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Where was Pete Davidson tonight on “Saturday Night Live”? Absent. Completely missing in action.
Davidson was in the opening credits but clearly not on the show tonight. He wasn’t even on stage at the end.
It’s just about 10 days since Davidson gave an interview in which he slagged off the cast and said he was probably leaving the show.
Oddly, last week– right after the interview– he turned up in bunch of sketches on the show hosted by John Mulaney. But Mulaney and Davidson are pals, so that might have had something do with it.
Davidson’s absence is glaring because he has a movie debuting next week on Hulu called “Big Time Adolescence.” He also has a feature film coming in June.
But Pete’s time at “SNL” may be at an end. In the interview with Charlamagne Tha God he said he’s ready to quit the show because he believes his cast mates think he’s “f–king dumb … I don’t know … if I’m the joke or I’m in on the joke.”
Now the joke may be on him.
Otherwise “SNL” was pretty good tonight. Musical guest The Weeknd was excellent. Guest host Daniel Craig parodied himself as James Bond losing it in a casino, also very funny. But the best part of the show was the cold opening with Kate McKinnon as Laura Ingraham and as Elizabeth Warren. The latter Senator appeared as herself.
EXCLUSIVE The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, even the Hartford Courant– not one of them has written an actual story about Jennifer Farber Dulos, missing and presumed dead since last May. Her husband, Fotis Dulos, is presumed to have killed her up in really ritzy New Canaan, Connecticut. But he’s recently committed suicide while in custody. The Connecticut police list Jennifer as missing and have not been able to solve the case, locate her body, anything.
Jennifer’s five children, say all the media, are living with Jennifer’s mother, Gloria, in New York in her Fifth Avenue apartment. But who is Gloria Farber? Recently, Gloria filed papers to get child support from Fotos Dulos’s estate. But the estate of her dead son in law was revealed to be worth less than $300. He owed millions, including to Gloria’s late husband.The Farber-Dulos house is for sale for $2.9 million.
Gloria, however, does not need child support to raise her five grandkids.
Indeed, Gloria Farber, 80 years old, is living in an apartment on Fifth Avenue in the East 70s appraised at around $7 million. She also owns a comparable estate in Pound Ridge, New York that’s of architectural significance. So hold on just a minute.
In the old days, those journals I mentioned would have been all over the Dulos-Farber story. For some reason, it remains untold.
When Jennifer’s father, Hilliard Farber, died in 2017 at age 83, he was a very rich man. In 2008 he’d sold the Wall Street firm he founded, Hilliard Farber & Co. Inc., a voice brokerage company, “which was known for its reputation and industry expertise,” according to Wikipedia, to TradeWeb for undisclosed sum in the millions. A published SEC report figured the firm was worth $10 million in 2009.
According to his obituary: “He started his career at the Chase Manhattan Bank and quickly rose to be their youngest Senior Vice President, heading their bond trading desk. While at the bank, he was invited to serve as a Brookings Fellow in Washington, DC in 1964.” He left Chase in 1974 under the cloud of a scandal, and started his own company in 1975.
The Farbers were no slouches in society. It didn’t hurt that Gloria’s brother, Arthur, was married to designer Liz Claiborne, with whom he created a fashion empire beginning in 1957. Liz Claiborne died in 2007, Arthur Ortenberg in 2014. The lack of media attention about the Farbers is most unusual, too, since Arthur Ortenberg’s girlfriend after Claiborne died was Cathy Horyn, the long time fashion editor of the New York Times.
With her husband, brother, and now daughter gone, Gloria Farber has been left to deal with the unthinkable on her own. (She has another daughter, Melissa.) But she’s up to the challenge. According to Hilliard Farber’s obit, the couple were longtime benefactors of St. Ann`s School in Brooklyn Heights, where Hilliard served on the board for 31 years. The St. Ann’s Lower School building,opened in 2003, is named in his and Gloria’s honor. The Farbers also supported CARING at Columbia, a program to assist at risk children. At the time of Hilliard’s death, Gloria served as chairperson.
So the five Dulos children — Petros, Theodore, Christiane, Constantine, and Cleopatra Noelle — have lost their parents in the worst possible ways, but they are insulated from the very grim realities of real life. Gloria Farber lives in a massive aerie at 980 Fifth Avenue. With spectacular views of the city and Central Park, Farber’s home is said to be worth north of $7.5 million. The apartment above sold most recently for $6.1 million. Three floors above went for $8.1 million.
