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Anna Wintour Plans Next Met Ball, But Expenses for 2017 Gala Exceeded Met’s Grants and Fellowship Program by Almost $2 Million

Roger Friedman
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Anna Wintour Plans Next Met Ball, But Expenses for 2017 Gala Exceeded Met’s Grants and Fellowship Program by Almost $2 Million

Time for another Met Ball! Anna Wintour announced it today. Has something to do with clocks.

The annual spring Halloween party at the Metropolitan Museum is costing more than ever, it seems. For the 2018 Ball, according to the Met’s Form 990, called “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” the direct expenses were $4.1 million– a $300,000 increase from 2017. And get this: the total amount the Met spent on grants and fellowships in 2018 came to just $2.7 million– down from $3.44 million the previous year.

Is there something wrong here? Shouldn’t the Met Ball be self-sufficient? What’s the point of having it?

Gross income from the 2018 Costume Institute gala was just $302,500. Total receipts came to $13.1 million. Revenue less contributions was $12.8 million. The Ball is a lot of effort that doesn’t produce much revenue and shows a loss on the Form 990 for Met fundraising projects of over $5.5 million.

Who knows? By the time May 4th rolls around, Anna’s guests may all be wearing Christian LaCroix face masks! The co-chairs for this year: actresses Emma Stone and Meryl Streep, “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Louis Vuitton’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière. I’m sure they’ll come up with something. But isn’t there some sponsor to pay off that $4 mil in expenses?

 

Gloria Steinem is Celebrated for Julie Taymor’s “The Glorias,” Beanie Feldstein Recalls a “Hello, Dolly!” 3rd Birthday Party

Regina Weinreich
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Gloria Steinem is Celebrated for Julie Taymor’s “The Glorias,” Beanie Feldstein Recalls a “Hello, Dolly!” 3rd Birthday Party

With an ebullient crowd cheering her on, Gloria Steinem took the stage at Barnard College at a special awards dinner celebrating the 10th Athena Film Festival. Steinem was especially proud that the idea for Athena was born in her living room, “I am going to put up a plaque,” she exuded, and went on to explain how Julie Taymor got her to agree to make “The Glorias,” a film about her life: “When Julie calls, she’s such a genius, you just say yes.”

While Taymor could not attend, we got a preview of “The Glorias,” so lively with Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, and others portraying the feminist icon, much the way several actors played Dylan in Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There.” Bette Midler is boisterous as Bella Abzug. Lorraine Toussaint, the film’s “Flo Kennedy,” introduced the clip. The center of “The Glorias” is political activism, Steinem’s insistence on getting voters out, on changing the lives of women. We do get a glimpse of Vikander in a Playboy suit, as Steinem challenged “the male gaze.” Feels like that discourse has reached its moment.

If the evening’s mood was buoyed by the week’s victory for women, Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction, that was left out of the conversation, not to disrupt the real business at hand: honoring Beanie Feldstein, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and Effie Brown for their work in the film industry. Greta Gerwig took a break from writing and caring for her toddler to sing Feldstein’s praises, “easy to do,” crowed Gerwig. At the “Lady Bird” audition, “I felt like an old-time producer, that kid’s gonna be a star.” And Feldstein came back with how she can brag she co-starred in Gerwig’s directorial debut. Her first love, though, was Barbra Streisand, and at three years old, she had a “Hello. Dolly!”-themed birthday party.

On video from a job in L.A. she was not at liberty to reveal, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson hailed the women at Athena “Superheroes.” And Effie Brown spoke about her biggest truth-sayer, Big Effie, her grandma, a Florida woman who had seen a thing or two. Uh-huh!

This warm, intimate night could have gone on longer.

I got a chance to speak to Steinem about getting onstage with Michael Moore for his Broadway show. He brought her onstage for a chat opening night, a surprise. “Good thing you knew your lines,” I joked. She replied, “Good thing he didn’t give me any.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update: Justin Bieber 2nd Week Album Sales Drop 90%, Arena Concert Tix Not Selling– Will Virus Become Excuse?

Roger Friedman
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Update: Justin Bieber 2nd Week Album Sales Drop 90%, Arena Concert Tix Not Selling– Will Virus Become Excuse?

