The daily gossip: March 17, 2020

1. Tom Hanks has been released from the hospital

How about a bit of good news? Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have reportedly been released from the hospital after being diagnosed with the new coronavirus last week. The couple, both 63, were in Australia when they started getting body aches and low fevers; Hanks was set to film a movie about Elvis Presley in the country, although production has since been suspended. Hanks and Wilson are "still self-quarantined obviously, but they're feeling a lot better so that's a relief," their son, Chet Hanks, said. Tom Hanks, ever a gem, posted a photograph of a stuffed kangaroo to express his gratitude to hospital staff over the weekend: "Thanks to the Helpers," he wrote. "Let's take care of ourselves and each other."

The New York Times

2. Celebrities react to Tom Brady's departure from the Patriots

Pour one out for Boston, which lost Tom Brady on St. Patrick's Day of all days. The six-time Super Bowl champ announced Tuesday that he will be leaving the New England Patriots after 20 years to become a free agent. Boston native Chris Evans shouted out "the greatest quarterback of all time" in a tweet, telling Brady "it was a privilege to watch you work," while Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted: "Hate to see you leave, but support you wherever you go, brother." Even the Denver Broncos had to pay tribute: "Best of luck wherever your football journey takes you next," the team account tweeted, "unless it's in the AFC West."

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Boston.com USA Today

3. Jared Leto didn't know about the pandemic because he was meditating in the desert

Jared Leto has emerged from a 12-day silent meditation in the desert to discover that the world is on fire. "Mind-blowing — to say the least," he wrote on Instagram. Leto claimed he and his fellow spiritual pilgrims were "totally isolated" and "we had no idea what was happening outside the facility," but now he is "catching up on what's going on," by which he presumably means the vast existential dread the rest of us have been dealing with over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, Just Jared reports that contestants on Germany's edition of Big Brother still don't know about the pandemic, having been sealed off on Feb. 6, but that they'll find out "in a special Tuesday edition of the show."

Instagram Just Jared

4. Colbert delivers monologue from his bathtub amid Late Show coronavirus hiatus

Admit it: The only reason you haven't telecommuted from your bathtub this week is because you hadn't thought of it. Due to the fact that late night shows have suspended production over the coronavirus outbreak, CBS ran an old episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night, and Colbert opened the rerun with a surprise new monologue delivered in his bathtub. Colbert noted that the government is encouraging people to "avoid human contact indefinitely, and on behalf of the socially anxious everywhere, let me just say: way ahead of you." He urged his own viewers to stay home, noting that by simply sitting on the couch watching TV, you can "save the world."

The Hollywood Reporter The Week

5. Iggy Azalea watched Cats despite her fans begging her not to

In case you were wondering how Iggy Azalea is coping under quarantine, the rapper got so bored on Tuesday that she actually resorted to watching 2019's Cats. "I am that bored," she confirmed to fans, who urged her "don't do it" and "it's horrible." Iggy nevertheless soldiered on. "Whelp those were some talented cats, there's no denying that," she reported back afterwards. The movie, which was described generously by one critic as "a dispatch from some neon-drenched netherworld where the ghastly is inextricable from the tedious," is out on DVD, blu-ray, and VOD today.

The Daily Mail Los Angeles Times