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Hollywood Comes to the Hamptons for Superstar Fundraiser: Julianne Moore, Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo, Wendell Pierce — More!

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Comes to the Hamptons for Superstar Fundraiser: Julianne Moore, Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo, Wendell Pierce — More!

East Hampton is bracing itself for the biggest celebrity event in years.

Two dozen stars will descend on Guild Hall the night of August 25th for a benefit reading of the Oscar winning screenplay for “All the President’s Men.”

This unique gathering is to raise money for a former Manhattan church at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th St. The landmark building is called The Center at West Park, and it’s in constant danger of being torn down by developers.

The great John Benjamin Hickey is directing this massive read that stars Julianne Moore, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Wendell Pierce, Nathan Lane, Alec Baldwin, Corey Hawkins, J Smith-Cameron from “Succession,” Talia Balsam, CNN’s Dana Bash, Ali Wentworth, Victor Garber, Spencer Garrett, Maddie Corman, Andy Cohen, Ramy Youssef, and several others.

It’s hard to imagine all these people on the same stage. What will the audience be like? You can expect Carl Bernstein, who wrote the book and did the legendary investigative reports in the Washington Post with Bob Woodward.

All of this to save WestPark, an important New York landmark that is threatened with removal and replacement. We don’t need any more $5 million condos, that’s for sure!

“All the President’s Men” screenplay was written by the legendary William Goldman. The movie was directed by the towering Alan Pakula. The movie won four of its eight Oscar nominations including screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards. It’s the paradigm for every movie since then about journalists and a stunning work.

Tom Cruise Turned Down Trump Offer of Kennedy Center Honor, Citing Work Conflict, But He’s Not Shooting Anything in December

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise Turned Down Trump Offer of Kennedy Center Honor, Citing Work Conflict, But He’s Not Shooting Anything in December

Tom Cruise didn’t want to be part of Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center travesty.

The Washington Post says Cruise turned down Trump’s offer of an honor, citing scheduling conflicts.

But the Kennedy Center event is usually the first week in December. Cruise has nothing in production set for that time. He will have finished “Broadsword,” and maybe in pre-production for “Top Gun 3.”

Even if he were in a shoot, a two day jaunt to Washington, DC would be nothing for globe-trotting Cruise. And nothing is required besides just showing up. Others would have done tributes to him.

Cruise may not be the only potential honoree to decline being involved in Trump’s crapfest. That’s the likeliest reason the list of honorees is so dreadful. Who would say yes other than a small group of right wingers? Better yet, who will appear in the presentation? And who will be in the audience? The mind boggles.

Cruise can easily wait it out until 2029, when he would definitely be candidate for a Kennedy Center honor. Who knows what his personal beliefs are? But as a savvy box office man, he’s wise enough to know that doing anything to support Trump would turn off a chunk of his audience.

Carly Simon Coming Around Again: Remake of 1986 Hit with Alanis Morissette Jumps to Number 3 on iTunes Top 100

Roger Friedman
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Carly Simon Coming Around Again: Remake of 1986 Hit with Alanis Morissette Jumps to Number 3 on iTunes Top 100

Surprise!

As Clive Davis says, great songs never die. He should know. Back in 1986, he signed up Carly Simon and had a huge hit with “Coming Around Again” from the movie, “Heartburn.”

Almost 40 years later, Simon is back with the same song and it’s number 4 in iTunes.

This time, Simon sings with Alanis Morissette. It’s the latter’s record, but Carly is featured since she wrote it. They recorded it for a new movie called My Mother’s Wedding, directed by Kristin Scott Thomas starring Sienna Miller and Scarlett Johansson.

The movie is not getting great reviews, but the song is a hit. It’s time for younger artists to hit that Carly Simon catalog. It’s a treasure trove!

Exclusive: R&B Legend Gladys Knight is Just Fine, Doesn’t Have Dementia, and Is Not Being “Forced to Tour” — I Just Spoke to Her

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: R&B Legend Gladys Knight is Just Fine, Doesn’t Have Dementia, and Is Not Being “Forced to Tour” — I Just Spoke to Her

Gladys Knight is A Okay.

