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Janet Jackson’s Ex-to-Be Wissam Al Mana Sends Her a Message from the Quran: “You shall hear many hurtful things”

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Janet Jackson’s soon to be ex husband Wissam Al Mana has posted a message from the Quran. His website seems to be overhauled, too, to make him a little more accessible at a time when Jackson’s fans may be wondering what’s going on.


You shall most certainly be tried in your possessions and in your persons; and indeed you shall hear many hurtful things from those to whom revelation was granted before your time, as well as from those who have come to ascribe divinity to other beings beside Allah. But if you remain patient in adversity and conscious of Him – this, behold, is something to set one’s heart upon. – 3:186​

Al Mana also has a new bio. Are these messages to or about Janet? You betcha.

Growing up, my parents taught me humility and fairness. I start my introduction with that fact because it is really the basis of who I am today. I was born in Doha, Qatar and spent most of my developing years in
London, UK.

Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”: From Romantic “Bodyguard” to Curse-Laden “Hitman’s Bodyguard”

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Time changes everything.

Once upon time, Whitney Houston’s signature track, “I Will Always Love You” was the centerpiece of her hit movie “The Bodyguard.” The movie was a romantic drama with little actual violence and nothing remotely objectionable in language.

Two decades later, “I Will Always Love You” is now part of a new movie campaign. Someone approved the beloved recording to be used for the new Samuel L. Jackson-Ryan Reynolds movie “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” Maybe they got confused because the word bodyguard is in both titles.

But “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” — while I’m sure lots of fun– looks pretty violent. It’s a little Tarantino-ish, in fact. Not only would Whitney be appalled, I’ll bet the song’s writer– Dolly Parton– would be surprised to see this teaser trailer.

The best quote: “This guy single handedly ruined the word Mother-f—ker.”

Book Bust? Celebrity Memoirs by Alec Baldwin, Caitlyn Jenner Not Moving Despite Publicity

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Publishers count on celebrity bios to generate publicity– and sales. It doesn’t always work out.

Eight days ago, Alec Baldwin published his memoir, “Nevertheless.” It has a lot of juicy material that was used to promote it– including Baldwin’s take on his famous phone call to his young daughter, anecdotes about his career.

But Baldwin also attacked his own publisher on Facebook, accusing them of doing a shoddy job of copy editing. I reported it first, then a bunch of outlets followed in suit.

Today, Nevertheless is at number 790 on amazon.com. The Kindle version is around 1,565. And this is after all his “Saturday Night Live” appearances. No one’s had more exposure than Baldwin.

Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner’s “Secrets of My Life” is not drumming up a lot of pre-orders. In the last few days Jenner has teased secrets about getting new genitalia, and also about OJ Simpson’s guilt or innocence as related by Caitlyn’s former wife’s former husband, Robert Kardashian.

But so far advance orders have not perked up. “Secrets” sits at 1,784 with pre-orders. It could be people are over-saturated on Jenner and her escapades. Her “E” TV show was cancelled a few months ago. Book sales may not boom after the official release on April 24th.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Kardashians, Skip Out on “The Promise” Premiere While Cher, Other Stars Sit Still

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EXCLUSIVE As I wrote last night plenty of stars, including Cher, sat through the Hollywood premiere of Terry George’s epic love story set against the Armenian genocide. Our spies say that Cher was so moved she left in tears with pal jewelry designer Loree Rodkin.

But some other people who attended “The Promise” opening night at Graumann’s Chinese Theater weren’t so attentive. Leonardo DiCaprio brought his mother to the premiere as guests of producer Mike Medavoy– for whom the movie is a passion project. But moments after the film began, Leo and a bodyguard were seen exiting theater. “He had his baseball hat clamped down,” says a source. “He and the bodyguard disappeared– maybe to a green room– and didn’t return until they heard applause at the end of the film.”

At least Leo stayed in the actual building. Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney came to the red carpet, got their pictures taken, and left without seeing the film. “Kim even did selfies with fans,” says a spy. “It’s a movie about genocide.” The women are of Armenian descent thanks to their late father, OJ Simpson’s lawyer Robert Kardashian.

Other stars like Orlando Bloom, Don Cheadle and Nina Dobrev (separately) graciously stayed and enjoyed the masterful film.

Harry Styles Single Drops to Number 7, Pop Singer Releases List of Weird Track Titles

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I’m sort of fascinated by this: Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” is dropping like a heavy stone down the top 10. In six days it’s gone from number 1 to number 7 on iTunes. I wonder if his performance on this week’s “SNL” will matter.

Anyway, today the tracklisting for his new album was released. The album comes May 12th.

