Madonna wished herself a happy Father’s Day yesterday on Instagram. She snubbed the biological fathers of all her children, starting with Carlos Leon and Guy Ritchie, with whom she actually had children. She also adopted David Banda from Malawi with Ritchie. Her three adopted daughters all have fathers in Malawi, and maybe even mothers. But in Madonna’s mind, she gets credit for everything. Extraordinary. I don’t know about the men in Africa, but Leon and Ritchie, by all accounts, have been perfectly fine fathers. The African fathers maybe should get credit for being big enough to allow their kids a better life. Happy Father’s Day to them.
Pulse: The Top 4 Books on Amazon are About Trump and Racism, starting with Bolton and Trump’s Niece
The Amazon Books best seller list usually tells the story of where we are in America right.
If you can read, this is the best way take to the public’s pulse. And right now, the top 4 books paint this picture accurately.
They are in, order:
John Bolton’s “In the Room Where it Happened,” which arrives tomorrow with huge pre-sales and fanfare. Bolton is doing a victory lap on ABC News this week, starting last night with Martha Raddatz’s prime time special. The New York Times panned it, but everyone wants it.
Number 2 is Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.” Jimmy Fallon had DiAngelo had on last week, which was pretty interesting in itself but also because he’s apologizing for a long ago blackface skit.
Number 3: “How to be Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, a manual for all of us, highly praised.
Number 4: Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, daughter of his dead brother Fred Jr., is possibly violating NDA’s she signed with our waning leader. “”Too Much and Not Enough” — if it gets published– will finally reveal the family’s dirty secrets. Not published until July 28th but already number 4.
Awards Schedule Changes Continued: Golden Globes to February 28th, Critics Choice with Taye Diggs as Host Moves to March 7th, 7 Weeks Before Oscars
This is going to be some weird awards season– if we ever get there.
UPDATE Golden Globe have jumped ahead to February 28th, the date abandoned by the Oscars. So they will miss all the movies released in February. This will jump the Globes a week ahead of the Critics Choice Awards, and two months before the Oscars.
The Critics Choice Awards, hosted by Taye Diggs, will go on March 7, 2021 on the CW Network. They are given by the group I am proud to be part of, the Broadcast Critics Association.
The cut off for the CCA will be February 1st, a month earlier than the Oscars’ 2021 eligibility date of February 28th. So no movies released in February will be part of the CCA. Does it matter at this point? Who knows?
The CCA’s March 7th date is now seven weeks earlier than the Oscars, set for April 25th. When are the Golden Globes going to happen? I say March 20th, but the Hollywood Foreign Press hasn’t announced a date yet. SAG Awards? Dunno. DGA? PGA? WGA? Toss a coin.
Today is June 22nd. This all seems very, very far away, doesn’t it? Particularly because life is moving slowly right now. We haven’t had the Cannes Film Festival. Telluride and Toronto are up in the air. The Venice Film Festival is set for for September 3rd, but despite bravura no one know what that means either. Can you fly to Italy? Do you want to? Will stars be willing to go? Will anyone have the money?
Here’s the schedule for the CCA, which will be held as usual in the hangar at Santa Monica Airport, a big open space. If the pandemic isn’t over by then, it really won’t matter one way or another.
February 1, 2021 – Nominating ballots go out to CCA Film Branch members
February 5, 2021 – Deadline for returning nominating ballots
February 7, 2021 – Critics Choice Awards Film nominations announced
March 4, 2021 – Final ballots go out to CCA Film Branch members
March 5, 2021 – Deadline for returning final ballots
Justin Bieber Accused of Rape by Two Women on Social Media, Denies and Refutes: “I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action”
Two young women — going only by first names Danielle and Kadi– over the weekend accused Justin Bieber of rape. They say the assaults took place respectively in 2014 and 2015. In each case they offer scant evidence but some text messages and other vague representations.
Bieber immediately refused and denied all accusations. He wrote: “Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed. However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action.”
Bieber also offered a lot of evidence to prove these allegations are based on what he says are lies. He refuted claims concerning where and when the assaults happened.
