The daily gossip: Beyoncé's visual album includes cameos by all three of her kids, another celebrity speaks out about Ellen DeGeneres, and more

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1. Beyoncé's new visual album includes rare footage of Blue Ivy, Sir, and Rumi
2. Another celebrity describes 'toxic work culture' at Ellen DeGeneres' show as 'common knowledge'
3. Charlize Theron is dating herself right now, thank you very much
4. Matthew McConaughey has written a memoir about trying to solve 'the riddle of life'
5. Michael Jackson once gave an 'elaborate presentation' to try to play Professor Xavier in X-Men

published 31 July 2020

1. Beyoncé's new visual album includes rare footage of Blue Ivy, Sir, and Rumi

Beyoncé's new visual album, Black Is King, is a family affair. In addition to appearances by Lupita Nyong'o, Kelly Rowland, and Pharrell Williams, the film includes cameos by Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles-Lawson, her husband Jay-Z, and the couple's three kids, 8-year-old Blue Ivy, and 3-year-old twins Sir and Rumi. Particularly special is a moment when Blue Ivy sings on "Brown Skin Girl," a song she previously won a BET Award for. The project is described as a "celebratory memoir for the world on the Black experience," so the kids' inclusion makes sense. Black Is King ends with a dedication to Sir Carter "and to all our sons and daughters, the sun and moon bow for you, you are the keys to the kingdom."

Ellen DeGeneres recently issued an apology to her staff after BuzzFeed News published a detailed report earlier this month about her show's "toxic work culture" — but Everybody Loves Raymond actor Brad Garrett isn't buying it. "Sorry, but it comes from the top," Garrett tweeted, adding that he knew "more than one who were treated horribly by her.⁩ Common knowledge." Other celebrities and industry insiders have also spoken out about DeGeneres' behavior, including Kathy Griffin, who detailed her negative experience in one of her books, prompting DeGeneres to call her to complain. "'Ellen, this is my experience with you,' I said. 'You've been mean to me. I'm not saying you're a mean person across the board, but you can't, like, take my story away," Griffin supposedly replied.

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You can't be disappointed by romantic partners if you date yourself! That's the stance of Charlize Theron, who recently explained to her 8- and 5-year-old daughters that she doesn't need a man. "Two days ago I was in the car with my two girls and my little one said something like 'You need a boyfriend!'" Theron told InCharge with DVF host Diane Von Furstenberg. "And I said, 'Actually, I don't. Right now, I feel really good.'" When her 5-year-old insisted, Theron explained that she's in a relationship with herself. "She had this look in her eye like she had never really contemplated that that was even a possibility," Theron said. "Her mind was blown."

Good news in 2020 is hard to come by, but at least a Matthew McConaughey memoir is on its way. The actor, who's kept a diary since he was a kid, announced that he finally "worked up the courage to take all those journals off into solitary confinement ... and I returned with a book." But this isn't your typical celebrity memoir! It's McConaughey's struggle to solve the "riddle of life," with the actor calling it "an album, a record, a story of my life so far. … This is 50 years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops." Alright, alright, alright.

Apparently Michael Jackson was at one time in talks to play Professor Xavier in Bryan Singer's 2000 movie, X-Men? "I said to him, 'Do you know Xavier is an older white guy?'" X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in a cover story published Friday. "And Michael said, 'Oh yeah. You know, I can wear makeup.'" The singer then supposedly "queued up an elaborate presentation complete with the short film Ghosts, in which the pop star morphed into a 60-something white mayor railing against a well-meaning performer who entertains local children with magic tricks." Twentieth Century Fox was apparently never sold on the idea — "Michael was already in the thick of all his allegations by X-Men" — and the part eventually went to Patrick Stewart.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.