NBC has renewed the Jane Lynch-hosted game show Weakest Link for a third season, Variety noted. Season three will run for 20 episodes. The series is based on a British format distributed by BBC Studios that has aired on BBC Two and BBC One, while also being produced in 46 other territories.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson apparently had quite the response when some "few influential folks" told him that playing a gay character would "ruin" his acting career, PinkNews noted. In the film Be Cool (that starred John Travolta), Johnson played an openly gay man named Eliot who worked as a bodyguard and was an aspiring actor. In a 2005 interview with Out Magazine, Johnson recalled telling those "influential" figures to "nicely" take their hateful opinions and "f**k off."
Out actor George Takei was among those who paid tribute to his late Star Trek co-star Nichelle Nichols, who passed away of natural causes at age 89, per The Hollywood Reporter. He wrote, in part, "today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend." Another gay actor, Wilson Cruz, tweeted, "Before we understood how much #RepresentationMatters #NichelleNichols modeled it for us. With her very presence & her grace she shone a light on who we as people of color are & inspired us to reach for our potential. Rest well, glittering diamond in the sky." Stacey Abrams, Stephen King and Ashley Nicole Black were some of the many others who also paid tribute to Nichols.
Beyonce's team confirmed that the singer will remove an offensive lyric from her Renaissance album, according to Variety. The song "Heated" includes the word "spaz" during a verse. In the medical field, "spastic" refers to a disability that makes it difficult for people to control their muscles, especially in their arms and legs. The lyric was criticized as ableist and offensive on social media.
Also, after "Milkshake" singer Kelis called out Beyonce and former music manager Pharrell Williams for interpolating her 2003 hit song on Beyonce's new album, the superstar removed it from her song "Energy," The Root noted. However, now, former White House interns Monica Lewisnky sent out a tweet that seemingly suggested that she wanted her name replaced in Beyonce's 2013 hit song "Partition." The particular line in the song, Bey is referring to a man who "Monica Lewisnky'd all on my gown"—although some called out Lewinsky, noting that she has "rap song muse" in her Twitter bio.
And in another Beyonce-related item, fans went wild when a previously unannounced, "Vogue"-powered remix of the singer's "Break My Soul" dropped on her website, Extra noted. On the track, entitled "The Queens Remix," the Madonna's "Vogue" is heavily sampled as Beyoncé sings her current hit "Break My Soul." When it comes time for the rap, formerly devoted to Old Hollywood legends, Beyonce—after giving props to "Queen Mother Madonna" — name-checks Black women such as Grace Jones, Aaliyah, Bessie Smith, sister Solange Knowles, former bandmate Kelly Rowland, Whitney Houston, Rihanna, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin; she also mentions several ballroom houses, such as House of Balenciaga.
RuPaul's Drag Race alum Shea Coulee is headed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as she reportedly has a role in the upcoming series Ironheart, Deadline noted. The series will star Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. On "Drag Race," Coulee won All Stars 5 and finished as a finalist on the special all-winners edition of All Stars 7 and her original season, Drag Race 9.
Drag queens and RuPaul's Drag Race alumnae Peppermint and Jujubee will hit the road this November for a North American tour, a press release noted. The "Letters Live/Good Juju" tour presented by Obsessed will hit such major cities as Los Angeles, Chicago/Evanston, Boston and New York. See peppermintonline.com/events.html .
Megan Thee Stallion and Demi Lovato are heading to Studio 6B to join Jimmy Fallon as co-hosts on the NBC late-night series in a move that they're calling Fallon's Superstar Super Summer, Deadline noted. Megan Thee Stallion will co-host the show on Aug. 11; it will mark her first time co-hosting the show and her third appearance. Lovato will act as special guest, co-host and musical performer Aug. 16-18.
Grammy-nominated pop star Demi Lovato is using she/her pronouns again, according to Out Magazine. After quietly updating her Instagram bio earlier this year to include both they/them and she/her pronouns, the singer opened up in a recent interview with the Sprout podcast about the decision to go by she/her. "I think what's important is, like, nobody's perfect," said Lovato, who said she's been feeling more feminine lately. "Everyone messes up pronouns at some point and, especially when people are learning, it's just all about respect."
