Korean band BTS appears at the daily press briefing with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in the Brady Press Briefing of the White House in Washington, DC, May 31, 2022, as they visit to discuss Asian inclusion and representation, and addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
A White House press briefing on Tuesday saw a massive spike in viewers when K-pop megastars BTS stopped by to deliver remarks ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden.
The seven-member sensation, which has shattered records with its popular songs and music videos, drove more than 310,000 simultaneous viewers to tune into a livestream of the press briefing on the White House's YouTube channel. The regularly occurring briefings, which as of late have centered on topics such as inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, rarely generate anywhere near the audience size seen Tuesday.
The White House's official video of a BTS-less briefing last Thursday, for instance, had garnered fewer than 16,000 total YouTube views as of Tuesday afternoon.
BTS came to the White House to talk to Biden about Asian inclusion and representation, and to discuss a sharp rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in recent years. Biden last year signed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act in an effort to address that trend.
The Oval Office confab between the U.S. president and the South Korean boy band was set to follow a meeting between Biden and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The two were slated to discuss the state of the economy and inflation, which the White House calls Biden's "top economic priority."
The pop stars, clad in nearly identical black suits and black ties, stood behind press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the lectern of the James Brady Briefing Room at the start of the briefing Tuesday afternoon.
The number of people watching the White House's video immediately shot up when the briefing kicked off, even as the stream was initially plagued by sound issues.
"Hi, we're BTS, and it is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to be able to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion and diversity," the group's leader RM told the crowd of reporters in English.
He also thanked Biden for the "important opportunity to speak about the important causes [and] remind ourselves of what we can do as artists."
The other six members each spoke in Korean. The band took no questions and left the room.
Much of the audience checked out just as quickly. Within a few minutes of the group's departure, more than 200,000 viewers had left the livestream.
"OK," said National Economic Council Director Brian Deese with a sigh after the band left, prompting laughter.
"So I get to go home and tell my kids that BTS opened for me," he said.
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(CNN)The "Star Wars" franchise is sticking up for actor Moses Ingram after she revealed she had received hundreds of racist messages and comments on social media.
The franchise tweeted that it was "proud to welcome" Ingram, who just made her debut as Reva in the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist," the "Star Wars" account tweeted. "There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don't choose to be a racist."
Ingram posted multiple examples of racist messages and comments on Instagram, noting that she has received hundreds of messages, some of which included the N-word.
"There's nothing anybody can do about this. There's nothing anybody can do to stop this hate," she said, in a video posted to her Instagram stories.
"The thing that bothers me is ... this feeling of like, I just gotta shut up and take it, I just have to grin and bear it. And I'm not built like that," she continued. "Thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and in the places that I'm not going to put myself. And to the rest of y'all, y'all weird."
Ingram's experiences following her "Star Wars" debut have become a trend -- actors John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran have also been vocal about the racist hate they received after appearing in the "Star Wars" movies.
Tran, the first woman of color to have a major role in a "Star Wars" film, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about the harassment she received after starring in 2017's "The Last Jedi." The hate become so intense that Tran left social media and spent time in therapy.
Even earlier, in 2014, Boyega's appearance in the trailer for "The Force Awakens" began a whole social media movement of #BlackStormtrooper, after many reacted to his casting with suspicion and racist remarks.
Kim Kardashian gave PDA-loving couple Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker a run for their money Sunday night by posting a series of intimate videos of her kissing her boyfriend, Pete Davidson, on her Instagram Stories.
In the first video, the “Kardashians” star, 41, and “Saturday Night Live” alum, 28, appeared using a devil horns filter and were seen playfully sticking out their tongues to the camera.
Davidson then leaned in for a seductive smooch, causing Kardashian to giggle.
In a separate video, also posted to the Skims founder’s Stories, the happy couple could be seen laughing as the comedian goes in for a hug.
Davidson debuted his new platinum hair in the clips, which matches his girlfriend’s locks.
Davidson slowly kisses Kardashian on the lips as she looks at the camera.kimkardashian/Instagram
Davidson also showed his support for Kardashian earlier that month by attending the premiere of her and her family’s Hulu series, “The Kardashians.”
Kardashian told Variety at the time that she was “not opposed” to her stand-up comic beau appearing on her hit show, but noted, “It’s just not what he does.”
“But if there was an event happening and he was there, he wouldn’t tell the cameras to get away,” she added. “I think I might film something really exciting coming, but it wouldn’t be for this season.”
David Letterman, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, Molly Shannon and David Spade shared memories and reflected on the death of their friend Norm MacDonald at the end of the late comedian’s new Netflix special, “Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special.”
After watching a screening of MacDonald’s performance, which was recorded in his home, friends of the late “Saturday Night Live” star, discussed his impact on the comedy world. During their conversation, several of them admitted they didn’t know the star, who died in September 2021 after a nine-year battle with cancer, was sick.
