Table of contents for April 22, 2024 in Globe

AIR MALE PENN BADGLEY rises to the occasion in the Big Apple while shooting the serial killer series You HOT DIGGITY DOG! America’s Got Talent judge SOFÍA VERGARA bundles up her brand-new Chihuahua puppy HERE SHUNS THE SUN Former Beatle PAUL MCCARTNEY covers up and blocks the rays in St. Barts SPIN CYCLE Carefree LYNDA CARTER — TV’s Wonder Woman — is ready to launch into her superhero’s signature twirl HOW SWELL! Bloated crooner BARRY MANILOW looks like he can’t smile with or without you! SWING SHIFT Singer SHAKIRA whips her massive mane during a pop-up concert in NYC’s Times Square…

WOLVERINE hunk Hugh Jackman has been friends with Katie Holmes for years, but now he’s crushing on the beauty, according to sources, who say he’s too shy to make the first move. Sources say the 55-year-old movie mutant and Tom Cruise’s ex Katie, 45, attended the final night of the Broadway show Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age separately, but got quite friendly behind the scenes, giving the newly single Aussie much hope! “Hugh’s crushing hard on Katie, and their mutual friends insist Wolverine is desperate to sink his claws into her,” spills an insider. Over the years, they’ve “bumped into each other at fashion shows and events” when Hugh was still married to Deborra-Lee Furness, notes the source, adding: “He’s pouring on the charm now.” Meanwhile, Hugh was said…

LOYAL Kelly Ripa’s ferocious, blind defense of her scandal-scarred pal Andy Cohen — who’s accused of sex abuse and snorting cocaine with some of his Real Housewives of New York City stars — has triggered fears the talk chatterbox may have torpedoed her red-hot career! The perky 53-year-old Live! host rushed to the defense of the 55-year-old Bravo bigwig after former Housewives star Leah McSweeney claimed he did cocaine with her co-stars on the set. Furious Kelly blurted out, “I’ve never seen a drug around him. It’s like the most … I’m so offended by it. I’m so angry over it.” But a source slammed Kelly’s knee-jerk response, saying, “This could blow up in her face, depending on the results of the investigation! Nobody can understand this. Why not take…

DISGRACED Prince Andrew is convinced Netflix’s new film Scoop — which drags up his sleazy bromance with child sex slaver Jeffrey Epstein — has sabotaged any chance he has of returning to regular royal life, palace spies dish. As his big brother, King Charles, battles cancer, Andrew was hoping to worm his way back into the royal fold — but the Netflix docudrama, which premiered early this month, has proven the Duke of York’s dirt-filled past will never die, a courtier tells GLOBE. Scoop recounts the duke’s lame 2019 interview with the BBC’s Newsnight when Andrew tried to distance himself from late pedophile Epstein and denied knowing the fat cat perv bedded underage girls and insisted he didn’t partake of the billionaire’s sex slaves. In the movie Rufus Sewell plays…

LEGENDARY songbird Julie Andrews is working her fingers to the bone directing a play at the golden age of 88, leaving worried friends telling the driven Mary Poppins icon to slow down. “Everyone’s happy for her and thinks it’s great she’s so ambitious, but she’s not as agile as she used to be,” tattles an insider. “She’s known to use a cane and needs a driver to help on errand runs.” The Sound of Music icon is directing The Great American Mousical, based on her children’s book, in Branford, Conn., and the insider says: “It’s a huge undertaking. She’ll be in on the auditions and rehearsals. “With her achy bones and age limits, her friends fear she’s taking on too much at once and will burn out.” As GLOBE readers…

PREDATORY Orlando politician Regina Hill drained a 96-year-old’s bank account — and went on a $100,000 spending spree with her constituent’s cash, authorities say. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the Democratic city commissioner exploited Annie Mae Curtis — a vulnerable senior living in her district — from April 2021 to March 2024 by fraudulently gaining power of attorney to siphon off the old gal’s funds. Haughty Hill, 63, moved into one of the victim’s empty properties and spent $15,400 in ill-gotten loot on renovations and also used some of the dirty dough to buy herself a home, which was co-signed to Curtis without her knowledge, investigators charge. The spendthrift also splashed out on a luxury hotel stay, a facelift, dental surgery, IV vitamin infusions and expensive perfumes!…

