Thursday, December 11, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 135

Up, Up, and Away: Jeff Bezos to Send GF Lauren Sanchez into Space with Gayle King, Katy Perry, Three Others

Roger Friedman
-
0
Up, Up, and Away: Jeff Bezos to Send GF Lauren Sanchez into Space with Gayle King, Katy Perry, Three Others

On “The Honeymooners,” Ralph Kramden used to exclaim to his wife, “To the moon Alice!”

Now Jeff Bezos, the billionaire busy destroying the Washington Post, can do it for real.

Bezos is sending fiancee Lauren Sanchez into space on one of his Blue Origin rockets.

Sanchez will be accompanied by an eclectic grouo: Gayle King, Katy Perry, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and “film producer” Kerianne Flynn (three credits for movies we’ve never heard of), whose husband, James, is a wealthy hedge fund player.

The reported cost per person to fly on Blue Origin starts at $150,000. The flights last 10 minutes. You get to experience weightlessness. It’s unclear if there’s a gift bag.

So it’s up, up, and away for these six women who –except for one– have no actual qualifications. What will they find? What’s the purpose? What’s the difference? Maybe Gayle will do a segment from above the clouds! Maybe they’ll find Jeff Bezos’s conscience.

“I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby,” King, 70, said during the announcement on “CBS Mornings.”

RIP Gene Hackman, Two Time Oscar Winner, Genial Legend Who Escaped Hollywood Early

Roger Friedman
-
0
RIP Gene Hackman, Two Time Oscar Winner, Genial Legend Who Escaped Hollywood Early

Gene Hackman’s death this morning is shocking and sad. He was found with his wife and dog at their Santa Fe home. Hackman was 95.

Hackman won two Oscars, for “The French Connection,” and “Unforgiven.” He was what Clint Eastwood told me was a “get and up go actor,” meaning there was no drama, he just did his job.

Gene’s other sterling credits included “Superman,” and “The Royal Tennenbaums,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “I Never Sang for My Father,” and dozens more.

He retired from Hollywood in 2004, when he was 75. People were shocked. He could have gone on for five to ten more years as an elder statesman. When I saw him at an Oscar party that year, he and his wife Betsy said no, that’s it, he wanted to go have some peace and quiet. He was very adamant about it.

Gene Hackman brought grace and humility to every role. He was admired as an “actor’s actor,” one of the all time greats who didn’t seek fame but shrunk from it. The work he leave behind speaks for itself. Condolences to the couple’s family and friends.

Kennedy Center Cancelled Children’s Show it Commissioned Will Go On in New York With Broadway All-Stars

Roger Friedman
-
0
Kennedy Center Cancelled Children’s Show it Commissioned Will Go On in New York With Broadway All-Stars

The destruction of the Kennedy Center goes on apace.

Two days after Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center on February 12th, the theater cancelled its first show.

That would be “FINN,” a children’s musical about a fish out of water, that was commissioned by the Kennedy Center and played there to sold out audiences in 2024.

But the new Ken Cen quickly recognized that “FINN” was about making kids of all kinds feel comfortable and acceptable. It’s considered to LGBTQ friendly. Of course, the Center’s disgraceful new leader, Richard Grennell, who is openly gay and evidently self-loathing, wouldn’t allow it.

But there’s a bright side. “FINN” will instead be staged in New York with an all star cast including ndrew Rannells, Andrea Martin, Kelli O’Hara, Lea Salonga, Bonnie Milligan, Jessie Mueller, Nikki M. James, Jose Llana and Hennessy Winkler. Wow!

Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson’s digital series, “Stars in the House,” will use “FINN” to celebrate their fifth anniversary at New York’s Town Hall on March 17th. The group raises money for the Entertainment Community Fund.

The upcoming performance will also be live streamed on StarsintheHouse.com. A limited number of $500 tickets are available, which includes VIP seating and a backstage meet and greet. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales and live-stream donations will go to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people.

“White Lotus” Episode 2 Jumped to 687K Viewers, But Fans Can’t Imagine What’s Coming Down the Line

Roger Friedman
-
0
“White Lotus” Episode 2 Jumped to 687K Viewers, But Fans Can’t Imagine What’s Coming Down the Line

HBO said yesterday that “The White Lotus” episode 2 drew 3.4 million viewers.