“I don’t know how everyone else felt here, but Norm was sick for quite a while, and he got sicker and I didn’t know and I talked to so many people who I was sure knew,” O’Brien said. “I thought, ‘Maybe I’m the only one that doesn’t know.’ … He didn’t want anybody to know and so, being the self-absorbed person I am, I think a lot of us, we thought, ‘Is he mad at me? Is there something I did?’ because we kept trying to get him to come back on and we couldn’t. He couldn’t do it because I don’t think he was up for it. He didn’t want to answer questions about maybe, you know, his appearance or anything, but I remembered when he went, everybody in the community was — we all thought we were the only one that didn’t know, and we were so upset that we didn’t get a chance to tell him what he meant to us.”
Chappelle also said he didn’t know that MacDonald was sick.
“The last time I saw him was at the Comedy Store, and he was uncharacteristically emotional. Like when we parted company, he was. And there’s a picture of me and him and the back of Chris Rock’s head — I put it in my special,” Chappelle said. “That picture — it’s in the end of ‘The Closer’ — was the last time that I saw him. He came up, he stood behind me, and I realized he was posing for the picture, in hindsight, like a gift. It was a very fitting goodbye.”
Shannon said MacDonald seemed to have an “urgency” to the words he shared with her when they crossed paths for the “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary show.
“I saw him at the ‘SNL’ 40th, and I didn’t know he had cancer or anything, but I remember as soon as he saw me, he was like, ‘I love you, Molly.’ Just he blurted it out right away,” she said. “I just had a sense of like, I could feel that he had this kind of urgency to say exactly what was on his mind in the moment. … And I just I was like, ‘Oh, something’s different with Norm.’”
Sandler and Spade discussed a stand-up tour they did with MacDonald and Rob Schneider, with Sandler noting their friend expressed his emotions during the jaunt.
“He did get emotional a lot though,” Sandler said. “Like on the whole tour, he would just all of a sudden get really teary eyed and stuff and he would be like, ‘This is wonderful,’” Sandler recalled. “Like just the tour itself and like hanging out and we’d have dinners and breakfasts and sh– and he was more — he’d just be so much fun to see. He had so much energy to hang.”
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Depp is no stranger to music. He, along with musicians Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, formed the super group Hollywood Vampires in 2012.
The jury in his defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard began deliberations on Friday.
Depp sued Heard over a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." Though Depp was not named in the article, he claims it affected his reputation and lost him work.
Master P is “overwhelmed with grief” after announcing that his 29-year-old daughter Tytyana Miller has died after struggling with “mental illness” and “substance abuse.”
“Our family is dealing with an overwhelming grief for the loss of my daughter Tytyana,” Master P, 52, wrote in a heartbreaking post on Instagram Sunday night. “We respectfully request some privacy so that our family can grieve.”
The “Burbons And Lacs” rapper added that he is grateful for those who have been supportive as he and his family mourn the loss of his little girl, adding that Tytyana was dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse.
“We appreciate all of the prayers love and support,” he wrote. “Mental illness & substance abuse is a real issue that we can’t be afraid to talk about.”
He added, “With God, we will get through this. #MyAngel.”
Master P’s 32-year-old son Romeo also shared that he was mourning his sister in an Instagram post.
Master P revealed that his 29-year-old daughter Tytyana Miller has died.WE Tv
“We appreciate all of the prayers, love, and support, and although this is sad times, I’m forever grateful for the memories I did have with my amazing sister” he wrote on Sunday. “Love on your loved ones, life is short. The silver lining, I know she’s in a way better place and finally at peace and free. God Bless.”
Fans of Master P and Romeo flooded the comments sections with words of encouragement and prayers.
“May she Rest In Peace and may anyone struggling at the moment reach out for help ❤️❤️❤️,” one person commented on the post.
“Im very sorry for your lost [sic]! Prayers to you and your family!🙏🙏❤,” a second person wrote.
Master P shared that he and his family were “dealing with an overwhelming grief.”Getty Images
“😢🙏🏿 #mentalhealth is real. Lord knows. Im livin it. God please be with you amd your family Master P. # Condolences,” added a third.
Master P shared Tytyana with his estranged wife, Sonya C. They also have six other kids together: Romeo, Itali, 23, Inty, 29, Vercy, 30, Hercy, 20, and Mercy, 16. He also has a 25-year-old daughter, Cymphonique, from a previous relationship.
He and Sonya C got married in 1989, but she filed for divorce in 2013. In 2021, they were legally declared single.
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Besides performing, he mentored other musicians, including stars like Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm and Rick Danko, who went on to form the Band.
