Tag: michelle williams

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Emmy Awards Fashion Leighton Meester Michelle Williams Sarah Paulson Scarlett Johansson Sydney Sweeney

Sydney Sweeney wore Oscar de la Renta to the Emmys: downmarket or cute?

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Sydney Sweeney attended the 2025 Emmys as a presenter, and there actually was a buzz of excitement around her. Even though she got her start in television, it’s like… she’s a movie star now. That was the buzz. Sydney wore Oscar de la Renta, in a pinky red. It’s fine. Her body is bangin’ but the dress felt very… downmarket. I think that’s Sydney though, that’s what she brings to the table. Some women can make inexpensive clothes look like couture. Some women make couture look like a Walmart prom dress.

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Michelle Williams in vintage Chanel, paired with Chanel jewels. I’m just thrilled that she’s grown out her hair this much, the “messy bob” is very cute. The vintage Chanel is… okay. I’m not crazy about it, tbh.

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The Prada ladies: Scarlett Johansson, Leighton Meester and Sarah Paulson all wore Prada to the Emmys. Who had the best Prada look? It was ScarJo, right? Paulson looks like a disgraced Muppet.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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Cynthia Erivo Fashion Katie Holmes Keanu Reeves Michelle Williams nicole scherzinger Sarah Paulson Tony Awards

Katie Holmes wore Prada at the Tony Awards: one of the worst looks of the night?

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This is nowhere near a comprehensive fashion list for last night’s Tony Awards, I’m just trying to highlight some of the best or worst fashion moments from people I recognized! I covered George Clooney’s appearance separately – go here to see. Katie Holmes went to the Tonys in this two-piece Prada ensemble. In my opinion, the house of Prada has issues and this is a glaring example of those issues. They have color issues – they put funky colors together and when they do bicolor or tricolor looks, it’s always jarring. The top part of this is also just… awful, it’s like a wrinkled sack.

Nicole Scherzinger surprised everyone by winning her first Tony Award for Sunset Boulevard, beating out Audra McDonald in Gypsy. It was also a surprise because Nicole’s time on Broadway has been marred by some off-Broadway gossip, like her coziness with MAGA. She wore a custom Rodarte, which looked lovely (albeit slightly dated).

Cynthia Erivo was the Tonys host, and she had a lot of outfit changes. She wore this Schiaparelli look for the red carpet. Eh.

Sarah Snook won her first Tony! Her gown was Richard Quinn.

Michelle Williams wore Bibhu Mohapatra – I LOVE the skirt. I feel like the top could have been different?

Sarah Paulson wore Schiaparelli as well – this is so “1950s.”

Bonus Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Keanu practically got a lapdance from Jonathan Groff!

Jonathan Groff performs a number from the Broadway show #JustInTime – including a funny moment with Keanu Reeves during the 2025 #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/RpI8FhzOf5

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 9, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Busy Philipps Friends Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams and Busy Philipps got teary remembering how they first met

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In our previous coverage of Michelle Williams and Busy Philipps (re)declaring their love for each other, I lamented that E! pulled the plug on Busy Tonight. Silly me, I was blanking on the fact that Busy has taken her talents where they’re appreciated, to QVC , where she now hosts Busy This Week. (A name like “Busy” all but begs to be a talk show host.) So naturally Busy had her bestie Michelle on, who’s still promoting Dying for Sex, the FX series that is itself a love letter to best friendships. (Sidenote: I always loved Michelle in the pixie haircut, but I gotta say she is really rocking the hot ‘do of the season, the c-nty little bob.) In one clip from the episode, Michelle and Busy get teary as they recall meeting on the set of Dawson’s Creek. Busy had a profound moment of feeling truly seen, while Michelle had a sleeve of Fig Newtons in hand.

Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams clicked instantaneously on the Dawson’s Creek set.

In an exclusive sneak peek of Philipps’ QVC late-night talk show, Busy This Week, the actresses recall how immediately they connected in North Carolina more than 25 years ago.

In the chat, Philipps, 45, confesses that she was nervous to join the hit series. Philipps joined during season 5 in 2001, as Joey’s (Katie Holmes) college roommate, and though she didn’t yet know Williams, they “had heard of each other.”

