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Sean Lennon Posts Heartbreaking Message about Carrie Fisher on Instagram: “I feel that you were part of me, and you will always be”

Roger Friedman
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Sean Lennon Posts Heartbreaking Message about Carrie Fisher on Instagram: “I feel that you were part of me, and you will always be”

Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono posted this message on Instagram. It’s truly heartbreaking. Carrie Fisher meant so much to so many people. He says: “This is the kind of loss that you never recover from. I know because I still miss my dad every single day.”

I mean, omg doesn’t even begin to express how you feel when you read that.

I can honestly say that Carrie was one of the best and closest friends I’ve ever had in my life. She was the smartest, funniest, kindest, and most generous person I have ever known. My heart is completely and permanently broken. This is the kind of loss that you never recover from. I know because I still miss my dad every single day. Carrie, I love you so much. I can’t imagine living my life without you there to fix it. You meant more to me than just friend or family, I feel that you were part of me, and you always will be. I can never thank you enough for all those magical evenings. Thank you Debbie and Billie for sharing your prodigal princess with me. My thoughts are with you now and forever. R.I.P. Carrie Fisher.

Found this old picture of my mother and I taking Carrie out in NY. Just want to mention because I forgot to say earlier that regarding the trials and tribulations of being a son or daughter of celebrities, no one helped or inspired me more than Carrie Fisher. She was a super nova of talent and good character. She made the impossible seem effortless–of course thinking twice as fast as everyone else didn't hurt. One of my favorite things she used to say is, 'Resentment is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die.' Carrie and I even wrote a song or two together. I'm going to find them and put them out if it makes sense. I'm still shattered, can't think clearly. I'll just say please send all your love and light energy to Billie and Debbie, for they are suffering the most. I know what it's like to have your world torn apart by a loved one taken before their time. It never gets easy, although one learns to live through the pain. Please let's just get to 2017 without losing anymore geniuses.

A photo posted by Sean Ono Lennon (@sean_ono_lennon) on

Hollywood Heartbreak: The Amazing Carrie Fisher Dies at 60 Days After Heart Attack

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Heartbreak: The Amazing Carrie Fisher Dies at 60 Days After Heart Attack

Just heartbreaking: Carrie Fisher, Hollywood’s heart and soul, has died at age 60 several days after a heart attack aboard a flight from London to Los Angeles.

No real word from her family since she was taken from the plane to UCLA Medical Center was not a good omen. A fellow seat passenger’s observation that Fisher wasn’t breathing– plus her being placed on a ventilator when got to the hospital– all of that spelled doom.

Carrie’s death really is heartbreaking for her family– mother Debbie Reynolds, brother Todd Fisher, half sisters Joely and Tricia Lee Fisher, her daughter Billie Lourd. But it’s also mind blowing for her friends– and there are legions and legions of them — and her millions of fans.

Carrie’s status as a daughter of Hollywood royalty– Reynolds and late singer Eddie Fisher– plus her own royalty– she’s gone from Princess Leia to General Leia in “Star Wars,” the most successful movie series of all time, has been huge. She’s a trailblazer for girls and young women. She’s been a guiding light as a Hollywood iconoclast.

And she’s been hilarious. Her take on everything made her the wiser, warmer version of Fran Lebowitz or Dorothy Parker. She was jaundiced but in the best way. She had to fight to give herself a space in the world of celebrity, and did it with grace even when she was falling down.

I hope the drug part of her life doesn’t become the emphasis of her passing. She was a very gifted writer and humorist, author of many best sellers and script doctor for many movies. Carrie knew innately what was funny, and how humor worked. I used to laugh out loud– in the right way– reading “Surrender the Pink” or “Postcards from the Edge.”

Everyone will say they were her friend, but Carrie’s real friends were people like Penny Marshall and Buck Henry. Her parties were legendary. Everyone wanted to be her friend.

And the irony is that she was at the top of her game, with “Rogue One” hinging on her, and Star Wars Chapter 8 in the can, and “Princess Diarist” on the best seller lists, her dog Gary a cult hero, and daughter Billie launched as an actress.

