Although COVID-19 has prevented in-person graduation ceremonies, the class of 2020 will have a virtual celebration with some of the world’s biggest names on May 16. XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation and The Entertainment Industry Foundation have teamed up to present an hour-long graduation ceremony with a star-studded-lineup for this year’s high school
Play video content Fat Joe had an eye-opening story for Ashanti that almost saw one of her biggest hits go to Jennifer Lopez … at the would-be behest of Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. Joe was talking to Ashanti on Instagram Live this week, and recounted an interesting tale about a time he says Ja
Thanks to his foul-mouthed roles in “Superbad” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Jonah Hill swears the most of any film actor, a new study shows. Buzz Bingo analyzed more than 3,500 film scripts to find which has the most swear words and which actors curse the most. Thanks in part to Hill’s performance as
There’s something to be said, given all Catherine the Great did in her lifetime as the late 18th-century ruler of Russia, that the unfortunate bestiality rumor — you know, the one about the horse — remains. “Fake news,” said Elle Fanning on the Variety After Show, presented by National Geographic, on Instagram Live. “It’s pretty
Breaking News NY Giants cornerback Deandre Baker has surrendered to officials in Florida in his armed robbery case, his attorney Bradford Cohen tells TMZ Sports. Baker is facing multiple charges including armed robbery and aggravated assault for his alleged role in a May 13 incident at a cookout. Officials say Baker along with Seattle Seahawks
Following the news of Fred Willard’s death on Saturday, many film and TV stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Jimmy Kimmel and more, paid tribute to the comedic legend. Willard was known for his goofball characters and improvisational comedy. He earned four Emmy nominations, including three in a row for his role as Hank MacDougall on
Lynn Shelton, the beloved indie film director who also helmed mainstream TV programs like “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Mad Men” and “GLOW,” tragically died on Friday. Her publicist cited a blood disorder as the cause of death. She was 54. Shelton made her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 with “We Go Way
The bounty of stay-at-home music continues. Over the weekend and into the coming days, home viewers can tune into individual music livestreams from John Legend, Lewis Capaldi, Black Eyed Peas, D-Nice, Airborne Toxic Event, Brandy Clark and many others. And there’s no irony whatsoever in Alanis Morissette doing on online gig with the cast of
Fred Willard, the comic actor known for his genial but dunderheaded characters, has died. He was 86. Though most sources reported that he was born in 1939, some asserted that he was actually six years older, with a 1933 birthdate. Willard was an astonishingly ubiquitous presence especially on TV but also in movies for decades, though
Lynn Shelton, an indie filmmaker who helped popularize the mumblecore genre with works such as “Humpday” and “Your Sister’s Sister,” died Friday of a blood disorder. She was 54. Shelton was best known for her naturalistic, understated approach to comedy and drama in low-budget films that were hits with the Sundance crowd, but she reached
The ransomware hackers who stole gigabytes of data from a prominent New York entertainment law firm posted a batch of emails Saturday on the dark web, which they previously hyped as containing incriminating information on President Donald Trump. But there’s nothing damning in the collection of 169 emails, which the hackers illegally obtained from Grubman
In the 1950s, the word “mumbling” got stuck to the name Marlon Brando, and there were several reasons for that. Brando, starting with his first film, “The Men” (1950), brought a new mode of naturalistic acting to Hollywood that was so revolutionary it would change not just movies but the world. (By the time the
Movie theaters in the North America are slowly coming back to life with about 200 locations open as of Friday — nearly double last weekend’s total, Comscore is reporting. Drive-in movie locations are dominating the landscape with about 150 of the nation’s 306 drive-in locations now open, acccoding to Comscore. About 50 brick-and-mortar locations are
NBC has renewed the dramedy series “Good Girls” for a fourth season, Variety has learned exclusively. The news comes after the show’s third season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many productions to fall short of their episode orders after production was suspended across the board. Thus Season 3 of the show
“Star Trek” is boldly going back to its roots. CBS revealed Friday that it had given a series order to “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” a new show that will take place on the starship Enterprise in the years prior to James T. Kirk coming aboard as captain. The new show is set, like other
