Scoop

FOR BREAKING CELEBRITY NEWS EVERY DAY

People.com

BLAKE LIVELY

REINVENTING MYSELF

Though she’s only 27, Blake Lively is ready for her second act. Freed from the daily grind of Gossip Girl, which ended its run in 2012, she has spent the past few years cultivating her eclectic taste and style. At home in Bedford, N.Y., where she lives with her husband of almost two years, actor Ryan Reynolds, 37, the actress loves “to cook and decorate,” Lively tells PEOPLE. “I knew as soon as I was done with my show I would be able to really focus, so this was the perfect time to try and develop a new company.” Enter Preserve, her website that is part shopping (porcelain berry basket, anyone?) and part lifestyle magazine.

As creative director and CEO, she has happily swapped being in front of the camera for being behind the scenes, handling the day-to-day operations for the site. “I’m the assistant at photo shoots, running around making sure everyone has food and the photographer has all his equipment. But I also wanted to learn Web design and how to code and upload products,” she adds. “I think it’s important to understand what goes into everyone’s job. When I make a decision, it’s easy for people to say okay, but then they’re in the office until 3 a.m., and I don’t even know. If I understand the implications, then I can be the best leader that I can be.”

Her interest in foraging for one-of-a-kind trinkets comes from her mother, Elaine. “My mom is better at this than I could ever imagine being,” says Lively. “She’s just amazing at finding the most incredible treasures.” As for whether the site will reflect her own life as a mom someday, Lively insists that family “is everything” to her. “That’s where my roots and my passions are. We’ll have things for grandmas and newborn babies and everyone in between,” she promises. “My family is probably too involved in my life because they are my best friends, but I love that.” Reynolds, meanwhile, is her biggest cheerleader—and most trusted adviser. “This is something that I’ve loved forever,” she adds. “He loves seeing me doing something I’m passionate about.”

REAL HOUSEWIVES’ RAMONA SINGER
WHY I KICKED MY HUSBAND OUT
A month after a romantic getaway in St. Bart’s, Ramona Singer showed husband Mario the door after 22 years of marriage. “You reach a point where you try to make something work, and then you realize the other person isn’t putting in as much effort as you are,” the Real Housewives of New York star, 57, tells PEOPLE exclusively. In January she filed for divorce after reportedly finding Mario, 61, with another woman. (Calls to Mario were not immediately returned.) The couple, who are parents to daughter Avery, 19, reconciled and attended counseling. “I was ready to forgive,” says Singer. But on July 24 she made him move out after learning he was still in contact with the same woman (whom he stepped out with days later). “I just couldn’t trust him anymore.” Now she’s ready to move on. “I have no regrets,” she adds. “I have a new life, and I think this means better and bigger things.”

WORD ASSOCIATION
LIFE AFTER BETH‘S
Aubrey Plaza

Famous as Chris Pratt’s sarcastic other half on the NBC show Parks and Recreation, the actress, 30, is busy on the big screen this summer, starring in the drama About Alex and the zombie comedy Life After Beth. The Wilmington, Del., native took a break to free-associate for PEOPLE:

Hollywood

Rehab. What goes up must come down!

Nightmare

Walmart. I get scared in department stores.

Delaware

Scrapple. A mixed meat patty delicacy of southern Delaware. It’s an acquired taste—but I like it.

Internet

Space. I don’t understand how it works. Where are all the connections happening? Please explain.

Internship

Ben Affleck. My first internship was at Saturday Night Live, and on my first day, he was hosting.

Naked and Afraid. This is the only show I watch. There’s nothing more compelling than watching two people naked trying to survive in the jungle.

Awkward

Every talk show I’ve been on.

Dream

John Goodman. We were having an affair in Virginia…. It was very Last Tango in Paris.

NASCAR CHAMP TONY STEWART

TRAGEDY AT THE RACETRACK

THE THREE-TIME NASCAR WINNER’S FATEFUL TURN LEAVES YOUNG COMPETITOR KEVIN WARD JR. DEAD

In auto racing, accidents happen. Even so, no one was prepared for the horrific scene that played out on the small dirt track at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York Aug. 9. After a car driven by 20-year-old competitor Kevin Ward Jr. hit a wall, seemingly because of a maneuver by NASCAR veteran Tony Stewart, 43, Ward angrily emerged from his vehicle. While standing on the track (inset above) pointing at Stewart, Ward was hit, dragged and tossed by Stewart’s car. He died in an ambulance en route to the hospital. “It’s a complete shock,” former NASCAR racer Geoffrey Bodine, who has raced with Stewart, tells PEOPLE. “Tony’s one of the best ever. There’s no doubt in my mind he tried to dodge and miss Kevin.” Some have speculated that Stewart’s aggressive driving style may have been a factor in the accident, but Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said in an Aug. 10 press conference there were “no facts in hand” to support criminal intent on Stewart’s part. “There are no words to describe the sadness I feel,” Stewart said in a statement. Meanwhile, those who knew the aspiring young racer from Port Leyden, N.Y., have yet to come to terms. “He was an accomplished racer with a bright future ahead of him,” says Greg Smith, Adirondack International Speedway general manager. “It’s very tragic all the way around.”