“I had gotten added to the cast for the college years, and I remember being very, very nervous, and the first person I met was James [Van Der Beek],” Philipps recalls, before she notes that Williams, now 44, was crossing the street from a local market with a sleeve of Fig Newtons in hand at the time.

As the two reminisced over the specific detail of their meeting, Philipps quickly adds that she knew why she loved Williams “immediately.”

“I’m gonna cry,” Philipps tearfully begins. “Because I just felt like you got it. You just understood me.”

“I feel like — oh no, I’m gonna cry — my entire life I’ve always been like, misunderstood and prejudged by people,” she continues. “And for whatever reason, you just instantly were like, ‘I got you.’”

Williams interjects to say, “I loved you.”

“You really did,” Philipps says. “That’s what it was,” Williams confirms.

“I really loved you, too,” Philipps adds. “And the Fig Newtons in your hand, that was really nice.”

Philipps then confesses that they “used to cry so much together.” Noting, “But now you don’t let me cry as much, and you don’t cry as much. Do you want to tell them why?”

“Because it’s the delicate under-eye area,” Williams cheekily replies, with Philipps adding, “Because, you guys, under your eyes is a very delicate area and we can’t risk it.”

“I’ll tell you to stop,” Williams says before quoting herself, “‘Don’t ruin the delicate under-eye area, it’s not worth it.’”

[From People]

It’s fun to hear Michelle making the quip about protecting the “delicate under-eye area,” given how she’s usually painted as the more serious one between the two. As for their retelling of that fateful meeting, People Mag didn’t excerpt the question Busy asks that starts off the whole conversation: “Why do you think we had this instant connection when I showed up?” I bring this up because in watching the clip, I couldn’t help but notice how Busy asks the question… then pretty much answers it all herself. Michelle does very little of the talking! And I feel like the core question — why they connected so strongly — isn’t even really answered! Michelle just says, “I loved you,” without any further explanation or context. Meanwhile Busy’s description of what she loved about Michelle, isn’t so much about Michelle as it is Busy, right? Don’t get me wrong, feeling seen and understood is very powerful. But I’m always fascinated when people give thanks or tributes to someone else, yet really end up talking about themselves instead. No question that the love between them is genuine and deep, but they are an odd couple! And Michelle agrees, as that’s the exact term she used to describe them in her recent Armchair Expert interview.

Another fun clip making the rounds is the pair talking about that crazy debacle at the 2017 Oscars, when La La Land was mistakenly announced Best Picture before producers stepped in to name the real winner, Moonlight. While everything was still awkward and unresolved, Busy apparently heckled Ben Affleck to “Do Something!” Why? She thought he could fix it because he was Batman! Even funnier to me was Michelle dryly replying, “He could not.”

Photos credit: PacificCoastNews/Avalon, Sara De Boer/startraksphoto.com, BauerGriffin/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images, David Acosta/Image Press Agency/Image Press Agency/Avalon, jpistudios.com/JPI Studios/Avalon

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Dax Shepard Heath Ledger Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams calls Heath Ledger ‘so special, thank god there’s Matilda’

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I have watched Michelle Williams’ new series Dying for Sex three times all the way through, now. It’s just so good, and with each viewing I become more impressed with everything the showrunners and cast put into it. I’m not finding it now, but when the show first came out in early April I saw someone online say, “I think I just watched Michelle Williams win another Emmy.” I think so too! (Though Cristin Milioti’s Penguin performance will be in the same category, and that’s strong competition.) Whether it’s an early Emmy campaign hustle or not, Michelle is still out doing press for the show. She was the guest on Monday’s episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, and about 40 minutes in, Dax recalls his own brief moments with Heath Ledger, saying “I thought he was just so special.” Michelle concurred, and added “thank god there’s Matilda.”

“I feel obligated to say that I knew him a little bit when he was getting sober, and I don’t know that I’ve ever fallen in love with somebody so quickly,” the presenter said of the actor. “This is one of the most special boys I’ve ever met, and I can feel the weight of the world on him in a very special way that kind of broke my heart. I was very, very sad, and I thought he was just so special.”

Audibly emotional, Williams replied, “So special, so special, thank god there’s Matilda.”

Shepard described Ledger as “this heart here that’s just leaking out everywhere,” to which Williams replied, “Yeah, an incredible sensitivity.”

