Table of contents for February 24, 2025 in Globe

AIR GUITAR FLEA of the Red Hot Chili Peppers puts skin in the game at a benefit concert for California fire relief RED ALERT Skeletal soap queen SUSAN LUCCI is all heart — and skin and bones — at a Lincoln Center do MY BLOODY VALENTINE NICOLE SCHERZINGER sends JANE FONDA into ecstasy backstage at the hit Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard ROPE A DOPE! Harried HUGH JACKMAN jumps at the chance to distract from his scandalous affair with SUTTON FOSTER FRENCH FRIED! Scowling fat French sex pest GÉRARD DEPARDIEU is not into letting a smile be his umbrella SUPPORT SYSTEM Former Moonlighting beauty CYBILL SHEPHERD lacks pep in her step during a guided grocery run…

SEXPOT Jessica Simpson and singer John Mayer had a hot and heavy time in her runaround heyday and now sources say the beauty’s open to hooking up with the Free Fallin’ crooner again in the wake of her crashed marriage to former NFL player Eric Johnson. The 44-year-old songbird announced Jan. 13 that she and Eric, 45, dad of her kids Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5, are ending their nearly 10-year marriage — and according to a source, the pop tart turned fashion mogul has her sights set on a sizzling reunion with her rock star ex. “She can’t help remembering how incredible the sex was, and now that she’s not on the hunt for a husband, she feels like she can handle John’s commitment issues,” tattles a tipster.…

A SHATTERED Blake Shelton is reeling after his protégé Ryan Whyte Maloney committed suicide by shooting himself in the head on a Las Vegas street right in front of his horrified fiancée! Ryan, 44, joined Blake’s team on The Voice in 2014, but Shelton was unsuccessful in helping the aspiring country star’s career gain traction. “Blake is kicking himself because he wanted to do more to not only help him be a bigger star but to deal with the pressures that come with a life pursuing the kind of success HE had,” an insider says. Ryan died Jan. 27 after performing a gig on the Vegas Strip. In the car on the way home afterward, he and his fiancée got into an argument. He then pulled a gun from the…

AN ASTOUNDING image of what appears to be a medieval castle on the surface of Mars has triggered a frenzy of speculation that the cold, arid planet some 140 million miles away was once inhabited by an advanced race of space aliens — and one expert believes they later traveled to Earth and interbred! The shocking, recently surfaced photograph snapped by NASA’s orbiting Mars Global Surveyor clearly suggests someone — or something — built four colossal walls long ago on the Red Planet’s surface in a square-shaped design similar to the outer fortifications of a castle from the Middle Ages. Computer analysis estimates that the “walls” are roughly 770 feet in length, and there’s even a space where a gate might have been! The incredible photo was shot in 2001…

INDIE film queen Parker Posey has checked in as guest Victoria Ratliff in The White Lotus as the dramedy returns to HBO and Max for its third season of hotel misadventures. Posey, 56, appears alongside a galaxy of stars, including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan. Series creator Mike White has promised the Thailand-based installment of the franchise is “longer,” “bigger” and “crazier” than those that came before. Here are 10 things you don’t know about Posey. 1 Her first name was a tribute to famed 1950s model Suzy Parker. 2 Parker has a twin brother named Christopher, who works as a lawyer. 3 Parker studied drama at the State University of New York at Purchase, where she was classmates with Wesley Snipes, her future costar in Blade: Trinity.…

IN A case that has shocked an Arizona community, a teenage girl with the mind of a toddler was found bruised and dying inside a filthy, stinking cage, where she was kept like an animal in her family’s Tempe home! Investigators say the girl’s gruesome granny and mother admitted they kept the mentally disabled 13-year-old prisoner in the makeshift, feces-strewn enclosure to “control” her! Police arrested mom Jami Hodges, 33, and grandmother Virginia Lujan, 55, after rushing the nonresponsive special-needs girl to the hospital — where she later died — and uncovering the conditions inside the deadly dwelling. Officers described a foulsmelling “cage” — actually a bunk bed with crudely installed bars — filled with filth and human waste. Disturbingly, four MORE children — aged 2 to 15 — were rescued from…

AFTER getting booted from TV for a racist tweet about an Obama presidential aide, Trump booster Roseanne Barr is getting the last laugh, say sources, with a new show in the works, a comeback to the spotlight, and her liberal Hollywood enemies fearing her vengeance! “She wants to come back and name names and turn her thumb down on everyone who stomped on her,” spills an insider. As GLOBE previously reported, Roseanne’s reboot sitcom was canceled by ABC in 2018, the morning after she fired off tweets referring to former President Barack Obama’s Black aide Valerie Jarrett as the offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.” While she was ousted, her Roseanne show was revised as The Connors, starring the rest of the cast minus the caustic…

