The daily gossip: January 31, 2020

Billie Eilish calls out pranksters impersonating her on YouTube, Tom Brady is driving everyone nuts with a mystery photo, and more

Billie Eilish.
(Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for LACMA)

1. Billie Eilish calls out pranksters impersonating her on YouTube

It's not too hard to replicate Billie Eilish's signature look: green hair, colorful sunglasses, oversized hoodie. But in a recent Instagram post, Eilish drew the line at a recent trend: YouTubers impersonating her in public, in a series of prank videos that have amassed millions of views. "It is not safe for you and it is mean to people who don't know any better," complained Eilish. The singer is next slated to perform at the Oscars on February 9th — unless, of course, some lookalike prankster swipes her spot and makes a viral video out of it.

2. Tom Brady is driving everyone nuts with a mystery photo

We have a new 'glass half-empty/glass half-full' conundrum: Is Tom Brady entering or exiting the stadium? The longtime quarterback for the New England Patriots — who faces intense speculation about whether he'll play for the Patriots in the 2020-2021 football season — posted a mysterious black-and-white photo of himself, standing shadowed in an empty stadium. An ESPN reporter has since claimed a source told him the cryptic tweet was "not related to Tom Brady's football future," but right or wrong, you've got to hand it to Brady: Even when the Patriots got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, he found a way to get everyone gabbing about the Patriots on Super Bowl weekend.

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People

3. Sources claim Taylor Swift didn't show up to the Grammys because she wasn't guaranteed a win

Taylor Swift's "surprise" performance was one of the worst-kept secrets leading up to the Grammy Awards, which is why it was actually surprising when she didn't end up performing at all. The reason, according to several anonymous sources? Swift refused to show up unless the Grammys team confirmed she'd be bringing a trophy home. "It was understood in the conversation that if she's not winning, she's not coming to the Grammys," said one source. In response, a representative for Swift called the story "laughable" and said, "She just didn't go to the Grammys. You guys need to calm down" — because every press release is a fresh chance to promote a new song.

Page Six

4. Adam Sandler will make at least four more movies for Netflix

Adam Sandler didn't score that Oscar nomination for Uncut Gems, so we guess he'll just have to settle for the next best thing: a dump truck full of money from Netflix. The streaming service announced it has renewed its deal with Sandler, setting the stage for four future Sandler movies to premiere exclusively on Netflix. In a statement celebrating the renewed pact, Netflix boasted that its subscribers have spent more than two billion hours watching Sandler movies since 2015 — so maybe this whole thing has just been an elaborate experiment designed to discover whether Netflix subscribers will ever get tired of seeing Sandler and his buddies swapping the same tired fart jokes.

The Hollywood Reporter

5. The Crown will end with its fifth season

The Crown's reign is coming to a close. Netflix has announced that the award-winning drama will end with its upcoming fifth season, which will see Imelda Staunton take over in the lead role of Queen Elizabeth. In a statement, creator Peter Morgan said it was his decision to end the series, saying, "It has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop" — perhaps because the actual royal drama of 2020 is starting to eclipse anything he could do with the TV series.

The Hollywood Reporter

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.