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    Jonathan Bailey Exits Sunday in the Park Weeks After Ariana Grande

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    Watch: Jonathan Bailey Exits ‘Sunday in the Park’ Weeks After Ariana Grande

    Jonathan Bailey has been changed for good by Ariana Grande’s friendship.  

    That’s why weeks after it was confirmed that her forthcoming step back from the public eye would mean she wouldn’t be able to participate in the upcoming West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George, her Wicked costar announced he’s also exiting the project. 

    “Ari is one of my dearest friends, and my support for her is unwavering,” Bailey wrote in a statement shared to his Instagram Stories Sept. 1. “After much consideration, I have decided to step back from Sunday in the Park with George.”

    “This brilliant, introspective musical has been a real passion project for me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have shared in its journey with this team,” he added. “Among many things, the story explores the deep connection between George and Dot, a beautiful, devoted pairing, and I so look forward to seeing what the two actors who will now take on these roles will create with it.”

    He also emphasized that theater director Marianne Elliott—who was initially announced to helm the show—“is extraordinary and one of my longest collaborators and friends.”

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    “I wish the very best to the entire company,” the Bridgerton actor continued. “I will be cheering them on as they continue with this production.”

    Following Bailey’s announcement, the musical’s production team released their own statement echoing his message, sharing that the revival will move on as planned, adding, “Work on the production continues.”

    Photo by Unique Nicole/Getty Images for Universal Pictures

    Nearly a month earlier, Grande’s rep told E! News Aug. 2 that the “Petal” singer would be “taking a step back from visibility” following the end of her Eternal Sunshine tour on Sept. 1 due to “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”

    “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily,” the statement added, “and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances.”

    Following the announcement, the Sunday in the Park team confirmed she’d also be exiting the musical as well, while also extending the “7 Rings” singer their support.

    “We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support,” the team wrote on social media August 2. “We wish her nothing but the best.”

    Kevin Winter/Getty Images

    One day later, Grande—who was set to play Dot opposite Bailey’s George—shared deeper insight into the decision.

    “The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing,” the 33-year-old said at her Chicago concert Aug. 3. “It is something that I had decided to plan, that I had quietly made a long time ago.”

    “Multiple things can be true at the same time,” she said. “Boundaries can need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes. And also this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional career.”

    But Grande and Bailey aren’t the only close-knit celebrity BFFs, keep reading for more of Hollywood’s strongest friendships…

    Donato Sardella/Getty Images for REVOLVE

    Cameron Diaz & Nicole RichieNicole, a longtime fan of her sister-in-law’s movies, several years ago took the opportunity to ask her to re-enact a few of her favorite movie scenes, including one from My Best Friend’s Wedding.”We were in Chicago and I said to her, ‘Cameron, I need you to give it to me. I need you to get behind the luggage cart and run towards me, towards the airport,'” she said on the Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino podcast in May 2024. “I really think like at a certain point, we were driving past things and I was like, ‘Say this. Say this. Say this.’ And she really just let me have it. It was very generous of her.”

    Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

    Amy Schumer & Jennifer LawrenceThank goodness Lawrence is down to hang or we might have been robbed of one of our most beloved set of besties. Their friendship was born from an email the Oscar winner sent after watching Schumer’s 2015 comedy. “I emailed her after I saw Trainwreck and said, ‘I don’t know where to get started. I guess I should just say it: I’m in love with you,'” she recalled to The New York Times. “We started emailing, and then emailing turned to texting.” But what really solidified their bond was Schumer’s casual invite for her new pal to join her and her high school friends in the Hamptons. Shocked when she said yes, Schumer relaxed when she realized Lawrence is “the coolest chick you’ll ever meet,” she said on The Daily Show. “She’s the best hang, she was like one of the gang.”

    Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

    Jennifer Lopez & Leah ReminiWho doesn’t want a friend that basically owns real estate in your corner? They’ve been tight since falling in love at first sight at the 2004 premiere of Man on Fire. “It was one of those instant chemistry things where you just feel like, ‘I love this person. I love being around this person. This person makes me laugh,'” Lopez recalled to Entertainment Tonight of her Brooklyn-bred bestie. And Remini was among those getting loud in celebration of Lopez’s performance at President Joe Biden‘s inauguration. “I wrote her and said, ‘You know, you’re a girl from the Bronx. ‘Like, what you did today was really inspiring, and it was just beautiful to watch,” she told E! News. “Just beautiful.'”

    Instagram/Lisa Kudrow

    Jennifer Aniston & Courteney Cox & Lisa KudrowThe gold standard of celebrity besties—this trio has been in lock step since their days of sharing salads on the Warner Brothers lot. “They grew up together and went through this formidable life experience that was Friends,” a source told E! News. So, much like you might meet up with coworkers from your first job, they make it a point to get happy hours (and the occasional major reunion) on their calendar. “Geographically it’s not hard to be at Courteney’s Sunday dinners or at a pool party at Jen’s house,” notes the source. “They all feel incredibly close and always will be.”

    Paul Drinkwater/NBC

    Tiny Fey & Amy PoehlerMaking other friends jealous since a chance meeting at improv training in 1993, the frequent costars are so close, they liken their bond to that of family. “I think that Tina and I are chosen sisters,” Poehler, whose sole sibling is younger brother Greg, told PopSugar while discussing their 2015 flick Sisters. “I think we are chosen family, so I think it’s been fun to experience that thing I never got to experience in real life.”

