Author: dmitriy.vasyura@gmail.com

Conan O'Brien's parents, Dr. Thomas O'Brien and Ruth Reardon O'Brien, who were pioneers in their respective fields of medicine and law, died this week within three days of each other.

Dr. O'Brien, a forward-looking epidemiologist, died Thursday at 95. His wife, an attorney who broke barriers for women in the legal field, died Monday at 92. They were married for 66 years and both died at their home in Brookline, Mass.

Conan, 61, told The Boston Globe of his late father, "For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad. I've never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father. If I met him randomly in a hotel lobby, I'd think, 'Who the hell is this guy? He's the most interesting person I’ve ever met.'"

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Thomas O'Brien and Ruth O'Brien were both born in Worcester, Mass. The couple married in 1958 and remained together until the end of their lives. They raised six children — Neal, Luke, Conan, Kate, Jane, and Justin — and at time of their passing had welcomed nine grandchildren.

Ruth O'Brien was one of four women in her graduating class at Yale Law School in 1956, and she went on to become the second-ever female partner at Boston's Ropes & Gray law firm.

Thomas O'Brien graduated from Harvard Medical School and spent much of his medical career there, serving as an associate professor until he retired in 2019. He also served as the the first director of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

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The eminent doctor traveled the world helping to train other medical professionals on the use of databases that track antibiotic resistance, as a means of advancing response to viral outbreaks. He cofounded the World Health Organization's Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance, which works to fortify the apparatus that surveils and responds to antimicrobial resistance around the world.

Conan remarked to the Globe that "Science has said there's no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong… My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything."

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The longtime late-night host also said his penchant for comedy traces straight back to his father, who introduced the O'Brien kids to famed funnymen like Jack Benny, Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers. "The loudest I've ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie," Conan remembered.

Ruth O'Brien and several family members discussed her tenure at Ropes & Gray in 2017, on the occasion of her receiving a company award recognizing her impact and influence. "The other mothers thought it was a riot, that Tom O'Brien was doing these carpools and was one of the girls," she reflected on the hectic task of managing the parenting of six children between two working parents. "But some of the husbands I guess thought it was beneath his status to be doing some of this stuff. He just thought it was a joke, and the kids seemed to love it."

Conan recalled, "There were six kids, two dogs, a cat, my grandmother, a parakeet. I'm not kidding, that house was kind of madness sometimes. Lovely madness, but madness still the same. I don't know how they worked it out but they worked it out pretty well."

Randy Moss is undergoing treatment for bile duct cancer.

The legendary NFL wide receiver-turned-broadcaster announced his diagnosis in an Instagram live video on Friday afternoon. "Your boy is a cancer survivor," Moss said. "Been in the hospital for six days. I just got out today, thank God. So first and foremost, I'd like to thank God for really just blessing me and my family through this trying time, and me being able to come outta this surgery and fight and battle this cancer."

Moss went on to thank all of his doctors, his fans, his "prayer warriors," his family, and his ESPN colleagues. "It was a trying week, some trying times, so once again I thank you all," he said.

The former Minnesota Viking elaborated on his condition. "I did have cancer," he said. "They found it in the bile duct, right between the pancreas and the liver. And the cancer was sitting right outside the bile duct, so my doctors that I just named, they went in…I had a six-hour surgery."

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He specified later that he'd undergone a Whipple procedure, which the Mayo Clinic describes as "involving removing the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder, and the bile duct" to remove tumors. Moss also said that he had a stent put in his liver on Thanksgiving.

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"I didn't think I would ever be in a position like this, as healthy as I thought I was," he said. "But things took a turn for the worse."

Moss also said that he'll undergo chemotherapy and radiation as part of his continuing treatment. However, he resolved to return to work at ESPN: "My goal is to get back on that television with my team."

Moss had previously signaled said that he was experiencing health issues that affected his eyes, requiring him to wear sunglasses, during his appearance on Sunday NFL Countdown on Dec. 1.

"Me and my family, we are battling something internally," Moss said on the show. "I have some great doctors around me. I couldn't miss the show, I wanted to be here with you guys, I feel great. But if you see me with these Michigan turnover glasses I have on, it's not me being disrespectful because I'm on television. I'm battling something, I need prayer warriors. God bless you all, and thanks for the prayers."

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ESPN announced Moss' departure from broadcasting last week. "Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss will step away from Sunday NFL Countdown for an extended time to focus on a personal health challenge," the network wrote in a statement on Dec. 6. "He briefly addressed the matter at the start of the show on Dec. 1. For nearly a decade, Randy has been an invaluable member of the team, consistently elevating Countdown with his insight and passion. He has ESPN's full support, and we look forward to welcoming him back when he is ready."

The parties at Dunder Mifflin have stopped, but The Office still had an unofficial holiday get-together.

Several stars of the NBC sitcom that aired from 2005 to 2013, including Jenna Fischer (Pam), Angela Kinsey (Angela), Ellie Kemper (Erin), and Mindy Kaling (Kelly), on Friday shared photos from a festive reunion.

"It's been 20 years since I first met these beautiful women!" Kaling captioned a snapshot of the four looking festive. "This year was a rollercoaster to say the least, and it’s so nice to be able to unpack life’s joys and challenges with people who knew me when I was a 24 year old customer service rep in the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. I love you guys!"

Kemper, who joined the Emmy-winning series in its fifth season, playing the Scranton branch's new receptionist, after regular receptionist Pam left, noted that the other actresses had "welcomed me with warmth and kindness."

