Julia Roberts

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Travis Kelce blabbed on his weekly podcast that it was HIS idea to join girlfriend Taylor Swift onstage during one of her recent European concerts, but we just heard what he DIDN’T reveal. Travis also came up with the idea of appearing in one of Taylor’s upcoming music videos for her latest album and my source says that some of it has already been filmed. Unlike most of Taylor’s last lovers (who’ve preferred to keep things on the down low) Travis loves the spotlight and enjoys having their romance out in the open.

Julia Roberts and her husband Danny Moder celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary on July 4 with an Instagram post but I’m hearing that the couple ( who many predicted wouldn’t last) also have a secret Independence Day tradition where they renew their wedding vows to one another in private. The notoriously private couple stunned their friends and family 22 years ago when they got married during a July 4 celebration and Julia confided to a pal that they’ve repeated their wedding vow tradition almost every year (a few times they were apart working so they did it on a different date).

Desperate to save his faltering presidential campaign, Joe Biden is on an interview tour as we exclusively reported. Now we are hearing that in addition to the tour, Biden is prepared to take a cognitive test and release the results regardless of how they turn out. My political source says that at this point the president is willing to try almost anything to prove to the American people that he’s capable of being president and not mentally challenged.

On the other hand we are also hearing that his presumptive Republican challenger Donald Trump is TERRIFIED that Biden will be replaced and he’ll have to run against someone younger. My source says that Donald thoroughly enjoys painting Biden as old and feeble, but he’s worried he will be the one looking frail against a younger Democratic candidate. Get this: He’s even started using his wife Melania’s skin serum and emulsion that she orders from a top plastic surgeon every month. Donald is suddenly taking his appearance seriously. In addition to the fancy potions he’s also updating his wardrobe in hopes of appearing younger than 78!

Finally, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck made headlines for spending the holiday weekend on different coasts, but still wearing their wedding rings! For a couple seemingly on the verge of divorce, it’s odd that their rings are back on. Here’s what we know. Their marriage is rife with problems, including their different lifestyles (she loves the limelight and loves to live large, while he’s private and parsimonious). The only things they seem to have in common is incredible sexual chemistry and a true love and respect for one another. So for now, they’re not throwing in the towel, but are hoping to work out some sort of arrangement to stay married but live apart. As for the rings, we heard it was a calculated move to show the public they’re still working on their union.

PHOTO: New Heights podcast

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Emma Roberts made headlines when she remarked that Hollywood women are far more often called out as “nepo babies” than Hollywood men, while appearing on the podcast Table for Two. She pointed out George Clooney as the ultimate nepo baby. Emma had a valid point: although George is talented, his aunt was the iconic Rosemary Clooney which opened doors for him in Hollywood. Although she sort of backtracked her comments, Emma’s aunt, who just happens to also be one of George’s best friends, Julia Roberts, was miffed over the incident. Our source told us that hours after the podcast became news, Julia got on the phone to Emma and gave her quite the earful. We can reveal that Emma, at Julia’s urging, reached out to George and apologized for bringing his name up. Even though Julia was upset, good-natured George just laughed it off.

Alec Baldwin made the news again for all the wrong reasons. This week his attorneys asked the New Mexico judge to dismiss the case against him over firearm evidence. The long shot move is unlikely to fly and here’s what we know. Behind very closed doors Alec’s legal eagles are trying to negotiate a plea deal which will allow him to serve any time in house arrest, pay a substantial fine, and work on legislation banning REAL guns on movie sets. Nothing has been agreed to as of yet, but secret negotiations continue.

Estranged lovebirds Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez created some buzz when they were spotted in the same Beverly Hills office building. Although they arrived and left separately we are hearing that the “meeting” was actually part of a therapy session. Ben arrived first and had an individual session, and then later in the day J.Lo arrived to join him for a joint couples session. Their future together seems to change by the moment, but they want to make sure they give their marriage every chance to survive.

Miranda Lambert’s handsome hubby, former NYC cop Brendan McLoughlin made news and she ain’t happy about it. Brendan was seen getting chummy with other females that weren’t his wife, and he did it at the Nashville bar, Casa Rosa, that Miranda’s OWNS! While Brendan claimed he was just being a good host (he occasionally works there) we are hearing that Miranda was nonetheless irked at his misstep, and put him on notice that he won’t be hanging out in her bar, or any other bar for that matter, unless she’s WITH him!

Finally to end the week on an uplifting note, Selma Blair was spotted all over Paris this week looking great during the countless fashion shows. We know this. Selma’s trip wasn’t all pleasure. The brave MS sufferer also spent a great deal of time meeting with designers to encourage them to include canes in their accessories. Selma relies on a cane to help her with stability issues caused by the MS and she’s made no secret that it’s hard to find anything stylish. As my source puts it, Selma wants to make canes more attractive and fashionable.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

JULIA ROBERTS WANTS TO STAR IN BARBARA WALTERS STORY

Julia Roberts wouldn’t mind having another Oscar, and she hopes Barbara Walters can help make it happen. Julia is trying to secure the rights to Barbara’s life story and hopes to play her from the years 1964 when Barbara was hired as a “Today girl” on The Today Show, until her death in 2022 at the age of 93. Her 1991 interview with Barbara cemented Julia as a major movie star and throughout the decades Julia sat down for chats with Barbara many times. Julia had a soft spot in her heart for Barbara’s achievements in a male-dominated industry, and she was truly in awe of her, so she’s gunning hard to land the rights to her story so she can both star and produce it.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

