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Musk SEC Filing Shows Trump Supporter Larry Ellison Invests $1 Billion in Twitter Purchase

Roger Friedman
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Musk SEC Filing Shows Trump Supporter Larry Ellison Invests $1 Billion in Twitter Purchase

If things weren’t bad before, get this.

A new filing from Elon Musk with the SEC shows that billionaire Larry Ellison, a huge supporter of conservative candidates and Donald Trump, has kicked $1 billion into the purchase of Twitter.

Ellison, who made his money with tech giant Oracle, hosted a Trump fundraiser two years ago. He’s donated millions to Trump and Republican PACs. His biggest donation was $15 million to a PAC supporting candidates like Susan Collins and Tim Scott.

Other major investors on the SEC report include Qatar Holding LLC, the Sequoia Capital Fund, Vy Capital, which is based in Dubai.

Musk is buying Twitter for $44 million.

Ex “General Hospital” Star Steve Burton in Real Life Soap Opera After Firing Over Anti-Vax Stance

Roger Friedman
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Ex “General Hospital” Star Steve Burton in Real Life Soap Opera After Firing Over Anti-Vax Stance

Steve Burton, who was part of “General Hospital” on and off for 30 years, is now in his own real life soap opera.

Yesterday, Burton announced that he was separated from his wife of 23 years and that she was pregnant with someone else’s baby.

The couple has three children of their own.

Just a few months ago, Burton was fired from “General Hospital” because he refused to get vaccinated. He was in violation of ABC Disney policy. He recently landed a five episode gig on NBC’s “Days of out Lives,” which is produced by Sony TV. Evidently, they don;t have a vaccine mandate.

It’s hard to imagine someone posting this on social media, but here we go. It’s definitely a new world in which there is no such thing as debasing oneself in public. Here, Burton has thrown himself, his wife, and his children all under the bus at the same time. This would only happen on a soap opera.

Warner Media Dumps the SAG Awards from TBS & TNT in Latest Tin Ear Cost Cutting Move

Roger Friedman
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Warner Media Dumps the SAG Awards from TBS & TNT in Latest Tin Ear Cost Cutting Move

That’s a wrap for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on the TNT and TBS Networks.

In the latest cost cutting move from Warner Media or Warner Discovery, the new owners have clipped a 25 year history based in the last two aberrational years of ratings.

Swell, huh?

But after Warner Discovery, the new entity, dumped CNN Plus without a tip of the hat, what did we expect? Last week the company decided to kill all scripted series from TBS and TNT, even with popular shows like “Snowpiercer” still in production. So the cuts just keep coming.

All awards shows went into decline with the pandemic and are just now pulling out of the ditch. The SAG Awards were a classy addition to TBS/TNT and certainly didn’t cost as much as the Oscars or the Golden Globes. It’s a two hour show, there are no big production numbers. It was just value added.

The other networks will kick the tires, and so will Netflix and Amazon and Apple for streaming. ABC can’t take them because of the Oscars. CBS’s Jack Sussman could be a hero if he picked them up, NBC is in a bind because of the Golden Globes although the SAG Awards would be an easy replacement.

So stay tuned. But not to TBS or TNT.

Broadway: Ariana DeBose to Host Tony Awards, “Plaza Suite” Books 3rd Extension with Broderick, Parker

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Ariana DeBose to Host Tony Awards, “Plaza Suite” Books 3rd Extension with Broderick, Parker

Some good Broadway news for a change.

Ariana DeBost is having a great year. She won the Oscar for “West Side Story” just six weeks ago. Today it was announced she’ll host the Tony Awards on June 12th. Ariana’s Oscar was for Best Supporting Actress as Anita. She has many other awards including a Tony nomination in 2018 for the Donna Summer musical.

The Tonys are going to be HOT this year: Hugh Jackman, Billy Crystal, Daniel Craig, Ruth Negga, Sutton Foster, the whole Michael Jackson musical, plus “Company” and Patti Lupone, etc plus finger crossed Bob Dylan fans will have “Girl from the North Country,” my choice for Best Musical. That’s a great show.

