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Aretha Franklin Exclusive: Former Biographer Has No Respect For Her in Book Betrayal

Roger Friedman
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Aretha Franklin Exclusive: Former Biographer Has No Respect For Her in Book Betrayal

No one is reading David Ritz’s unauthorized biography of Aretha Franklin called “Respect.” It sits in the book sales basement at number 6,000 on amazon.com. Why? The public smells a rat. They’re not shelling out good money for junk.

Franklin has every right to be mad. Fifteen years ago David Ritz helped her write an autobiography called “From these Roots.” Franklin had editorial control. In the end, she excised material she didn’t like from that book. Ritz resented it. He obviously planned his revenge.

Now Ritz has scooped up what was on the cutting room floor and made “Respect.” It’s a betrayal and a total violation of trust. You wonder, how could he do it? Does he have no conscience? As a journalist and a lover of R&B, I am horrified. He’s taken advantage of his former access. No one should ever again trust him  to do a memoir with them.

And then there’s a question of attribution. Almost everyone he quotes is dead. He offers no proof that he interviewed them. It’s even more unlikely that they said any of this stuff. For instance, Ritz wrote a whole about Ray Charles. But none of the Ray Charles info in “Respect” was in the Ray book. Suddenly a dead Ray Charles has a whole lot of new quotes about Aretha Franklin.

Aretha did tell a Detroit newspaper she was thinking about suing Ritz. It’s not worth it. In the end, no one is reading his book. It’s trash. She told me the other day: “The book is called Respect. And clearly no respect is intended by David Ritz….it is a twisted and distorted attempt to defame–and character assassinate–me, my father and family!!”

Franklin is concerned about Ritz’s suggestion that she’s jealous of other singers. “He suggests as well I was jealous of Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand,  and Gladys Knight– which is just plain crazy but consider the source!!!!”

I have to say, I was with Aretha when she and Streisand were together last year. It was a love fest. I have the pictures to prove it. She was equally proud of her sisters Carolyn and Erma, who wrote many of her hits. According to Ritz, there was constant festering jealousy among them. Simply not true.

Aretha is also not happy about Ritz’s descriptions of her father or his church. I don’t blame her. She won’t say it, but I will: it’s racist. It’s that simple.

“After 50 years of [my family] being in the public eye … there is no question people know who we were and what we stand for,” Aretha tells me. “Everyone he quotes is deceased and cannot defend themselves. And there blatant lies gospel luminary James Cleveland….and calling the church a sex circus! He’s horribly vindictive.”

So ignore the book. Dig Aretha Franklin’s new album and her single on “Rolling in the Deep.” The Queen of Soul is a national treasure. On December 12 th she’s getting the Billboard Women in Music Award, the latest in a string of awards and citations. David Ritz will be home, counting his remainders.

PS I will tell you that despite the idiosyncrasies of being one of the most famous performers in the world, Aretha Franklin is loyal to her friends and family and vice versa. Her annual New York  birthday party goes on for hours every March. Aretha throws it herself, and for her friends. It’s become like a national holiday for her inner circle. After a close read of “Respect,” I’m sorry that Ritz wasted so much time on negativity. There would have been so much to be gained by telling the real story of Aretha’s extraordinary struggle, literally, from her roots.

 

 

Review: Hugh Jackman Is the Bait in “The River,”A New Short, Dull Play

Roger Friedman
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Review: Hugh Jackman Is the Bait in “The River,”A New Short, Dull Play

During the 85 minute bore of a play called “The River,” I thought about a lot of things. None of them was “The River.” For $175 you can see Hugh Jackman close up for nearly an hour and a half. He wears a tight a dark red t shirt the whole time. I realized something. He’s worked out so much that he has double triceps on each arm. I didn’t even know that was physically possible.