Here are the titles:

TRACKLIST
1. Meet Me in the Hallway
2. Sign of the Times
3. Carolina
4. Two Ghosts
5. Sweet Creature
6. Only Angel
7. Kiwi
8. Ever Since New York
9. Woman
10. From the Dining Table

Only 10 songs– that’s pretty thin. But then, the names of them are so strange. “From the Dining Table”? “Kiwi”? And what about “Meet me in the Hallway”? There is only one song in the world currently with that title, recorded by a New Zealand group called The Mots. Here it is:

 

Cannes 2017 Good News– Nicole Kidman in 4 Films– Bad News Adam Sandler Is Coming, Too

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Hell has frozen over. Adam Sandler is coming to Cannes in official selection. Is there no mercy in such a terrible year?

The film is Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories,” starring the great Dustin Hoffman. I guess Sandler plays his son. The idea of Sandler on the Croisette is more than anyone can take. Cannes is press-friendly. Sandler hates press and it’s mutual. That should be a lot of fun.

To offset this horror, Nicole Kidman is in four films including Sofia Coppola’s
“The Beguiled.” So that’s great news. There’s nothing better than Nicole Kidman in Cannes.

Otherwise, so far, the Cannes list for this year is a mixed bag with few American entries. The opening night film is a French one, Arnaud Desplechin’s “Fantomes de Ismael,” starring Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Those two ladies are like rock stars in France.

Missing from the list is Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” which a lot of hot air prognosticators predicted would be there.

Other highlights are Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck,” John Cameron Mitchell’s “How to Talk to Girls At Parties,” Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here,” and Michel Hazanavicius’s Godard film, “Redoubtable.”

They’re also touting a documentary by Vanessa Redgrave, a short film by Kristen Stewart, and screenings of TV shows “Twin Peaks” and “Top of the Lake.”

I know Thierry Fremaux is struggling this year because so many films aren’t finished, or their distributors don’t want to show them in May for a December release. But he will add titles over the next couple of weeks, no doubt.

Hollywood Wild Night: Cher, Leo, Kardashians Turn out for Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac “The Promise”

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promiseGraumann’s Chinese Theater: Who caused the big ruckus tonight on the red carpet for Terry George’s movie “The Promise”? Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac star in this tale of the Armenian genocide– a movie about which I broke the original story 18 months ago. Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian left a huge budget for the film, hired Terry George, and then died at age 96. All the profits from the movie are going to charity.

So that red carpet: Christian Bale! Cher! Leonardo DiCaprio, as the guest of producer Mike Medavoy and wife Irena; Orlando Bloom! Kim Kardashian! Wildness and a frenzy. Our Leah Sydney says she’s never seen this much security at a premiere! Where is Oscar Isaac? Shooting more “Star Wars.” You know if you don’t show up they CGI you!

I wonder if anyone will ask Kim K what she thinks about step dad Caitlyn A) swapping out old genitals for new or b) Caitlyn Jenner writing in her book that Robert K told him OJ was guilty.

More from the night as it unfolds.

Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit” Trailer Debuts For Summer Release: “It’s a war zone out there. When you’re black it’s almost like having a gun pointed at your face”

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“Hurt Locker” Oscar winners Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal have re-teamed for “Detroit,” an incendiary chronicle of life in America’s most dangerous city. John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie and Jason Mitchell are among the stars. Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Films will distribute “Detroit” on August 4th– their first move as an independent studio after winning Oscars and accolades in a short time. This will be the first important film of the year. PS They didn’t shoot this in Detroit, of course. It was shot in Dorchester, Mass, a dicey section of Boston. (Ask Mark Wahlberg.)

Fox Gets Bill O’Reilly Off the Air, and On Vacation, Before More Advertisers Leave

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Say goodbye to Bill O’Reilly. If we’re lucky, forever.

With all of his big ticket advertisers gone O’Reilly announced tonight he’s taking a vacation. He’s supposed to be back on April 24th, but who knows? If the ad staff can’t persuade Mercedes and the like to return, O’Reilly’s “Where in the World is Bill?” game may end on the unemployment line. Even if O’Reilly is finito, there are so many more enablers at Fox News who have to be purged, starting with house lawyer, secrets keeper Dianne Brandi aka Connie Corleone, and Tom Hagen himself, Bill Shine.

Say bye to Bill

RIP Peter Hansen, Lee Baldwin from “General Hospital” from the 60s to the 2000s

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Peter Hansen, one of the original cast members from “General Hospital,” died Sunday age 95. Hansen played Lee Baldwin, the town lawyer in Port Charles and adoptive father of Scotty Baldwin. Hansen was a staple on TV from the 1950s through the 80s, a great journeyman actor– the kind I wish SAG would salute instead of established stars. He was just good. He started playing Lee Baldwin in 1965 and finished up in 2004– that’s some record. He was on the show when I was in grade school. Our housekeeper was obsessed with Lee and his various travails, so we all knew who he was. Hansen projected a sense of solidity while the other people who lived in Port Charles were all nuts. Kudos to him on a great career.