The daily gossip: Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are back together, Michael B. Jordan's Star Wars audition was his 'worst' to date, and more

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1. Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are apparently back together
2. Michael B. Jordan 'bombed' his audition for Star Wars
3. Courteney Cox says dancing in the Friends fountain was 'not fun'
4. New York Times slammed over covering a fake Billie Eilish 'controversy'
5. Elon Musk's SpaceX launches keep getting mistaken for alien invasions

published 6 May 2021

1. Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are apparently back together

After photos emerged this winter of Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell attending a plantation-themed party in college, sparking the show's longtime host Chris Harrison to controversially defend her and then subsequently be pushed out (???) of the show, followed then by Rachael winning the Matt James' season only for him to break up with her on TV by citing her history of racial insensitivity and the fact that she can't understand "my Blackness and what it means to be a Black man in America" — Matt and Rachael are, unbelievably, back together! "I've seen Rachael a handful of times," Matt told People. "I'm not pursuing any relationships right now outside of that." He later elaborated to The Wall Street Journal that "I think it's unfair to leave people without the ability to unlearn and be better." Aaaaaaaand … scene!

The Force wasn't with Michael B. Jordan when he auditioned for Star Wars. The actor opened up to Variety about once auditioning for a role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens — and completely bombing. "I think that was probably my worst audition to date," the actor said. "I definitely bombed that one for sure." Jordan explained the extreme secrecy of J.J. Abrams' film threw him off, noting that "when you're reading for these high-level projects, there's never really any specificity in the sides," and "reading through, I just couldn't connect it." He didn't go into further detail about the apparently terrible audition, but we'd like to think he ultimately blew it by accidentally throwing in a "live long and prosper."

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Could the Friends cast have been any more miserable while dancing in that fountain? Courteney Cox spoke with Ellen DeGeneres about filming the famous opening credits sequence for Friends, describing it as not a particularly enjoyable experience. "It's not fun to be dancing in a fountain for hours and hours," Cox said. The shots apparently took so long to get, Cox recalled Matthew Perry declaring, "Can't remember a time that I wasn't in this fountain." Good luck forgetting that every time you catch a rerun from now on. "It was fun," Cox added, "but not really." It must have felt like they were in there for a day, a week, a month, or even a year.

Journalists and fans are furious with The New York Times after the publication ran a story about a "fake controversy" concerning Billie Eilish's recent photoshoot for the cover of British Vogue, Mediaite reports. In the pictures, Eilish, 19, "eschew[ed] her trademark oversized silhouette in favor of a series of form-fitting catsuits and corset-inspired looks styled with pieces from designers such as Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Valentino, and Burberry," CNN explains. The Times reported that some fans "felt betrayed" by Eilish's new style, but "the entire thing hinges on one person (bot?) who didn't like it: a Twitter user with 3 followers who joined the platform in December and has only tweeted in English once," Vice News correspondent Roberto Aram Ferdman tweeted. Don't let it bother you, Billie — you looked lovely.

Elon Musk "terrified Los Angelenos" on Wednesday night by accidentally making them think that the Earth was being invaded by aliens, according to TMZ. It all started when Musk's SpaceX launched satellites on Wednesday afternoon; by the evening "they were still in low orbit, and they were still clustered together so we call this like the Starlink train," astronomer James Davenport said. But the chain of lights in the sky could've startled unsuspecting earthlings: "Elon just made me think I was about to die thank you starlink satellites," tweeted one person. It isn't the first time one of Musk's projects has made people think aliens were invading, which just goes to show that when aliens do visit one day, they'll probably be shrugged off initially as a SpaceX launch.

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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.