Out of the apartment, the Farbers also ran a 501 c(3) called the Gloria and Hilliard Family Foundation. In the year ending June 2016, before Hilliard died, total assets were listed at just over $1 million. That was down from $1.3 million in 2014.
The Fifth Avenue spread is not the only Farber home. More suited to five rambunctious children would be their Pound Ridge estate. From reading lists it looks like Gloria put it up for sale after Hilliard’s death, but it’s off the market now. They bought the property in 1998 for just under $3 million. It’s a modern lakefront home that looks pretty spectacular from the videos on YouTube. (See below.)
Fotis Dulos must have thought a dead wife would cancel his loans to his in-laws, and reap him a whole new life with his girlfriend. It didn’t work out that way. But at least the kids can concentrate on grief for their mother. They will never have to worry about having a roof– or roofs– over their heads.
Got any info on the Farbers? Email me at showbiz411@gmail.com. Until Jennifer Farber Dulos is found, and the mystery of her death is solved, her tragic story remains an unfinished saga.
SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Disney says “Onward” made exactly $40 million. At least that’s the number for now. They had to avoid that $39 million!
SATURDAY AM: It’s Onward and downward for Disney and Pixar this weekend.
“Onward,” which has great reviews, is heading to a Pixar low number thanks to the Virus Panic.
“Onward” made just $12 million yesterday. If it can’t break $39 million, “Onward” will be the lowest Pixar opening weekend since “The Good Dinosaur” in 2015. If it does even less than $45 million, we’ll go all the way back to 1998 and “A Bug’s Life.”
It’s not the movie, of course. Ordinarily, theaters would be full this afternoon and tomorrow with grade school kids and crying babies. Disney would be raking it in. But panic about the virus may be keeping audiences out of theaters — in a big way.
If that’s the case, Disney may have to re-think launching their live action “Mulan,” coming on March 27th. They’ve already postponed its release in China.
SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE: Somehow, not quite sure how, “The Way Back” made its way to $8.5 million. That’s 1 million more than its multiple. Hmmmm…word of mouth between Friday and Saturday must have had the phone lines buzzing. We’ll see if that stands up when the hard numbers are counted tomorrow.
SAT AM: Ben Affleck’s soul baring publicity tour for “The Way Back” didn’t work, as it turns out.
The well reviewed story of a basketball coach with addiction problems made just $2.6 million last night. A $7 million weekend is hoped for but not certain.
Was it worth it? I know more about Ben Affleck’s personal problems now than I ever did, or wanted to. In the past couple of weeks he’s spilled his guts about being an alcoholic, about divorcing Jennifer Garner, his kids, his parents, and so on. I now know that he has a full color back tattoo. This is all TMI.
This was all in service of selling “The Way Back,” which I haven’t seen but has decent reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, “The Way Back,” directed by Gavin O’Connor, has an 88 among reviewers, and an 88 for audience interest. That second number should be worrisome. Not many people want to see a bloated Affleck mired in self-pity trying to earn the respect of high school kids. After all, this man used to be Batman.
Affleck’s career is far from over. But it’s going to take a lot to get him back on track. It’s not like “Batman” hurt him. He’s directed some great movies, like “Argo,” “The Town,” and “Gone Baby Gone.” He lost his way with “Live by Night.” Later this year we’ll see him Adrian Lyne’s comeback film, “Deep Water,” which is already getting a PR push. (The PR is trying to push a “thing” with co-star Ana de Armas, of “Knives Out” fame.)
I’d clamp down on the “Woe is me” thing, frankly. It’s not worth it, financially. Or emotionally.
update: It seems that all of the stadium shows are being moved to smaller arenas for lack of sales.
I’ve been telling you for weeks that Justin Bieber’s “Love” tour was in trouble. Now the Beebs has had two dates at stadiums– in Houston and Cleveland– cancelled. This is for lack of sales, not because of the corona virus.
Bieber’s ticket sales are tied to his skimpy album sales of “Changes,” his first record in four and a half years. This past week, “Changes” sank again, selling just 17,000 CDs and paid downloads, and another 30,000 in sales equivalent streams. After three weeks, “Changes” sits at number 5 on the chart monitored by hitsdailydouble.com and Buzz Angle. In its second week, “Changes” dropped about 90%.
