Names and faces

m Embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer

is getting sympathy from those with whom he’s sparred the most: the news media. The reason: As President Donald Trump met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, Spicer — a devout Catholic who once appeared on CNN with ashes on his forehead to mark Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent — was noticeably absent from the entourage. Those in attendance included first lady Melania Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster; Hope Hicks, Trump’s communications adviser; Keith Schiller, his former bodyguard; and Dan Scavino, his social media manager. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are both Jewish but nonetheless met with the pontiff. But not Spicer. “Wow,” a source told CNN. “That’s all he wanted.” Spicer’s absence struck a chord. By excluding him, “Trump has done something I thought was impossible,” tweeted Josh Dawsey, Politico White House reporter. “He has made everyone empathize with/defend Spicer,” Dawsey said. New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush spoke out. Spicer has on multiple occasions criticized and clashed with Thrush during news briefings, exchanges portrayed by Melissa McCarthy’s Spicer character on Saturday Night Live. “That planners of this trip couldn’t or wouldn’t get seanspicer into the Vatican speaks to a small-mindedness I find incredibly depressing,” Thrush tweeted. m Tourism officials have invited actress Sally Field

to town after her recent claim that, if she hadn’t gone into acting, she could have ended up a “really, really unhappy overweight person somewhere deep in Tuscaloosa.” In an open letter to the 70-year-old Oscar and Emmy winner, Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports interim CEO Bill Buchanan asked Field to come meet the people she seemingly disparaged. “We would welcome the opportunity to show you just how nice Tuscaloosa is, and how happy you would be if you came for a visit.” Field made the comment in a May 12 story by The Hollywood Reporter. “There was just nothing else,” Field said. The California-born Field is no stranger to the Southern lifestyle, having portrayed Southern women in several roles, including in Forrest Gump (1994), Steel Magnolias (1989) and Norma Rae (1979). Buchanan, in his letter, told Field, “You once said, ‘never, ever have I felt really accepted in Hollywood. Well, here in the heart of Dixie, we take pride in making everyone feel right at home.”

Field

Spicer