Thursday, December 18, 2025
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Right Wing Country Singer John Rich Calls Sen. Lindsay Graham “They/Them” on Trump’s Social Media Page

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Is it any wonder Truth Social stock has dropped to $23?

Right wing country singer John Rich has now used the social media platform to call Senator Lindsay Graham “they/them.”

He says Graham is the “Bud Light of Republican senators.” Then he adds “Treat they/them as such.”

The attempt at a gay slur is posted just to Trump’s site. On Twitter, Rich is careful to call Graham “him.”

 

Rich used to be part of the group Big & Rich. He’s since gone on to become a virulent conservative and a huge Trumper.

Meantime, Trump Media stock has fallen off a cliff in the last 24 hours as the Trump family announced a $2.5 billion investment in crypto. The current price is $22.62. The stock has fallen 12.5% in the last month. 

Trump Media stock holders are being left in the dust. 

Poor Lindsay Graham. So loyal to Trump. Must be a sadist.

 

Freddie Trumper Unfortunate Name of Main Character in Broadway Musical “Chess” Coming Soon in First Ever Revival

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The first ever revival of the musical, “Chess,” is coming to Broadway.

But it may never get to the Kennedy Center. The main character is named Freddie Trumper, aka The American.

Freddie is not based on Donald Trump’s late father or brother. He’s supposed to represent Bobby Fischer, the chess master, and is referred to in the show as The American.

New book writer Danny Strong may be urged to change that name in his update.

This “Chess” will star Aaron Tveit as Freddie, with Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher. They will not be playing Ivanka and Jared.

The songs in “Chess” are from Tim Rice and the Swedish pop group, ABBA. The big number is “One Night in Bangkok.”

Director is Michael Mayer. The characters will be his…pawns!

“Chess” is no “Oklahoma!” or even “Mamma Mia.” But this production has a new book by Danny Strong, so the potential is there for a much better show this time around.

Also coming to Broadway: “Hamilton” star Christopher Jackson is stepping into “Hell’s Kitchen” as the father character. Jackson is also featured in the new season of “Sex and the City: And Just Like That.”

Clive Davis Celebrates Memorial Day with A Lister Dinners: Brian Cox, Chevy Chase, Valerie Simpson, KC of the Sunshine Band, More!

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What did you do over the weekend?

Legendary music mogul Clive Davis, 93, hosted his annual three day event at his beautiful home tucked away in leafy Westchester County.

The event is almost as legendary as Clive himself, with big dinners each night, brunch during the day, and a talent show on Sunday.

This year, guests included Chevy Chase, famed Motown songwriter Valerie Simpson, Paul Shaffer, and Henry Wayne Casey aka KC of the famed Sunshine Band. Also on hand: Republic Records co-chief Monte Lipman, influencer and entrepreneur Nikki Haskell, MSNBC producer Ron Dodd, famed Broadway producer Fran Weissler, WABC weatherman Sam Champion, theater writer Michael Riedel, and Jerry Wonda of Fugees fame, among others.

I was lucky to be included, and got to talk to the most unusual visitor: the great actor Brian Cox aka Logan Roy of “Succession.” He and his wife, actress Nicole Ansari-Cox. (I was seated next to Francine Lefrak, Broadway producer and such an innovative charitable giver that she and husband Rick Friedberg had just been part of the Time 100 dinner for philanthropists on Thursday night!)

Yes, I had a lot of questions for Cox, who I met 25 years ago when starred in a film called “L.I.E.” His co-star was a very young Paul Dano.

Has he seen Sarah Snook on Broadway in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”? Snook played Shiv Roy, his daughter on the series.

“Of course! She’s marvelous! What a job she did!” He agreed with me when I mentioned how Snook is without ego despite her acting gifts. “We love her!” he said.

Cox hasn’t had a chance to see Kieran Culkin yet in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” he’s going soon. Cox had nothing but praise for Culkin, who played Roman Roy. Cox was blown away by Kieran’s work in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain.”

“He’s had an incredible year, and I’m so happy for him,” Cox told me.