The album and its individual tracks, with the exception of “Intentions,” featuring Quavo, is not generating much buzz.
The lack of ticket sales is alarming. The apathy toward Bieber’s tour started before the Virus Panic, but of course, it can be used now as an explanation. Of course, other shows are still doing fine, so that explanation may be hard to rationalize.
The first stop on the tour is Seattle on May 14th, where there are still hundreds of seats for sale at the CenturyLink Field. The lowest price is $49. Three nights later in Portland, only the floor sections are booked up for secondary sales. The rest of the Moda Center is for sale, again with hundreds of seats.
As the summer goes along, things just get worse. Atlanta on July 18th is the same as the others. As with all Bieber’s dates, the size of the arenas has been cut by at least a third, with venues shutting off big sections from sales rather than risk embarrassment. Ticketmaster has stopped selling tickets for Nashville date on July 11th. But StubHub is offering hundreds of seats again in every section down to $41 if you’re so inclined.
The frightening part there: StubHub is running ads on Yahoo and other places for their hundreds of cheap Bieber seats. See below.
Again, stay tuned. There may be more cancellations.
The South by Southwest Music and Film Festival has been shut down. The festival tweeted a short time ago that the City of Austin cancelled their March dates. This is all about virus panic. Will the Tribeca or Cannes Film Festivals be next? Never say never. What a shame. Stay tuned for more…
from their website:
City of Austin Cancels SXSW March Events
The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions.
We are devastated to share this news with you. “The show must go on” is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.
As recently as Wednesday, Austin Public Health stated that “there’s no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer.” However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin’s decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites.
We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU. For our registrants, clients, and participants we will be in touch as soon as possible and will publish an FAQ.
We understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilize SXSW to accelerate their careers; for the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses – venues, theatres, vendors, production companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that SXSW attracts.
We will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it’s true that our March 2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose – helping creative people achieve their goals.
BTS, the K Pop Korean boy band, gamed the charts once again.
Their sales for this past week fell 96% from their debut week for the album “Map of My Soul: 7.”
According to Buzz Angle, album sales went from 157,800 to 5,500. All in, including streaming, the total for the first week was 218,014. The second, sales dropped to 29,200. That’s an 86% drop.
Every new BTS album that’s released immediately swamps iTunes in real time, taking over every chart position from 1 to 20. The album goes to number 1. There’s a press frenzy. Then later it turns it the whole thing was rigged. And it happened again.
This may be why The Orchard, a tiny record label, is listed as having a higher share of the music market than Epic or Warner Bros. records. Something is rotten in that Orchard.
You never ever hear BTS’s music on top 40 radio either. They have no song that’s gotten into the culture. Are they the new Beatles? That’s a laugh.
So whatever the con is, the kids know. They’re not buying BTS. And I’m not buying their numbers. They’re pulling a “Parasite” on us.
Woody Allen’s publisher, Hachette, turned out to be cowards. They’ve dropped his autobiography, “Apropos of Nothing,” after protests from within the company and pressure from Woody’s estranged children.
This was despite good advance sales. “Apropos” was already at number 245 on amazon.com. People wanted to read it.
But the imprint, Grand Central Books, caved after Ronan Farrow, Woody’s only biological child, made a stink in public. His book, “Catch and Kill,” was already a release from the company. Ronan, originally named Satchel, didn’t think his publisher should publish his father’s book.
“The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly,” the publisher announced.
“We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard.”
It’s very disappointing that Michael Pietsch and the rest of that gang at Hachette didn’t have the nerve to stand up for what they believed in.
Meanwhile, Ronan Farrow and his adopted sister, Dylan, who know nothing of the truth of what really happened back in 1992, continue to ignore the fact that their mother’s brother, John Farrow, is serving time for child molestation in Maryland. He’s the only person who was arrested for and convicted of that crime in their family. Farrow’s victims are invisible to Mia Farrow and her children.
Christmas 2021 can’t come fast enough with this news.
I’m told that Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne has signed up to play the title character in “Jacob Marley,” the Disney Scrooge movie to be written and directed by another Oscar winner, Bill Condon.
