Today in Entertainment: Benedict Cumberbatch to star in Showtime’s ‘Melrose’; Ed Sheeran jams with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots

The salacious details of Britain’s Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana’s failed marriage will get the “Feud” treatment in Season 2 of the rookie FX series.

FX announced Tuesday that it has already renewed Ryan Murphy’s latest dishy anthology before Season 1 -- a showcase of the catfights between rival movie stars Joan Crawford and Bette Davis -- premieres on the cable network.

“Feud: Bette and Joan” will debut on Sunday and the drama will play out in eight episodes. The series chronicles the filming of the 1962 camp classic “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?,” which starred Crawford and Davis — two actresses who famously despised each other. Oscar winners Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon portray Crawford and Davis, respectively.

Meanwhile, the second season, “Feud: Charles and Diana,” will unfold in 10 episodes and is scheduled to debut in 2018.

Though plot details haven’t been revealed, the globally watched royal couple’s tumultuous marriage provided much tabloid fodder beginning with the early days of their courtship. From their lavish 1981 nuptials to the adulterous breakdown of their union, they dominated headlines in the 1990s and after Diana’s untimely death in 1997.

Murphy, the executive producer and scribe of such hits as “AHS” and “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson,” will write the Season 2 scripts with Jon Robin Baitz, the network said.

The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning producer recently revealed that an upcoming season of his horror anthology will pull from the 2016 election. Additionally, Season 2 of “American Crime Story” will focus on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and Season 3 will investigate the 1997 murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.

Benedict Cumberbatch will star in Showtime’s limited series “Melrose.”

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Benedict Cumberbatch has built a successful career from playing posh and prickly aristocrats, and his next role will be no exception.

Showtime announced Tuesday that Cumberbatch will star in the network’s five-part limited series “Melrose,” an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose series by Edward St. Aubyn.

The books chronicle the protagonist’s journey to overcome addiction and an abusive childhood while simultaneously serving as a caustic examination of upper-class society.

“I’ve been a huge admirer of Edward St. Aubyn’s novels for years and can’t wait to bring these dark, witty, brilliant books to the screen,” screenwriter David Nicholls (“Far From the Madding Crowd”) said in a press release. “Benedict is the perfect Patrick Melrose.”

Nicholls will write all five episodes of the upcoming series.

Filming for the series will begin in August and take place in New York, London and the south of France.

“Melrose” is a co-production between Showtime and Sky Atlantic.

Anything goes in 2017.

Cats competing at the Westminster Dog Show, furry Crocs showing up in fashion shows and major awards ceremonies being derailed by the wrong envelope are all just part of our new normal.

And now here comes the latest edition of Classroom Instruments on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

British pop star Ed Sheeran turned in a fine performance on Monday night’s episode, joining Fallon and the Roots on a version of his latest hit “Shape of You.”

Classroom Instruments is a genuinely fun recurring bit for the show, but there’s still just something a little weird about watching Sheeran earnestly rattle a banana shaker while singing about how “my bedsheets smell like you.”

But strange is the order of the day now.

The question now is whether Sheeran’s appearance on “The Tonight Show” tops his gig at the Grammys. Judge for yourself.

The day after the Oscars’ craziest, shocking moment ever, questions still linger about why “La La Land” was announced best picture when “Moonlight” was the true winner.

L.A. Times’ film critic Justin Chang comes to the conclusion that the two movies’ fortunes were inextricable and the you-couldn’t-have-scripted-it finale oddly enough made sense.

FULL COVERAGE: Complete list of winners | Show highlights | Red carpet arrivals | Best and worst dressed

U.S. immigration authorities are barring entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer who worked on a harrowing film about his nation’s civil war, “The White Helmets,” which has been nominated for an Academy Award.

According to internal Trump administration correspondence seen by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khateeb from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.

Khateeb was scheduled to arrive Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended after U.S. officials reported finding “derogatory information” regarding Khateeb.

“Derogatory information” is a broad category that can include anything from terror connections to passport irregularities. Asked for comment, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said, “A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States.”

“The White Helmets,” a 40-minute Netflix documentary, has been nominated for the Oscar for documentary short. If the film wins, the award would go to director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara. Khateeb is one of three people credited for cinematography; Franklin Dow is the film’s director of photography.

The film focuses on the rescue workers who risk their lives to save Syrians affected by civil war. Many of the group’s members have been killed by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air forces. The group also was nominated for last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

“The White Helmets” includes emblematic scenes of the deadly 6-year-old conflict: people digging through destroyed homes looking for survivors, at constant risk of “double tap” attacks that target first responders after they’ve arrived at the scene of a strike.

Khateeb had been issued a visa to attend the ceremony with Hollywood’s biggest stars. But Turkish authorities detained him this week, according to the internal U.S. government correspondence, and he suddenly needed a passport waiver from the United States to enter the country.

The correspondence indicated he would not receive such a waiver. There was no explanation in the correspondence for why Turkey detained Khateeb.

Lin-Manuel Miranda hit up karaoke Thursday in Echo Park.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles, what were you doing Thursday night? Unless the answer was “singing karaoke with potential EGOT winner Lin-Manuel Miranda,” you definitely missed out.