JULIA ROBERTS: THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND

Genuine friendships between heterosexual men and women are relatively rare these days, but it’s clear that Julia Roberts and George Clooney have the real thing. Julia was set to talk about award recipient George at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC and she connived with her stylist Elizabeth Stewart to have THIS satin gown designed by Jeremy Scott at Moschino. It has framed headshots of George from the very beginning of his career to now, all over it. A brilliant idea from one true friend to another. Julia describes George as “a gentleman and a playmate.

Photo: Instagram

MATTHEW PERRY’S BIG TERRIBLE THINGS

Gotta give Matthew Perry credit for writing his often-startling memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing WITHOUT the help of a ghost writer. Not many celebs can pull that off. We had forgotten all about his short but sweet romance with Julia Roberts back in the day (now we know why it ended.) Perry’s intestinal drama and nine months with a colostomy bag caused by drugs was indeed scary. But most upsetting was his revelation that drug abuse caused him to lose all his top teeth at once! Imagine the Friends star visiting his dentist with half his teeth in a baggie in his pocket!

CAN JULIA ROBERTS AND ETHAN HAWKE EXIST WITHOUT INTERNET?

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke are on a New York beach filming Leave the World Behind and it looks like a fascinating movie. They play a couple with children who have been eagerly anticipating their family dream vacation, so they rent a holiday home in a beach town. Suddenly there’s a total blackout in the city and the owners of the home arrive. Nobody knows what’s happening because there is no internet, TV, radio, or landlines working. Sonic booms begin, and animals start to behave strangely. The renters are upscale and white, and the house owners are upscale and black, – people start freaking out and racial issues are added to the frightening things happening all around…

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

JULIA ROBERTS CALLS HERSELF A HOMEMAKER

Now THAT’S what we call a movie star! Julia Roberts enjoys her status as a superpower in Hollywood, but she always seems happy and enthusiastic and relatively NORMAL. She’s been successfully married to cinematographer Danny Moder for 20 years and they have three kids together. Before she settled down however, her dating life was highly adventurous. At 19, she dated Liam Neeson, (16 years older) and they lived together in Venice, Cal. Her next conquest (in’88) was her Steel Magnolias husband Dylan McDermott, and they became engaged before splitting. (We happily documented all her romances for Star Magazine in those days) Next came her Flatliners costar Kiefer Sutherland- they cancelled their wedding ceremony at the last minute- some say a go-go dancer was involved. Julia was seen with Kiefer’s best friend Jason Patric on what was supposed to be her wedding day! That lasted until she met and married country singer Lyle Lovett, of all people. Work kept them apart and they split amicably after 2 years. Her next romance with delicious Benjamin Bratt lasted 4 years- until she met Danny Moder in the set of The Mexican. He split from his wife the same year that he and Julia wed. She calls it “The best decision I ever made.” Listen to this: Julia says she LOVES being a “homemaker” and has stayed home with her kids as much was possible for the past 18 years. Now she’s back with Gaslit.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

CAN YOU GUESS WHO THIS IS?

Just LOVE this photo of Sean Penn and Julia Roberts in their new Starz Watergate series Gaslit. Seems like an odd choice, but Julia plays Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon advisor John Mitchell, played by Penn. They were a happy couple until talkative Arkansas socialite Martha blew the lid off the Watergate scandal that ultimately destroyed the presidency and her marriage.

Photo credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle

CAN JULIA ROBERTS FILL NICOLE KIDMAN’S SHOES?

It’s been tough since the final episode of The Undoing aired. We were so totally immersed in the story about Nicole Kidman’s character’s life with her questionable husband (played by High Grant ) that we feel a sense of loss now that it’s over! In many series, a two hour story seems to be stretched out to fill six hours with pointless scenes added just for length. Every episode of The Undoing was gripping and important. But there is a glimmer of hope. Julia Roberts has just closed a deal for a limited series, The Last Thing He Told Me, with Reese Witherspoon’s company producing. It’s based on a female-authored book that hasn’t been released yet about a woman who forms an unexpected relationship with her teenage stepdaughter while searching for the truth behind her husband’s disappearance. (Another protagonist with a questionable husband!) Nice to see more women involved in productions that appeal to women.

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

NEXT BIG THING: CELEBRITY SMILE MASKS

We actually expected this Covid-19 development to happen sooner. Leave it to the style capital of the world- Japan- to be first with smile masks. According to OMG, it started with the Japanese discount store Takeya – the store wanted sales clerks to appear more “friendly,” so they had smile masked printed up and handed out to each staffer. Now they are all happy, all day. The next logical development in this custom masking idea is headed toward celebrity masks – soon YOU can have the smile or sneer of let’s say, Tom Hardy, or perhaps Julia Roberts. It might be a little confusing for paparazzi…but fun for flirting in the supermarket.

Photos: Takeya via OMG