Nick Cordero’s wife, Amanda, reports that the family had a small farewell yesterday for the beloved actor, who died of COVID related issues at age 41. Amanda writes: “I said, “Nick would have wanted this to be a celebration. Let’s try to laugh, share great stories and sing for him and to his memory.” He would have loved it. It was beautiful and perfect. His spirit was definitely there.”
Frustration for Members of One Direction as Harry Styles Soars, Louis Tomlinson Leaves Simon Cowell’s Management at Last
Just as the other members of NSync discovered when Justin Timberlake took off on his own, the balance of One Direction is struggling.
Louis Tomlinson is part of One Direction, just as Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne are, and Zayn Malik was before he quit the band.
But their solo careers, other than Styles, have not been easy campaigns.
Today, Tomlinson announced he was finally leaving the management of Simon Cowell, who he’s been with his whole time since first appearing on “The X Factor” before One Direction existed.
Tomlinson wrote on Twitter: “Hope everyone is doing ok! Just wanted to let you know that Syco Music and I have agreed to part ways. I’m really excited for the future and to be back in the studio writing the next album. Can’t wait to finally see you all on tour!! Stay safe and see you soon, Louis x”
Like Horan and Payne, not to mention Malik, Tomlinson must be frustrated. He’s made good records, done the touring, and nothing has clicked. His debut album, “Walls,” released this past January, has been a sales dud. It came out on Cowell’s Sony label Syco and the revived Sony/Arista Records, selling just 42,800 CDs and downloads, a total of 67,800 including streaming (according to Buzz Angle/Alpha Data).
Horan has had slightly better luck, not much, and same for Payne. Malik’s career right now is a disaster, with one sorta hit album and single, and then an utter bomb.
Styles, meanwhile, could not be doing better. Managed by Irving Azoff’s powerhouse group, Styles has blossomed as a pop and fashion star. He’s not even as talented a singer or songwriter as some of his bandmates– Horan is miles better– but that doesn’t matter. Through clever marketing and real attention to detail, Styles has followed Timberlake into the rare category of Rock Star, well, Pop Star with capital letters.
In the last few weeks, Styles’s second album, “Fine Line,” has jumped back into the top 10 after a so-so launch. The album has been aided by a hit single called “Watermelon Sugar” that makes “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies seem heavy. But it’s worked, as his androgynous projection of being sexually available to everyone. He wears dresses and make up, flies through the air in his videos, and smiles widely through all of it. (And the records are really, really embarrassingly awful.)
Tomlinson is now off Cowell’s label, but he can probably remain at Arista, which needs name stars as it rebuilds in its new incarnation. But will any of the One Directioners aside from Styles ever take off? That’s yet to be determined.
Claudia Conway, 15, is Back on Twitter, Throws Dad George Under the Bus, Says She Won’t Talk About Family Anymore
Rebel Yell: Fifteen year old Claudia Conway is back on Twitter. We thought it was her reviled mother, Kellyanne, who took her phone and social media privileges. But now Claudia throws her dad, good guy (maybe) George under the bus, and says it was him.
Now Claudia, who commented on her parents’ “Failed marriage” before she was pulled off Twitter, says no more stuff on the family. She does call Vice President Mike Pence a “closeted homophobe” and asks when we will take down Mt. Rushmore.
Welcome back, Claudia!
Exclusive: Last Year Ryan Seacrest’s Foundation Paid His Sister $250K and His Dad $96K to Give Away $90K in Cash Grants
Ryan Seacrest is busy getting press for wearing small shirts, breaking up with girlfriends, and having alleged mini strokes on “American Idol.”
But in real life, Seacrest–who’s made a fortune hosting “American Idol,” producing the Kardashians’ TV show, and running his radio empire– has a private tax free foundation. But the beneficiaries are his sister and father, not so much anyone else.
I’ve written about Seacrest’s foundation before because it’s just mind boggling how it keeps playing out. His sister, Meredith, runs the 501 c3 and his father does the legal work.
Every year, dad gets a $96,000 retainer. To do what exactly? Not much. The Ryan Seacrest Foundation is not big on giving money away to people who need it, just to family.
Sister Meredith in 2018 was paid a total of $250,000. She had a $242,000 salary, up from $225,000 the prior year. With benefits she gets the tw0-fifty.
The Foundation made 9 seven donations in the amount of $10,000 each in 2018. So that’s just $90,000.
They also donate electronic equipment to children’s hospitals, the same nine that got the cash grants. Each of those equipment donations is valued at $15,768.
In 2018, according to the Foundation’s Form 990, the total for money donated was down from the previous year by about $60,000. However, salaries were up by $80,000. Sister and dad’s salaries weren’t the only ones paid out. Total salaries were listed at $582,064. A little over $200,000 in salaries is unspecified.
The Ryan Seacrest Foundation claimed $3,855,990 in total assets for 2018. So most of the money is just sitting tax free, doing nothing but gaining interest.
Kanye West’s Manic Mystery Message Offers Nonsense Listicle But No Sign of Impending Presidential Campaign
Kanye West, who declared last week that he would for president, has so far done nothing about it. Well, his one presidential act was registering to vote, for the first time, in Wyoming, where the deer and the buffalo roam. He posted a video about the experience, and that was at least normal.
