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Darlene Love sang her monster forever hit, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home” last night on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.”
Her band was led by Paul Shaffer, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.
For 25 years, Darlene and Paul used to perform the song on David Letterman’s show. Now it’s been inherited by Fallon.
The song was originally on Phil Spector’s legendary 1962 Xmas album — and still is — but this band rivals even Spector’s wall of sound. Darlene keeps rock and roll going!
Clive Davis will have to be in two places at the same time on Saturday, January 31st.
The Recording Academy has announced its Special Merit Award winners and they include three of Clive’s biggest artists, Whitney Houston, Paul Simon, and Carlos Santana.
Others on the list of superstars include Bernie Taupin, Cher, Fela Kuti, and Eddie Palmieri.
On the non performing side are legendary record exec Sylvia Rhone for Trustees Award and John Chowning is the Technical Grammy Award honoree.
What a list. And for Clive to see his stars awarded he’ll have to be at the Wilshire Ebell Theater and then race back to his own pre-Grammy dinner at the Beverly Hilton. Maybe the police can set up a special lane for him on either side of Wilshire Boulevard.
All of these performers are knockouts, which means the subsequent Special Merit TV show, the last for CBS, will be a blockbuster.
I’m especially psyched for Bernie Taupin, who tends to get overlooked as the lyricist of Elton John’s hundreds of hits. So we can imagine Sir Elton will be on hand for these proceedings.
Meantime, Cher hosts “Saturday Night Live” tomorrow, un-retired Paul Simon is heading to Europe for a new tour, Santana has his Las Vegas residency, Chaka Khan is on tour with Patti Labelle, Gladys Knight, and Stephanie Mills. The beat goes on!
(EXCLUSIVE) Zohar Mamdani is off to a great start.
The soon to be mayor of New York hired a woman who, it was discovered, posted antisemitic tweets when she was 19. She’s 33 now.
— keep refreshing for updates —
Catherine — aka Cat — Almonte da Costa has resigned as Secretary of Appointments since the discovery. Her rationale for being innocent: she claims to have “Jewish children.”
He says he’s half Russian Jewish, and half “Jewmatian.”
Here’s an unexplained bit of trivia: Cat Da Costa seems to have a pseudonym. I’ve emailed her to find out what’s going on here.
Forget about whether the children are Jewish religiously or whatever. It would seem that Ricky is Jewish thanks to his mother. But because Cat is not Jewish, the kids aren’t. At least in the eyes of Judaism unless she converted.
Ricky says on Twitter tonight: “I don’t come back to this awful place much these days but as the Jew who married Cat, I can guarantee she has grown so much since some dumb tweets when she was 19. Her remorse, like everything else about her, is deeply genuine & she works so hard for a NYC where everyone is safe.”
I’d like to know how DaCosta’s mother, possibly the Russian Jew, feels having read these texts.
I don’t know what’s up with these people, but it’s not good. Ricky’s video is below. He seems like a nice guy, but either stupid or very naive. The Anti-Defamation League’s New York/New Jersey chapter, which highlighted Da Costa’s old tweets, said her posts “echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people. “Tweeting about ‘Money hungry Jews’ is indefensible,” the ADL chapter Tweeted.
Mayor-Elect Mamdani has announced Catherine (Cat) Almonte Da Costa as his Director of Appointments, tasked with “bring[ing] top talent into this administration.”
Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic antisemitic tropes and… pic.twitter.com/fMe2zMuphA
A bunch of Congressional Democrats have issued a statement about Trump trying to rename the Kennedy Center for himself.
I hope they do something since most of them seem ineffective at doing anything.
Trump knows that, so he does what he pleases like an overgrown fat baby.
Will anyone prevent the name change? I have low expectations.
I’ve rewritten the press release I was sent so it makes a little more sense.
This is it:
Ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees have issued the following statement after the Trump-appointed Board attempted to illegally rename the Center after Trump.
The statement is signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), House Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03).
“Beyond using the Kennedy Center to reward his friends and political allies, President Trump is now attempting to affix his name to yet another public institution without legal authority.
“Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action. At today’s meeting, a sitting Member of Congress was muted, and participants were prevented from speaking—actions that reflect a troubling lack of transparency and respect for the rule of law.”
“This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump Administration, and as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, we will be unwavering in our commitment to holding this Administration accountable.”
If Donald Trump had to really divert attention from the Epstein files release, he would burn down the Lincoln Memorial and blame Joe Biden.
As it is, with the Epstein release set for tomorrow, Trump has declared he’s changing the name of the Kennedy Center to the Trump Kennedy Center. He knows that will get everyone’s attention. It certainly drew the ire of the Kennedy family which pointed out he can’t do it, it’s illegal.
Joe Kennedy III wrote on Twitter:
The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.
Trump says the full board of the Kennedy Center voted unanimously to make this obnoxious and inappropriately fascistic change. But Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex-officio member, said on Twitter : “I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move.” Later, in a video post, Beatty said: “The Kennedy Center was created by the Congress. I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people have a say.”
The whole thing is disgusting and definitely to divert from Epstein. The Kennedy Center is already hobbled, they have almost no ticket sales, and they’re diminishing daily. This should do it. Absolutely no respected artist will play at a renamed Trump Kennedy Center.