Ronnie Hawkins, who combined the gregarious stage presence of a natural showman and a commitment to turbocharged rockabilly music in a rowdy career that spanned more than a half-century, died on Sunday. He was 87.
His daughter Leah confirmed his death. She did not specify where he died or the cause, though she said he had been quite ill.
Mr. Hawkins started performing in his native Arkansas in the late 1950s and became a legendary roadhouse entertainer based in Canada in the 1960s, his music forever rooted in the primal rock ‘n’ roll rhythms of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry.
For all of his success, his biggest claim to fame was not the music he produced but the musicians he attracted and mentored. His backup musicians of the early 1960s, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, went on to form the Band, which backed Bob Dylan and became one of the most admired and influential bands in rock history.
But those musicians, like many of Mr. Hawkins’s fans, never lost their reverence for the man known as the Hawk.
“Ronnie’s whole style,” Mr. Robertson once said, was for he and his band to play “faster and more violent and explosive than anyone had ever heard before.”
Ronald Cornett Hawkins was born on Jan. 10, 1935, two days after Elvis Presley, in Huntsville, Ark. When he was 9, his family moved to nearby Fayetteville, where his father, Jasper, opened a barbershop and his mother, Flora, taught school. His musical education began at the barbershop where a shoeshine boy named Buddy Hayes had a blues band that rehearsed with a piano player named Little Joe.
It was there that he began to imbibe the crazy quilt music of the South, with blues and jazz filtered through snatches of country and the minstrel and medicine shows that traveled through town. Before long, something new was added, the beginnings of rock ‘n’ roll, which was percolating out of Sam Phillips’s Sun Records studio in Memphis.
Mr. Hawkins brought to all that an element of danger — as a teenager, he had driven a souped-up Model A Ford running bootleg whiskey from Missouri to the dry counties of Oklahoma, making as much as $300 a day.
He put together bands, enrolled in and dropped out of the University of Arkansas, joined the Army in 1957 and then quit the same year, intent on making it in the music business. While in the Army, he fronted a rock ‘n’ roll band, the Black Hawks, made up of African American musicians, a daring and usually welcome effort in the segregated South.
Demos he recorded at Sun after he left the Army fell flat, but he and the guitarist on his Sun session, Luke Paulman, put together a band with Mr. Hawkins as the athletic frontman given to backflips and handstands. Over the years, his trademark became the camel walk, an early version of what became Michael Jackson’s moonwalk decades later.
In 1958, the country music singer Conway Twitty said American rock ‘n’ roll bands could make a killing in Canada. Heeding that advice, Mr. Hawkins moved to a place he once said was “as cold as an accountant’s heart.” Toronto and other places in Ontario turned into his home base for the rest of his career.
Mr. Hawkins in the 1970s. While he was known for performing in roadhouses, he also appeared in movies, including the disastrous 1980 western “Heaven’s Gate.”Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Mr. Hawkins liked to talk, perhaps with some embellishment, about regular parties, brawling, sex and drinking that, as he put it, “Nero would have been ashamed of.” But there was nothing glamorous about being a rock ‘n’ roll musician playing nonstop in bars and roadhouses on a circuit centered on Ontario, Quebec and U.S. cities like Buffalo, Detroit and Cleveland.
“When I started playing rock ‘n’ roll,” he said, “you were two pay grades below a prisoner of war.”
He built up a loyal following based on his magnetic stage presence, the proficiency of his bands and the raw energy of his music. He had modest hits with “Forty Days,” his revised version of Chuck Berry’s “Thirty Days,” and “Mary Lou,” a Top 30 hit on the U.S. charts.
Later successful recordings include “Who Do You Love?” and “Hey Bo Diddley.”
Morris Levy of Mr. Hawkins’s label, Roulette Records, billed him as someone who “moved better than Elvis, he looked better than Elvis and he sang better than Elvis.” He saw a vacuum he thought Mr. Hawkins could fill as the original rockabilly artists slowed down or flamed out. But Mr. Hawkins was not so sure, as he watched clean-cut teen idols like Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell take over from their more rough-hewed progenitors.
To Mr. Levy’s chagrin, Mr. Hawkins opted to own the road in Canada rather than to swing for the fences as a recording star in the U.S., building up a remunerative career working nonstop, even though he never built an epic recording career. He also became known as a one-of-a-kind character and raconteur.
“The Hawk had been to college and could quote Shakespeare when he was in the mood,” Mr. Helm wrote in his autobiography, “This Wheel’s on Fire.” “He was also the most vulgar and outrageous rockabilly character I’ve ever met in my life. He’d say and do anything to shock you.”
Mr. Hawkins was more than just the consummate rockabilly road warrior. In 1969, he hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono at his ranch outside Toronto during their world tour to promote world peace as the Plastic Ono Band. Bob Dylan was a longtime fan who in 1975 cast Mr. Hawkins to play the role of “Bob Dylan” in his experimental and largely panned movie “Renaldo and Clara.”
Mr. Hawkins in an undated photo. He started performing in his native Arkansas in the late 1950s before settling in Canada in the 1960s.Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer
He also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s 1978 concert film “The Last Waltz,” as one of the invited stars who joined the Band in the final performance of the original group at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. (The Band later reunited without Mr. Robertson.)
Mr. Hawkins growled and hollered his way through a memorable performance of “Who Do You Love” with the Band, good-naturedly fanning Mr. Robertson’s guitar with his cowboy hat as if cooling it off after a particularly torrid solo.
And he became a friend of his fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton when he was governor, as well as a conspicuous part of the Arkansas entourage during President Clinton’s Inaugural in 1992. Mr. Clinton also paid tribute to Mr. Hawkins in a 2004 documentary titled “Ronnie Hawkins Still Alive and Kickin’.’’
Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images
Mr. Hawkins did other acting, including a supporting role in Michael Cimino’s disastrous 1980 western “Heaven’s Gate,” and he morphed into a respected elder statesman of Canadian music. He invested wisely, lived like a country squire in a sprawling lakefront estate and owned several businesses.
Still, he was a master of honing his bad-boy image and playing to type, including in his 1989 autobiography, “Last of the Good Ol’ Boys.”
“Ninety percent of what I made went to women, whiskey, drugs and cars,” he said. “I guess I just wasted the other 10 percent.”
Besides his daughter Leah, survivors include his wife, Wanda, and two other children, Ronnie Jr. and Robin, and four grandchildren.
Wynonna Judd says she is focused on 'personal healing work' after mother Naomi's tragic suicide a month ago - and vows that the heartbreaking series of events will NOT 'be how The Judds' story ends'
Wynonna Judd on Sunday took to Instagram to give fans an update on how she's coping a month after the tragic suicide death of her mother Naomi Judd at 76.
'Checking in,' the Ashland, Kentucky native, 57, said in the caption of the social media post. 'There is so much happening in the world right now. Before I sat down to write this, I thought, "No…I just don't know what to say." Then, I heard the words from my life coach asking me, "What do you know?" And I began to cry.'
The No One Else on Earth artist continued, 'WHAT DO I KNOW?? I DO know, that the pain of losing Mom on 4/30 to suicide is so great, that I often feel like I'm not ever going to be able to fully accept and surrender to the truth that she left the way she did. This cannot be how The Judds story ends.'
Wynonna said that amid the tragic time, and with a focus on being 'a healthier grandparent' for her baby grandchild Kaliyah, she knows she 'must continue to show up for' herself 'and do the personal healing work' in an effort 'to break the cycle of addiction & family dysfunction.'
Wynonna added: 'I know that it is a simple steps program, and those steps are not easy to take at times. Therefore, I’ve made a commitment to keep doing the "next right thing," and schedule weekly appointments so that I continue with the ongoing work, even when I have good days.'
Wynonna said that she feels 'so helpless - right now especially' and cited the Judds' hit 1990 song Love Can Build A Bridge that her late mother penned.
'I DO know, that as corny as it sounds, Love Can Build A Bridge,' she said. 'I find myself humming the song that Mom wrote for the fans, to myself here on the farm at night.'
Wynonna said she was aware of her support system amid the trying times following the family tragedy, and dedicated to performing.
'I really DO know, that I’m not able to do this grieving thing all by myself, and that it’s okay to reach out for help,' she said. 'I will continue to fight for my faith, for my SELF, for my family, and I WILL continue to show up & sing.'
Wynonna wrapped up the emotional post in saying, 'Thank you all for your love and support. Let’s check in more often.'
The update came less than a month after Wynonna and sister Ashley Judd, 54, announced Naomi's passing in a statement on social media.
'Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,' the sisters said. 'We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.'
The day after Naomi's death, The Judds were indicted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at the CMA Theater in Nashville, where Wynonna pledged to continue performing, telling the audience, 'Though my heart's broken, I will continue to sing, because that's what we do.'
Ashley told the crowd through tears, 'I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today.'
Wynonna will be touring this fall on The Judds: The Final Tour, which she was initially slated to be on with her mother. A number of country music artists, such as Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, Brandi Carlile, Little Big Town, Martina McBride and Ashley McBryde, will accompany Wynonna on selected nights on the tour.
'I am humbled, once again, by the loyalty of the fans who have been with us for 38+ years, who continue to show up for me when I need them the most,' Wynonna said in a May 19 statement.
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The outlet reported that Hopkins died in Van Nuys, California at Valley Presbyterian Hospital.
One of the actor’s earliest film roles was playing Clarence “Crazy” Lee in the 1969 Sam Peckinpah film “The Wild Bunch.”