Miranda, ostensibly in town for Sunday night’s Academy Awards, dropped by the Lost Knight pub in Echo Park for the premiere party for the new Seeso series “My Brother, My Brother and Me” and sang karaoke with enthused revelers.

Before continuing, let’s clarify a few things.

Seeso is a subscription streaming service owned by NBC that features comedy content.

“My Brother, My Brother and Me” is a new series — featuring Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy — that started as a podcast and includes the brothers humorously answering questions posed by listeners or found online.

Miranda previously appeared on an episode of “MBMBaM” and even composed a song for the occasion. “Ghost Horse” is about — you guessed it — a horse that is a ghost.

Now that everyone’s on the same page, we can tell you that Miranda jumped at the chance (literally) to help out a crooner performing the opening number to his hit musical, “Hamilton,” leaping on stage just before his musical cue.

Miranda also had no problem rocking the mic on his own, offering his take on the R. Kelly classic “Ignition (Remix),” which is just as delightful as it sounds.

Watch the videos and regret all your Thursday night social choices below.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, whose movie “The Salesman” has been nominated for an Oscar, said he will stay home in the face of “fanaticism and extremism” in the U.S.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Oscar-nominated director Asghar Farhadi is standing by his decision to boycott Sunday’s Academy Awards by sending two prominent Iranian American citizens in his stead.

Anousheh Ansari, an engineer, the first Iranian in space and the first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station, and Firouz Naderi, a former NASA director for solar system exploration, will accept the award for foreign-language film on behalf of Farhadi, should “The Salesman” win the category Sunday night, according to Variety.

Farhadi announced in January that he will not be attending the Oscars because of President Trump’s executive order banning Syrian refugees and citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

“Hard-liners, despite their nationalities, political arguments and wars, regard and understand the world in very much the same way,” Farhadi said in his original statement. “In order to understand the world, they have no choice but to regard it via an ‘us and them’ mentality, which they use to create a fearful image of ‘them’ and inflict fear in the people of their own countries.”

Trump’s travel ban was blocked by courts before the president repealed it with promises of a new executive order restricting travel in the weeks to come.

“The Salesman” is considered a favorite to win the foreign- language film award by many prognosticators, including The Times’ Glenn Whipp, who wrote of its chances: “A vote for the latest film from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has a dual purpose — rewarding excellence and showing solidarity with immigrants.”

Farhadi previously won the foreign-language Oscar for his 2011 film “A Separation.”

Find all of The Times’ Oscars coverage here.

Bummer — no giants, log ladies or dancing dwarves in the new art for Showtime’s reincarnation of “Twin Peaks.” Did you really expect anyone other than Laura Palmer or Special Agent Dale Cooper as the faces of the show?

Showtime released images Friday for its limited-series reboot of the quirky 1990-’91 show from David Lynch, and while actress Sheryl Lee hasn’t aged a day, for obvious reasons, Kyle MacLachlan has matured. But in a good way.

The 18-episode series premieres May 21, if you didn’t get that already from the posters.

It’s only Friday, but there’s already Oscars fashion drama ahead of Sunday’s ceremony.

On Thursday, Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld told Women’s Wear Daily that representatives for 20-time Oscar nominee Meryl Streep had requested the design house produce a gown for the star before changing their minds abruptly.

“I made a sketch, and we started to make the dress,” Lagerfeld told the magazine before saying he later got a second call from Streep’s team canceling the request.

“ ‘Don’t continue the dress. We found somebody who will pay us,’ ” Lagerfeld claimed Streep’s reps told him.

“A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?” Lagerfeld said.

Team Streep fundamentally disagrees with Lagerfeld’s tale, with a representative for the actress telling the Hollywood Reporter that the original claim is false and it’s against Streep’s personal ethics to be paid to wear a gown on the red carpet.

Either way, all eyes will be on Streep when she hits the carpet, no matter what she’s wearing.

PHOTOS: The red carpet looks of this year’s Oscar-nominated actresses

Find all of The Times’ Oscars coverage here.

Caitlyn Jenner.

(Rich Polk/Getty Images for Life is Good)

Caitlyn Jenner sent out a message Thursday calling out President Trump for dropping federal protections for transgender students’ access to bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

“I have a message for the trans kids of America: You’re winning. I know it doesn’t feel like it today or every day, but you’re winning,” said Jenner on a video posted to her Twitter account.

Urging support for the National Center for Transgender Equality and Gavin Grimm -- the transgender student whose fight for his right to use the boys’ restroom has sparked a national debate climbing all the way up to the Supreme Court -- Jenner went on to call out bullies (among whom she included Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions) and President Trump himself, telling him to call her, “from one Republican to another.”

“This is a disaster, and you can still fix it,” Jenner said, reminding Trump he had made a promise to “protect the LGBTQ community.”

Bell-bottoms, turntable battles and disco divas are all making a comeback through Netflix’s hip-hop musical “The Get Down.”

Netflix announced Thursday that its flashy show, which reportedly cost more than $120 million to make, will return on April 7 for a follow-up dubbed “The Get Down Part II.”

Created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis, “The Get Down” tells the story of hip-hop’s birth through a group of teens who try to make their music dreams a reality amid the political climate of 1970s New York City.

“We’re gonna take our music from minor to major league,” a voiceover says in the 15-second teaser clip Netflix released Thursday.

