• Jennifer Lopez, 56, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 27 to promote her new movie Office Romance, and when Kimmel asked about her relationship status, she was direct: “Yes! I shoulda done it sooner!” she said of being single — adding “I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’ve been doing it all wrong, trust me”
• A Memorial Day Instagram post from J.Lo also revealed she appears to have covered or altered the tattoo she got of Ben Affleck’s name on her side in 2023 — the tribute, which debuted on their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, is no longer visible in her photos
• Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024 — on what would have been the second anniversary of their Georgia ceremony — and the divorce was finalized in January 2025
• Lopez and Affleck originally dated in the early 2000s and famously broke off their engagement in 2004 before reuniting in 2021 and marrying in Las Vegas in July 2022

Jennifer Lopez has two ways of communicating where she stands post-Ben Affleck: a late-night interview and a very subtle Instagram slide. She used both this week. On Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she appeared to promote her new film Office Romance, Kimmel asked about her relationship status. Her answer was cheerful and immediate. “Yes!” she said of being single. “I shoulda done it sooner! I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’ve been doing it all wrong, trust me,” per Just Jared.

Then came the tattoo. J.Lo posted a Memorial Day Instagram carousel captioned “Spending the day with the people I love” — mostly photos with friends and her 18-year-old son Max. In the eleventh slide, her side is visible and the Ben Affleck tribute tattoo she debuted in 2023 — an ink piece marking their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple — appears to have been covered or altered. She didn’t address it directly, but eagle-eyed fans and outlets noticed immediately, per People.

The Bennifer Epilogue

Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024 — pointedly, on what would have been the second anniversary of their traditional Georgia ceremony — and it was finalized in January 2025. The two had originally been engaged in the early 2000s before splitting in 2004, then reunited in 2021 to considerable public fanfare and married in Las Vegas in July 2022. The arc from reunion to divorce covered just over three years. Her current framing — single, self-possessed, and saying she should have gotten here sooner — is about as clean a closing statement as the story is going to get, per Hello Magazine.

The post J.Lo Says She ‘Shoulda Done It Sooner’ — and She Quietly Covered Her Ben Affleck Tattoo Too appeared first on Cream.

• Mel C (Melanie Chisholm), 52, appeared on Cosmopolitan’s Blind Date and was asked which Spice Girl was “the most boy crazy” during the group’s peak fame in the 1990s — she named Mel B (Melanie Brown), calling her the one with the “best success rate” with men
• “She was very popular,” Mel C said, noting she was “trying to find a better way of putting it” — and she also credited Mel B with giving the best dating advice because “she’s a cool girl”
• Separately, Mel C has been praised online for how she handled a podcaster’s question about her sexuality on The Mitch Churi Chat Show, with LGBTQ+ fans highlighting her response as both graceful and clear

Mel C is telling Spice Girls stories again, and the one she told on Cosmopolitan’s Blind Date is going to follow Mel B around for a while. Asked which member of the group was “the most boy crazy” when the Spice Girls were at the height of their fame, Mel C — born Melanie Chisholm, now 52 — chose her words carefully.

“I would say the best success rate,” she began, adding: “I’m trying to find a better way of putting it.” She landed on “she was very popular,” pointing to Mel B (Melanie Brown) as the Spice Girl with the most active romantic life during their shared years of worldwide fame, per Page Six.

Mel C also noted that Mel B gave the best dating advice of the group — because “she’s a cool girl.” Coming from someone who has known her for three decades, that framing reads as affectionate rather than pointed. The two Melanies have remained close since the group’s original run.

The Sexuality Question

A separate clip of Mel C has also been circulating this week — footage from The Mitch Churi Chat Show, in which the host asked an awkward question about her sexuality. LGBTQ+ fans praised Mel C’s handling of it as measured and self-possessed: she acknowledged she’d encountered the assumption before, said she didn’t have a problem with it, but made clear where she stood, per People. The clip spread largely because of how calmly she navigated what the host did not.

The post Mel C Says Mel B Had the ‘Best Success Rate’ With Men During Spice Girls Fame — and Gave the Best Dating Advice Too appeared first on Cream.

