The daily gossip: Internet sleuths cast doubt on North West's art skills, Michelle Obama's new costars are puppets, and more

(Image credit: Kim Kardashian/Instagram)

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1. North West painted a beautiful nature scene … or did she?
2. Michelle Obama to star in a Netflix cooking show featuring puppets
3. Claudia Conway will appear in the premiere of American Idol
4. Stars defend Britney Spears in wake of 'heartbreaking' documentary
5. Jamie Lee Curtis mistook popcorn for an ear pod

published 9 February 2021

1. North West painted a beautiful nature scene … or did she?

North West painted a mountain landscape, and like any proud mom, Kim Kardashian shared it on Instagram. But unlike most moms, Kardashian has 204 million followers. Thus the 7-year-old's artwork was thrust into the public eye and spawned a Twitter debate. The painting was so good that it elicited comparisons to Bob Ross. But it was also so good that many didn't believe North actually painted it. One Twitter user wrote: "I'm supposed to work but I can't stop thinking about how North West did not paint this." But TikTok user Camryn Fred has receipts. She explained her mom is North's art teacher, and has all of her students begin with that painting. Further proof: The bottom right corner renders the artist's signature, "North" with a smiley face. Case closed.

Michelle Obama is getting her chef's hat and taste buds ready for a mouthwatering new kids show. Waffles + Mochi, a new children's cooking show on Netflix, will star the former first lady as a supermarket owner alongside the titular puppet characters, who "dream of being chefs ... and with a little help from Michelle Obama, they go on food adventures all over the world," Netflix said. Obama characterized the show as "an extension of my work to support children's health as first lady," and added "I wish a program like this had been around when my girls were young." The Obamas signed a production deal with Netflix in 2018, and a Netflix documentary produced by their company Higher Ground Productions, American Factory, won an Oscar in 2020. Next stop, an Emmy?

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America's favorite rebellious teenager, Claudia Conway, will appear in the upcoming season premiere of American Idol, the singing competition series teased on Monday night. The 16-year-old daughter of Kellyanne Conway, a top aide of former President Donald Trump, and George Conway, an attorney and outspoken Trump critic, Claudia Conway won fans and sympathy last summer by posting about her dislike of the president on TikTok, and later, breaking the news that her family had COVID-19. More recently, the Conways' familial friction has been in the news after Kellyanne Conway was accused of accidentally posting topless photos of Claudia online, but in the American Idol teaser, both Claudia's parents appear to be giving her support and encouragement. "I'm very nervous but very excited!" Claudia says of her audition.

Framing Britney Spears, a documentary about the pop star's career and conservatorship, debuted over the weekend, and brought on a new wave of #FreeBritney cries. "Never has one person been so used and abandoned by every facet around her," Kacey Musgraves wrote, encouraging her followers to watch the doc. "No artist today would have to endure the literal torture that media/society/utter misogynists inflicted upon her," Hayley Williams of Paramore wrote. Journalist Tamron Hall said it is an "understatement to call [the documentary] heartbreaking." Spears' boyfriend Sam Asghari broke his silence to make his feelings on her father and conservator clear: "In my opinion, Jamie [Spears] is a total d---." The documentary, created by The New York Times, is available on FX and Hulu.

Quarantine brain happens to us all. Maybe you unthinkingly put the remote control in the refrigerator. Maybe you binged all of Tiger King in a single day even though you hated every minute of it (guilty). For actress Jamie Lee Curtis, it was sticking popcorn in her ears. As the 62-year-old shared on Instagram, she had "picked up my ear pod and put it in my ear and was trying to figure out why I couldn't hear," only to realize she'd accidentally stuffed a puffed kernel in her ear instead. Curtis joked, "So I'm definitely over this whole isolation thing." Jamie, same.

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