Hollywood’s got exes, feuds, and one very picky wannabe corpse.
Ben Affleck reveals why he bumped Jennifer Garner from his new movie, Mackenzie Phillips dishes on a costar who “wasn’t very nice,” and Taylor Frankie Paul is locking the bedroom door.
Plus, Jason Priestley opens up about making peace with Shannen Doherty before her death – and Kate Moss wanted to play dead on TV.
This is HOLLYWOOD 411 by KEEPING TABS – let’s get into it.
BEN BUMPS JEN FROM NEW FLICK
BEN AFFLECK cast ex-wife JENNIFER GARNER as his love interest in his new thriller Animals, but recast her to avoid the emotional history they thought it would bring to the film for fans. “l still would wanna work with her in the future, but what you don’t wanna do is take the audience’s baggage and have it work against you, you know?” he said.
The film was originally to star Ben’s best buddy MATT DAMON in the lead, but when he bailed to finish making The Odyssey, Ben took over and realized he didn’t want to carry the “baggage.” “I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that.’” The still-close former couple split in 2005 and share kids VIOLET, 20, FIN, 17, and SAMUEL, 14.
MACKENZIE SLAMS SITCOM COSTAR!
Former troubled teen sitcom star MACKENZIE PHILLIPS has ripped the lid off an old One Day at a Time feud, claiming costar RICHARD MASUR “wasn’t very nice” during filming! The 66-year-old actress dropped the bombshell on VALERIE BERTINELLI’s Getting Naked podcast, bluntly repeating the charge when reminded Richard lasted only one season.
But Mackenzie insists the decades-old bad blood has cooled. She says the actor, now 77, later apologized at an event, telling her he couldn’t remember what happened but was “really sorry” and had always considered her “incredibly talented.” Richard played divorce lawyer David Kane before his character dumped Ann Romano and skipped town. Mackenzie also praised series creator NORMAN LEAR, saying she “adored,” “loved” and “trusted” the legend, who protected the show’s young stars from Hollywood’s uglier side.
BACHELORETTE BINNING BEDROOM ACTIVITIES
Scandal-scarred reality siren TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL is slamming the bedroom door shut - vowing to remain single and celibate until she finds “her person!” The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star declared her “redemption arc” has only just begun following a romantic roller coaster involving an unaired Bachelorette season, a broken engagement and reunions with former flames.
“I’ve stayed in, single and celibate this entire time,” Taylor announced, insisting nobody will have “intimate access” again unless he’s Mr. Right. She accepted DOUG MASON’s proposal during filming but later admitted sleeping with ex DAKOTA MORTENSEN while still engaged. She also reportedly reconnected with old flame BEN LAMBERT. ABC shelved her season after footage of her 2023 physical altercation with Dakota resurfaced. Now she says she’s rebuilding with “baby steps.”
PRIESTLEY'S PEACE WITH TRAGIC SHANNEN
Canadian heartthrob JASON PRIESTLEY says his heart went out to Beverly Hills, 90210 costar SHANNEN DOHERTY before her tragic cancer death in July 2024. “When she passed away, it was sad,” the actor-director says of Shannen, who played his twin sibling Brenda Walsh.
“We had cleared the decks of any baggage that we’d been carrying [since] her departure from the show, so when she passed, I was at peace with it. You need to clear the decks with people all the time because that regret is something that people carry with them. I feel like her and I had said everything that we needed to say to each other, which I think gave me some closure right away, which was good.”
DREAM ROLES, LEGAL THREATS ... AND MORE!
Supermodel KATE MOSS was dead set on a guest spot on Law & Order: SVU, but had very strict guidelines when she pitched herself to MARISKA HARGITAY. “She started letting me know that she wanted to be on the show. So, I went to the producers and I told them about it, and we wrote her a part of a madam,” Mariska said of Kate. “Then she says, ‘No, no, no. I don’t want any lines. I just want to be a dead body.’” Sadly, there were no openings.
HBO wasn’t buying the commercial for JAKE PAUL’s sports-gambling app Betr, featuring JEREMY PIVEN and ADRIAN GRENIER reprising their roles from the network’s hit series Entourage, and issued a cease-and-desist letter to get him to fold it. HBO claims the ad infringes on its intellectual property and was made “without its consent or authorization.” The network is threatening legal action if the company doesn’t comply.
Family Affair star KATHY GARVER had little nice to say about the failed remake of the beloved ‘60s sitcom. “Excuse my language, but it sucked,” she says. The 2002 remake featured GARY COLE as Bill Davis and the late TIM CURRY as butler Mr. French. “When they see Gary Cole, they say, ‘Well, that’s not Uncle Bill.’ Tim Curry had a whole different take on it,” she said. “It was like the Tim Curry show.”