Top Entertainment Headlines

Wednesday, April 23

If you have a toddler, chances are that you also have stuffed animals, magnetic tiles, cars and building blocks scattered throughout your home. But as it turns out, kids need fewer toys than you may think.

Occupational therapist Dr. Alexia Metz led a widely cited research study at the University of Toledo in 2017 for toddlers between 18 and 30 months old. She brought them into a room with age-appropriate “sit and play” items like dump trucks and stacking toys.

What was the magic number of toys for the kids she studied? Just four.

Do people lose friends when they become parents? One not-yet-dad has concerns.

“This is a very real thing,” Brennan Fisher, 24, who does not have children, tells TODAY.com.

“I feel like a lot of parents don’t have friends,” Fisher said in a TikTok video. “I don’t know if you guys have noticed this but growing up, a lot of the adults in my life, especially the parents, it just didn’t seem like they hung out with people all that often. Their life was pretty much just their kids and work.”

The Tennessee Board of Parole on Tuesday recommended a pardon for country music star Jelly Roll, a Nashville native who has spoken openly about his criminal record and what it has taken to overcome it. The board’s action leaves the final decision on a pardon up to Gov. Bill Lee.

The rapper-turned-country singer wants to be able to travel internationally to perform and share his message of redemption, after spending time behind bars as a young person.

The board issued its nonbinding recommendation unanimously after a hearing that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes with several witnesses, including Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, advocating for the 40-year-old musician named Jason DeFord. One board member recused themselves from voting.

As the Vatican prepares for the election of a new pope, many around the world are doing their own preparations — by watching a movie about it. 

After news of Pope Francis’ death broke Monday, the film “Conclave” had a viewership boost across streaming platforms it was available to watch on, according to Luminate, an entertainment data analytics company.  

Edward Berger’s drama, which won the Oscar this year for best adapted screenplay, goes behind the scenes of the Vatican for the secretive process of electing a pope. The process is complicated further by power-hungry cardinals, played by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow. (The film’s distributor is Focus Features, a unit of NBC News’ parent corporation, Comcast.) 

Originally appeared on E! Online

Carlos Santana is on the mend.

The guitarist has postponed his April 22 concert in San Antonio, Texas, after being hospitalized hours ahead of the show, his representative confirmed to People.

If Ben Affleck’s son Samuel thought a pair of $6,000 sneakers were a shoo-in just because of who his dad is — he was sorely mistaken.

During Affleck’s April 22 appearance on Jenna & Friends, guest co-host Andy Cohen brought up a clip that recently went viral on the Got Sole Instagram account. In the video, 13-year-old Samuel shows interest in purchasing a pair of Dior Air Jordan 1s at a sneaker convention, to which Affleck quipped, “That’s a lot of lawns you gotta mow there.”

Suffice to say, Samuel walked away empty-handed.