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I’ve confirmed that pop star Dua Lipa didn’t “fire her manager.”
For one thing, her manager is her father, Dugi Lipa. So that part can be put aside.
Lipa has agents at both CAA (domestic) and WME (International).
Years ago, David Levy — an agent — signed Dua Lipa to WME in London. He books her concerts. If she’s not on tour, he has nothing to do with her.
Lipa’s regular agents at WME London include a man named David Bradley.
Back to Levy: he did write a letter to the promoters at Glastonbury requesting they remove pro-Hamas group Kneecap from their line up. (I agree with him.)
“This is a Daily Mail story that’s become like a game of telephone,” says my source, “It’s grown out of control.”
Indeed, no one at WME has heard a word from Dua Lipa, who may very well approve of Kneecap performing at the festival but hasn’t told them or said so herself.
My source says, “Dua has a great relationship with WME, there’s nothing wrong.”
Four hundred Hollywood celebrities have a signed a letter to Disney supporting Jimmy Kimmel.
These are big names, too, including Jennifer Aniston, Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal and Jane Fonda.
What a mess!
Just waiting for Matt Damon to add his name to the list!
All these stars going on the record against Disney is one more reason they must settle with Kimmel and get him back on the air immediately.
Here’s the letter and the full list of names:
“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech. Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.
Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation. In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.
We know this moment is bigger than us and our industry. Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.
Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.
This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
Aasif Mandvi Abbi Jacobson Abby McEnany Adam Chanler-Berat Adam Goldberg Adam Horovitz Adam Scott Adina Porter Adrienne Warren A.J. Shively Alan Cumming Aldis Hodge Alex Serino Alfred Molina Alia Shawkat Alison Brie Allana Harkin Allie Re Allison Tolman Ally Sheedy Al Yankovic Alysia Reiner Alyssa Milano Amber Ruffin Amber Sealey Amber Tamblyn America Ferrera Amy Landecker Ana Gasteyer Andrea Savage Angie Pontani Anjali Bhimani Ann Harada Anna Baryshnikov Anna Camp Annabel Oakes Annette Bening Annette O’Toole Annie Murphy Anthony Anderson Anthony Jeselnik Aria Mia Loberti Arian Moayed Ariana DeBose Arlen Escarpeta Art Linson Ashlie Atkinson Ashly Burch Atsuko Okatsuka Auli’i Cravalho Barry Levinson Ben Platt Ben Stiller Benito Skinner Betty Gilpin Billy Crystal Billy Eichner Bitsie Tulloch Bob Martin Bonnie Milligan Brad Hall Bradley Bredeweg Brandon Uranowitz Bradley Whitford Brian Newman Brian Usifer Briana Evigan Bridget Everett Bryan Cranston Busy Philipps Camryn Manheim Carrie Coon Carrie Preston Cecily Strong Celia Keenan-Bolger Chazz Palminteri Chelsea Handler Chelsea Peretti Cherry Jones Chris Chalk Chris Henry Coffey Christian Borle Christina Applegate Christine Baranski Christine Jones Christine Lahti Christine Taylor Claire Danes Corey Hawkins Craig Johnson Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Nixon Dallas Roberts Dan Gilroy Danny Burstein Daphne Rubin-Vega D’Arcy Carden Dave Quay Daveed Diggs David Alan Basche David Arquette David Cross David Giuntoli David Harewood David Rysdahl Debbie Gibson Debra Messing Demián Bichir Denis O’Hare Derrick Eason Desi Lydic Diego Luna Donna Murphy Ebon Moss-Bachrach Eden Espinosa Edie Falco Edwin Hodge Eliot Glazer Elizabeth Banks Ellen Adair Ellen Fairey Emily Hampshire Emily Spivey Emily V. Gordon Emma Geer Eric Bogosian Eric Christian Olsen Eric Newman Erik Christopher Peterson Eunice Bae Ever Carradine Florence Pugh Frances Fisher Frances McDormand Gabe Liedman Gabriel Luna George Takei Gianmarco Soresi Gideon Glick Gina Gershon Gloria Steinem Griffin Dunne Gus Halper Hank Azaria Hannah Bos Harvey Keitel Holly Robinson Peete Ike Barinholtz Ilana Glazer Irwin Winkler Isis King J. Smith Cameron Jack Gilpin Jack Schlossberg Jacqueline