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Sarah Palin Loses Twice in Case Against New York Times as Jury Rejects Libel Claim

Roger Friedman
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Sarah Palin Loses Twice in Case Against New York Times as Jury Rejects Libel Claim

Yesterday the judge in the Sarah Palin-New York Times libel case said the former Governor of Alaska had no case and it should be dismissed.

But he let the jury continue deliberations. And they’ve now rejected the case completely and unanimously.

Palin has basically lost the case twice. She will continue to try and appeal it, but there’s nothing left of it, or her.

Here’s the link to the story from the New York Times.

Pictured: Julianne Moore as Palin. I couldn’t bring myself to use a picture of the one time VP candidate.

Clive Davis Sets Glittering All Star 90th Birthday Party in New York (Exclusive)

Roger Friedman
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Clive Davis Sets Glittering All Star 90th Birthday Party in New York (Exclusive)

The legendary Clive Davis will celebrate his 90th birthday on Wednesday, April 6 at Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattan.

The details are being kept strictly under wraps.  We hear the invitation-only event, which has been in the works for more than a year, will be quite different from Davis’ glittering Pre-Grammy Gala but the intent is to entertain and celebrate Davis’ five decades at the top of the music business.

The party is not in lieu of the cancelled Grammy party. Clive was going to have both of them. But when the Grammys moved to Vegas, it was impossible to have that event. It will be back next year, in Los Angeles, where it belongs!

During his illustrious career, Davis discovered, mentored or collaborated with such historic artists as this short list: Bruce Springsteen, Donovan, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Santana, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barry Manilow, The Kinks, The Grateful Dead, Kenny G, Patti Smith, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Carly Simon, Air Supply, Deborah Cox, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx.

Clive also shepherded the first six American Idol winners to multi-platinum worldwide sales, financed the breakthrough LaFace and Bad Boy labels and founded Arista Nashville, launching such major acts as Alan Jackson, Brooks and Dunn, and Carrie Underwood.

 

Queen Elizabeth Celebrates 70 Years on the Throne Paying Off Prince Andrew’s $10 Mil Sexual Abuse Charges

Roger Friedman
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Queen Elizabeth Celebrates 70 Years on the Throne Paying Off Prince Andrew’s $10 Mil Sexual Abuse Charges

It will be a stain on the monarchy forever.

The Queen of England has paid off a settlement on Prince Andrew’s sexual abuse claim from Virginia Guiffre. It’s probably around $10 million, the same amount Bill O’Reilly had to pay in his loofah case.

No kidding: the Queen celebrates her glorious 70th anniversary on the throne by avoiding depositions and a court case that would have brought down the monarchy for good.

Andrew also “intends to make a substantial donation” to a charity “in support of victims’ rights,” a statement says.

But otherwise, Andrew is finished. He’s lost all his titles, income, and power. He’s been reduced to royal rubble. He’s cost the Crown a literal fortune and an untold amount in bad publicity. It will take 100 years of good works to erase this memory from the public consciousness.

Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell’s sentencing in June, that concludes the main part of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Squabbles will continue, but the whole mess is more or less behind us now.

Andrew was always a loser, from the era of “Randy Andy” and Koo Stark. The script never changed.

Warning: Poster for Hulu/Searchlight Movie “Fresh” Is as Disgusting as the Movie Itself — And Genius

Roger Friedman
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Warning: Poster for Hulu/Searchlight Movie “Fresh” Is as Disgusting as the Movie Itself — And Genius

First, read my review of “Fresh” here. It’s starting March 4th on Hulu. A totally disgusting movie, just like the poster. Disney Searchlight bought it as a gift for Hulu.”Fresh” has an 85 on Rotten Tomatoes, so other critics and bloggers obviously liked it. They certainly aren’t vegetarians. The premise of this movie is that Sebastian Stan plays a doctor who kidnaps women, vivisects them, eats pieces of them or sells them off, and eventually kills them. “It Ain’t the Meat, it’s the Motion” is not sung at any point.

