Celebrity gossip and sightings in and around Connecticut, April 2022

The celebrity businesswoman and lifestyle guru hosted "The Great American Tag Sale" in April, selling a large selection of her personal items at her estate in Westchester, N.Y.

Stewart was also seen dining with a female friend at Le Penguin Bistro on Lewis Street in Greenwich later in the month.

- Joseph Tucci and Susie Costaregni

Actress Julie Benko represented Connecticut in the new production of "Funny Girl."

Benko is Beanie Feldstein's standby, meaning she has to be ready to go on stage for every production in case Feldstein cannot perform.

She has previously starred in Broadway productions such as "Fiddler on the Roof," "Les Miserables" and "Spring Awakening."

"Stranger Things" actor David Harbour will be starring in a new film on Connecticut minor league hockey team, the Danbury Trashers, according to Deadline.

"The Trashers" is based on the true story of the team's owner with mafia ties, Jimmy Galante.  

“I feel so lucky to be working with David. He’s a magnificent actor and the perfect Jimmy Galante because he’s truly tough and impossibly warm," said movie director Cooper Raiff to Deadline. 

The actor was spotted playing his new lead character, Remy Scott, during the filming of an episode of "FBI: Most Wanted" in Westchester, NY in April. 

During the scene, FBI agents come into the house and look for a fugitive and at one point McDermott runs out of the home, the owner of the house the scene was filmed at, Steven Rabinowitz described.

- Joseph Tucci

Television host and actor Conan O'Brien was seen getting a beverage at the coffee shop Maison Mathis in late April.

The shop shared a photo of the event on Instagram. 

- Jailene Cuevas

When famed comedian Gilbert Gottfried passed away after battling a long illness, several members of Connecticut's theater community paid tribute to him. 

One such member was Executive Director of Ridgefield Playhouse Allison Stockel, who knew Gottfried and his wife Dara Kravitz on a personal level. 

"Gilbert had a public persona of a loud boisterous person. In reality, he was a quiet kind man who loved being a father first and foremost," she said. The videos he did with his kids “were funny, caring, loving and hysterical,” she said. 

Lorde postponed her April concert in Mohegan Sun due to suffering from laryngitis.

The new date for the concert is set for August 25, according to Mohegan Sun's website. 

Hartford fashion designer Travis Dimeer Terry's work is being showcased at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art installation "Creative Connecticut." 

The designer went viral late last year after he tweeted four pictures of his mom Lavern Terry modeling a lime green "Gretchen" bag from his brand IEMBE, which grabbed the attention of Cardi B.

Greenwich Writer and director Gigi Gaston's newly released movie, "9 Bullets," features Lena Headey of "Game of Thrones" fame. The film premiered on April 22 in theaters and on-demand.

Headey plays a burlesque dancer named Gypsy who "discovers a second chance at life and redemption when she risks everything to rescue her young neighbor after he witnesses his parent's murder," according to a press release. 

TikTok star and Norwalk native Charli D'Amelio is set to appear in her first live-action feature film with the supernatural thriller, "Home School," Deadline reports. 

The plot of the movie centers on a 17-year-old girl who moves in with her aunt after the death of her mother. Soon, Mira, the main character, discovers that there is a supernatural connection between her future and the death of her mother. 

"Maestro," directed by Bradley Cooper and produced by Netflix, is looking for actors to play roles set in the 1940s and 1980s that are in the New England area.

The movie will focus on the relationship between Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre, according to IMDb. While permanently based in New York, Bernstein spent a lot of his time in the Nutmeg State. In 1962, the musician bought a 100-year-old house in Fairfield where he lived for more than two decades and his family still owns. 

Shooting will take place in Tanglewood, Mass. from May 21 - 26. 

Several celebrities with strong ties to Connecticut participated in this year's Kids Choice Awards. 

TikTok superstar Charlie D'Amelio won a blimp for "Best Female Creator." Her sister, Dixie D'Amelio announced the nominees and hosts for the program on Nickelodeon's Youtube Channel. 

"Encanto," which includes music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda who went to Wesleyan University, won "Favorite Animated Movie."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who spent part of his childhood in Hamden, was nominated  to be "Favorite Movie Actor" for his roles in  "Red Notice" and "Jungle Cruise."

90s hip-hop and rap legends Wu-Tang Clan and Nas announced they will play the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford on Friday, Sept. 9.

This will be the Wu-Tang Clan's first show in Connecticut since 2019, according to setlist.fm. Previously, the group's headlining show set for Mohegan Sun Arena in 2021 was canceled. 

Former "Project Runway" contestant Samuel J. Donovan, is now the director of garment sewing at Cotton Candy Fabrics in Brookfield.

Donovan has taught garment sewing classes at Cotton Candy Fabrics for “some years” he said, but in his new role as director, Donovan will teach classes in apparel sewing and fashion design.  

Financier and former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci; actor Michael Weatherly from “NCIS;” actor/producer Mark Feuerstein of ‘Royal Pains” and “The West Wing” and his wife, “Clipped” producer Dana Klein, a New Haven native; and Tony Award-winning Broadway star Wilson Germaine Heredia have been seen dining on separate occasions in late April. 

- Susie Costaregni

Christian Petroni, winner of the 14th season of “Food Network Star," joined several other Connecticut chefs in cooking for Taste of Wishes, the second annual fundraiser for Make a Wish Connecticut.

Over 200 people attended the event in Norwalk. 

Daymon "Daym Drops" Patterson, known for his food reviews on YouTube, is planning on showcasing Connecticut restaurants in a new show.

"This is going to be all about, Why Hartford? Why New Britain? Why Stratford? Why Stamford?" he said. "You are going to learn a little about each city and town here in Connecticut." 

According to a Facebook post from March, the show has already started filming in New Britain and is moving on to Middletown.  

Not only is Patterson filming his new show but he's busy returning for what he calls "season 2" of his concession stand at Dunkin Donuts Park. For a second year, he has partnered with Yard Goats executive chef Joe Bartlett to craft new foods for the upcoming season.

TikTok star and comedian Samantha Ramsdell was seen dining at MIKU Sushi Bar and Restaurant on Greenwich Avenue in late April. She took photos with the restaurant’s staff members

Ramsell is known for breaking a Guinness World Record for being the woman with the largest mouth.

On April 11, Stephen Colbert opened his show by discussing how the pandemic is still around despite the general population’s desire to declare it over. 

Joking that the COVID threat level sat at “I don’t know,” the comedian ran through a few headlines pointing to the persistence of the virus, one of which came from Yale News. Yale’s student newspaper reported a “low rumble” of COVID-19 cases that were detected in New Haven sewage. Colbert singled out New Haven and Yale’s reporting to make a few puns on wastewater testing. 

“Take New Haven, Conn., where according to sewage, there is a ‘low rumble of COVID-19 cases.’ Low rumble, by the way, is usually a sign that you’re about to produce some sewage.”

Comedian and “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver dedicated an entire segment to the concept of data brokers and used an example from Greenwich to help illuminate the point on April 10.

Oliver opened the segment by explaining what data brokers are — in his own terms. He called it a “multi-billion-dollar industry encompassing everyone from credit reporting companies, to these weird people-finding websites that pop up whenever you Google the name of your friend’s sketchy new boyfriend.” 

This is not the first time Oliver poked fun at a Connecticut locale. In 2020, the comedian visited what is now the "John Oliver Memorial Sewage Plant."