I did ask him about voicing the McDonald’s commercials. Does he enjoy it? “Totally,” he declared. “I want to do more!”

The Saturday dinner — for well over 100 guests — included an entertainment surprise. The person most surprised was the entertainer herself, Valerie Simpson, who wrote dozens of hits with late husband Nik Ashford. Minutes before the guests were seated, Clive enlisted her to play a couple of songs on his beautiful piano.

Simpson, always up for a challenge, rose to the occasion and serenaded us with two of her famous songs. One was the first hit she and Nik wrote for Ray Charles, “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” She told us, “We wrote it as a joke, but Ray loved it. And it changed our lives.”

Val told us she was shocked, watching the Met Gala, when that huge group of singers on the red carpeted stairs serenaded the celebrities with one their songs. That was “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” appropriate since Diana Ross made her first Met Gala appearance in years. (See below, with party co-host Greg Schiefer as talented mic holder.)

As for Clive, who just turned a youthful 93, he remains the host with the most. Over dinner he told a story about how he revived Miles Davis’s career in 1970. The famed jazz trumpeter was doing small shows around the country. Clive encouraged him to record the landmark “Bitches Brew” album, which became a huge bestseller. It propelled Miles into big venues — including Bill Graham’s Fillmore West — and cemented his fame.

The best part of the Clive story is the kicker: Miles was going to be presented with his gold record and demanded that Clive give it to him at the ceremony. Only, he told Clive that he could not come in his signature blue blazer and — Clive quoted Miles — “those fucking khaki pants.”

Davis told Davis he’d pick out the music mogul’s outfit himself.

The result: a picture of them made the cover of Cashbox magazine, You can see it below.

And beneath that, my picture of Chevy Chase underneath a portrait of Aretha Franklin. Clive reminded us that during his Arista Records days he produced the only “Saturday Night Live” comedy album. Of course!

c2025 Showbiz411

Sting & Shaggy Will Return After 2 Years to Headline the 2nd “One Fine Day” Show Again This Fall with Lots of Special Guests

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Sting and Shaggy are back to their old tricks.

They’re going to headline the 2nd One Fine Day event, in Philadelphia this September. The first one, back in 2023, was a huge hit.

Their charity partner is St. Jude Research Hospital in Nashville.

One Fine Day is described as a full day of eclectic music featuring a diverse artist lineup across two stages returning exclusively to The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, PA, on Saturday, September 6, 2025.

Great guest stars booked already include O.A.R., Marcia Griffiths, and Chance Emerson; The Original Wailers featuring Al Anderson, Big Freedia, and Sophie Grey.

Sting and Shaggy have made for a great tag team in the last few years producing music together and performing in tandem. They’ve had a hit single out for the last few months called “Til a Mawnin'” that is now stuck in my head!

UPDATE Kelly Clarkson’s Latest Single Sold Very Few Copies, Not Enough to Leave Her Thriving Talk Show

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I keep seeing reports about Kelly Clarkson and her talk show.

Her staff is worried that she’s going to leave them behind and return to being a pop star.

Someone should tell her it’s a bad idea.

Clarkson released a single a month ago called “Where Have You Been?”

In the end, no one cared. Or everyone knew where she’d been. The single sold 20,000 copies including 8,000 downloads. The rest was from streaming. It just never took off.

Clarkson has her own label with distribution deal at Atlantic Records. That gets Atlantic off the hook for most of the work. Kelly’s coming with a new album next month, but if the songs are as dreary as “Where Have You Been?” it’s not going to fly. At least with the talk show, she has a forum

Rock & Roll Superstar Rick Derringer Dies at 77, Famous for “Hang on Sloopy” and “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo”

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Sad to say famed guitarist Rick Derringer has died at age 77.

Rick was famous for the song, “Hang On Sloopy” when his band was called The McCoys in the mid 60s.

He struck gold again in the mid 70s as a solo artist with a monster hit, “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo.”

Around the same time, Rick had a total Renaissance, playing with the Edgar Winter Group on their huge hits, “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride.” His credits include dozens of other albums and singles you can look up in Wikipedia.

