Joan Lunden is in “warrior mode.” The former Good Morning America anchor returned to her old employer Tuesday to announce she had “aggressive” breast cancer. Lunden, 63, told fellow cancer patient Robin Roberts that she will undergo surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The mother of seven said an ultrasound, not a mammogram, found the cancer.
Other TV journalists who are currently battling the disease are Samantha Harris and Amy Robach. Both are 40 and both underwent double mastectomies. Harris recently revealed she faces the prospect of chemo because the cancer spread to her lymph nodes.
Let it go
Gary Oldman is defending fellow actors Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin from critics of their comments on Jews and homosexuals, saying people need to take a joke. In an expletive-laced interview with Playboy, Oldman decried the “political correctness” that ensnared the two actors. Gibson was filmed in an anti-Semitic rant in 2006 while being arrested for drunk driving, and he later apologized; Baldwin last year used an anti-gay slur in a NYC street confrontation. Oldman said that Gibson “got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things. We’re all [expletive] hypocrites.” He also urged the Playboy interviewer to “edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot.”
Royal visit
It was Queen Elizabeth II’s chance to see how the other (make-believe) half lives. The 88-year-old monarch toured the Belfast, Ireland, sets of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and met many of its stars Tuesday. “She kept commenting on how uncomfortable the throne looked. That was funny,” said Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark.
Frenemy mine
Not surprising because no cameras were there, but apparently not too many Real Housewives of New Jersey showed up to the funeral of Teresa Giudice’s father in law on Monday. Though ex castmate Dina Manzo was there; others like Jacqueline Laurita and Caroline Manzo chose to skip it. One bright spot: The Giudices’ lawyer told UsWeekly that sentencing in their bankruptcy fraud case has been rescheduled to September, so the family can mourn.
Show of support
News flash: Jennifer Aniston didn’t have a baby bump while appearing with her fiance Justin Theroux at the premiere of HBO’s sci fi series The Leftovers on Monday night in NYC. They also don’t seem to be breaking up. On the contrary: The two, who are rarely photographed together, looked quite cozy.
They’re back
American Idol may not be the ratings powerhouse it once was, but for now at least, its star power remains undiminished: Fox has announced that current judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. will be returning for Season 14, as will host Ryan Seacrest.
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