A few years later in 1973, he appeared in George Lucas’ breakout film “American Graffiti.”
In that film, he played the supporting character role of Joe “Little Joe” Young, a gang leader.
“Graffitigot people out draggin’ and going up, and down streets cruisin’,” the actor said of the classic car film, speaking to Shock Cinema magazine.
“It got people into cars doing that kind of stuff again.”
Hopkins died in Van Nuys, California.Courtesy Everett CollectionBo Hopkins in 1975’s “The Killer Elite.”Courtesy Everett Collection
Decades later the actor was still appearing at classic car shows as a result of his role in American Graffiti, and the film’s popularity among car lovers.
“If I told you how many times people have come up to … me at these shows and told us that we’ve changed their lives, you wouldn’t believe it,” he said in the Shock Cinema interview.
This story originally appeared onThe Sunand has been reproduced here with permission.
London (CNN)US actor Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Thursday.
Spacey was also charged with one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, the CPS said.
The charges relate to two alleged incidents in London in 2005, another two in 2008, and a further incident in Gloucestershire, western England, in 2013.
The alleged victim of the 2005 incidents is now in his 40s, while the two men allegedly involved in the 2008 and 2013 incidents are now in their 30s, London's Metropolitan Police said.
The decision to charge Spacey "follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service in its investigation," the force said.
While the charges were authorized on Thursday, Spacey is not currently in England or Wales and the charges cannot formally be applied until he enters one of those countries, a CPS spokesperson told CNN.
The agency did not comment on whether it would be seeking Spacey's extradition if he does not do so.
Spacey has won two Academy Awards for his roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty," and was artistic director of London's Old Vic theater from 2003 to 2015.
He has also starred in the Netflix political series "House of Cards," and returned to acting in the past year.
FRIDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: It’s looking like a record opening for Memorial Day weekend as Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick is set to earn $142.4M over four days, which will easily overtake Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End which did $139.8M. It’s taken 15 years for that record to be broken. Friday for the Tom Cruise sequel is looking like $50M with an estimated 3-day of $117M. That will make Top Gun: Maverick the second biggest opener for Paramount after Iron Man 2 which debuted to $128.1M, and ahead of 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($100.1M). Top Gun 2 is also the second biggest opening day for a Paramount title after Iron Man 2‘s $51.1M.
Look, even if these numbers recede, this is far and away (no pun intended, Mr. Cruise) the biggest opening for the 3x Oscar nominated, near 60-year old blockbuster star. See, industry, it certainly paid off for some studios to hold their movies during the pandemic until cinemas reopened.
When asked during his master class at Cannes whether straight to streaming was an option for the Skydance co-financed movie, Cruise exclaimed, “No, that’s not going to happen ever” which triggered great applause. “That was never going to happen.”
FRIDAY AM UPDATE: After a 36-year wait, the Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick finally took off to a massive $19.3 million in previews from Thursday 3 p.m. showtimes and a one-time 7 p.m. Tuesday fan event.
That’s the highest-grossing preview in Paramount Pictures’ history and the highest-grossing Memorial Day preview in history; and of course, it’s the best for Cruise. Early projections heading into the weekend were $80M-$100M over four days, and a high octane start such as this could easily propel Top Gun: Maverick to the best Memorial Day weekend opening ever, besting the $139.8M four-day total of 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Without a question Top Gun: Maverick is also looking to be the best opening of Cruise’s career, easily leaving behind his 2005 three-day cume of War of the Worlds which was $64.8M.
Everything is working in Top Gun 2‘s favor: It’s the widest release ever at 4,735 theaters and has 5 out of 5 stars on ComScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, with a 96% positive and an enormous 84% definite recommend. PLFs (31%) and Imax (21%) combined repped 52% of preview ticket sales. Imax alone counted $4.1M in previews, the best ever for the exhibitor with a Paramount title, a Cruise movie and a top 10 all-time Imax result as well.
Also juicing bucks for Top Gun 2 is a 97% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes after a month’s worth of buzzy global premieres and a current audience score on RT of an amazing 99%.
The previous big preview for Paramount was 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with $16M, which was on a Tuesday and resulted in a $62M Wednesday (previews repped 25% of that figure). Best Thursday previews for a movie opening over Memorial Day weekend actually belongs to Disney’s Star Wars: A Solo Story which saw $14.1M, but only repped 40% of its first Friday’s $35.3M. That movie was panned by fans and yet resulted in a $103M four-day holiday opening.
Thursday previews began at 3 p.m. for the Paramount/Skydance feature. In addition, there was also a “Top Gun” Tuesday with premium large format, Imax, and Dolby screens opening their curtains at 7 p.m. for one show alone. We hear the majority of the sequel’s preview cash was made yesterday.
Top Gun: Maverick blows away Cruise’s previous Thursday preview record, that being 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout which earned $6M.
