The daily gossip: Hailey Bieber addresses claim she 'stole' Justin from Selena Gomez, Lizzo plays James Madison's 200-year-old flute, and more

1. Hailey Bieber addresses claim she 'stole' Justin from Selena Gomez

Hailey Bieber wants to clear the air. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Bieber addressed claims she "stole" her husband, Justin Bieber, from his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, declaring definitively, "I can say period, point blank, I was never with him when he was in a relationship with anybody. That's the end of it." It's "not my character to mess with someone's relationship," she said, telling fans that nobody but the two of them knows "the truth of the situation" and "what the timeline really was." Bieber also revealed she has actually spoken with Gomez since marrying Justin, though she wasn't sure why the Only Murders in the Building star hasn't told fans to stop harassing her. "She doesn't owe me anything," Bieber said, but she added that if Gomez did want to do that, "then that would be amazing." So, will fans belieb her?

People Us Weekly

2. Lizzo plays James Madison's 200-year-old flute at D.C. concert

Lizzo's latest collab is here: It's with … President James Madison? During a Lizzo concert in Washington, D.C., the "About Damn Time" singer played a crystal flute that was gifted to James Madison in 1813. "NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD THIS FAMOUS CRYSTAL FLUTE BEFORE. NOW YOU HAVE," she tweeted, though according to NPR, it actually has been played before at least once. The crowd went absolutely wild as Lizzo popped off a few notes on the flute, which sounded, you know, like a flute. "B---h, I just twerked and played James Madison's crystal flute from the 1800s!" Lizzo shouted. "We just made history tonight!" To clarify, this wasn't a National Treasure heist scenario, as the Library of Congress invited Lizzo to play the flute, which comes from its collection of over 1,800 instruments. Benjamin Franklin's trombone, you're up next!

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NPR

3. Kenan Thompson's estranged wife is reportedly dating 'SNL' alum Chris Redd

What up with this? Saturday Night Live's Chris Redd is dating co-star Kenan Thompson's estranged wife Christina Evangeline, multiple reports have revealed just months after Thompson filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage. "The two know each other through SNL since Chris worked with her ex," a source told Entertainment Tonight. Redd recently announced he's leaving SNL, so fans put two and two together to theorize Thompson may have gotten Redd fired over this. But TMZ reports this isn't the case, as there was apparently "no overlap or cheating," nor is there any "bad blood" between Thompson and Redd. The TMZ report also says Thompson and his wife were separated for a while and had been planning to get divorced for about three years, so despite how it looks, it doesn't sound like Chris got caught Redd handed.

TMZ Entertainment Tonight

4. Is the Mahershala Ali 'Blade' movie in trouble?

Is the new Blade suffering a death by a thousand cuts? The director of Marvel's Blade reboot, starring Mahershala Ali as the titular vampire hunter, has abruptly exited the project a mere two months before production was scheduled to begin. Marvel cited "continued shifts in our production schedule" in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, while the director, Bassam Tariq, said he's excited "to see where the next director takes the film." He'll remain on as an executive producer. Marvel has replaced directors before, but it was surprising to see the studio lose one so close to the planned start of production, especially considering the movie is supposed to hit theaters in just over a year. But on Twitter, The Ankler reporter Jeff Sneider said sources have told him the current Blade script is only 90 pages long and "features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences," adding that Ali is "said to be very frustrated with the process." Help us, Sam Raimi ... you're our only hope.

Variety The Hollywood Reporter

5. Paramount removes 'Star Trek 4' from calendar after failing to tell the cast they're in it

The next Star Trek movie is boldly going back into development hell. Paramount has removed a planned fourth Star Trek film from its release calendar after announcing it would hit theaters in December 2023. Attempts to make the sequel have dragged on for years, but producer J.J. Abrams claimed during a Paramount investor day in February it was on track to begin shooting by the end of 2022. The only problem? The Hollywood Reporter subsequently revealed the teams of most of the stars, including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, "were not aware that an announcement for another film was coming, much less that their clients would be touted as a part of the deal." But hey, name a more iconic duo than J.J. Abrams and poor planning, right? The movie then lost its director, Matt Shakman, who bailed to make Marvel's Fantastic Four instead. "Maybe announcing the movie for investors before securing the cast wasn't [a] great strategy?" Puck's Matthew Belloni tweeted. Most illogical.

Deadline