I just spoke to the R&B legend and her husband, William McDowell. They were in their car driving in North Carolina, and picked up the phone when they saw my number.

Yesterday they spoke to Dionne Warwick.

Why all the calls? A rumor went out on the wire that Gladys had dementia and was being “forced to tour” by William, who is also her manager.

The scurrilous reports came from Gladys’s son, Shanga, filing a complaint against them in NC alleging elder abuse. It was very alarming. Gladys is a national treasure.

But good news: the famed singer of “Midnight Train to Georgia” is perfectly fine, well and alive, and making perfect sense.

Gladys told me, by the way, she will likely be in attendance at the US Open. She’s a huge tennis fan.

Gladys will also be on tour with her pals Patti Labelle, Stephanie Mills and Chaka Khan again soon. Believe me, they won’t let anything bad happen to her.

As for the son, Shanga, we’ll stay out of private family matters. But he needn’t worry about his amazing mom!

Here’s Gladys performing at Clive Davis’s 2024 Grammy pre-party.

Trump’s Kennedy Center for the Walmart Crowd Ignores Awards Charter: No Classic Music, Dance, Jazz, Latin Inductees

Roger Friedman
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Trump’s Kennedy Center for the Walmart Crowd Ignores Awards Charter: No Classic Music, Dance, Jazz, Latin Inductees

Much will be written about the crappy choices made by Donald Trump for his version of the Kennedy Center Honors.

Everything about his choices violates the Honors’ charter and reason for being.

The nominees are country star George Strait, “”Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, disco queen Gloria Gaynor, plus rock group KISS, and “Phantom of the Opera” star Michael Crawford.

Trump, a Luddite who has no cultural background, went for the Walmart crowd. He wants Tiffany & Co. to strike a new medal for this group, but it’s really Kohl’s which should have the contract. Nothing about this group says “Tiffanys.”

He’s overlooked classical music and dance, the staples that fill the actual Kennedy Center with audiences. No opera. No Jazz. No Latin influenced art. The great stars that should have honors — like Denzel Washington or Liza Minnelli — are not included. No Broadway star who is current. See below” Crawford is from long ago, and not even American.

The worst choice is Gaynor, who had one hit, “I Will Survive.” That’s it. She covers female and Black, and maybe even gay, so she bizarrely made the list.

Michael Crawford is, I’m sure, a nice guy. He played Barnaby in “Hello, Dolly!” His turn as the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical for dullards was the extent of his leading man roles. But Trump knows the show, at least vaguely, just as he may know one or two songs from “Les Miserables.”

KISS — a B list band. Lots of fun, but nothing serious. Nothing remotely musical, just a lot of theater, makeup, and loud rock and roll.

Stallone — recently named as one of Trump’s “Hollywood ambassadors.” He’s famous for “Rocky” and “Rambo” movies. In the last couple of years he posted antisemitic tweets about “Rocky” producer Irwin Winkler because he thought Winkler should give him the “Rocky” rights back. Winkler made Stallone’s career, then revived it with “Creed.” I guess we’re lucky that Mel Gibson and Jon Voight weren’t chosen.

George Strait — country star, which fits Trump’s Cracker Barrel mentality. Very conservative. Lee Greenwood must be miffed.

So far, there’s no TV producer for the CBS show in December. Even Trump pal Mark Burnett, I’m told, is not getting involved as Trump has sent him to the UK as a special envoy.

Trump himself will host the show, which means good hate-watching for his blunders and blusters. How many times will he attack Joe Biden? It should be hilarious and the source for video memes galore.

But the CBS audience will not turn out for this show. The other networks can plan knockout competitive programming that will beat the new Kennedy Center/Trump awards handily. Just wait for NBC and ABC to come up with specials for that night. They’ll win, hands down.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono Getting 12 Disc Box Set “Power to the People” with Many Unreleased Tracks from Their Anti-Vietnam War Period

Roger Friedman
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono Getting 12 Disc Box Set “Power to the People” with Many Unreleased Tracks from Their Anti-Vietnam War Period

Sean Ono Lennon is really work to cement his parents’ legacy, especially John’s post-Beatles.

He’s put together a massive box set called “Power to the People” with 12 discs covering the couple’s anti-Vietnam war period.

