December 27, 2019 11:47AM PT President Donald Trump, as he’s wont to do, responded to news that his cameo in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” was cut by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, on Twitter. “I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade,” he said, blaming
Melanie Panayiotou, the younger sister of late “Careless Whisper” singer George Michael, died on Christmas Day — exactly three years after Michael’s death. She was 55. Panayiotou was found dead by her older sister, Yioda, on Christmas evening. According to The Guardian, the Metropolitan police said they were called by the London Ambulance Service shortly
December 27, 2019 10:41AM PT Spotify will not be trying to cash in on political ad spending during the 2020 election season. The music and podcast streamer said Friday it will suspend sales of political ads next year, explaining that it doesn’t have the ability to “validate and review” such advertising. “Beginning in early 2020,
Lee Mendelson, the producer behind more than 50 animated TV specials featuring Charlie Brown and the “Peanuts” gang, died on Christmas Day at his home in Hillsborough, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. He was 86. Mendelson also wrote the lyrics to “Christmas Time Is Here,” a song featured in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,”
Ryan Reynolds has confirmed what numerous executives have danced around since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox this year — “Deadpool 3” is coming, and will now be in the hands of Marvel Studios. Appearing on a holiday edition of “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” the actor told hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest that his
A lot can change in a few short years. Technology moves quickly, and so do colloquialisms. But when Megan Abbott and Gina Fattore were adapting Abbott’s 2012 novel “Dare Me” for a 2019 audience, they made it a point to focus more on the universality of a coming-of-age drama and how sometimes one relationship can
December 27, 2019 10:00AM PT “Stranger Things” star and host of “Prank Encounters” Gaten Matarazzo offered some insider details on both of the shows he’s working on, as well as his thoughts on Season 4 of the Duffer brothers-produced series and his favorite fan theory. “Stranger Things” Season 3, which premiered on Netflix in June,
The battle for gaming creators has cost Amazon’s Twitch another notable streamer: Corinna Kopf, a popular Instagram model, digital influencer and “Fortnite” Twitch streamer with millions of followers, is moving to Facebook Gaming under an exclusive agreement. On Facebook, Kopf’s first stream is scheduled to take place Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. PT at facebook.com/gaming/corinnakopff.
Mega A Santa look-alike pulled a Robin Hood this week by robbing a bank and then making it rain for unsuspecting pedestrians. David Wayne Oliver sauntered into an Academy Bank in Colorado Springs, allegedly threatened a teller with a weapon and left with an undisclosed amount of cash. The 65-year-old faux Santa then walked outside
“Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” continues to reign over the box office, generating another $30.5 million on Thursday, putting the tentpole on pace for a five-day haul around $155 million. To date, Disney and Lucasfilm’s blockbuster has amassed $289.7 million in North America and $282 million overseas for a global bounty of $573 million. Though
Getty There are new perils for Mickey, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck … patrons at Disney World are grabbing them, and in Minnie’s case … the assaulter had allegedly done it to other characters at the park. The 36-year-old woman who plays Minnie says she posed for a photo with a man and his wife
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched Season 2 of “You,” streaming now on Netflix. Some actors delight in playing villainous characters. Penn Badgley is not one of them — at least, not when it comes to playing murderous stalker Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s “You.” “Playing Joe is not this terribly
Comcast is in advanced discussions to acquire Xumo, a free, ad-supported streaming service owned by Panasonic and Meredith Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported. Xumo has been shopping itself for months and had previously engaged in talks with prospective buyers including Sinclair Broadcast Group, Variety reported earlier this year. Comcast already has a commercial deal with
Exclusive Getty Ring and Amazon allegedly ducked for cover when their surveillance devices got hacked, but some of their customers are now firing back … you can run, but you can’t hide. Ring and Amazon, which owns the security system, are now at the wrong end of a class-action lawsuit, claiming the companies were negligent
Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, whose indelible Broadway hits included “Hello, Dolly!,” “Mame” and “La Cage aux Folles,” died Thursday in Miami. He was 88. Herman died of pulmonary complications after being taken to a hospital for chest pains, the family said. “There has been no other music which took our breath away,
December 27, 2019 2:08AM PT U.S. animation “Spies in Disguise,” which stars the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, will hit Chinese cinemas on Jan. 3. It was produced by Blue Sky Studios, which is best known for the “Ice Age” and “Rio” franchises and has recently come under the Disney umbrella. The film
Exclusive TMZ.com Rich Homie Quan is off the hook in his seemingly endless drug case. According to legal docs obtained by TMZ … the drug case against the rapper has been tossed. RHQ’s lawyer, Lucy Bell, tells TMZ it was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Bell says the “tiny amount of marijuana” was
Sleepy LaBeef, a rock and country performer who began his career in the mid-’50s and whose concerts continued to be a draw for the rockabilly community well into this year, died Thursday at age 84. No cause of death has been given. Although LeBeef never had any singles chart above the 60s, his legend loomed
“Cats” has been declawed. Universal has pretty much put the final nail in the musical movie’s efforts to win awards by removing the film from its FYC page. The page lists the studio’s qualifying movies along with a guide to their individual categories and a schedule of upcoming screenings in various cities. A source also
Exclusive TMZ.com Kanye West‘s legal drama with EMI is NOT going away … cause the once close-to-being-done case over a contract dispute is suddenly and officially back on. According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ … the judge in the case has signed off on EMI’s request to officially reopen the case. EMI —
Live in Los Angeles long enough and, chances are, you’ve encountered a “Forty,” or at least some semblance of the screenplay-touting rich-kid character in Season 2 of Netflix’s “You,” played by James Scully. Forty Quinn is a co-owner of a health food store, a business he inherited from his wealthy parents, and twin brother to
December 26, 2019 2:49PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Twentieth Century Fox claims the top spot in spending with “Spies in Disguise.” Ads placed for the animated film had an estimated media value of $6.63 million through Sunday
Evan Rachel Wood really hates “Cats.” The “Frozen II” star unleashed a flurry of disparaging comments about the Tom Hooper-directed musical on Christmas night. Not only does Wood think “Cats” is the worst movie of the year, it’s the worst movie she’s ever seen. “……..#cats is actually worse than I thought it would be, And
In a candid two-hour video interview with Rap Radar released on Christmas, Drake talked being booed at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, working with Chris Brown after his failed relationship with Rihanna and his ongoing feuds with Pusha-T and Kanye West. Here are the top 10 things we learned: Drake’s heard you call him
December 26, 2019 1:40PM PT Responding to the social media tizzy over reported edits made to its recent televised airing of a 27-year-old movie, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says that a scene from 1992’s “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” featuring President Donald Trump was cut for time, and that it was removed long
“Uncut Gems” doesn’t just offer up the anomaly of Adam Sandler, an actor best known for broad comedies, venturing into dramatic territory. Even more unusual, it’s the rare modern movie to include a Passover seder. Directed by brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, “Uncut Gems” follows Howard Ratner (Sandler), a jeweler in New York’s Diamond District.
There was no chance that Greta Gerwig was not going to direct “Little Women.” She was originally hired to write the screenplay, but then insisted on directing, too. “I told them no one else could direct it; I must direct it,” Gerwig recalls on Thursday’s episode of “The Big Ticket,” Variety and iHeart’s movie podcast.
The return of “Gavin and Stacey” after nearly 10 years was a big hit on Christmas Day for the BBC, but it also drew some blowback from U.K. viewers over the use of a homophobic slur in a song lyric. The romantic comedy drew the Beeb’s biggest audience for a Christmas Day program since 2008
December 26, 2019 11:55AM PT Disney. Apple. WarnerMedia. NBCUniversal. This quartet’s streaming launches that began in late 2019 spell out the D.A.W.N. of a new era: U.S. companies are driving a big shift in where video entertainment will be accessible digitally. Disney Plus had been announced long before 2019, but key details about it such
wundervisualsGetty Images Like making your own salad and being the first one to a birthday dinner, packing for vacation is a uniquely privileged drag. Yes, it involves a great escape, a bikini, and—wahoo!—a terse Out of Office reply. But the cramming, the folding, the emotional weight of too many Chloé boots… it’s a pain in