Entertainment
How Gene Hackman’s Surviving Dogs Assisted First Responders

New heartbreaking details are coming to light about the tragic deaths of Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa Hackman and their dog Zinna, and the role the couple’s other two dogs played in locating their bodies.
Authorities previously shared that Betsy, 65, died from hantavirus, a flu-like virus linked to rodent droppings, around one week before Gene, 95, died from severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Gene was likely alone in the home with his dead wife for days before both their bodies were discovered on Feb. 26.
Betsy was found collapsed in a bathroom near a space heater and scattered pills, according to a search warrant affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE.
Paramedics with the Santa Fe Fire Department entered the couple’s property through the front door and saw Betsy lying on the nearby bathroom floor, Fire Chief Brian Moya told USA Today, though they initially didn’t see anyone else despite 30 minutes of searching.
Moya told the outlet that amidst their search, the couple’s two living dogs — Bear and Nikita — continuously ran up to them barking and running off in a different direction.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
“They realized (the dog) was trying to say, ‘Hey, come over here! Come over here!’ ” Moya explained. The first responders followed one of the dogs to a mudroom at the back of the home where they discovered Gene’s body on the floor.
The backdoor had been left open allowing Bear and Nikita to roam freely in and out of the house. However, Gene and Betsy’s third dog, Zinna, a kelpie mix, was found dead in her crate. Zinna had been recovering from a “major surgery” in January and was on crate rest, Robert Gruda, owner of the Gruda Veterinary Hospital told USA Today.
According to the outlet, hospital staff grew concerned after Betsy didn’t come in to pick up some specialized dog food and medication for Zinna on Feb. 11. That was also the last day Betsy was seen alive.
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
“She was devoted to those dogs,” Gruda told USA Today. “She was consistent, predictable. We knew something was wrong when she didn’t pick up the food on time.”
He praised the late classical pianist adding, “She was an excellent dog owner, excellent caretaker to those dogs. She really doted on them.”
The couple’s surviving dogs have been transported to a local pet daycare facility in the wake of their owners’ deaths.
Animal Rescue, Inc., a local shelter where Gene got at least one of his dogs, posted a tribute to the late actor on Feb. 27, writing, “We are mourning the passing of our most famous adopter Gene Hackman. He was an amazing actor and dog lover.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Heather Jarrell, New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, previously shared in a press conference that the last activity on Gene’s pacemaker was registered on Feb. 17. Jarrell said it is “reasonable to conclude” Hackman, who had no food in his stomach at the time of his death, died the following day. Hackman showed no signs of dehydration, however.
“It is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed first,” said Jarrell.
Erin Phipps, a veterinarian with the New Mexico Health Department, said investigators found signs of “rodent entry” in outlying structures on the property, though the assessed risk in the main house was deemed “low.”
Entertainment
Bad blood at CNN years after Chris Cuomo broke ‘bro code’ and ‘stabbed’ Jeff Zucker ‘in the front,’ insiders say

It’s been over three years since Chris Cuomo was axed from CNN — but bruised feelings remain at the network over his ouster, and the departure of his onetime boss, Jeff Zucker.
Cuomo reignited the CNN feud during a recent episode of Patrick Bet-David’s podcast by slamming his former cable news bestie, Don Lemon, for not having his back when he was fired.
Sources, however, tell Page Six it was Cuomo who broke the “bro code” when he allegedly backstabbed his old boss, Jeff Zucker, and girlfriend Allison Gollust, who were engulfed in a scandal at the time.
“Jeff put him in primetime. Jeff protected him and Chris sold him out,” a source told Page Six. “He stabbed [Zucker] in the front [by] trying to take the network down,” they added.
Multiple sources said they believe Cuomo was the whistleblower behind Zucker and Gollust’s relationship being exposed, despite it being “the worst kept secret in media,” as one person said.
Cuomo described the accusation as “absurd” in a statement to Page Six. (He’s currently in a $125 million legal battle with CNN).
Meanwhile, the affair led Zucker to resign as head of CNN, while Gollust — who once worked for Cuomo’s brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — eventually stepped down as CMO.
We’re told some CNN staffers are still sore at Cuomo, who they believe, “tried to take down network,” by filing suit when he got the boot.
“It felt vindictive. Jeff and Allison were beloved. Chris was not. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one person say a good thing about him,” one media insider told Page Six.
Another source familiar with the situation told us, “No one at CNN speaks to [Cuomo],” after he tried to “sully anyone’s credibility and reputation.”
A source told us the situation also ended his friendship with Lemon, who told Mediaite last year he still loves the NewsNation host.
Cuomo blasted the accusations as “absurd” and told us, “I have many friends from CNN. It was a great place.”
“The rest of this is absurd and will come out in litigation. If Jeff Zucker or Don Lemon want to have an honest conversation with me, they know how to find me,” he said.
Zucker and Lemon did not comment.
An insider familiar with the situation then dismissed Cuomo’s comments as “absurd,” and a “naked play for attention.”
Cuomo and Lemon previously hosted “The Handoff” podcast as a spinoff of their once-popular nightly handovers on CNN, between their past shows, “Cuomo Prime Time” and “Don Lemon Tonight.”
Despite previously proclaiming how real their bromance was, Cuomo said in the podcast interview that the banter was just Zucker’s idea, due to his concern about how Lemon would open his show.
In 2022, Zucker wrote colleagues in a memo: “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years… I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today.”
Entertainment
Drew Barrymore Meets Woman with ’50 First Dates’ Disorder