The central part is a whole remixed “One to One” concerts, with spanking new versions of the two main shows, and a hybrid of the two shows.

There’s a lot to unpack in this box for Lennon-Ono fanatics. “The One To One concert was our effort in Grassroots Politics,” writes Yoko Ono Lennon in the Preface to Power To The People. “It embodied what John and I strongly believed in – Rock for Peace and Enlightenment. And this one in Madison Square Garden turned out to be the last concert John and I did together. Imagine Peace. Peace is Power. Power To The People!”

(It was indeed the last concert John and Yoko did together as he left her shortly thereafter for May Pang, and recorded big hits over an infamous 18 month period.)

The package includes a 204-page deeply researched hardback book designed and edited by Simon Hilton featuring an oral history about all the included music through the words of John & Yoko and those involved sourced from both archival and new interviews. The book is illustrated with unseen photos, lyrics, drawings, tape boxes and memorabilia. Additionally, the set includes a newspaper print poster, sticker sheets and a VIP envelope containing replica concert tickets, backstage and aftershow passes that “have all been uniquely reproduced with textured, archival materials.”

OK, cool. I’m more interested in the dozens of unreleased home studio and demo tracks, especially the ones recorded at the St. Regis Hotel, and four tracks recorded with folk great Phil Ochs in Michigan.

Again, there’s a lot here, and if you’re interested in a graduate class in John & Yoko’s peace work, it sounds like the gift of a lifetime. The whole thing is outlined in painstaking detail at www.johnlennon.com.

Here’s the newly remixed, sparked up “Come Together” from the “One on One” concert.

Taylor Swift- Travis Kelce Podcast Sends 14 of Singer’s Albums Back onto the iTunes Top 100, Plus a $3K Vinyl Album on Amazon

Roger Friedman
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Taylor Swift- Travis Kelce Podcast Sends 14 of Singer’s Albums Back onto the iTunes Top 100, Plus a $3K Vinyl Album on Amazon

The Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift podcast was certainly a hit.

Over 1.3 million people viewed the initial broadcast on YouTube.

The result is that 14 Swift albums are back in the iTunes top 100 after a short lull in Taylor mania.

There’s also an orange vinyl edition of Swift’s album, “Reputation,” for sale on amazon for a stunning $2,999. I’m not making that up. According to amazon, the LP comes from Swift’s former label, Big Machine, which she left and then they, of course, sold off her masters. There are plenty of copies available. (I was able to add 14 to my basket before canceling.)

All of this is in anticipation of Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” for October 3rd. The album is just 12 songs, all produced (co-written) by hitmaker Max Martin. Swift has left her long time producer Jack Antonoff for a poppier, top 40 sound.

“Showgirl” is already taking advance orders on CD, cassette, and vinyl so that when it hits amazon, it will debut at number 1. But did we have any doubt of that?

And Just Like That, “Sex and the City” Sputters to an End: Actors Had Two Days Notice Show Was Ending After 27 Years

Roger Friedman
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And Just Like That, “Sex and the City” Sputters to an End: Actors Had Two Days Notice Show Was Ending After 27 Years

And just like that, “Sex and the City” sputters to an end tonight.

The HBO comedy premiered on June 6, 1998, and ended on February 22, 2004, with 94 episodes aired over six seasons.

The concept returned in two feature films, in 2008 and 2010, while a third was scuttled because everyone had had enough of it.

But never count “Sex and the City” out. In 2021, it reanimated as “And Just Like That,” minus star Kim Cattrall but with the return of Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis.

But the new show began with a downer: Chris Noth, who’d played “Big” from the beginning, was killed off. (Then Noth had his own problems.) This was followed by the real life death of actor Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch. (The show has never acknowledged that.)

And now, just like that, it’s all over. Tonight’s episode on HBO MAX is the last. It’s not really a series-ender, as I’m told the production had no notice that they were wrapped up. The very last scene could have been added in the last two weeks, but otherwise season 3, episode 12 is just another installment. It feels like they thought they were coming back.
There are many things we’ll never know, with lots of storylines unresolved. But that’s life. At least the last scene doesn’t cut to black.

