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Exclusive: Hysteria Over Ellie Kemper “Racist” Ball May Be Misplaced as Group Gave $100K to Minority School, Donates Thousands to Underprivileged Groups

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Hysteria Over Ellie Kemper “Racist” Ball May Be Misplaced as Group Gave $100K to Minority School, Donates Thousands to Underprivileged Groups

I’m aghast at the mass hysteria labeling actress Ellie Kemper a KKK prom queen. In 1999 she was made the Queen of the Ball at the Veiled Prophet Gala in St. Louis. Much has been made of Veiled Prophet’s century long history in St. Louis, accusing them of racism and associating them with the Klan.

I’ve got no stake in this discussion, I never heard of them. But I did read that Kemper’s family were Abolitionists. Her great grandfather, the patriarch of the family, was vehemently anti-slavery. So there’s that. But why muddle around in research and facts?

Then I checked the Form 990 tax filing for the Veiled Prophet Foundation. I even looked at their Facebook page where I found the video below. Veiled Prophet dispenses funds every year to needy groups. In 2018, they built the playground seen in the video below at Biome Stream School in St. Louis. They donated over $100,000 and their time, as you can see in the video. Biome is 91% minority as described on their website. I never heard of the KKK building playgrounds for Black kids, have you?

Veiled Prophet donates several thousand dollars a year to supplies for foster children, and various schools. I’ve confirmed that the Form 990 is correct, for what it’s worth. So this story is not literally black and white.

The Veiled Prophet may have been racist a long time ago, I don’t know. But when Ellie Kemper participated in the Ball, in 1999, it had already been 20 years since they accepted Black members. Now it’s 42 years. I’ve confirmed with their spokesman that they have Black members now, and they participate in the Veiled Prophet Ball. As you can see from the video below, it’s not really a “Secret Society.”

Last, it should be noted that Ellie’s dad, David Kemper, head of Commerce Bank, donated $2,000 to Joe Biden last year. In 2016 he donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. But he’s definitely a Republican at heart. In 2016 he also gave a whopping $50,000 to the Senate Majority PAC through the Veterans Foundation. But he didn’t give a penny to Donald Trump, and that counts for a lot.

A spokesman for Veiled Prophet says:

“The VP organization is dedicated to civic progress, economic contributions and charitable causes in St. Louis. Our organization believes in and promotes inclusion, diversity and equality for the entire region. We absolutely reject racism and have never associated with any organization that harbors these beliefs. We are proud of our commitment to support civic St. Louis for 143 years.”

Social media is the worst. It just unleashes anger for no reason, resentment of what amounts to nothing. The crazy thing is that this time is was against a perfect lovely, funny comedic actress who’s done nothing but entertain us. She committed no crime, no act of social injustice. We have people actively inciting and encouraging treason in this country, but the glare of hatred is on the the girl who played the receptionist on “The Office.” How very awful and bizarre.

National Enquirer Hit with $187K Fine from Federal Election Commission over Buying and Killing Story from Trump Mistress

Roger Friedman
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National Enquirer Hit with $187K Fine from Federal Election Commission over Buying and Killing Story from Trump Mistress

Remember when the National Enquirer was doing Donald Trump’s dirty work?

Well, they’ve just been fined $187,000 by the Federal Election Commission for buying and killing a tell all by former Playboy model Karen McDougal. She sold them her story about sleeping with Trump for $150,000. They bought it, and killed it.

The FEC considers that a campaign donation, besides being unethical.

McDougal she that she had a 10-month fling with Donald Trump before he was President, saying they were together “many dozens of times.”

“I can tell you we saw each other a minimum five times a month, up to bigger numbers per month,” the former Playboy model told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. She said they were together “many dozens of times,” and when asked by Cooper if they were intimate, she responded in the affirmative.

Where was Melania? I don’t care, do you? This was in addition to Stormy Daniels and who knows who else?

Here is the FEC decision.

Just PS: American Media said they were selling the Enquirer to James Cohen’s Hudson News for $1 million. This sale has NEVER happened. AMI, now known as A360, still owns and publishes the Enquirer. Chatham Assets, which said they wanted to get rid of the Enquirer after this McDougal mess, still has it.

“Mare of Easttown” Scored Record 3 Million Viewers on Sunday Night Despite HBO Max Crash

Roger Friedman
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“Mare of Easttown” Scored Record 3 Million Viewers on Sunday Night Despite HBO Max Crash

“Mare of Easttown” scored big numbers on Sunday despite HBO Max crashing right before the show went on.

The total says HBO was 3 million for both HBO and HBO Max, and another million before Monday night was over. They say it’s a total of 4 million. Not bad.

