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Elon Responds to New York Times Investigation: “I am NOT Taking Drugs” But Doesn’t Explain Why He Always Looks Zoned Out

Roger Friedman
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Elon Responds to New York Times Investigation: “I am NOT Taking Drugs” But Doesn’t Explain Why He Always Looks Zoned Out

Elon Musk is fighting back against the New York Times.

The Times says in a well researched piece that the Tesla SpaceX founder has been out of his gourd for some time on drugs.

The Times has the goods. It sure looks like Musk is high a lot of the time. He’s constantly zoning out during press conferences. He swings and sways, his neck can’t support his head. He’s like a living bobblehead doll. If the Times is right, that means Musk might have been stoned when he destroyed thousands of lives by dismissing a huge part of the government including USAID.

What a legacy!

But Musk says it’s not true. He X’d this afternoon: “The 3 years of random drug testing was just because of one semi-puff during a Joe Rogan podcast! Also, to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off. ”

He adds:

“I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”

We’re lucky he’s left the government. But he’s also offered no explanation for his black eye (other than his toddler hitting him by accident). There’s also a lot of chatter about Musk hiring Stephen Miller’s wife to come work with him. None of it is good. But Miller is so unsympathetic a character, no one really cares if something tawdry is going on.

“Stranger Things” Season 5 Date Announcement Coming As Broadway Show Picks Up Steam at Box Office After Early Struggle

Roger Friedman
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“Stranger Things” Season 5 Date Announcement Coming As Broadway Show Picks Up Steam at Box Office After Early Struggle

We’ll finally learn tonight when “Stranger Things” season 5 drops on Netflix this year.

At 8pm, while the Yankees and the Knicks are each in huge games, Netflix will air a live special called Tudum featuring all their stars and Lady Gaga.

It’s presumed that the “Stranger Things” announcement will come since three cast members are featured on social media promoting the event.

These are the “kids” from “Stranger Things” who are now in their 20s. Time flies!

Meantime, the “Stranger Things” Broadway show improved its box office last week. The show grossed a million dollars for the first time in a month.

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” hasn’t been a runaway hit, and has just 1 big Tony nomination. It should attract customers during the summer, and maybe the anticipation of Season 5 will gin up business.

Come back later for the TV announcement.

EXCLUSIVE Jake Tapper Ratings Fall to 387K Thursday as CNN Viewers Reject Biden Trash Talk, Book Promotion

Roger Friedman
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EXCLUSIVE Jake Tapper Ratings Fall to 387K Thursday as CNN Viewers Reject Biden Trash Talk, Book Promotion

CNN may soon regret backing Jake Tapper and his book, “Original Sin.”

I reported exclusively this week that Tapper’s ratings had fallen precipitously in the last week as he promoted the book that bashes Joe Biden 24/7. (Other outlets then helped themselves to that story, natch.)

I also reported exclusively that sales of “Original Sin” were just 53K in its first week — not the blockbuster Tapper and co. had hoped for.

Now I can tell you that two nights ago, Tapper’s ratings fell wildly, to an average of 387,000.

The first hour of “The Lead” yielded 415,000 viewers. The second hour scratched up just 360,000.

Tapper was crushed at 5pm by MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, with over 1 million. At 6pm, MSNBC’s Ari Melber took him down with 945,000 viewers.

Wallace and Melber each beat Tapper in key age demo share as well.

CNN viewers are sick of the non stop shilling by Tapper and other network personalities who have beaten a dead horse into dust over unsourced Biden criticism.

And what does Biden say? He told reporters this week of Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson: “I can beat the hell out of both of them.”

Wes Anderson’s “Phoenician Scheme” Faces Uphill Battle with C+ Reviews, Limited Run Opening to Stir Interest

Roger Friedman
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Wes Anderson’s “Phoenician Scheme” Faces Uphill Battle with C+ Reviews, Limited Run Opening to Stir Interest

Wes Anderson used to be the darling of Hollywood.

But several movies ago, his cuteness faded. He kept making the same movie over and over.

After such favorites as “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Royal Tennenbaums,” Anderson fell into a rut.

His last couple of offerings, like “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City,” drifted off into a place where no one wanted to go.

