• Bret Michaels — Poison frontman and former Celebrity Apprentice winner — announced he is withdrawing from the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair concert series on the National Mall, citing “threats and safety concerns” and saying the event has “evolved into something much more divisive” than what he agreed to
• Michaels becomes the fifth act to exit since the lineup was announced on May 27 — joining Martina McBride, Morris Day and The Time, and Young MC — leaving just a handful of the original nine announced performers still on the bill
• In his statement, Michaels said: “Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of” — while also noting his shows have “never been about politics”
• The Freedom 250 Great American State Fair is still scheduled to run June 25 through July 10 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., organized as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations under President Trump

The Freedom 250 Great American State Fair is losing its lineup faster than it can replace it. Bret Michaels — the Poison frontman who also won Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice — announced Friday that he is pulling out of the Trump-backed concert series on the National Mall, citing safety threats and a festival that had become something other than what he originally agreed to. He is the fifth act to exit since the lineup was publicly announced just 48 hours earlier on May 27. As Variety pointedly observed, Freedom 250 is now a festival with very few acts left to lose, per Variety.

Michaels posted a statement to his website explaining his decision. “When this opportunity was presented to me,” he wrote, it was framed as a nonpartisan celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. That framing, he said, did not hold. “Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” He was also specific about the physical dimension of his exit: threats and safety concerns were raised, and those concerns factored into his decision to step away. “My shows have never been about politics,” he added, per Deadline.

Michaels’ departure carries a particular resonance given his history with Trump. He appeared on Celebrity Apprentice and won — making him, of the artists who have now exited the series, the one with the most direct personal connection to the president. That he is still choosing to withdraw, and citing safety concerns as part of his reasoning, adds a dimension to the story that goes beyond the standard political opt-out, per Billboard.

The Growing Exodus

The cascade of departures began almost immediately after the Freedom 250 lineup dropped. Morris Day and The Time were among the first to announce they would not perform, followed by Young MC. Martina McBride exited Thursday, writing on Instagram that she had been presented with “a nonpartisan event” but that “what we were told is not, in fact, what is happening.” McBride’s statement used nearly identical language to Michaels’ — both described being misled about the event’s nature before signing on. By Friday morning, five of the nine originally announced acts had now publicly withdrawn, leaving the festival’s music programming in significant disarray with less than four weeks until the scheduled June 25 opening, per Forbes.

Freedom 250 was established by President Trump to organize the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, and the Interior Department declared it the official branding for those events. The organization has maintained publicly that it is nonpartisan — a characterization that multiple artists say does not match what they encountered when they examined the event’s structure and political affiliations more closely. The pattern across the departures is consistent: artists say they accepted based on a nonpartisan pitch, then withdrew when the fuller picture emerged.

What’s Left of the Lineup

With five of nine acts now out, the Great American State Fair faces a significant rebuilding challenge before its 16-day run on the National Mall. The festival is still scheduled to operate from June 25 through July 10 — the stretch spanning the lead-up to and follow-through on July 4th — with programming across the area between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. What remains of the original music lineup, and whether organizers can attract replacement bookings, remains to be seen. Each new departure has arrived accompanied by statements that echo one another almost verbatim: nonpartisan is how it was sold, divisive is how it landed. For artists weighing whether to join or stay, those statements are accumulating into a pattern that is hard to ignore, per Yahoo.

The post Bret Michaels Exits Freedom 250 Over ‘Threats and Safety Concerns’ — Now 5 of 9 Acts Have Pulled Out appeared first on Cream.

• Ariana Grande, 32, released “Hate That I Made You Love Me” on May 29 — the lead single from her upcoming eighth studio album Petal, due July 31 via Republic Records — co-written and produced by Grande alongside longtime collaborators Ilya and Max Martin
• The mid-tempo song carries a dual meaning: on the surface it reads as a breakup track about a lost love who felt more invested than she did, but the bridge expands into a meditation on fame and the expectations placed on women in the public eye — “Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts on your own accord?” she sings
• An official music video directed by Christian Breslauer — who helmed Grande’s MTV VMA-winning Bright Days Ahead short film in 2025 — premieres Monday, June 1 at 8 a.m. PST; a teaser featuring Weapons actor Justin Long dropped earlier this week
• Petal is described by Grande as “little feral” and “from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before” — the 12-track album was executive produced and co-written by Grande and Ilya, who has worked with her since her 2014 breakout single “Problem”

Ariana Grande has officially opened a new chapter. “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” the lead single from her forthcoming eighth studio album Petal, arrived Friday, May 29 — and with it, the clearest signal yet of where the 32-year-old is heading musically and emotionally after two years of high-profile film projects, a divorce, and a seven-year gap between major tours. The song is built around a shimmering, ambient instrumental, Grande’s voice in a quieter register than much of her previous work, and a premise that sounds like an apology but isn’t really one, per Rolling Stone.

