personal life

In a pop era where personal messiness is the oxygen of fame, Dua Lipa is the rare unfazed professional.

Just as Taylor Swift and Charli XCX’s (extremely asymmetrical) feud spilled over the Hot 100 trenches, in comes Lipa’s Radical Optimism tour for four nights at the Forum to reassert that it is, in fact, possible to spin off hits while leaving one’s personal life unscathed.

On Saturday at the opening night of her Forum stand, Lipa — herself a British-Albanian-Kosovar atelier of sophisticated, structurally flawless disco-pop — played for nearly three hours with nary a sweat broken. The club hits pulsed, her dancing was evocative and precise, and the set was again punctuated with a locally-sourced cover from each city she performs in; this time “The Chain” from Fleetwood Mac. (Other recent installments included “Me Gustas Tú” by Manu Chao, AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and “Dernière Danse” by Indila.)

Even if the gyre of contemporary fandom demands mess, spite, flops and redemption arcs, Lipa glides over all of it, with morally sound politics and an immaculately tasteful book club to spare.

Dua Lipa takes her Radical Optimism tour to the Forum over the weekend.

(Madison Phipps)

This tour in particular feels like the moment when Lipa is opting out of the rise-and-crash fame cycle and into becoming more of an album artist and deeply considered live act. The hazy disco-rock of “Radical Optimism” (produced with tastemakers Kevin Parker, Andrew Wyatt and Danny L Harle, among others) hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200, her best album debut yet. But it didn’t yield era-defining singles like the pandemic lifesaver “Future Nostalgia” did.

That’s a tough act for anyone to follow up; she should have been on the NHS payroll for the good that “Don’t Start Now,” “Levitating” and “Physical” did in keeping spirits up in 2020. Her last U.S. top-10 single was 2023’s “Barbie”-soundtrack cut “Dance the Night,” and “Houdini” peaked at 11. Yet this tour sold out four nights in L.A. and is unquestionably the most creative, rigorous and musicianship-driven tour of her career.

With a sprawling live band and big moments of unvarnished vocal candor, this was pop at its highest caliber, but with an eye toward long-term durability and integrity. During the set, Lipa took at least two passes around to the front rows, pressing the flesh and taking selfies with gobsmacked tweenage fans. No algorithm will match that for an impact.

From the opening calisthenics of “Training Season” and “Break My Heart,” Lipa ripped through a quiver of deep-house and neo-disco staples to fuel Pride parties for the rest of her life. Those early memes about her terminal chillness must have lighted a fire under her: Lipa’s revamped as one of the top-tier dancers and physical performers of her era, while never shortchanging that smoky ‘90s house-diva vocal power. No singer deserves a Pilates Reformer endorsement deal more.

Dua Lipa makes a stand at the Forum on Saturday night.

(Madison Phipps)

On the poignant breakup-in-waiting ballad “These Walls,” the stiff-upper-lip rock bombast of “Happy For You” and her pass through “The Chain,” she made the case that her range extends well beyond the fizzy, watchgear-precise electropop she’s best known for. On record, “Anything For Love” gets a knowing wink with in-studio jibing between Lipa and her producers; here she played it straight as a lofty piano ballad for the back seats on a floating riser.

But there’s something just so effortless about her Majorca-primed house singles like “Maria,” which feel ready to slip into magic hour rooftop DJ sets for time immemorial. There are other singers to turn to when you’re emotionally ransacked; Dua gets the best nights of your life instead.

Encoring with the still-freaky, deliciously disciplinarian “New Rules” and the laser-cut banger “Houdini,” Lipa walked off the Forum stage with all the proof she needed that, by aligning with a fervent literary life, unwavering peace advocacy and an expanding palette of meticulously groovy songwriting, she’s in an enviable position for a long and meaningful career to come. Let the woman vacation in peace.

It turns out the amount of objectifying Pete Davidson received from the tabloids took a toll on his “BDE.”

The “Saturday Night Live” alumnus told “The Breakfast Club” on Wednesday that he was “embarrassed” by the way his personal life crowded out his work.

“I brought a lot of pop culture into [SNL], like, I made it sort of like tabloid-y, like trendy thing unintentionally. … No one talked about any work I was doing,” the 31-year-old father-to-be said. “They were just like, ‘Oh, that’s the f— stick.”

The “Bupkis” star began his “SNL” career in 2014, when he was only 20, then spent eight seasons on the late-night sketch comedy show. After leaving in 2022, he came back a year later to host the show.

His dating life dominated the headlines during his time on “SNL.” Davidson dated singer Ariana Grande, actor Kate Beckinsale, model Kaia Gerber, actor Madelyn Cline and reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

The Grande and Kardashian periods attracted the most attention of course, with the singer hinting at Davidson’s alleged “BDE” and the reality mogul saying later that she was up for some of that amid her divorce from Ye — then known as Kanye West. The rapper, by the way, was not pleased with his ex’s rebound entanglement. (BDE is short for “big d— energy.”)

“I don’t want to victimize myself in any way because I’m cool, but the sexualization of me, if that was a girl, you know, [there would] be a march for it,” Davidson said.

He said the attention his track record brought affected his dating life and made him “sad.”

