By Mark Gray
11:47am PDT, Aug 14, 2022
Reality TV death
Ryan Fellows, who starred on Discovery’s popular “Street Outlaws: Fastest in America” reality show, was killed in a car accident in Las Vegas while cameras rolled. TMZ reported that “Outlaws,” which premiered in 2013, was filming outside of Vegas in the early morning hours of Aug. 7. While racing another car, Ryan reportedly lost control, causing his Nissan 240z to roll. In doing so, the car caught on fire. Onlookers desperately tried to get Ryan out of the car but weren’t able to rescue him in time. Following the accident, filming was haulted.
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Plea for help
The second season of “The Flight Attendant” sees Kaley Cuoco’s on-screen alter ego, Cassie, face a whole lot of personal demons as she struggles to get sober. As the star reveals in a new interview with Variety, she was dealing with her own demons in the form of a divorce from her second husband, Karl Cook, at the same time she was filming the heaviest of those scenes. “It was one of the hardest years of my life,” Kaley recalls. “Not only personally, but doing this character that was so tormented. It was the first time that I started therapy — I’ve been very open about that. I started at the beginning of season 2, just because I was going through so much right before we started shooting. It was horrible. And I developed a stress rash that ran all the way down my body for three straight months that wouldn’t go away.” She asked her co-star Zosia Mamet to move in with her at one point because, as she puts it, “I was really losing my mind.” Looking back, Kaley says she was open about therapy and the divorce because she “wanted people to know that things just aren’t always what they seem.” She took more drastic action a month into filming season 2: “I had an intervention on myself in my trailer — all my producers were in there. And I said, ‘I need help,'” she recalls. “It was interesting to say that out loud. And to have everyone be like, ‘Yes, we want to help!’ I’m a working woman, and so independent, and I really take pride in being able to do everything. Well, this time, I literally couldn’t.” She was in the midst of her split from Karl when she finally asked for help. “Going through my divorce, it was really a super dark time,” she admits. “I just didn’t know how to deal with it. I was throwing myself into work to deny my depression, and how upset I was. Unfortunately, the character was so depressed that it wasn’t helping me! I was really, really , really struggling. A lot of tears.” Ultimately, those tears inspired some of her most memorable acting — specifically, a scene she filmed while spending two hours on a beach crying, screaming and sitting quietly with herself as the cameras rolled. “The trauma I was going through probably helped whatever I needed to do for this season. Did I mean for that to happen? Oh my God, no.” Kaley says she’s “so much better” today. “And now I can tell other people that have the worst years of their life: It’s gonna get better.”
Keep reading for more of the week’s biggest celebrity news stories…
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Feuding exes
Britney Spears is in a war with former husband Kevin Federline. The feud between the exes was ignited after he gave an interview in which he said their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, are purposely avoiding their mother and feel embarrassed by her risqué social media posts. Afterward, Brit and her new husband, Sam Asghari, fired back at Kevin, with the pop star saying her children have been “hateful.” On Aug. 11, K-Fed posted several years-old videos of the singer arguing and cursing around her children. Britney’s lawyer accused Kevin of “bullying.”
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Raid reaction
On Aug. 8, Mar-A-Lago — Donald Trump’s home in Florida — was raided by FBI agents. The search, according to Fox News and CNN, was part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents, that the former POTUS brought there. Earlier this year, the National Archives and Records Administration said Trump took 15 boxes of presidential records to his personal residence. Trump, as expected, was livid about the raid, lamenting that the agents even “broke into” his safe. Trump was not home at the time the search warrant was executed. When news of the raid broke, celebrities lined up to either joy over or condemn the search. Megyn Kelly argued that the raid was more about the Jan. 6 insurrection and John Rich felt it was a smokescreen for President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings. Rob Reiner, Ice-T and Ron Perlman applauded the search. As the GOP railed against the FBI, Stephen Colbert said, “Okay, GOP, you win: we should arrest whoever appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray.” For the record: Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump.
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lost legend
Olivia Newton-John, the iconic superstar who entertained millions as Sandy in “Grease,” passed away on Aug. 8. She was 73. Her husband, John Easterling, announced her death, saying the four-time Grammy winner was surrounded by family when she took her final breath at her ranch in Southern California. A source close to the star told TMZ that she died from “metastatic breast cancer.” The “Physical” singer was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. It went into remission, but came back in 2013. Again, it went into remission but resurfaced in 2017. Following her death, many in entertainment publicly paid tribute to the actress- singer on social media, starting with her most famous co-star, John Travolta. “My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever Your Danny, your John!” he wrote on Instagram.
RIP
Late on Aug. 12, Anne Heche’s rep told TMZ that the Daytime Emmy winner was not expected to regain consciousness following an Aug. 5 accident in which she crashed her car into a Los Angeles-area home, sparking a fire that destroyed the residence and left her hospitalized in critical condition. “Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive,” her rep said, adding, “It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.” The following morning, Anne passed away, with her rep confirming to TMZ that the star was “brain dead.” A rep for the “Donnie Brasco” star’s family further told the webloid, “We have lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend. Anne will be deeply missed but she lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic body of work, and her passionate advocacy. Her bravery for always standing in her truth, spreading her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.”
Bombshell revelations
“iCarly” and “Sam & Cat” star Jennette McCurdy detailed years of abuse at the hands of her late mother in her new memoir released on Aug 9. While on “Good Morning America” promoting the book, the former actress spoke about the title of her new memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom is Dead,” explaining, “I get that it’s attention-grabbing but it’s also something that I mean sincerely.” Jennette feels like abuse victims will understand her mentality. “My mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me. She gave me breast and vaginal exams until 17 was years old… When I was 6 years old, she pushed me into a career I didn’t want … She taught me an eating disorder when I was 11 years old — an eating disorder that robbed me of my joy and any amount of free-spiritedness that I had. She never told me my father was not my father.”