With Redmayne in place, offers are going out for the various characters, including Scrooge in this re-telling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” told through the eyes of Scrooge’s business partner.
They’ve got to use Aimee Mann’s great song, “Jacob Marley’s Chain.” (See below.)
Tony winner Stephen Schwartz, whose hits run the gamut from “Pippin” to “Godspell” to “Wicked” is writing the songs. Glenn Geller, Dan Jinks, and Greg Yolen are producing.
Fingers are crossed on this one. It’s not like Marley’s descendants are going to show up protesting the veracity of the story or demanding producers credits. I have a good feeling here.
Too bad Hugh Jackman is tied up with “Music Man” on Broadway. He’d be a great Scrooge. Other ideas? Let me know at showbiz411@gmail.com
Unlike Bruce Springsteen, he didn’t have to set foot on stage. Unlike Cher, Carole King, and so many others of his era, Bob didn’t even show up for his premiere. He didn’t even meet the people who put it together.
But “Girl from the North Country,” with a book by Conor McPherson, who directed the musical (or play with music), opened last night to standing ovations, cheers, rave reviews. The only Dylan in the audience was a college age granddaughter, who loved it.
“Girl” comes from London and New York’s Public Theater, where Oskar Eustis guided it into a break out hit. It’s so genuine, original, authentic, moving, and gorgeous, it reminded me in many ways of “Hamilton.” This show simply takes your breath away. It’s easily the best “jukebox” musical anyone’s ever seen.
That’s because McPherson and Simon Hale, the musical director, took 20 Dylan songs– some well known, some not– and reimagined them with country and gospel flavors. Then they put them in the mouths of a startling talented cast, starting with Mare Winningham, who steals the show (which isn’t easy to do in this group) and secures herself a Tony nomination at the very least. Winningham, who has never sung like this on screen or stage, is a revelation.
Winningham heads a formidable cast. Her co-star is Jay O. Sanders, a theater veteran for a couple of decades, who will now be an “overnight sensation.” He anchors the musical in profound ways.
And this is how you know “Girl from the North Country” is great: the New York Post didn’t get it. They called it “a dud.” They liked “West Side Story.” And that’s really a baseline for everything in this world.
The word went out on this one. In the audience, up and down, stars: Little Stevie van Zandt and wife Maureen, Rosie O’Donnell, Bryan Darcy James, Martha Plimpton, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Laura Osnes, Brooke Shields, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary Louise Parker, Kathy Najimy, Jane Krakowski with David Rockwell, Ruben Blades (who’s married to one of the sensational cast members, Luba Mason, plus “ER” star Anthony Edwards, who’s Winningham’s boyfriend of five years, and theater and movie great Lois Smith. James Franco was spotted, but refused requests by photographers to take his picture. When fame turns into infamy, it’s rough!
So McPherson built a book around Dylan’s songs without ever meeting him. It’s set in Duluth, Minnesota in the fall of 1934, a bleak place after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Winningham and Sanders have been married a long time, he’s having an affair, she’s off her rocker in a genteel way. They own a boarding house. The locals are colorful but desperate. There is nothing left for them in Duluth. It’s dead. As Robert Joy’s narrator– reminiscent of “Our Town” — remarks, the suicide rate is at 100 percent.
McPherson makes you care for the all the people we meet, Hale punctuates their stories with Dylan’s songs. You will know half of them easily, especially Winningham’s winning performances of “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Forever Young.” The more obscure songs are woven in effortlessly, although not always seamlessly. Sometimes McPherson just says, What the heck, let’s have a song. But their presentation is so clever and artful, he’s excused. You only want to hear more.
EXCLUSIVE The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, even the Hartford Courant– not one of them has written an actual story about Jennifer Farber Dulos, missing and presumed dead since last May. Her husband, Fotis Dulos, is presumed to have killed her up in really ritzy New Canaan, Connecticut. But he’s recently committed suicide while in custody. The Connecticut police list Jennifer as missing and have not been able to solve the case, locate her body, anything.
When Jennifer’s father, Hilliard Farber, died in 2017 at age 83, he was a very rich man. In 2008 he’d sold the Wall Street firm he founded, Hilliard Farber & Co. Inc., a voice brokerage company, “which was known for its reputation and industry expertise,” according to Wikipedia, to TradeWeb for undisclosed sum in the millions. A published 