What a terrible, terrible day at the end of a terrible, terrible year.

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Extraordinary Interview with Oprah Is a Gem Worth Re-viewing

Roger Friedman
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Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Extraordinary Interview with Oprah Is a Gem Worth Re-viewing

This Oprah interview from 2011 with Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher is a total winner. Don’t fast forward, just listen. And at the end, mother and daughter sing together. This was when Carrie was on tour with her one woman show “Wishful Drinking” and Debbie was having an auction of famous Hollywood costumes. Theirs is the ultimate Hollywood story. You root for them because they are so lovely. And now, with Carrie in distress, it’s so timely. Sending more good wishes to Carrie and her family.

George Michael Was Editing Documentary About His Career, Has One Unreleased Album “That is Something”

Roger Friedman
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George Michael Was Editing Documentary About His Career, Has One Unreleased Album “That is Something”

EXCLUSIVE Sources tell me George Michael wasn’t completely out of it the last couple of years. He and his team were finishing a documentary called “George Michael. Freedom” that will come out some time next year. “It’s about a period in his life,” says a source, and lines up with his coming out as gay in 1998 and the aftermath.

Michael notably became a gay activist after hiding his personal life for years.

I’m told there will also be the 25th anniversary edition of his album “Listen without Prejudice, Vol. 1.” The two projects will probably be spaced out during 2017.

So far, no word on a Grammy tribute. But Grammy exec producer Ken Ehrlich was a huge fan, so it’s likely. I’m sure Adam Lambert is rehearsing already.

As far as unreleased material, I’m told there isn’t a lot. “Unlike Prince,” a source says, “George was not a studio rat.” But the George Michael did leave behind music “that is really something” — which we also may hear in 2017.

George’s heirs, by the way, are clear cut: his father and two sisters.

Comedian Tom Arnold Explains His Unreleased Donald Trump “Apprentice” Tapes: “Are disgusting but not illegal”

Roger Friedman
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Comedian Tom Arnold Explains His Unreleased Donald Trump “Apprentice” Tapes: “Are disgusting but not illegal”

In a long Twitter thread today, comedian-actor Tom Arnold explains to actor Michael Rapaport the whole saga of his secret tapes with Donald Trump from “The Apprentice.” To wit: Arnold has been saying for a long time he has outtakes from “The Apprentice” that would show Trump in a very bad light. (It would have to be incredibly bad since we’ve seen him at his worst already and his followers don’t seem to care.)

Responding to Rapaport, Arnold admits the tapes he has “Are disgusting but not illegal.” So that’s one thing. He says “Watergate level” journalists are reviewing them– sort of implicating Carl Bernstein if not Bob Woodward. He’s also been conferring with lawyers.

Arnold says he made the tapes from online links he was sent of his performances by the show’s producers. They had a limited time password. He was smart enough to download them before the password expired.  He adds– “When the threat” of Trump becoming president started to look real.

Arnold Tweets to Rapaport ( in proper order):

1. I’m going 2 explain cause I know U rode Trump’s butt for the 5 yrs it took him 2 confirm Obama’s legitimacy. I received tape via program’

2. Used in our biz 2 prevent piracy. Had a limited time password. When I received no one thought Trump would be Pres. When it became real

3. People got scared. Can’t blame them. Me & my fam get threatened by Alt Right nuts a lot plus only Billy Bush’s career was hurt by “grab

4. Her by the pussy” tape. Normally I don’t think a persons private life should affect job. Didn’t say anything about Natl Enquirer paying

5. Off Trumps playmate girlfriends. Plus he’d always been nice to me but he became a bully. John McCain’s POW heroism, Cruz’s dad killing

6. JFK Etc. Not the guy I knew & he was stoking racism. Lying. Basically saying anything to get elected contradicting himself. Then the

7. Russian hack happened. That and him lying about releasing his taxes. I knew he’d spoken to Putin 2013 in Moscow during Miss Universe

8. Contest from NBC guy that was with him. I shot a movie “produced” by one of his bus partners & Putin pal. Very chatty. This was 2015 so