On march 10th selena left for work and I stayed at the Westin as the receipts clearly showed with my friends nick and john before I left town. Once again not at the four seasons. We booked it for a couple days to stay for the defjam show but I bailed on the 11th to head back home pic.twitter.com/Ku15SCYz91
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
The Pics I showed of me and Selena march 9 in Austin should make it clear that we were together that night and went from the venue to our Airbnb and never went to the four seasons. This is our airbnb receipt where we crashed with our friends pic.twitter.com/4ZDIqjeCIQ
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
He writes:
“I don’t normally address things as I have dealt with random accusations my entire career but after talking with my wife and team I have decided to speak up on an issue tonight…Rumors are rumors but sexual abuse is something I don’t take lightly. I wanted to speak out right away but out of respect to so many victims who deal with these issues daily I wanted to make sure I gathered the facts before I made any statement…In the past 24 hours a new Twitter appeared that told a story of myself involved with sexual abuse on March 9, 2014 in Austin Texas at the Four seasons hotel. I want to be clear. There is no truth to this story. In fact as I will soon show I was never present at that location…As her story told I did surprise a crowd in Austin at Sxsw where I appeared on stage with my then assistant side stage and sang a few songs. What this person did not know was that I attended that show with my then gf Selena Gomez…
…”We have also confirmed with the Four Seasons regional manager that I was never on property on the 9th of March 2014 and never a guest on the 9th or the 10th and I welcome all press to inquire with them if needed or wanted…Furthermore I stayed with Selena and our friends at an airbnb on the 9th and on the 10th stayed at a Westin because our hotel reservation at LÀ Quinta and not the four seasons was messed up. Here are the receipts for the hotel on the 10th…”
I caution everyone in the press not to reprint the allegations without backup, last names, and more information. It’s very easy now to initiate a scandal on social media. Facts are essential. It sounds like Justin has the receipts, as they say these days. God knows, he’s vulnerable to any kind of crazy attack.
(Listen) Paris Jackson’s Group, The Soundflowers, Releases 5 Song EP This Week, And She’s Calling Herself PK Dragonfly
Paris Jackson’s group with boyfriend Gabriel Glenn is called The Soundflowers. They’re releasing their first record, a five song EP, this week. All songs are written by Glenn and Paris, who calls herself PK Dragonfly. The PK is for Paris Katherine.
The tracklist:
1. your look (glorious)
2. geronimo
3. notes on a ghost
4. in the blue
5. best version of myself
The EP seems to be on something called Imperial Records, which is an old imprint under Capitol and presumably owned now by Universal Music. So The Soundflowers may be under the large Universal umbrella. Do they have marketing, promotion, etc? Who knows? If you do, drop me a line at showbiz411@gmail.com
From the sound of this sampler, this pretty happy upbeat 60s like folk rock, which we could use right now.
PS Paris posted a really lovely Father’s Day tribute to her guardian, and the guy who stepped in when Michael Jackson died, her cousin TJ Jackson. I really like Paris, always have. I hope this music thing goes well for her this week.
Here’s the Trailer for “Hamilton” the Filmed Stage Version of the Broadway Mega-hit, Coming July 3rd to DisneyPlus
The filmed stage version of “Hamilton” comes to DisneyPlus on July 3rd. The mega hit musical will one day be a real movie, but until then this should do fine. It was filmed at the theater over three nights before the original cast left. Disney was going to release it in October, but since everyone’s home, and it’s ready, and it’s July 4th, and we need it desperately, here’s “Hamilton”:
With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and direction by Thomas Kail, “Hamilton” is inspired by the book “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow and produced by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeffrey Seller, with Sander Jacobs and Jill Furman serving as executive producers. Filming was produced by RadicalMedia. The 11-time-Tony Award®-, GRAMMY Award®-, Olivier Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning stage musical stars: Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; Jonathan Groff as King George; Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton; and Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton.
Larry King Poses for Father’s Day with His Sons in a Wheelchair, But Looks Happy Nevertheless
Former CNN and radio talk show star Larry King posed in a wheelchair Sunday for Father’s Day.
He was surrounded by his family and looked happy nevertheless. No one wore a mask, but hey– Larry’s only halfway through his 87th year. He can’t get COVID-19.
Larry’s son Cannon — one of his 21 year old twins with estranged wife Shawn, age 60 — wrote on Instagram:
“Dad’s side of the family came out for Father’s Day weekend. We love this man!”
Larry looks frail, no doubt about it, but never count him out. He recently announced he’d signed a $5 million deal to do a celebrity interview show on the radio with something called Jeff Beacher’s 4Forty4 Media.
Yes, it sounds dubious, and what celebrities will he be interviewing? Jermaine Jackson? Mitzi Gaynor? Ruta Lee? OJ? There was a time when Larry’s CNN interview show at 9pm was the place to see celebs of the moment live and in person. But that was before there were cell phones.
Well, we’ll see how that deal pans out. Larry has five children from eight wives, so Father’s Day is a big holiday.
