Chance the Rapper, Lenny Kravitz, Brian Wilson and Kamala Harris were among the artists, actors politicians who took to social media to pay tribute to Bill Withers, the R&B singer and songwriter who passed away this week at the age of 81. The writer of such classics as “Lean on Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine” and
R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers, whose belated career in music burned briefly but brightly in the early ‘70s via a string of highly personalized hits, died from heart complications on Monday in Los Angeles, his family told the Associated Press. He was 81. “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father.
The strange contradictions of the present day are front and center in Drake’s new video, “Toosie Side,” which features the rapper doing a meme-generating dance inside his mansion during lockdown. The clip begins with scenes of deserted streets in the rapper’s hometown of Toronto before it moves inside a sprawling mansion — his, judging by
HBO made good on its promise, throwing the doors open on a free, live-streaming buffet of some 500 hours of premium content Friday morning. The free #StayHomeBoxOffice programming — served up without any ads — includes every episode of nine HBO series: “The Sopranos,” “Veep,” “Succession,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” “Ballers,” “Barry,” “Silicon Valley”
All sports games have been canceled. Now Fox Corporation is trying to get a bevy of blue-chip sponsors to plan for their return. Executives at Fox Sports have in recent days held videoconferences with some of the advertising industry’s most influential executives in hopes of starting conversations about placing ad dollars in live sports broadcasts
U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has ordered a slate of fast-turnaround factual and current affairs programs about the coronavirus pandemic. The programs investigate the human stories of those on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the scientists and experts racing to tackle it. “N.H.S. Heroes” is an hour-long, self-filmed documentary following a small
Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” will launch on Rakuten TV across Europe on April 6, days ahead of the studio’s planned VOD launch in the U.S. The sequel to the 2016 DreamWorks Animation hit, which was among the first features announced to receive the VOD treatment in light of theatrical shutdowns, will be available to rent
Google publicly released a massive new set of data, collected from users’ mobile devices, showing where stay-at-home directives during the coronavirus pandemic are working — and where they’re not. On Friday, Google published what it called an early release of its COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports (available at google.com/covid19/mobility). The data spans 131 countries and regions,
Facebook is one of the few companies that says it’s staffing up amid the coronavirus crisis, which has already led to an unprecedented 10 million U.S. unemployment claims over a two-week span in March. The social-media giant plans to hire 10,000 additional workers for its product and engineering teams by the end of 2020, Facebook
Singapore has announced a change of direction in its fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. Schools will close and all but essential workplaces are ordered shut from next Tuesday. The high-tech island nation was one of the first outside China to discover virus infections. It had until recently been seen as a leading
U.K. broadcaster ITV has cut the pay of its executive directors and management board by 20% and scrapped their annual bonuses in light of the coronavirus crisis. In a statement, ITV said the cuts had been approved by its renumeration committee and were made at the request of its executive directors. These include chief executive
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kate Winslet, Daniel Craig and Elton John are among the British celebrities saluting the U.K.’s National Health Service in an online tribute. The video was posted to Twitter by the NHS on Thursday night and has garnered more than 295,000 views thus far. While holding a #ThankYouNHS placard, John said: “You are our
There’s politically incorrect, and then there’s just plain wrong. Netflix’s “Coffee & Kareem” pairs a young black kid with an inept white cop and hopes that their differences will amuse (or at least distract) stuck-at-home audiences for 90 minutes or so. But what audiences? What adult wants to watch this kind of “Kindergarten Cop” nonsense?
There will be no Cannes Lions in 2020, after all. Organizers confirmed Friday that the annual Cannes advertising market will not go forward this year. The decision comes almost a month after the event, set to run in June, was given provisional dates in October. However, organizers have now taken the step of shelving the
Los Angeles’ radio community continues to bleed talent as Chris Booker, host of the AMP Morning Show on L.A. Top 40 radio station 97.1 AMP, has been let go. His last broadcast — which was pre-taped — aired this morning (April 2). The station is owned by Entercom, parent company to alternative rock station KROQ,
Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles revealed on Thursday that she had contracted coronavirus, but has since made a full recovery. In a video on her Instagram story, she told her followers the news while going out for a walk after a therapy session. “I had it, just so you know. I’m fully recovered, just so you know,”
In 2005, Fountains of Wayne, the band led by the late Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, got the ultimate salute: a hugely affectionate tribute song from soneone as musically gifted and sharp-witted as they were — “Fountains of Wayne Hotline,” by Grammy-nominated veteran singer-songwrier Robbie Fulks. Schlesinger died of coronavirus complications Wednesday. Variety asked Fulks
“Coming of age” is a demure, blushing phrase and so quite unsuited to the fat lips and cracked foreheads of Melanie Waelde’s visceral, exposed-nerve debut. And yet, loosely speaking, it’s what “Naked Animals” tracks: a short, painful, hesitant phase in the lives of five wild teenagers living largely without adult supervision. In a provincial nowhere,
“Who was that masked man?” is a question that, frankly, people are asking just a little bit less now than they were, say, a month ago. But Orville Peck still stands out from the pack of the rest of us who are just now figuring out that a little cloaking can be a good thing.
Rapper YNW Melly, who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder last year, has contracted coronavirus while in Florida’s Broward County Jail. The 20-year-old’s Twitter and Instagram accounts posted the news on Thursday afternoon. “Melly has tested positive for COVID-19 while awaiting his trial in Broward County Jail. He’ll be filing a motion for
In today’s film news roundup, MGM beefs up its executive ranks, “Sea Fever” gets a live-streaming premiere, “Pigeon Kings” finds a home and The 92nd Street Y has started an online film course. EXECUTIVE HIRES Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Film Group Chairman Michael De Luca has hired Elishia Holmes and Johnny Pariseau — both who were
“Almost Love” marks the directorial debut of actor Mike Doyle. The indie, which the openly gay Doyle also wrote, stars Scott Evans as a painter and Augustus Prew as his boyfriend who runs a famous fashion Instagram account. As their relationship comes to a crossroads, we also meet their circle of friends, including Kate Walsh,
Trustees of the Directors Guild Foundation have created the DGF COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund to aid members facing financial crisis. The fund will support members of the Directors Guild of America affected by the shutdowns with $1,000 financial relief grants. They will exist alongside the foundation’s longstanding, interest-free loan program that offers aid to members
The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have made little progress towards starting contract negotiations with both sides far apart on setting up a framework for the talks. The coronavirus has upended the business climate for contract talks for the WGA as well as SAG-AFTRA and many industry insiders believe the WGA
Based on the work of Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag but transplanted to the American heartland, “Tales From the Loop” places in counterpoint the endless sweep of midwest prairie and the machinations of unimaginable technology. It’s a show that is fascinating to look at — with episodes directed by top-flight talent including Mark Romanek, Andrew Stanton,
In today’s TV news roundup, Quibi released the official trailer for “Nikki Fre$h” and Leslie Jordan has been cast as a series regular on “Call Me Kat.” CASTING Leslie Jordan has joined the cast of “Call Me Kat” as a series regular. Jordan will play Phil, who works for Kat (Mayim Bialik) and bakes all
Watching even a minute of “Mrs. America” makes it obvious which network it belongs to. It follows, to the letter, in the grand tradition of FX dramas that have long cultivated a brand of meticulous precision and prestige. From its stacked cast, to its impressive production design and array of wigs, to casting Sarah Paulson
Exclusive Tekashi 6ix9ine has the coronavirus to thank for an even earlier prison release than expected — the judge just signed off on his request to get out to avoid infection from the coronavirus. The judge agreed Thursday the rapper should be granted a compassionate release, effective immediately, from the NY facility where he’s been
Rapper Daniel “Tekashi 6ix9ine” Hernandez will be released from prison immediately over concerns for his health amidst the coronavirus pandemic, according to court documents obtained by Page Six. Hernandez was sentenced in December to two years in prison and set for an early release on July 31. However, due to growing worry about the impact
LeVar Burton, known to many Americans as the longtime host of PBS’s “Reading Rainbow,” wants to spread the love during the coronavirus crisis with a new story-reading series he’s launching on Twitter — for kids and adults. Burton says he plans to host three “LeVar Burton Reads” sessions a week on Twitter (at @levarburton): Mondays