This obviously impressed Ben Brantly, who was so mesmerized by Jackman that he missed the fact “The River” is not a play. During the 85 minutes you get to watch Jackman clean and fillet a trout for dinner. He chops up lots of different things, like an onion and maybe celery. It’s like  a segment from the Food Network. He also pouts glasses of wine, sets a table and takes off boaters (high water rubber pants). He also cleans his hands and the table with lemon, to get out  the fish smell.

Not much happens in “The River.” There are two dull monologues about fish and fishing. You learn the difference between trout and sea trout. (“There isn’t one.”) There are two actresses, they alternate, you’re not sure for a while if they’re playing the same character. They disappear, another comes in at the end. Someone next to me said, “She must have killed the first two.” If only.

Jackman plays a loner called The Man who brings lots of women to his cabin on the river but won’t commit to them. He actually frightens them. Since he doesn’t have A Name, all he does is talk about and prepare fish. Frankly, you could this at Citarella for free.

There were celebrities in the audience: Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, Ellen Burstyn, Harvey Keitel and his wife Daphna, and so on. Cindy Adams usually leaves at the intermission but she couldn’t last night because there was no intermission. This was wise. Otherwise people would have fled.

You know a show is bad when the publicist tells you “The producers don’t want press at the party.” This is code for: “They don’t want you asking questions while the reviews are being read.” (To be fair, they did do press in the lobby of theater after the show, I am told.)

Hugh Jackman has nothing to prove to us about being a “serious” actor. We all know he’s incredibly talented. But pick a real play, for god’s sake. “The River” could have easily been titled “Fish in the Dark.” Oh, but that’s taken. Let’s just call it “Les Miserables.”

Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams Neighbors Love Their Music But Not at 5AM (Read This)

Roger Friedman
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Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams Neighbors Love Their Music But Not at 5AM (Read This)

LOL. Nile Rodgers is working on his new Chic album for spring 2015. Maybe that’s when he’ll be inducted into the RockHall. Also guess what? He’s using some tapes to add the late great Luther Vandross on background vocals.

nile rodgers letter

The Best Bieber Successor: 16 Year Old Pop Star Shawn Mendes Keeps Kool in Front of 1,000 Screaming Girls at 1st Show Ever

Roger Friedman
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The Best Bieber Successor: 16 Year Old Pop Star Shawn Mendes Keeps Kool in Front of 1,000 Screaming Girls at 1st Show Ever

shawn mendes

Here’s the deal: Like Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes is from Canada. Unlike Bieber, Mendes is tall (6’1″), good looking, very well spoken, and a pretty competent guitar player. He’s got a great pop voice that falls more on the Ed Sheeran side than on “American Idol.”

Shawn Mendes writes catchy songs, lots of them, and he’s genuine in his disposition. Last night he made his  first ever premiere live on stage at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square in front about 1,000 screaming girls and their parents. Shawn took the bare stage with  just his guitar, no band, no dancers, just him. He wore a flannel shirt and jeans.

The room was once a grand movie theater where I watched “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Indiana Jones” and “Superman” on a 70 mm screen in the 1970s. On Saturday night it was seething with young girls standing packed like proverbial sardines from the lip of the stage to the back of the room. They often swayed in waves before Mendes came out, chanting his songs.

But get this: Mendes does not have an album out yet. The girls found him on Vine, not even YouTube. He posted six-second snippets of himself singing. The teen world exploded like Krypton just before Superman was shipped out in swaddling clothes. Shawn’s parents are not musical, and had no idea what was happening when fame beckoned. Now he’s signed to Island Records and its guru, David Massey. He’s getting packets of schoolwork from his undoubtedly furious instructors.

His songs are simple and melodic, with hooks. Everyone can sing along, and they do. There’s no yodeling or rap. There’s no Auto Tune or fakery. His voice has already changed, so unlike Bieber he doesn’t sound like Ann Murray. He has a nice full adult throat. He does need a mentor, like John Mayer, or James Taylor’s son Ben Taylor. That would help. He says his influences are Ed Sheeran and Justin Timberlake. But they’re not. They’re really Neil Young and James Taylor. He just has to hear their records.

