UPDATING
Justin Baldoni and his wife Emily have posted their first ever comments about Blake Lively and the lawsuits surrounding “It Ends with Us.”
In the video, the couple say they are “healing” from the experience of having their names dragged through the mud by Blake Lively. They can’t believe “it was designed as a fight for women.”
The couple is “feeling immense gratitude” but that “doesn’t negate the injustice and pain” they’ve experienced.
See below.
This should be interesting.
FIFA, a corrupt organization that’s in the pocket of Donald Trump, has found a perfect partner.
They’re producing an 11 minute halftime show with the very sketchy Global Citizen for the World Cup finale. Stars include Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS, Shakira, Burna Boy, Coldplay and NY Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
What could go wrong? The two organizations have started something called the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, and that alone should make everyone nervous.
Global Citizen, as I’ve often reported, does not give much money now to anyone. They collect money from sponsors for rock concerts and gigantic salaries.
All we know about FIFA right now is that they take orders from Donald Trump, to whom they gave a phony Peace Prize.
The Fund’s goal, they say, is “to raise $100 million to expand access to education and football for children across the world. The Fund has already raised $50 million and will match $1 from every ticket sold to World Cup matches in a donation to the tournament.”
Read the end of that quote. They’re raising money as a “donation to the tournament”? What? Hello?
Warning: Apparently there will never be a tax filing for the new Fund. The two groups will file separately, and we will never know what happened.
Please, do not give any money to this fund unless you’re so rich you don’t know what to do with your disposable income. A fool and his money are soon parted.
I’ll be curious on July 19th to see how Chris Martin of Coldplay crams all these people into an 11 minute segment. Madonna is promoting her album. Bieber is looking for income that doesn’t involve touring. The rest of them want publicity. They’d better all get their fees up front in cash.
Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, the Rolling Stones members in London tonight surprised fans.
At a listening party for the new Stones album, “Foreign Tongues,” the guys put on a performance of a new song. As you can see below, they sounded great even though Keith Richards wasn’t with them.
Here’s the report from their Twitter account: “Some very lucky fans won a place at a special listening party at Metropolis Studios in London yesterday, where the Stones recorded their new album, Foreign Tongues.
“Fans traveled from around the world, including Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Australia, to hear the album in full, ahead of its release on Friday. With Keith busy promoting the record in the US, Mick and Ronnie joined host Matt Everitt for a conversation about the making of the album and much more.”
“Foreign Tongues” is a sensational album. It arrives Thursday at midnight full of cool tracks like this one, “Ringing Hollow.”
So this just happened in London…
Mick and Ronnie have surprised guests at a special event, with a performance of Ringing Hollow, from the new album Foreign Tongues – out this Friday! pic.twitter.com/c2mmwL03Z4— The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) July 8, 2026
Big snubs from the Emmy Awards!
“Euphoria” was left out of Best Drama. Stars Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney were also omitted. Colman Domingo is in as Guest Actor in a Drama.
Only Zendaya made the cut.
For “The Bear,” no Jeremy Allen White, the actual star. The show was nominated for Best Comedy — which it won’t win since it’s not a comedy. And Ayo Edibiri was nominated for Best Actress, Comedy.
But from “The Bear,” Rob Reiner received a nomination for Guest Actor in a Comedy. He will win, hands down. Jamie Lee Curtis was nominated for Guest Actress in a Comedy. But none of the other regular cast in that show, including Ebon Moss Bacharach, or Liza Colon, who presented the nominations today and is a past winner.
Some other snubs: no Selena Gomez or Steve Martin from “Only Murders.” No supporting players from “Only Murders” either.
Also, no nomination for Paul Anthony Kelly who played JFK Jr in “Love Story.” Sarah Pidgeon was nominated for Best Actress, Constance Zimmer for supporting. No one else.
Congrats to Tom Pelprey, from “Task,” Best Supporting Actor in “Task,” the HBO drama.
“The Pitt,” “Hacks,” and “Widow’s Bay” led with the most nominations– 25, 24, 19 respectively.
“Saturday Night Live” received 11 nominations but none for the main cast. Nothing for Ashley Padilla, the show’s MVP this year! I’m calling the president of FIFA!
My biggest issue: Only two noms for actors in “The Gilded Age”– Carrie Coon as Bertha, and Merrett Weaver as Guest star. None of the male actors? Are you kidding? No Christine Baranski or Cynthia Nixon? So many great performances on that show!
keep refreshing…
Lead actress ltd series
Claire Danes, Sally Field, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Pidgeon, Sarah Snook
Lead actor ltd series
Riz Ahmed, Jason Bateman, Charlie Hunnam, Oscar Isaac, Matthew Rhys
Ltd series
All Her Fault, Beast in Me, Beef, DTF ST Louis, Love Story
Lead actor comedy
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Steve Carell, Matthew Rhys, Jason Segel, Martin Short
Lead actress comedy
Quinta Brunton, Ayo Edibiri, Elle Fanning, Lisa Kudrow, Jean Smart,
Comedy Series
Abbott, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders, Shrinking, Widow’s Bay
Lead actress drama
Carrie Coon, Chase Infiniti, Keri Russell, Rea Seahorn, Zendaya
Lead actor drama
Sterling K Brown, Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo, Rufus Swell, Noah Wyle
Best drama
The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, Knight of 7 Kingdoms, Paradise, The Pitt, Pluribus, Slow Horses, Your Friends and Neighbors
Emmy nominations are coming at 11:30 this morning.
