Entertainment
Reports: Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s partner, Ken Urker, dies at 34
Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s partner and father of her child, died Thursday on his 34th birthday, according to multiple media reports.
Video above: Gypsy Rose Blanchard released from prison in 2023
His cause of death is not known at this time.
Urker was found unresponsive at his Louisiana home on Thursday by a family member, according to People. Officers were called to the home at around 6:15 p.m., and Urker was found “dead upon arrival,” the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed to People.
His death is under investigation.
Blanchard became infamous due to her role in the killing of her abusive mother. She was released from prison in December 2023 after serving more than seven years of a 10-year prison sentence. Blanchard was the victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a caregiver fakes their child’s illness or induces symptoms to make their child ill.
Urker and Blanchard share a daughter together, Aurora Raina Urker, who was born Dec. 28, 2024. The couple got engaged in October 2018 and then broke up. They reunited in April 2024, shortly after Blanchard’s divorce from Ryan Anderson.
Entertainment
Hilary Swank, 52, announces she’s pregnant with baby No. 3
Hilary Swank is expecting her third child in December.
The “Million Dollar Baby” actress, 52, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a video of herself, husband Philip Schneider and their 3-year-old twins, Aya and Ohm, dancing and wearing what appeared to be glow sticks taped to their bodies.
Swank also showed off her baby bump featuring a tiny glow stick baby.
“A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December. 😉👼🏼🫶🏼,” she captioned the creative family video.
Fans in the comments thread were in disbelief, with one person writing, “Whatsssss ? Wait, am I crazy, or are you pregnant again?”
Another wrote, “Ahhh congratulations!!! How beautiful! What a fun announcement 😍❤️” while a third chimed in, “Best news of the day, week, month and year!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!”
A fourth gushed, “As a 44 year old mom of twin 7 year olds, I’m so excited and impressed!! I would love to have another baby if only I had the stamina!!!! Enjoy your new hormones 😊”
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The Oscar winner and Schneider welcomed Aya and Ohm back in April 2023. She was 48 at the time.
“It wasn’t easy. But boy (and girl!) was it worth it. 👼🏼🤍👼🏼 Happy Easter!” she captioned a snapshot of herself holding the infants while taking in a sunset.
She added, “🐣🐣 Posting from pure Heaven. 🙌🏽.”
The actress first announced she was becoming a mom during an interview on “Good Morning America” in October 2022.
The “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress gushed that she was “so happy” to share the news, confessing that it was something she’d “been wanting for a long time.”
“And not just of one but of two,” she added.
Swank — who was previously married to actor Chad Lowe — and Schneider tied the knot in California back in 2018.
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Entertainment
Chuck Lorre says Anna Faris’ exit from ‘Mom’ confirmed his casting concerns
Chuck Lorre suggested his reservations about Anna Faris starring in “Mom” had been “correct” when she left the show for “mysterious reasons.”
The co-creator of the hit CBS comedy reveals in his new memoir, “Sitcom,” that he was initially hesitant to cast Faris, 49, in the lead role, despite her being the network’s first choice to play Christy Plunkett.
“I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” Lorre, 73, writes in his book. “Then I thought about how badly I’d bungled my working relationship with Charlie Sheen.”
In his memoir, Lorre claims that Melanie Lynskey was “terrified” of Sheen while filming the final episode of “Two and a Half Men” ahead of the actor’s 2011 exit from the show.
He also writes that the cast and crew were in a “constant state of anxiety” around Sheen.
Sheen, 61, would later tell Lorre to “suck his f–king butt” during a radio show tirade over his “firing,” but the pair eventually mended their relationship when Lorre realized Sheen would be perfect for a role in his HBO comedy series “Bookie.”
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Reflecting on his experience with Sheen, Lorre says he reconsidered his reservations about Faris, writing, “Someone’s personal life is none of my business. The mom in ‘Mom’ would be, and should be, Anna Faris.”
The “Scary Movie” actress went on to star alongside Allison Janney, who played Bonnie Plunkett, from 2013 to 2020, before exiting the series ahead of its eighth season.
“As the years went by, it became apparent that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was, in fact, correct,” Lorre writes in his memoir. “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.”
Lorre praises the show’s later seasons, writing that “‘Mom’ found its true voice” by showing that “there is hope, and there is laughter in overcoming the seemingly fatal disease of alcoholism.”
He also criticizes CBS for canceling the series after eight seasons in 2021, writing, “CBS decided they could live without a perfect cast led by a national treasure. They canceled a show starring Allison Janney.”
Faris would later open up about her decision to leave “Mom” during a June appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
“I do think the intensity, like, towards the end, I think I started to lose my focus,” Faris said.
“I’d never had a job, besides waitressing, for over three and a half months before,” she added, noting that her decision to leave came during a “complicated time.”