• Tia Mowry, 47, quietly went Instagram official with a new mystery man on Wednesday, May 27, slipping a laughing beach selfie with him into a vacation photo dump from the Nobu hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• In the photo, Mowry’s new boyfriend is grinning in dark sunglasses and a white T-shirt while the Sister, Sister alum looks away from the camera in a fit of giggles; a video in the same post shows someone — presumably him — sketching her
• The post comes three years after Mowry and Cory Hardrict confirmed their split; Mowry had teased a new romance as far back as March but had not previously shown her partner’s face
• She has not publicly identified the man; the mystery boyfriend remains unnamed across all coverage of the post

Tia Mowry kept things mostly breezy on Instagram this week — Cabo views, beachside snaps, resort-life aesthetics — until she didn’t. Tucked inside her Wednesday photo carousel from a trip to the Nobu hotel in Cabo San Lucas was something fans had been waiting on: a selfie with the new man in her life.

In the shot, Mowry is mid-laugh, looking away from the camera, while her mystery boyfriend grins at it directly in dark shades and a white T-shirt. A video in the same post reportedly shows someone sketching her — a detail that sent fans into full caption-the-relationship mode. She wrote that they had the “best time,” per People/Yahoo.

Mowry had hinted at a new romance back in March, per E! Online, but Wednesday’s post marked the first time she’d shared his face. His identity hasn’t been disclosed — she’s clearly in no rush to name-drop.

Three Years After the Split

Mowry and actor Cory Hardrict announced their separation in October 2022 after nearly 14 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized the following year. The two share a son, Cree, and a daughter, Cairo. Mowry has spoken openly since the split about prioritizing her own peace and well-being — and by the looks of the Cabo carousel, she seems to have found some of both, per Us Magazine.

The post Tia Mowry Goes Instagram Official With a Mystery Man — See the Laughing Beach Selfie From Their Cabo Getaway appeared first on Cream.

• Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 on Sunday, June 1 — and the centennial has brought a full wave of retrospectives, exhibitions, and new scholarship examining what made her cultural hold so durable
• A new biography, I Wanna Be Loved by You: Marilyn Monroe: A Life in 100 Takes by Andrew Wilson, draws on previously unheard interviews and personal letters; it incorporates 2022 DNA test results that identified Charles Stanley Gifford as Monroe’s biological father, a question that had long circulated without resolution
• The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens “Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon” on Sunday, featuring the iconic hot pink William Travilla gown Monroe wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes among its centerpieces
• A second forthcoming book, Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance (out August 11), is a biography of the choreographer who designed how Monroe walked, gestured, and moved on screen — reframing her physicality as a deliberate artistic collaboration
• The centennial also includes limited-edition Andy Warhol prints, multiple new documentaries, and international retrospective screenings

She would have turned 100 on Sunday, June 1. More than 60 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe still commands enough attention that her centennial has produced a genuine cultural moment — not just nostalgia programming, but new books, new scholarship, and new scholarship asking what, exactly, it was about her that won’t let go.

The most-discussed arrival is Andrew Wilson’s I Wanna Be Loved by You: Marilyn Monroe: A Life in 100 Takes, a biography timed to the centennial that uses previously unheard interviews and personal letters to examine the private anguish behind a career that looked, from the outside, like a series of triumphs. Per Yahoo/Closer Weekly, Wilson’s book incorporates 2022 DNA test results that finally identified Charles Stanley Gifford as Monroe’s biological father — a question that had circulated for decades without official resolution. The book also draws on accounts from figures in her life including first husband Jim Dougherty and acting coach Natasha Lytess, and pulls in perspectives from Norman Rosten and director John Huston on how she was perceived by those closest to her work.

Wilson’s central argument, reflected in the title’s echo of the song Monroe made famous, is that she “wanted to be wanted” — and that the distance between that need and what celebrity could actually provide was where much of the tragedy lived.

The Pink Gown, in Person

For those who’d rather see Monroe than read about her, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is opening its “Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon” installation on Sunday. The Los Angeles Times reports the centerpiece is the hot pink silk gown designed by William Travilla that Monroe wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes — the dress she stands in, arms thrown wide, in one of the most replicated images in cinema history. The gown is part of a broader exhibition of costumes, photographs, and archival material.

A second book arriving later this summer reframes Monroe’s legacy from a different angle entirely. Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance, due August 11 from the University Press of Kentucky, is a biography of choreographer Jack Cole — the man who, working with Monroe directly, designed her walk, her gestures, and the specific physical vocabulary that made her so distinctively herself on screen. The argument the book makes is that Monroe’s physicality wasn’t simply natural magnetism; it was a built thing, a collaboration between performer and choreographer, and Cole’s role in creating what audiences responded to has largely been erased from the story.