Well, the girls keep screaming. But Shawn remains at the mic, and calms them down by talking to them. He was so afraid before going on, Massey says. he nearly became ill. You couldn’t see it on stage.

Mendes’ biggest break comes next summer. He will open for ubiquitous man eater Taylor Swift. Let’s hope he can keep his balance. But something tells me by June there will tabloid stories galore. Please god, no.

Hollywood Film Awards Tank in Ratings, Number 7 for the Night, No Interest from Key Demo

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Film Awards Tank in Ratings, Number 7 for the Night, No Interest from Key Demo

No one watched the Hollywood Film Awards last night, least of all young people. The show took 4.14 million total viewers. A half million of them were between 18 and 49 years old. All the stars who came weren’t enough of a draw. Not even Johnny Depp, drunk and making a fool of himself on national TV. People just weren’t interested in seeing a three hour commercial for Hollywood, with everyone up everyone else’s ass, heaping praise. Was the 12 person selection committee even invited? Who knows?

The Awards were the 7th highest rated show of the evening. They were beaten even by a show I’ve never heard of, called “Cristela.” Blimey.

A friend of mine who’s a TV expert says: “The numbers are awful……but even CBS will rationalize something, take another crack at this next year (unless there is a business scandal with the management of the show), fix it creatively, and see if year #2 is better creatively and on a rating basis.”

The expert continues:

“In terms of total viewers, CBS gets about 7 million viewers with The Amazing Race from 8-9PM. Hawaii 5-0 gets close to 10 million viewers from 9-10PM and Blue Bloods gets 12 million viewers…….all before the integration of the DVR and delayed viewing numbers. CBS wins Friday consistently in terms of total viewers/eyeballs. They do no sell demos on Friday nights. If the  media is looking just at the demos, they are misunderstanding this project and its longer term value by looking purely at 18-49 demos. Just wrong in this context as the awards show generally have older appeal by nature (it is not the MTV awards, the AMA’s or the Grammys).”

Paul McCartney Flew Overnight from Brazil for Daughter’s Lincoln Center Tribute

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney Flew Overnight from Brazil for Daughter’s Lincoln Center Tribute

Paul McCartney, now 72 and spry as ever, still looked wiped out when he arrived at Alice Tully Hall on Thursday night. He’d flown overnight from Brazil, where he’s been on a stadium tour, so he could be at the Lincoln Center tribute to his successful and lovely daughter Stella McCartney.

Paul and wife Nancy were supposed to do the red carpet with Stella. But as they were literally coming from South America, the couple took their seats just as the lights went down and the program began. Whoever cut together the clips of Stella’s life and career used Paul’s song “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” as the background music. When Paul himself took the stage to help Jerry Seinfeld give Stella her award, the producers used “Band on the Run.” As Paul spoke, he actually started to break up. Very emotional. Wow.

Seinfeld had given Stella such a hard time on stage with nutty questions that McCartney quipped: “We used to like the Seinfeld family!”

The evening was a rare one. For one thing, it’s quite amazing how Yoko Ono has become an almost beloved sort of grandmother in the extended Beatles group. After decades of fighting, she and Paul seem quite at ease now. What was especially poignant was a moment I witnessed among the women– Nancy Shevell McCartney and Olivia Harrison were just lovely with Yoko, hugging her and having intimate chats. Nancy put her hand on Yoko’s back in a very affectionate way while they were talking.