JENNIFER GARNER’s fiancé John Miller’s patience is running out, and he’s insisting she set some firm boundaries with her ex Ben Affleck before they say their “I dos” this summer. As readers know, the famously generous Jen still has a thisclose bond with her ex-husband, the father of her three children. “John wants to take the front seat in Jen’s life and right now Ben is pretty much occupying that spot,” an insider spills. “John’s been infinitely patient, but it’s got to change, or he will have to seriously consider bowing out. “He’s not asking Jen to cut Ben out of her life, but John wants to be the priority, he wants to be her No. 1.” As readers know, after Jen and Ben, both 52, finalized their divorce in…

BOOMING Bruno Mars’ music is a staple at weddings, but the 15-time Grammy Award winner is hitting a sour note with his gorgeous girlfriend, Jessica Caban, who has waited 14 long years to bop to the beat of a marriage proposal! Mars, 39, began dating 42-year-old actress/model and Jane the Virgin alum Caban — but while the pair shares a lavish Hollywood mansion, a friend says that in recent years they have become little more than roommates. “Jessica has stuck by Bruno all these years, even without a promise of marriage, much less starting a family,” spits a source. “But she feels he takes her for granted. They didn’t even spend the Christmas holidays together! She’s at the point where she can’t stand for things to continue this way.” But…

THE only species that has figured out the fountain of youth is Turritopsis dohrnii, an “immortal jellyfish” that can return to its juvenile form after reaching adulthood — over and over. YOU know those fluffy, light-as-air clouds in the sky? They’re made of tiny water droplets, and a large cumulus cloud can weigh up to 1.1 million pounds — as heavy as 100 elephants. SLOW-moving sloths have something over playful, prancing dolphins — they can hold their breath up to 40 minutes, while dolphins need to surface every 10 to 15 minutes for a gulp of air. LAKE Natron in Tanzania has such a high pH from the volcanic ash in it that it turns animals to stone. YOUR stomach gets a new lining every few days, before the acid…

STRESSED-OUT pop star Justin Bieber has caught the attention of Kris Jenner in a big way, according to sources who dish the crafty Kardashian momager is now plotting to cash in on her old pal’s troubles by making them a juicy storyline for her family’s reality series! “Kris has heard all the rumblings that Justin is struggling, and she wants to help. But she’s also got an agenda,” a tipster tattles. “She’s drooling at the idea of getting him on the show. She knows it would be gangbusters for their ratings!” As GLOBE previously reported, spies snitch that the Ghost singer, 30, is haunted by the possibility that he may be forced to testify at the upcoming sex trafficking trial of his jailed former mentor Sean “Diddy” Combs. The hip-hop…

SPACE cadet William Shatner is so thrilled to be back with exwife Elizabeth Martin that he’s planning to marry her all over again, reveal sources. “He was so lonely without Elizabeth. He has realized he doesn’t want to be without her ever again, and she feels the same way!” dishes a spy. “He can’t stop gushing about her. They’re like two teenagers in love.” The 93-year-old Star Trek legend kept most of his $100 million fortune when he and fourth wife Elizabeth, 66, divorced in 2020 after nearly two decades together. Although Shatner’s rep denies it, sources share the actor is ready to blast back into orbit with her and is eyeing a wedding ceremony after his next birthday in March. “They don’t want a big fancy shindig this time…

COUNTRY heavy-weight Wynonna Judd is thirsty to match the elusive success she shared with her late mom, Naomi — but her habitual boozing is threatening to wreck the stressed-out singer’s newly slim figure, sources spill. “Her margaritas and mint juleps help her to relax and unwind, but she’s tempted to swerve off her sensible diet plan,” an insider shares. “She lost 55 pounds last year and was so proud of herself. But when she has a need for an aperitif, it makes her hungry and want to eat more. “She can gain a couple of pounds just like that. Usually, she’s able to lose the weight again, but it’s a vicious circle!” Tipsters tattle that the once hefty hitmaker is pressuring herself to excel as a solo artist following the…

Legendary figure skating champ DICK BUTTON has died at 95. The first American — and youngest man at age 18 — to nab Olympic gold in 1948, he won the next four world championships, including another Olympics in 1952. The dad of two became the first skater to land a triple jump and later was the “voice of figure skating” as a broadcaster. Ditzy high school friends Romy and Michele are back. Stars LISA KUDROW, 61, and MIRA SORVINO, 57, are set to begin shooting the sequel to their iconic 1997 High School Reunion flick in June. If you stick to ages, this would be the gals’ 40th reunion. Oh my. Vanderpump Rules hunk JAMES KENNEDY is bragging he’s been on the wagon “48 days” since his Dec. 10 domestic…