The “Mare” finale was their best showing of the 7 episodes. It beat the finale of “The Undoing” and was the most watched show so far in its time slot first run on HBO Max.

In other words, it was a monster hit. And so well done that it should garner lots of Emmy attention. HBO will have a problem on its hands, but the kind everyone likes: too many limited series nominees. “The Undoing” was just as good, but it was six months ago. People have short memories.

UPDATES: Warner Bros. Discovery Will Be the New Studio, John Mayer Is an “SOB,” Clive Davis Makes Magic Upstate

Roger Friedman
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UPDATES: Warner Bros. Discovery Will Be the New Studio, John Mayer Is an “SOB,” Clive Davis Makes Magic Upstate

JACK WARNER can rest easy in his grave. The studio he and his brothers founded almost a hundred years ago will continue to bear their name.

Warner Bros. Discovery is the result of AT&T  spinning off its WarnerMedia properties and merging them with the Discovery networks. Why not? After all, we’ve had Warner Communications, Time Warner, Time Warner AOL, then Time was sold for firewood, and WarnerMedia.

The combined companies comprise everything that isn’t Disney-Fox, Paramount-CBS, or NBC Universal.

David Zaslav, of Discovery, will run the show. He said this morning:

“Warner Bros. Discovery will aspire to be the most innovative, exciting and fun place to tell stories in the world – that is what the company will be about. We love the new company’s name because it represents the combination of Warner Bros.’ fabled hundred year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration. There are so many wonderful, creative and journalistic cultures that will make up the Warner Bros. Discovery family. We believe it will be the best and most exciting place in the world to tell big, important and impactful stories across any genre – and across any platform: film, television and streaming.”

JOHN MAYER hasn’t had a new album in a while. The talented guitarist with quirky social skills has been busy making deals for talk shows and so on. But he’s releasing a new collection on July 16th called “SOB Rock.” At first I thought it was sob, as in sob sister. But then I realized it was SOB, and not sounds of Brazil. The tag line is “It’s time to love an album again.” I hope it’s this album! Fans will speculate about the lyrics, are they about this one or that one? Mayer has had his hits including pinching “Waiting for the World to Change” from Curtis Mayfield. So haha people get ready, there’ a new album coming…

CLIVE DAVIS hosted his annual Memorial Day dinner in upstate New York over the weekend. Clive looked royal himself in a royal blue linen dinner jacket, and welcomed so many great guests like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Gregg Alexander of New Radicals, Broadway great Julie White, famed singer songwriter Valerie Simpson, HitCo record exec Charles Goldstuck, actress Lisa Banes, and Republic Records chief Monte Lippman. For entertainment after the swanky dinner, Clive imported mentalist Gerard Senehi, who freaked out “Madame Secretary” actor Erich Bergen (now a big Zoom producer) by reading his mind and almost revealing his PIN Number to the crowd! A swell night, and Clive– what can you say? — he is our living legend. We are not worthy!

RIP Robert Hogan, Beloved Veteran Actor of Broadway, Prime Time, Soap Operas Was 87

Roger Friedman
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RIP Robert Hogan, Beloved Veteran Actor of Broadway, Prime Time, Soap Operas Was 87

Robert Hogan was literally on just about every TV show you can imagine, a journeyman actor who starred on Broadway, on prime time, and had a loyal following from soap operas. He died yesterday at age 87 in California.

Hogan appeared twice on Broadway, most notably in the original production of Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men,” which ran for three and a half years.

On daytime TV, he played two roles back to back on “Days of our Lives” in the early 1970s and then had a six year run in the 80s on “Another World.” He also had stints on “General Hospital,” “All My Children,” and “Bright Promise.”

But it’s his prime time resume that really stands out. He guest starred in show after show with multiple appearances on everything from “Murder She Wrote” to “Alice” to “Gunsmoke.” He appeared in all 63 episodes of “Peyton Place” in the mid 60s with Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal as Reverend Winter. Hogan was the star of a great “Twilight Zone” episode in 1964 called “Spur of the Moment.”

Hogan can be seen in 9 different episodes of “Law and Order” between 1991 and 2006, sometimes playing a trial judge. On the cult hit “The Manhunter” from the mid 70s he played Sheriff Paul Tate.

According to his obit, Hogan was born in Jamaica, Queens, “the youngest of three children, Bob’s childhood apartment was mere feet away from the Jamaica Avenue El, or Elevated Train. His was a childhood of rattled dishes on the dinner table as the El roared past. A gifted athlete, Bob played basketball for St. Francis Preparatory School before joining the army to serve in Korea. After his honorable discharge, Bob returned to New York to study engineering at NYU. After the first semester, however, an astute professor suggested he take an aptitude test to determine if engineering was really the best fit for the gregarious young man. The test results produced two words: The arts. As Bob would say, “That’s when I gave acting a try.” He was accepted into New York’s prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts shortly thereafter.