There is a rich closeness now as the Beatles family has aged. Stella had her mother’s family present, the Eastmans– uncle John and aunt Louise, her mother Linda’s brother and sister. Dhani Harrison– I still can’t get over how he called Stella his “big sister” and played her favorite Everly Brothers song as well as her dad’s “Live and Let Die.” Dhani, by the way, has married a beautiful and smart, funny girl named Sola Karadottir, now Sola Harrison, who’s launched a line of popular evening wear called GalvanLondon. It looks like a very happy match.

dhani harrisonDhani, by the way, has his own group– The New No.2–and he’s got a great career scoring movies. His father would be very proud, and of course his mother is– Olivia Harrison is one the gentlest souls, and she’s done a miraculous job keep George’s legacy alive. She’s just released a box set of George’s most famous albums, all remastered.

Meantime, as far as Stella McCartney goes– she’s always in the newspaper, and her best pals are Liv Tyler and Gwyneth Paltrow. But she’s also the mother of 4 kids under the age of 9. She has a terrific husband named Alistair whom Seinfeld envies for being impeccably dressed at all times. Stella is as down to Earth as her late and wonderful mother Linda. You can see why she’s engendered so many loyal friends. Even the legendary Doris Day, who rarely speaks in public, sent an audio message to be played to the audience. Doris Day! (She and Paul are old friends.) That’s saying something.

PS Paul McCartney, you know, her father– has just reissued two of his gigantic albums from the 70s– Wings at the Speed of Sound, and Venus and Mars– in collector’s editions on Concord. They join McCartney, Ram, and Band on the Run in McCartney’s Archives collection. They’re beautifully done. I hope we get Red Rose Speedway, Wings Wild Life, and Flowers in the Dirt soon. There’s also a big McCartney tribute package for Christmas, with dozens of artists performing Paul’s songs. McCartney told me at the event: “To listen to Bob Dylan do one of my songs…” McCartney said, literally wide eyed. I’m telling you, he’s impressed.

 

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Watch Johnny Depp’s Drunk Speech Live on CBS: Captain Jack Sparrow Sways Crowd

Roger Friedman
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Watch Johnny Depp’s Drunk Speech Live on CBS: Captain Jack Sparrow Sways Crowd

Johnny Depp appeared to be quite drunk and unable to speak or stand properly on CBS’s Hollywood Film Awards. Depp was giving an award for best documentary to Mike Myers for his film about Hollywood manager Shep Gordon. The film is called “Supermensch.” Depp was not that in the least. Keep refreshing…

Shock Doc About Sexual Molestation in Hollywood Tries the Bryan Singer Case, Implicates Others– Much Worse Than Previously Described

Roger Friedman
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Shock Doc About Sexual Molestation in Hollywood Tries the Bryan Singer Case, Implicates Others– Much Worse Than Previously Described

Amy Berg’s “An Open Secret” may not come out and say “X Men” director Bryan Singer molested under age boys, but it’s certainly the impression that’s left with the viewer. The explosive documentary screened tonight at NYC DOCS to an emotional crowd with divided reactions. While the movie depicts carefully many examples of abuse– sexual, power, and otherwise– visited upon children by craven adults in the film business, it’s also going to be a field day for some lawyers.

It seems that Berg was working with Michael Egan for two years, she says, before as she puts it “he found a lawyer who thought he had a case” against Bryan Singer and three other defendants. The lawyer was Jeff Herman, who put on quite a show for the press. But by the end of this summer, the cases were dropped, settlements were paid. Berg was undoubtedly left high and dry by Egan, upon whose story she depended for the film. She went ahead it with it anyway. So Egan gets to press his story and accusations in “Open Secret” just Singer, Garth Ancier, Gary Goddard, and David Neuman thought they were in the clear.

Berg doesn’t like or trust me very much because I criticized her behavior in the West Memphis Three situation. But obviously she’s a good filmmaker, and her heart is in the right place. She sets up a narrative here in a couple of story lines that pay off like crazy. One is about a SAG committee chief named Mike Harrah who manages child actors. He seems like a good guy but by the end of the movie he’s resigned his post after being revealed as a molester himself. It’s tragic.

click here for today’s headlines–Paul McCartney, Hollywood Film Awards, Johnny Depp Drunk and more!