Exclusive: Justin Bieber’s sales numbers, which I’ve been writing about this week, are really, really in trouble.

His concert ticket sales are very poor, and some are wondering if promoters will be able to use the Coronavirus as an excuse if things really go south. Imagine arenas full of rock fans wearing masks.

The new album, “Changes,” sold 200,000 copies last week including streaming. This week, through yesterday, the number is 30,000, or an 85% drop off.

Even worse: “Changes” sold 127,000 actual CDs and paid downloads last week. In its second week, so far, the number is 5,400. That’s a 95% drop, for an average of 90%.

This happens, as it did recently to Coldplay, which struck out in week 1 with its most recent release. But Coldplay, wisely, cancelled their tour, realizing that if no one wanted the album they weren’t going to buy tickets to hear the group play those songs.

Bieber, however, has a tour starting May 14th, and it’s in trouble. Tickets are not selling. In every venue, huge chunks of seats are just sitting there, unsold. Bieber’s “Intentions” may be good, but the reality is not. Increasing fear of the Coronavirus may be used as an excuse, even if it’s unfounded.

Also, the “Love” tour is all in arenas that have cut the seating in half at each theater. Arenas can do this; they drape off all the seats behind the stage, so as to cut down on lost sales. At the Meadlowlands in New Jersey, Bieber’s show in September has been cut way down.

But the cut downs don’t matter, as the remaining seats– except for floor seats– are not moving.

For the first show, in Seattle on May 14th, huge swaths of seats are still available. On Stubhub, the cheapest ticket is $41, and falling. See below. This is in contrast to Harry Styles’s tour, which is solidly sold out for most of its run, even if the secondary market is going crazy.

Things get even worse for Bieber a couple of weeks later in Las Vegas, on June 2nd, where the solid blue indicates hundreds of seats still waiting to be sold. It’s going to be a long, tough summer for Justin unless there’s some renewed interest in “Changes,” or the tour. Stay tuned. PS Hitsdailydouble must have seen my piece from last week, because they ran a “blind” item about faltering tours the other day.

Exclusive: Harvey Weinstein, Oscar Expert, Expected “Marriage Story” Would Win Best Picture Because “It Was Short, and Easy to Get”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Harvey Weinstein, Oscar Expert, Expected “Marriage Story” Would Win Best Picture Because “It Was Short, and Easy to Get”

Now that the Oscars are over, and Harvey Weinstein is cooling his heels, as it were, at Bellevue Hospital, here’s some news of interest.

Harvey thought “Marriage Story” would win Best Picture. He’d seen most of the Oscar nominated films before his trial began, and deemed “Marriage Story” a likely winner because, he told a friend, “it was short and easy to get.”

This was a conversation going on all through December. After all, who’s won more Oscars than Harvey? Best Picture winners included “The English Patient,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Chicago,” “The King’s Speech,” and “The Artist.” All great films. Plus dozens of nominees, hundreds maybe, and acting winners as well.

Weinstein said that he’d loved “The Irishman” but it was too long and he knew that by watching it at home, the movie had lost steam. Plus, director Martin Scorsese had his Oscar, for “The Departed.” Harvey had tried to get it for him twice, with “Gangs of New York” and “The Aviator.” It just wasn’t meant to be.

Harvey knew Renee Zellweger was a shoo-in. He’d gotten her her first Oscar for “Cold Mountain.” I didn’t get info about Brad Pitt, whose Oscar was won for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Weinstein, I was told, loved the film. But maybe it was a sore point, too. Every one of Tarantino’s prior movies had been made with Harvey.

As for “Marriage Story”: it was one of those movies, like the indie hit, “In the Bedroom,” that Harvey could relate to. In the old days, he would have turned Noah Baumbach’s sterling dramedy into a Best Picture, and probably scored a win for Adam Driver as Best Actor. That’s what he excelled at. Everyone hates Weinstein now. But when he was in the driver seat, the Oscars had buzz. There was passion in the air about the movies. This year, it was like hanging laundry out to dry. Whatever died first, won.

Just a note: Weinstein was sentenced over this past weekend. In most previous years, this would have been Oscar weekend. No one realized that. It was if the Oscars had to get out of the way this year.

