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It was only two weeks ago that Kanye West again embraced Donald Trump and declared “Slavery is a choice.”
Last night he dragged dozens of journalists and celebrities to the Wyoming prairie to hear his short, seven track new album called “Ye.”
The press junket went via private plane and waited around for hours for “Ye” to be played. Set for 10pm Eastern, it came off at midnight.
Who was there? Some rappers, some celebs like Chris Rock and Jonah Hill. Kim Karsdashian was there. too. She’s married to Kanye.
But so too was crazy right wing blogger Cameron Owens. Kanye likes the way she thinks. Owens loves Donald Trump and could set Black America back 100 years if she gets any kind of following.
And Kanye’s album? The first track, called “Premeditated Murder,” made me worry about Kim. Kanye says he thought about killing himself and killing her. “And I love myself more than I love you,” he says.
The rest of it is catchy, but it’s full of samples, features Charlie Wilson and Kid Cudi singing. I doubt anyone thought it was worth flying halfway across the country to nowhere.
11:14pm Now one hour 15 minutes, nothing. I’m seeing pics of the people in Wyoming eating garbage from foil trays. They will wake up in WYOMING.
10:25PM UPDATE The album may be called “Bonfire of the Vanities.” On the app we are watching a bonfire. And this is all about vanity.
10:36 Beautiful horses grazing…
Kanye West has gotten Def Jam Universal to spend millions on a listening party for his new album in a place called Wyoming.
They flew press there tonight on private planes to preview a 7 track album that will drop anyway at midnight eastern time. It’s also streaming on an app called Wav.
The listening session is supposed to begin at 10pm. Seven minutes in, there is live shot of a small bonfire on a prairie.
I am home in New York eating Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Milk & Cookies, 140 calories a serving, laughing at the people who this place called Wyoming to hear SEVEN tracks.
KEEP REFRESHING…
10:17PM COWS AND HORSES ARE GRAZING IN A FIELD…
and I finished the ice cream.
Grammys chief Neil Portnow has announced he’s stepping down in July 2019. He’s had a good long run in a very weird and political business. More to come…
The only member of the “Roseanne” cast who’s not said a word about her racist tweets– and the demise of the show– is Laurie Metcalf. The Emmy and Tony winning Oscar nominated actress is on Broadway right now in “Three Tall Women.” She’s nominated for another Tony and it’s hers to lose, so silence is the best course of action. Metcalf was pretty much wasted in the “Roseanne” reboot. Who knows what she thought going in? But they treated her badly.
John Goodman didn’t say anything voluntarily. He was video’d at a New Orleans gas station. (It could have been staged, but that seems like a lot of work.) The video was sold to “ET.” Goodman says he knows nothing, stays off social media, and hasn’t heard from anyone. That’s diplomatic. He’s no doubt spoken to Roseanne Barr as they’ve maintained a friendship over the years. They almost made another series a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t sold.
Goodman should get a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award this winter. He’s a great choice–so many different movie roles, TV, theater. He’s a great great actor. Just look at this performance:
Here’s a reminder: it’s been two weeks since embattled charity am FAR gave its annual gala in Cannes. And there’s still no word from them on how much money they made that night, or what the costs were. If I were the IRS or other authorities who monitor charities, I’d be curious.
If you’ve given money to amFAR, you should be curious.
Most charities announce their take for a gala that night at the event. amFAR has always trumpeted some number at the end of the evening.
But this year, there were few celebrities. Pierce Brosnan was the main draw. Stars stayed away from the event after amFAR had a year of upheaval. Much of their board was fired or quit. Kenneth Cole is gone. Harvey Weinstein, obviously. There was no Sharon Stone, no Leo, no Nicole Kidman. Cannes jury president Cate Blanchett didn’t even bother doing a photo op. Kristen Stewart did, then left.
amFAR pays its CEO Kevin Frost over $600,000 a year. They are top heavy with salaries. It’s their fiduciary duty to release the actual numbers from Cannes– and I do mean the actual numbers, not a fantasy.
What we do know: a mysterious Ukranian woman named Marina Acton spent $1.4 million on a Pierce Brosnan painting of Dylan. Someone else spent around that amount on a bunch of dresses.
The word from amFAR: “We’re still counting.” It takes a long time to roll all those 1 Euro coins for the bank!
Are there other members of Maroon 5 besides Adam Levine? According to their new video, not really. I never knew their names so I looked up the guitarist who plays all those catchy riffs on their radio friendly singles. His name is James Valentine.
In the new Maroon 5 video, you see him right at the beginning– just his guitar, hands, and ends of his long hair. But not his face. You do see Adam, a ton of celebs, and Levine’s model wife and child.
