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Bad Rap: Court Dismisses Drake’s Defamation Suit Against Universal Music, Feud Over? Trump Asks for Nobel Peace Prize Again

Roger Friedman
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Bad Rap: Court Dismisses Drake’s Defamation Suit Against Universal Music, Feud Over? Trump Asks for Nobel Peace Prize Again

Donald Trump’s pleas for the Nobel Peace Prize may have finally found substance.

The rappe Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group and fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar has been dismissed.

Drake claimed that lyrics to Lamar’s hit record, “Not Like Us,” libeled him as a pedophile.

Trump had nothing to do with it, but may claim the end of this war as one of the many he’s resolved.

From the court’s motion:

“Over the course of 16 days, the two artists released eight so-called “diss tracks,” with increasingly heated rhetoric, loaded accusations, and violent imagery. The penultimate song of this feud, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, dealt the metaphorical killing blow. The song contains lyrics explicitly accusing Drake of being a pedophile, set to a catchy beat and propulsive bass line. “Not Like Us” went on to become a cultural sensation, achieving immense commercial success and critical acclaim.”

But Drake’s complaints were faint. The court concludes:

“Because the Court concludes that the allegedly defamatory statements in “Not Like Us” are nonactionable opinion, the motion to dismiss is GRANTED.”

So much for that.

Drake — real name Aubrey Graham — made a real mistake here. He turned “Not Like Us” into a massive hit that eventually won the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Music Video.

The so-called feud that resulted from this mess became a cause célèbre that mystified most people. Now the feud may be over, and the people in Oslo — wholly unaware of it — will have to decide if Trump’s overall message of peace was an influence on the judge.

Brett Ratner’s Melania Trump Infomercial Documentary Will Hit Theaters in January 2026, Covers 10 Days Before 2nd Inauguration

Roger Friedman
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Brett Ratner’s Melania Trump Infomercial Documentary Will Hit Theaters in January 2026, Covers 10 Days Before 2nd Inauguration

“Melania, Here I Am,” or whatever it’s called, is coming to theaters on January 26th.

This from Amazon/MGM, directed by Brett Ratner.

It’s an infomercial about the 20 days leading up to 2025 Inauguration last winter.

Ratner had “unprecedented access” to Melania, which will be interesting since she’s never with her husband, they don’t live together, and her 19 year old son is missing most of the time.

What we won’t see are her battles with step children or pajama parties with Kristi Noem. Will we see her with Paolo Zampoli, witness her speaking six languages, or going back to Slovenia to trace her past.

What we will see: Melania, in her Dracula accent, giving prepared speeches about her various meaningless causes.

Amazon paid Trump $40 million to stay out of their way.

Now look, I like Brett Ratner despite his many travails over the years. I don’t know if this is the way he can get back into Hollywood. It doesn’t seem like it. That will depend on how much fawning there is in this film, if there’s any objectivity, or any sign that Melania — famous “I really don’t care, do you?” — has any empathy for her husband’s legions of victims.

This should be good.

PS Whoever hires Paul Rudnick to review this movie will have the essay of the year.

Guess Who Has Released a Song for Toronto Blue Jays Fans? Canadian Legend Randy Bachman Rocks Out with Rapper SRE Isaac Asare

Roger Friedman
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Guess Who Has Released a Song for Toronto Blue Jays Fans? Canadian Legend Randy Bachman Rocks Out with Rapper SRE Isaac Asare

EXCLUSIVE Well, the Yankees lost last night to the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m disappointed, but that’s a whole other story.

Since the Blue Jays have exploded in the last couple of weeks rapper SRE Isaac Asare created a song to celebrate the occasion. It’s called “I Want it All,” which is also the name of a Queen hit the team uses from time to time.

The difference with this “I Want it All” is that Guess Who/Bachman Turner Overdrive legend, Randy Bachman, loved it when he heard it. Randy is Canadian, and over the top popular up north. He added a bunch of guitar licks and solos to Isaac’s song and now we have this very catchy tune.

As you know, Randy’s takin’ care of business!

Bad Bunny fans take note: SRE raps in Spanish beginning at 1:48 of the track and this is to pay tribute to many of the Jays players who are Spanish speaking and to also appeal to the large Spanish speaking audience of MLB.