The second part of the series is set in 1978, one year after we are introduced to Books, the gifted writer and burgeoning rapper; Mylene, the disco dreamer; and Shaolin Fantastic, the Grandmaster Flash trainee.

Check out the teaser above.

If it’s Oscar time, it must be time for another golden statue from publicity-savvy street artist Plastic Jesus. This time, the previously faceless dude has been decked out with an approximation of Kanye West’s face and a pair of black Yeezy shoes.

“False Idol” is inscribed on the base of the statue, which popped up Wednesday on Hollywood Boulevard at La Brea.

Last year, a faceless Oscar-ish statue snorted cocaine on Hollywood Boulevard, and 2014’s iteration injected heroin.

Plastic Jesus has dipped his toes into the Kardashian-West pool before, posting “No Kardashian Parking Anytime” signs around Los Angeles in 2015. Then in April 2016, he did a “No Trump Anytime” campaign.

The artist promoted the unveiling of the statue for a week on his Instagram page, where commenters were hoping the piece would look like President Trump.

Crucified Kanye’s Wednesday outing was a precursor to a one-weekend exhibit of art by Plastic Jesus and artist-musician Billy Morrison at the former site of Tower Records on Sunset. That exhibit opens with a VIP reception Friday and then to the public on Saturday.

Plastic Jesus and Morrison have, incidentally, “reinvented” the store’s iconic logo in their own image.

Ricky Martin wants to have “Daddy’s little girl” once he and artist Jwan Yosef are married.

“I want a big family,” the singer said Wednesday night on “Watch What Happens Live,” answering a viewer’s question. “Daddy’s little girl has to come, of course. The way we do babies, I get to choose the sex, so definitely girls are coming.”

Martin, 45, welcomed twin boys via a surrogate in 2008 and said that if twin girls arrived next, that would be fine, too. If it happens, he told host Andy Cohen, it happens.

“And I’m talking about only my babies,” Martin said with a smile. “Then he’s going to have more babies as well” so Yosef has his own genetic connection to the next generation.

Martin and Yosef, who’ve been an item since January 2016, got engaged last November.

Pop star Rihanna has been named Harvard University’s Humanitarian of the Year.

(Richard Shotwell / Invision / Associated Press)

Rihanna is on fire.

On Wednesday, the international superstar achieved a status earned only by the Beatles and Madonna — landing 30 songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

That same day, she also was named Humanitarian of the Year by Harvard University, shedding light on a lesser-known side of her stardom.

“Rihanna has charitably built a state-of- the-art center for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados,” S. Allen Counter, the Harvard Foundation’s director, said in a statement.

Bursting onto the scene with 2005’s “Pon de Replay,” the 29-year-old singer has gone on to sell 60 million albums and more than 200 million digital tracks throughout her career. Known for her catchy pop anthems, edgy style and sass, the Barbadian also is involved with philanthropy.

In addition to promoting health, Rihanna is also passionate about education initiatives. She created the Clara and Lionel Foundation Scholarship Program, which supports students attending college in the U.S. from Caribbean countries. The musician also supports the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, which gives girls in developing countries access to education.

Joining the ranks of previous recipients such as actor James Earl Jones, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and gender rights advocate Malala Yousafzai, Rihanna will accept the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in a Feb. 28 ceremony on Harvard’s campus.

Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood in May 2015.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Lisa Marie Presley has reportedly been ordered to pay her estranged husband’s legal fees -- but not any spousal support -- as their divorce battle rolls on.

Presley has been ordered to pay $50,000 of Michael Lockwood’s legal bill in $10,000-a-month chunks, a source told People. A separate hearing about their postnuptial agreement will be held, and if it’s found to be invalid the daughter of Elvis Presley might be ordered to pay retroactive support, the source said.

Lockwood has requested $40,000 a month in spousal support and wanted $100,000 for his legal fees, according to documents obtained by the Daily Mail. Presley claims that their 2007 postnup rules out support payments. She has accused her estranged husband of mishandling her money, according to TMZ.

In those documents, Presley accuses Lockwood, a musician, of child neglect and possessing “inappropriate” and “disturbing” images and video of their twin girls. Beverly Hills police confirmed to People that they had served a search warrant after receiving a child-abuse complaint and had referred the case to authorities in Tennessee.

The 8-year-olds are currently being taken care of by grandma Priscilla Presley. “There is Lots of confusion, commotion and concern from all the talk circulating,” Elvis’ ex-wife said on Facebook. “Let me put this to rest... the girls have not been in foster care and never will be. The girls have been with me and will be until all this is sorted out.”

Lisa Marie Presley filed to end her 10-year marriage to Lockwood in June 2016. It will be her fourth divorce, following marriages to bass player Danny Keough, King of Pop Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage.

Arsenio Hall is reportedly dropping his $5-million defamation lawsuit against Sinéad O’Connor now that the singer has retracted and apologized for saying, weeks after Prince’s death, that the comedian had been the artist’s drug dealer.

“I sincerely apologize because those statements would be false, and I retract them unequivocally,” O’Connor told TMZ, which obtained a joint statement from her and Hall on Wednesday about the celebrity detente.

