The daily gossip: Tom Hanks will host the inauguration, Anne Hathaway wants you to stop calling her Anne, and more

1. Tom Hanks to host Joe Biden's inauguration special

Who could be more fitting to host the inauguration of Uncle Joe than America's Dad? Tom Hanks is set to host President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week, which will primarily be a TV special since in-person events have been dramatically scaled back due to the pandemic. The event will last 90 minutes, and also feature performances by major artists like Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons, and Jon Bon Jovi — a marked improvement on the other guy, who was inaugurated to the tune of 3 Doors Down. The inauguration special is set to air on Jan. 20 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, and it will also reportedly stream online via several platforms.

Politico The Week

2. Anne Hathaway wants you to stop calling her Anne

Anne Hathaway is literally begging you to stop calling her by her name. Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, the actress told Fallon that she prefers if he calls her "anything but Anne." Hathaway went on to urge everyone watching to "call me Annie, everybody, everybody, call me Annie, please." As Hathaway put it, "The only person who calls me Anne is my mother and she only does it when she's really mad at me, like, really mad … People are like, 'Anne!' And I'm like 'What? What did I do?'" Hathaway then dubiously asserted that Anne "doesn't fit," and reiterated, "I'm an Annie." Or, if you prefer, a Miss H or Hath — just definitely, definitely not Anne.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Just Jared

3. Ellen DeGeneres can't figure out why 'everyone around me ran away'

Ellen DeGeneres, who was outed for allegedly being a toxic and mean boss just prior to catching one of the deadliest infectious diseases in modern history, can't understand why "everyone around me ran away." The host returned to The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week for the first time since she tested positive for COVID-19 back in December. As DeGeneres recounted in her opening monologue, "I was in hair and makeup, getting my face powdered and my extensions put in, and then my assistant Craig walks in and said, 'You tested positive for COVID,' and then everyone around me ran away." Mused DeGeneres, "It's funny, people just really get scared, and they ran. Some have not come back since." Hmm, a mystery!

Vulture

4. Betty White says turning 99 is no different than turning 98

Betty White is (almost) 99 and feeling fine. The actress celebrates her birthday this coming Sunday, and while she has no big celebrations planned due to the pandemic, she intends to feed the two ducks who visit her every day, and is looking forward to "visiting with close friends" as soon as it's safe to do so. "I am blessed with good health," she noted, "so turning 99 is no different than turning 98." She told People a sense of humor is what's kept her going. "Don't take yourself too seriously. You can lie to others — not that I would — but you cannot lie to yourself," White said. She also recommends looking on the positive side of things — being negative takes up too much energy. Oh, and "having a good agent" to keep you busy.

People Entertainment Tonight

5. After filming an action movie while pregnant, Jodie Turner-Smith wants more

Jodie Turner-Smith filmed Tom Clancy's Without Remorse while in her second trimester of pregnancy, and it taught her a lesson. "The men think they're hard-core," she told Elle, "but they could never do what they do while also making a baby. They just couldn't." Turner-Smith says she wants in on more action movies, particularly action where she's allowed to be a woman, where humanity shines through. "True strength is not found in force and brutality, but in vulnerability," she said. Speaking of strength, childbirth taught her another thing: "Patriarchal society really is out here, scamming women into thinking that they're not supremely powerful beings. Because damn, it's some goddess-level sh--."

Elle