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Beyonce is on the Cover of September Vogue, She Interviewed Herself Because “No One Else Can”

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce is on the Cover of September Vogue, She Interviewed Herself Because “No One Else Can”

Beyonce is on the cover of September Vogue. She interviewed herself because no one else can, according to an interview Anna Wintour gave to BusinessofFashion.com. Well, it’s an as-told-to. You know, we’re not in the journalism game here. This about fantasy.

What we don’t know yet is how big the issue is–did Wintour’s clever whisper campaign about whether she might leave Vogue help drive in ads? BoF doesn’t divulge.

We do know that 23 year old Tyler Mitchell took the pictures and he’s the first African American photographer who’s shot a Vogue cover. (He put a lot of things on her head, and she looks uncomfortable. Carmen Miranda wore it better.)

Wintour, for all her superficial trappings and unwarranted haughtiness, is to be heralded for being very pro-active about putting black models and celebs on the Vogue cover when other magazines have balked.

So we’re not going to learn much about Beyonce, whose image is controlled with a whip and chair.

Here’s a little insight:

“I come from a lineage of broken male-female relationships, abuse of power, and mistrust. Only when I saw that clearly was I able to resolve those conflicts in my own relationship. Connecting to the past and knowing our history makes us both bruised and beautiful.

I researched my ancestry recently and learned that I come from a slave owner who fell in love with and married a slave. I had to process that revelation over time. I questioned what it meant and tried to put it into perspective. I now believe it’s why God blessed me with my twins. Male and female energy was able to coexist and grow in my blood for the first time. I pray that I am able to break the generational curses in my family and that my children will have less complicated lives.”

 

 

Ruth Wilson’s Character, One of the Principals of “The Affair,” Killed Off — Actress Complained About Pay Parity

Roger Friedman
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Ruth Wilson’s Character, One of the Principals of “The Affair,” Killed Off — Actress Complained About Pay Parity

Ruth Wilson’s character, Alison, was killed off in a major surprise last night on Showtime’s “The Affair.” The show was recently renewed for a fifth and final season next year.

Alison was part of the show’s main quadrangle with Dominic West, Joshua Jackson, and Maura Tierney. Wilson won a Golden Globe award for the role.

But in February Wilson complained about pay parity on the show when she discovered how much more West, her scene partner, was paid. She told Radio Times:

“I definitely get less money than a male in my situation would. Definitely.”

On whether she is paid less than West, she replied: “Yeah. I think so. Certainly when I signed up to that project, I would have got paid less. Then they [the producers] might argue, ‘Well, he’s already done a major American TV show [The Wire] so he’s already got a level.’ But even after a Golden Globe I’m not going to be on parity.

“So he definitely gets more than me. I mean, I don’t know what the figure is, but I’m sure he does.”

Wilson said she hadn’t spoken to West about the matter of equal pay. “It’s sort of funny,” she said. “It’s quite hard to bring that up in a way. But it needs to be an open discussion and men need to help us out.

“I don’t want more money, I just want equal money. Which means men have to take less.”

In the Hollywood Reporter, the producer of the show, Sarah Treem, only says Wilson asked to leave the show. Of course, THR didn’t bother to ask Treem if that had anything to do with Wilson’s pay parity declaration– if Treem had decided to kill her off, or what happened.

But when actors complain about their shows, the EPs have been known to be vindictive. Is Wilson’s sudden departure a coincidence? I doubt it. I mean, she didn’t even get to film a farewell– she just disappears and later we see she’s dead. From suicide, no less– not even a plot point, not heroic. Just fast. At least on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Shonda Rhimes gave Patrick Dempsey a wave.

It’s a tough business, kids.

 

“Facts of Life” TV Star Charlotte Rae, Two Time Tony Nominee, Dies at 92 After Announcement of “Facts” Reboot

Roger Friedman
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“Facts of Life” TV Star Charlotte Rae, Two Time Tony Nominee, Dies at 92 After Announcement of “Facts” Reboot

No kidding. This morning NBC announced it was going to reboot the terrible 80s sitcom “The Facts of Life.” The news has apparently killed actress Charlotte Rae, 92, star of the hit back in the day.

Seriously, what a weird juxtaposition. Before she got started playing Edna Garrett on a bunch of different NBC shows in the 80s, Charlotte Rae was a widely respected character actress. In the 1960s she was nominated for a Tony as Best Actress in a Musical and in a Play. She was also nominated for an Emmy in the famous TV movie, “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom” with Maureen Stapleton and Charles Durning.