The Quintanilla family and Warner Music Latina will be releasing a new album from the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla—27 years after her death, Variety noted. The estate has unveiled a remixed regional version of "Como Te Quiero Yo A Ti"—the first single from Selena's forthcoming 13-track album, Moonchild Mixes, which will be released Friday, Aug. 26. "Como Te Quiero Yo A Ti" has been re-released once before, making this the third version of the song that was originally recorded in 1987.
The film Elvis arrives for Premium Digital Ownership at home on Tuesday, Aug. 9, courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, per a press release. The movie (directed by Bad Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks) will also be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD beginning Tuesday, Sept. 13. The discs will have special features such as "Viva Australia: Recreating Iconic Locations for Elvis," "Rock 'N Roll Royalty: The Music & Artists Behind Elvis," "Fit for a King: The Style of Elvis" and more.
People will have to pay to see the daytime soap Days of Our Lives starting Sept. 12 as the venerable show will move to Peacock, Variety reported. Currently, the show airs daily on NBC while past episodes are available to stream on Peacock. Peacock previously aired the spinoff Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem in September 2021, with a second installment of that series having aired on Peacock in July.
Freeform announced the new unscripted series The Come Up (fka Day to Night) as one of three original nonfiction series the brand is releasing this year, all targeted at the network's young adult audience, per a press release. The cast comprises a group of ambitious, action-oriented and diverse Gen Z New Yorkers whose careers are on the rise, including Taofeek Abijako, Fernando Casablancas, Ben Hard, Claude Shwartz, Ebon Trower and Sophia Wilson. Each person is thriving in their respective fields: modeling, fashion design, photography, acting and nightlife organizing. The series will debut Tuesday, Sept. 13, and episodes will be available the next day on Hulu.
Singer/businessman Post Malone raised $196,066.20 from his series of "Gaming For Love" charity streams on Twitch this month and then capped it off by donating $40,000 of his own funds, a press release noted. Playing Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends, each of these four streams benefitted a specific charity, beginning with Human Rights Watch on the first night, Project HOPE on the second, United Way on the third and the LGBTQ+-focused Trevor Project. The latter included a 60-person tournament on a private server, generating $76,026.33 in one evening. Respawn Entertainment contributed $10,000 to each stream for a total of $40,000—which Post also matched—while OpTic donated $10,000.
David Burtka said he is grateful he's married to Neil Patrick Harris, per Page Six. "I can't imagine getting thrown into that pool of dating anymore; it's vicious," he said at the premiere of the Netflix series Uncoupled, which stars Harris. Burtka, who married Harris in 2014, said that both he and the How I Met Your Mother star "missed the whole Grindr app, telephone meeting. I wouldn't know how to do it. We would have no idea."
Guests recently convened in Buckingham, Pennsylvania, to support the nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) in its quest to raise funds to purchase Oscar Hammerstein II's historic Pennsylvania home, Highland Farm, per a press release. Nearly $165,000 was netted from "Broadway Sings The Sound of Hammerstein," an exclusive gala held July 11 at The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm—the former estate of George S. Kaufman, a contemporary of Hammerstein. More information is at hammersteinmuseum.org .
The official Marilyn Monroe Estate defended the casting of Ana de Armas, who is playing the Hollywood icon in Andrew Dominik and Netflix's upcoming drama Blonde, Variety reported. Marc Rosen—president of entertainment at Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns the estate—said, "Any actor that steps into that role knows they have big shoes to fill. Based on the trailer alone, it looks like Ana was a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn's glamour, humanity and vulnerability. We can't wait to see the film in its entirety!" (Monroe's estate did not authorize the film.)
Hollywood producer Janet Yang has been named the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization's Board of Governors, per Variety. Yang, who is of Chinese descent, is the first Asian person ever to hold the position and the fourth woman behind Fay Kanin (1979-1983), Cheryl Boone Isaacs (2013-2017) and Bette Davis (who resigned after two months in 1941).