Toboni Jaime King James Monroe Iglehart Jamie Lee Curtis Jane Fonda Jane Krakowski Jane Rosenthal Janet Hubert Jason Alexander Jason Bateman & Amanda Anka Jason George Jay Gonzalez Jean Smart Jeff Hiller Jen Statsky Jen Tullock Jenn Lyon Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Ehle Jennifer Hale Jennifer Mudge Jenny Slate Jeremy Pope Jesse Peretz Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jessy Hodges Jill Eikenberry Jill Kargman Jim Parsons Jim True-Frost Jodi Balfour Jodie Sweetin Joe Keery Joel Coen Joel Kim Booster John Cho John Ellison Conlee John Hamburg Jon Cryer Jon Huertas Jonathan Groff Jonathan Tropper Jordan Gelber Jordan Klepper Jose Llana Josh Hamilton Josh Radnor Josh Singer Josh Zuckerman Joshua Jackson Judd Apatow Judy Gold Judy Kuhn Julia Knitel Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julianne Nicholson Julie Halston June Squibb Justin Theroux Kate Hamill Katherine LaNasa Kathleen Chalfant Kathleen Hanna Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Gallagher Kathryn Grody Kathryn Hahn Katie Finneran Katrina Bowden Katy O’Brian Keith Cotton Keith Powell Kelley Curran Kelli O’Hara Kellie Overbey Kelly Carlin-McCall Kelly Jenrette Kenneth Lonergan Kerry Washington Kevin Bacon Kevin Cahoon Kirsten Dunst Kristen Johnston Kristin Davis Kristine Nielsen Kumail Nanjiani Kyra Sedgwick Lake Bell LaToya Tonodeo Laura Benanti Laura Dave Laura Linney Lee Rose Lena Dunham Lennon Parham Lesli Linka Glatter Lewis Black Lilah Richcreek Estrada Lilly Wachowski Linda Emond Linda Powell Lin-Manuel Miranda Lisa Guerrero Lisa Kron Lucy Freyer Luis & Luz Miranda Maddie Corman Madeline Weinstein Maggie Gyllenhaal Maia Mitchell Malachi Weir Marc Kudisch Marcia Cross Maria Dizzia Marin Ireland Marjan Neshat Mark Duplass Mark Ruffalo Martha Plimpton Martin Short Mary Beth Barone Mary Catherine Garrison Mary Elizabeth Ellis Mary-Louise Parker Matt Walsh Maude Apatow Max Silvestri Maya Rudolph Megan Byrne Melissa Benoist Melissa Fumero Melissa Gilbert Melissa Villaseñor Meredith Salenger Merrin Dungey Meryl Streep Michael Cerveris Michael Ian Black Michael Keaton Michael Kosta Michael McKean Michael Nouri Michae Shannon Michael Sucsy Michael Tucker Michaela Watkins Michelle Visage Miriam Shor Miriam Silverman Misha Collins Molly Bernard Molly Gordon Molly Ringwald Murray Hill Naomi Watts & Billy Crudup Natalie Portman Nathan Lane Neal Brennan Nia DaCosta Nicole Brydon Bloom Nicole Eggert Nicole Maines Nicolette Robinson Nimesh Patel Nnamdi Asomugha Noah Galvin Noah Wyle Olivia Rodrigo Olli Haaskivi Orfeh Padma Lakshmi Paige Hurd Pamela Adlon Parker Posey Patricia Clarkson Patton Oswalt Paul Feig Paul McCrane Paul Scheer Paul Thureen Paul W. Downs & Lucia Aniello Pauline Chalamet Pedro Pascal Pete Holmes Peter Friedman Peter Gallagher Piper Perabo Punkie Johnson Rachel Bloom Rachel Dratch Rachel Morrison Rafael Casal Rainn Wilson Ramy Youssef Raoul Peck Regina Hall Regina King Retta Richard Kind Richard Schiff Rick Barrio Dill Rita Wilson Rob Delaney Rob Morrow Robert DeNiro Robert Horn Roma Maffia Ronny Chieng Rooney Mara & Joaquin Phoenix Rosario Dawson Rosemary Harris Rosie O’Donnell Roy Wood Jr. Rufus Wainwright Ruth Negga Rutina Wesley Sally Kohn Sam Means Sam Morril Sam Pinkleton Sam Richardson Sandy Rustin Sarah Adina Smith Sarah Killough Sarah Paulson Sarah Ramos Sarah Sophie Flicker Sarah Steele Sasheer Zamata Scott Ellis Scott Silver Selena Gomez Sharon Horgan Sharon Stone Shawn Hatosy Sherri Saum Sheryl Crow Shoshana Bean Skye P. Marshall Sofia Black-D’Elia Spencer Garrett Stephen Kay Stephen Spinella T.R. Knight Tala Ashe Taylor Schilling Taylor Tomlinson Terry Kinney Tessa Thompson Tig Notaro Tim Bagley Tim Matheson Timothy Olyphant Tom Bergeron Tom Hanks Tom Morello Tony Gilroy Tony Goldwyn Tonya Pinkins Trinidad James Troian Bellisario Tzi Ma Uzo Aduba Veanne Cox Vince Nappo W. Kamau Bell Wallace Shawn Warren Adams Wil Wheaton Will Harrison Wilson Cruz Yasmeen Fletcher Yvette Nicole Brown Zazie Beetz Zoë Chao Zoë Winters Zooey Deschanel Zosia Mamet
Whoopi Goldberg finally addressed the Jimmy Kimmel fiasco this morning on The View.