The Irish singer was far less serious last May when she first reacted to Hall’s lawsuit, which was prompted by Facebook posts saying she had reported him to the sheriff’s department that was investigating Prince’s death. She also posted a rambling story — since taken down — expanding on her accusation that Hall had “spiked” her joint with something other than marijuana at a 1991 party.

“I’m more amused than I’ve ever dreamed a person could be and look forward very much to how hilarious it will be watching him trying to prove me wrong,” she said on Facebook at the time.

The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in May, alleged that O’Connor “targeted Hall with wild and false accusations that he had been Prince’s drug supplier for decades and had somehow been responsible for Prince’s death.”

Nothing compares to truth?

READ MORE: Sinéad O’Connor’s headline-grabbing history: disses, disappearances and mental illness>>

(Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images)

Amber Tamblyn got into the spirit of fake news as she and David Cross announced the birth of their daughter on Tuesday.

The baby’s name? “Dauphinoise Petunia Brittany Scheherazade Von Funkinstein Mustard Witch RBG Cross Tamblyn-Bey jr.,” the actress declared on Instagram, giving a nod to Beyoncé, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and, well, mustard.

Given the oddly fantastic baby names entertainers have been known to bestow upon their offspring, it’s almost plausible. No real details were posted, unless the kid’s real name is buried somewhere in that multiple-moniker pileup.

Tamblyn announced that she was pregnant with a girl in October, in an essay for Glamour. “I think constantly about the world I am bringing her into,” wrote the actress, whose comedy “Girlfriend’s Day” premiered on Netflix on Valentine’s Day.

Cross, 52, and Tamblyn, 33, have been married since October 2012. This is their first child.

Nick Cannon

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Nick Cannon has welcomed a second son. Golden “Sagon” Cannon was born Tuesday, the rapper, comic and former “America’s Got Talent” host announced on Instagram.

The new baby, whose mom is aspiring actress and model Brittany Bell, who was Miss Arizona USA in 2010, joins a family that includes Moroccan and Monroe, Cannon’s 5-year-old twins with ex-wife Mariah Carey.

“Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the morning!” Cannon wrote Wednesday. “No matter how hard the world may hit you, God always reminds us of our purpose!”

He and 29-year-old Bell aren’t a couple anymore, Cannon told People magazine last November, but the pregnancy wasn’t an accident either, he explained on Power 106 in December.

“Never an ‘oops baby!’ I’m so calculated with my moves,” Cannon said to host J Cruz. “I’ve always wanted five kids.”

Also: That “weeping” Cannon mentioned in his birth announcement? It might refer to a story that’s allegedly being prepared by the National Enquirer, questioning his mental health and stating that Carey is about to petition for full custody of the twins, who are with her now in the United Arab Emirates.

“If you report these lies, expect a slander and defamation lawsuit. Look everyone, see how the media is trying to break a King?” Cannon said Tuesday on Instagram as he shared part of what appears to be an email message giving his team a heads-up that a negative piece is coming down the pike.

“Me and my family, my mindset, and my spirit are all stronger than ever,” the 36-year-old continued. “I felt like releasing this so called ‘journalist’ info to the public so you all can get at them, but instead I release nothing but positive energy into the Universe.”

Donald Trump at the Freedom Ball celebrating his inauguration in January.

(Mark Tenally / Associated Press)

In an awards season already rife with politically charged acceptance speeches, Sunday’s Oscars ceremony could offer the most prominent platform of all.

And will President Trump, the target of most critiques so far, be tuned in?

That’s what Debra Saunders, White House correspondent for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, wanted to know at Wednesday’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

“The Oscars are Sunday night. Will the president be watching?” Saunders asked Spicer. “If there’s a Meryl Streep kind of moment, how do you think he’ll react? This has happened at other awards ceremonies. Why do you think this happens?”

The press corps chuckled at the question, and Spicer answered with a smile: “I have no idea. It’s a free country. I think Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions.”

Spicer cast doubt on whether Trump would watch the Oscars, explaining that the president and first lady will already be busy Sunday.

“I think the president will be hosting the Governors Ball that night. Mrs. Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event ... and I have a feeling that’s where the president and first lady are going to be focused on on Sunday night,” Spicer said.

Spicer was referring to an invitation-only evening with the president and first lady held at the White House during the National Governors Assn. winter meeting.

However, the NGA event begins at 6 p.m. Eastern and the Oscars don’t begin until 8:30 p.m. Eastern, leaving plenty of time for the commander in chief to catch (or not catch) some of the show.

Check out the Times’ complete Oscars coverage.

For the record: A previous version of this story misidentified the NGA event held Sunday night. The Reception for Governors will be held Feb. 27.

Comedy never takes a holiday, Jimmy Fallon.

“The Tonight Show” host featured a sketch Tuesday night all about President Trump launching his own (fictional) news network, TNN, to help combat the insidious threat of “fake news.”

In full Trump regalia, Fallon lampooned Trump’s continued obsession with fake news, as well as his inaccurate implication that some violent episode transpired in Sweden.

The one problem with Fallon’s sketch was that Presidents Day meant that “The Tonight Show” didn’t air until Tuesday, so jokes that felt fresh Monday on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” were now stale and, worse, outdated.