Williams and Ledger welcomed their daughter Matilda in October 2005 while publicizing their Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain. The pair met on the set of the Ang Lee film and fell for each other immediately.

“We had a baby. But I suppose maybe it’s a good thing about being young is that you don’t have so much life experience that you can contextualize things,” Williams said of that period. “So you’re really just going with the flow.”

The Dawson’s Creek alum, who also shares three children with her partner Tommy Kail, discussed her approach to balancing children and her career.

“Kids are such great life checkers,” she mused. “They force you to put your best self in front of them. You can’t abdicate your life and your work and your own desires, but you do have to put them in check and figure out which master you’re going to serve.”

Williams went on to note that she doesn’t believe you can have it all in work and parenthood, all of the time.

“You can’t be equally good at [everything] at the exact same time, and you have to allow for that give and take, but then replenish the other things,” she explained.

“If you have a big period of being at home, you need to go back to what you’ve left unattended and put some light over there. So I think it’s just this constant back and forth, but making sure that you don’t leave one of them unattended for too long,” she concluded.

[From People]

Losing Heath Ledger was a tough one. I remember it vividly; I was newly relocated to NYC for school, went into a four hour class and when I came out, the news had broken that he was gone. Even without knowing him personally, I felt like I could see that special spirit and sensitivity Dax describes, just radiating out of Heath. My mother always describes people with that kind of presence as “pixelated” (I don’t know where she picked it up and am fairly certain she’s not using it in a traditional/established way, but I’ve taken up the usage out of my affection for her). And I could be way off the mark, here, but ever since we learned that Michelle’s oldest son with now-husband Tommy Kail is named Hart, I’ve always wondered the following: Kail is Jewish, where it’s customary to name babies after deceased loved ones by using the same first letter of the name (as opposed to the same exact name). So, is Hart for Heath? I’m sure we the public will never get that private answer, but I’d like to think so.

Photo note by CB: Top image is from the 2006 BAFTA Awards credit: Marc Larkin/Avalon. Photo of Michelle and Heath out with baby Matilda is from May, 2006 credit: PacificCoastNews.com/Avalon. Other event photos from 2006 and credit: Jacqui Wong/Avalon, Christina Radish/Avalon. Photos of Michelle and Thomas Kail credit: Tatiana/Backgrid, MediaPunch/INSTARimages,

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Michelle Williams Television

Michelle Williams on her new show: ‘I want to disconnect pleasure and shame’

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In my coverage of Michelle Williams welcoming a new baby, I mentioned that I would be spending the weekend watching her new eight-part Hulu show. I lied. I didn’t spend the weekend watching Dying for Sex… because I watched the whole thing in one sitting the Friday night it premiered. It is SO GOOD. (And the episodes are only 30 minutes each.) The show is based on a true story about Molly Kochan, Michelle’s character, who sets out to explore her sexuality after getting a terminal cancer diagnosis. Heavy stuff, but the show is actually quite hilarious. It’s also refreshingly honest and matter-of-fact in the way the characters discuss their sexual desires, preferences, and disappointments. Michelle just spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to hype the series, and she had some really great answers when asked about filming all the sexual scenarios. Note: there are no spoilers excerpted below, but if you click the link the full interview has many.

There are so many sex scenes in this show. When you were first reading the script, which scene intimidated you most? Which one were you excited about and did that change when you were filming?

The scripts kept rolling in as we were filming, so we would be in the middle of an episode and then we would get a script for the next one. To be honest, at this point, I had watched the first two and then maybe three scripts roll in, and I had felt so enlivened after reading them. While maybe in my schooled brain, or I don’t know I would term it… it’s like the way you were habituated to think or maybe what you were taught or told as a child or an adolescent. The things that you’ve tried to free yourself from as a grown woman and also as a parent of a daughter, in my attempt to untangle myself from these ideas that were given to me so that I could break from that tradition and pass something different onto my own daughter.

Perhaps I heard a tiny little alarm bell twinkling in the back of my brain, saying, “Oh, that might be embarrassing, or somebody might be upset with you, or what will so-and-so think?” But then my next thought was, “Fantastic! This is exactly what I set out to do. I want to disconnect pleasure and shame.” That’s really one of the journeys that the character goes on, so can she experience something that’s meant for her that is pleasurable without feeling bad for it, or something that’s going to befall her because of it. So I really leapt wholeheartedly into these scenarios, whether they be in masturbatory sequences or partnered with these people that she meets along the way. I relish the written words and situations that Liz [Meriwether, showrunner] had laid out in front of us.

