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Mariah Carey’s Latest Single “I Don’t” Disappears, Manager Attacks This Column: What Fun!

Roger Friedman
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Mariah Carey’s Latest Single “I Don’t” Disappears, Manager Attacks This Column: What Fun!

Mariah Carey’s manager, Stella Whatchamacallit, is attacking me in In Touch Weekly today. I am so honored and thrilled. Stella, who is Russian dressing to Mariah’s life of living theater, tells the supermarket tabloid that she could “slay” me (are in Game of Thrones?), and that I’m a “sad” person. So sad!

Stella: “If I wanted to totally slay Roger Friedman, I would. But his stupid column is inaccurate,” Stella promptly fired back, explaining, “He’s totally making up the record label stuff.”

I said that Epic Records was considering dropping Mariah because she forced the single “I Don’t” on them, and it didn’t. The track has disappeared faster than Donald Trump’s original immigration bill. Gone. Stella tells In Touch: “The day his column came out is the day Epic released the song and it got radio ads.” In Touch, however, noted that the single was dropped February 3rd, and my column ran on February 28th.

Anyway, what’s the diff? “I Don’t” is not on any MediaBase charts for radio play in any category. I feel bad about this because I am fond of Mariah. We’ve been pals for years. She needs real management, and a direction. Mariah is almost 50. Recording with Busta Rhymes and DJ Khaled– a mistake, frankly. She has a great voice. It’s time to show it off as an adult. Call up Randy Jackson and get the train back on track, MC!

Stella, if you can find me some radio stations playing “I Don’t,” please tell them to email me at showbiz411@gmail.com.

Check out the cute photo of Mariah and the twins dressed in red for International Women’s Day!

 

“Ray Donovan” Actor Steven Bauer Says “Audience Should Be Prepared” For “Dark and Twisty” Season Ahead

Leah Sydney
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“Ray Donovan” Actor Steven Bauer Says “Audience Should Be Prepared” For “Dark and Twisty” Season Ahead

Expect the  fifth season of Showtime’s hit, ‘Ray Donovan’ to be atypical of the first four, so says Steven Bauer who plays the loyal henchman Avi to his ‘boss’ Liev Schreiber’s Ray Donovan.  Steven relayed that info to me at Doris Bergman’s Ninth Annual Style Lounge and Party to honor the recent Academy Awards at Fig & Olive in Hollywood. 

“The audience should be prepared,” Steven says, “that there will be real surprises this next season.  Avi does things no one would expect.  The whole show is more dark and twisty than ever.”  Steven then went on to enjoy the lounge, hosted by buywine.com.  Other celebs stopping by were Bruce Dern, the always funny Judy Tenuta, who told me the only wall Trump is building is “the hair around his head. ” 

‘Veep’s’ Matt Walsh,  Comedian Jeff Ross, Hal Sparks, ‘True Blood’s’ Sam Trammell, “Blackish’s’  Allen Maldanado, ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ beauties Karina Smirnoff and Edyta Sliwinska all got beautified by Vida Emanuel and her glam team. Vida owns the popular European Spa of the same name in the heart of Beverly Hills.  Guests also sipped on Hint water coffee from The Coffee Chef, Rekorderlig cider, got their favorite photos on T-shirts from the Photo T-Shirts, perused clothes by Sue Wong the stylish Single Dress and their underwear for men and Samiah Hinton.  My Saint  My Hero lovely blessing jewelry showed their popular bracelets for men and women.  Twisted Silver is always a hit with their hip, trendy and fun jewelry. 

Other cool stuff was The Footmate System, Fibrum Virtual Reality, Purador, Timmy Woods bags, Cindy Butler’s adorable Sassy Locks bibs and outfits for babies, True Love Skincare, Spongelle, Hillel Rzepka’s glass hearts, Rejuvenation In Motion mobile concierge medspa, and the topper was Dr. Perricone’s Gift boxes with cold plasma skin care products and vitamins and super greens. Guests were being naughty by sipping on Spa Girl Cocktails and downing Zozobean Bakery’s yummy cupcakes. Art Lewin Bespoke, Art has multiple stores in LA and is always the classiest of clothiers, had his signature classic ties. So if that wasn’t enough, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism was there as well.  The event helped Wednesday’s Child which promotes foster adoption.  Congrats dynamic Doris Bergman, you’ve done it again!

Aretha Franklin, Almost 75, Still Has the Most Hits Ever on Billboard’s Hot 100–73

Roger Friedman
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Aretha Franklin, Almost 75, Still Has the Most Hits Ever on Billboard’s Hot 100–73

Ah, Billboard.

The female artist with the most Hot 100 singles under her own name, and no one else’s, is the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. She’s had 73, and she’s likely to have more.