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Entertainment
Kaley Cuoco Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Fiancé Tom Pelphrey
Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey are celebrating their new family member with a big bang.
The Flight Attendant star and the Task actor—who got engaged in 2024 after two years of dating—welcomed their second child Philomena Carmine Bobby Pelphrey on Oct. 12, turning their 3-year-old daughter Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey into a big sister.
“There are no words to describe this feeling once again. What a blessing,” Cuoco wrote on Instagram Oct. 14. “We are so grateful for the crazy wild up and down journey that brought us to our little Philo! Family officially complete.”
Sharing sweet photos of their baby girl with Pelphrey, Cuoco wrote, “@tommypelphrey life exploded the minute we met, and the gifts keep coming. I love you forever , girl daddy!”
And she quipped that their daughter Matilda is just as thrilled by the change, adding, “Time to bring Matilda’s baby home!”
Entertainment
Listen to Hayden Panettiere 911 call as Brian Hickerson’s brother desperately tries to save actress’ life
Zach Hickerson’s desperate attempts to save actress Hayden Panettiere’s life have been revealed in a a newly released 911 audio dispatch.
A 911 call, obtained by CBS News Wednesday, revealed Brian Hickerson’s brother called authorities in a panic after finding the “Heroes” alum unresponsive in an Airbnb in South Carolina on Aug. 16.
“Oh god, oh my god,” Zach — who said he had just returned from church when he found her — can be heard on the call before the dispatcher asked if Panettiere was breathing. “No, I don’t think so.”
The dispatcher instructed Zach to find a defibrillator, which he was unable to locate. He then confirmed the actress was not breathing.
“OK, we need to start CPR,” the dispatcher told Zach. “I’m going to tell you how to do CPR, OK? We’re gonna start with ventilation first.”
Zach proceeded to perform the life-saving measures on Panettiere until first responders arrived and took over.
The “I Love You Beth Cooper” star was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 p.m. local time. She was 36.
Additionally, a police report previously obtained by Page Six revealed Brian, who was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Panettiere since 2018, gave officers a “bag of medication” she had been taking.
Page Six confirmed that Panettiere died from the toxic effects of 4-ANPP, fentanyl, methocarbamol, alprazolam and quetiapine.
Her manner of death was ruled an accident, with “no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.”
Hayden’s death was confirmed by her father, Skip Panettiere, via a statement that same day.
“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,” he wrote. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Ahead of her death, Hayden was candid about her ongoing addiction to opioids and alcohol, and her journey with postpartum depression.
The “Nashville” alum recalled in 2015 the “really scary” and “painful” experience after she gave birth to her and her then-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko’s now 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding — there’s a lot of people out there that think it’s not real, that’s it not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that, ‘Oh, it’s hormones,’” she shared on a vulnerable episode of “Live with Kelly and Michael.”
“They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary and women need a lot of support.”
Ultimately, Hayden’s battle with addiction led to her engagement with Klitschko ending in 2018, and her giving full custody of Kaya to her ex.
“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” Hayden said in 2022, per People. “But I wanted to be a good mom to her — and sometimes that means letting them go.”
According to a Greenville County Coroner’s Office obtained by Page Six, Hayden had allegedly overdosed and entered rehab before she died.
Entertainment
60 Minutes Ratings Nosedive as Dust-Up Grabs Headlines
The latest episode of 60 Minutes came in as the lowest-rated of the season so far, according to final tallies from Nielsen Media Research.
Sunday’s episode, which included headline-grabbing segments from the West Bank and an interview with the director of the Secret Service, raked in 6.061 million total viewers and some 767,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic.
Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl has allegedly considered quitting the flagship news program after a round of heated edits over her segment on Israeli settler harassment in the West Bank.
The segment also led to a tense meeting on Tuesday, during which protesting staffers were reportedly threatened with termination if they ever question the editorial hierarchy at CBS News.
The program performed below CBS’s Sunday night shows Tracker and Marshals, which air after 60 Minutes and both landed well above 7 million total viewers.
Sunday’s ratings dip comes a week after 60 Minutes scored an impressive 10.2 million total viewers and 2 million viewers in the demo on October 4, widely seen as a vindication of sorts for CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Notably, that episode benefited from an NFL lead-in, unlike the most recent one.
This past Sunday’s program echoes some of the struggles the season kicked off with, as its debut was the lowest-rated since 2000. The September debut landed with 7.9 million total viewers, a 21% drop from the previous year’s debut episode and a significant decrease from years prior.
In October 2000, for example, the show premiered with a whopping 11.2 million total viewers — in what was a very different media environment for linear television.
Sunday’s episode, which is the season’s fourth, was also the lowest-rated fourth episode 60 Minutes has had since 2000, in both total viewers and the demo.
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