Rae was also nominated once for playing Mrs. Garrett, probably because of the goodwill she’d engendered in show business. It was not a great role or a good show, but Rae made the best of it. She’d been a constant on the small screen since the 50s, starting with “Car 54 Where Are You?” Charlotte Rae was funny and likeable, and you knew behind the screwball stuff she was delivering there was a real comedy intellect.

Her last role was in Jonathan Demme’s “Ricki and the Flash,” a movie I quite liked, with Meryl Streep. A lot of people had forgotten she was still around, but she still had “it.”She published a very readable memoir that year called “The Facts of My Life.” She says of the late child actor Gary Coleman, “his parents worked him like crazy.” In her younger days she was great pals with Cloris Leachman– they were roommates in New York– and Charlotte also talks about the Black List.

A great life, a great career– and a sentimental goodbye to Charlotte Rae!

Chubby Checker Finally Gets His Revenge: Billboard Names “The Twist” Number 1 Record of All Time

Roger Friedman
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Chubby Checker Finally Gets His Revenge: Billboard Names “The Twist” Number 1 Record of All Time

Chubby Checker has gotten his revenge against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Billboard has named “The Twist” their number 1 record of all time.

The Billboard list crunches all their top 100 charts for the last 60 years. So whatever money was paid, however it was worked out for certain records to soar or fail, it now all comes back to haunt us.

And the list, while weird, is exactly as I would have imagined, knowing the charts particularly for the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The top singles were all phenoms, records that hit number 1 and held on for dear life. Some, like “Hey Jude,” made sense. Others, like “You Light Up My Life,” were clearly crazy when they were happening in real time.

Congrats to Diane Warren. LeAnn Rimes’ cover of “How Do I Live Without You?” is the fifth biggest hit of all time. Diane still doesn’t have an Oscar, but this is pretty good nonetheless.

What else makes the list cool is that records like Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife”– from 1959– weren’t forgotten. Also, number 47 is a true masterpiece– Tommy Edwards’ “It’s All in the Game.”

Also congrats to Carly Simon. “You’re So Vain” made number 92. There’s no James Taylor in the top 600. Go figure.

The Beatles scored two notches in the top 100– “Hey Jude” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” They have a few more below 100. The Rolling Stones have none in the top 100, but a few down the list.

Remember– this isn’t ‘the best’–it’s how they did on the Billboard charts. It’s a very particular thing. There aren’t a lot of old soul hits, for example– no Aretha, very little Motown. They didn’t have the money or power to buy bulleted positions. Keep that in mind.

As for Chubby Checker, he’s 76, and he deserves this satisfaction. His version of “The Twist” went to the top of the charts twice– in 1960 and 1962.

 

Demi Lovato Posts First Response to Recent Overdose: “This Illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. I Will Keep Fighting

Roger Friedman
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Demi Lovato Posts First Response to Recent Overdose: “This Illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. I Will Keep Fighting

Demi Lovato has posted her first statement about her recent overdose, to Instagram. She writes: “This illness is not something that disappears or fades with time… I will keep fighting.”

Good to luck to her. Everyone hopes she gets the help she needs, and gets rid of the people in her life who are enabling her problems.

A post shared by Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) on

“Black Panther” FINALLY Crosses $700 Mil Mark After Whopping 171 Days in Release

Roger Friedman
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“Black Panther” FINALLY Crosses $700 Mil Mark After Whopping 171 Days in Release

On June 2nd, “Black Panther” crossed the mark of $699 million. It had already been in release since February, was playing on airplanes, had a DVD, could be seen by just thinking about it.

But Disney would not give up. And now, 171 days after its release, “Black Panther” has just crawled over the $700 million line. For weeks Disney has been putting it back in theaters just to get to this number. What an effort! By no everyone in Wakanda has seen the movie 10 times!

There’s a price that comes with this, of course. Disney wants the magic number but you have to pay theaters, and do some advertising. So it’s not like it’s a clean kill. But now they can withdraw from theaters with honor this Thursday. It was a noble effort.

CBS Has News: “Big Bang Theory” Coming Back, “Code Black” Maybe, “60 Minutes” Chief Exec’s Job in Peril

Roger Friedman
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CBS Has News: “Big Bang Theory” Coming Back, “Code Black” Maybe, “60 Minutes” Chief Exec’s Job in Peril

A lot of news from CBS and some of it about CBS News.

The big jolt this morning is that Jeff Fager, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” will not be back to work this week. They say he’s extending his vacation. But after the New Yorker article last week slammed Fager for a misogynistic work environment at the network’s jewel in the crown, Fager may not be back at all. With the Les Moonves scandal sitting on Black Rock like a black storm cloud, Fager may be the sacrifice in this story. It’s key that he’s not returning to work since the rest of the staff is coming back from their vacations. “60 Minutes” is the one thing CBS cannot afford to have sullied in any way. My guess is that Fager leaves, but who knows at this point.