“Hate that I made you love me / Sorry if I made me your type / Yeah, I hate that I made you love me / ‘Cause I barely tried,” she sings in the chorus. The song was co-written and produced by Grande alongside Ilya and Max Martin — the same Swedish production team behind many of her biggest records. It arrives with a comic-book-inspired lyric video and is listed as the second track on Petal. It’s also Grande’s first non-soundtrack single since 2025’s “Twilight Zone,” per Billboard.

Speculation about who the song is directed at began immediately. Just Jared noted that on Eternal Sunshine, Grande sang about how hard she worked to sustain a relationship — and that this song flips that script entirely, with the narrator claiming she “barely tried.” Some fans have drawn a connection to her divorce from Dalton Gomez. Others read the song as addressing something bigger: the experience of being a public figure whose image becomes a projection screen for everyone who encounters it. Grande doesn’t resolve the ambiguity, and that seems intentional, per Just Jared.

The Bridge Changes Everything

The element of the song that has generated the most conversation is the bridge, which pivots away from the romantic framing entirely. “I felt your projections when you felt so insecure / Tell me why is it this way, why you so hate to see women endure / Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts on your own accord / I don’t really think so,” she sings. ELLE’s analysis of the lyrics noted that the bridge transforms what appears to be a breakup song into something more pointed — an address to the audience itself, to fans and critics alike who have assigned their own meanings to Grande’s persona over the years. That reading fits with what Grande has said about Petal more broadly: it’s an album going somewhere she hasn’t let herself go before, per ELLE.

The closing lines — “I know that I will find my way from you / Like flowers from a tomb while you decide who you are” — land as both a breakup sign-off and a statement of self-possession. The album title suddenly makes more sense. Petal: something that pushes through, fragile and insistent at once, per Pitchfork.

What We Know About Petal

Grande first announced Petal via Instagram on April 28, describing the 12-track set as “little feral.” “It’s definitely from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before,” she said in a video. “This kind of just feels like something that is full of life and growing through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging.” The album is the follow-up to Eternal Sunshine — her Grammy-winning 2024 record — and is executive produced and co-written by Grande and Ilya. Ilya, the Swedish producer behind some of the biggest pop records of the past decade, has been Grande’s closest studio collaborator since “Problem” put her at the top of the charts in 2014. His fingerprints are audible throughout “Hate That I Made You Love Me” — the production is controlled, precise, and built to let Grande’s voice carry the emotional weight, per Variety.

The Music Video and the Tour

Before the single even dropped, Grande had already teased the official music video with a clip featuring Justin Long — the actor currently in Weapons — peering into a car’s rearview mirror as a trap-adjacent beat builds, only to see Grande’s eyes staring back at him. The teaser’s visual language, Billboard noted, evokes the poster design of the 1986 thriller The Hitcher. The full video, directed by Christian Breslauer — who also directed the MTV VMA-winning Bright Days Ahead short film for Grande in 2025 — premieres June 1 at 8 a.m. PST. Long’s appearance continues what Billboard described as Grande’s longstanding tradition of casting recognizable actors in her visual projects, per Billboard.

The single arrives just as Grande is about to head back on the road. Her Eternal Sunshine concert tour — her first major tour in seven years — kicks off in June, meaning fans will be hearing these new songs live almost immediately after they land. Petal drops July 31, squarely in the middle of the touring run. The timing is deliberate: Grande is not easing into this era. She’s releasing the music while she’s in front of the biggest live audiences of her career, and “Hate That I Made You Love Me” is the opening argument.

The post Ariana Grande Launches the ‘Petal’ Era With New Single ‘Hate That I Made You Love Me’ — Here’s What the Lyrics Mean appeared first on Cream.