The Country Music Association (CMA) and ABC announced that two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning will host The 56th Annual CMA Awards on the network on Wed., Nov. 9, a press release noted. Bryan returns for a second consecutive year to host the CMA Awards, while Manning is a first-time host. Final nominees for The 56th Annual CMA Awards will be revealed in the coming weeks.
News that James Franco is set to play former Cuban president Fidel Castro in an upcoming film has upset some in Hollywood, according to Yahoo! Veteran actor John Leguizamo (To Wong Foo…; Moulin Rouge; the John Wick movies) posted Deadline's casting news on Instagram, writing, "How is this still going on? How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well? No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers! Boycott!" The View's Ana Navarro said she plans to boycott.
Keanu Reeves (The Matrix and John Wick films) will star in his first official television series ever, in the role of Daniel Burnham in the limited series The Devil in the White City for Hulu, Reel Chicago noted. Filming entirely in Chicago in 2023, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese will be among the executive producers. Director Todd Field has signed on to helm the first two episodes. Erik Larson's story is set in Chicago in 1893, interweaving the true tales of Daniel Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World's Fair; and H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who lured his victims to their deaths in his elaborately constructed "Murder Castle."
Batgirl, the feature film adaptation of the DC Comics character, has been axed at Warner Bros., Variety confirmed. The production—starring In the Heights' Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) and directed by "Bad Boys for Life" and "Ms. Marvel" filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah—was greenlit in 2021 as part of a company-wide effort at Warner Bros. to create feature films specifically for HBO Max. (Also, according to Out, the film was supposed to feature DCEU's first trans character as well as Michael Keaton reprising his Bruce Wayne role from the 1989 and 1992 Batman movies.) In addition, Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, a follow-up to the 2020 film "Scoob!," has been shelved by the studio.
In a related matter, The Flash movie that stars non-binary actor Ezra Miller is still happening despite the actor's numerous scandals this year, Variety noted. "We have seen The Flash, Black Adam and Shazam 2," said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. "We are very excited about them." Among other things, Miller has been arrested twice in Hawaii this year—once for disorderly conduct and harassment and another time for second-degree assault.
Prime Video announced that Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler; Brokeback Mountain) is set to star in Road House, a reimagined take on the 1989 MGM movie that stars Patrick Swayze, with Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity; Mr. & Mrs. Smith) directing from a script written by Anthony Bagarozzi (The Nice Guys) and Charles Mondry, per a press release. The cast also includes Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier and Travis Van Winkle, among others.
Actress Christina Ricci said she learned the meaning of homosexuality from Johnny Depp, who she said explained it to her "in the simplest terms," Newsweek noted. She explained on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live the talk with Depp occurred after an incident on the set of the 1990 drama Mermaids when she was only 9 years old. On set, she heard the word "homophobic" and didn't know what the word meant. She said Depp told her of homosexuality, "It's when a man wants to have sex with a man—and when a woman wants to have sex with a woman." (Ricci had initially asked co-star Winona Ryder; when Ryder didn't know what to say, she put Ricci on the phone with Depp, who was dating Ryder at the time.)
Sunny Hostin inked a multiyear deal to stay with the daytime show The View, Variety noted. The renewal deal will take Hostin (who joined in 2016) through season 28 of the ABC daytime show, which she currently co-hosts with Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sara Haines—all of whom will be returning next season. Last September, Goldberg inked a four-year renewal deal, taking her through season 28.
Blumhouse, Universal and Peacock's big continuation of The Exorcist has added Emmy winner Ann Dowd to the cast, per Deadline. She will star opposite already announced Leslie Odom Jr. and Ellen Burstyn, who is reprising her role as Chris MacNeil from the original 1973 movie.
Showtime will not renew its anthology series The First Lady, which co-starred Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson, Variety noted. The first season of the anthology series cut between three different eras of the White House, following the political and private lives of Eleanor Roosevelt (Anderson), Betty Ford (Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Davis).
Netflix is suing The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical for "blatant infringement," according to Entertainment Weekly. Songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear—who won the 2022 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album for their musical interpretation of the Netflix hit—are named in the suit. The suit further claims that Barlow and Bear misrepresented to the audience that they had permission to use Netflix's Bridgerton trademark, despite the network's objections.