PS this is genius graphic design

Watch Trailer for “Downton Abbey: A New Era” Which Seems to Swap Out Matthew Goode for Hugh Dancy

Roger Friedman
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Watch Trailer for “Downton Abbey: A New Era” Which Seems to Swap Out Matthew Goode for Hugh Dancy

In the first trailer for “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” sharp eyed fans will notice the absence of Matthew Goode as Lady Mary’s second husband. He seems to have been replaced or substituted for with Hugh Dancy, who’s getting a lot of work these days (he’s a regular on the “Law & Order” revival). Good for him but bad for Goode, who only made a brief appearance in the first “Downton” movie. (He may do it again since Goode was obviously too busy playing Robert Evans in the “Godfather” mini series, “The Offer.”)

“A New Era” looks like a middle film in a trilogy, so it’s not over. Violet (Maggie Smith) didn’t die from cancer after all, but announces that she inherited a villa in the South of France. This gives everyone a chance for a trip to a sunny, warm locale away from Downton. But Mary stays behind to watch over a film crew making a talking picture on location.

It seems like Branson finally marries, securing the Downton fortune for good. But the family trip suggests that Violet inherited the villa because what? One of her children was fathered by its owner? She used 23 & Me? Or talked to Henry Louis Gates on PBS?

Anyway, this won’t be the last “Downton” movie If it just makes $75 million and does well on Peacock, there will be a concluding chapter. Everyone involved will deny it. There will be huffy British protestations. And then, viola, one last chapter with teenage kids facing the stock market crash and Great Depression.

But not yet!

PS Julian Fellowes’ “The Gilded Age” has been renewed by HBO for a second season. Last night’s fourth episode seemed like an improvement on the clunkiness of the opening chapters. The lighting is still harshly networky, some of the actors’ cadences are enough to kill you, and the opening music and montage look like they’re from “Dynasty.” But progress is there. I love the story of Peggy Scott nd her family. That’s a winner. And it’s nice to see Kelli O’Hara, a Broadway giant, finally having a non singing onscreen hit. But if she even hums, all those people are going to lose their minds. same for Audra McDonald. Then what?

Super Bowl Doesn’t Break Any Records, But Brings In A Healthy 99.1 Million Sports Fans

Roger Friedman
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Super Bowl Doesn’t Break Any Records, But Brings In A Healthy 99.1 Million Sports Fans

Super Bowl LVI didn’t break any records on Sunday but it did bring a lot of viewers and sports fans.

What’s interesting is that it killed off an average of about 100,000 viewers from cable shows like “Euphoria” and “Billions,” setting them back into the 200,000 range. The episodes of those shows will have a lot of delayed viewing this week.

The match between the LA Rams and Cincinnati Bengals brought in 99.1 million pairs of eyes officially, close to 100 million total. Everything worked: the game was exciting and close, the halftime show was a knockout, the commercials were all hits especially the news that Meadow and AJ Soprano are alive and driving a Chevy, and that Larry David was happy to sell out to some bitcoin thing that no one understood.

The result of all this was high numbers in the key age groups, making the network and ad sales people very, very happy. They won the game, not the Rams. And the fall off at 10:24 pm gave the Winter Olympics on NBC 21 million viewers who cried, in unison, “The Olympics are still on? What?”

Also, as I wrote yesterday, all the performers from the halftime show have sold a boatload of music in the last 48 hours on iTunes and other platforms.

Need a “Bridgerton” Fix Today Besides the New Trailer? How About The Unofficial Musical?

Leah Sydney
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Need a “Bridgerton” Fix Today Besides the New Trailer? How About The Unofficial Musical?

“Dearest gentle reader, did you miss me?”  so says Lady Whistledown, narrated by Julie Andrews in the trailer for season 2 of the Netflix mega hit, “Bridgerton” which dropped today; the show debuts on March 25th.  The fair lady was revealed to be in the finale the anonymous gossiper Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).

Devoted fans are already lamenting that their heartthrob the Duke of Hastings is not returning.  He was played by now worldwide heartthrob Regé -Jean Page.  Fear not; the trailer is bursting with racy romantic scenes between Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (newcomer Simone Ashley).