But then he posted the listicle below, a random group of names and words under the rubric YEEZY SOUND PROPOSAL. The list ends with his daughter’s name, North West, unless that’s actually a direction. CYHI is a group he produces, Ye is himself, Clipse is a hip hip duo, Tony Williams was a famous jazz drummer who Kanye might be sampling, “KC” might be KC and the Sunshine Band who are always good for sampling, “Abstract Mind State” is where Kanye lives.
What’s going on? If we knew that, then all the issues of the universe would be solved. Kanye is receiving messages from all kinds of places. If we had a leader, we could bring it to her.
YEEZY SOUND ROSTER PROPOSAL pic.twitter.com/RugGSTcY66
— ye (@kanyewest) July 11, 2020
To vote click below https://t.co/LRJ8hC5rGi#2020VISION pic.twitter.com/MJOVGYYYvQ
— ye (@kanyewest) July 9, 2020
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Say They Nearly Broke Up, She Had an Affair with a 23 Year Old, He’s OK with It
This is the new world in Hollywood. After lying about their marriage for years and denying all kinds of stories, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith came clean today on Facebook. They did almost break up, she — then 44 — had an affair four and a half years ago with a 23 year old singer who had an autoimmune disease, and Will was okay with it. They worked through it in therapy. Now they’re together again.
This does explain all the weird stuff their kids did do in public. And it suggests that rumors of their “Open marriage” were at least partially true. Maybe this explains all the bad movies Will made. “I wasn’t sure I wasn’t ever going to speak to you again,” Will tells Jada. “The fact that I am is a miracle.” Well, it sounds like fun! Only people really really wealthy can pull this kind of thing off, you know.
Did Will have affairs? Evidently yes, as you’ll see when they joke about whether Will “got her back.” Where is his lover? Where is their book?
Listen to Katy Perry’s New Single, “Smile,” Title Track from Her New Album Coming August 14th
What can I say? I like Katy Perry’s singles. They’re well made. “Smile” is the title track from her new album coming on August 14th. Katy’s had a bunch of singles including the hits “Daisies,” the Gold-certified “Never Really Over,” and “Harleys In Hawaii” all of which will be on the album. She says she wrote “Smile” during a low point– presumably when her last album didn’t do so well. But she’s a big hit on “American Idol,” she’s about to have a baby, and one day she’ll have a big sold out tour. It sounds good to me.
NBC First Run Soap “Days of Our Lives” Finally Hits Number 1 For the First Time Since Richard Nixon was President
It’s finally happened. “Days of our Lives” is number 1.
The NBC soap finished in first place the week of June 29-July 3, beating “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” The fourth soap, “General Hospital,” is not posting ratings during the rerun pandemic because they’re so low.
The last time “Days” was number 1 was in 1973, when there were 16 soaps. (The last time it was number 2 was in 1995.) But I predicted this when the other shows went into reruns. “Days” producer Ken Corday is so cheap that he shoots six months in advance so by luck, sheer luck, he had first run shows well beyond the other soaps.
But Corday also let everyone go before the pandemic hit, and then made them sign new contracts. He got rid of a lot of popular actors and nickel and dimed everyone else. Some, like Kristian Alfonso, objected. She quit after 37 years.
“Days” is entertaining largely because of the head writer, Ron Carlivati, who gave the show a little life after years of stagnation.
The show scored 1,770,000 viewers in this last ratings week. It also picked up 23,000 viewers from the previous week and finished first in all the age demos.
If NBC does some promotion, they can build on these numbers. The other shows won’t be back with new episodes until Labor Day or a little before then.
The “Liberty Biberdy” Guy from Liberty Mutual Commercials, Tanner Novlan, Is Joining CBS Soap “Bold and the Beautiful”
How do you follow up one the big watercooler talk commercials? Well, Tanner Novlan has figured out his next move.
Tanner is the star of that Liberty Mutual ad in which a dim witted actor auditions for the commercial. He blows all his lines, can’t remember anything and can’t take direction. Now he’s taking his act to CBS’s “The Bold and the Beautiful” where he will play… a doctor! I hope his patients have good insurance. Look Novlan took join the show in the fall as they air new episodes post-COVID.
Sony Music-Columbia Records Announces Release of First Album from Dominic Fike, Their $4 Million Act
Dominic Fike’s first album is here, this month.
Fike, a budding R&B star from Naples, Florida, was signed by up Sony’s Columbia Records president Ron Perry a couple of years ago for $4 million. The music industry was skeptical, of course.
Since then, there’s been something of a wait for Fike’s ship to come in. His first EP, “Don’t Forget About Me,” which attracted Columbia’s attention, were recorded in late 2017 while Fike was on house arrest for battery of a police officer. He serving a short jail sentence for breaking the terms of his house arrest just as the EP came out. He said in a recent interview that each of his parents is currently in jail. He was going to use his advance money to help them. This kid is only 24!
His album, coming July 31st, is cheekily titled “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” Let’s hope it goes right. He’s released two singles already, “Chicken Tenders,” and “Politics and Violence.” I think he has real potential. And we need a success story right now.
Back on June 8th, Fike was supposed to release a new single. But he changed his mind and posted an impassioned observation to social media about the police that was incredibly moving. It follows here:
