Melissa McCarthy Fronts People Magazine’s ‘Beautiful Issue’

Melissa McCarthy arrives at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on March 13, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. (AP)
Melissa McCarthy arrives at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on March 13, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Melissa McCarthy Fronts People Magazine’s ‘Beautiful Issue’

Melissa McCarthy arrives at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on March 13, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. (AP)
Melissa McCarthy arrives at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on March 13, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. (AP)

Melissa McCarthy is out front on this year’s People magazine “Beautiful Issue.”

The “Bridesmaids” star says being on the cover “felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.”

People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy’s selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday.

McCarthy, 52, recounted for the magazine her upbringing on a farm in rural Illinois and how she went through a punk phase, complete with a mohawk and blue hair, when she was in high school.

“I was fascinated because when I walked down the street and I looked like that, it was the first time that I’d ever had people kind of make fun of me or say really mean things to me, even adults,” she told the magazine.

“I just kept thinking, you don’t know me, I didn’t do anything to you. It was a real big eye-opener that people are just judging left and right.”

McCarthy says it wasn’t until her 30s, when she met husband and producing partner Ben Falcone, that she started feeling comfortable with herself. The couple, who have two teenage daughters together, have been married since 2005.

The actor said she wants others to find similar peace of mind.

“When someone’s being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world... The simplest rule is just be kind,” she says.

McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney’s upcoming live action “The Little Mermaid,” which will be released in May.



Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni’s $400M Lawsuit Against ‘It Ends With Us’ Costar Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni attends the 'It Ends With Us' premiere in New York City, US, August 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Justin Baldoni attends the 'It Ends With Us' premiere in New York City, US, August 6, 2024. (Reuters)
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Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni’s $400M Lawsuit Against ‘It Ends With Us’ Costar Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni attends the 'It Ends With Us' premiere in New York City, US, August 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Justin Baldoni attends the 'It Ends With Us' premiere in New York City, US, August 6, 2024. (Reuters)

A judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit that actor and director Justin Baldoni filed against his "It Ends With Us" costar Blake Lively after she sued him last year for sexual harassment and retaliation.

US District Court Judge Lewis Liman's decision is the latest development in the bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic film.

Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January for $400 million, accusing Lively and her husband, "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.

The New York judge ruled that Baldoni can’t sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her legal claim, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. Liman also ruled that Baldoni's claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn't count as extortion under California law.

The judge, however, said Baldoni could revise the lawsuit if he wanted to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached or interfered with a contract. His legal team indicated it planned to do so.

"Ms. Lively and her team’s predictable declaration of victory is false," one of Baldoni's lawyers, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement. He said that Lively's claims that she was sexually harassed on the film set, and then subjected to a secret smear campaign intended to taint her reputation, were "no truer today than they were yesterday."

"It Ends With Us," an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which had reported on Lively's sexual harassment allegations.

"Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, (publicist) Leslie Sloane and The New York Times," Lively's attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a prepared statement.

The lawyers said they "look forward to the next round" of seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.

A spokesperson for The New York Times said they were "grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting."

"Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism," Charlie Stadtlander said in an emailed statement.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and the TV series "Gossip Girl" from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including "The Town" and "The Shallows."

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy "Jane the Virgin," directed the 2019 film "Five Feet Apart" and wrote the book "Man Enough."