 

 

Surprising Move: Steven Spielberg Abdicates from “Indiana Jones 5,” Turns Beloved Franchise Over to New Director

Roger Friedman
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Surprising Move: Steven Spielberg Abdicates from “Indiana Jones 5,” Turns Beloved Franchise Over to New Director

This is a surprising move: Steven Spielberg is turning over the direction of “Indiana Jones 5” to James Mangold, most recently the man behind “Ford v Ferrari.”

Spielberg has directed all four Indiana Jones movies starting with “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The Indiana Jones serial was always the special project of Spielberg and George Lucas.

But Lucas is retired now, and Spielberg has obviously been persuaded to hand over “Indy 5” to a younger director. Of course, Spielberg– who was once known for making two or three movies at a time — is spending the year putting together his “West Side Story.” In the past, that wouldn’t have been enough to keep him busy.

Indeed, times have changed. “Indiana Jones” is now with Disney, having once been the jewel in the crown of Paramount. But Disney got the rights to those movies when it bought George Lucas’s LucasFilms and “Star Wars.” Who knows what they were telling Spielberg about “Indy 5”? Make it part of the Marvel Universe? Nothing would be a shock at this point.

Variety first reported the story, and added that “Harrison Ford is still a part of the project.” But again, who knows? Maybe in the new “Indiana Jones,” Indy’s bastard son comes and kills him, a la “The Force Awakens.” No wonder Shia LaBeouf isn’t part of it.

Disney also has a new head of the company, as Bob Iger is now officially gone. Another Bob, Bob Chapek, has taken over, from Disney Parks.

In any case, this is a strange turn of events. Spielberg doesn’t really have anything to follow “West Side Story” except for a long in development “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.” I can’t believe he wouldn’t want to finish the series he and Lucas started almost 40 years ago. Something’s up. I guess in time we’ll find out what it is.

Carly Simon Night at Carnegie Hall Adds Susannah Hoffs, Natasha Bedingfield, Deborah Cox, and… Tony Shalhoub? to All Star List

Roger Friedman
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Carly Simon Night at Carnegie Hall Adds Susannah Hoffs, Natasha Bedingfield, Deborah Cox, and… Tony Shalhoub? to All Star List

The Carly Simon tribute night at Carnegie Hall on March 19th has just grown again with more stars added!

Deborah Cox, Jimmy Webb, Julie Simon, Natasha Bedingfield, Susanna Hoffs, Tony Shalhoub, and the Romulus Hunt Quintet have been added to the already announced list of artists including Indigo Girls, Livingston Taylor, Michael McDonald, Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive, Darlene Love, and so on. Yes, Tony Shalhoub? Well, he can do anything.

They’ve even added a rehearsal show the night before, on March 18th, at the Cutting Room, which should be terrifyingly crowded!

All proceeds go to music education programs for underprivileged youth. Michael Dorf of City Winery puts together these tribute concerts every year, but this is the first time I can recall that an honoree– Carly– has gotten so involved.

 

 

(Watch) Justin Timberlake and SZA Sizzle on “The Other Side,” First Track from “Trolls” Sequel Soundtrack

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Justin Timberlake and SZA Sizzle on “The Other Side,” First Track from “Trolls” Sequel Soundtrack

Justin Timberlake has dropped the first single from his “Trolls World Tour” soundtrack, with SZA. “The Other Side” is a cool piece of pop disco, a la his masterwork in this area, “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” RCA was smart to drop the single today, well in advance of tomorrow night’s Lady Gaga premiere of a new single called “Stupid Love.”

Justin says on Instagram that he’s been working for a year on the soundtrack which will also include Kelly Clarkson, Mary J Blige, George Clinton, Anderson Paak, and others. The movie comes April 17th with the album just preceding it.

View this post on Instagram

#TROLLSWORLDTOUR 🤘 The Other Side 2/26

A post shared by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake) on

CBS Increased Ratings with Debate by 93% from Last Week, 83% Over Last Year: New Series with Brawling Candidates?

Roger Friedman
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CBS Increased Ratings with Debate by 93% from Last Week, 83% Over Last Year: New Series with Brawling Candidates?

CBS should consider having a presidential debate once a week.

Last night’s brawl among potential Democratic presidential candidates scored very nicely for them. CBS was up 93% from last week, and 83% over last year, same week.