“In California and New York, Bob appeared in more than 100 primetime shows as well as nearly every daytime drama on the air. Off and on Broadway, as well as countless regional theaters, he performed in plays by Shakespeare, Chekhov, O’Neill and many others, winning the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance as famed attorney Clarence Darrow in the real-life drama about the shocking Leopold and Loeb murder trial, Never the Sinner.”

Condolences to his family and friends.

Broadway: Ivo Van Hove’s Dreadful “West Side Story” May Be Returning Despite a Panning by the Times And Picket Lines Out Front Protesting a MeToo’d Actor

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Ivo Van Hove’s Dreadful “West Side Story” May Be Returning Despite a Panning by the Times And Picket Lines Out Front Protesting a MeToo’d Actor

I was going to report that Ivo Van Hove’s dreadful, panned version of “West Side Story” doesn’t appear to be coming back.

Announced as an open end run, when the controversial staging opened on February 20, 2020 — after 77 previews — the New York Times’s negative review carried a closing notice for June 2, 2020. There is no other indication anywhere that producer Scott Rudin and his financier, Barry Diller, were closing the show that soon.

But now with Rudin’s temporary but indefinite exile from producing, and Broadway revving up for the fall and winter, “West Side Story” with its video visuals and ugly dancing has gone AWOL. Its star, Isaac Cole Powell, has become a Calvin Klein underwear model.

A rep for the show insists it will return, however, details to come. I don’t know why. Ben Brantley, in one of his final reviews for The New York Times, rightly panned it. I saw the new version at an early preview and was disappointed to see the Jerome Robbins dancing ruined, famous songs removed, and a massive video wall that replaced actual human interaction.

Adding incentive to getting rid of this “West Side Story” is that Steven Spielberg’s new movie version is coming in December. It looks exciting from the first teaser, and much closer to the traditional than van Hove’s bastardization.

And a big question looms over a return of this production: will the show bring back actor Amar Ramasar, who plays Bernardo? When Broadway went on pause, there were nightly protests in front of the theater against Ramasar, who was fired in 2018 by the New York City ballet over sharing nude images of female dancers online. The heat on the show was not one of “all publicity is good publicity.” There were pickets out front of the theater.* *See below

I’ve no doubt Disney would prefer not to have the Broadway show return to interfere with its marketing. And since Spielberg is tight with Diller and David Geffen, Rudin’s other partner on this, my guess is the van Hove show is about to become the lost city of Atlantis.

Rudin managed to push the opening to February 20, 2020, which conveniently made his version ineligible for 2020 Tony Awards. With new shows coming, it would be best to let this “West Side Story” slip through the cracks and be forgotten. Plus, it can never win a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. “Company,” also waiting in the wings since last year, is ready to snatch that statue up.

 

*Ramasar’s publicist adds:

Amar was originally dismissed by New York City Ballet as the allegations arose, but later won in arbitration in April of 2019, and is still a principal dancer at the company. He was never fired.

Also, the lawsuit, which was dismissed, did not state that Amar shared any nude photos online. There were actually no images shared online at all by any of the parties involved in the lawsuit. Amar admitted to sharing a photo of his girlfriend, Alexa Maxwell, which was taken consensually, directly to Chase Finlay via text message. He did not share any images of any other women with anyone else, nor was that stated in the lawsuit.

 

 

 

UPDATED WITH SPOILERS “Mare of Easttown,” HBO’s Second Watercooler Hit of the Year, Reaches Its Conclusion, For Now

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED WITH SPOILERS “Mare of Easttown,” HBO’s Second Watercooler Hit of the Year, Reaches Its Conclusion, For Now

UPDATED WITH SPOILERS

So we know who killed Erin. And it wasn’t Guy Pearce, who played possum in this series and was used as a Big Red Herring character. He did nothing. He went to Bates College to keep teaching. He’ll be back for Season 2.

Mare’s nephew, Ryan, a kid, killed Erin. NO ONE saw that coming. He did it by accident on purpose sort of. His dad and uncle are in jail. We never got to see a reaction from Erin’s father, who I think was the first cousin of John Ross. So John’s baby, DJ, is the product of incest.

Evan Peters’ story and his mother, etc, that was all extra. If Guy Pearce was his father, and that was his ex-wife, maybe we’ll learn that next time. For now, it was a non starter.

Julianne Nicholson, steady through the series, pulled it out at the end. She the clutch hitter. She knew everything, and just lied with a poker face to Mare over and over. Great work. She, Kate Winslet and Jean Smart will all be up for Emmy Awards. So will Evan Peters.