Now Billboard says that Nicki Minaj has tied that record with 73 of her own. She has not. This is fake music news. Nicki’s a lot of fun, but she’s only 29 hits with her own name. She’s been featured as a guest rapper on 44 others.

I like how Billboard says this is “due to the collaborative nature of rap.” BS. Big time. You either have the hits or ya don’t. How many Nicki Minaj songs can you name, let alone sing? Or rap? How many of Aretha’s? I rest my case.

Nicki Minaj is also a novelty act. She’s not Missy Elliott. Let’s get real. Her claim to fame is fighting with Mariah Carey on “American Idol.” And getting plastic surgery. Aretha Franklin is ranked as the number 1 popular singer of all time.

Aretha is appearing this Sunday in Poughkeepsie, New York at the famed Bardavon Opera House, and March 23rd at Mohegan Sun Casino– where she will celebrate her birthday in style.

(Watch) “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Director Tweets He Doesn’t Remember This Episode

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Director Tweets He Doesn’t Remember This Episode

Robert Weide directed all the episodes of Larry David’s beloved “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” But he Tweeted today he doesn’t remember this one. Today Donald Trump burst in on a White House tour and wound up right under the official portrait of Hillary Clinton, who would be president now if….Well, anyway, this is how it turned out:

Theater: Matthew Perry, the Immortal Chandler Bing of “Friends,” Writes Off Broadway Play for Himself

Roger Friedman
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Theater: Matthew Perry, the Immortal Chandler Bing of “Friends,” Writes Off Broadway Play for Himself

You never know who’s coming to NewYork theater next. This time it’s Matthew Perry, the immortal Chandler Bing of “Friends” TV fame. Perry has written a play for himself to star in called “The End Longing.” Directed by Lindsay Posner, the play comes to the Lucille Lortel Theater in May with a June opening.

“The End of Longing” had a prior run at London’s Playhouse Theater.

The storyline: An alcoholic, an escort, a self-diagnosed neurotic and a well-intentioned dimwit walk into a bar… Broken and deeply flawed, they find their lives irreversibly entwined no matter how hard they try to break free of one another.

Well, why not? The London reviews were not kind, but maybe the play has improved. But the audience liked it, and “Friends” fans Tweeted nice things. At the very least we can expect a good opening night with the likes of David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow et al.

Music: CeeLo, Melissa Etheridge, Sam Moore in All Star Tribute to Aretha Franklin, Who’s Not There, But a Star is Born

Roger Friedman
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Music: CeeLo, Melissa Etheridge, Sam Moore in All Star Tribute to Aretha Franklin, Who’s Not There, But a Star is Born

It was a night for soul music’s greatest star, Aretha Franklin, to get her Carnegie Hall tribute from City Winery’s Michael Dorf. Alas, the Queen of Soul was in absentia. But that didn’t stop “Soul Man” Sam Moore– her labelmate at Atlantic Records during their heyday in the 60s– from tying past to present singing Aretha’s “Don’t Play That Song For Me”– written by Atlantic’s late chief Ahmet Ertegun–by giving his great-niece her own debut at Carnegie Hall. That would be Courtney Trice, who with her uncle garnered a standing ovation while recalling the likes of Aretha and Della Reese. But more than on that in a minute.

Dorf served up an eclectic group of artists who did justice to about two dozen songs associated with the Queen, from “Dr. Feelgood” (Labelle’s Sarah Dash, who stopped the show cold– why isn’t she a Broadway star?) to “Respect” (Antibalas with Little Kids Rock”) and “Rock Steady” (a ferocious reunion of Living Colour) to songs Miss Franklin has covered like Elton John’s “Border Song” (Rhiannon Giddens) and The Band’s “The Weight” (Rodney Crowell).

sarah, sam and ceeloMany were established names, but some were not– like Don Bryant, the famed Memphis-based gospel singing husband of Ann Peebles, who tore down the house with “Drown in My Own Tears”– and Austin’s Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster, whose “Natural Woman” was something to behold. That’s sort of the point of the annual Dorf/City Winery tributes: arrayed among the obvious choices are these gems to be discovered.

Still, nothing would prepare the audience for Todd Rundgren, glam rock holdover from the 70s, prancing on stage and discovering his inner diva on “Since You’ve Been Gone.” And Bettye Lavette was reliably soulful delivering the Franklin masterwork, “Ain’t No Way.” CeeLo Green recalled Rufus Thomas on “Nightttime is the Right Time.” And Melissa Etheridge would have won Aretha’s respect on “I Never Loved  a Man (The Way I Love You).”

