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UPDATING
Last night, “Spider Man Brand New Day” totaled up to $898,125,379. That was the result of a $1.7 mil Wednesday. Tonight it should cross the $900 million mark.
Next goal is $1 billion. Can it make it? You never know. There still seems to be a lot of momentum. I guess we’ll see which of the new movies can unseat it in theaters.
But “Spider Man” wasn’t number 1 last night. “The Odyssey” is having a resurgence, and actually finished at $1.8 million. Maybe previous audiences read the book and now are going back to see it again. They also know it’s coming to home video, and best to see it on the biggest screen.
“Coyote vs. Acme” came in at $1.4 million last night. Word of mouth should continue to help this weekend. A breath of fresh air!
What a week. First Dolly Parton, now Gloria Steinem.
Steinem died at 92, announced on Instagram by her foundation.
Gloria Steinem was a remarkable person, let alone woman. She actually changed the culture and society around the world — for the better. How many people can that be said of?
She was talented and successful in so many arenas, but it was her creation of Ms. Magazine that cemented her place in society. Yes, there was bra burning and all of that, but that was for effect. Steinem faced down systemic unequal treatment of women at home and in business. She was a revolutionary.
I was lucky enough to know Gloria. Long ago she dated publisher Mort Zuckerman, for whom I worked and new until his health took him off the public stage. Their break up was amicable, and she was still visiting him until recently. She was a mensch.
I’ll say this: at the many thousands of events I’ve been to over the years, seeing Gloria Steinem was always like a balm. She commanded respect. She was a serious person, even with good sense of humor. She will be sorely missed.
Bari Weiss’s chaotic CBS News continues along its roller coaster.
She’s sending Norah O’Donnell back to “CBS Mornings,” after 7 years away. In 2019, O’Donnell left to anchor the CBS Evening News.
After a successful run, O’Donnell was ousted from the anchor desk in favor of the disastrous pairing of Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. Since then, O’Donnell has done special reports and appeared on “60 Minutes.”
She’ll co-host the morning show with Gayle King and Nate Burleson. This should be interesting because King is the star, and Burleson is basically a sportscaster. King is said not to like O’Donnell, who will also report for the new “60 Minutes” as it goes through turmoil. This would be as if ABC had put Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters on “Good Morning America” and let them go at it.
No word on what happens to the consistently agreeable and serious Vladimir Duthiers.
CBS is definitely where the good times are this fall!
As you may have heard, Kanye West — antisemite, fan of Hitler — is performing tomorrow and Friday in Chicago. Soldier Field owned by the City of Chicago, is welcoming him to the Windy City.
What could go wrong?
At the same time, Kanye is holding “auditions” for male models in Los Angeles.
He’s looking for very tall young men from five foot eleven to six foot 1, from ages 18 to 21. Kanye’s either looking to start a basketball team or market XXL clothing to DestinationXL.
Alex Warren had one big hit last year called “Ordinary.”
I thought it was rather, er, ordinary but the song ruled the charts for a year.
And that’s a problem for Warren. “Ordinary” still in the iTunes top 20.
Warren’s new album will debut on Friday at number 2 on hitsdailydouble.com. “Wildchild” will land around 76.000 in sales, two third of which are CDs, LPs, and vinyl.
But “Wildchild” has no hit singles and is competing with “Ordinary.”
This is often the problem with a breakout single. Benson Boone had this when his second album had to go up against his song, “Beautiful Things.” The second album has come and gone. “Beautiful Things” is still out there.
Carly Rae Jepsen, is still battling “Call My Maybe,” which was a hit in 2012. That’s 14 years ago. Her frustration is palpable.
Meantime, on the charts there are couple of new AI singles. Singers Kara Holt and Imael Angel do not exist. They and their songs are made up of whole cloth. Buyer beware. Also, Abel Hollow. All fictional, AI generated slop.
New to the top 20 this week: “September” by Earth Wind and Fire returns 19 days before its call out date of “the 21st day of September.” It’s a welcome relief on the charts no matter how old.
And Dolly Parton is still selling like crazy. She has the number 1 song — “9 to 5,” and five more in the top 10. And then plenty more scattered through the iTunes chart. Plus Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at 22.
Who sang “I Will Always Love You” first? I’d say Linda Ronstadt, in 1975. Peter Asher produced the song on Linda’s hit album, “Prisoner in Disguise.” Peter and Linda had an an unerring ear for great cover songs.
TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Congratulations to Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp-Muhl. Sean has formally announced the birth of their baby boy, named Aurelius. “Okay so…Charlotte and I would like to announce that was have indeed created a Human Bean! His name is, Aurelius! Thank you!”
MONDAY NIGHT ORIGINAL STORY— I broke this last night, Aug 31st around 10pm. But the above is the update. Lovely news!
It’s a beautiful, beautiful boy!
According to a now deleted post from Julian Lennon, his brother Sean Ono Lennon is a dad. See below. Julian announces that he’s become an uncle, “congratulations to Sean and Charlotte.”
Sean and girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl apparently have a newborn baby boy.
This is a first child for Sean, who is believe it or not 51, and Muhl, who is 39.
There was no prior warning that they were expecting. If they did welcome a baby, it was likely via a surrogate since pictures in June of the couple on a red carpet show no sign of Kemp-Muhl expecting. (See at bottom.)
This would be a first grandchild for Yoko Ono and her beloved late husband, John Lennon. Yoko already has two grandchildren from older daughter Kyoko. Uncle Julian has no children.
I’m still confirming, but Uncle Julian’s thrill about having a nephew may have jumped the social media gun. Congrats!!!
See Julian’s post below.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 07: (L-R) Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl attend the “threeASFOUR: Full Circle” Premiere during the 2026 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
Okay so…Charlotte and I would like to announce that was have indeed created a Human Bean!
It’s hard to imagine that 13 year old North West is producing her own line clothing of jewelry and clothing.
Looking at her social media, it seems like she’s become a garmento. It also could be that her father, Kanye West, is using her as a shield since no one wants to do business with him.
Kanye and Kim Kardashian already have North performing in Chicago the night after Kanye’s two shows at Soldier Field.
Even for the most prodigious child should be going to school and not running a company. But the damage is done. North is selling $115 fitted caps instead of learning American history.
The famous and beguiling legend, Judy Collins’ farewell tour is going gangbusters.
On Sunday, at the famed Tanglewood Music Festival in the Berkshires, Collins nearly sold out 18,000 seats for fans to hear favorite songs like “Both Sides Now,” “Send in the Clowns” and “Amazing Grace.”
At 87, her voice has the same timbre it did decades ago, which always makes jaws drop.
For this landmark show, Judy invited Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Madeline Peyroux and Amanda Shires to perform with her. All those beautiful voices in the mountains — it was like folk nirvana. The voices are clearer and crisper than the lakes all over the Berkshires.
How long was the show in total, I asked Judy when she was back at the famed Red Lion Hotel.
“Four hours!” she cried with delight. The fans loved her off the cuff stories, reminiscences, and deceptively funny jokes, too.
Someone told me the Berkshires have lately become the Hamptons without attitude. They’re all eating at the Red Lion, and at Dr. Sax House’s Dulu Cafe. Tanglewood — once the home of Seiji Ozawa and Arthur Fiedler — remains the center of incredibly diverse cultural center. I saw Judy Collins there in the summer of 1977 (I was six) and she hasn’t changed!
Before he married Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco was a songwriter and producer.
Since then, not so much.
He’s got a podcast with a married couple — Lil Dicky (Dave Burd) and Dave’s wife, Kristin Batalucco. It’s called “Friends Keep Secrets.”
He also just released a Spanish language album called “Hermosa,” which AI thinks sold 70,000 copies but there’s no sign of it on hitsdailydouble.com. We’re looking into that.
Now Benny has a book called “F*ck Failure.” Selena, who just wrapped season 6 on “Only Murders in the Building” in London, will accompany him on a tour. The first date is September 18th at Webster Hall in the East Village. The event is already sold out.
The book’s ad line:
“F*ck Failure gives you the non-shortcut shortcuts to success. If you let it, this book can change your life. Soon enough, failure will start to feel good. And once you realize that failure is freedom, you’ll never look back.”
The description: “Join benny and Selena for an intimate conversation about their lives, careers and the power of embracing failure to overcome life’s challenges. For every ticket sold, Selena and benny will each donate $25 to the Rare Impact Fund. Rare Impact Fund is a fiscally sponsored project of Hopewell Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity.”
I guess there will more dates since the website says it’s a tour, not just a one off.
Amazon is taking pre-orders for $26. Simon & Schuster is the publisher.