Maybe. But the linear HBO audience was 687,000 up significantly from 420,00 the first week. Much of the audience came from delayed viewing, as HBO pumped out stories about Patrick Schwarzenegger’s lack of clothing.

What comes next? Plenty. I can’t tell you much, but viewers will be sufficiently jolted when they get to episodes 5 and 6. “White Lotus” does somewhere not seen before in proper TV, or even on HBO. There’s a huge ick factor on its way. If there were still watercoolers, the area around them would three deep.

Also, as I’ve said before, there’s still at least one mystery character coming from an Oscar winning actor. They’re going to jumpstart part of the story, and maybe answer some questions.

Episode 3 beckons on Sunday against the Oscars, so delayed viewing will once again be a big part of the story.

Me? Do I have a favorite character? I really like Sam Nivola as Lochlon, the seemingly innocent younger child in the Ratliff family. And Leslie Bibb as one of the trio of cougars may have some surprises.

Books Will Be Written About How Jeff Bezos Destroyed the Vital Washington Post, and James Bond Movies, Too

Roger Friedman
-
0
Books Will Be Written About How Jeff Bezos Destroyed the Vital Washington Post, and James Bond Movies, Too

There will actually be books written about the destruction caused by Jeff Bezos.

He’s used his staggering billions to destroy the Washington Post. And probably James Bond.

Bezos today posted a message announcing that he’d proudly forced out Editorial Page editor David Shipley. He’s turning the Editorial pages of the once vaunted Post into his own fiefdom.

Politics are gone because his f-buddy Donald Trump doesn’t want to be criticized. Instead he will only allow pieces, he says, “in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

This news comes not long after Bezos refused to allow the Post to endorse Kamala Harris over Trump last fall. Subscribers and the paper’s writers left instantly. Bezos doesn’t care. He’s got rockets going to the moon, and drones to drop packages on the lawn. Journalism? Free speech. They’re so pre-Amazon.

Bezos has also bought the James Bond movie franchise, which he will most certainly eviscerate. Mourning is still going on, but it’s clear that the 60 year old Bond movie business ended when Bond died. That was no time to die, but he did it anyway.

Today there are posts everywhere that “Bezos must sell the Post.” But who would buy it? And why would he sell it? He’s doing Trump’s bidding. Maybe when the Democrats win back the country in 2028, Bezos will give up. But the damage will have been done.

Disgraceful.

PS I’m so glad we kept Amazon out of New York City.

Paul McCartney’s Official Memoir Will Be About…Wings, Not the Beatles! Coming in November

Roger Friedman
-
0
Paul McCartney’s Official Memoir Will Be About…Wings, Not the Beatles! Coming in November

Paul McCartney has never really written a proper book or memoir.

He did publish “The Lyrics,” in which he gave anecdotes about different songs.

Years ago his late friend Barry Miles wrote an authorized book about him.

So when will the official McCartney book come? Apparently in November, but it’s not about The Beatles.

It’s about Wings, and McCartney’s highly successful solo career following the Beatles break up.

An oral history edited with an introduction by Ted Widmer, “Wings: The Story of A Band on the Run” will be published on November 4, 2025 here in the US by WW Norton/Liveright.

Paul says: “I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book. Starting from scratch after The Beatles felt crazy at times. There were some very difficult moments and I often questioned my decision. But as we got better I thought, ‘OK this is really good.’ We proved Wings could be a really good band. To play to huge audiences in the same way The Beatles had and have an impact in a different way. It was a huge buzz.”

And somewhere down the line there’s a McCartney documentary that’s been labored over. Of course, McCartney will go on tour soon again after his three hot nights at the Bowery Ballroom. And a new record? Never say never!

PS If you’re a McCartney or Wings fan, you should pick up the album, “One Hand Clapping.” It’s Paul and the gang rehearsing in 1974, and the versions of well known songs are live and supple, maybe better than the recorded versions.

More Kennedy Center Cancellations: Rhiannon Giddens, Balun Scratch Shows After Trump Takeover

Roger Friedman
-
0
More Kennedy Center Cancellations: Rhiannon Giddens, Balun Scratch Shows After Trump Takeover

Two highly popular acts have cancelled their shows at the Kennedy Center because of Donald Trump.

Rhiannon Giddens has mover her May 11th show to The Anthem venue. She writes: “I cannot in good conscience play at The Kennedy Center with the change in programming direction forced on the institution by this new board.”