I think of Maroon 5 like the Three Dog Night of modern music– capable pop, a little impersonal, but supermarket ready. And I guess the other members, whoever they are, dig the paycheck. But maybe they’d like to be seen, too, one day.
PS My favorite Adam Levine songs were from the movie “Begin Again.”
The folks at Sesame Street lost a court case yesterday. They were suing Brian Henson, the son of late Muppets creator Jim Henson. Why? Brian, a director, has made a hard R movie with Melissa McCarthy for release this summer. Muppet-like creatures use foul language and have sexual situations. One of them ejaculates.
The tag line for the movie: “No Sesame. All Street.”
So you thought Donald Trump had trashed everything we liked in the world. Now it’s Brian Henson, chairman of the Henson Company, inheritor of his father’s mantle.
Isn’t this swell?
The judge in the case ruled against “Sesame Street.” He said the movie looks like fun.
I do recall being at the Sundance Film Festival years ago when a short film was shown. Bert and Ernie were adults, and gay. They were so despondent about it they killed each other. The film was never shown again. I wrote at the time “the Sesame Street lawyers will be here before noon.”
But we live in a new world. I wonder why Brian Henson hates his father so much. Jim Henson is dead. Anyway, it’s always the next generation that screws up the work of the creators.
“Happytime Murders” is from STX Entertainment, which is certainly carving out a name for itself.
This story was brought to you by the letter F.
PS The actual Muppets were sold to Disney years ago– that’s Big Bird, Elmo, Miss Piggy. The puppets in Brian Henson’s movie just look like their cousins. But the real Muppets– they are safe from this crap.
A grand jury in New York City has indicted former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein on two counts of rape and one charge of a criminal sex act.
US District Attorney Cy Vance says it brings Weinstein “another step closer to accountability.” Earlier in the day, Weinstein’s lawyer Ben Brafman said his client would not testify before the grand jury. The testimony of the alleged victims was enough to bring the indictment.
Those hoping for a “trial of the century” will be disappointed. It’s unlikely that Weinstein would put his children or himself through a length, contentious trial. Some kind of plea bargain is expected.
The downfall of Harvey Weinstein is like a Greek tragedy. He had everything in the world. The movies he produced or distributed reaped around 65 Oscars– the largest number for a single studio. The films were of the highest quality.
But the hubris, and the insular stance that led to abuse of power was stunning. He became emblematic for women who would no longer be victims, around the world.
EARLIER What a week for ABC-Disney. First Roseanne, now Michael Jackson.
The Jackson estate has filed a copyright infringement law suit against ABC over the unauthorized special “The Last Days of Michael Jackson.”
We knew this was coming. The Estate had already complained about use of images and video that was not properly licensed. ABC held out this was a news show. But it wasn’t. It was just a recap of gossip. There was nothing newsy about it.
Ironically, ABC was where Jackson got into trouble back in 2003. It was Martin Bashir’s special, an ambush called “Living with Michael Jackson,” that prompted the Santa Barbara DA’s office to investigate whether Jackson had molested Gavin Arvizo. The DA cooked up evidence to get a trial that he eventually lost. But the net result was permanent damage to Jackson’s life and career. Bashir is long gone from ABC. But the network continues to exploit Jackson for ratings.
The lawsuit states: “Although titled The Last Days of Michael Jackson, the program did not
focus on Michael Jackson’s last days. Rather, it was simply a mediocre look back at
Michael Jackson’s life and entertainment career. A Rolling Stone review described
the program as “offer[ing] little in the way of new revelations or reporting and at
times seems heavy on armchair psychoanalysis and unsupported conjecture.” The
magazine was being too generous. The program contained nothing “in the way of
new revelations or reporting.”
It continues: “Unable to make a compelling presentation about Michael Jackson on its
own, Disney decided to exploit the Jackson Estate’s intellectual property without
permission or obtaining a license for its use. After all, there there is always a healthy
audience for Michael Jackson’s timeless music, his ground-breaking videos, and
footage of his unforgettable live performances. Why not just use Michael Jackson’s
works if one can get advertisers to buy time on the program? But in order to use
these valuable assets, a license must be obtained for it by the Estate.”
Estate attorney Howard Weitzman cleverly argues in the complaint that ABC’s parent company Disney has been aggressive in policing its own copyrights like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Roseanne, the Alexander Haig of TV, is clueless and losing it on Twitter. This is what she’s done this afternoon. And it’s still early in LA or Hawaii.
She’s getting defensive, too. She declares: “my nervous system/family/wealth will NEVER b taken from me”
Got that?
you guys make me feel like fighting back. I will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U.
I'm not a racist, I never was & I never will be. One stupid joke in a lifetime of fighting 4 civil rights 4 all minorities, against networks, studios, at the expense of my nervous system/family/wealth will NEVER b taken from me.
