Bites of Pop Culture; What’s happening in entertainment

Former child star Zendaya is taking Hollywood by storm these days. The New York Times reports that at this year’s Emmy’s, held virtually, the 24-year-old snagged the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, beating out fellow nominees, Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Laura Linney, and Olivia Coleman. She received the award for her role in the new HBO series, “Euphoria,” a show that has garnered much praise from the public. The actress, already having won 19 Emmys, makes history as the youngest woman to win this award.

According to People Magazine, actress, singer and former Disney star Demi Lovato has now called off her engagement with fiancé Max Ehrich. This comes just a few weeks after old tweets of Ehrich’s resurfaced, revealing his love for another ex-Disney star, Selena Gomez. In those tweets, Ehrich gushes about how talented she is and admits that he has had a crush on her since 2010. The pair announced their engagement just four months after dating and were seemingly in paradise until the last couple of weeks of their relationship. Although there have been rumors that the tweets caused the split, Lovato says it occurred as a result of Ehrich’s bad intentions, to use their relationship to bring himself into the spotlight.

Model Gigi Hadid and boyfriend Zayn Malik have welcomed their baby girl into the world. Harper’s Bazaar reports Malik notified the world via a tweet on Sept. 23, saying, “Our baby girl is here healthy and beautiful….” Hadid then followed up with a photo for fans on Instagram with the caption, “Our girl joined us earthside this weekend and she’s already changed our world. So in love.” The pair, who were on again, off again, reunited at the end of last year and announced the pregnancy in April after keeping it under the wraps for months. 

Yara Shahidi has been cast as Tinker Bell in the live-action movie. BBC reports that 20-year-old Shahidi will assume the role in the upcoming movie titled, Peter Pan and Wendy. Shahidi, who is best known for her roles in Black-ish and Grown-ish, will be taking on the role originally played by actresses Julie Andrews and Ludivine Sagnier. This comes almost a year after singer Halle of Chloe x Halle, was cast as Ariel in the live-action production of “The Little Mermaid. “These historic casting decisions allow for more POC representation in the media, not as the sidekick or the comic relief, but the lead role.