This is a sobering Dirt Bag because there isn’t much gossip (I went online after a 24-hour hiatus and everything is about Tom Petty, even the news that’s not really about Tom Petty, RIP), and because, well, stars are just like us: they too occasionally do an appropriate thing when faced with heart-melting levels of tragedy.
To that end, country star Jason Aldean, who happened to be performing at the scene of the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, announced on Tuesday that he and his band are canceling their upcoming California shows this weekend, out of respect for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
Aldean announced the plans in a statement on Twitter:
“It has been an emotional time for everyone involved this week,” writes Aldean. “So we plan to take some time and mourn the ones we have lost and be close with our family and friends.”
[TMZ]
In a recent discussion with members of the National Black MBA Association in Philadelphia, Issa Rae offered some words on what meeting Michelle Obama last week meant to her:
“It was such a fulfilling experience in a way that I didn’t expect it to be. She means so much to so many people, and to see her living in her truth in such an authentic way, it’s inspiring without even trying to be. When she was talking about women’s voices being suppressed and how we internalize being silent, that really spoke to me in terms of both the workplace and my personal life. There are so many people in my life that I didn’t realize that have contributed to the suppressing of my voice. It’s ironic because I make a living off my voice, but there are still so many things I feel like I’m ashamed to say or ashamed to talk about because of the system of suppressing women’s voices.”
Read on for soundbites about white privilege discourse, Maxine Waters, and, of course, her HBO series Insecure.
[BET]
- Jennifer Lopez also delayed some performances of her Las Vegas show in the wake of the shooting. Her rep says the singer is “heartbroken. [EW]
- Jackie Chan loves Titanic, Avatar, and The Sound of Music. I like two of those. [GQ]
- Hilton heir Barron Hilton is gonna marry another socialite named Tessa Gräfin von Walderdorff. Barron is famous (I use the term loosely) for being allegedly punched in a face at a party in 2013. [Page Six]
- After a year of separation, Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey are no longer getting a divorce, although it’s not confirmed they’re back together either. [People]
- Steven Tyler still hasn’t said which “unexpected medical issue” accounted for canceled tour dates, but he has denied it was a heart attack, as many had speculated. [E!]
- Jenny Slate is in negotiations to appear in Sony’s forthcoming Venom movie. [Variety]