She also tells the heartbreaking story of Mark Ryan, who was Egan’s friend. In their original lawsuit of years ago, in a deposition, Mark Ryan details his molestation at the hands of nefarious pedophile Marc Collins- Rector. But then he drinks and drugs himself into a brain damaged state and lands in a nursing home. Egan says he holds himself responsible for introducing Ryan to these people, as well as Singer, et al.

Ryan’s parents are devastated, as are all the parents. But none of them explain how their sons could be lured into these messes. I am not saying it’s their fault. They were preyed upon. But Berg avoids examining what was going on at home that created so many gullible, naive and needy kids,  and why they fell for the manipulation of evil people.

Also told in detail is the terrible of story of Marty Weiss, who managed kids and young teens, and was convicted also of molestation. His lack of contrition or conscience is mesmerizing. He’s finally brought down by a brave kid named Evan, who secretly tapes his confession.

I assume “Open Secret” has been vetted by lawyers, but I doubt it will ever be released in this form. In addition to Mike Harrah, a Hollywood actor named Brian Peck continues to work despite his conviction as a sex offender. He’s also a BFF of who else but Charlie Sheen.

Another actor who won’t be too happy seeing himself in this film is Ben Savage, star of “Boy Meets World” and the new “Girl Meets World.” He’s seen visiting Collins- Rector’s infamous mansion probably a decade ago for what’s implied as a sex party. It breaks my heart to report this, but this is what happens when a movie is shown to a big, general audience. This was not a private screening.

Also thrown under the bus: Arianna Huffington’s gay ex husband Michael Huffington, who was briefly in Congress– according to this film, sexual and legislative.

As for Berg, I did ask her what she thought Singer and Singer (pitbull lawyer Marty, no relation, who reps Bryan) would make of this movie. She said, “I’m not saying Bryan Singer is a child molester. But he certainly was surrounded by them and hung out with them.”

Aaron Sorkin on The Newsroom: “Journalists Are Very Deeply Insulted By the Show”

Roger Friedman
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Aaron Sorkin on The Newsroom: “Journalists Are Very Deeply Insulted By the Show”

Aaron Sorkin stopped by HBO offices on Sixth Avenue last night for an interview after a private screening of episode two of the third and final season of “The Newsroom” for BAFTA members and their guests, many of whom were former newspeople.

The 53-year-old creator of “The West Wing” (along with “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “Sports Night”) also wrote “Moneyball” and won the Oscar for his screenplay for “The Social Network” about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg mogul. Next up is a Steve Jobs biopic that Christian Bale just exited with rumors Michael Fassbender will take over the lead role.

Sorkin started the interview by talking about how “The Newsroom” has been slammed by the media.

“The show has been very polarizing and I’ve got plenty of experience with negative reviews,” Sorkin noted. “But this is different because there are a number of critics, who are journalists, in their way” – the audience laughed – “who believe that what I’m doing is showing the professionals how it should have been done if only I’d been in charge. ‘Here is the right way to do news and I’m leveraging hindsight into heroism,’ which I assure you is not what I’m doing and in fact it’s not even what happens on the show. But they’re deeply, very insulted by the show.”

Sorkin went on to say the final season is the best, that he hadn’t been satisfied with the first two seasons. “This was the first season where I didn’t feel like had a pebble in my shoe writing the show.” He added, “The criticism I just mentioned, that I’m trying to show the pros how to do it, that’s silliness. There’s legitimate criticism of the show. I could write a negative review of the show if I wanted,” he went on to say.”

“After the second season I was not going to bring the show back for a third, for that reason and there were other commitments” Sorkin said. Richard Plepler, chairman and CEO of HBO, convinced him to come back. “I don’t think he wanted me to leave the show like that.”

How did he finally get into the rhythm of writing the show? He compared it to golf, which he doesn’t play, where a golfer “just keeps swinging” until he gets it right. “You just keep writing and you eventually find your groove but when you’re going through it, boy, there’s isn’t a more miserable feeling unless something wrong with your child. There isn’t a more miserable feeling in the world than that.”