• 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.

• Martina McBride announced Thursday she is withdrawing from the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair — a 16-day concert series on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., running June 25 through July 10 — saying she was misled about the event’s nature
• “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” McBride wrote on Instagram. “What we were told is not, in fact, what is happening”
• McBride is the fourth performer to exit since the lineup was announced May 27; Morris Day and The Time and Young MC also dropped out in the days immediately following the announcement
• Freedom 250 was launched by President Donald Trump and was declared the official branding of all 250th anniversary celebrations by the Interior Department — though it has been described publicly as nonpartisan

Less than 48 hours after Freedom 250 announced the lineup for its Great American State Fair concert series, Martina McBride became the fourth artist to pull out. The country singer posted to Instagram Thursday saying she had accepted a performance slot under the impression the event was nonpartisan — and that turned out not to be the case.

“I would like to talk to you and clear the air,” McBride wrote. “I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25th. I was presented with the opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. What we were told is not, in fact, what is happening.” The statement came after she had already faced criticism online simply for being on the bill, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Freedom 250 was launched by President Donald Trump to organize the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The Interior Department declared it the official branding for those events. The organization has described itself as nonpartisan, a framing that multiple artists say does not match what they experienced once they looked more closely at the event’s structure and affiliations, per Variety.

A Growing Exodus

McBride is the fourth departure since the lineup dropped May 27. Morris Day and The Time announced they would not perform, followed by Young MC, before McBride made it official Thursday evening. The exits began almost immediately after the announcement, suggesting that several artists hadn’t fully understood what they had signed up for before the public reveal, per Billboard. The Great American State Fair is still scheduled to run June 25 through July 10 on the National Mall.

The post Martina McBride Is the Fourth Artist to Drop Out of Trump-Backed Freedom 250 Concerts: ‘Turned Out to Be Misleading’ appeared first on Cream.

• Candace Cameron Bure, 50, is officially becoming a grandmother of two: her son Lev Bure, 26, and his wife Elliott announced they are expecting their first child together on May 28, just weeks after Candace’s daughter Natasha Bure Perry revealed her own pregnancy
• Elliott shared the news on Instagram with a photo of herself and Lev holding an ultrasound, captioning it “baby bure coming soon!!!!!!” — Candace reposted it with “Another grandbaby on the way 🥹!!!!! Does life get any better?!!”
• Daughter Natasha, 27, had tried to keep her pregnancy secret during a recent family trip but said her symptoms “were so rough” that hiding it became impossible; she and husband Bradley Steven Perry, also 27, broke the news during that visit
• Candace — the Full House alum who is also married to former NHL player Valeri Bure, 51 — will be “CandyGram x2,” as she put it in her Instagram reaction

It has been a big few weeks to be Candace Cameron Bure. The Full House alum, 50, found out she was getting her first grandchild when daughter Natasha Bure Perry — who is married to actor Bradley Steven Perry — revealed her pregnancy. And then, before that news had even fully settled, her son Lev Bure and his wife Elliott made it a twofer.

Elliott announced the pregnancy on Instagram May 28, posting photos of herself and Lev, 26, holding an ultrasound image. Her caption: “baby bure coming soon!!!!!!” Candace reposted the announcement with characteristic enthusiasm: “Another grandbaby on the way 🥹!!!!!” she wrote. “Does life get any better?!!! CandyGram x2 = fully ignited.” She added that she and Valeri were “still pinching ourselves,” per E! News.

Natasha’s Surprise Reveal

The back-to-back pregnancy announcements from two of her adult children make for an unusually full spring for the Bure family. Natasha, 27, had planned to stay quiet about her own pregnancy a little longer — but the timing didn’t cooperate. She explained on Instagram that she and Bradley Steven Perry “weren’t planning on telling my parents on this trip but right when we flew in, my symptoms were so rough and I didn’t think I’d be able to hide it for the whole weekend.” The secret became a celebration instead, per Us Magazine.

Lev’s pregnancy news arrived just days later. Candace is now tracking two due dates, and apparently leaning into it — her “CandyGram x2” caption suggests she has already picked out her grandmother name, per People.

The post Candace Cameron Bure Is Becoming a Grandmother Twice — Son Lev and Wife Elliott Are Expecting Weeks After Daughter Natasha’s Pregnancy News appeared first on Cream.