Capitol Music Group has announced that Halsey has officially earned 50 million RIAA-certified units across her albums, singles and features. Twelve new certifications, some of which are from her most recent album “Maniac,” helped the pop singer to achieve this milestone in her career. Halsey’s hit song “Without Me” has now gone platinum seven times,
Jorge Santana, a musician and the youngest brother of guitarist Carlos Santana, died of natural causes on Thursday. He was 68. Carlos Santana announced the death of his brother on his Facebook page on Friday. “We take time to celebrate the magnificent spirit of our beloved brother Jorge,” Carlos wrote. “He transitioned unto the realm
LGBTQ-focused streaming platform GagaOOLala officially launched worldwide Friday in all territories except for China and North Korea. The streamer is backed by Taipei-based Portico Media, one of the co-founders of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival. Its launch comes a week before the one-year anniversary of the day Taiwan became the first in Asia to
In music criticism, one often runs into trouble when trying to describe sustained, consistent excellence. Criticism is good at describing the ruptures in an artist’s work; the peaks and valleys; the seedlings of greatness in a developing act; the moments of great transition, the departures from form. Music criticism is rarely more useful than when
Leave it to Moby to time the release of his latest studio album, “All Visible Objects,” for when a pandemic is well under way. Although truth be told, it hasn’t really impacted his routine: an unapologetic homebody, the Los Angeles-based musician spends his days working on music, hiking, reading, thinking, repeat. Touring, like drugs and
MGM has brought Phil Lord and Chris Miller on board to direct and produce the film adaptation of “The Martian” author Andy Weir’s next novel, which has Ryan Gosling lined up to star. Amy Pascal has also signed on as a producer, joining Gosling and Ken Kao as well as Weir. Lord, Miller and Pascal
In today’s film news roundup, a Buddy Holly movie is in the works, the James Bond exhibition ”Driven: 007 x Spyscape” is going online and Enderby Entertainment is starting virtual production on the thriller “92.” PROJECT LAUNCH Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford is attached to the Buddy Holly biopic “Clear Lake,” with producers planning for a
Music is renowned for its ability to evoke emotions, memories, sensations. Yet it’s hard to think of music that gives a contact high as powerful as Nick Hakim’s. And although his 2016 debut, “Green Twins,” was a stoner-soul classic, his latest, “Will This Make Me Good,” is actually even trippier. Hakim’s music occupies a realm
If you’re looking for your next binge-watch (and aren’t we all?), add Amazon Prime’s show, Making the Cut to the list. It premiered at the end of March, and the entire first season is now available to stream. If you’re a fan of fashion-competition shows dotted with occasional drama and snarky comments, you’ll whip through
Producers behind the Terry Crews micro-budget drama “John Henry” are taking a victory lap this week, as their film has found an exhilarating second life and wide viewership on Netflix. In a period that saw dominance from the second season of the Christina Applegate series “Dead to Me,” and stiff feature competition from the Michelle
With the COVID-19 pandemic making in-person graduation ceremonies impossible, several organizations have put together virtual celebrations for both high school and college seniors. Though those graduating have been forced to miss a major milestone, they now have the opportunity to graduate in the presence of their favorite celebrities and hear commencement speeches from the likes
Timothy Olyphant is the latest star to sign on to “The Mandalorian” Season 2, Variety has confirmed with sources. The exact nature and scope of Olyphant’s role is being kept under wraps. He joins previously confirmed Season 2 cast members Temuera Morrison, Rosario Dawson, and Michael Biehn. Reps for Olyphant and Disney did not immediately respond
Astrid Kirchherr, the constant companion of the Beatles in their early days in Hamburg who took the photographs that established their iconic early look, has died at 81. The relationship between Kirchherr and the band, especially original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, to whom she became engaged, was dramatized in the 1994 film “Backbeat,” which had Sheryl
It’s a relatively slim week in new releases, even by the standards of the ongoing coronavirus shutdown — although there are a few gems to be found, if you hunt hard enough. Families have “Scoob!” which Warner Bros. decided to make available directly via digital, following the recent success of “Trolls World Tour.” And grownups
Barça Studios and Sony Music Latin Iberia are teaming to produce “Talent Explorers,” an animated series which marks the third title from Barça Studios, the burgeoning film-TV content arm of F.C. Barcelona, one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs. The series – which sees Max, a 15 year-old boy, Roc, big bear with a heart