[From THR]

Michelle Williams always strikes me as so thoughtful and eloquent, and paring down her core emotional attraction to the show to “I want to disconnect pleasure and shame,” is just splendidly concise. And profound. I mean, that’s it! That’s the whole game! Dying for Sex is definitely not Fifty Shades of Grey, nor is it maudlin, even as they don’t back down from presenting a candid portrait of dying (full confession: I sobbed for the entirety of the final episode). So with all that, it’s hard to convey just how funny and joyous the show is — Michelle doesn’t get enough comedic roles, her timing and expressions were inspired! It’s also some of the best work I’ve ever seen Jenny Slate do, in the co-leading role of Molly’s best friend, Nikki, who Molly asks to be her primary caregiver. Or as Molly puts it in the first episode, “I want to die with you.” (“And you’re sticking to that claim that it’s a funny show, Kismet?” “Yes, yes I am!”) Anyway, enough of me trying to sell it. Go watch for yourselves and then come back to discuss!

Photos credit: Santi Ramales/Backgrid, Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com, Darla Khazei/INSTARimages

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Airplanes Hygiene Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams shares photo of another passenger’s bare foot on her first class flight

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My mama raised me to always cover my feet while traveling by plane. Even if you’re wearing sandals, you’re allowed to commit the cardinal fashion sin under this one circumstance. Why? Hygiene!! I mean, in this day and age I don’t fly without a mask on, to protect others and myself. So the same principle applies for keeping your feet covered. Well, Michelle Williams just had to take a couple days off from her Broadway show, Death Becomes Her, to fly to Chicago for a family funeral. And someone was sitting behind her on the return flight — in first class — whose mama did not raise him the same as mine, because Michelle caught his bare foot touching the cabin wall. That they both touched. And Michelle was NOT having it! She snapped the wayward, unsocked foot in a post on Instagram to vent her vexations:

Michelle Williams is calling out bad plane etiquette!

On Saturday, April 5, the Grammy winner and Broadway star, 45, shared a picture on Instagram of a person sitting behind her on an airplane with his bare foot on their shared wall space.

“I PROMISE YOU BETTA GETCHO FOOT FROM ME!!!!! ????,” she captioned the post. “Y’all this is happening neowwwwwwww on my flight and I am crying real tears!!”

The Destiny’s Child alum detailed the situation in the comments section, writing, “For those asking……… YES I am sitting in the first class cabin…… a lot of AUDACITY resides in that booking class…… OBVIOUSLY!! #seat3F the f is for feet ????.”

Williams added in another comment: “I elbowed ‘it!’ Now I gotta take my coat to the cleaners.”

The singer continued to speak out about the shocking experience. She posted a video the next day in celebration of being out of the situation. “I made it out. I made it out,” she sang to the camera while wearing a black sweater and green cap.

She explained that she was flying back to New York City after having traveled to Chicago for a loved one’s funeral. She was due back in the Big Apple to perform in her Broadway show Death Becomes Her.

“It tried to take me out,” Williams said of the experience in the video. “I said, ‘Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait a minute.’ You ever think you see something out of your peripheral and you just blow it off?”

The singer noted that she was in disbelief when she looked down and saw the foot.

Williams added that the behavior is inappropriate, regardless of what class one is flying in. “It don’t matter to me what class you fly. I don’t care. I still like Southwest. You’re not going to shame me into whatever class it was. So, people are like, ‘Well, you shouldn’t have been flying coach.’ I was flying first class. My seat was 3F and I didn’t know the ‘F’ was gonna be for feet. I just can’t,” she said.

Later in the video, Williams expressed joy over having “made it out.”

She said, “I almost was defeated. All is well. I made it back to New York City… Listen, y’all, I was crying real tears. I was crying real tears.”