• Scooter Braun — former manager to Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Kanye West, and the central figure in Taylor Swift’s masters dispute — sat for a rare 90-minute interview on the Second Thought With Suzy Weiss podcast, his most extensive public appearance since stepping down as CEO of Hybe America last year
• Braun said he never had a substantial relationship with Swift before the controversy: “I think I’ve met her in my life three times” — and said he never had a real conversation with her before he became, in his words, “a villain” to her fan base
• The dispute began in 2019 when Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Records, the label that owned the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums; Swift responded publicly and called it her “worst case scenario”
• Braun also discussed Kanye West, Spencer Pratt, and Sydney Sweeney in the wide-ranging interview

Scooter Braun doesn’t do many interviews. But the former music mogul sat for a 90-minute conversation with Suzy Weiss on her Second Thought podcast — and used a significant portion of it to address the Taylor Swift masters dispute that defined his public image for the past several years.

His main point: he barely knew her. “I think I’ve met her in my life three times,” Braun told Weiss, per Billboard. He said he’d never had a real conversation with Swift before the 2019 acquisition of Big Machine Records — and his company’s ownership of her first six albums’ master recordings — made him the target of one of pop music’s most public feuds. “I was a villain overnight,” he said.

Swift had called the acquisition her “worst case scenario” and went on to re-record her first six albums as the Taylor’s Version series, eventually reclaiming commercial control of her catalog. Braun maintained that there was no personal animosity on his end going into the situation — a framing that does little to resolve the underlying dispute but clarifies his own account of it, per TMZ.

A Rare Public Appearance

The interview covers more than Swift. Braun also spoke about Kanye West, Spencer Pratt, and made brief mention of Sydney Sweeney. He stepped down as CEO of Hybe America — the US arm of the South Korean entertainment conglomerate — last year, and has largely stayed out of the public eye since. The Second Thought podcast appearance is the most he’s said publicly in some time, per Variety.

The post Scooter Braun Says the Taylor Swift Feud Made Him a ‘Villain’ Overnight — ‘I Think I’ve Met Her Three Times in My Life’ appeared first on Cream.

• Rumer Willis, 37, has accused ex Derek Richard Thomas, 31, of “incessant domestic violence in the form of coercive control” during their relationship, which lasted from early 2022 until August 2024, in bombshell court documents filed amid their custody battle over daughter Louetta, 3
• Demi Moore filed a separate declaration in January calling Thomas “aggressive” and stating he “appears to want to dictate and control” Rumer — including allegedly trying to cut off family support
• Willis is seeking primary custody of Louetta and requesting court-ordered drug testing for Thomas; among her specific requests, she asks that he not be allowed to bathe naked with their daughter, calling it “highly inappropriate”
• Thomas denies the abuse allegations and disputes Willis’ request for primary custody; he originally filed for custody and visitation in July 2025

Rumer Willis has filed explosive court documents in her ongoing custody battle with ex Derek Richard Thomas, accusing him of “incessant domestic violence in the form of coercive control” during the two-plus years they were together. The filings, obtained by multiple outlets, detail what Willis describes as a pattern of emotional abuse and controlling behavior that she says left her and their 3-year-old daughter Louetta in a difficult situation, per Page Six.

Willis, the 37-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, and Thomas, a musician, dated from 2022 until their split in August 2024. Thomas quietly filed for custody and visitation in July 2025. Since then, the legal battle has escalated sharply. Willis is seeking primary custody and has requested court-ordered drug testing for Thomas. She has also asked a court to prohibit Thomas from bathing naked with Louetta, telling the court: “I feel it is highly inappropriate for him to bathe with Louetta naked at her age,” per People.

Thomas has denied the allegations and is contesting the custody arrangement Willis is seeking.

Demi Moore’s Declaration

Demi Moore filed her own declaration with the court in January, describing interactions she had witnessed with Thomas. In it, she said he “appears to want to dictate and control” Rumer, and described his behavior as “aggressive” — including what Moore characterized as an attempt to cut the family off from her daughter. Per TMZ, Moore’s filing puts her formally on record in a legal dispute that has drawn significant public attention given the family profile. Bruce Willis, Rumer’s father, has been publicly dealing with frontotemporal dementia since 2023 and has not been a factor in the proceedings, per Us Magazine.