Limited-edition Andy Warhol prints, new documentary projects, and retrospective screenings are rounding out a centennial that shows no sign of answering the basic question it keeps raising: why, of all the stars of her era, does she still feel like the one who got away.

The post Marilyn Monroe Would Have Turned 100 on June 1 — Here’s How Hollywood Is Marking the Centennial appeared first on Cream.

• Carmen Electra, 54, appeared on the Legally Goff podcast and described the moment she decided to end her marriage to Dennis Rodman: she looked in the mirror in her 20s and didn’t recognize herself — bags under her eyes, puffy face, from constant partying
• Electra and Rodman, 65, married at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas in November 1998; Rodman sought an annulment nine days later; they briefly reconciled before she filed for divorce in April 1999
• "It was constant drinking," she said; a friend’s self-help book helped her see clearly: "I’ve got to get away from him because what good is going to come out of this?"
• After the split, Rodman would show up at her home and refuse to leave — threatening to "get naked again outside" — forcing her to move and change her number
• Despite it all: "It was real love. It wasn’t a made-up story. It wasn’t a publicity stunt. It was real love… it’s sad but it had to end"

Carmen Electra has talked about Dennis Rodman many times over the years. On the Legally Goff podcast this week, she went further than usual — down to the specific mirror moment when she decided enough was enough.

"I just remember looking at myself in the mirror," Electra, 54, told the podcast. "I was at home and I didn’t recognize myself. I had bags under my eyes. My face was puffy. I’m in my 20s! I thought, ‘It’s got to stop. It has to stop.’"

The two had one of the most-covered celebrity relationships of the late 1990s. They met at a club, got serious fast, and in November 1998 married at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas. Per Page Six, Rodman sought an annulment just nine days after the wedding. They reconciled briefly before Electra filed for divorce in April 1999.

Looking back, she describes life in Rodman’s orbit as genuinely fun — and genuinely unsustainable. "[Dennis] was always like the pied piper of the party," she said. "We had a lot of fun together. That was my favorite part of being around Dennis." But the other side of it: "He’s so loving, and then he’s wild and he’s drinking. It was just too hard to continue to keep up with him and his friends. It was constant drinking."

What helped her get out was a book — literally. A friend handed her a self-help book around the time she hit her breaking point, and she kept going back to the store for more. "I just thought, ‘I’ve got to get away from him because what good is going to come out of this?’"

After the Split

The breakup wasn’t clean. Per Us Weekly, Electra said Rodman would come to her house and not leave. He would "threaten to get naked again outside," she recalled. "I just didn’t want the police to come. I didn’t want it to turn into a big thing." Eventually, she had to move and change her phone number to create real distance.

On the softer side of those same months: she said Rodman would sometimes show up "being really sweet and cute and crying" and wanting her back. She returned the things he gave her after the split — but kept what he had given her while they were together.

Now, more than 25 years later, the view is clear-eyed and fond. "It was real love," Electra said. "It wasn’t a made-up story. It wasn’t a publicity stunt. It was real love. It’s sad but it had to end."

The post Carmen Electra Says She Didn’t Recognize Herself in the Mirror During Her Dennis Rodman Marriage — and That Was the Moment appeared first on Cream.

• Jennifer Lopez, 56, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 27 and revealed she has been “crying for two months” over twins Max and Emme, 18, graduating from high school — one of them the following day
• Max and Emme, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, attend two different high schools and will head off to two different colleges in the fall
• Writing yearbook ads for each of them took her two days: “When I tell you, the tears…”
• She plans to help them move into their dorms herself — "I do all the things" — but is secretly hoping they miss home quickly: "That’s my plan"
• On her love life post-Ben Affleck divorce: "I’m good right now. I’m happy"

Jennifer Lopez sat down with Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night and barely made it through the subject of her kids.

The 56-year-old appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and opened up about twins Max and Emme — both 18, both wrapping up high school, both about to leave home. "Tomorrow, one of them graduates," she told Kimmel. "Don’t talk about it ‘cos we start crying. I’ve been crying for two months."

The twins, whom Lopez shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, go to two different high schools and will attend two different colleges in the fall. "It’s fine," she told Us Weekly via the interview. "I want them to be happy, go where they want to go, and do what they want to do."