“Tbe Big Bang Theory” is coming back for another season after the one that begins in September. This was announced at the TCA’s this morning, that the network and Warner Bros are negotiating. Well, Johnny Galecki certainly isn’t going to be counting on “The Conners” for income. And with “Young Sheldon” such a hit, there’s lots of incentive to keep the “Big Bang” on until Sheldon is in a nursing home.

CBS also said they’re trying to revive “Code Black.” Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden is the star, and the show gets no critics love or Emmys or anything like that. But she’s so good, and CBS doesn’t have a hospital show otherwise.

As I wrote last night, CBS All Access scored a victory as well with a new “Star Trek” series starring Patrick Stewart as Capt Picard. This is not a sequel to “Next Generation,” they say, but the next part of Picard’s life. We will follow him in retirement to Boca Raton, where he’ll golf and drink and regale young women with stories of his life in space.

Box Office: “Mission Impossible” Takes Week 2, Kate McKinnon Squanders “SNL” Good Will with Second Summer Flop in a Row

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Mission Impossible” Takes Week 2, Kate McKinnon Squanders “SNL” Good Will with Second Summer Flop in a Row

Yes, yes. “Mission Impossible: Fallout” added $35 million to the till and Cruised to its second week at number 1. Disney’s Christopher Robin, as opposed to Troma’s Christopher Robin, came in second with $25 million. This was the second Christopher Robin movie in the last year, and the second one that no one really wanted.

More important: what is Kate McKinnon doing with her career? You know from day 1 when McKinnon arrived on “Saturday Night Live” I said she’d be a superstar. On the series, she is without a doubt. She’s won a bunch of Emmys, all deserved, but even the awards don’t completely elucidate her subtle, superior performances. From Hillary to Jeff Sessions to Justin Bieber…and her performance on “SNL” singing “Hallelujah” after the election– brilliant!

So why has she fallen into this trap of making crappy cheap comedies on her breaks? Last year’s “Rough Night” was unwatchable. Un-watchable. Now “The Spy Who Dumped Me” has eked out $12 million on its opening weekend. It’s cheesier looking than Velveeta. McKinnon is too good for this.

It’s possible she’s just going through the same hazing as many talented comics before her– trying to figure out her venue. Kristen Wiig finally figured out with “Bridesmaids.” But McKinnon is more like Lily Tomlin. She needs a Jane Wagner, a Robert Altman, maybe a Judd Apatow a la Amy Schumer. McKinnon is listed in Danny Boyle’s “Beatles” movie filming now. That could be something. But please, no more of this stuff. We don’t even have discount DVD bins anymore! Where do there movies go digitally?

 

Galaxy Fest: A New Star Trek With Patrick Stewart as Capt. Picard Coming to CBS All Access

Roger Friedman
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Galaxy Fest: A New Star Trek With Patrick Stewart as Capt. Picard Coming to CBS All Access

CBS has Star Trek Discovery and The Good Fight on its All Access Netflix-like streaming system. But it needed something even bigger, and so: Patrick Stewart will reprise his role as Capt. Jean Luc Picard in a new “Star Trek” series that follows “Star Trek: Generations.” Stewart posted this to Twitter Saturday afternoon. Les Moonves actually wins the week after we thought he’d completely lost it. CBS could just turn All Access into the Star Trek channel with different new iterations. Doesn’t Desi Arnaz, Paramount and CBS look smart now? Welcome back, Capt. Picard! Minds are being blown!

Sean Spicer Strikes Out: Book “The Briefing” Drops to Number 700 on Amazon After 1 Week

Roger Friedman
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Sean Spicer Strikes Out: Book “The Briefing” Drops to Number 700 on Amazon After 1 Week

Sean Spicer wasn’t a very good White House communications director. And he’s not a best selling author.

Spicey’s book, “The Briefing,” has dropped below number 700 on amazon.com after 1 week. It never cracked the top 100.

Spicer probably thought he’d have a big bestseller after his infamous run at the job. After all, Melissa McCarthy won an Emmy for playing him. But Spicer is loathed by both sides in this story– the press hates him, the Democrats know he lied to them, Republicans think he sold Trump out.

Now we’ll see how Omarosa does when her book comes out. I hope everyone remembers she’s a nut job. When she was on “The Apprentice” she was mocked. She should never have been in the White House. Her attacks on Trump, while no doubt fun, add nothing to the current conversation.

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