Today, obviously, is completely awful, and celebrity news seems like the most frivolous shit ever right now. But, for the sake of routine, here it is. New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre ran in the Boston marathon today—he says he finished about five minutes before the explosion. Also in the race was Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, who tweeted: “Most importantly, praying for those injured and affected by this. Still don’t have a lot of info. Thanks for your love and concern.” Famous people—being, of course, human beings—are just as dismayed and bewildered by today’s events as the rest of us.
On his Facebook page, Patton Oswalt wrote a graceful, compassionate defense of human goodness in the face of human destruction. Here it is in full:
Boston. Fucking horrible.I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, “Well, I’ve had it with humanity.”
But I was wrong. I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.
So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”
- After accidentally implying that she and Will Smith have an open relationship, Jada Pinkett-Smith clarified: “Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.” [HuffPo]
- Michael Douglas‘s son Cameron lost his appeal to reduce his 10-year prison sentence for drug possession. [E!]
- JWoww says she would like to play a dead person on Law & Order. [E!]
- Garth Brooks‘s former production partner is suing the country star, and calling him a “paranoid, angry, deceitful and vindictive man who will turn against those closest to him on a dime.” Ummm…pretty sure she’s thinking of Chris Gaines. Easy mistake. [E!]
- Sharon and Ozzie are officially living apart. [TMZ]
- Here’s Ireland Baldwin kissing her boyfriend, professional paddle boarder Slater Trout (INDEED), at Coachella. [Us]
- Here’s Katy Perry‘s outfit at Coachella. [E!]
- Here’s Elin Nordegren picking up her kids from school. [Radar]
- Rihanna canceled a concert because she’s sick. [E!]
- Obviously I don’t know what to say today. What can you say? My whole heart hurts for everyone tonight. Take care of each other, you guys, and give blood. Here is a tiny, nice thing that makes me smile when I’m sad.