One of the harder tasks in the lead-up: writing their high school yearbook ads. Lopez said sitting down to put her feelings into words took her two full days. "When I tell you, the tears…" she said, trailing off.

When Kimmel asked if she’d be the one actually moving them into their college dorms, there was no hesitation. "Absolutely. Oh, yeah. I do all the things," she told E! Online. "We have sheets at the house. We’re gonna pack up their rooms here and they’re going to take all the things that they want to take to their dorms."

Then comes her actual strategy for surviving empty nest syndrome: "They’re gonna get there and realize their dorms are too small. They’re going to miss home I hope and want to come back real soon. That’s my plan."

She was quick to clarify she isn’t dreading the transition so much as she’s proud of it. "I remember being that age and thinking I couldn’t wait to get out in the world and do my thing," she said. "All year people have been asking me, ‘Oh, they’re going away to college, is it going to be terrible?’ No, it’s going to be great. I want them to go out there. I want them to do what they want to do. They have big dreams. They have things they want to do."

The Kimmel appearance also touched briefly on her personal life. Lopez and Ben Affleck finalized their divorce in 2025, and she had a simple answer for how she’s doing: "I’m good right now. I’m happy."

Over Memorial Day weekend, Lopez shared a rare look at the twins on Instagram — posting photos from a backyard gathering in Los Angeles that showed her posing with Max in front of an American flag and hugging Emme. "Spending the day with the people I love," she wrote in the caption.

The post Jennifer Lopez Has Been ‘Crying for 2 Months’ Over Twins Max and Emme Graduating — and She Has a Plan to Get Them Back appeared first on Cream.

• Charles Cioffi died May 22 of natural causes at his Marina del Rey, California home; he was 90
• His death was first reported by TMZ and confirmed by his wife, Anne; he is also survived by two sons and nieces and nephews
• Cioffi played the villain stalking Jane Fonda in Klute (1971) and Lt. Vic Androzzi opposite Richard Roundtree in Shaft (1971) — both released the same year
• He played Tom Cruise’s blue-collar father in All the Right Moves and, on TV, appeared in six episodes of The X-Files as FBI Section Chief Scott Blevins — the official who assigned Scully to work alongside Mulder
• A trained stage actor, Cioffi made his Broadway debut in a 1968 production of King Lear and appeared in seven Broadway productions over his career, including the original 1969 cast of 1776

Charles Cioffi, one of the more quietly indispensable character actors of his generation, died May 22 at his home in Marina del Rey, California. He was 90. The cause was natural causes. His wife, Anne, confirmed the death to TMZ.

Cioffi spent more than six decades working across film, television, and the stage — a career that began at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in the early 1960s and eventually placed him in some of the defining films of the 1970s. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 in a production of King Lear at the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center, and went on to appear in seven Broadway productions total, including the original 1969 cast of the musical 1776 and a 1975 production of Hamlet with Sam Waterston in the title role and Jane Alexander as Gertrude.

His most memorable film work came in 1971, when two very different roles arrived in the same year. In Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, he played the menacing figure stalking the call girl Bree Daniels, played by Jane Fonda in her Oscar-winning performance. The same year, he appeared in Gordon Parks’ landmark crime film Shaft as Lt. Vic Androzzi, the New York City detective who reluctantly partners with Richard Roundtree’s private eye John Shaft. Both films became cultural touchstones; both had Cioffi in the cast.

Through the 1970s he moved fluidly between tough-guy pictures and television. He played gangland figures in Lucky Luciano (1973), The Don Is Dead (1973), and Crazy Joe (1974), and joined the cast of the ABC cop series Get Christie Love! (1974–75) as Lt. Matt Reardon, the superior of Teresa Graves’ pioneering Black female detective. In the 1980s, he played Tom Cruise’s working-class father in All the Right Moves and appeared alongside Telly Savalas in four Kojak telefilms (1989–90) as Chief George Morris.

Younger audiences may know him best from The X-Files, where he played FBI Section Chief Scott Blevins across six episodes — the bureaucrat who, in the show’s mythology, was responsible for pairing Dana Scully with Fox Mulder and assigning her to investigate the paranormal cases. The role put him inside one of the most-watched shows of the 1990s.

His other television credits span nearly every major network drama of the past fifty years: Hawaii Five-O, Bonanza, The A-Team, Thirtysomething, NYPD Blue, Frasier, Wings, and The Practice, among them. He is survived by his wife Anne, two sons, and nieces and nephews.

