Affleck denies Hernan claim
Ben Affleck says Emma Hernan is selling a bill of goods.
A rep for the “Tender Bar” actor, 49, promptly denied the 30-year-old “Selling Sunset” star’s claims that the two matched on dating app Raya “right before” Affleck reconciled with Jennifer Lopez, to whom he’s now engaged.
“Raya has confirmed that he has not been an active member for several years,” the rep told People.
Asked by co-star Chrishell Stause whether she’d ever try online dating, Hernan in a recent episode of the Netflix reality series, said: “I mean, I’ve done the whole, like, Raya thing . ... You know on Raya there’s fiery people.”
“Remember when Ben Affleck went viral because he sent some girl ...” said Stause.
“He may or may not have been texting me,” Hernan laughed. “He may or may not have asked to grab coffee a few times . ... But I didn’t go.”
“You could’ve foiled Bennifer,” Stause said.
“Right? It was right before that. Maybe that wouldn’t have happened,” Hernan said. “We have the Boston connection. So that was like his opening pickup line.”
Affleck in 2021 was outed on TikTok by former Raya match and actress Nivine Jay, as allegedly having sent her a video to ask why she unmatched him, as it was in fact the A-lister himself — not a catfish. Raya only accepts certain daters, generally verified figures — some very well-known, others less so — to its platform.
Sources close to Hernan told TMZ Saturday that while she maintains Affleck contacted her on Raya in 2019, the denial from his team is simply saying he didn’t reach out to her via the app, “not saying he never hit her up.”
Affleck, who has three children from his marriage to Jennifer Garner, and 52-year-old Lopez, who has two children from her marriage to
Marc Anthony, reconciled with the “Marry Me” star in spring 2021, on the heels of Lopez and Alex Rodriguez calling off their long-term engagement.
The Red Sox devotee and New York native were previously engaged in the early aughts and earlier this month, announced they once again intended to say, “I do.”
— New York Daily News
Tony nominations delayed by a week
The show must go on — with minor scheduling changes.
Producers of the Tonys said Friday that nominations for the awards celebrating the best in Broadway theater have been delayed by nearly a week, so nominators can see all eligible productions.
According to the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing, the organizations that present the awards, the nominations will now be announced on May 9, instead of May 3.
However, the 75th annual edition of the prestigious ceremony is still set for June 12 at Radio City Music Hall, and it’ll be broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
“Due to the challenges that Broadway has faced in recent weeks, and in an effort to allow nominators to see Tony eligible shows, we have decided to extend the deadline for eligibility requirements,”
Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League; and
Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, said in a statement shared with the press.
Even though producers didn’t elaborate on the recent “challenges” faced by the theater industry in New York City, they are likely referring to a series of disruptions and cancellations caused by the ongoing pandemic.
A number of shows that were set to open before the eligibility deadline, which was originally scheduled for April 28, had to change their plans due to cast outages and outright cancellations.
Among them, some high-profile names — including Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, stars of the much-buzzed-about revival of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” and “Macbeth” star Daniel Craig — were forced to cancel several performances after testing positive for COVID-19.
Despite the recent challenges, however, stage lights seem to be shining brighter than ever, as Broadway recovers from its longest shutdown in history. All shows had to go dark in early May 2020; the ones that survived began reopening only a year and a half later.
Nine new shows have already opened this month, with six more scheduled to open until the end of the month: “Funny Girl,” “The Skin of Our Teeth,” “A Strange Loop,” “POTUS,” “Mr. Saturday Night” and “Macbeth.”
As every theater lover knows, nobody is going to rain on Broadway’s parade for too long.