AN OUT-TO-LUNCH ex-con has been tossed back in jail on charges that he hurled a bologna sandwich that struck his reeling roommate in the chest, according to a Florida police report. Oquavious Chandler, 29, is being held without bail — he was on probation for another crime when the alleged luncheon meat melee occurred — over a snack attack that the roomie claims occurred when he told churlish Chandler to lower the blaring volume on his PlayStation 5 video game. “The victim stated that the defendant became aggressive and began to yell at him,” say cops. Although the roomie “had no visible injuries” from the deli meat debacle in Wildwood, Chandler is now chewing on felony charges because of his history of prior battery convictions — two of which also involved…

STRUGGLING Queen Camilla is drowning her sorrows in booze as her longtime dream of wearing the crown beside husband King Charles has become a real-life nightmare — and the troubled tippler’s out-of-control behavior has thrown the royal family into chaos, palace insiders say. Crushed Camilla, 77, remains devastated as her hubby’s health continues to decline after his cancer diagnosis in January 2024, tipsters tattle. Sources say the pressures of Charles’ shocking decline, her ongoing struggles with ailing Princess Kate AND the seemingly endless schism with renegade royals Harry and Meghan have led Camilla to fall back on bad habits to deal with all the stress! What’s more, the stressed monarch lost her beloved rescue dog Beth last year, with sources saying she was her last source of comfort! “She’s been…

LEGENDARY songwriter Joni Mitchell, who lost her ability to speak after a brain aneurysm 10 years ago, stole the show at a recent benefit concert for Los Angeles wildfire victims. The 81-year-old icon reduced fans to tears when she sang her 1966 hit Both Sides Now while sitting in a gilded chair as she tapped a black cane on the floor. “It does feel like a miracle,” a source tells GLOBE. “After her aneurysm, she couldn’t even speak and now she’s back performing. “She had to relearn how to talk, to sing, to play music, and she’s done it. But of course, it was a whole lot of hard work on her part — so much physical therapy and speech and vocal therapy — and for a long time she was…

DID Kate Winslet cancel Reese Witherspoon after the Legally Blonde star dissed her at a “classy” British awards show? Reese didn’t name the former friend, only saying she was “a very serious, proper actress,” but online sleuths have deduced that she was talking about the Titanic star. Back in 2007, Reese was asked to present a BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Award to Kate, but mistakenly thought the event was a roast. So instead of praise, she regaled the audience with raunchy anecdotes. Other Kate stories were “too bawdy … or drunken to tell,” Reese added. After the reports, Witherspoon DENIED that it was Kate, saying, “Hey guys … just spoke to my very dear friend for years, Kate W. Please do not believe the internet. We are good friends and have…

CHAIN-SMOKING stinker Ben Affleck promised to quit his bad habit for the new year, but his vow has gone up in flames, and sources say he’s firing up so often that friends are finding it hard to stomach the smell. “He’s always running out to have a cigarette and can’t seem to get through a meeting or an event without his nicotine fix,” tattles a tipster. The 52-year-old hunk first quit puffing in 2005 with the help of a hypnotist, and promised to give the trance-inducing technique another whirl in 2025 — but his efforts have turned to ashes. “For hypnosis to work there needs to be a really strong desire to quit and that obviously isn’t there,” spills the source. Ben bragged in a 2008 TV interview about the “huge…

THE sad news that country stars Tim McGraw and Willie Nelson are dealing with health and age issues begs a burning question — why don’t they just retire? As GLOBE recently reported, 57-year-old Tim is dropping out of a rodeo series on Netflix and had to cancel tour dates last year because of double knee surgery, and now needs an operation on his back. And pals fear 91-year-old Willie is touring too hard and if he doesn’t pull back “it will kill him.” Tim and star wife Faith Hill are worth a whopping $200 million, and Willie’s got a comparatively modest but still impressive $25 million — so moolah is not likely their motivation to keep working. Even love takes a backseat for some performers. Many showbiz marriages don’t last…

HUNKY Austin Butler is taking sleazy cues from his bachelor mentor Leonardo DiCaprio by dumping model Kaia Gerber and diving into the sea of women swimming his way, tipsters tattle. The Oscar-nominated Elvis actor, 33, seemed to have a burning love for the 23-year-old daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and business mogul Rande Gerber. But sources spill that the Dune prince kicked Kaia to the curb after three years so he could play the field like lothario Leo! “Austin KNOWS he’s the It Guy in Hollywood and he plans to take advantage of that!” an insider squeals. Now, sources dish that Austin is leaning on his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood costar Leo — Tinseltown’s love ’em and leave ’em poster boy — for advice on how to handle the…