PRICKLY Pat Sajak has terrified bosses at Wheel of Fortune tip-toeing on eggshells, fearing the bitter star’s a touchy time bomb, who’ll explode the show into total chaos if they try to keep him on a leash as he finishes his final days, sources snitch. Insiders dish the 77-year-old quiz show legend, who now has just a handful of tapings left before Ryan Seacrest takes over as host after 43 years, will have no qualms lighting fires on his way out the door. “The situation is bosses at Sony Television don’t want to get into any public fights with the guy and are just letting him do his thing, even if his jokes and asides are getting noticeably spicier and more caustic by the day,” spills an insider. “It’s a…

SCREEN siren Marilyn Monroe died of a sleeping pill overdose at her Hollywood bungalow in 1962, but six years earlier, the naked sex symbol was found unconscious in a bed in a seedy motel with a heroin dealer. That’s the bombshell revelation about the tragic sex symbol in a new book, The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars and Marilyn, by Josh Young and Manfred Westphal. In their bio of L.A. cop and private eye Fred Otash, who became Tinseltown’s most notorious fixer, the authors reveal how the sleuth tracked down the anxiety-ravaged actress and saved her life during filming of her 1956 hit, Bus Stop. Otash was sitting at his usual table at Nate ’n Al’s, a Beverly Hills deli favored by studio bigwigs and stars like Rita Hayworth and…

TODAY show chatterbox Savannah Guthrie has admitted getting Botoxed — and now sources reveal she’s desperate to get rid of her thin lizard lips by ballooning her kisser! According to a snitch, the 52-year-old TV anchor “never liked her thin lips, which have been shrinking with age and are beginning to wrinkle, “so she’s finally gotten up the nerve to book a session with her dermatologist ASAP!” The small-screen squawker copped to getting Botox a decade ago, but claims, “I don’t think it looks that good.” Now, she’s planning more injectables to blow out her lips. “She wants to plump them up, nothing too crazy, just more volume and perhaps a peaked cupid’s bow,” dishes the source. “Then they’d be the lips of her dreams.” Former Today show host Katie…

SPERM whales are the loudest animals on earth, with ear-blasting calls and clicks hitting 230 decibels, which is noisier than an Atlas 3 rocket. SURPRISE! The Caesar salad wasn’t named after Roman emperors! It gained fame in the 1920s after being introduced by Italian-American chef Caesar Cardini at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico. GLACIERS cover 10 percent of the Earth’s surface — and two of the ice sheets contain 68 percent of the planet’s fresh water! THE bald eagle found on the back of U.S. coins made in the 19th century is actually a real bird, named Peter, who was the unofficial mascot of the Philadelphia mint. COUNTRY singer Keith Urban’s actress wife, Nicole Kidman, is afraid of butterflies — she says the feel of the bugs’ bodies creeps her…

HERE come the brides! Abby Hensel walked down the aisle to marry her beloved — and in a twist on modern romance, the reality star’s conjoined twin came along on the ride to happily ever after! Abby, 34, reveals she quietly tied the knot with Army veteran, nurse and “occasional gamer” Josh Bowling, 33, in 2021 — after first bursting on the scene with twin sister Brittany at age six as one of only a few sets of dicephalus twins in history to survive infancy. The two fifth-grade teachers were born in 1990 with a rare form of partial twinning — they have two heads atop a single body. They also have two nervous systems and two distinct personalities — as well as separate birth certificates and passports. In a…

Oops! The repo man claimed the $84,000 Range Rover of BRIELLE BIERMANN, 27-year-old daughter of Real Housewives of Atlanta alum KIM ZOLCIAK. Mom couldn’t afford the $2,000 monthly payments so Brielle will be on the bus. The Divine Miss M BETTE MIDLER is angling for a job on one of the Real Housewives franchises, saying, “I’m in the mood to talk sh*t!” MORGAN WALLEN’s baby mom ex-fiancée, KATIE “KT” SMITH, is engaged to cowpoke LUKE SCORNAVACCO two years after calling time on her relationship with the country music superstar. Aussie lesbian REBEL WILSON, 44, reveals she didn’t have sex until she was 35. The actress is engaged to fashionista RAMONA AGRUMA. Soap queen BARBARA RUSH, who starred on All My Children, Flamingo Road and 7th Heaven, died at age…