Remember in “The Undoing” even Nicole Kidman thought her son, played by Noah Jupe, might have done it. Now in “Mare” the kid actually pulled the trigger. The only other surprise they could have given us was Lor (Nicholson) having an affair with John Mulaney.

All told, beautifully done. Kudos to Craig Zobel et al and to Kate Winslet in what may be her most memorable role.

Earlier:

It was only a few months ago that “The Undoing” came to an end, compelling fans to their TVs to see whodunit, and why.

HBO had everyone in the palm of their remote, or something like that.

Tonight, “Mare of Easttown” reaches its conclusion at 10:07pm Eastern after seven wild episodes. We are on tenterhooks. Did Billy kill Erin? Will Billy’s brother, John, kill him? Was Guy Pearce on the show just for fun?

Will the “Mare” get a second season?

Hold on. At 11:07pm, we will discuss all.

“Cats” Didn’t Kill Her Acting Ambitions: Taylor Swift Said to Be Part of David O. Russell’s All-Star Movie (Exclusive)

Roger Friedman
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“Cats” Didn’t Kill Her Acting Ambitions: Taylor Swift Said to Be Part of David O. Russell’s All-Star Movie (Exclusive)

You’d think having been in “Cats” was enough to dissuade Taylor Swift from acting in more movies.

But the Folklore I’ve heard is that Taylor is in David O. Russell’s up coming all star movie that may be called “Canterbury Glass.”

No one knows much about this movie except it has a huge cast of star including: Christian Bale, John David Washington, Margot Robbie, Alessandro Nivola, Rami Malek, Anna Taylor-Joy, Michael Shannon, and Zoe Saldana, as well as Mike Myers, Chris Rock and Robert De Niro.

I am told that the film is “period piece” set in the Depression. That’s pretty much more than anyone’s heard before. But beyond that, the actual plot and characters remain a mystery.

Will Taylor play a Depression waif? Or will she be a singer? Will she write a song for the movie? Her “Cats” number, “Beautiful Ghosts,” did get her Grammy and Golden Globe nominations. This one could be an Oscar nom.

“Canterbury Glass” or whatever it’s called will eventually be released by 21st Century Not Fox or whatever it’s called, sometime in the future (but probably not this year). It’s Russell’s first movie since “Joy,” and he’s got Emmanuel Lubezki, annoyingly nicknamed “Chivo,” doing the cinematography. This will be a must see film.

Would “Cruella” Have Been Bigger at the Box Office Without Disney Plus? Who Paid $29.99 Extra?

Roger Friedman
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Would “Cruella” Have Been Bigger at the Box Office Without Disney Plus? Who Paid $29.99 Extra?

Disney’s “Cruella” was a disappointment this weekend at the box office.

Making just $21 million, “Cruella” was a poor runner up to Paramount’s “A Quiet Place 2.” The horror flick took in $48 million for the weekend, $58 million for the holiday run.

“Cruella” may have been bobbled by its access on Disney Plus. But subscribers who already pay $6.99 a month had to fork over another $29.99 to see the Emma Stone- Emma Thompson feature.

How many people did that? We may never know. Movie streaming is an opaque business. We have to depend on numbers from the studios if they give them at all.

Would “Cruella” have been bigger at the box office if it weren’t streaming? I think so, even if just another $10 million. And forcing people to see it on the big screen — with its lavish production — might have created some word of mouth. But we’ll never know.

The biggest issue with “Cruella” was that it was neither fish nor fowl. Was it for kids? Not really. So was it for adults? Not really? Was it for dogs? Possibly. But Cruella DeVil as the Joker was tricky. If Disney goes ahead with a sequel, they’ll have to go more “Maleficent” if that’s possible and less tongue in cheek. And that would mean losing an essential flavor.

 

RIP BJ Thomas, 70s Hitmaker with “Raindrops,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” Gospel Records Like “Mighty Clouds of Joy”

Roger Friedman
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RIP BJ Thomas, 70s Hitmaker with “Raindrops,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” Gospel Records Like “Mighty Clouds of Joy”

BJ Thomas, dead at age 78. His rich, textured voice was a little different than the usual country singer. It was very expressive, and lent itself to pop hits. Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was basically the biggest single of 1970, bigger even than “Let it Be” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which seemed impossible. It was number one for four weeks in January 1970 and went to the Oscars with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

“Hooked on a Feeling” had preceded it to the top of the charts in 1968. A few years later when the “ooga Chocka” was added to it by Swedish one off group Blue Swede it was funny and insulting. BJ’s version was the real thing. The second one was like a drunk parody.

I always loved BJ Thomas’s “Mighty Clouds of Joy.” He had other pop hits like “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” But the rest of his career was in gospel, and “Mighty Clouds of Joy” was among the best.

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