As for accusations of his liberal bias, Sorkin said, “I have no political agenda, nor do I have much political sophistication at all,” he said. “ I’m not an activist. There are just great stories that suit my writing style, very romantic, very idealistic style.”

Sorkin went on to talk about newsroom dilemmas, like being first out with the news. “I’ve never understood the virtue of being two minutes earlier than someone else.I think you get bragging rights, that’s about it. I don’t think there’s a citizen who cares. And citizen journalism, those are the two scariest words I know,” he laughed. “

In the first episode of the final season the focus was on how the news channels got the Boston marathon bombing  wrong. The reported the Boston police department had a suspect in custody who turned out to be innocent. “Listen, obviously getting it right is incredibly important.” He added, “ I was saddened to see the next day, the day after that, in the couple days that followed the season premiere on Sunday, headlines saying “Newsroom Blasts (CNNY reporter) John King.” (This was the headline in the Daily Beast following the season premiere.)

“That was exactly the opposite of what my intention was,” he explained.

As for how he would fix Nightly News? “It would go out of business in a couple of weeks,” he said if they went by his plan, which would include gathering journalists and asking them to decide what the top story is to tell viewers with a total disregard for ratings. “I don’t want anybody talking about ratings, thinking about ratings,” he said. “My solution would bankrupt an organization.”

Sorkin was asked if he ever wanted to be a journalist and he said no, that what drew him to lawyers, politicians and journalists was the good conversations. “I grew up in that,” he said. “Everyone in my family is smarter than I am. All of my friends that I grew up with are smarter than I am. And so just growing up I really liked the sound of smart people arguing with each other and I wanted to imitate that sound and I kind of created the narrative for it.”

As for upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, which has been much in the news, “I’ve never met Steve Jobs in my life,” Sorkin said. “He called me three times. The first time was just out of the blue to say something nice about something I did that he liked. The second time he asked me to come up, write a couple Pixar episodes,” which never materialized. The last time he called was to help him with his Stanford commencement address in 2005. “I said of course…you tell me what you want to say and I’ll tell you how, so I would really little more than give him confidence that it was a great speech.”

About the Jobs film he added, “How the person actually walked and talked becomes not at all important to me. Any time you see a movie that begins with the words the following is a real story just remember that you’re looking at a painting and not a photograph.”

 

 

Confirmed: Two Time Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz to Play James Bond’s Newest Nemesis

Roger Friedman
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Confirmed: Two Time Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz to Play James Bond’s Newest Nemesis

Confirmed: Christoph Waltz, a back to back Oscar winner, will play James Bond’s nemesis in the new 007 movie directed by Sam Mendes. And since Bond 24, as it is still known, is supposedly a two-parter with Bond 25, maybe Waltz will be in both movies. Stay tuned.

Baz Bamigboye broke this story in the Daily Mail a couple of days ago, but it still wasn’t totally confirmed. So I’ve picked up the pace in the US. And what a great idea! since Waltz came into our lives four years ago with “Inglorious Basterds,”  he’s become an overnight sensation. Next week he’s getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Next month he opens in “Big Eyes,” directed by Tim Burton, with Amy Adams.

Last night “Big Eyes” opened to rapturous ovations at Film Independent’s LACMA screening in Hollywood. There’s already talk of a third Oscar nomination– and you know, when Waltz is nominated, he wins! He’s 2 for 2.

And what’s this character all about? “He is not a maniac, like Javier Bardem was in Skyfall,” says a source. “It seems he and James Bond may have a history. It’s very surprising and not just a crazy villain.”

Well, I should hope not! As a Nazi, Waltz waltzed into a French farmhouse in World War II, speaking German, and asked “May we speak English?” in Basterds. I mean, really. I bought an ink well because of him !

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