The daily gossip: Tom Hardy won a Jiu-Jitsu competition, Shakira is in the 'darkest hour of my life,' and more

1. Tom Hardy won a Jiu-Jitsu competition

If you enter a Jiu-Jitsu competition with Tom Hardy, it will be extremely painful ... for you. The Dark Knight Rises star entered the 2022 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship this past weekend — and he won. A spokesperson confirmed as much to The Guardian, saying Hardy is a "really nice guy" who "was very humble and was happy to take time out for people to take photographs with him." Danny Appleby, who faced Hardy in the tournament, told the local outlet TeessideLive he was "shell-shocked" after the actor randomly showed up. "I've done about six tournaments and I've been on the podium in every one," he said. "But he's probably the toughest competitor I've had — he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that's for sure." This isn't even Hardy's first rodeo, as the actor, who starred in the MMA movie Warrior, previously won the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in August. To be fair, though, Venom helped.

The Guardian

2. Shakira is in the 'darkest hour of my life'

It's been a taxing year for Shakira. The "Hips Don't Lie" singer opened up to Elle about splitting with soccer star Gerard Piqué after 12 years together: "Sometimes I just feel like this is all a bad dream and that I'm going to wake up at some point," she said. "But no, it's real." Shakira said her separation from Piqué has been "really upsetting" for their two children, and on top of that, she discussed how her dad "has been in the ICU" for a subdural hematoma, got brain surgery, and then also fell and broke "many" bones in his face. "This is probably the darkest hour of my life," she said. There are also, of course, the allegations of tax fraud, and Spanish prosecutors want to send her to prison for eight years. "These are false accusations," she told Elle, claiming prosecutors have "resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people." But she's confident "justice will prevail in my favor."

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Elle

3. Pete Davidson asked to meet Kaley Cuoco in an escape room

Is the secret to Pete Davidson getting Earth's most eligible bachelorettes to date him … escape rooms? On The Tonight Show, Kaley Cuoco described the odd way she met the Saturday Night Live star after they signed on to appear in a romantic comedy together, Meet Cute. Cuoco figured they'd get coffee while Davidson was in Los Angeles, but he had different plans. "I find out that he would like to meet me, but he wanted to meet me in an escape room," she said. "And I'm like, you know what Pete? Not everyone has to end up on TMZ. I'm like, why can't anything be normal?" But she did, in fact, meet Davidson in an escape room as requested, something she very much did not enjoy because "I like answers." But Davidson apparently had a great time, which makes sense since he has BDE — Big Detective Energy.

The Tonight Show

4. Is a Will Smith movie entering the 2023 Oscar race?

Is Apple looking to slap together another Will Smith Oscar campaign? Emancipation, a film starring Smith from director Antoine Fuqua, could be released in time for the first Academy Awards of our post-Slap world, according to Deadline. The thriller from Apple TV+ stars Smith as a runaway slave, and it was filmed before he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported Apple has been discussing whether to release the film by the end of the year amid questions about whether the Slap will kill its awards chances. Now, Deadline reports Apple is "determining a release date" for "December or early 2023," and The Ankler reporter Jeff Sneider tweeted that the film is "expected" to be released "in early December." That would make Smith eligible for an Oscar at next year's ceremony, even though he's banned from attending it — which, apparently, is supposed to be a punishment.

Deadline

5. Drew Barrymore can go 'years' without sex

"Never been kissed"? No big deal. On her talk show, Drew Barrymore joked she isn't remotely impressed by Andrew Garfield abstaining from sex for six months. Garfield recently discussed how he got into character as a Jesuit priest for the movie Silence by being celibate for half a year. But Barrymore's reaction? Those are rookie numbers! "What's wrong with me that six months doesn't seem like a very long time?" she joked. "I was like, 'Yeah, so?'" Contributor Ross Mathews, who joked he personally abstained from sex during "my entire 20s," responded that they had "buried the lede," which is that Barrymore "can go six months" without sex. But the 50 First Dates star will do you one better: "Oh, years," Barrymore laughingly corrected. Sure, sex is great, but have you ever built a house out of waffles with Adam Sandler in Hawaii?

Us Weekly Variety