Anderson wasn’t always this twee. Thirty years ago, his first films — “Bottle Rocket” and “Rushmore” — were real movies with characters and without over stylized set designs.

On Friday, Focus Features released “The Phoenician Scheme” in 6 theatres. Total take was $270,000 as Anderson diehards turned out en masse. limited theaters.In the UK, the movie has made just $1.6 million in the last week.

“The Phoenician Scheme” has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, a C plus. On Metacritic, it’s 71. Audiences aren’t crazy about it. One civilian reviewer, Jason A, summed it up: “Wes Anderson is stuck. Visually stunning still but the stories are uninteresting and disjointed.”

In Cannes, there were TikTok videos of the audience pouring out of the premiere and telling interviewers that they hated it.

Still, Focus had a big premiere Thursday night as if nothing was wrong. But “Phoenician” is going to sink like a stone. It may never get more than a limited release once the novelty wears off in NY and LA.

Taylor Swift Bombshell News Sends 15 Albums to Top 100, “Reputation” Returns to Number 1 on iTunes

Roger Friedman
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Taylor Swift Bombshell News Sends 15 Albums to Top 100, “Reputation” Returns to Number 1 on iTunes

Hey Donald Trump, You thought Taylor Swif5 wss over?

Yesterday’s bombshell announcement has triggered an avalanche of sales.

Taylor bought back the albums she lost in the Scooter Braun deal. She paid $10 million or more.

The result is the fans have gone crazy! They’ve returned FIFTEEN albums to the top 100. “Reputation” is number 1!

The main single from “Reputation,” called “Look What You Made Me Do,” has also charted this morning. That’s good news for the band Right Said Fred. The song contains a big sample of “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.”

Swifties are fiercely loyal. You’d think they have all these downloads and various CDs and LPs. Maybe they stockpile them for the future.

Keep refreshing…

Renaissance Superstar Judy Collins Launches Cool Poetry Collection with A List Night of Songs and Stars (Video)

Roger Friedman
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Renaissance Superstar Judy Collins Launches Cool Poetry Collection with A List Night of Songs and Stars (Video)

Judy Collins continues to be a Renaissance woman.

The legendary Grammy award winning singer and composer never stops creating and moving forward.

She’s performing to sold out audiences all the time, thrilling them with her rich voice on songs like “Send in the Clowns,” “Both Sides Now,” and “Amazing Grace.”

On Thursday night, Judy’s pal Paige Peterson welcomed a small group of friends to her new high up corner apartment on Central Park West to celebrate Collins’ new book of poetry called “Sometimes It’s Heaven: Poems of Love, Loss, and Redemption.”

Quite a little group showed up including pals Paul Shaffer, Marlo Thomas, Kathie Berlin, Susan Cheever, Lorraine Alterman Boyle, famed record producer Russ Titelman, producer Paula Silver, rock and roll impresario Danny Fields (he signed the Ramones, and the MC5 among others), our own Regina Weinreich, and more.

There’s nothing like watching Judy Collins — a master pianist with the most piercing blue eyes anywhere– improvise underscore music while performing her lyrical semi-autobiographical poems as the “Manhattanhenge” sun is setting! Even better, when Judy left the bench to lead the guests in “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” Paul Shaffer took over at the piano impromptu.

One of the evocative poems, called “Hockney in the Mountains,” could be turned into a song. Judy says some 30 of the 200 poems she wrote may be converted in that direction. I hope so!

The summer night was cold and we were giddy
Standing there looking out at Ajax when a heart-stopping, blood-curdling scream split the air and struck us, like knives to the heart
I said someone is having glorious sex
David said someone is being murdered We debated for a while and then had another drink in the resuming quiet of the mountain air
I stumbled back into the room Our host called the man at the front desk who said there was nothing they could do about noise in the mountains; everybody screams sometimes

Alan Alda, More Friends Mourn the Loss of “MASH” Star, Two Time Emmy Winner Loretta Swit at 87

Roger Friedman
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Alan Alda, More Friends Mourn the Loss of “MASH” Star, Two Time Emmy Winner Loretta Swit at 87

Loretta Swit, who twice won Emmys for playing Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on MASH, is being remembered by friends tonight.