“And Just Like That,” from the beginning, was for hate watching only. The series went extremely “woke” in its quest to add diverse characters. A few of them didn’t make it to the second or then third season. (The right ones did.) By far, the most polarizing character ever was Chi Diaz, a non binary comedian played by Sara Ramirez from “Grey’s Anatomy.” She/they scared off most of the audience. It was all too much.

Is this is the end? I think so. Everything about “And Just Like That” was about consumption, living very large in a New York fantasy. All the characters had a lot of money, and flaunted it. The add-on series was all about the Upper East Side from the 1980s, albeit without the drugs. It should have been called “The Sweet Smell of Excess.”

Some things I never understood about the series: the main characters didn’t seem to have any family, no parents or siblings or cousins. Even when Big died, Carrie was alone except for her friends. They existed in a vacuum. They lived in New York but didn’t really go to theaters or museums or bodegas or use mass transit, just occasional art shows. I know it was a comedy, but it didn’t plumb the humor of even, say, the ladies getting their senior OMNY cards. And it only got worse in “And Just Like That.”

So say goodbye tonight if you’re still watching. Hang on for a little treat during the closing credits.

Watch Taylor Swift Announce New Album for October 3rd on Kelce Podcast, Says Travis “Didn’t Know What Hamlet Was, But I Explained it To Him”

Roger Friedman
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Watch Taylor Swift Announce New Album for October 3rd on Kelce Podcast, Says Travis “Didn’t Know What Hamlet Was, But I Explained it To Him”

Taylor Swift appeared with boyfriend Travis Kelce on his podcast with brother Jason last night.

Over 1.3 million people watched it. Taylor has never revealed so much or been so honest.

She announced the release of her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” for October 3rd.

She underscored that she and Kelce are dating. She did not say engaged.

The video is below, and it’s fascinating. Taylor talks about her father’s heart scare, and there’s a lot of detail about their lives.

“Showgirl” consists of 12 songs, all produced by Max Martin and Shellback. It sounds like she’s going for big pop hits by not using her regular producer, Jack Antonoff. There’s even a song called “Elizabeth Taylor.”

Kelce says he’s listened to all the songs — “they’re bangers.” He says the album is not as esoteric as Swift’s previous work. He admits he knows the meaning now of “esoteric.”

Swift interrupts: “He didn’t know what Hamlet was, but I explained it to him.”

Eric Idle and John Cleese Are Having Trouble Communicating Over the End of Monty Python Pictures: “It’s Dead”

Roger Friedman
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Eric Idle and John Cleese Are Having Trouble Communicating Over the End of Monty Python Pictures: “It’s Dead”

Monty Python founding members Eric Idle and John Cleese seem unsure of how to unravel their movie company.

After making brilliant films like “The Life of Brian,” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and “And Now for Something Completely Different,” not to mention their legendary TV series and the worldwide hit musical, “Spamalot,” the octogenarian Pythons are not communicating well.

A fan wrote to Idle on Twitter saying he’d seen a notice about the ending of Monty Python Productions. Idle responded: “Nah it’s dead. The Parrot is to blame”

Cleese responded in his own obtuse way. He wrote: “Eric Idle has been complaining again that Python communications to him have been delayed. Fans may be interested to know that this could be because he refuses to accept any communictions [sic] that are sent to him, except through his lawyers. That slows it down a bit.”

Idle and Cleese founded the comedy troupe with Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman in 1969. They became such an overnight sensation that they were compared to the Beatles, and Idle started his own fake satirical music group called The Rutles.

Chapman died in 1989, Jones in 2001. Idle, Cleese, Palin, and Gilliam have had substantial individual fame over the decades. But Idle and Cleese are probably the two most diametrically opposed philosophically. That they’re still not getting along in 2025 is kind of sad.

Maybe they can get their communications ironed out soon. By the way, Palin had a successful one man tour a year ago in Britain. This fall, Idle will have one, while Cleese tours the US.

Gilliam, the lone American, went on to make such sensational films as “Brazil,” “12 Monkeys,” “Time Bandits,” and “The Fisher King.” He’s plotting one more, “The Carnival at the End of Days,” with Jason Momoa, Jeff Bridges, Johnny Depp, and Adam Driver.

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