[From People]

That follow up video Michelle recorded — that she captioned “UNDEFEETED” — is hilarious! (And destined to be performed by a drag queen as a lip synched monologue in a club near you soon.) Michelle is shook by that foot! The near brush with phalanges had her singing gospel to celebrate her deliverance once she made it home! LOL. As I said above, I’m in full agreement with Michelle when it comes to the health and hygiene of this situation (or lack thereof), and I personally always travel in socks and sneakers. I think the entire cabin of a plane should be a no-bare-feet zone, and I would probably be extra peeved if I encountered one after splurging on first class. I don’t think the unwanted experience would lead me to religious song, but I guess that’s the difference between me and Michelle. Also, couldn’t a flight attendant have stepped in? Nicely and discretely?

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Photos credit: BeautifulSignatureIG/Backgrid, IMAGO/RW/Avalon, Getty

Categories
Babies Michelle Williams Thomas Kail

Michelle Williams just welcomed her third baby with husband Thomas Kail

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It feels like we haven’t seen a lot of Michelle Williams over the last few years. For one thing, I think she’s been a lot choosier about projects ever since Fosse/Verdon, the FX series where she won all the awards for her portrayal of Gwen Verdon. Since then she’s done, what? A contractually-obligated appearance in Venom 2, The Fabelmans, brilliantly narrated Britney Spears’ memoir, and another FX series that’s out today on Hulu. Of course the other big reason why she’s been working less, is that she met her husband, Thomas Kail, on Fosse/Verdon. They got engaged, married, and pregnant in a whirlwind, with their first son Hart arriving in June 2020, followed by a second baby in the fall of 2022. And Michelle has 19-year-old daughter (yes, she really is all grown up!) Matilda from her relationship with Heath Ledger. But wait, there’s more! Fresh off of a flurry of promotion for her new show Dying For Sex, People Mag got the exclusive that Michelle and Thomas just welcomed their third baby via surrogate six weeks ago. Mazel Tov!

Michelle Williams has grown her family by one more.

The actress, 44, welcomed her fourth baby, her third with her director husband Thomas Kail, PEOPLE has learned. The family of six has been spotted around their New York neighborhood, and a source tells PEOPLE they welcomed their little one via surrogate six weeks ago.

“They couldn’t be happier to expand their family, and Matilda has been doting on her younger siblings,” the source says.

A rep for Williams could not be reached for comment.

The star, who took a brief work hiatus after the success of her last film The Fabelmans, is now flexing her comedic muscles and winning rave reviews for her new limited series Dying for Sex, which launches on Hulu on Friday, April 4.

Williams is already mom to daughter Matilda, 19, whom she shares with Heath Ledger. She also shares son Hart, 4, and a third baby born in 2022 with Kail.

In January 2023, Williams opened up to Entertainment Weekly about taking on one of her biggest roles in The Fabelmans after welcoming her third baby.

“My heart obviously belongs to my children; they tug at it the most,” she said. “But I really want to be able to have both. And I think that it requires deep thought and learning and the support of other women to figure out how to get through it.”

[From People]

What a happy surprise! And congrats again to Michelle and Thomas. I remember when Matilda was born, Michelle and Heath said they wanted five or six kids. And then as a single mom, Michelle got candid about wanting Matilda to have a sibling. So I’m happy for Michelle that she’s enjoying the family dynamic she’d been envisioning for years. Even if it means seeing her in fewer projects! But that makes the ones Michelle does say yes to all the meatier. And holy cow, Dying For Sex looks like it really packs a punch. Based on a 2020 Wondery podcast of the same name, it’s the true story of a woman, Molly Kochan, who embarks on a quest of sexual exploration and awakening after getting a terminal cancer diagnosis. (Note to all my breast friends: Molly reported a small lump to her doctor who dismissed it, saying she was “too young to worry about cancer.” Six years later the lump had grown and the cancer had spread. Listen to your bodies and don’t suffer lousy doctors!) Vulture had a great article about the real life story and making of the series, and it sounds like a real celebration of friendship, taking risks for your own personal benefit, and honoring death. Honestly, it sounds like a lot! High comedy and intense emotion. I’ll be watching all eight episodes over the weekend. Is it weird that I might be more intrigued by how they tackle the dying part, as opposed to all the sex? (Don’t answer that.)

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Photos credit: Tatiana/Backgrid, MediaPunch/INSTARimages, Janet Mayer/startraksphoto.com, LCY/Avalon and Getty