The daily gossip: Paris Hilton is engaged, Emma Stone is Cruella de Vil, and more

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1. Paris Hilton is engaged, and the proposal is thoroughly documented on her website
2. First trailer for Disney's Cruella gives villain a Joker-style origin story
3. Conversations With Friends sets cast, forces us to talk about Sally Rooney again
4. Ashley Judd is recovering after breaking her leg in the rainforest of Congo
5. Prince Philip hospitalized 'after feeling unwell'

published 17 February 2021

1. Paris Hilton is engaged, and the proposal is thoroughly documented on her website

When you find your soulmate, you don't just know it. According to Paris Hilton, "you feel it." Hilton announced her engagement to Carter Reum on Wednesday, which also happens to be her 40th birthday. Reum whisked Hilton away for a birthday trip to a private tropical island, and "a peaceful pre-dinner walk turned into much more when Carter dropped to one knee." After she said yes, the duo celebrated "safely" with family and friends. The ring, deemed the "Paris" (named after Hilton, but inspired by the city), was designed by Jean Dousset of the Cartier family, and appears to be "lit from within," per Hilton, who wore sparkly gloves while showcasing her new bling. Congrats to Paris for nabbing all she's ever wanted: the simple life.

On Wednesday, Disney released the first trailer for its upcoming live-action Cruella de Vil movie, and in doing so confirmed that we live in a society. Set in 1970s London, Emma Stone stars in Cruella as the "bad, brilliant, a little bit mad" villainess who — as we know from 101 Dalmatians — will one day grow up to be an aspiring puppy mass-murderer. Inspiring! Disney's sympathetic origin story naturally drew comparisons to another beloved gritty villain, with Vox's Alex Abad-Santos observing, "I do love [that] the premise of Cruella is what if someone girlboss'd so hard they became the Joker." It really does make you wonder, is it just me or are movies getting crazier out there?

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Some things are forever, like diamonds and red wine stains and the sap you get on your hand when you accidentally touch a tree. Likewise inescapable is the Sally Rooney discourse, which continued on Wednesday with news of Hulu's adaptation of her first novel, Conversations With Friends. The series will star Alison Oliver, who is described by The Hollywood Reporter as an "emerging talent from Lir Academy" in Dublin, the same drama school that gave the world (and Phoebe Bridgers) Normal People's Paul Mescal. Sasha Lane, Joe Alwyn, and Jemima Kirke will also star in the 12-episode, half-hour series, which is expected to air next year — meaning, yes, it will be at least 2023 before people stop talking Sally Rooney (or just in time for someone to adapt her forthcoming novel).

Actress Ashley Judd was researching bonobos in the Congo when she tripped over a tree on the rainforest floor, breaking her leg in four places. After a "grueling 55 hour odyssey," she reached an ICU in South Africa on Saturday and is recovering. Judd shared photos of herself being carried out of the rainforest in a hammock, and thanked those who helped her. She took her followers through the journey, explaining how a man sat with her for 5 hours on the forest floor, waiting for help to arrive. She was then carried in the hammock for 3 hours over rough terrain, followed by a 6 hour motorbike journey. "Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me," Judd wrote.

Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, has been hospitalized in London for "feeling unwell," which is both vague (who isn't feeling "unwell" these days!) and somewhat worrisome, because the U.K.'s Duke of Edinburgh is 99 years old. Buckingham Palace, however, reassured that the Duke's admission is only a "precautionary measure," while CNN specifically went out of its way to confirm that it is in no way related to COVID-19. The Queen and Prince Philip received their COVID-19 vaccines last month, and CNN additionally reports that the Duke "traveled to the hospital by car and it was not an emergency admission." Hopefully he gets well — and can return to his reading about UFOs — very soon.

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