Two recently-single celebrities might be hooking up . . . and I can tell you right now it’s a match you’d NEVER expect: Kevin Costner and Reese Witherspoon. A website says Kevin and Reese have had talks about working together . . . and in the process, they kinda started crushing on each other. “He didn’t count on finding her absolutely charming as hell. They’ve been calling and texting on the pretense of finding the perfect script, but it’s becoming almost a daily occurrence.” Both Kevin and Reese ended their second marriages this year. He’s 68, she’s 47.
Lainey Wilson cleaned house at last night’s “57th Annual CMA Awards”. She won five awards, including Entertainer of the Year. Yes, you heard that right. She became the first female to win that award since Taylor Swift in 2011. She also won Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for “Bell Bottom Country” . . . and her song with Hardy,”Wait In the Truck”, won Music Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. Yeah, it was her night. Nobody else dominated, although Chris Stapleton seems to own the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He won his seventh. There was an early surprise when Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” won Single of the Year, and then moments later, Song of the Year. The Internet wasn’t happy that a cover beat out songs written by country artists in BOTH of those categories. Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning were solid. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder and delivered a good monologue. They busted on each other, showed clips of each other doing stupid things, and even sang together. It’s their gig as long as they want it. The night was filled with great performances. Jelly Roll opened the show with “Need A Favor”, and it got better when Wynonna Judd and her amazing voice joined him. Unfortunately, it looked like she wasn’t feeling well, and struggled to keep her balance. Ashley McBryde quietly commanded the stage while performing “The Devil I Know”. Same with Jordan Davis singing “Next Thing You Know”. You want romantic? While Cody Johnson was singing “The Painter”, a digital mural of his wife Brandi was on a giant screen behind him. It went from black & white to color by the time song ended, and they showed her in the audience crying when it was over. There was a surprise when Morgan Wallen and Eric Church performed “Man Made a Bar”. They were unannounced, but definitely welcomed. Even though it’s impossible to dislike Luke Combs. His performance of “Where the Wild Things Are” was, well, uninspiring. It just never took off. And then there’s Chris Stapleton. He never sits one out. He played lead guitar and sang “White Horse” . . . and it was amazing. It made me wish I was in the audience joining them for the standing ovation when it was over. Speaking of that. You want another clue that it was Lainey Wilson’s night? The crowd gave her a standing ovation before she even started her performance of “Wildflowers and Wild Horses”. They must have known they were in for something big. The stage looked like she borrowed a scene from “Yellowstone” . . . with chaparral, billows of smoke, barbed wire . . . and all of it colored it red. There was even a ring of fire. As promised, it was electrifying. Here’s a message to Kelsea Ballerini. You did a fine job performing “Leave Me Again”, but that IS your last divorce song, right? The Jimmy Buffett tribute had Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally singing “A Pirate Looks at Forty” . . . then Zac Brown and Alan Jackson on “Adios, My Friend” . . . and then all four on “Margaritaville”. In the words of Kenny, “Thank you, Jimmy.”
Having a man around to fix stuff and lift things is like half the reason women date at all. And even the biggest stars enjoy that free labor . . .Lainey Wilson recently bought 30 acres near Nashville, and says she’s been putting boyfriend Delvin “Duck” Hodges to work. He used to be the Steelers back-up Q.B. He also played in the Canadian Football League for a minute before he retired last year. They’ve been dating since 2021 but just went public in May. Someone asked Lainey if he’s been helping out around the place. She said quote, “He’s got a long list of things. I’m like, ‘Take the trash out, mow the yard, do something with the flower beds, feed the dogs.'” She said he’s “good at everything,” so he sounds pretty handy. Her only complaint is he’s “a boy,” and boys are messy
Maren Morris talked about her friendship with Taylor Swift on the “Tonight Show” earlier this week. She said Taylor has been supportive of her and her career since they met during Taylor’s “Reputation” tour in 2018. Some might think that it’d be hard for a performer to be friends with another, MASSIVELY SUCESSFUL performer, but Maren says it isn’t a big deal. She said Taylor sets “a high bar” . . . but she’s looked up to her since she was a teenager . . . and has been taking notes on how Taylor navigates her career, and how she treats her fans.
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” hits theaters on March 29th.
What do you get when you assemble five legendary soap stars under one roof? Drama and loads of laughs. In Lifetime’s upcoming original holiday movie Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas — part of the network’s annual “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” season programming slate — daytime drama queens, played by WKRP in Cincinnati’s Loni Anderson, Falcon Crest’s Morgan Fairchild, Dallas’s Linda Gray, and Knots Landing’s Donna Mills and Nicollette Sheridan, reunite to film the final Christmas episode of their soap opera The Great Lakes.
Pharrell Williams has teamed up with Louis Vuitton on a handbag that costs $1 million . . . but PETA is calling him out because it uses alligator skin.
Shania Twain’s manager says 13 members of her production crew were taken to a hospital after a crew bus rolled and a truck jackknifed on the Trans-Canada highway in southeastern Saskatchewan yesterday morning. Roads were extremely slippery after the area had been doused by rain, then covered in snow. Shania was not on the bus. Firefighters found the bus on its side, Stone said. They had to break windows and use the bus’s emergency hatch to free 13 people stuck inside. The bus was a double-decker bus with a sleeper unit on top. They had to cut some of that and remove some of that to get access to some of the passengers.” Her Queen of Me Tour is set to continue on tonight.
Chris Lane is 39. Country singer. “Fix” and “Take Back Home Girl”.
Vanessa Minnillo is 43. Former MTV VJ who’s married to Nick Lachey. It’s his birthday today too.
Nick Lachey is 50. Mr. Vanessa Minnillo and the former Mr. Jessica Simpson. He was in the boy band 98 Degrees.
Lou Ferrigno is 72. “The Incredible Hulk”