9. Of course he didn’t think he was telling tales about what happened in 2013 to a US President. You have to see his taxes. These tapes

10. Are disgusting but not illegal. I’m not going to out the little guy but I personally confronted 7 powerful Hollywood people who have

11. Everything. They hate me now. Terrible career move but I believe if Russia has something they can blackmail our president with its worth

12. The risk to me. Plus I’m a 57 year old father of 1 & 3 yr olds. I want to do all I can so there’s a safe America for them. Call me & I

13. Will give you the names of the 7 big shots and you can risk your livelihood and confront them too. All will be reviewed soon. Smart

14. Watergate level journalists are ontop of this.

I’ve known Tom Arnold a really long time and like him a lot. I don’t know why he didn’t just leak this stuff a long time ago. And if it’s just disgusting, and not illegal, will it matter? To whom? Not to the drunk trucker guy I stood in line with yesterday at CVS who identified himself as a “Trumper” and said the president elect was “gonna do good.” Not him.  But maybe something on Arnold’s tapes will really clinch it. Who knows?

Rapaport by the way described himself thusly in a reply: “Never rode with or supported Trump ever.Grew up in NY seeing him my whole life.3 card Monty Hustler.”

 

Box Office: “Rogue One” Crosses $300 Mil US, $500 Mil Worldwide, Scorsese “Silence” HUGE First 4 Days

Roger Friedman
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0
Box Office: “Rogue One” Crosses $300 Mil US, $500 Mil Worldwide, Scorsese “Silence” HUGE First 4 Days

The irony can’t be lost on anyone that while star Carrie Fisher recuperates from a heart attack, her movie is booming at the box office.

“Rogue One” crosses the $300 mil mark domestically today, while the worldwide take is around $550 million. The Force is with the movie, and it’s with Carrie, too. (Although I seriously doubt we can trust Tweets from Debbie Reynolds’ account. I don’t think Debbie knows that Twitter exists.)

Meanwhile, four days of very limited release brings Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” a $45,000 per screen average. I’m thrilled audiences are clamoring for this amazing piece of cinema.

“Lion” finally went a bit wider to 500 screens and roared to life. Another great movie that will now start building towards Oscar nominations.

Sony Pictures faces huge issues as “Passengers” is pretty much not happening– $30 million for the four day weekend with two ginormous stars– Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. Sony only has two $100 million movies for 2016. They now wait til July 4th for another Spider Man movie. (I feel like I could tell Spider Man his own story better than he could at this point.) That’s a long wait.

Frank Sinatra Excoriated George Michael Over His Complaints About Fame in 1990 Letter

Roger Friedman
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Frank Sinatra Excoriated George Michael Over His Complaints About Fame in 1990 Letter

Frank Sinatra was not impressed with George Michael’s complaints about fame. He excoriated him in a 1990 letter after Michael — a huge star for about six years — told the LA Times how unhappy he was. In Sinatra’s world, you poured a couple of drinks and went back to work. But Michael was obviously not up to the crushing task of being an international icon, scrutinized constantly, unable to find any happiness despite having millions of dollars. Some entertainers bathe in the attention. And some are so unnerved they can’t go on.

Sinatra wrote:
“…no more of that talk about “the tragedy of fame.” The tragedy of fame is when no one shows up and you’re singing to the cleaning lady in some empty joint that hasn’t seen a paying customer since Saint Swithin’s day. And you’re nowhere near that; you’re top dog on the top rung of a tall ladder called Stardom, which in latin means thanks-to-the-fans who were there when it was lonely.”

sinatra

George Michael’s Name Is Sadly Added to the List of Music Icons Who Died in 2016

Roger Friedman
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0
George Michael’s Name Is Sadly Added to the List of Music Icons Who Died in 2016

Prince, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Natalie Cole. Now we can add the name of George Michael to the list of music icons who died in 2016.

Michael died Christmas morning in his home outside of London. Right now they’re saying from heart failure, but there’s no doubt there were circumstances that caused the end. Michael had a real problem with drugs and alcohol.