Top Gun: Maverick means a little something extra to exhibition and studios overall: Outside of older guys attending, which Cruise always attracts (Fallout pulled in 41% men over 25), the hope is that this sequel plays wide, from under 25 to Cruise female fans who hung his posters in their bedrooms and lockers during the 1980s. Last night saw unweighted a turnout of 57% guys to 43% women. Fallout‘s Thursday night repped 26% of its first-day Friday of $22.8M before going on to make $61.2M.
Elsewhere last night, 20th Century Studios/Disney’s The Bob’s Burgers Movie saw $1.5M in previews from shows that began at 5 p.m. The pic is 86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a current audience score of 96%. A $10M-$14M four-day launch is expected at 3,425 U.S.-Canada locations. Next to other previews, Sing 2 did $1.6M on its Tuesday early shows, Encanto did $1.5M on Tuesday previews while The Bad Guys did $1.2M on the Thursday night before its Friday opening.
Among regular ranked movies yesterday, Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earned $2.4M at 4,534 theaters, off 14% from Wednesday for a running three-week total of $354.4M.
Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: A New Era was second with $1.3M, down 11% from Wednesday for a first week’s take of $22.6M at 3,820 locations.
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys was third yesterday with $576,000, +1%, at 3,705 venues and a running five-week total of $76.7M.
A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once booked at 1,576 posted a ninth Thursday of $426K, -16%, and a running cume of $54.3M.
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 drew around $330K, -4%, at 2,943 for a seven week running total of $182.6M.
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“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is premiering on Disney+ a few hours earlier than planned, the “Star Wars” show announced Thursday night.
West Coast viewers will be able to stream the first two episodes of the show, starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, starting at 9 p.m. PT. Originally, they were set to become available at midnight.
The news was announced in a tweet from the official “Star Wars” account. “The time for @ObiWanKenobi has arrived… early,” the tweet reads. “Start streaming the first two episodes TONIGHT at 9 p.m. PT on @Disneyplus.”
Earlier today at the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, Calif., “Star Wars” fans were surprised with a premiere screening of the show at 7 p.m. PT — and now viewers at home will be able to watch “Obi-Wan Kenobi” early as well.
The Disney+ series is the culmination of years of planning at Lucasfilm to revive McGregor’s performance as Obi-Wan from the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy. Initially, the actor was meant to star in a standalone feature film directed by Stephen Daldry (“The Hours”). After the box office failure of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in 2018, however, Lucasfilm scrapped its standalone movies and refocused on creating shows for Disney+, and the runaway success of “The Mandalorian” rekindled hope that McGregor would don Obi-Wan’s robe again for a streaming series.
The actor finally confirmed the news to great fanfare at the D23 Expo in August 2019, but a planned shoot in 2020 with “The Mandalorian” director Deborah Chow was delayed when the original head writer, Hossein Amini (“The Alienist”), left the production. After Joby Harold (“Army of the Dead”) was hired to take over, the six-episode series was delayed again due to the pandemic. Disney finally announced in February that the show would debut on Disney+ on May 25, 2022, and then in late March, pushed the release two days to May 27.
Set roughly 10 years after the events of 2005’s “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” picks up with Obi-Wan’s life in exile on Tatooine. After Order 66 decimated the Jed, Obi-Wan is a hunted man, especially by an Inquisitor named Reva Sevander (Moses Ingram). Christensen is also reprising his performance from the prequels as Anakin Skywalker, now transformed by his last encounter with Obi-Wan into Darth Vader; and Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse return as Luke Skywalker’s uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars. The series co-stars Rupert Friend, Indira Varma, Sung Kang, Kumail Nanjiani, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell, Benny Safdie and Maya Erskine.
Fans attend the surprise premiere of the Disney+/Lucasfilm series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” on May 26 at the Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney) Getty Images for Disney
Alec Baldwin announced that his 92-year-old mother died Thursday in a heartfelt obituary he posted on Instagram.
Carol Baldwin, mom of the 64-year-old actor and his five siblings, died in Syracuse, New York — the same town where she was born and raised, went to college and met her husband.
Alec Baldwin posted side-by-side photos of his mom as a teen and later in life. He noted his mother’s devotion to breast cancer support and research funding after she survived the disease herself.
“My mother taught me about second acts. And third ones, too,” he said referring to her personal battle with breast cancer. “She spent the last 25 years of her life as a fighter and a champion for the cause to which she devoted so much energy.”
The Baldwin matriarch — who also has 25 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren — was born Carol Newcomb Martineau on Dec. 15, 1929.
Carol Baldwin, standing next to her son Alec Baldwin in his teen years, died in her hometown, Syracuse, New York.Getty Images
She met her husband, Alexander Baldwin Jr., of Brooklyn, while they were both students at Syracuse University. They got married and had six children, who they raised on Long Island until Alexander Baldwin’s death, at age 55, in 1983.