I knew Rick a little bit. For many years he was married to Liz Derringer, a PR maven and popular New York celebrity herself. They were a hot rock couple of the 70s.

Liz tells me: “Rick was not only an amazing guitarist, he was a great person. We spent 25 incredible years together. I am so saddened by his passing. He will remain in my heart forever.”

Condolences to Liz and Rick’s entire family. He was a star.

Cast Set for “Harry Potter” HBO Series Has Big Shoes to Fill with Harry, Ron, Hermione Named

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There’s a new Harry Potter trio.

Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin, and Alastair Stout are your new Hermione, Harry, and Ron for the HBO series based on the original books by JK Rowling (who everyone hates now) and the movies.

Two acting greats — John Lithgow, Janet McTeer — plysy Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon, and Paul Whitehouse have already been cast as the Hogwarts adults.

The producers of the series say: “After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It’s been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.”

A whole new generation of “Harry Potter” fans will have access to the stories that made the books and movies so popular. After all, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are a little long in the tooth to reprise their roles!

Rod Stewart, Janet Jackson, Gwen Stefani Save an Otherwise Gruesome American Music Awards

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If I see Bensom Boone do one more flip on stage, I will flip — out.

Boone’s one trick pony show continued tonight on the American Music Awards, the first edition in a few years.

Jennifer Lopez hosted for no reason, wandering in looking beautiful after performing a pedestrian medley of other people’s hits.

Dylan Efron, Zac’s brother, is being turned into a pitchman. He introduced commercials.

The totally strange set up was saved only by three veterans who put their all into the show: Rod Stewart, Janet Jackson, and Gwen Stefani.

Otherwise, there was no show. Several winners weren’t present but sent videos because these awards are not surprises. The whole thing always was and is still rigged. SZA and Boone were pretty much guaranteed wins because they were there in person.

Janet Jackson really pulled off a great commercial for her live touring show. She just turned 59 but God bless her, she’s still got it.

Rod Stewart sang his Bob Dylan collaboration, “Forever Young.” But he included live bagpipes and violin playing hotties. Rod’s voice is sporadic but his enthusiasm is undimmed. The whole thing was a hoot.

Rod was greeted on stage by several of his adult children, who he didn’t expect to see. Who was missing? Wife Penny Lancaster. She wasn’t even sitting with him in the audience. He was stuck between two unidentified brunettes.

The AMAs are Walmart to the Grammys’ Tiffany’s. Tonight they only gave out a few awards, the rest were a mystery. The show stopped short at two hours. It was all very random. Many presenters were “influencers” no one has heard of.

I didn’t expect much, so I wasn’t disappointed. There was enough time to switch over to the Yankees-LA Athletics game, so I’m grateful.

Were there winners? Who knows? Who cares? CBS filled a couple of hours cheaply, which seemed to be the point.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eV6Q5Hen-0E

Disgraced Congressman George Santos Says He Can’t Get a Trump Pardon — Unless Of Course He’s Lying

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Poor George Santos.

The short lived Long Island Republican congressman can’t get Donald Trump on the phone to ask for a pardon.

Santos, an unrepentant liar — and sometime cross dresser — was bounced from Congress last year. He was convicted in federal court on counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos — who pleaded guilty — was ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $373,749.97 and $205,002.97 in forfeiture.

Santos begins his prison stretch in 61 days.

He thought he might get a pardon from Trump, who sets loose almost all criminals who kowtow to him. He just did the same for New York Mayor Adams, now his puppet.

Santos wrote on social media that he thought of going to Trump, but didn’t want to waste the next two months trying to get through to him. Sounds like he did try, and heard crickets.

He says “the so called friends that said they’d help legit should have just told me to go fuck myself, because that’s what has essentially happened with their actions.”

That’s sad. But what would be the upside of helping Santos? He’s cooked. When he gets out of jail he might sell a book. But no one would interview him. He’s an inveterate criminal.

It’s funny to think even Trump has his limits!

Santos’s Long Island district was flipped blue in February 2024.

Broadway Report: R&B Great Usher, Broadway Legend Savion Glover Honor The Great Ben Vereen with Chita Rivera Award

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What in the world would bring R&B superstar Usher to NYU’s Skirball Center?