Of course, George Michael was an accident waiting to happen. His real career was from the mid 80s to early 90s, as Wham! and as a solo artist. But by 2000 he was done, making headlines for arrests and addictions. He was on a downward slide for a long time.

But he had just enough hits to live on as a rock icon. From “Careless Whisper” to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” to “Faith,” “Father Figure” and “I Want Your Sex.” He also had duet hits with two enduring legends– “I Knew You Were Waiting for Me” with Aretha Franklin and a remake of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” with its originator, Elton John.

George also had a Christmas hit for all time, “Last Christmas.” His music will last forever.

Please, there are just five days left in this year. That’s enough now.

A&E Cancels KKK Documentary Series, Not Because It’s Offensive, But Because Producers Paid Participants

Roger Friedman
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0
A&E Cancels KKK Documentary Series, Not Because It’s Offensive, But Because Producers Paid Participants

A&E has wisely cancelled “Escaping the KKK,” previously known as “Generation KKK” (or maybe kickin it with the KKK) not because it was offensive and a stupid idea but because it came to their attention that some of the participants were paid, they say, by third party producers. It’s hard to describe how far A&E has fallen over the years. Remember how great the A&E Biography series was with Bill Kurtis. But the network has fallen prey to the reality TV syndrome. Listen, we don’t want to see how the KKK or neo-Nazi’s live, TV producers. We want to see them being expunged. Period.

Here’s the A&E statement:

The documentary ‘Escaping the KKK’ was intended to serve as a close look at anti-hate extractors focused on helping people leave the Ku Klux Klan—the racist hate group with a long history of violence against African Americans and others. Our goal with this series has always been to expose and combat racism and hatred in all its forms.

However, A&E learned last night from the third-party producers who made the documentary that cash payments — which we currently understand to be nominal — were made in the field to some participants in order to facilitate access. While we stand behind the intent of the series and the seriousness of the content, these payments are a direct violation of A&E’s policies and practices for a documentary. We had previously provided assurances to the public and to our core partners – including the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change – that no payment was made to hate group members, and we believed that to be the case at the time. We have now decided not to move forward with airing this project.

A&E takes the authenticity of its documentary programming and the subject of racism, hatred and violence very seriously. Just because this particular show goes away, the issues of hate in America do not. We will still seek to fight hate in America through on-air programming including town halls and documentary programs produced in partnership with civil rights organizations, as well as continue to work with the civil rights community to facilitate a deeper dialogue on ending hate through comprehensive educational and outreach campaigns.

Box Office: Carrie Fisher is the Reason “Rogue One” Continues to Soar. “Force Awakens” Was So Good

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Carrie Fisher is the Reason “Rogue One” Continues to Soar. “Force Awakens” Was So Good

It’s a cruel irony this morning that Carrie Fisher is fighting for her life at UCLA Medical Center after a heart attack yesterday.

Carrie is the reason people love “Rogue One; A Star Wars Story” and made “The Force Awakens” such a huge hit. It’s the surprise ending of “Rogue One” that puts a smile on the face of every fan, and makes them want to see it again. And that’s Carrie’s moment.

Equally, Fisher’s much bigger than expected role in “Force Awakens” drives the movie after Han Solo’s tragic death. General Leia passes the baton of history to Rey. And in next year’s Chapter 8, we may learn more about their relationship.

Meanwhile, “Rogue One” is soaring to around $460 million worldwide today and should pass $500 million shortly. Through last night the US take is $245 million.

Fisher is so talented as an actress but that’s overshadowed often by her witty writing, caustically fun interviews, and her sharp sense of humor. She had to develop that part of her personality early on as the child of Hollywood parents who were involved in scandals that would make Brangelina and Tom Cruise blush. That toughness gave her a sense of irony which she’s conveyed on screen and on stage so adeptly– there is just nothing funnier than Carrie using a pointer and blackboard to describe the Liz Taylor-Mike Todd-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds saga.

So today, to support Carrie, if you’ve already seen “Star Wars,” let’s re-read “Postcards from the Edge” or “Surrender the Pink,” or take a look at her in “When Harry Met Sally” or “Shampoo.”

Pat Collins interviewing Carrie on “GMA”

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