Isaac says: “Once we had the rough mix completed, people in the studio felt that it was very powerful and that we had a potential hit. We heard and envisioned a massive guitar riff on it that we felt would take the song over the top, so with great aspiration we reached out to legendary guitarist and front man for Bachman Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, Randy Bachman. He listened to the song and now we have one of the greatest guitar legends and songwriters of all time, Randy Bachman playing his signature guitar on I Want It All. Randy wrote his guitar riff, which of course is monumental.”

The song was mixed and mastered by Jim Reitzel, mix and master engineer to Narada Michael Walden and Carlos Santana SRE Records.

A success? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

John Lennon Would Have Turned 85 Today, Global Listening Party Set for 3PM to Hear Tracks from His New Box Set, Light Peace Tower

Roger Friedman
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John Lennon Would Have Turned 85 Today, Global Listening Party Set for 3PM to Hear Tracks from His New Box Set, Light Peace Tower

John Lennon would have turned 85 years old today.

He’s been gone for 45 years, which is really insane. Mark David Chapman should never ever get out of jail.

But to celebrate John’s life, son Sean Ono Lennon is having a worldwide internet program at 3pm Eastern, and everywhere else simultaneously.

Click here to join the world.

The tracks on featured during the worldwide celebration will include three live performances from the iconic 1972 One To One concert, John’s only full-length performance after The Beatles, and six studio and live performances spanning the breadth of the expansive “Power to the People” box set which will be out tomorrow.

There’s also a Peace Tower lighting from Iceland that you can watch ImaginePeaceTower.com

And of course, there will be a lot of people singing in Central Park today at Strawberry Fields.

No Thanks, Tom Hanks: Theater Fans Aren’t Buying $400 Tickets to See Two Time Oscar Winner Way Off Broadway in New Self-Penned Play

Roger Friedman
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No Thanks, Tom Hanks: Theater Fans Aren’t Buying $400 Tickets to See Two Time Oscar Winner Way Off Broadway in New Self-Penned Play

It was only a few months ago that theater fans were outraged by ticket prices to see Denzel Washington in “Othello” and George Clooney in “Good Night and Good Luck.”

Producers were charging $900 a pop for the plays, and in some cases even more.

Right now, “Hamilton,” has a premium ticket priced at $1,500 to see their original Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr in a short return to the role of Aaron Burr.

Now Tom Hanks is facing real resistance to his off Broadway debut at The Shed, way off Broadway in Hudson Yards.

Hanks starts performances on October 31st in “This World of Tomorrow,” which he co-wrote and stars in with Broadway favorite Kelli O’Hara.

So far, tickets are not selling. They’re available for every performance in large quantities.

The only tickets that are sold for each night “at the very front of the theater.” They’ve been put aside for people under 30 years old, and cost just $45.

But the rest of the theater sells for $379 to $399 a seat. If you’re over 30, and bring a guest, “This World of Tomorrow” will cost $800, not to mention food and transportation to the real world of tomorrow, Hudson Yards.

Commenters on Instagram, where ads are running frequently, are outraged. “No one can afford this” is the gist of it with one commenter saying they couldn’t come even though they knew someone in the production.

The $399 ticket is heavy lifting for a totally new play, not a known legacy hit like, say, “The Gin Game” or “On Golden Pond.” It’s also a lot for a show that isn’t a musical, which would have show stopping sets and maybe a little dancing.

While Hanks is a movie superstar, he’s also not a big draw for the under-30 crowd. Maybe if Selena Gomez or Ayo Edibiri were his co-star there would be more interest from young people.

It’s unclear if Tom, the ultimate good guy, has any idea that right now he’ll be playing to half-empty houses. I tried to make contact through his publicist, but was rebuffed. So much for that.

What to do? Use some kind of AI technique for de-aging, then make a fake ID. If anyone mentions anything that happened in the world before 1995, just say “Oh, yeah. My parents told me about that.”

Dolly Parton: “I ain’t dead yet!” Beloved Superstar Says Rumors of Her Imminent Demise Have Been Exaggerated — Just Kidney Stones

Roger Friedman
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Dolly Parton: “I ain’t dead yet!” Beloved Superstar Says Rumors of Her Imminent Demise Have Been Exaggerated — Just Kidney Stones

Whew!