Zingers about Trump’s Swedish confusion that were funny the day before were less so Tuesday, as news broke of rioting in a predominantly immigrant Stockholm suburb.

But Fallon’s sketch still had plenty to laugh at, including Jo Firestone’s stellar send-up of Betsy DeVos as a clueless weatherman, and a news ticker that simply said the president’s name over and over.

See all the jokes, timely and otherwise, below.

Bill Maher weighed in Tuesday on the swift downfall of Milo Yiannopoulos days after the controversial pundit had appeared on his HBO show, “Real Time,” last week.

“By the end of the weekend, by dinnertime Monday, [Yiannopoulos is] dropped as a speaker at CPAC. Then he’s dropped by Breitbart, and his book deal falls through,” Maher told the New York Times.

“As I say, sunlight is the best disinfectant,” added Maher. “You’re welcome.”

Maher’s philosophy on exposure runs counter to the tack many late-night hosts took during the 2016 election. Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert faced criticism for their kid-glove treatment of Donald Trump during interviews, opting not to push the then-candidate on difficult issues.

When he appeared on “Real Time,” Yiannopoulos was still a senior editor at Breitbart News, a self-styled provocateur who had been accused of espousing misogynistic, racist and anti-Muslim rhetoric while touting the protections of the 1st Amendment.

While his televised time with Maher was fairly anodyne — to the dismay of viewers who thought Maher should have challenged his guest — Yiannopoulos quickly fell from grace when a viral video surfaced revealing the pundit seeming to defend pedophilia.

Yiannopoulos denounced pedophilia on Tuesday, claiming the video was taken out of context, but in the meantime lost a speaking invitation at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a six-figure book deal with Simon & Schuster and resigned from his position at Breitbart.

Maher, however, wasn’t joyous at the turn of events.

“I wasn’t trying to get him removed from society,” Maher said, noting that some had tried to do exactly that to him many times over the years. “It just rubs me the wrong way when somebody says, ‘I don’t like what this person is saying — he should go away.’”

It’s always sunny for “The Mick.”

The freshman Fox comedy starring Kaitlin Olson (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) scored a Season 2 renewal Tuesday.

“From the earliest stages of development, all of us at Fox had enormous faith in ‘The Mick’ and it hasn’t disappointed,” Fox president of entertainment David Madden said in a statement. “Kaitlin is a fearless comedic force, and the rest of the cast has just proven to be phenomenal. John and Dave Chernin have a very clear vision of what this show is, and they execute on that vision each week to perfection.”

Olson stars as Mickey Murphy, who suddenly finds herself overseeing her sister’s children, even though she can barely take care of herself.

Through its first nine episodes, “The Mick” has averaged a 1.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.61 million viewers the night it airs.

“The Mick” airs at 8:30 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday nights on Fox.

Principal photography has begun on the untitled Han Solo “Star Wars” spinoff film featuring the adventures of the space pirate and friends.

Lucasfilm released a photograph from the set of the film, currently in production at Pinewood Studios in London, featuring much of the cast posed around the flight console of the Millennium Falcon.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“The Lego Movie”) co-directors of the film, were photographed with cast members Woody Harrelson (“Zombieland”), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Alden Ehrenreich (“Hail, Caesar!”), Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”) and Donald Glover (“Atlanta”). Thandie Newton (“Westworld”) also stars in the film but was not featured in the photo. Chewbacca, portrayed by Joonas Suotamo, was, however.

Shooting for the film began Monday, but beyond the cast, which boasts Ehrenreich (pictured center, with leather jacket and a scruffy-looking nerf-herder hairstyle) as Solo and Glover (pictured right, who is beautiful, as always) as Lando Calrissian, little is known about the script penned by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan.

The film is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 25, 2018.

“Frozen” actor Josh Gad’s longtime trolling for “Star Wars” spoilers from Daisy Ridley has reached peak nerdiness with some surprising celebrity “Star Wars” fanatics.

Ridley, who plays main character Rey in the new episodic “Star Wars” franchise, has been hounded for weeks for “Star Wars” information by her “Murder on the Orient Express” castmate Gad on the set of their film. Thankfully, for us, each surprise interrogation has been diligently recorded by Gad for the public’s viewing pleasure.

Read More

SAG-AFTRA released a statement Tuesday defending a free and unencumbered press, apparently as a response to President Trump’s open disdain for the media.

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

SAG-AFTRA, the labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television workers, released a statement Tuesday stating its unequivocal support of a free and unencumbered press and the protection of the 1st Amendment.

The statement comes after President Trump’s first month in office, during which the commander in chief expressed open disdain for the news media.

Though the union makes no direct reference to the president’s positions on journalistic outlets, the timing of its statement seems an unquestionable response to President Trump’s position.

The full SAG-AFTRA statement is below.

As a union whose membership includes broadcast and online journalists, SAG-AFTRA champions the rights of a free press, whose primary role is to provide citizens with the information they need to effectively govern a democracy. These rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which establishes that the press shall be free from government interference in the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.

SAG-AFTRA, journalists and non-journalists alike, supports a free and unencumbered press and stands with any journalist who might find his or her ability to report on our government challenged or compromised.