Whoopi opened the show saying this: “No one silences us…we’re still here…we’re still broadcasting.”
But in the end The View didn’t really tackle the Kimmel situation with ABC. They side stepped it very carefully with nary a mention of the talk show host’s suspension.
Whoopi said the lack of comment last Thursday was because they were waiting for Kimmel to say something. “Did y’all think we weren’t going to address this?”
Notably, Joy Behar is not on today’s show. No explanation.
Whoopi says to Donald Trump: “You don’t understand how the First Amendment works.”
It looks like the gloves are off. The View used clips of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and other politicians decrying censorship.
This may be Disney clearing the path for Kimmel to return. It certainly shows a little backbone on the part of the network.
A full transcript and video will be available later.
In the second segment, the group discusses the FCC with almost no talk of Kimmel.
Dua Lipa. What a hit she was from around 2017-2021.
Not only did she have her own chart hits, she sang with Elton John on his “Cold Heart.”
But pop stars are like sports stars. They have an expiration date. Dua Lipa may have hit hers.
There’s a rumor that she fired her manager this week over politics. She’s pro-Palestinian. He’s Jewish. Frankly, he should have fired her.
But here’s some reality. Dua Lipa’s last album, sold only 110,000 physical albums and downloads, according to Luminate.
With streaming, it bulked up to over 700,000.
But her prior album, “Future Nostalgia,” sold over 320,000 downloads and CDs. With streaming the total was a whopping 5 million.
Get the picture? A downward trend has emerged.
Year to date, “Future Nostalgia” has sold 320,000– mostly from streaming. But “Radical Optimism” has sold about that number– mostly from streaming.
If Dua Lipa and her manager, David Levy, have split, my guess it’s more about trying to turn around a rudderless ship — bigger deal than who plays at a charity concert. (Lipa was apparently upset Levy didn’t want the dreadful pro-Hezbollah Kneecap to perform at Glastonbury this year.)
Lipa is already being called antisemitic in the British press.
On Tuesday she starts a publicity onslaught to promote her new album, called “Here For It All.”
She’s even Tweeted out her media dates so fans can follow along. The question is, will they buy the album?
“Here for It All” already has two dud singles to its credit. A possible third one, the title tracks, is a ballad that sounds like about ten different songs. That might help it on the radio.
Mariah will celebrate Rosh Hashanah (just kidding) on Wednesday morning with Gayle King. For the second day (again, kidding) she’s with Kelly and Mark Live.
On Friday Mariah will be with Drew Barrymore. Next Monday, the 29th, she lands at the Tonight show. On Tuesday the 30th there are pretaped appearances with Keke Palmer, and Jennifer Hudson. October 1st she finishes up with Andy Cohen on Bravo.
Will she sing on these shows? Who knows? Will she vamp and lip synch? Why not? Will she carry on dramatically and talk about Bugatti cars and diamonds? Let’s hope so.
Right now, “Here for It All” is at number 36 on amazon.com counting advance sales. Mariah has one week to launch the album before Taylor Swift arrives with the British army at Normandy.
Even if this doesn’t work out, Christmas is around the corner. That’s Mariah’s money making season anyway.
The number 1 movie is Sony’s anime, “Demon Slayer,” a hit around the world.
“Demon Slayer” has made $104 million here, and $555 million total around the world. Not one person you know knows what it is, but Sony needs to it at this point.
All of Sony’s movies with humans have been a disaster. Their “Big Bold Beautiful Journey” has been a big, bold, bad dream.
Co-starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, “BBJ” made just $3.5 million this weekend. It cost around $55 million. So another one goes in the dumpster. Does Sony still make the Walkman?
