiteface," as The Observer put it. The Jackson family strongly objected at the time, with the singer's daughter, Paris Jackson, tweeting, "It honestly makes me want to vomit." Looking back, Fiennes agreed "people are absolutely right to be upset" and admitted "it was a wrong decision" and a "bad mistake." Sky pulled the episode before it aired, citing "concerns expressed by Michael Jackson's immediate family." But Fiennes said he also "asked the broadcaster to pull it" himself, "and there were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice." He doesn't regret telling that episode to beat it.

The Observer