Carol Baldwin then brought up the children as a single mother, taking a job in marketing research at a local mall when the youngest became a teenager.
In 1991, the mom of six was diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat the cancer and later helped launch the Carol M Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund at Stony Brook University with support from the university’s president at the time. Some years later, a second chapter was started at SUNY Upstate University.
Carol Baldwin met her husband, Alexander Baldwin Jr., while they were both students at Syracuse University — as they had six children.WireImage
The combined efforts have raised millions of dollars for the cause, according to the obituary.
“We are all enormously proud of her accomplishments,” Alec Baldwin said.
Alec Baldwin’s niece Hailey Bieber shared his post to her Instagram stories with the caption: “We love you Grandma”.
"Goodfellas" actor Ray Liotta has died, ABC News confirms. He was 67.
Liotta, who also starred in "Field of Dreams" and won an Emmy for a guest role on "ER," is survived by his daughter, Karsen, 23, whom he shared with his ex-wife, Michelle Grace.
In this April 15, 2015, file photo, Ray Liotta attends a screening of "Goodfellas" during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, FILE
The actor was engaged to Jacy Nittolo at the time of his death.
Liotta caught the attention of Hollywood in the 1986 film "Something Wild," playing star Melanie Griffith's violent ex-con husband, a role which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. He went on to appear as Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1989's baseball-themed classic "Field of Dreams," alongside Kevin Costner, in which he delivered the memorable, oft-quoted line, "Hey, rookie! You were good!"
In this undated file photo, Ray Liotta, Robert de Niro, Paul Sorvino and Joe Pesci are shown on the set of the movie "Goodfellas."
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images, FILE
But Liotta's breakout role came in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas," as part of an all-star cast that included Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco. Based in part on the life of former mobster turned government informant Henry Hill, whom Liotta played, it became a near-instant classic and launched Liotta to stardom.
Liotta most recently appeared in films including "Marriage Story" and the "Sopranos" spin-off "The Many Saints of Newark."
He also starred in TV shows including "Shades of Blue," opposite Jennifer Lopez, "Hanna" and "Black Bird."
(CNN)Andy Fletcher, a keyboardist and founding member of Depeche Mode, has died, the band announced on their official social media channels. He was 60 years old.
"We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member, and bandmate Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher," the band said in a statement posted to Instagram and Twitter Thursday. "Fletch had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh, or a cold pint."
The band went on to note: "Our hearts are with his family, and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts and respect their privacy in this difficult time."
The announcement did not specify a cause of death.
The British electronic band was officially founded in 1980 by Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Vince Clarke. Fletcher remained a member of the band for more than 40 years and appeared on all 14 studio albums, from their 1981 debut "Speak & Spell" to 2017's "Spirit."
Considered synth-pop, electronic and new wave pioneers, the band -- including former members Clarke and Alan Wilder -- was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Their hits included "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" from the band's 1990 album, "Violator."
Tributes to Fletcher began to pour in shortly after the band's announcement of his death.
The band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark tweeted that their concert Thursday night "will be touched by a great sadness as all of us say farewell to Andy Fletcher from Depeche Mode. A beautiful person in an amazing band."
"I knew Andy and considered him a friend. We crossed many of the same pathways as younger men," tweeted Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of The Cure. "My heart goes out to his family, bandmates, and DM fans. RIP Fletch."
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres brought her nearly two-decade daytime talk show to an end Thursday with a celebrity lovefest and a forceful assertion of her achievement as a gay woman daring to be herself.
DeGeneres and guests Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish and Pink shared memories and affection as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” concluded its Emmy-winning, 3,200-plus episode run that began in September 2003.
“Twenty years ago, when we were trying to sell the show, no one thought that this would work. Not because it was a different kind of show, but because I was different,” DeGeneres said of the pushback from TV stations.
When the syndicated show went on the air, she was prevented from saying the word “gay” or even the pronoun “we,” DeGeneres said, since the latter would imply she had a partner. She didn’t specify who imposed the ban.
“Sure couldn’t say wife, and that’s because it wasn’t legal for gay people to get married — and now I say ‘wife’ all the time,” DeGeneres added, with a touch of defiance, as actor Portia de Rossi watched from the studio audience. They wed in 2008.
The host, who became known for encouraging her audience to join her in impromptu dances, shared some last moves with her sidekick and DJ, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, to the tune “Best of My Love.”
The dancer-choreographer saluted DeGeneres as someone who inspires others because she has “the courage to step out and be your authentic self.”
Aniston, who as the first guest on the show’s first episode gave DeGeneres a “Welcome” doormat, arrived with another that read, “Thanks for the memories.” DeGeneres noted the “Friends” star has been on the show a total of 20 times.
“You’re welcome,” Aniston said, teasingly, then turned serious.
“I love you, and I so appreciate you and what you have given to the world over the last 19 years. The contribution is endless,” she said. She introduced a career retrospective video that also touted DeGeneres’ philanthropic efforts, said to include more than $400 million in donations to charities and “deserving viewers.”
“I love you,” a beaming Eilish told DeGeneres during their chat. “I love you so much, it’s dumb,” said Pink, who performed “What About Us.”
DeGeneres’ daytime reign hit a serious bump in 2020, when the show was alleged to be a toxic workplace and three producers exited amid the claims. On the air that fall, DeGeneres apologized for “things that shouldn’t have happened,” but defended herself as being the same genuine person — if an imperfect one — on- and off-camera.
The talk show represented a second major TV act for DeGeneres. In 1997, she made an indelible mark when she came out as lesbian and brought her character on the ABC sitcom “Ellen” with her. The series was axed the next year.
“Twenty-five years ago, they canceled my sitcom because they didn’t want a lesbian to be in prime-time once a week. And I said, ‘OK, then I’ll be on daytime every day,’” DeGeneres said Thursday.
The comedian, actor and producer has said she’ll take time to consider her next career move, but first she and de Rossi are making a trip to Rwanda. DeGeneres wrapped her daytime show with a plea to her audience, one she said was worth repeating.
“If I’ve done anything in the past 19 years, I hope I’ve inspired you to be yourself, your true authentic self. And if someone is brave enough to tell you who they are, be brave enough to support them, even if you don’t understand,” DeGeneres said. “By opening your heart and your mind you’re going to be that much more compassionate, and compassion is what makes the world a better place.”
Judge Timothy Brooks has sentenced Josh Duggar to 151 months in prison, about 12.5 years, for receipt of child pornography, according to KNWA.
The sentencing follows his trial in December, when he was found guilty on the final day of his child pornography trial Thursday in Fayetteville, Arkansas, according to Fayetteville’s KNWA.
The alum of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” a show about a large family with conservative, Christian values, has been charged with one count of downloading and one count of possessing child pornography.
Duggar, 33, was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography in April. In May, a federal agent testified that in 2019, images that showed children, including toddlers, being sexually abused, were downloaded onto a computer at a car dealership owned by Josh Duggar.
The trial for Duggar’s case, which began Nov. 30 after originally being scheduled for July and postponed, included testimony from several Duggar family members.
Duggar was one of the many stars of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” for nearly a decade. The show, which chronicled the lives of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their many offspring, was canceled in 2015 after Josh admitted to having sexually abused five teenage girls when he was a teenager. Two of his sisters, Jessa and Jill Duggar, later came forward as two of his victims.
Duggar was one of the many stars of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” for nearly a decade. The show, which chronicled the lives of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their many offspring, was canceled in 2015 after Josh admitted to having sexually abused five teenage girls when he was a teenager. Two of his sisters, Jessa and Jill Duggar, later came forward as two of his victims.
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"Another hard morning for us here...so many parents in this room, myself included, another mass shooting at a school," Ripa said to open the show on Wednesday.
Though Ripa and Seacrest agreed that they were not going to say anything that had not already been said, they wanted to express what was on their minds.
Ripa said the mark has been left on the community in Uvalde, Texas.
According to the FBI, the number of active shooter incidents identified in 2021 represents a 52.5% increase from 2020 and a 96.8% increase from 2017.
The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.
According to Education Week, there have been 27 school shootings with injuries or deaths this year.
Ripa remarked that students across the country have active shooter drills every day.
"I am a parent of children that have these active shooter drills. I can tell you that it changes who your children are fundamentality and it makes them afraid of everything and every place because every place is potentially dangerous," Ripa said.
Ripa said she has not slept because she is enraged over yet another school shooting.
Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN that all the victims were in the same fourth-grade class at Robb Elementary.
It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. school since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
"What are we doing? And who are we as a society?" Ripa asked.
"Before you tell me to stay in my lane - this is my lane. This is my lane."
Seacrest said he spoke to his sister who has a 3-year-old child after hearing the news. The "American Idol" host said his sister and his mother both feel the same as Ripa does.
Kerr spoke in Dallas, approximately 400 miles from Uvalde, before the Warriors played the Mavericks.
"When are we going to do something?" Kerr asked. "I'm tired. I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences, to the devastated families that are out there. I'm so tired of the excuse, but I'm sorry, I'm tired of the moments of silence. Enough."
Echoing Kerr's plea, Seacrest said there has to be common ground found to make real change.
"Of course thoughts, of course prayers, of course moments of silence, but that's not getting anything done," Seacrest said. "And something needs to get done."
Ripa said it's up to the citizens to call lawmakers to see that change happen.
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