Burt Reynolds passed away… Academy backlash… Latinxes you may know… Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons are done… and Geoffrey Owens mulling over “handful” of TV offers

Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds passed away yesterday at the age of 82. His niece released a statement saying that even though Burt had been having health issues, this was still totally unexpected. She also said, “My uncle was looking forward to working with Quentin Tarantino, and the amazing cast that was assembled.” Burt had signed on for a role in Quentin’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie. Burt would’ve played George Spahn, the man who owned the ranch where Charles Manson and his followers lived. RadarOnline.com says Burt planned his own funeral, which they say will be about $2 million! Reportedly, Burt wants to be buried in the driver’s seat of a 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am — which is the car he drove in his “Smokey and the Bandit” movies.

Celebrating the life of Burt Reynolds: https://t.co/0wZJnpowI9 @LaraSpencer sat down with the star before he passed pic.twitter.com/G8oxq1AHOH

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 7, 2018

Remember that Most Popular Oscar category they were going to add to the Academy Awards this coming February? yeah. Scratch that. The Academy got so much backlash for that idea that they’re putting it on indefinite hold. The Academy CEO said, “We recognize the need for further discussion with our members. We have made changes to the Oscars over the years — including this year — and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years.”

BREAKING: The Academy has delayed the Best Popular Film Oscars category for now. “The Academy recognized that implementing any new award nine months into the year creates challenges for films that have already been released."

Full story: https://t.co/3vgk9x1vei pic.twitter.com/HdhmhlmJUP

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) September 6, 2018

Have you heard of Latinx? I have not because A) I’m not a millennial, and B) I’m not of Latin American origin. But apparently this word is so much on social media by Latin American millennials that the Merriam-Webster dictionary has added it as one of the almost 850 new entries this month. Other entries include the words “hangry,” “Generation Z,” and “adorbs.” So what does Latinx mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, this a gender-inclusive term used by people “of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don’t want to be identified by gender.” And it’s pronounced “luh-tee-neks.” A couple of Latinxes you may know — Becky G, former Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui, and “Orange is the New Black” star Jackie Cruz, who is crossing over into singing.

Merriam-Webster Adds ‘Latinx’ to Its Dictionaryhttps://t.co/StyFB7JI3f

— NPR's Latino USA (@LatinoUSA) September 5, 2018

So it looks like Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons are done again because she’s back with Anwar Hadid. Page Six says they were making out “furiously” at a party in Soho, and “didn’t give a damn who saw them.” Back in June, TMZ posted pictures of Kendall and Anwar kissing at another party in NYC, but everybody said it was nothing serious and then pretty much the next day she was back in LA with Ben. But Ken and Ben are officially done and he’s apparently moved on to “Model Squad” star Ashley Moore. By the way, Forbes ranked Kendall as the highest paid model last year with more than $22 million. Page Six says she can make between $10K for walking a runway to “several million,” depending on whether it’s part of a larger campaign. As far as IG, Kendall can earn up to $500K per post.

Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons' summer fling seems to be over. https://t.co/HE3fZLhXMY pic.twitter.com/N3Em9TXX1F

— E! News (@enews) August 30, 2018

You may remember Geoffrey Owens from “The Cosby Show.” He played the oldest daughter’s husband, Elvin. One of the residual effects of the Bill Cosby scandal was the show being pulled, causing Geoffrey’s residual checks to dry up. So like a majority of working actors, he had to take a side job. A woman took his picture working as a cashier at Trader Joe’s and then pretty much all of Hollywood rallied around Geoffrey for being job shamed. Tyler Perry reached out on Twitter and offered him a job on his show “The Haves and Have Nots” on the OWN Network. Geoffrey said at first he didn’t know if Tyler was serious and then said he didn’t want to be handed a part, he wanted to earn it by auditioning for it. Well, I don’t know if he auditioned or not, but Geoffrey starts shooting next week in Atlanta. TMZ says it’s a recurring role and he’ll appear on 10 episodes! Meantime, Nicki Minaj felt so bad about what happened to him, she says she wants to give Geoffrey $25K and called out the woman who took the picture in the first place. The woman — who’s name is Karma — has apologized. And while Geoffrey says he was embarrassed, now he’s grateful for the opportunities this has given him!