The post Charles Cioffi, Character Actor in ‘Shaft,’ ‘Klute,’ and ‘The X-Files,’ Dies at 90 appeared first on Cream.

• Keanu Reeves wrote a letter to federal Judge Jed Rakoff asking for leniency in sentencing Carl Rinsch, who directed Reeves in 2013’s 47 Ronin
• Rinsch was convicted in December on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and illegal transactions — he scammed Netflix out of $11 million meant to fund his sci-fi series White Horse, spending it on luxury cars, high-end mattresses, and crypto
• Reeves acknowledged he doesn’t know the full details of the case but called Rinsch an “exceptional artist” who tends to “self-sabotage” by pushing the limits of negotiated agreements
• Rinsch faces 8-10 years; his defense team is arguing for a lighter sentence and submitted letters from family, friends, and Reeves ahead of the June 29 sentencing
• Reeves not only starred in 47 Ronin but later became a mentor and early investor on White Horse — the very project Rinsch used to defraud Netflix

Keanu Reeves knows his 47 Ronin director defrauded Netflix out of $11 million. He’s asking a judge to go easy on him anyway.

In a letter submitted to Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff as part of Carl Rinsch’s sentencing materials, Reeves wrote that he hoped the director’s sentence “might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice.” The letter, dated May 1, was included in Rinsch’s defense filing this week ahead of his June 29 sentencing date.

Rinsch was convicted last December on federal charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and making illegal transactions. Prosecutors said he took $11 million from Netflix — money intended to fund his sci-fi series White Horse — and spent it on luxury cars, high-end mattresses, and cryptocurrency investments. The series was never delivered. He faces 8 to 10 years in prison under sentencing guidelines; his defense team is pushing for a significantly lighter sentence.

What Reeves Said

The letter is careful but revealing. Reeves was upfront that he “does not know the details” of the case. What he offered instead was a character portrait from someone who worked with Rinsch closely — and later invested in the project that became the center of the fraud.

“Based upon what I do know about Carl, I did want to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, in the hope that his sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice,” Reeves wrote, per Deadline.

He described Rinsch as an “exceptional artist” who tends to “self-sabotage” by pushing the boundaries of negotiated agreements. “I am, of course, not a therapist or psychologist,” Reeves added — which is the kind of qualifier that makes the character assessment more credible, not less.

The History Between Them

Reeves and Rinsch go back to 2013, when Rinsch directed the big-budget samurai fantasy 47 Ronin with Reeves in the lead role. The film had a notoriously troubled production — budget overruns, reshoots, studio friction — and underperformed at the box office. But the two maintained a relationship afterward.

When Rinsch developed White Horse, his sci-fi series for Netflix, Reeves came on not just as a supporter but as a mentor and early investor. That makes his decision to write a leniency letter something more than a favor for a former collaborator — he was personally connected to the project Rinsch is now going to prison for misusing.

Rinsch’s sentencing is scheduled for June 29 before Judge Rakoff in Manhattan federal court.

The post Keanu Reeves Wrote to a Judge for His 47 Ronin Director — Even After the $11M Netflix Fraud appeared first on Cream.

• Kenneth Iwamasa, Matthew Perry’s live-in personal assistant, was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months (3 years, 5 months) in federal prison — the fifth and final defendant sentenced in the case
• Iwamasa injected Perry with three shots of ketamine on Oct. 28, 2023, then left him alone; Perry was found face down in his hot tub, dead at 54
• He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death; prosecutors asked for 41 months, his lawyers had argued for just 6 months
• Perry’s sister Madeline said Iwamasa “injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die” — his stepfather Keith Morrison also delivered a victim impact statement
• Iwamasa must report to prison by July 17; he also received two years supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory assessment

The legal chapter that followed Matthew Perry’s death is over.

Kenneth Iwamasa, the 60-year-old man who served as Perry’s live-in personal assistant and injected him with the ketamine that killed him, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles to 41 months in prison. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence, along with two years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory special assessment. Iwamasa must report to prison by July 17.

He is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in the case that followed Perry’s death on October 28, 2023 — the day Iwamasa injected the Friends star with three shots of ketamine and then left him alone. Perry was found face down in his backyard jacuzzi when Iwamasa returned from running errands.