SAG-AFTRA believes first and foremost that citizens in a democracy need the truth. Furthermore, SAG-AFTRA believes that journalists have an obligation to monitor and question those in power, pointing out wrongdoing when they find it, noting when facts asserted are not supported by evidence, and reporting inconsistencies in the positions of public figures.

As working professionals, members of the news media have an obligation to verify the accuracy of what they report, with loyalty only to their readers, listeners and viewers and not to any political party, affiliation, or ideology.

As a proud labor union representing more than 160,000 broadcasters, actors and entertainers SAG-AFTRA stands with all of its members in ensuring that the basic rights of a free and independent press continue to be upheld.

Zoe Saldana and husband Marco Perego

(Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

It’s children Vol. 3 for Zoe Saldana, who is now a mother of three boys.

The “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” star and husband Marco Perego welcomed their third child, and she announced his arrival over the weekend.

“Marco and I are elated to share the news of the the birth of our son Zen,” she wrote Saturday on Instagram, posting a snapshot of her twins and her newborn as he was on tummy time. “We couldn’t feel more blessed with the new addition to our family. #threeboys... oh boy!”

As for his name, Zen, we bet that household is anything but these days.

The notoriously private star, 38, who often obscures her children’s faces in social media posts, didn’t offer up additional details about Zen. However, several of the “Avatar” and “Star Trek” actress’ followers were flummoxed by the baby news and asked if she adopted Zen or used a surrogate since she showed no signs that she was pregnant at recent public appearances.

Saldana and Perego were spotted leaving Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on Monday with the newborn, Us Weekly reported.

More details about the little guy will likely surface as Saldana embarks on the press tour for “Guardians Vol. 2” this spring. She was markedly pregnant with her twins during the previous film’s publicity rounds.

Saldana and Perego, an Italian artist, wed in June 2013 and she gave birth to Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio in November 2014.

One month down, 47 (or 95) months to go.

As President Trump celebrated his first month in office Monday, late-night hosts lined up to take on his latest round of headlines.

Seth Meyers found plenty of reasons to break out his keenly honed Trump impression on Monday’s “Late Night,” opening the show with: “Today is Presidents’ Day, and you just know Trump was up at the crack of dawn, ready to open presents.”

Meyers mentioned Trump’s comments from the weekend in which the President compared his war on the media to that of Abraham Lincoln, whom he claimed “fought with the media and called them out.”

“Yep,” Meyers deadpanned, “that’s who Abraham Lincoln was most famous for warring with: The media.”

But wait, there’s more!

Meyers also dedicated his 10-minute segment “A Closer Look” to the latest weirdness from the White House, including Chris Christie’s anecdote about Trump forcing him to order meatloaf on a recent visit.

“Of course, the meatloaf was actually a second course for Christie, after Trump made him swallow his pride,” Meyers quipped, before taking aim at the president’s recent Sweden gaffe.

The host of the NBC late-night series pointed out Trump’s continued war on the free press, referencing a recent tweet in which the president called the media “the enemy of the American people” before talking about Trump’s reference to a nonexistent “incident” in Sweden.

For its part, Sweden was mystified.

“That’s how bad things have gotten under Trump,” Meyers said, “We’re getting roasted by Swedes now.”

Trump’s Swedish confusion came from a Tucker Carlson segment on Fox News on Friday night claiming an uptick in violent crime in the country that some attribute to immigration.

Over on “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert was similarly stymied by Trump’s reference to “what’s happening in Sweden.”

“You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden,” the president said at his Florida rally. “Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden!”

“No one,” responded Colbert, “would believe that.”

“Not no one,” he added, “but maybe someone who skips their intelligence briefings.”

Colbert then pointed out that former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt had some choice words about Trump’s comments on Twitter.

Check out all of Colbert’s tribute to the nonexistent victims of the nonexistent attack on Sweden below. (#NeverFjorget)

Surprise! Hoda Kotb is a new mom. The “Today” co-host has adopted a baby girl.

The wine-sipping TV personality, who’s been absent from the her NBC morning show post and sharing all kinds of inspirational quotes on social media over the last week, announced on Tuesday that her daughter, Haley Joy Kotb, was born on Feb. 14.

“She’s a Valentine’s baby, so she’s a little nugget,” Kotb said while calling into the show and sharing a snapshot of her little girl. “She is the love of my life.”

The 52-year-old is getting a helping hand from her own mother, who arrived a few days ago to be with her daughter and granddaughter. Kotb said she is “among the strongest, most optimistic people I’ve ever met, because she believes anything is possible.”

The “Today” family promptly shared their well wishes during the show and on social media.

Carson Daly told her she would be an “incredible mother,” teasing: “You thought you drank a lot of wine before? You just wait.”

Kotb’s partner in wine, Kathy Lee Gifford, said she knew about the baby for some time but was tight-lipped.

“I’ve got the biggest mouth in the world and I’ve said zilch,” she said. “Hoda, we are thrilled for you, sweetheart. You were made to be a mom.”

Matt Lauer said Haley is “the luckiest girl on the planet,” Jenna Bush Hager said she couldn’t stop crying and Savannah Guthrie said she was “overjoyed.”

Kotb is dating Joel Schiffman and moved in with him last year. She was previously married to tennis coach Burzis Kanga for two years before they divorced in 2007.