If you must have a “Bridgerton” fix now, check out Barlow and Bear, Aka Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear’s Grammy nominated album, “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” their own unique take on the wildly popular series.  #BridgertonMusical has garnered more than 260 million viewers and over 48 million likes to date. Fans are loving the songs “Ocean Away” and “Burn for You.”

Barlow is a TikTok star, and Bear has been a composer and recording artist since the age of 5, working with such powerhouses as Quincy Jones who has said of his protegee, “I’ve been in the business for over 70 years and I have yet to see another artist like her.”

Now back to Rege, even though fans have been hoping for a cameo, creator Shonda Rhimes has said that she doesn’t think he will return to the series. “Here’s why,” she said. “He’s an enormous star now. As I like to say, the idea that we would write Regé to stand around in the background doesn’t make any sense at all to me. What would he do? is what I like to say.” Maybe play James Bond?  That’s what the internet is blowing up about.  Let’s see.  Could be?  In the meantime though, fans can now listen to the soothing voice of Julie Andrews telling us that, “this author has been doing one thing; honing my skills, no even better, I’ve been sharpening my knives.  For all of you!”

 

Super Bowl Bump: Halftime Stars Rock 8 of Top 10 iTunes Singles, 6 of Top 10 Albums

Roger Friedman
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Super Bowl Bump: Halftime Stars Rock 8 of Top 10 iTunes Singles, 6 of Top 10 Albums

The Super Bowl paid off handsomely for all participants.

Not only did the Rams win, but do did all the musical guests.

Currently, Mary J Blige has the number 1 album, “Good Morning Gorgeous.” She also has the number 4 single with her classic hit, “Family Affair.”

Indeed, 8 of the top 10 singles on iTunes are by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent. On the album chart, 6 of the top 10 are by the Avengers of Hip Hop who performed on Sunday night.

After that, both charts are littered with releases from Mary J, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop, 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar.

So the appearances didn’t just help, they made the records skyrocket.

For Mary J, this was the best possible album launch of her career.

Of course, this also knocked Adele’s “30” album out of the top 10 and sent other current hits scurrying to the bottom of the charts. They’ll be back, I’m sure, but there’s nothing like a Super Bowl sales bump!

 

Happy Birthday Maceo Parker, Key to James Brown’s Music. Most Brilliant Sax Man Alive

Roger Friedman
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Happy Birthday Maceo Parker, Key to James Brown’s Music. Most Brilliant Sax Man Alive

Happy Birthday to Maceo Parker, who turned 79 years young today.

Maceo, his name is known because James Brown shouts out so often on his dozens of hit records. Mr. Brown’s music (we were always asked to call him Mr. Brown) depended so much on Maceo blowing his sax or other horns that were available. The more I listen to James Brown over the years (and thanks to Sirius Soul Town for programming so much of it), the more I am in awe of the intricacies of the records And it’s Maceo who always sounds fresh and inspired, never old, always original. God bless.

 

Oscars News: Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall Will Be Hosting Trio for ABC Broadcast March 27th

Roger Friedman
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Oscars News: Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall Will Be Hosting Trio for ABC Broadcast March 27th

Variety had a great scoop earlier this afternoon. Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall will be the three hosts for the Oscars on March 27th.

The big announcement will come tomorrow morning on “Good Morning America.”

Variety says the Academy talked to men, notably Jon Hamm, but he dropped out.

These three women are eclectic choices. But they’re all capable, and at this point the idea is to get the job done without embarrassment. This trio should be able to do that and more. Schumer and Sykes are very funny. Hall is an accomplished actress who is doing comedy lately in a movie we saw via Sundance called “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul!”

Why the Academy didn’t go for some of the names bandied about on Twitter is clear: they weren’t available. A lot of people wanted Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez from the Hulu series, “Only Murders in the Building.” Another group campaigned for Tom Holland and Zendaya from “Spider Man.”

But what we want or desire on social media isn’t necessarily practical. The Oscars are a month late this year. Actors are busy and have schedules. So you can’t just call people up and say Come on over. A lot of work is involved.

So we look forward to Schumer, Sykes, and Hall (sounds like a law firm) to get us through the three hours on March 27th. There should be five great musical performances, and plenty of entertainment for everyone.

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