It didn’t help that last week’s “NCIS” was one of the lower rated episodes of its run.

But the debate had an average 13 million viewers from 8 to 10 pm. Contrast that with “The Conners” over on ABC, which had just 5.1 million fans.

NBC competed strongly with the debate. “The Voice” had 8.5 million viewers, followed by “This is Us” with over 7 million.

Still, among the debates over all, the South Carolina crush came in a lot lower than last week’s gang bang in Las Vegas, which almost hit 20 million.

How about a series? CBS could spin it off of “NCIS”! But next time, let Murphy Brown be the moderator, please.

Village People Give Trump the OK to Use Campy Gay-Themed Songs Like “YMCA” and “Macho Man” for Rallies

Roger Friedman
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Village People Give Trump the OK to Use Campy Gay-Themed Songs Like “YMCA” and “Macho Man” for Rallies

Seventies disco group The Village People have handed Donald Trump a real gift. They’ve given him permission to use their campy, gay themed songs “TMCA” and “Macho Man” at his rallies.

On their Twitter account, the Village People write: “Here’s our position on @realDonaldTrump use of our music. Though we don’t endorse his use, we’re not in the position to prevent such use unless he crosses the line. He has not. We have Democrats and Republican fans alike.”

On Facebook, the group writes:

TO OUR FANS:

We have received numerous requests demanding that we prevent or ban President Donald Trump’s use of our songs, particularly “Y.M.C.A.” and “Macho Man.”

With the latest use of “Macho Man” in India, we are being inundated and can no longer remain silent.

Since our music is not being used for a specific endorsement, the President’s use is “perfect[ly]” legal.

He has remained respectful in his use of our songs and has not crossed the line; if he or any other candidate were to use any of our songs in a manner that would suggest our endorsement, or in a promotional advertisement, that would cross the line.

Like millions of Village People fans worldwide, the President and his supporters have shown a genuine like for our music.

Our music is all-inclusive and certainly everyone is entitled to do the YMCA dance, regardless of their political affiliation. Having said that, we certainly don’t endorse his use as we’d prefer our music be kept out of politics.

It’s ironic that most of Trump’s fans are homophobic rednecks who still don’t understand the lyrics to the Village People’s songs. But ok, it’s funny enough that they’re singing along to then. But even better, who are The Village People, exactly?

The group, which became popular in the late 70s, is now once again owned by its founder, Victor Willis, a black man who dresses up like a cop in the group. The ex husband of actress Phylicia Rashad (before she was on “The Cosby Show”) wrote the songs Trump is enjoying at rallies. But for a long time Willis was out of the picture. That’s because he had a series of arrests for drugs and one on gun charges. At one point he was on the run from the law. His lawyer at one time was Mark Geragos.

Some fans on social media are critical of Willis for letting Trump use the songs without complaint. He’s just about the only writer of a popular song who hasn’t threatened a lawsuit of some kind. But Willis may be enjoying the irony of all those MAGA hatted doofus’s chanting his words and waving their fists in the air. As with everything else, they have no idea what they’re doing.

 

 

Duffy, the Brit Singer Who Would Have Been Adele, Finally Speaks About Her Decade Long Disappearance

Roger Friedman
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Duffy, the Brit Singer Who Would Have Been Adele, Finally Speaks About Her Decade Long Disappearance

Duffy was going to be Adele. She was the next Dusty Springfield. Twelve years ago, Duffy, aka Aimee Anne Duffy is a Welsh singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Tipperary Town, County Tipperary, Ireland. She had a massive hit with the album, “Rockferry” and was set to explode in the US on DefJam Records. At the 51st Grammy Awards held in February 2009, Duffy even won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Rockferry.” Earlier she had been nominated for awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single, “Mercy.”

But then she vanished. There were rumblings since 2011 of a career, but very little materialized. Until today, that is. Her sole post on Instagram is below, in which Duffy says she is safe now, but was “raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade.”

This is so sad. She is obviously not mentally well, and hasn’t been for a very long time. She’s either off her meds and or escaped from a guardian. It’s not funny. News outlets are taking her wild claims seriously. They certainly shouldn’t. We have to hope she gets the right help ASAP.

Here’s the posting:

You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke. In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x
Duffy

Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.

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