In July, the “King of Staten Island” star revealed that his current girlfriend, British model and actor Elsie Hewitt, is expecting their first child. She posted a series of pictures of the two of them on social media, including a shot of an ultrasound and video of her getting the scan done.

Her caption: “welp now everyone knows we had sex.”

Pamela Warner, the mother of late “Cosby Show” star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, looked beyond loss and offered some comfort to his fans as she broke her silence about his sudden death in July.

The elder Warner created an Instagram page dedicated to her son’s legacy and on Friday released a contemplative and lengthy statement saying the actor-musician “was at peace and more importantly, he did not suffer.” Warner, who was best known for his portrayal of clean-cut Theodore Huxtable, drowned while swimming in the Caribbean off Costa Rica. He was 54.

Pamela Warner reflected on her son’s accomplishments in TV, music and his personal life, honoring her son as a “kind, loving man with a huge heart for humanity” and an “exceptional” family man. In addition to his mother, the actor is survived by his wife and daughter.

“Malcolm left an indelible mark on the world and on countless hearts,” she wrote. “All who met him, however briefly, were better for the encounter.”

While she mourned the loss of her “teacher, coach, confidant, business partner, and best friend,” Pamela Warner also reflected on giving birth to him more than 50 years ago. She said she felt “blessed that he chose me to be his mother, to come into the world through the waters of my womb.” She went on to offer a full-circle perspective on her son’s death.

“Malcolm was birthed through water and he transitioned through water,” she wrote. “He departed as he arrived, through water. This was his time. His mission on earth had been completed.”

The Emmy-nominated actor was on vacation with his family at the time of his death. He was swimming when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean. The Red Cross in Costa Rica said its first responders also tended to another man caught in the same current that claimed Warner’s life. The patient, whose identity was not disclosed, survived. First responders found Warner without vital signs, and he was taken to the morgue.

Pamela Warner’s statement joins the collection of tributes honoring her son’s life. Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s co-stars including Bill Cosby, Geoffrey Owens and Raven-Symoné and, more recently, Keshia Knight Pulliam have mourned his death.

“A week ago I lost my big brother but I gained an angel,” Pulliam said of her TV brother on social media.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was a multi-faceted entertainer who in addition to acting also pursued a Grammy-winning music career. After his time on “The Cosby Show” he also directed episodes for several other TV shows. Warner’s mother’s statement acknowledged his reach, encouraging his fans and loved ones to “Hold close to whatever part of Malcolm’s life that touched yours.”

Her statement concluded: “In keeping it near, you keep his spirit alive — nourishing you with the peace, love, joy and light that embodied Malcolm-Jamal Warner.”

Looks like we won’t have Aaron Rodgers to kick around much longer.

The four-time league MVP said Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he’s “pretty sure” the upcoming NFL season — his first as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers and 21st overall — will be his last.

And after that, Rodgers said, he won’t be seen or heard from ever again.

“When this is all done, it’s Keyser Söze. You won’t see me,” Rodgers said, referring to the elusive villain in “The Usual Suspects.” “I won’t be in the public. I don’t want to live a public life. … I’m not going to be in in the public eye. When this is done, I’m done, and you won’t see me. And I’m looking forward to that.”

It might seem a tad difficult to imagine Rodgers willingly disappearing from public consciousness for any significant period of time. In addition to being one of the all-time greats at quarterback, Rodgers has kept a pretty high profile in popular culture over the last two decades.

He’s been in countless commercials. He filled in as host of “Jeopardy.” He made the short list of possible running mates during Robert Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid (that spot ultimately went to Nicole Shanahan). He was in romantic relationships with such famous women as Olivia Munn, Danica Patrick and Shailene Woodley.

In recent years, Rodgers also has become known for his sometimes controversial opinions that he has been more than willing to share during his regular appearances on McAfee’s show and other platforms.

But, Rodgers insisted Tuesday, “I don’t want the attention,” although he acknowledged, “I know that’s a narrative out there.”

After 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and two with the New York Jets, Rodgers signed a one-year deal with the Steelers as a free agent this summer. At mini-camp this month, the Super Bowl XLV MVP told reporters that he had recently gotten married. He has not publicly revealed his wife’s name.

On Tuesday, Rodgers spoke for nearly four minutes about perceived invasions of his and his wife’s privacy. He accused paparazzi of “stalking” the two of them and asserted that unnamed media outlets had been either publishing sensitive information about the couple or just making things up about them.

“What happened to common decency about security and a personal life that we now have to dive into your details of where you live and what you’re doing and who you’re with and who your wife is and if you even have a wife,” Rodgers said. “Because my wife is a private person, doesn’t have social media, hasn’t been a public person, doesn’t want to be a public person. But now that somehow is a weird thing?”

He added: “My private life is my private life, and it’s going to stay that way. And I’m with somebody who wants to be private, and if and when she wants to be out, and there’s a picture, she’ll choose that. And she deserves the right to that.

“But the entitlement to information about my private life is so f— ridiculous and embarrassing. Like, hey, do what you got to do. But just try and leave me out of a conversation, Sports World, for a month. Try and just leave me out, my personal life, my professional life. Try not to talk about me. … Just see if you can do that.”