Neil Diamond, the greatest songwriter of this or any generation, took a redeye flight from Los Angeles to Boston so he could sing “Sweet Caroline” for the good people gathered yesterday at Fenway Park for the first Red Sox game since the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.
The singing of “Sweet Caroline” has been a pretty well-known eighth-inning ritual at Fenway since 2002. According to MLB.com’s Jason Mastrodonato, Diamond flew to Boston on his own initiative, called the Fenway folks when he arrived at 12:30 pm, and said, “Hey, I’m here. Can I come sing?” Neil Diamond did this, of course, because he has spent his whole life writing songs about the healing power of love, but up until yesterday, they’ve only been words. Saturday’s Red Sox game, was his chance to prove that those words really mean something. (Also, the Red Sox won, because how could the universe not give the city at least a little something to smile and cheer for after putting it through such an awful week?) [THR]
- Having recently received a shiny Academy Award, Jennifer Lawrence is going on her Not Giving A Fuck National Victory Tour, which last night included stumbling over Bill Clinton’s name at the GLAAD Media Awards. [E!]
- Nashville police say that Todd Harrell, the bassist of 3 Doors Down, has been charged with vehicular homicide after he was involved in a car accident that killed another driver. [Reuters]
- Snoop Lion was so determined to be fashionably late to his own 4/20 party that he didn’t even arrive before it was shut down. [TMZ]
- “I’ll go on the bonfire,” Rupert Everett said about the manner in which he’d like to exit this dimension of corporeal existence. “That’s what I’d like…I’m sure someone can put me on there, if I’ve just died normally. I wanted to put my dad on the bonfire. But nobody else wanted to, so we didn’t.” [Guardian]
- Suki Waterhouse, official lady friend of Bradley Cooper, will appear in a fancy-pants Hollywood film, or moving picture, as the kids call it. [Telegraph]
- On this day, her birthday, Queen Elizabeth will enjoy a relaxing break from attending official engagements, which should be nice considering she’s attended over 15,000 of them over the course of her reign. [Telegraph]
- Michael Jackson’s offspring are hard at work restoring Neverland Ranch to its former stately beauty. [NYDN]
- A parking detective in Los Angeles ambushed Jennifer Garner with a parking ticket, and a paparazzo was on the scene to compound Jennifer Garner’s seething fury. [Daily Mail]
- Could pony-sketching F. Scott Fitzgerald impersonator Tom Hiddleston play Eric Draven in a remake of The Crow? Yes, he very well could because Tom Hiddleston is a daredevil who spits in the face of superstition. [The Wrap]
- Restaurant critic Hilary Duff gave “Taste” in Los Angeles a scathing review, but did concede that it was good for all those epicureans who like having rats tickle their toes during a meal. [Twitter]
- Sportscaster Al Michaels was pulled over and arrested Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence. Michaels is most famous for the awkward analogies he makes while calling primetime football games, such as that time he compared a game between Tom Brady’s New England Patriots and Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts to a paint-off between Michelangelo and Van Gogh. This’ll teach you for trying to introduce American football fans to a little culture, Al Michaels! [TMZ]
- Thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio’s meat warnings, Gwyneth Paltrow hasn’t eaten meat in 20 years. [Guardian]
- The American Psycho musical (!!!!) will debut in London in December, just in time for Christmas. [Guardian]
Image via AP, Michael Dwyer