Answer: Tony winner Ben Vereen, who last week received a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Chita Rivera Awards.

Usher, you may not know, is Vereen’s godson. The alaways hot Usher recounted Vereen’s valuable efforts to straighten the young man’s path when he was young. And what was the message of the night, loud and clear at the Chita Rivera Awards to dancers, choreographers, musical ensembles: The Arts Must Be Protected.

Who else was there for Vereen, who will always be remembered for “Pippin,” among other shows: another Tony winner, Savion Glover, who tapdanced his heart out.

Vy Higginsen’s famous Sing Harlem Choir performed “Let the Sunshine In/ This Little Light of Mine.”

When they finished, Vereen exclaimed, “We had Chuch!” removing the R.

Vereen could not have paid higher homage to his late friend, Chita Rivera, who used to say her favorite place to be was a roomful of dancers.

He also carried the message that our country is in trouble; we must take this upon ourselves to keep the lifeline of dance and all the arts pulsing.

At the Skirball Center, there were dancers galore! And wonderful performances: from “Boop! The Musical,” Jasmine Amy Rogers and Ainsley Melham’s “Where I Want to Be.”

Two time Emmy winner and comic writer Bruce Vilanch introduced a dance from what he called the “Godzilla” of mothers, Mama Rose, from “Gypsy.” The Mothers theme became a “Mom Medley” for Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Kevin Csolak, who plays Tulsa in the revival starring Audra McDonald, performed “All I Need is the Girl,” channeling Gene Kelly. Csolak went on to win the award for Outstanding Broadway Dancer, shared with Robyn Hurder from “Smash.”

From “Swept Away,” an underappreciated musical (The Avett Brothers), Adrian Blake Enscoe and Cameron Johnson performed movement inspired by the play’s theme, a deadly shipwreck. Yes, that fine chamber play about sacrifice and salvation at sea featured sailors vying for survival amidst turbulent waters, with beautiful work by choreographer David Neumann, was awarded the Douglas & Ethel Watt Critics’ Choice Award.

Bob Fosse’s spirit was never far away. And neither were his children with dancer Gwen Verdon: Nicole and Noah Fosse introduced Khori Petinaud in a balletic “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries.” For entertainment, you could not have a better benefit event. For philanthropy, you could not have a more meaningful cause than the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation Scholarship Program and its latest creation, the new Chita Rivera Training Scholarship.

As to the winners:

BROADWAY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Joshua Bergasse, Smash
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
**Patricia Delgado /Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just In Time
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Rickey Tripp / DeWitt Fleming, Jr., A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical

OUTSTANDING DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Angélica Beliard, Buena Vista Social Club
**Kevin Csolak, Gypsy
Carlos Falú, Buena Vista Social Club
DeWitt Fleming, Jr., A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Jonathan Groff, Just In Time
**Robyn Hurder, Smash
Héctor Juan Maisonet, Buena Vista Social Club
Ilda Mason, Buena Vista Social Club
Marielys Molina, Buena Vista Social Club
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A BROADWAY SHOW
A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Boop! The Musical
**Buena Vista Social Club
Death Becomes Her
Just In Time
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Smash

OFF-BROADWAY

OFF-BROADWAY SPECIAL RECOGNITION

The Awarding Committee of the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards celebrates excellence in Off-Broadway musical theater by presenting a special award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Choreography.

**Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

FILM & DOCUMENTARY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A FEATURE FILM
A Nice Indian Boy, Choreographers: Ziana D’Mello, Breanna English, Christian Lagasse
Emilia Perez, Choreographer: Damien Jalet
**Sh’ma: A Story of Survival, Choreographer: Suki John
Snow White, Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Wicked, Part 1, Choreographer: Christopher Scott

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DANCE DOCUMENTARY
**A Resilient Man, Director: Stephane Carrel
Better Man, Director: Michael Gracey
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, Director: Bruce David Klein
Two Roads, Director: Susan Wittenberg
Who Cares About Pal Frenak, Director: Gloria Halasz