Co-star Alan Alda wrote on X: “Loretta was a supremely talented actor. She deserved all her 10 EMMY nominations and her 2 wins. But more than acting her part, she created it. She worked hard In showing the writing staff how they could turn the character from a one joke sexist stereotype into a real person — with real feelings and ambitions. We celebrated the day the script came out listing her character not as Hot Lips, but as Margaret. Loretta made the most of her time here.’

Swit was nominated for Emmys every year of the “MASH” and won two of them.

When Sally Kellerman played “Hot Lips” in the “MASH” movie, the character was part of a randy group of American doctors working in the Korean war. Kellerman was very funny.

But by the time “MASH” got going in 1972, it was a different real world for women. Loretta Swit’s portrayal turned “Hot Lips” into Margaret, a forerunner of women’s rights. She was smart first and sexy second. She was the only lead female in a cast of men, and held her head high.

Loretta Swit will be sorely missed, but like Mary Tyler Moore and a a few others she won’t be forgotten as a trailblazer.

“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” Has a Week of Daily Declines, Still Not at $100 Million After a Week

Roger Friedman
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“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” Has a Week of Daily Declines, Still Not at $100 Million After a Week

“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” opened to previews a week ago last night.

The Tom Cruise epic three hour adventure film cost $400 million, at least. It’s still not reached $100 million.

Each day this week, “Final Reckoning’ has had declines at the box office. Even mid week, when most films get a boost, “FR” was down.

It should cross $100 million today, Friday. But the weekend will show if “FR” is going to go beyond $150 million.

Worldwide, the total is $218 million so far. Very popular in Japan, South Korea, the UK. Still not released in China.

Will Paramount be on the hook for Cruise’s wild spending?

Stay tuned…

Trump Randomly Fires Head of National Portrait Galley Because She Commissioned Pictures of Spielberg, Jamie Dimon Et Al

Roger Friedman
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Trump Randomly Fires Head of National Portrait Galley Because She Commissioned Pictures of Spielberg, Jamie Dimon Et Al

Trump has randomly fired the head of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian. He’s never been in the Gallery, or any other museum.

This is what he blathered on Truth Social: “Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am herby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery. She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position. Her replacement will be named shortly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Trump is angry that Sajet commissioned portraits of JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon, Temple Grandin (famously overcame autism), Joy Harjo (former US poet laureate) and famed movie director Steven Spielberg. He would rather have chosen Hitler, Putin, Kim Jung Un, and Scott Baio.

Sajet has been director of the Gallery since 2013. She’s Nigerian by birth and was raised in Australia. She’s the first woman ever to hold the position at the museum.

As with the Kennedy Center, this is another boneheaded decision by a person who shouldn’t be sent out for sandwiches.

Mariah Carey Finally Makes a Deal to Release Her 20 Year Old Cover of a Classic R&B Song Written by Motown Legends

Roger Friedman
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Mariah Carey Finally Makes a Deal to Release Her 20 Year Old Cover of a Classic R&B Song Written by Motown Legends

Oh, Mariah.

In her heyday, Mariah Carey was famous for “sampling” songs, meaning — as Maurice White once told me — eating the whole buffet.

Mariah turned White’s song, Best of My Love, into her “Emotions.” (You hear it below.) The Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” became her “Fantasy,” and so on. Some samples were cleared. She was also sued for plagiarism and settled many times.

It turns out in that back in 2005, Mariah covered a 1975 record called “Here Comes That Feeling Again” by the Dynamic Superiors. The original song was co-written by Motown greats Eddie and Brian Holland, aka as Holland-Dozier-Holland. Mariah called it “When I Feel It,” after changing a few words and adding her own.

Guess who didn’t ‘feel it’? The Hollands. Mariah couldn’t get her version cleared, so the song languished for 20 years.

But now finally a deal has been struck, and “When I Feel It” is released today on the 20th anniversary edition of “The Emancipation of Mimi.” Mariah sounds great because she’s singing a real R&B as opposed to one of her yodeling scat hop hop inventions.

The two records are very similar. I hope this sparks an interest in the Dynamic Superiors, too. Someone should do a podcast of all the R&B staples there were used to make “new” records, like Alicia Keys with “Empire State of Mind” and Beyonce with “Crazy in Love.”

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