Donald Glover continues his reign as Hollywood’s hottest hire, as it appears he will soon become the King of the Jungle, Simba, in Disney’s latest live-action adaptation.

Director Jon Favreau, who successfully brought “The Jungle Book” to life with voice actors such as Bill Murray, Idris Elba, and Scarlett Johansson, has moved onto his next big Disney project, “The Lion King.” And it looks like he has found his lead Simba.

Tweeting from his personal account, Favreau released an image of Glover with the caption “I just can’t wait to be king. #Simba.” While we can’t be sure if this means Glover will be voicing the character or participating in a motion capture type performance, we do know this. Donald Glover is so hot right now.

The actor took home multiple Golden Globes for the “Atlanta” series (on which he is an executive producer, writer and actor), he has been cast in the “Star Wars” origin movie about Han Solo as Lando Calrissian, and now he’s going to star in a big-budget Disney flick.

There is currently no release date set for “The Lion King.”

Update: And the Disney news just keeps coming. Shortly after this tweet Favreau announced yet another cast member for his “Lion King” and this one already has experience playing a king. James Earl Jones, will reprise his role as the voice of Mufasa. Truly, could anyone else fill that part?

If you, like so many Americans, were unable to spare the 77 minutes necessary to watch President Trump’s Thursday news conference, late-night television has you covered.

So thoroughly covered, in fact, that it might take you just as long to watch all of the jokes as it would to sit through the conference itself.

Leading the charge against Trump’s accusations of “fake news” was “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” which opened with Meyers’ shredding the original script for the evening’s episode as he said, “Bye, dead jokes!”

Trevor Noah had a similar sentiment on “The Daily Show,” explaining his team had a perfectly nice show planned out before Trump called his last-minute conference.

On “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon went full Trump and performed his own version of Trump’s tangle with the media, settling at one point for breaking out a “Magic Trump 8 Ball” and reciting Trump catchphrases for an interminably long time.

Over on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Kimmel seemed slightly dumbstruck by the events of the day, describing the president’s attitude this way: “like if your dad found a pack of cigarettes under your mattress.”

Kimmel then aired a super-cut of some of the most cringe-worthy moments, including the president’s asking April Ryan, a black journalist with American Urban Radio Networks, if she could set up a meeting between him and the Congressional Black Caucus.

For his part, James Corden on “The Late Late Show” was gobsmacked that the president mentioned Hillary Clinton 11 times, “Even lovesick teenage boys are like, ‘Move on, man. Let her go. She’s gone.’ ”

Finally, Stephen Colbert and “The Late Show” spent a good 11 minutes examining the conference, at one point failing to find the words for what he saw.

Colbert then looked to how news networks themselves reacted to Trump’s words, with Jake Tapper at CNN saying, “It was unhinged,” and a Fox News correspondent who appeared shellshocked at what she’d witnessed stating, “Wow. Alrighty then.”

For more extensive examinations of the Trump presidency from late-night shows, stay tuned for the next four years.

(Greg Doherty / Getty Images)

Reality TV stars Rob Kardashian and fiancée Blac Chyna have reportedly ended their volatile relationship -- like, for real this time.

The “Rob & Chyna” stars, who have been romantically linked since January 2016 and who welcomed daughter Dream Renée in November, called it quits a while ago and their wedding plans are off, according to People.

“They are both trying to be mature about it. It was less dramatic this time,” a Kardashian source told the mag.

Us Weekly reported that Kardashian thinks “it’s the right decision,” with sources noting that Chyna “has disappeared for days at a time without communicating or providing any updates.”

Kardashian, 29, and Chyna, 28, real name Angela Renée White, first split in March 2016 then again just before Christmas following a public he-said-she-said that played out on their social media accounts. Chyna moved out of their home, along with their newborn daughter.

“Chyna is super fed up with Rob and thinks he is way too emotional and depressed. She thinks he has terrible issues,” an insider who knows the couple told Us of the latest split. “He is always battling his own insecurities and is unstable. It’s a major turn-off to her, and she thinks it’s incredibly unhealthy for the baby and their family.”

Chyna, a former stripper who shares a son with the boyfriend of Kardashian’s half-sister Kylie Jenner, had been credited with bringing the recluse back into the spotlight by helping him work on his physical and mental health. The pair opened up about their history and showcased their heated arguments in their E! docu-series.

According to RadarOnline, Chyna was mainly going back to Kardashian because of business.

“Every time she tries to leave him, either he or his people come back with business reasons why they should keep the charade going for image or business purposes,” an insider told the site. “But she’s done with pretending and just wants out now.”

News of their coupling — soon followed by their engagement and pregnancy — solidified Chyna’s infiltration of the female-heavy reality TV dynasty. It also brought into question Chyna’s true motives, including whether she actually cared for Kardashian or was just making a strategic business move.

Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg

(Ray Tamarra / Getty Images)

PewDiePie is sorry that he made a joke in “not the best way” when trying to show “how crazy the modern world is.”

The Internet star, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, was dropped by Disney’s Maker Studios earlier this week following scrutiny concerning anti-Semitic jokes and imagery in his videos.

YouTube also distanced itself from its top star amid the backlash, announcing the cancelation of the second season of Kjellberg’s reality show, “Scare PewDiePie.”