But the night belonged to Courtney Trice, Sam Moore’s great- niece, who hails from Akron, Ohio and sings part-time with three different bands around the Cleveland area. Not only did she roar onto the stage with her uncle for “Don’t Play That Song,” she later wowed the crowd at City Winery fronting Antibalas for a memorable “Rock Steady.” Even Bettye Lavette, who followed Trice to the stage, was impressed. And Trice–it’s her first trip to New York and she may never leave. Why should she?

photos c2017 Showbiz411

Oscar Winner Casey Affleck Defended by His “Manchester” Director Kenneth Lonergan in College Newspaper

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Winner Casey Affleck Defended by His “Manchester” Director Kenneth Lonergan in College Newspaper

Oscar winning screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan has sent a very damning letter to the Wesleyan Argus, the college newspaper of his school. Lonergan is properly outraged and defends Oscar winning actor Casey Affleck, star of their movie “Manchester by the Sea.”

Lonergan’s piece is entitled “How Connor Aberle and The Argus are Complicit in Slandering Casey Affleck.”

Frankly, this business of damning Casey Affleck because of sexual harassment lawsuits has gotten out of hand. The cases were settled, as Lonergan, no one lost and no one won. Plus, this is entirely different than the Nate Parker story. Parker was arrested and tried– and acquitted– in a court of law. Then he omitted that from his personal history and presented a movie that hinged on a rape.

Here is Lonergan’s letter. I’ve broken it into paragraphs to make it easier to read:

Connor Aberle’s article about myself, Casey, Affleck and Wesleyan’s supposed complicity in condoning sexual misconduct – and worse – by tauting me as a Wesleyan alumn after I won an Oscar last week is such a tangle of illogic, misinformation and flat-out slander that only the author’s presumed youth can possibly excuse his deeply offensive display of ignorance, and warped PC-fueled sense of indignation. His random use of the terms “sexual misconduct” “sexual harrassment” “sexual abuse” and “sexual violence,” as if they were legally or physically interchangeable, only indicates the reckless sloppiness of his thinking.

Never mind what he doesn’t know about the movies and how they are cast: That’s not as important, although it does underline that he doesn’t mind knowing nothing about his own subject.

But frequently dropping the word “alleged,” which grown-up journalists mindful of their own vulnerability to libel suits are careful to include when they compose equally wrongheaded pieces on this subject, he writes as if Casey Affleck were actually guilty of a crime.

In fact, it was alleged 7 years ago, in a civil lawsuit for breach of contract, that Casey sexually harrased two women formerly in his employ. Casey denounced the allegations as being totally fabricated. Like most civil suits, this one was settled out of court by mutual consent on undisclosed terms. In other words nothing was proved or disproved. So how does Mr Aberle dare to write as if he knows who was telling the truth and who was not? Anyone can sue anyone for anything in this country; the unsubstantiated details go in the public record and stay there.

Somebody as interested in actual as opposed to merely vocalized social justice as Mr Aberle presumably is, should unwind his tangled, immoral chain of reasoning and start over at the fundamental precept that an allegation is not an indictment. Nor can it be treated as such by any ethical person living in a democratic society supposedly based on the rule of law. Anything less vigilant exemplifies a disjointed abuse of morals and reason which those of us on the Left like to imagine exists only on the Right. I wish it were so.

But I do hope that Mr Aberle is capable of taking a much harder look at the merits of his own arguments before he decides to air his views in public again.

Kenneth Lonergan

Exclusive: Tom Cruise’s Scientology Spy Now Movie Producer Gets a Surprise at LA-Italia Film Fest

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Tom Cruise’s Scientology Spy Now Movie Producer Gets a Surprise at LA-Italia Film Fest

The Scientologists behind a new movie called “In Search of Fellini”– co-written by Nancy–voice of Bart Simpson–Cartwright– and another long time Scieno, Peter Knenaas, and produced by Tom Cruise former BFF and former reported Scieno snitch Michael Doven— got a big surprise recently when their film debuted at the LA-Italia Film Festival.

“Fellini” stars Maria Bello (how she wound up in this who knows). When the festival wanted to honor her at the movie’s premiere on February 24th who did they call? Why Paul Haggis, famous former Scientologist, Oscar winner, and great friend of Bello.

This move didn’t go over very well at the festival, where Haggis had to be on guard because of all the Scienos in the audience. Haggis was the main source for the book and documentary called “Going Clear,” which outed a lot of the cult’s misdeeds and named Doven as Cruise’s chief of staff. I’ve written about Doven over the years as well.

“When Doven heard that Haggis was presenting to Bello, he freaked out. He said Haggis was ‘too controversial.'” Nevertheless Haggis did the job.

It’s unclear whether the LA-Italia people understood “In Search of Fellini” was a Scientology movie. Except for Bello, everyone involved is a big time member including the director, whose wedding to a fellow member was held at Hollywood’s Celebrity Center.