What the Court Heard

The hearing was not quiet. Perry’s stepfather, journalist Keith Morrison, delivered a victim impact statement that left Iwamasa visibly shaken — the New York Post reported he appeared to be on the verge of tears as Morrison spoke. Perry’s sister Madeline, in a court filing, did not hold back: “He injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die. It is difficult to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done. In many ways, it felt like my brother died all over again. Everything I believed about the day he died — everything Kenny told us was a lie.”

Perry’s half-sister had separately argued that Iwamasa deserved a harsher sentence than Jasveen Sangha — the so-called “Ketamine Queen” who was sentenced in April to 15 years for supplying the drugs. The judge did not go that far.

Iwamasa’s lawyers had asked for just six months in prison and six months of home confinement, arguing their client was “merely doing his employer’s bidding.” Prosecutors countered that Iwamasa had become far more than just an assistant — he worked alongside two doctors to supply Perry with more than $50,000 worth of ketamine in the weeks before his death, all without any medical training.

Prosecutors got what they asked for: 41 months, exactly.

The Five Defendants

The investigation and prosecution stretched over two and a half years after Perry was found dead at 54 in his Pacific Palisades home. Five people were ultimately charged and sentenced. Sangha, who prosecutors described as the primary supplier of the ketamine, received the harshest sentence: 15 years. The two doctors who provided ketamine to Perry were also sentenced earlier in the case.

Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024, admitting to a single count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Perry’s cause of death was officially determined to be “acute effects of ketamine.”

He looked stoic in court Wednesday, wearing a grey suit with a white shirt and tie. Whatever expression he had for the cameras outside, inside the courtroom the family’s words landed.

For the people who loved Matthew Perry, Wednesday closed something. It didn’t fix it. But it closed it.

The post Matthew Perry’s Assistant Sentenced to 41 Months — the Case Is Finally Closed appeared first on Cream.

• J.K. Simmons was caught on the Citi Field big screen Tuesday when he turned to find Spider-Man seated directly behind him, hiding his face behind a copy of the Daily Bugle
• Simmons went full J. Jonah Jameson — shaking his fist at the web-slinger, scowling at the camera, demanding he be removed — and the clip went immediately viral
• Simmons plays Jameson in both the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and in the current MCU, making the moment feel almost scripted
• The Mets lost 7-2 to the Reds; Simmons was sporting a Detroit Tigers shirt under his Mets jersey
• Also at the game: Bill Fagerbakke, the voice of Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch and announced the Mets’ lineup over the PA

J.K. Simmons was just trying to watch the Mets.

The Oscar winner was at Citi Field on Tuesday night for New York’s game against the Cincinnati Reds when the stadium cameras found him in the seats. Nothing unusual — except for the figure sitting directly behind him, face concealed behind a copy of the Daily Bugle.

Simmons turned around. Spider-Man looked back at him.

What happened next was, by all accounts, an Oscar-worthy performance. Simmons snapped into full J. Jonah Jameson mode — shaking his fist at the web-slinger, scowling at the camera, demanding that the costumed nuisance be removed from the premises. The crowd loved it. The clip was online within minutes and has since done what viral clips do.

The beauty of the moment is how perfectly calibrated it was. Spider-Man didn’t just show up in costume. He showed up holding the Daily Bugle — Jameson’s own newspaper, the one that’s been running anti-Spider-Man headlines for decades — which means someone put real thought into the bit. “He’s a menace!” is essentially Jameson’s catchphrase, and Simmons delivered it on cue without breaking character for a second.

Simmons has played J. Jonah Jameson in the original Sam Raimi trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, and reprised the role in the current MCU, most recently in Spider-Man: No Way Home. At this point, the character is as much his as any role he’s ever played — which makes the willingness to lean into a random stadium bit all the more charming. He was not there to do a bit. He just happened to be at a baseball game and went with it anyway.

For the record: the Mets lost, 7-2. Simmons was wearing a Detroit Tigers shirt under his Mets jersey, which the Detroit News was understandably delighted to note.

The night also featured Bill Fagerbakke — the voice of Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants — throwing the ceremonial first pitch and announcing the Mets’ lineup over the Citi Field PA. Between Fagerbakke, Simmons, and a Spider-Man with a newspaper, it was a strange evening for celebrity sightings at a ballpark. The baseball was apparently secondary.

The post J.K. Simmons Became J. Jonah Jameson at the Mets Game and the Internet Lost It appeared first on Cream.