SOFIA VERGARA ON JOE MANGANIELLO

‘I’M VERY HAPPY’

Sofia Vergara is on top of the world. “I’m very happy romantically,” Vergara, 42, told PEOPLE at a Head & Shoulders shoot. “It couldn’t be better!” Indeed, she and beau Joe Manganiello, 37, have had a busy summer, globe-trotting together from New Orleans and Los Angeles to Miami, where he notably spent time with her family.

Why I Care

PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT GIVING BACK

Diane Lane

A trip with her daughter showed her how the gift of an animal can change lives

I first saw Heifer International’s work when I traveled with my daughter [Eleanor, 20] to Rwanda six years ago. When Heifer gives a cow to a community, it’s not just a cow and milk. The livestock provides not only nutrition and income, it creates sustainability and self-reliance. I got to show my daughter people who are fighting the injustice of hunger and poverty. In Rwanda I went to a co-op where the community bring the fresh milk by bike to a new facility where the milk can be kept cold and become pasteurized. They make butter and yogurt and cheese. You can see the impact on children who have benefited from the protein. They have light in their eyes, their skin is glowing. And when a cow has a baby calf, the newborn is passed on to another woman in the community. I just returned from Guatemala, where I visited female farmers. People can get overwhelmed trying to envision a future free from hunger, but if we all do a little something, we can create change.

VIRAL SENSATION OF THE WEEK

A CAUSE SWEEPING THE WEB

To raise money for research into ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), people are posting “ice-bucket challenge” videos on social media: After dousing themselves with ice water, they nominate others to do it (and if those people do not accept and post their own videos within 24 hours, they have to donate money). Some celebs who have joined in on the freezing fun:

CHALLENGED

Nathan Fillion & Seth Rogen

CHALLENGED

Joey Fatone & Darren Criss

CHALLENGED

Gwyneth Paltrow & Ellen DeGeneres

MILEY CYRUS & SELENA GOMEZ

SPIED ON BY DRONES

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Actually, it’s a drone taking a photo of your favorite celebrity. Miley Cyrus, 21, recently posted a video on Instagram (screen shot above) of what appears to be the small, remotely controlled aircraft device. Selena Gomez, 22, has also been a target. A paparazzo for the site 247paps.tv recently admitted to using a drone to get a shot of Gomez at a photo shoot in March. “They tried to stop us from taking pictures, and we said, ‘You know what? Release the drone,'” he said in the video. But California State Senator Alex Padilla is working to curb this new trend, spearheading a bill that would limit the use of drones. He tells PEOPLE, “We certainly don’t need drones with cameras hovering over the streets of L.A. It’s an invasion of privacy.”

DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON

A TERRIFYING ACCIDENT

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson posted a photo of a horrific car crash on Instagram on Aug. 10. “My mom and cousin were struck head-on by a drunk driver this week,” he wrote. “They lived.”

According to police in Clermont, Fla., a driver—who has since been charged with DUI—ran a red light on Aug. 2 and hit an SUV driven by Johnson’s mother, Ata Maivia-Johnson. (The car, a white Escalade, had been a gift from Johnson.) Johnson’s cousin, WWE’s Lina Fanene, was in the passenger seat, and both women were rushed to the hospital in serious condition. Fanene underwent surgery for a broken collarbone, while Maivia-Johnson was found to have bruises on her lungs and chest and has a cast on her left hand. Horrified relatives quickly called Johnson, who flew to Florida to be with his family. “[My] first reaction is to find the person who did this and do unrelenting harm to them,” Johnson wrote. “But then you realize the most important thing is my family lived thru this and we can hug each other that much tighter these days.”

That family togetherness will help the women heal, both physically and emotionally. “They’re shaken up,” Johnson’s uncle, former pro wrestler Afa Anoa’i, tells People. “This will take some time for them to get over.” Until then the family is simply grateful. “We are extremely lucky to be alive,” Fanene wrote on Instagram. “It’s a bump in the road, but we will get past it and be stronger than before.”

For more information, go to heifer.org

Updated by Jennifer Garcia,

Jeff Truesdell,

Patrick Gomez,

Steve Helling,

and Mia McNiece