More good news: “Plaza Suite” starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker is such a hit they’re extending the run for a third time, until July 10th. Last week, “Plaza Suite” made $1.6 million. That’s box office for a musical, not a play. The audience is there and wants to see them. Bravo!

Update: Call it Anna Wintour’s “Med” Ball: Jon Batiste Performed, Now He and Band Are Sick

Roger Friedman
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Update: Call it Anna Wintour’s “Med” Ball: Jon Batiste Performed, Now He and Band Are Sick

UPDATE THURSDAY NIGHT 11PM: Jon Batiste and his band performed at the Met Ball. Now they’ve tested positive for COVID. And so it begins. Batiste has had to cancel a Carnegie Hall date on Saturday night. Unclear if he’ll be on Monday’s Stephen Colbert showm

earlier:

I don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so.

Guests who went to Saturday night’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington and the Inner Circle party in New York are reporting COVID positive tests in droves.

ABC’s JOnathan Karl was reported yesterday. Today, our pal Jada Yuan, the reporter who Tweeted out her fear of being in the Hilton ballroom, raised her hand, too. Jada Tweeted: “Welp. So I, too, got covid — and it sucks. It could have been the WHCD dinner I was covering or the surrounding events (also covering). Dinner had testing requirement, events did not. And now I’ll be missing a major international work trip I really wanted to do.”

Live from the dinner, she wrote: “This room is like a horror film. No exits. Literally getting trapped between tables. Fear of breathing near people but people are everywhere. Creeping sense that you’re the only one who know this is insane.”

Meanwhile several people who attended the press- heavy Inner Circle in New York on Saturday night have tested positive.

Next up will be guests from the celeb-heavy Met Ball, or what may become known as the Med Ball by tomorrow.

Rock Hall: Carly Simon, Dolly, Lionel, Eminem, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar

Roger Friedman
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Rock Hall: Carly Simon, Dolly, Lionel, Eminem, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is better than could have been expected.

Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran, the Eurythmics, and Pat Benatar are all in.

Heavy metal group Judas Priest got something called the Musical Excellent Award. But so did producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who really deserve it.

Harry Belafonte, who just turned 95, and Elizabeth Cotten, got the Early Influence Award.

And the Ahmet Ertegun Award for executives in the biz went to famed lawyer Allen Grubman, Interscope and Beats headphones founder Jimmy Iovine, and R&B exec-slash-singer Sylvia Robinson.

Yes, there are names missing, like Dionne Warwick, but I think we’ll see them next year.

For Dolly Parton, well, it was quite a rollercoaster with her saying she would decline the award. Then magically the other day she said she’d accept it. And now she’s got it. Funny how that all worked out!

This year’s ceremony will be held on November 5th at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and air later on HBO and HBO Max.

“SVU” Shocker: EP of NBC’s Long Running Hit Show Leaving After Year of “Law & Order” Upheaval

Roger Friedman
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“SVU” Shocker: EP of NBC’s Long Running Hit Show Leaving After Year of “Law & Order” Upheaval

This is a surprise.

Warren Leight, executive producer of “Law & Order SVU,” is leaving the show after a three year run. “SVU” is NBC’s 5th highest rated scripted show, and the ratings leader on Thursday nights sandwiched between the revived (and lukewarmly received) “Law & Order” classic and Chris Meloni’s flailing “Organized Crime.”

Leight returned three seasons ago after a break. He’d been with the series for five years, then left. During his absence, “SVU” went into a tailspin and was almost cancelled. But Leight revived the series. This is the 23rd season and it was thought he’d take it to its 25th.

But the whole Dick Wolf “Law & Order” situation has been a mess all season at other shows. “Organized Crime” trails in the ratings and depends on the Mariska Hargitay-starring franchise to stay alive. The “OC” executive producer Ilene Chaiken was let go a couple of months ago and replaced by Bryan Burroughs as the Meloni show’s ratings plummeted.