It does seem that Doven’s reward for his loyalty to leader David Miscavige was to head up Scientology’s new movie company called United Pictures. (Doven’s tie to Hollywood is that his wife is the daughter of the great actor Bobby Morse of “Mad Men” and “How to Succeed in Business” fame.)

What comes next for “In Search of Fellini” is whether Doven and co. can fool a regular film distributor to pick up the movie and send it out into the mainstream world. That’s certainly the mandate. And oh yeah– if you’re still watching “The Simpsons,” indeed Bart is voiced by Cartwright, a prominent member of the cult. She’s made millions for them.

Movies: “Logan” Scores $85Mil, Comedy Legend Carl Reiner Joins Sandra Bullock’s “Ocean’s Eight,” Shirley MacLaine’s “Last Words”

Roger Friedman
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Movies: “Logan” Scores $85Mil, Comedy Legend Carl Reiner Joins Sandra Bullock’s “Ocean’s Eight,” Shirley MacLaine’s “Last Words”

Box office news: “Logan,” the final Wolverine movie and appearance by Hugh Jackman as the claw, racked up a whopping $85,3 million over the weekend. There are all kinds of records there including one for IMAX. At number 2, Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” is a stunner at a total now of $76 million. “The Shack,” which is not the story of Shake Shack, came in at number 3…

Is “Ocean’s Eight” going to have one of the biggest casts in history? Already starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and six more female stars. Many members of the “Ocean’s 11” movies are coming back, too. Comedy legend Carl Reiner Tweeted that he’s shooting his scene or scenes tomorrow. He’s 93 years young! “Ocean’s Eight also features Vogue editor Anna Wintour and a bunch of fashionistas, remaking The Met Ball. This movie is either going to be lots of fun or a huge sinking battle ship. I hope it’s the former…

LAST WORDS Shirley MacLaine opened in a new film on Friday called “Last Words” from Bleecker Street. The film, which tells the tale of MacLaine’s Harriet, a tough as nails ad executive who at the end of her life, enlists obituary journalist Anne (Amanda Seyfried) to help her rework her legacy after a lifetime of tough relationships with those closest to her, including her daughter, played by the always terrific Anne Heche. Famed Philip Baker Hall and adorable newcomer Ann Jewel Lee are in the cast as well last the always solid Thomas Sadoski, who plays a radio DJ helping to facilitate Harriet’s bucket list.

Sadoski met real life girlfriend Seyfried on the set and are soon to be new parents. MacLaine kept playfully putting her hands on Amanda’s stomach on the red carpet. “This baby is blessed,” said Shirley, “these two are truly aligned.” She went on to explain her co-star, “I love her face, that face is a painting. What goes on there is in her heart.”

I asked Shirley how she felt about Charlize Theron’s tribute to her on the Oscars. “I knew she was going to do that. But I didn’t know exactly how it would turn out. When I saw that clip from ‘The Apartment,’ oh my god, it felt like another lifetime. But I don’t ever look at my old stuff on TCM, or anywhere. I always think I could have done it all better and that’s uncomfortable for me. I always think I could have been better. And I truly didn’t think someone like me could inspire someone like Charlize.”

When I told her she inspires way more people and fans than Charlize, she quipped in her most actressy fun way, “Well, I just don’t know what you’re talking about!” Then she winked and went in to the theater. Shirley, you’re a genuine Hollywood legend who never stops. This film is poignant, feisty, funny and simply engaging. Hope it sees her and company on the award trail next year. — Leah Sydney

Box Office: Wolverine Claws His Way to a Spectacular Finale with $33 Mil Opening Night

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Wolverine Claws His Way to a Spectacular Finale with $33 Mil Opening Night

Say goodbye to Wolverine. After 17 years Hugh Jackman is hanging up his claws. “Logan” opened to $33 million on Friday night for a spectacular $80 mil weekend. The X Men will go on without him. Fox and Marvel go out on top with terrific reviews, too. How long before we have “The New Adventures of Wolverine”? You can actually hold your breath. It won’t be long at all.

And don’t think for a minute someone hasn’t suggested Jackman do “Wolverine: The Musical” on Broadway.

Elsewhere at the box office, this past Sunday’s Oscar winners didn’t get much of a boost. On Monday and Tuesday curious fans sampled what was left of “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” and “Hidden Figures.” But the party is over. 2017 is a wrap. A24 didn’t put out figures for their expanded “Moonlight” release from last night.

But I do think “Moonlight” ranks as one of the lowest grossing Best Pictures of all time, maybe second to “The Hurt Locker.” They’ve banked $22 million. It’s hoped “Moonlight” will have a life beyond theatres.

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