Dolly Parton is okay.

As the beloved superstar says in an Instagram video this morning, “I ain’t deed yet!”

One of Dolly’s sisters caused concern when she asked for prayers yesterday for the singer.

Thanks to another sister, Stella, we learned it was just a case of kidney stones.

I know what that’s like. It’s so freaking painful you need prayers!

But nothing can keep Dolly down. She’s one a kind, and a national institution.

God bless her!

Jennifer Lopez Oscar Hopes Could Be Muted by a Disappointing Weekend for “Kiss of the Spider Woman” with Disastrous Box Office

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lopez Oscar Hopes Could Be Muted by a Disappointing Weekend for “Kiss of the Spider Woman” with Disastrous Box Office

Last year, Jennifer Lopez — aka JLo– had a lovely turn in the Amazon MGM movie, “Unstoppable.”

When the movie played in Toronto, there was some Oscar buzz. If “Unstoppable” had had a real release, Lopez might have been in the conversation. But it was buried.

Now comes “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” The new take on the 1985 musical comes from Roadhouse Attractions. I jokingly call them Roadkill Attractions. Everything they touch turns to dross.

That seems to be the case for “Spider Woman.” Despite decent reviews, “Spider Woman” is set to have a dismal weekend.

I can’t be alone as a member of the Critics Choice Association and reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes when I say that I’ve never received even an email about the movie. Nothing, Nada. I was surprised to learn that they had a New York premiere this week (the same night as the Timothee Chalamet surprise screening at the New York Film Festival).

On Metacritic “Spider Woman” has a 60 rating. The number is higher on Rotten Tomatoes — 80 — but it’s inflated by bloggers and influencers. Top critics also have it around 60%.

“Spider Woman” is directed by Bill Condon, who’s had major hits with “Dreamgirls,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” He won an Oscar for writing “Gods and Monsters,” and also wrote “The Greatest Showman.” So he knows what he’s doing.

The cast actually stars Diego Luna — so popular from “Andor” — and a one-named actor called Tonatiuh, who’s getting high praise but I know nothing whatsoever about him. No one else does either. If he’s that good in the movie, that’s a shame.

“Spider Woman” opens tomorrow night in previews, with very few tickets sold despite JLo doing her damnedest to promote the film single-handedly. You can tell this whole enterprise is going to end in tears. Lopez’s one solution is to hire her own Oscar specialist, and not depend on Roadkill, er, Roadhouse. Otherwise, this will be a lot of work out the window.

How She Did It: Taylor Swift Sells 4 Million Albums in Debut Week, Breaks Record Because No Individual Tracks Could Be Sold

Roger Friedman
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How She Did It: Taylor Swift Sells 4 Million Albums in Debut Week, Breaks Record Because No Individual Tracks Could Be Sold

Taylor Swift is steaming toward a record sales week.

By the time the official count is in on Friday, Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” is expected to sell 4 million copies.

Most of those will come from downloading of the album and streaming of the songs.

But none of it will come from downloading individual tracks.

Even though Swift is number 1 on the iTunes album chart, she has no spots on the singles chart.

That’s because none of the individual tracks on “Showgirl” were available for separate downloading. If you want the album, you have to buy it all.

On streaming services, that’s a different story. Swift’s 12 new tracks take up the entirety of the top of the Spotify and Apple music streaming charts. You can listen over and over to each one separately.

But by forcing actual paid customers to take the whole album, Swift pushed all sales there. So if a fan liked “The Fate of Ophelia” more than “Wood,” it didn’t matter.

And the result is 4 million “Showgirl” copies sold.

Should she get an asterisk? The “album only” feature hasn’t been seen on iTunes in a long, long time. None of the albums “Showgirl” is surpassed, like Adele’s “25,” had that issue. Fans could cherry pick songs from the list. What if Adele’s fans had really just wanted “Hello” and “Water Under the Bridge”? They could get them and leave the others behind. If “25” had had “album only,” it might have sold another million.