- Nesh Pillay, who struggles with short-term memory loss as documented in the Prime series, 50,000 First Dates: A True Story, shared her struggle with Drew Barrymore, who played a woman with the same disorder in the film 50 First Dates
- Pillay said it started with “a series of head bumps” until one day, she couldn’t remember that she had a daughter Sinead
- While “I cannot retain my memories, I can make memories,” Pillay said, adding that she’s “grateful” that she exists
Drew Barrymore — who famously played Lucy Whitmore, a woman with short-term memory in the 2004 comedy 50 First Dates — interviewed a woman with the real disorder who shared her life in the Prime documentary, 50,000 First Dates: A True Story.
“I always thought that it was an improbable sort of storyline. It turns out that maybe it isn’t,” Barrymore, whose character woke up every morning unable to recall the previous day, said when welcoming Nesh Pillay to the April 23 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show.
Pillay, 35, told Barrymore, 50, that, from a young age, “I’ve had a series of head bumps.”
Amazon MGM Studios
“My memory was just worse. Then, three years ago, I woke up from a nap, felt a little bit funny. By the end of that day, I started asking JJ [Jakope], my fiancé, questions like, ‘Where are we going?’ ‘What are we doing today?’ Just being confused. By the end of that day, we went to pick up my daughter, and I remember thinking, ‘No. I don’t know how to take care of a child. I don’t have a daughter.’ “
As she explains in the documentary, Pillay thought her fiancé was her Uber driver. She told Barrymore that, over the next few days “my memory regressed to the point that … [it] reset about once a minute.”
“My family took me to the doctor. At first, they were like, ‘This has to be related to her former brain injuries, but she should be fine in a couple of days.’ I wasn’t, so they took me to a different hospital. The assumption was, ‘Well, we don’t know what’s going on, so she must be faking.’ It was not until filming this docuseries, truly, that I was connected to the neuroscientist Morgan Barense … [that we] finally got some very real answers about what’s going on with my brain.”
As she explained, “The different centers of your brain are connected through neural pathways. Like highways almost. And a lot of mine are damaged. The other thing is brain atrophy. If you look at my brain, it’s a lot smaller. There’s a lot of empty space in there, which means that brain tissue is dead. We’re still kind of figuring out if it’s actively dying. There’s no answers. It’s very confusing. I spend a lot of time questioning reality. Like everything I perceive, I kind of go to my therapist and my parents and my journal to piece together what is real life.”
CBS/pillay.nesh/Instagram
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
She also shared that she and her fiancé separated when her memory was “resetting very often” — and sounded off on the imbalance that often occurs “when women’s stories are told.”
“It’s always really a man’s hero journey,” Pillay said. “It’s like a love story and, ‘Ugh this man stayed with her.’ “ But, she added, her documentary isn’t about romantic love. “It’s familial love. It’s sister love. It’s friend love. It’s self-love. And there are all of these other important types of love for women that we really need to be prioritizing. For me in this, I didn’t want the message to be: ‘And then they lived happily ever after.’ I’d rather create something real that connects with people than something pretty or perfect.”
She shared that while “I cannot retain my memories, I can make memories” — and that’s something she focuses on.
“I exist. I’m very grateful for that. For as long as I get to be alive and be present and everything I get to experience, I am endlessly grateful.”
Entertainment
Camryn D’Aloia, Renee Portnoy, more

Dave Portnoy is off the market! After the Barstool Sports founder confirmed that he’s dating Camryn D’Aloia, Page Six decided to slice into his dating history. Watch the full video to learn more about the ladies of his past.
Subscribe to our YouTube for the latest on all your favorite stars.
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
Mel Gibson Can Own Guns Again After DOJ Removes Domestic Violence Restrictions
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Lady Gaga pays homage to past music videos in nearly 2-hour Coachella 2025 headlining set
-
Technology3 weeks ago
TechCrunch Mobility: Tesla takes a hit, tariff chaos begins, and one EV startup hits a milestone
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
Mexico’ actor Manuel Masalva ‘fighting for his life’ in coma after bacterial infection
-
Life Style2 weeks ago
160 Inspirational Birthday Quotes for a Happy, Fun and Meaningful Celebration
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Hailey Bieber shows off skimpy animal-printed bikini ahead of Coachella 2025
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
MGK Makes Surprise Appearance at Coachella After Welcoming Baby with Megan Fox
-
Life Style3 weeks ago
101 Short Mother’s Day Quotes for a Happy, Loving and Grateful Day