In February, Wolf revived the original “Law & Order” after failing to produced a show he promised NBC called “Law & Order: For the Defense,” That show simply never materialized after NBC cancelled the popular “Manifest” to make a “Law & Order” night out of Thursdays. For the first half of this season, with “For the Defense” on the air, NBC had to improvise until the revived “Law & Order” was ready.

The constant upheaval around crossover shows to bolster “Organized Crime” may have been what sent Leight to the doors. This week the 8pm show, “Law & Order,” announced that Hargitay would be crossing over to that show as well for their finale.

What’s most surprising about Leight’s exit is that in his three years, “SVU” ratings have increased tremendously. While all network shows have declined, “SVU” went from Season 21’s average of 3.6 million total viewers to this season’s 4.5 million. Meantime, “Organized Crime”‘s average this season has been just 3.37 million. “SVU” was also handily beating competitor “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC every week.

“SVU” fans will be sorry to see Leight go. He had a big following on social media, which built a community for the show’s hardcore viewers.

Leight kept it classy in a series of Tweets last night when “SVU” wrapped its 23rd season. (The bold facing is mine.) He wrote:

“The final day of shooting is always bittersweet. Today was a little more than that. As some of you have already figured out, I am stepping down at the end of #SVU23. The last two years of show running during a pandemic have been arduous, and I’ve decided to take a break.

It’s a privilege to work on #SVU, to write for @Mariska, @FINALLEVEL, @KelliGiddish, @PeterScanavino, @octaviopisano and all the former regulars and guest stars who come to our stage. It’s a joy to write with everyone @SVUWritersRoom, I’m especially grateful to @JulieMartinNY

And our on-set writer/producers @ItsAlwaysBreezy, @svubrendan and Bryan Goluboff. Speaking of producers, @Orsonb63, @ciliento and Ken Brown are the best in the business. Norberto somehow directed 5 eps this season, while shepherding 7 new-to-SVU directors thru their shoots.

At least once a week this year a brick came thru the window. This person quarantined, that location lost, another show fell behind and our guest star was no longer available. Each time casting, camera, design, wardrobe, locations, h/mu, props, drivers came up with a save

And when they didn’t, our editing room, led by the indefatigable genius, Arthur Forney did. Somehow the obstacles pulled us all closer together. The episodes stayed on track and seemed to get stronger the longer the season went on

It was an honor to work with this team, and I thank Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski, @WolfEnt, and Lisa Katz, Pearlena Igbokwe, Erin Underhill and @NBCUniversal for their support and that privilege

Finally, I’d like to thank the fans. You’ve stayed loyal to the show, and vocal in your support and occasional dismay, for 23 years. No other show can say that, and so you know, EVERYBODY at #SVU is grateful to you for that commitment. You too are part of this team.”

Keith Richards on Seeing Ronnie Spector for the Last Time, and the Unreleased Music They Made Together

Roger Friedman
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Keith Richards on Seeing Ronnie Spector for the Last Time, and the Unreleased Music They Made Together

The late great Ronnie Spector has a newly revised version of her memoir, “Be My Baby,” published yesterday by Henry Holt. The book was out of print for years. But in the months before her death Ronnie went back through it, fixed it up, and added a postscript about her life post-Phil Spector.

Ronnie also added a new foreword by Keith Richards. They were friends since they first met in 1964 in what Keith recalls as a “dank” UK nightclub, where the Ronettes and Stones were on tour together. “It was love at first sight,” Keith recalls.

The friendship was meant to be for a lifetime. For the last 20 or more years, Keith and Patti Hansen, and Ronnie and husband Jonathan Greenfield lived near each other in western Connecticut. Keith says right before 9-11, Ronnie started coming over to record in his home studio. They recorded a cover of Ike and Tina Turner’s “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.” They also did a duet called “Love Affair.” Keith writes, “Then came the bomb,” and that was it. He says he still has tracks he hopes to put out one day– I sure wish he would do it soon.