SUPERSTAR Jennifer Lopez is singing to feds about troubled ex-flame Sean “Diddy” Combs’ secret sordid life — and his role in two sensational shootings, including Tupac Shakur’s murder, say sources. Jenny from the Block — who dated Diddy from 1999 to 2001 — is said to be shaking in her dancing shoes after being implicated as a possible accomplice in bloody gunplay, which could threaten her career and freedom! “Jennifer has kept her mouth shut for years about her time with Diddy because she was terrified of the thug,” spills an insider. “But now she knows she could lose everything if she doesn’t cooperate” with federal law-men probing sex trafficking allegations made against the rap billionaire. Sources say the still sexy 54-year-old spit-fire is being pressured to spill her guts…

THERE could be trouble in paradise as sources dish Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner and new wife Theresa Nist are NOT sharing the same honeymoon bed — but are living in separate houses in different states! Gerry, 72, and his 70-year-old bride tied the knot in a glitzy Golden Wedding on Jan. 4, but now, a source says he’s “chilling at his northern Indiana lake house while Theresa’s over in New Jersey. “We’re told they’ve each got their own established homes in their respective states, and moving everything into one pad would be time-consuming … and a total hassle. “And Theresa’s still working in N.J. and has yet to decide what she’s going to do about her job as a compliance officer.” Meanwhile, another source insists the couple’s “still madly in…

SONGBIRD Adele thought losing 100 pounds would banish her back pain — but the agony’s returned and spies say she’s looking at surgery to heal her sciatica. The 35-year-old Skyfall singer has been battling back pain for nearly a decade and “thought shedding 100 pounds a couple years ago might take pressure off her spine and relieve pain from a herniated disc,” says a source. “But after reaching her weight loss goal and doing exercises her doctor prescribed, the pain is still there, sometimes lasting for weeks.” The Someone Like You singer “hates the idea of going under the knife, but she’s desperate to get back to being her old self,” says the source. “Her boyfriend, Rich Paul, has been trying to convince her to have the surgery, so once again she can…

JUDGE JUDY isn’t just a hit with viewers — she’s a smart cookie who has outwitted CBS bigwigs trying to make a mint off of reruns of her old show. The network has tons of 81-year-old Judy Sheindlin’s original Judge Judy show, which ran for 25 seasons until 2021. Now, CBS is airing the reruns — only here comes the judge! Judy’s returning to daily TV with a new syndicated courtroom show called Judy Justice this fall. So while CBS bigwigs try to sell the repeats, stations can instead buy the new, fresh episodes of Judy Justice. Entertainment packager Scott Koondel believes the new Judy Justice episodes will kick the reruns CBS is marketing to the curb. Koondel describes Judy “as a juggernaut with a massive loyal audience [who] will…

AFTER pleading guilty to paying a bribe to raise her daughter’s college entrance exam scores and serving 11 days in the slammer, actress Felicity Huffman was sure her career was kaput — but now she’s got a new gig! The former Desperate Housewives star has nabbed a guest role in season 2 of Criminal Minds: Evolution. She’ll play biological psychologist Dr. Jill Gideon, ex-wife of Mandy Patinkin’s now-deceased FBI agent Jason Gideon, who helps the Behavioral Analysis Unit investigate a murderous conspiracy.…

KATHIE LEE’S BLOODY RETURN Was talk legend KATHIE LEE GIFFORD just joking — or sticking the blade in — when she recently guested on her old stomping grounds, NBC’s Today? After her old pal and TV sidekick HODA KOTB asked, “What does it feel like coming back here?” Kathie Lee replied, “It feels good. It’s been five years.” The catty chatterbox then turned to her replacement JENNA BUSH HAGER and sweetly mewed: “You wanted my job so badly!” Kathie Lee then coolly glossed over Jenna’s gushing wound by claiming she really didn’t want to return to sipping vino with Hoda early in the a.m. Oh yeah — MEOUCH! TORI CUTS THE CORD Following five kids and 17 years of stormy togetherness, TORI SPELLING, 50, has kicked stoner hubby DEAN McDERMOTT, 57,…