But Swift’s team know how to get water from a rock. No one will ever know if the 4 million sales of “Showgirl’ came from 4 million people, or from 1 million buying several different iterations. It doesn’t matter to the bottom line. But it might account for the fervor that’s been created.

The success of “Showgirl” saves the record industry for 2025. No one — except maybe Bad Bunny — has come close to those numbers. The business is in a torpor, with most new releases struggling to sell 300,000 copies in their first week. Does the “Showgirl” sale lift all the boats around it? Probably not. The exception might be Sabrina Carpenter, who’s featured on Swift’s title track.

As I say every day, the Swift marketing team — which includes her father, Scott — should teach MBA courses at American’s top business schools!

Now the question remains: will Swift’s people allow the tracks onto the iTunes top 100 or stick to “album only”?

Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers May Have to Decide If Their Songs, “Life of a Showgirl” and “Cool,” Sound Pretty Similar

Broadway: “Hamilton” Sales Booming with Return of Tony Winner Leslie Odom, Jr, Up a Whopping 76% with $1,500 Premium Tickets

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: “Hamilton” Sales Booming with Return of Tony Winner Leslie Odom, Jr, Up a Whopping 76% with $1,500 Premium Tickets

“Hamilton” is on fire.

It’s all because of Leslie Odom, Jr.

The Tony winning star of “Hamilton” is back playing Aaron Burr for a limited run.

Odom began on September 9th. Since then, the box office has risen 76% weekly for the last four weeks. The totals went from $2.1 million to $3.7 million and don’t look like they’re slowing down at all.

Regular ticket prices are up over $1,000 for good seats, and $1,500 for premium.

“Hamilton” was no slouch prior to Odom’s return, but this more than anyone could have hoped for.

This does mean that the summer long promotion of the musical’s 10th anniversary has worked like magic. The very clever move to put the already filmed version of the show into theaters has yielded almost $17 million in the US and another $3.7 million internationally. In places like Mexico and the Phillippines they want to be in the room where it happens!

Odom remains in the cast through mid November.

Other shows: “Hell’s Kitchen” had a huge spike week before last when Alicia Keys performed with the cast after two shows. Box office zoomed up from $970K to $1.1 million. I know they were hoping the show would catch fire again. Alas, this past week saw receipts fall to $740K. Also, Christopher Jackson wrapped up his short stint playing Keys’s father. A solid show with great songs and performers, “Hell’s Kitchen” may be ready to lower the curtain soon.

If you want to see Tony and Emmy winner Laurie Metcalf in “Little Bear Ridge Road,” the play starts performance this Saturday. This marks the official return of Scott Rudin to producing after a four year time out for bad behavior. There are plenty of tickets every night at all performances.

All other shows are hanging in there despite high prices. “Art” and “Waiting for Godot,” the newest entries, are holding their own.

BTW, is Leslie Odom, Jr worth it? Um, yeah. Just seeing him in the big screen version made me want to go back to the live theater. I haven’t been able to stop humming those damn songs!

RIP Susan Kendall Newman, 72, Daughter of Paul Newman, Stepdaugher of Joanne Woodward: Philanthropist, Actress, Activist

Roger Friedman
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RIP Susan Kendall Newman, 72, Daughter of Paul Newman, Stepdaugher of Joanne Woodward: Philanthropist, Actress, Activist

I’m sure a lot of people were stunned this morning to see an obit for Susan Kendall Newman.

The 72 year old daughter of Paul Newman, and stepdaughter of Joanne Woodward, is said to have died from “chronic health conditions.”

Susan’s mother was Jackie Witte, Paul Newman’s first wife.

Susan’s number is in my phone. She was a huge help to me when I reported stories about trouble at the Newman Foundation, which runs Newmans Own, the philanthropic food company. She was so bright and articulate, and knew the inner workings of a troubled but important organization. I’m sending condolences to her family including her sisters, and Woodward, who is 95 and has suffered from Alzheimer’s for more than a decade.

Susan — who apparently died on August 2nd — had a Golden Globe, a Humanitas Award, and nominations for the Emmy, Peabody, and Grammy Awards. She was featured in the multipart documentary about Paul and Joanne directed by Ethan Hawke called “Just Movie Stars.”

Her amazing life is described in this link.

Again, many condolences.

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