The post Rumer Willis Accuses Ex of ‘Incessant Domestic Violence’ in Custody Battle Over 3-Year-Old — and Demi Moore Filed a Court Declaration 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.

• Blake Lively, 38, posted a series of Instagram Stories on Wednesday, May 27, featuring a selfie with husband Ryan Reynolds, 49, followed by close-up shots of his arms set to Justin Bieber’s “Yummy” — captioning the selfie simply “delicious @vancityreynolds”
• In the original photo, Reynolds is holding a plate of cookies while wearing a white tank top; Lively then zoomed in on his biceps for what several outlets called a “thirst trap” directed at her own husband of 15 years
• The playful post arrives about three weeks after Lively’s legal dispute with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios officially wrapped up on May 4

Fifteen years in, and Blake Lively is still posting thirst traps about her husband. On Wednesday, the actress shared an Instagram Stories sequence that started innocuously enough — a sunny outdoor selfie with Ryan Reynolds, who was holding a plate of cookies and raspberries in a white tank top — and then escalated.

“delicious @vancityreynolds,” she wrote over the photo. What followed, per Page Six, were close-up shots of Reynolds’ arms, soundtracked by Justin Bieber’s “Yummy.” The internet got the message.

Reynolds, 49, did not appear to respond publicly, which tracks. The couple, who married in 2012 and have four children together, built much of their early public persona on mutual Instagram trolling — each going out of their way to post unflattering photos of the other. The “delicious” era appears to represent a different approach, per Just Jared.

The Post-Lawsuit Chapter

The timing is notable. Lively’s highly publicized legal dispute with her It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni, filed in December 2024, was officially resolved on May 4. The settlement terms were not disclosed. The cookies-and-biceps post landed roughly three weeks later — part of what looks, from the outside, like a deliberate return to normal, per Us Magazine.

The post Blake Lively Called Ryan Reynolds ‘Delicious’ on Instagram — Then Went in on His Arms Set to Justin Bieber’s ‘Yummy’ appeared first on Cream.

• Halle Berry, 59, appeared on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle on Thursday, May 28, and during the show’s “Pink Chair Questionnaire” segment, misheard Jenna Bush Hager’s question about her “biggest ick” as something considerably more explicit
• Berry burst out laughing and began to answer the question she thought she’d heard before Sheinelle Jones slapped her with her cards; “I was like, ‘What?’ It sounded like that, didn’t it?” Berry said — Jones shot back: “No! You are naughty!”
• Bush Hager, insisting she had said “ick,” was briefly censored when she repeated the supposed phrase on-air: “Ick! I said ick!” The show cut to a commercial through nonstop laughter
• Berry shared the clip on her own social media; the moment went viral during a busy press stretch for the actress, who has been promoting her 2026 film Crime 101 alongside Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo

Halle Berry came to play on Thursday’s Today with Jenna & Sheinelle — and accidentally created one of the better live TV moments of the year. The 59-year-old Oscar winner joined Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones for a segment called the “Pink Chair Questionnaire,” a breezy game of questions about guilty pleasures, secret nicknames, and trending topics, per Today.

Things were going fine until Bush Hager asked Berry about her “biggest ick.” Berry did not hear “ick.” She heard something else entirely, processed it for a beat, and then started to answer. The studio caught on immediately. Jones slapped Berry with her cards. “I was like, ‘What?’ It sounded like that, didn’t it?” Berry said, still laughing. Jones’s response: “No! You are naughty!”

Bush Hager tried to clarify — but when she repeated the word she’d actually said, she was censored on air. “Ick! I said ick!” she insisted, per OK Magazine. The segment ended with the show cutting to commercial as the laughter continued. Berry later posted the clip herself.

The Clip in Context

The moment landed during a particularly busy stretch for Berry, who has been doing the rounds to promote Crime 101, her 2026 film co-starring Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. Per The Wrap, the viral exchange also landed in good company: the segment highlighted Today‘s history of live TV slip-ups, including Valerie Bertinelli’s recent accidental on-air cursing. Berry’s version may have been accidental, but her reaction — and her willingness to post it — suggested she wasn’t exactly mortified about it.

The post Halle Berry Thought Jenna Bush Hager Asked Something Very Different on Live TV — and the Whole ‘Today’ Set Lost It appeared first on Cream.