JODIE SWEETIN The former Full House kid fails to up the ante in a super casual crewneck and skirt REBECCA HALL How monstrous! The gangly Godzilla x Kong star is flat-out awful in a beaded bra top OLIVIA COLMAN The Oscar winner is not The Favourite in a caftan that looks like a fringed tablecloth SANDRA LEE Sweet and simple is on the menu for the TV chef, but she leaves us hungering for more JOELY RICHARDSON The Tudors queen courts all the compliments in a glamorous goddess-inspired gown…

CHARISMATIC Kirsten Dunst, 41, navigates a dystopian hellscape as a renowned photo-journalist in Alex Garland’s Civil War. But that’s just the latest role for the former kid star who wowed film fans as precocious young blood-sucker Claudia in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire. Here are ten things you don’t know about the New Jersey–born actress. 1 Her career in front of the camera began when she was a toddler doing catalog shoots and commercials. 2 In 1988, she appeared on Saturday Night Live as the granddaughter of George H.W. Bush. 3 She portrayed a telepathic alien in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 4 At Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles, she was classmates with future Oscar winner Rami Malek. 5 Her nickname is Kiki, but…

BLADE-WIELDING butcher Christian Ivan Soto murdered four victims and injured seven others in broad daylight during a terrifying 20-minute rampage in Illinois, lawmen say. The nutty slasher spree started with a home invasion about 90 miles west of Chicago, which saw him stab a fleeing gal, investigators say. Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana shares, “The young lady ran from him. She got some stab wounds in her hands and in her face. She is at a hospital in serious condition.” Caruana adds, “One of the Good Samaritans stopped to help her out. He did get some stab wounds.” According to officials, Soto, 22, then terrorized citizens in multiple locations — killing a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 22-year-old dude and a 49-year-old mailman who was run over by the…

PLASTIC fantastic Kylie Jenner’s nip/tuck obsession is getting seriously out of hand as sources snipe her mystified fans are tittering over her obvious, newly shaped chin. The 26-year-old makeup mogul was recently snapped at an event leaving fans wondering why her chinny-chinchin looked so different! One blasted her on social media for suddenly having an “underbite,” while another declared her jaw now looks “giant.” According to a snitch, the fatcat cosmetics queen and fashionista feels terribly insecure about the lower half of her mug. “Kylie has always had a confidence issue with her chin and jawline,” dishes an insider. “She felt like it wasn’t defined enough, and the word is she’s had a chin implant or contouring at the very least.” The reality star has copped to getting her lips…

GLOBE’S NO-NONSENSE OPINION PAGE DONALD TRUMP saying one thing while doing another? Say it ain’t so! But newly revealed immigration documents say Trump’s mother-in-law Amalija Knavs immigrated to the U.S. from her native Slovenia in 2009, using the same law Donald tried to kill during his presidency and has repeatedly trashed since then. Called the “chain migration law,” the rule allows a U.S. citizen to bring over a parent without going through the long-wait visa process. Donald’s current wife, Melania, who came over as a model in 1996, became a citizen in 2006. In 2009, she sponsored her mom, Amalija, who passed away in January, to jump the visa line. At the time, Melania had been married to Donald for four years and you can bet your last cent her…

UP-AND-COMER ALEC BALDWIN really lucked out when he was tapped to play CIA analyst turned action hero Jack Ryan in the high-stakes 1990 submarine spy thriller The Hunt for Red October! He became the first in a series of A-listers — Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine and John Krasinski — to portray novelist Tom Clancy’s popular character and got the role only when first-choice Kevin Costner took a pass. Baldwin stars opposite SEAN CONNERY, who plays a rogue Russian sub commander who mysteriously spends the entire film speaking English with a thick Scottish accent!…