BOOZE-loving country king Sam Hunt may be riding high on the charts, but he found himself parked in the pokey again due to his love of the bottle, and sources say frazzled wife Hannah Lee Fowler is at the end of her rope! The 39-year-old got hitched to the Drinkin’ Too Much singer seven years ago, but is reportedly ready to kick him to the curb if he doesn’t dry out following his Jan. 20 bust for speeding in Henderson, Tenn., after cops say he disabled the mandatory breathalyzer in his car! The 40-year-old crooner was previously arrested for DUI in 2019 when cops pulled him over for driving on the wrong side of the road, found an open container of alcohol in the car, and he registered twice the…

JEN’S CHEST WAS A CONVERSATION PIECE Breast-tacular JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, 46, recalls her teen years when men made a big deal about her 36D beauties. The Client List babe was a bra-bustin’ 16-year-old when she made the hit horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer, and her chest became the talk of Tinseltown. “There were grown men talking to me at 16 about my breasts openly on a talk show, and people were laughing about it,” the buxom star recalls. “It was a culture that was fully accepted, but when … you look at where we are now, it is really mind-blowing.” She adds: “It was really strange, I think, to become a sex symbol sort of like before I even knew what that was. I didn’t know…

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY The Bend It Like Beckham star misses the fashion goalposts with this Valentino frock MONICA BARBARO The A Complete Unknown actress is a standout wearing a dazzling Dior gown AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR The Nickel Boys star looks like a million bucks in a floral-textured monochromatic pantsuit LEILA GEORGE The Animal Kingdom alum takes a walk on the wild side in a peek-a-boo Courrèges dress MARY STEENBURGEN It’s a red-letter day for the Elf actress is a sizzling off-the-shoulder gown…

MORE than 100 teens partied at a booze-filled bash at a school principal’s Florida pad — and now the dunce and one of her teachers could get the book thrown at them if convicted of charges related to the hooch-heavy hootenanny, lawmen say. Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan, an administrator at Roosevelt Elementary School in Cocoa Beach, was arrested after an alleged underage rager at her home, where police say they also found soused thirdgrade instructor Karly Anderson! According to an incident report, complaining neighbors claimed there was alcohol and drug use at the noisy juvenile jamboree. A responding officer reached Hill-Brodigan by phone and said she promised to “handle the issue.” But authorities charge she did no such thing! An arrest affidavit states interviewed students revealed similar parties happened at the house…

NUTTY Kanye West lost more than the Best Rap Song Grammy after parading his nearly naked wife on the red carpet in advance of the prestigious event — and sources say the outrageous stunt is sure to torpedo a $20 million deal for two concerts at the Tokyo Dome in Japan! The unhinged artist otherwise known as Ye, 47, shocked the Grammys crowd when he ordered his bombshell 30-year-old wife, Bianca Censori, to slip out of her floor-length black fur coat to reveal a super-sheer minidress with no underwear. According to a lip reader, Kanye whispered to Bianca, “You’re making a scene now. Make a scene, I’ll say it’ll make so much sense. “Drop it behind you and then turn. I got you.” She obeyed his command, baring an outfit…

ROCK MUSE Marianne Faithfull was survived by son Nicholas upon her Jan. 30 death — but she went to her grave regretting not having a bigger family because years of drug addiction led to three miscarriages and four abortions! The 78-year-old singing and acting icon gave birth to her son with first husband John Dunbar in 1965 when she was just 18. But while she was a rising star on the music scene, she fell in with the Rolling Stones and in 1966 began a four-year affair with lead singer Mick Jagger that resulted in her leaving her husband. Tragically, Faithfull fell under the spell of the Stones and their lust for debauchery and drugs — and in 1968, after becoming a cocaine addict, she gave birth to a still-born…

HE-MAN actor GERARD BUTLER played the legendary Spartan king Leonidas in the epic 2006 action movie 300, a shot-for-shot liveaction adaptation of the Frank Miller comic. Butler underwent a grueling, four-month training period to make him look like a real warrior in the Battle of Thermopylae — no CGI effects or muscle suits to make him look awesomely ripped — but he was not invincible. The actor nearly lost an eye when a stuntman accidentally sliced Butler’s face with a real sword. He also came away with shoulder dislocations, torn muscles and severe exhaustion — and a newly launched Hollywood career.…