    Jordin Althaus/E!

    Michelle Williams & Busy Philipps”It was like, you know, how people say love at first sight? We had that thing,” Philipps told Entertainment Weekly of their initial interaction on the Dawson’s Creek set. “We had that friend connection. It was just an immediate: ‘Of course we’re drinking wine and smoking cigarettes and getting in bar fights.’ We just had an immediate love for each other that’s continued over the years.” Fortunately for us, we get to voyeuristically follow along as they work red carpets, wear coordinating outfits and occasionally dye Williams’ hair the most perfect shade of millennial pink. 

    Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

    Kerry Washington & Eva LongoriaHaving had “women that were really helpful to me when I was pregnant,” mom of two Washington has always strived to pay it forward with her celeb pals. “I really do try to have those conversations openly and honestly as possible, especially with my soul sister, with Eva,” she told Entertainment Tonight. Her advice was well-received when Longoria welcomed son Santiago in 2018, with the Grand Hotel actress calling the Scandal alum, “basically my doula.” 

    Kevin Winter/Getty Images

    Ben Affleck & Matt DamonMore than 20 years after nabbing Oscar gold, the Good Will Hunting scribes are back at it again, working on The Last Duel. And though it’s been a minute since they shared a screen, their bromance hasn’t wavered. “I’ve known him for 35 years, and we grew up together,” Damon told Entertainment Tonight in 2016. “We were both in love with the same thing—acting and filmmaking. I think we fed on each other’s obsession during really formative, important years and that bonded us for life.”

    Cooper Neill/Getty Images

    Oprah Winfrey & Gayle KingThe connection between two of television’s most powerful women dates back to 1976 when they were working at a Baltimore station—though anchors (Winfrey helmed the 6 p.m. hour) and production assistants (that was King), didn’t generally socialize. “The newsroom hierarchy,” CBS This Morning cohost King recalled in their O Interview. But with a heavy snow coming down, Winfrey invited the $12,000-a-year PA to sleep at her house. “The next day,” said Winfrey, “we went to the mall.” And a friendship was born over Casual Corner sweaters. 

    Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for DirecTV

    Serena Williams & Meghan MarkleSure, your friend dates likely don’t involve watching your pal play for Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles or get-togethers at a palace. But the bond between the tennis champ and the Duchess of Sussex began much like any other—over girl talk. “We hit it off immediately,” Meghan wrote on her now-shuttered lifestyle website The Tig of their meeting at a 2014 Super Bowl event. “Taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff.”

    Instagram

    Sophie Turner & Maisie WilliamsGame of Thrones may have wrapped, but the relationship between the Stark sisters lives on. In fact Williams, who served as Turner’s maid of honor when she wed Joe Jonas in 2019, is convinced the best thing to come of the eight-season HBO hit wasn’t any of its 12 Emmy awards. “It was like one big elaborate thing to find me a best friend. This whole show!” she joked to E! News at the final season premiere. “I’m kidding. It’s been incredible. To have a friend like that on something as wild as this is just like a godsend, really.” 

    Jason Merritt/Getty Images

    Reese Witherspoon & Jennifer AnistonFriends gifted Aniston with more than one goals-worthy bestie. Before she and Witherspoon developed their Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, they portrayed sisters on the NBC hit. “I was 23 years old and had just had a baby,” the Oscar winner recalled to Harper’s Bazaar of her two-episode arc back in 2000. “I was nursing Ava [Phillippe] on set, and Jen just kept going, ‘You have a baby?’ I was like, ‘I know, it’s weird.’ And I remember her being like, ‘Where are you going?’ And I was like, ‘I’m pumping!'” Though Witherspoon felt admittedly nervous, she said Aniston couldn’t have been more sweet: “We’ve been friends ever since.”

    Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

    Martha Stewart & Snoop DoggEqual parts intriguing and covetable, this pairing was solidified at The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber in 2015 before they teamed up for their VH1 cooking show, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party. “She different, ya know, than what I’m accustomed,” the marijuana-loving 17-time Grammy winner told LA Weekly of the Westchester-based domestic doyenne. “But then again she’s so what I’m accustomed to. ‘Cause she people. She just look different and she was born in a different era, but if you hang out with her and chill with her, she just like anybody else. That’s why it works, because she never says nothing that’s crazy in my ears. It’s always like, ‘Damn, I thought you would say that. OK.’ That’s why we get down, that’s why we connected, Martha. ‘Cause it feels like holy matrimony, and not holy macaroni.”

    E! Illustration; Kevin Mazur/WireImage; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

    Adele & DrakeTheirs is a newer alliance, but no less desirable. After years of existing in the same orbit, the “Hotline Bling” rapper and the “Hello” songstress, who have over a dozen Grammys between them, began throwing out the idea of a collaboration. “I really want us to do an official remix,” she told Canada’s etalk of their well-coordinated hits. “I love Drake. I love Drake so much. I even got the coat that’s in the video, I got it delivered the other day, I ordered it. The red one.” He responded by saying, “I’d do anything with Adele. I’d literally go to Adele’s house right now and do laundry for her.” Instead, they grabbed a bite to eat and hit up an L.A. bowling alley. Next time, you know, call us on our cell phone. 

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