The reunion was impromptu, according to Fischer.

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"When we realized we were all in the same city at the same time we knew we had to make this happen," Fischer wrote. "Thank you ladies for making me laugh so much last night and for all being so real and amazing after a hard year. I love so much! (I also love that we all dressed up! Fashion show, fashion show, fashion show at dinner!)"

Kinsey shared a photo of the four friends sitting down, looking much more relaxed and happy than they were attending an Office fete coordinated by her bossy character Angela.

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She declared it "such a fun catch up dinner."

Although, Kinsey and Fischer at least speak often, for their popular podcast, Office Ladies, on which they rewatch and discuss episodes of the NBC favorite, as well as personal news, including Fischer's recent cancer diagnosis.

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On this week's episode, they interviewed award-winning actress Kathy Bates, who said it was tough adjusting to their way of doing things.

"I did have a problem transitioning from lines that were written and then the improvisation that we were allowed to do," Bates said. "I don't know if I ever really succeeded. I kept getting tripped up on that. But it was a wonderful experience."

She can relive it along with the rest of us during daily reruns.

Leave Sydney Sweeney alone! Or else she might have to take care of you herself.

The Euphoria and Anyone But You actress swung hard on her haters in a video posted to Instagram on Friday that begins by showcasing a slew of nasty comments about her appearance. Comments like "quite frumpy" and "she has a horrible body" flash across the screen, set to the Bloodstone song "Natural High." Then the video abruptly switches to an intense training montage, showing Sweeney lifting weights, boxing, and flipping gigantic tires, set to Joey Valence and Brae's "OK."

"Check this out," the duo rap, "I look good."

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The comments appear to be culled from responses to paparazzi photos published a day earlier. Taken from a far-off vantage point, the photos capture Sweeney in a bikini lounging around the pool of her Florida home. While some online trolls criticized the actress' appearance, other observers rushed to her defense, calling out the comments' lecherous and misogynistic overtones and reproaching the invasion of privacy represented by the photos themselves.

The final frame of Sweeney's video is the name "Christy Martin" spelled out in glittering pink letters. Sweeney has been promoting an upcoming biopic about the boxer for months, sharing an update in October that showed her in a crimped brunette wig flexing her newly earned biceps.

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Martin is a legendary figure in the sport, one whom the World Boxing Association records as having a career total of 49 wins, seven losses, and three draws. In November, Sweeney shared a picture with Martin herself with a caption that described the film as "a testament to resilience, survival, and finding the strength to keep fighting. I can't wait for you all to see it — not only because I'm proud of the transformation and the work I've poured into it, but because Christy's story deserves to be told.

"And yes," Sweeney concluded, "you'll get to see me kick some serious ass."

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Celeste O'Connor and Isabela Merced, who costarred with Sweeney in the superhero flick Madame Web, both showed Sweeney support in the comments of her Instagram post Friday. Merced wrote, "The thing is these people would never say it in person. Too scared. But if they ever did? best believe it's hands," while O'Connor simply commented, "SO baller omfggggggg."

In a group interview for Madame Web earlier this year, O'Connor shed some insight on Sweeney's diligence when it comes to preparing for her roles, quipping, "Sydney was our training outside of stunt rehearsal. She would send us a schedule of all the Pilates classes that she had reserved for the week, and she was like, 'All right, girls! This is what we're doing!' I have her to thank for this bod."

Will Smith wants no affiliation with Sean "Diddy" Combs.

The King Richard star took a moment between songs at a concert near San Diego on Friday to distance himself from the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, who is incarcerated following federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. "I haven't addressed any of this publicly, but I just wanna say this very clearly: I don't have s— to do with Puffy, so y'all can stop all them memes," Smith said in a video acquired by TMZ. "You can stop all of that bulls—."

Rumors have swirled online about other musicians and entertainers attending Diddy's alleged "freak-offs" — that is, Combs-hosted gatherings that allegedly involved sex workers and/or sexual assaults, as described by Cassie Ventura in her now-settled lawsuit. (Combs has denied all allegations of sexual assault.) Smith said that he had no connection to those events: "I ain't been nowhere near no damn freak-off," he told the audience. "Listen, I do enough of my own s—, don't be putting me in other people's bulls—."

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Although Smith has been photographed alongside Combs at multiple industry events over the years, he said, "I ain't been nowhere near that man, ain't did none of that stupid s—. So whenever y'all hear it, if somebody say that, it's a damn lie."

Smith noted that he ordinarily doesn't like to address rumors or online chatter about him, but he thought it'd be worthwhile to distance himself from the conversation around Combs. "I usually don't respond to dumbass stuff, 'cause like, it's so many things," he said. "People say so much stuff. But that one, your memes was doing too much. Y'all was having me mad."

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Smith's comments come in the wake of Jay-Z being named in a new lawsuit accusing the "99 Problems" rapper of raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Combs at an afterparty for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z denied the allegations and claimed the lawsuit was attempted extortion.

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Jay-Z is the first major star to be named as a co-defendant during Combs' recent legal battles, though prosecuting attorney Tony Buzbee implied that numerous other well-known celebrities may be implicated in future lawsuits against Diddy. "The names that we’re going to name, assuming our investigators confirm and corroborate what we’ve been told, are names that will shock you," Buzbee said at a press conference in October.

Combs was arrested in September on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. His arrest followed several civil lawsuits that accused him of sex trafficking and sexual assault, as well as federal raids on his homes that he condemned as "excessive show of force."