Keith says the last time he saw — and heard — Ronnie was in March 2020 right before the pandemic. He was in the dentists’ chair in New York and suddenly heard her singing “Be my little baby…”

“She was having her teeth done the same day and decided to surprise me with a serenade,” he says.

Tomorrow is Ronnie’s memorial service. I was honored to be invited but cannot attend because one of my nieces is graduating from college. I wish I could be there. Ronnie was unique, a sweetheart who survived the pioneering days of pop, to say the least. That voice, her voice! It never fails to cut through the noise, it’s so distinctive — not just the Ronettes hits, but all the records she made in the late 70s and early 80s like “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with the E Street Band, and “Take Me Home Tonight” with Eddie Money. For me, I hear it, I’m gone. So raise a glass to Ronnie tomorrow. She will always be missed, but live on and on in our ears.

Andrew Lloyd Webber No Prince Charming as He Decides to Shut Down London “Cinderella” Without Telling Cast or Director

Roger Friedman
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Andrew Lloyd Webber No Prince Charming as He Decides to Shut Down London “Cinderella” Without Telling Cast or Director

If you think we have problems…

In London, Andrew Lloyd Webber who functions as a “composer” and “producer” is in hot water. His production of “Cinderella” in the West End will shutter on June 12th. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell the cast.

According to reports from Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye and others, the cast and crew got the news via social media. Apparently, a new cast was coming in, and ALW decided it was too expensive to train them. So he pulled the plug.

According to Bambigboye, even the director didn’t know what was going on. A Brit, Laurence Connor was en route home from Australia when he got a message from Webber that “Cinderella” would close. When Conner landed in the UK he learned that this privileged information was all over the place. Everyone involved knew, and they were furious.

Now there are picketers from London theatre union Equity in front of the Gillian Lynne Theater.

Even with all this bad publicity, Webber plans to bring “Cinderella” to New York next February 2023 for a Tony run. Connor was actually here prior to the Aussie trip to start casting the Broadway version. The man who wrote “Memory” doesn’t think the Broadway press has one, I guess, but this debacle will certainly come up when he gets here.

If you’re asking yourself, isn’t there a famous Rodgers and Hammerstein “Cinderella,” well yes there is. But does that matter to ALW, author of some of the most, uh, music in theater history? No. He thinks we should forget “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?” and “In My Own Little Corner” and Julie Andrews and all that. In 1965, the TV version, starring Leslie Ann Warren as Cinderella and Stuart Damon as Prince Charming (later the star of “General Hospital”) scored 42.5 million viewers. It was played eight times more in reruns over the next nine years.

But Andrew Lloyd Webber is no Prince Charming. Neither is he Rodgers nor Hammerstein. So keep an eye on this one. Should be a jolly good time when they all arrive in New York next winter.

Here’s Damon and Warren:

Paul McCartney Seems to Have Retired “Yesterday,” Hasn’t Performed It Since 2018

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney Seems to Have Retired “Yesterday,” Hasn’t Performed It Since 2018

I’m getting excited about Paul McCartney’s new tour. It just launched in Spokane, Washington, and comes to Giants Stadium on June 16th, two days before Paul’s 80th birthday.

Reports from the early shows are ecstatic, of course. Paul is playing lot of Beatles, Wings, and solo hits.

But one song he’s not playing is his most famous: “Yesterday.” It wasn’t included in his 2019 “Freshen Up” tour and hasn’t appeared in the new set lists. In fact, McCartney hasn’t played “Yesterday” since 2018. Even then, the famed mega hit was only heard 5 times.

Is Paul tired of “Yesterday”? He’s talked about it a lot in the recent documentaries. We all know the story of how he dreamed it, and thought it couldn’t be original. The first lyrics were “Scrambled eggs” until he wrote in the words we’ve all come to know so well.

Maybe by the time Paul’s “Get Back: tour hits the NY area he’ll relent and revive “Yesterday.” I sure hope so. It’s not long and doesn’t have a lot of instrumentation, for god’s sake. But to many, it’s the song that ‘made’ the Beatles.

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