The Balun Band will not be playing tomorrrow night. They said: “This choice wasn’t easy, but recent events made it clear that the space no longer aligns with our values. Our safety, integrity, and commitment to justice come first.”

There are more cancellations brewing. No thinking person wants to be associated with the Kennedy Center now that Trump has fired everyone, declared the Center to be “anti-woke,” and announced very Christian programming for Christmas 2025.

What happens to the Kennedy Center Honors? Nothing good, I’m afraid. Stay tuned…

CNN’s Jake Tapper Was Writing a Book Last Year That Depended on Biden and Harris’s Failure

Roger Friedman
-
0
CNN’s Jake Tapper Was Writing a Book Last Year That Depended on Biden and Harris’s Failure

You wonder why CNN has no audience, in particular Jake Tapper.

All of last year, and this year, too, Tapper — who moderated the debate that destroyed Biden — was writing a book that depended on Joe Biden failing at running for the presidency.

Now the book, called “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” will be published in May by Penguin Random House etc.

Let’s boycott it, shall we?

For Tapper to write a book like this he had to count on Biden losing the election. Even when Biden stepped down and was replaced by Kamala Harris, Tapper and co writer Alex Thompson had to count on the Democrats losign the election.

All that time, Tapper — who calls himself an objective journalist — was reporting on that election every day. Even if he didn’t care for Trump’s policies, Tapper would certainly have wanted the Dems to lose spectacularly.

Did this color his coverage? All the times people on social media and elsewhere complained about Tapper’s attitude, they had no idea he had a financial stake in Trump winning.

I start a lot of sentences now with “Can you imagine?” But can you imagine an actual journalist at one of the broadcast networks conducting themselves this way? If this book carried the byline of David Muir, Lester Holt, or Norah O’Donnell, they’d be laughed off the air.

Tapper, says CNN this morning, “had a unique vantage point as the co-moderator of the June 2024 CNN debate that led Biden to drop out of the presidential race a few weeks later.”

Is it any wonder Biden looked so bad? Or that Tapper criticized him after he’d been turned to rubble?

Donald Trump Posts Fake Promotional Video of a Trump Gaza Resort With Hotels, Casinos, and a Golden Statue of Himself

Roger Friedman
-
0
Donald Trump Posts Fake Promotional Video of a Trump Gaza Resort With Hotels, Casinos, and a Golden Statue of Himself

Donald Trump’s Truth Social account was not hacked.

Overnight Demented Don has posted a tasteless video ad for something called “Trump Gaza” showing the war torn country imagined as a resort he owns. It’s all hotels and casinos and beaches. In the middle of it Trump portrays himself as a Saddam Hussein golden statue.

Offensive? Yes. Possible? Also, Yes.

At first — at 3am — I thought Truth Social might have been hacked. But Trump posted this video himself. It’s in the worst possible taste, and also shows that he thinks he will personally own Gaza by cleansing the population and turning himself into some kind of Golden God. It’s disgusting. If any Democratic president did this, Trump himself would call for removal!

Here’s the 2025 Oscar Class Photograph Taken Tonight at the Nominees Dinner: Who’s Missing?

Roger Friedman
-
0
Here’s the 2025 Oscar Class Photograph Taken Tonight at the Nominees Dinner: Who’s Missing?

The Motion Picture Academy couldn’t have its annual nominees lunch this month because of the wildfires.

So tonight they had a nominees dinner at the Academy Museum, and took the annual class photo.

Everyone’s in it but a few important nominees: Karla Sofia Gascon, star of “Emilia Perez,” and her director, Jacques Audiard. They’re in Paris for the Cesar Awards on Friday night. On Saturday they’ll fly to Los Angeles and maybe walk the red carpet on Sunday.

Sir Elton John appears to be AWOL, sending Bernie Taupin to sit with Brandi Carlile. Why isn’t he there? When you think about it, Elton John is too big to sit with this gang!

Zoom in and look around. The top row has several of the acting nominees. The others are scattered about. Timothee Chalamet, for some reason, is sitting all the way to our left, cut off from the group.

Psychologists will have to read into the reason for the different groupings.

The top row looks pretty happy, especially Sebastian Stan and Guy Pearce.

Congrats to all! They’ll see each other again on Sunday night.

1...134135136...2,320Page 135 of 2,320

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com