Entertainment
Melinda French Gates Remembers Serena Williams Hyping Her Up When She Thought Nothing Would Fit Her Body
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NEED TO KNOW
- Melinda French Gates credited Serena Williams for boosting her body confidence when speaking with her during a season 2 episode of Moments That Make Us on YouTube
- The philanthropist recalled a time where she and the tennis star “connected” over fitting into costumes at an event
- Gates admired Williams for being “strong in her body,” which gave her the confidence to “celebrate” her own
Melinda French Gates found strength in Serena Williams.
The famed philanthropist, 60, praised the tennis star, 43, for giving her the confidence to embrace her own body during a powerful conversation documented in a season 2 episode of her Moments That Make Us series on YouTube.
French Gates recalled meeting Williams for the first time at a dinner, where guests were invited to dress up in costumes before heading into the “joyful” event. The outfits, however, were provided and seemingly limited in assorted sizes.
“We both come in late, and you and I are looking at the costumes,” the mom of three told the athlete. “I’m looking at these costumes and I’m thinking to myself, ‘There is no way one of these is going to fit in my hips’. And I said it out loud,” she added.
Photo Courtesy of Pivotal
Talking to Williams, the billionaire activist recalled, “You said, ‘And you think one of them is going to fit me!’ ” before the pair burst out laughing when thinking back to the situation they found themselves in at the event.
“I just went, ‘Oh my God. Here’s somebody who’s so real in our bodies to celebrate who we are,’ ” French Gates remembered thinking at the time, noting that she told Williams her positive realization that night.
French Gates recalled telling the Olympian that she “didn’t follow tennis that much,” but the “one time” she saw Williams play, she was captivated by the confidence the athlete displayed in her own body and strength.
“I happened to sit behind you [at the match] and I thought, ‘There is a woman who is so strong in her body… Why are we not all celebrating our bodies?’ And it gave me the confidence to do that,” the philanthropist said.
Williams replied, “Super wow. Thank you for saying that.”
Of that night they were trying on costumes, the tennis player recalled praising French Gates’ figure at the party.
Jamie Squire/Getty
“I looked at you. I said, ‘Oh, you got body!'” Williams reminded her in the episode, prompting the duo to smile and laugh at the memory.
French Gates added, “You made me feel much better about it.”
Williams emphasized, “You got a nice body!” She told her, “I’m like, ‘Sis, where do you get that from?’ ”
“I loved it, I loved it,” French Gates replied.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, French Gates recalled the “sweet” interaction she had with Williams and the empowering moment they shared together at the event.
“That is something that we connected over the first time we met,” she told PEOPLE exclusively. “We were at dinner together with a group of women the night before, and then I saw her the next day. Same group of women, but a different setting.”
“It was just one of those vulnerable moments… Everybody else was in these costumes and there was one that fit everybody,” French Gates continued. “I think most women don’t realize that all of us struggle with some form of body issue. You might not like your arms or your legs or your hips or whatever.”
Dia Dipasupil/Getty
“And here she is just this incredibly strong, powerful woman on the court,” she gushed of Williams.
French Gates’ Moments That Makes Us YouTube series released its second installment on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The release came one year after its debut season, which she launched in celebration of turning 60.
Season 1 featured impactful conversations with changemakers of all ages, who candidly discussed their biggest life transitions. Guests included Michelle Obama, Megan Rapinoe, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King.
Entertainment
Justin Timberlake jokes about his race being labeled as ‘white’ in Hamptons DWI arrest video

Justin Timberlake was quite the comedian after being arrested in the Hamptons for DWI.
Footage of the singer’s June 2024 arrest was released Friday after his unsuccessful legal attempt to block it. During one light-hearted moment from the incident, Timberlake, 45, cracked a joke about his race being labeled “white” on a form he was asked to sign.
After he was asked to look over his paperwork, he appeared confused as he looked up at an officer and questioned, “White?”
When the officer laughed, he cracked, “I’m just kidding.”
Timberlake himself chuckled, adding, I’m just kidding, man.”
The Grammy-winning singer was jovial enough during the encounter with police officers, but he did appear to be in disbelief when told that he was going to have to spend the night in jail.
“You guys are wild, man,” he remarked.
Timberlake was pulled over by police that night after he allegedly ran a stop sign and swerved between lanes following a night out with friends.
At the beginning of the nearly 20-minute video, he was pulled over in his gray 2025 BMW and complied when asked to complete several tests.
He seemed to be confused by the instructions as he told the officers, “These are, like, hard tests.”
He later stumbled a couple times while attempting to walk a straight line.
“My heart’s racing,” he said.
A female friend arrived after he was handcuffed and put in the back of a squad car and tried to get him off the hook, though she was unsuccessful.
“You’re arresting Justin Timberlake right now?” she asked, later pleading, “Can you guys please just do me a favor ’cause you loved ‘Bye Bye Bye’ or ‘Sexyback?’ Do me one favor!”
Timberlake signed off on a plea deal dropping his DWI charge down to a traffic violation, which is not a criminal offense, in September 2024.
Before hammering out the agreement, the “Rock Your Body” singer pleaded not guilty to the original charges twice.
His lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., was previously adamant that the singer was “not intoxicated” at the time of his arrest.
“The police made a number of very significant errors in this case,” Burke told Page Six a month after his client was arrested.
Entertainment
Chappell Roan responds to explosive allegations she made Jude Law’s daughter cry