“West Side Story” Star Ansel Elgort Refutes Accusation That He Raped 17 Year Old: “I have never and would never assault anyone”
Ansel Elgort, star of the upcoming movie revival of “West Side Story” has taken to Instagram to refute an accusation of rape. A Twitter poster named “Gabby” alleged on Friday that Elgort had raped her when he was 20 and she was 17, six years ago. She recounted her story and added little evidence except a photo of the two together and some texts. Twitter blew up with #MeToo and “Cancel” proclamations.
Now Elgort says they had a consensual relationship, that he handled the end of it badly. “I have never and would never assault anyone,” he writes.
Will it end here? We’ll wait and see.
Trump Rally A Bust: BOK Arena Owner Says Only 6,624 of 19,200 Seats Filled: “Lying Don’s Show is a Big Fat STIFF!”
EXCLUSIVE Donald Trump’s carnival in Tulsa was a bust.
The stadium it was held in has a capacity of 19,200. Jay Marciano, head of AEG Live, the company that runs the arena, says it was two thirds empty. Marciano knows exactly how many people went through the doors Saturday night.
He Tweeted “Lying Don’s show in Tulsa is a big fat STIFF! There are only 6624 people in the arena. So much for “There were requests for 1 million.” Total lies. Are we surprised?”
For the week to ten days leading up to Trump’s rally, ads were found on Craigslist and other places asking for paid actors to fill the arena. When the show finally started, the TV Cameras turned their focus on the seas of empty blue seats in every direction. Fox News and Trump’s lackeys endeavored to show a rally that looked “full” but it was a joke. When Marciano chimed in, we knew the jig was up.
Exclusive: Hollywood Charity Zoomfest Quarantunes Raises $5 Million, Announces Original “Hamilton” Cast Show for Next Friday
Quarantunes started out as a little fundraiser. And now, after 12 weeks of presenting rafts of star performers on Zoom to donors, the charity has announced they’ve raised $5 million.
Quarantunes is the brainchild of WME super agent Richard Weitz and his 17 year old daughter, Demi, who’s on her way to big things. With mega music mogul Clive Davis bringing performers, the Weitzes have turned the invitation only Quarantunes into a cult phenomenon.
Tonight, as their four hour extravaganza was coming into the home stretch, Weitz announced that next Friday, June 27th, Quarantunes will showcase the original cast of “Hamilton” starring Lin Manuel Miranda and all of the great stars from that show. “I’m not saying they;ll all be singing but…”
The money goes to Big Brothers and Sisters of Los Angeles. All of it. If you want to watch, you’ve got to donate.
Tonight, Friday, Clive presented Art Garfunkel, and Melissa Manchester, each of whom sang and was spectacular. Garfunkel sang with his son, James, in perfect harmony. Manchester, who we don’t see enough of, performed her hits “Midnight Blue” and “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” The songs’ co-writer, Carole Bayer Sager, was kvelling on the Zoom.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. As I type this, El DeBarge is doing his 80s hits. Faith Evans joined him for an impromptu “I’ll Be Missing You” and “Who’s Johnny?” It was really wonderful, all spur of the moment. Evans worried that she was wearing a bandana, t shirt and jeans, but that’s what made it so great. After some kidding around and prodding, Evans and DeBarge put together a scrappy version of Diane Warren’s “Rhythm of the Night.”
Singers from the groups Asia and The Outfield performed their 80s hits, and Chloe x Halle– who must think the 80s were in the pre-historic era– sang their new release. They have lovely voices. Aloe Blacc chimed in with his hits (and introduced his cute kids). Sherry Lansing, Diane Warren, Jimmy Jam Harris were in the “audience” as well as Nikki Haskell, Debbie Gibson and Lisa Loeb. SiriusXM’s Tracey Jordan helped coordinate the talent as usual.
The Weitzes put on intimate evenings that are unlike anything else on the Zoom or the web. The artists sing live, play piano or guitar, accompany themselves. They stop and start until they’ve got it right. And somehow 400 people feel very intimate. The party list isn’t all stars either, but people who’ve heard about the event and want to donate to Big Brothers and Sisters.
By the way, the real surprise of this night was Bryan Adams, from Canada, who played a song he co-wrote a decade or more ago called “Never Gonna Break My Faith.” It was for Emilio Estevez’s movie, “Bobby,” and sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige. It was nominated for an Oscar. Last week, Adams found Aretha’s solo recording of the song on his computer and called Clive. The result was Davis getting RCA and Peter Edge to make a new Black Lives Matter video for the track, which you can watch here:
Quarantunes returns next Friday with “Hamilton” and Saturday with a Pride show.