The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie… pic.twitter.com/wcGjTp2uqa
(1/2) President Trump and his administration have spent the past year repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just.
(2/2) President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy's.https://t.co/oQREUpbZ8F
Harrison Ford has been on our screens since “American Graffiti” in 1972.
So that means he’s ready for his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild.
Ford will get the Actors Award from SAG, which now calls itself the Actors Award instead of the SAG Award.
This is because he’s an Actor. The SAG Award meant it came from a union. Don’t ask me.
Ford is one of the few remaining Big Stars, with his long list of credits from playing Han Solo in “Star Wars” to the eponymous Indiana Jones, not to mention great films like “Witness,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Blade Runner,” and so on.
The Actors Awards will be given March 1, 2026 on Netflix. It would only be right for Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to do the honors!
SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said, “Harrison Ford is a singular presence in American life; an actor whose iconic characters have shaped world culture. His career has been endlessly exciting, always returning to his love of acting. We are honored to celebrate a legend whose impact on our craft is indelible.”
Harrison Ford said, “I am deeply honored to be chosen as this year’s recipient of the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award. To be acknowledged by my fellow actors means a great deal to me. I’ve spent most of my life on film sets, working alongside incredible actors and crews, and I’ve always felt grateful to be part of this community.”
Charlie Kirk’s final book, “Stop In the Name of God,” is already sliding down the Amazon bestseller list.
On Saturday, when Kirk’s kooky widow, Erika, took to CBS to plug “Stop,” the book was number 2 on Amazon.
Since then it’s dropped to number 18. In two days. We’ll keep watching for updates.
Erika was given a full hour of CBS’s time at 8pm Saturday by the new editor in chief, Bari Weiss.
Weiss obviously wants her own show, like The View, or to take over CBS Mornings once she clears out Gayle King. The whole exercise was fatuous and pointless. Only 1.9 million people watched. For CBS that’s a million less than their daytime soap operas.
So far there are only 102,000 views of the interview on YouTube.
Not only that, for that hour on a Saturday, the key demo age was down by 265,000. Only older people watched, many of them asleep.
Later that same night, twice as many people watched “Saturday Night Live” at 11:30pm.
Weiss is not a journalist, nor an interviewer. She just placated Erika Kirk, who comes off the least bit sympathetic but as a total phony only interested in herself. Kirk is widely observed as a person who has not grieved one day since her husband was assassinated. Charlie Kirk’s death is seen as Erika’s own Turning Point. Now she’s a celebrity!
Kirks aside, CBS News is in terrible trouble with this woman in charge. Consider all the wildly qualified female journalists and TV producers at CBS News, this can only be a daunting moment for the Tiffany network.
So Trump’s embarrassing speech last night had one goal. This morning Trump Media announced a merger of their company “worth $6 billion dollars.”
Trump Media stock, down 20% all year and literally dead in recent weeks at $10, suddenly jumped 33%. Yesterday, it was at $10.73 a share. This morning it’s at $14.33.
It’s all a joke pulled on us. Is MAGA so stupid? Trump snorted all the way through the speech like someone on coke or Adderall. You can hear him snorting between sentences. The speech — in which he shouted hundreds of lies at once — was covered by the networks as if it were the State of the Union. None them pulled away.
The whole thing was staged at the public’s expense and for Trump’s personal gain. Astonishing. We are living in the Upside Down.
To paraphrase The Who: We will get fooled again.
And btw, whatever is the TAE Power Fusion company that Trump Media is now merged with you know it’s something designed to further deteriorate our lives while enriching this mad man.
Rob Reiner’s amazing collection of hit movie has hit the iTunes best seller list.
“When Harry Met Sally” is number 10, followed by “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “The American President,” “A Few Good Men,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” and “This is Spinal Tap.”
Also now on the list is “Being Charlie,” the movie Rob valiantly made with son, Nick, about the now-accused double murderer’s drug addiction.
Plus “Sleepless in Seattle,” a movie that features Rob but was directed by his pal, Nora Ephron.
You know that Dick van Dyke’s character, Rob Petrie, was named by Carl Reiner for his son, Rob, back in 1960.
I’m so glad people are falling in love with these movies again, especially “The American President.” It’s the definition of romcom.
On the 4th night of Chanukah, the Kennedy Center gave us all a gift:
A video of their Christmas tree lighting ceremony that pushes the Chanukah menorah off to the side.
If that isn’t enough, Tricky Dick Grenell, right wing Christian gay Republican Trump lackey, is on hand to make sure Jesus’s name is invoked a few times.
Why would any non-Christian set foot in the Kennedy Center while the Grenell-Trump team is in place?
Grenell: “We are celebrating the birth of Christ unapologetically!
Hey, Dick, apologize. The Kennedy Center is ecumenical. I didn’t see the celebration of the Festival of Lights, buddy.
PS The Ken Cen papered the house for tonight’s “Noel: Jesus is Born!” show. As of Monday there were plenty of seats available. All of a sudden tonight, the Opera House is filled — at least on the ticket buying page.