Chappell Roan denied explosive allegations that she made Jude Law’s minor daughter cry during an interaction in Brazil.
“I’m just gonna tell my half of the story of what happened today with a mother and child who were involved with a security guard, who is not my personal security,” the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer said on her Instagram Stories Sunday.
“I didn’t even see a woman and a child, like, no one came up to me. No one bothered me. I was just sitting at breakfast in my hotel. I think these people were staying at the hotel, as well,” she added.
Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, said she did not instruct the security official to “go up and talk” to the mother and daughter, who were revealed to be Law’s ex Catherine Harding and their 11-year-old daughter, Ada.
“I did not, [and] they did not come up to me. They weren’t doing anything,” Roan, 28, clarified.
“It’s unfair for security to just assume someone doesn’t have good intentions when they have no reason to believe because there’s no action even taken, like, that’s so not what I stand behind,” she added.
The pop star then stated that she does not “hate” people who are fans of her music.
“I do not hate children, like, that is crazy,” she added.
Roan concluded her video message by apologizing to Harding and Ada for the interaction with the security guard.
“I’m sorry to that mother and child that someone was assuming something that you would do something and that if you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad,” Roan said.
“You did not deserve that.”
Roan’s response came hours after Harding’s husband, Brazilian soccer star Jorginho Frello, blasted the singer and her security for causing his stepdaughter, Ada, to break down in tears at a hotel in São Paulo, Brazil.
“My daughter woke up extremely excited, she even made a sign because she was so happy to see an artist she really admires, or used to admire @chappellroan,” Frello wrote on Instagram Saturday hours ahead of Roan’s performance at Lollapalooza Brazil.
The athlete claimed Ada saw the “Pink Pony Club” songstress at breakfast but did not approach her.
“She just passed by the singer’s table, looked over to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to the table with her mom,” Frello claimed. “She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything.”
Moments later, Frello claimed his wife and daughter were approached by Roan’s “large” security guard, who allegedly began “speaking in an extremely aggressive manner” to them.
Frello alleged that the guard accused the young child of “disrespect” and “harassment” and threatened to file a complaint with the hotel.
“My daughter got super scared and cried a lot,” Frello wrote. “Honestly, I don’t know in what world just passing by a table and looking … can be considered harassment.”
The soccer star concluded his statement with a direct message to Roan.
“Without your fans you would be nobody. And to the fans, she does not deserve your affection,” he wrote.
Jude, 53, and Harding welcomed Ada in March 2015 after the couple had already split.
The “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” actor is the father of six other children with three other women.
Last July, Harding and Frello tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Villa Erba in Lake Como, Italy.
They share son Jax, who was born in 2020.
Entertainment
Shia LaBeouf shouts at woman in Rome in video footage

Shia LaBeouf was once again spotted shouting erratically in video footage from Rome.
In video obtained by TMZ on Saturday, the “Transformers” star was seen earlier this week during the trip — for his father Jeffrey LaBeouf’s baptism — sitting in an outdoor cafe in a black T shirt and blue pants.
The troubled former Disney Channel star, 39, can be seen sipping a beverage while lounging at the outdoor eatery, as a woman sits at a separate table nearby.
In the footage, he seems to be having a lively one-way conversation with the woman — who tries to ignore him — when he suddenly screams “F–k off!”
He continues glaring at the woman, who seemingly remains unaffected and does not acknowledge him.
In subsequent footage, the “Even Stevens” alum is seen pacing on the sidewalks and again screaming, though it’s unclear who — or what — he’s screaming at.
A rep for LaBeouf did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment on Saturday.
The new footage comes amid a seemingly difficult time for Shia, who was also spotted in Italy asking a woman for a light in a hotel lobby while wearing nothing but boxers.
On Friday in the early morning hours, he was seen on video having a tense exchange with authorities outside his New Orleans home, during which he called himself a “target” and sobbed uncontrollably.
“I don’t trust you at all!” he shouted to cops at the scene.
The “Honey Boy” star was arrested last month for his involvement in a bar fight in New Orleans, with footage showing his fight with multiple people.
LaBeouf allegedly head butted one of the men, and a police report claimed he may have dislocated one of the participants’ noses.
He was charged with two counts of simple battery in the Mardi Gras altercation, and almost immediately after being released from jail, returned to the streets for more partying.
The former child actor was ultimately ordered to pay a $100,000 bond, attend rehab, and undergo a drug testing program.
LaBeouf moved to New Orleans last year after quietly splitting from estranged wife Mia Goth, a source exclusively told Page Six.
The actor is a father of one daughter, Isabel, whom he welcomed with the “Frankenstein” actress in March 2022.
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