Otherwise, we have Jordan Peele’s “Him.” Peele’s “Get Out” was such a phenomenon, but he’s never been able to reproduce it. Just like M. Night Shayamalan with “The Sixth Sense.” Total $13.5 million this weekend. Dead on arrival. Peele is so talented, maybe it’s time to try a different genre.
“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” pushed to $31 million. Nice work. It can keep going for a while before hitting Peacock or wherever. Fans will always want it.
Bleecker Street finally reported on “Spinal Tap 2.” This week it lost 594 theaters. Total take so far is $2.5 million. This weekend: $373,000. Coming this Friday should be a pull from a thousand theaters if not more. It’s not really playing in the theaters where it’s booked. It does seem like “Spinal Tap” cast member Harry Shearer, also co-creator, may have something to say soon. It won’t be good.
Donald Trump obviously thought he was sending a private message to his stooge, Pam Bondi, Attorney General.
Instead he posted it by mistake to his Truth Social.
In the message, since deleted, Trump tells Pam to prosecute his enemies. They are former FBI Director James Comey, NY Attorney General Leticia James, and Senator Adam Schiff.
Then he pressed SEND. And millions saw it or will see it now.
The missive, seen below, is just further indication that Trump’s whole presidency revolves around vendettas.
At least we know now that Trump grasps his two impeachments and five indictments. He wants Bondi to go after these people. Great reference to Lindsay Graham, Trump’s puppet.
A lot of people say they’ve tried to cancel but can’t get through the Disney system.
In a lot of cases, leaving Disney Plus also means Hulu, ESPN, etc. if you have it all bundled.
But people are angry about the censorship of Jimmy Kimmel. They don’t care about a company called Nexstar trying to buy one called Tegna. They’re only interested that Donald Trump is trying to wipe out the First Amendment, and Disney is going along with it.
If this situation persists into next week, watch Disney World, Disneyland, and other related products suffer, too. There are plenty of less expensive places to visit.
And here we thought Florida’s backward laws would drive Disney World out. Turns out, they could be their own worst enemy.
For some reason, the musician is profiled in an overlong piece on the cover of New York magazine.
Lizzo was “canceled” a couple of years ago when her dancers sued her for weight-shaming and treating them badly.
Up til then Lizzo had been having hits, and Grammys, and played the flute. Her calling card was that she was huge and loved it.
After the lawsuit debacle, her record sales plummeted. When she tried to release new songs via Atlantic Records this year, they bombed.
Now we learn through New York that she also released “mixtapes” that no one knew about.
Writer Alison P. Davis says in dense deposition: “She followed it up with a deluxe version of the mixtape My Face Still Hurts From Smiling that dropped suddenly in September and features more house-influenced tracks that reference ChatGPT, Love Island, and eating ass.”
OK, I’m not a prude, but I;m trying to imagine the reaction of the great New York magazine founder Clay Felker, and the editor Ed Kosner, to the expression, “eating ass.” If this doesn’t blow the mind of sensible people, then I realize I’m really old. Village Voice? Sure. Rolling Stone? Why not? But New York magazine.
Yech. Pflooey.
What is the point of the Lizzo cover story? She never made the album she was supposed to, and when the long and winding profile ends, there’s still no record in sight.
I have nothing against Lizzo, and don’t really care about her lawsuits. But obviously her fans did. Her total sales this year have been just 8,045 downloads. If you add in streaming, the number comes to 211,000. Almost all of it is from her old music. The mi tape, “My Face Still Hurts From Smiling,” has sold so little it’s a collectors’ item.
But at least we know she’s obsessed with her own ass cheeks, and is writing songs about eating them.
I obviously don’t believe in the whole “woke” thing, but this seems overly woke. Felker must be spinning in his grave.
I’m not making this up, by the way. A hundred years ago in Paris, at dinner, I wondered what “veal cheeks” were and decided not to order it. Same goes here.
Aerosmith and new shirtless hit YungBlud (aka Dominic Harrison) are number 1 on iTunes with a remake of the former group’s “My Little Angel.”
They have an EP coming November 21st called “One More Time” with two songs from the Aerosmith catalogue including “Back in the Saddle.” The other three are new collaborations.
Remember how our year started? After the Grammy Awards last January, Tyler performed at his charity event in Hollywood and sounded great.
At the recent Ozzy Osbourne tribute, Steven and Yungblud triumphantly performed “Mama I’m Coming Home.”
Tyler was plagued with vocal problems and other issues. It meant cancelling Aerosmith’s farewell tour. All seemed lost. But he’s gotten back his wild spunk and has sounded better and better through the year.
A number 1 single? It’s the best news ever for what’s left of rock and roll.