In the mix: “The Pitt,” “Pluribus,” “Shrinking,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Abbott Elementary,” and so on.
But two shows won’t turn up in the announcement. “Heated Rivalry” comes from Canada, so they’re not eligible — although you can guess the stars will be heavily featured and promoted for the Emmy telecast.
Also, “The Bear” final season will be eligible next year since it just dropped.
Lots of familiar faces otherwise. Almost nothing from network TV.
Stay tuned…
Big music catalog sale this morning.
Mick Jones of Foreigner has sold his entire catalog — everything he owns, basically — to Primary Wave.
That includes one of the best pop songs ever written — “I Want to Know What Love Is” — plus hits like “Urgent,” “Cold as Ice,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” and so on.
No word on how much the deal is worth, but it’s definitely north of $100 million. Those songs are ripe for commercials and other uses. We’re going to be hearing them all very soon.
In a statement, Mick says the band will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a documentary and big celebration including a live show at Ellis Island with original members Lou Gramm and Al Greenwood.
Congrats to Mick and his whole family. A nice pay off for a great career!
The only time Mariska Hargitay won an Emmy Award for playing Olivia Benson was 20 years ago, in 2006.
The star of 27 seasons of “Law and Order SVU” went to more nominations but her final one was in 2011.
But now, she gets the last laugh. NBC’s longest running star will host the Emmy Awards this September on her home network.
This has been a big year for Hargitay. She just had a stint on Broadway in a one woman show, “Everything’s Brilliant.”
Her documentary, “My Mother Jayne,” about her late movie star mother, Jayne Mansfield, was highly praised and won a raft of awards. Catch it if you can — it’s terrific.
But it’s her run as Olivia Benson, the pioneering detective turned captain in the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD, that is her calling card. Almost three decades have passed, and Hargitay has never hit a lull. Her performance is consistently good, a high standard for TV or movies.
The Emmys have long ignored procedural dramas, no matter how big a star might be featured. For example, Angela Bassett is on “911,” and gets no attention. Linda Hunt was on “NCIS New Orleans” forever. There’s so much talent, but a lot of snobbery. Almost no broadcast shows get any nominations.
For Mariska, this has to be sweet vindication. And NBC isn’t stupid. Olivia Benson is incredibly popular. Hargitay radiates good vibes. The Emmys may finally get a rating. And think of all the actors who’ve worked on “SVU” over the years. The whole Emmys could be a running gag about Hargitay employing all of Hollywood.
Nicely done!
Ed Sheeran is plotting his comeback as a chart topping pop star.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sheeran is signing with Universal’s Interscope Records after leaving Atlantic Records in March.
Sheeran must have been eager to leave Atlantic. He’s leaving behind his catalog of hits like “Perfect,” “Shape of You,” and “The A List.” They will stay with Atlantic for the time being.
The carrot topped pop singer just played a show in Denver last Saturday night after attending pal Taylor Swift’s wedding-zilla in New York. He’s kind of sauntering through a tour that takes him next to Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium on July 18th. So far, ticket sales are moderate to good.
Sheeran had a hot run of chart-topping singles and albums for several years. But a lawsuit — which he won — over his song “Thinking Out Loud” — did him some damage. His life also changed, as he married and had children.
Interscope is the home of Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, and Billie Eilish among others. He couldn’t be in a better place to get on track with a new album and back on the charts.
Sounds “perfect.”
Ok, this is weird.
The instrumental version of Madonna’s “Confessions II” album is number on iTunes.
It’s ahead of three other versions, all with Madonna’s vocals.
Well, Stuart Price’s production on “Confessions II” is really amazing. I suppose it could be listened to without the vocals or words to the songs.
But the album is Madonna’s, and I’d think her fans would like to hear her sing the songs.
Right now, Madonna holds the top positions on iTunes. Instrumentals is first, followed by a “Grindr” edition. This is not chicken parm. It’s her loyal core gay audience. According to the website, it’s a vinyl LP picture disc with a nonstop mix of the original tracks.
Soon there will be editions for every kind of Madonna fan. I’m looking forward to polka Confessions.
The result, by the way, is that “CII” is selling 101,000 copies this week and should come in at number 1.
Really, the instrumentals are nice, but I think Madonna might take offense that the fans don’t want to hear her voice. Amirite?
UPDATED
So sad to see that Louise Lasser has passed away.
The comic genius of an actress was 87 and died of natural causes here in New York.
Lasser was most famous for starring in Norman Lear’s offbeat nightly droll satirical soap opera, “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” in the mid 1970s.
Mary Hartman was a midwestern wife with a lot of problems including a cheating husband a father was who was a flasher in their little town of Fernwood, Ohio. The show was a divisive send up of middle American values, way ahead of its time. Mary was played by Lasser as alternately clueless and wily.
Just to say, I was addicted to “Mary Hartman” for two seasons before it became “Fernwood Tonight” with Martin Mull and Fred Willard, which was equally hilarious.
Louise Lasser came to “Mary Hartman” from three Woody Allen movies. The couple was married from 1966 to 1971. She was featured in “Bananas,” “Take the Money and Run,” and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.” Her comic delivery and presence were something from the future and the past simultaneously. She was brilliant.
Woody Allen tells me: “She was a true original.”
Lasser was very eccentric, and into the 1980s her career had no particular trajectory. She has a lot of credits on the imdb including “Girls” on HBO, but nothing could rival her work in the 70s.