The daily gossip: Rachael Ray safe after house fire, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion make an enemy out of Carole Baskin, and more
1.
Rachael Ray and her family are safe after a major fire broke out in the celebrity chef's home in upstate New York on Sunday night. "Rachael, her husband John [Cusimano], and their dog Bella are safe," a representative told TMZ. "Their home was unfortunately damaged and we are in the process of accessing to what extent." Photos from the scene show the house completely engulfed in flames, with fire coming out of the roof and windows. Local fire coordinator Brian LaFleure told CNN that "we're … determining what the cause may be. It's nothing suspicious, but we're looking to determine what the cause was." Ray had been filming The Rachael Ray Show from her home since the pandemic shut down her Manhattan studio. [TMZ, CNN]
2.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion clearly haven't binged Tiger King. In a statement to Billboard, big cat activist Carole Baskin criticized the rappers for posing with tigers and leopards in the music video for their explicit new single, "WAP." While the cats were seemingly photoshopped into the video, "you have to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen to get that image and that doesn't happen in the wild," Baskin said, expressing belief that "they probably dealt with one of the big-cat pimps, who makes a living from beating, shocking, and starving cats." She added: "The worst part is that it glamorizes the idea of rich people having tigers as pets. That makes every ignorant follower want to imitate by doing the same." [Billboard, Vulture]
3.
Either Robert Pattinson is a terrible liar, or director Christopher Nolan is a great guesser. In an interview with the Irish Times, Pattinson admitted that he was asked to do a top-secret screen test for Batman while working on Nolan's Tenet, putting him in the position of trying to hide the news from the director. "It's funny because Chris is so secretive about everything to do with his movies," Pattinson said. "And then I had to be really secretive about Batman stuff. So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test — I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said 'It's a family emergency' he said: 'You're doing the Batman audition, aren't you?'" Nice try! [Irish Times, Complex]
4.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been socially distanced. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were removed from the British royal family's "social media" menu on its website, which otherwise includes links to pages representing Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Camilla, and Prince William and Kate Middleton. Also newly absent from the social media list is the account for Prince Andrew, who's been named as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Harry and Meghan quit their royal titles in March, and things haven't always gone smoothly in the transition. "History will remember them as a couple that were perhaps failed by the institution of the monarchy," argued Omid Scobie, the author of the new royal tell-all Finding Freedom. [Just Jared, E! News]
5.
Antonio Banderas revealed he's been diagnosed with COVID-19. The actor, who celebrates his 60th birthday Monday, explained in Spanish (and translated by Variety) that "I find myself relatively well, only a bit more tired than usual, and am confident that I will recuperate as soon as possible." He added: "I will take advantage of this isolation to read, write, rest, and continue making plans to begin to give meaning to my 60 years, to which I arrive full of enthusiasm." Banderas previously had a heart attack in 2017, an experience he's described as "one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it opened my eyes to many things that I hadn't seen. I didn't understand what was really important." [Page Six, Variety]