Following a Tumblr post on Sunday responding to the backlash to his Jan. 11 video (which included two Indian men holding up a sign with an anti-Semitic message), PewDiePie returned to YouTube on Wednesday to apologize and once again address the controversy.

“I’m sorry for the words that I used as I know they offended people,” said PewDiePie. “I admit that the joke itself went too far. I do strongly believe that you can joke about everything, but I also believe that there’s a right way and not the best way to joke about things.”

He also took the occasion to attack mainstream media outlets, including Variety and the Wall Street Journal, which he accuses of misrepresenting him and taking his jokes out of context. He even called out J.K. Rowling.

“Old-school media does not like Internet personalities because they’re scared of us,” he said. “We have so much influence and such a large voice and I don’t think they understand it and that’s why they keep this approach to us.”

He characterized the Journal story about the situation with Maker as a “personal attack,” and said the publication cornered the biggest brands he worked with to force them to sever ties with him.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned about the media from being a public figure is how they blatantly misrepresent people for their own personal gain,” he said. “[They] even viciously attack people just to further themselves.”

You can watch the full video here. (Warning: It contains profanity.)

Prince performs at the Forum in Inglewood on Feb. 18, 1985.

(Liu Heung Shing / Associated Press)

In life, Prince was one of streaming’s great holdouts. Now, less than a year after his death, his music has finally hit Spotify, Apple Music and the other major streaming services. And fans have stormed the gates to revisit his hit-heavy catalog.

Nielsen Music reported Thursday that after finally getting a wide release on Sunday, Prince’s streams have surged by a massive magnitude.

Those figures were no doubt boosted by the Grammys, where Bruno Mars and Prince collaborators the Time paid tribute in a medley performance on Sunday.

Read More

×

Bruno Mars channels Prince, Beyonce slays on stage, and more highlights from the Grammys.

Mel Gibson is in talks to direct the sequel of “Suicide Squad.”

(Andy Kropa / Invision)

F. Scott Fitzgerald said there were no second acts in American lives, but he never said anything about Hollywood careers.

Mel Gibson is in talks to direct the sequel of “Suicide Squad,” the critically panned Warner Bros. supervillain film that nevertheless brought in more than $745 million at the box office.

Originally reported by the Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, Gibson confirmed the rumors during a Q&A after a “Hacksaw Ridge” screening Wednesday night at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.

When asked by the moderator if his talks with the studio were more akin to a deal or a first date, Gibson replied, “It’s kind of a first date.”

The news is the latest development in the career resurrection of the “Passion of the Christ” director.

Gibson had been a Hollywood pariah for nearly 10 years, following anti-Semitic remarks coupled with a drunken-driving arrest in 2006. But the “Lethal Weapon” actor finds himself back in the industry’s good graces with “Hacksaw Ridge,” his film about a conscientious objector fighting during World War II.

The acclaimed film is up for best picture at the Oscars next weekend, and Gibson scored a nomination for director, his first since he won both picture and director for “Braveheart” in 1996.

Despite Gibson’s buzz, the director might make something of a strange pairing for a “Suicide” sequel, given his well-publicized opinions about superhero films.

“I’m not interested in the stuff,” Gibson told Deadline in a September interview, after deriding “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

“Do you know what the difference between real superheroes and comic-book superheroes is? Real superheroes didn’t wear spandex,” he added. “So I don’t know. Spandex must cost a lot.”

Sara Bareilles will do a 10-week run on Broadway in “Waitress.”

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

It’s a role tailor made for Sara Bareilles to play.

The singer-songwriter announced Thursday that she will be joining the Broadway cast of “Waitress,” the Tony-nominated musical for which she wrote the music and lyrics, for a 10-week run beginning March 31.

Bareilles will take over the lead role of Jenna, a waitress and pie maker trapped in an unfulfilling life. Jessie Mueller, who originated the role, is departing at the end of March.

The musical is an adaptation of Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 independent film of the same name.

“Waitress” scored four Tony Award nominations in 2016 -- for musical, lead actress, featured actor, and Bareilles’ score. The cast and Bareilles were also nominated at the 2017 Grammy Awards for musical theater album.

Bareilles’ limited engagement in “Waitress” runs March 31-June 11.

Los Angeles theater fans not heading to New York can catch a Bareilles-less “Waitress” when it debuts at the Hollywood Pantages in August.

In its six seasons so far, Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” series has centered around a haunted house, an asylum for the criminally insane, a touring freak show, an isolated farmhouse, a supernatural hotel and the hometown of a coven of witches.

So it makes perfect sense that the seventh season of the horror-themed show will look at the 2016 presidential contest.

Wait, what?!? Even chatty host Andy Cohen was rendered briefly speechless when showrunner Murphy dropped that news Wednesday night on “Watch What Happens Live.”

“I don’t have a title,” Murphy said, “but the season we start shooting in June will be about the election that we just went through. So I think that will be interesting for a lot of people.”

Read More

After a rough New Year’s Eve gig left people wondering, Mariah Carey reminded the world Wednesday night that she can indeed pull off a live performance.

The pop princess redeemed herself on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after difficulties (technical and otherwise) foiled her performance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest.”

And we’re going to be generous and assume she was singing live on Kimmel, although it’s hard to tell at times, and clearly she was getting an assist from a backing track.

Donning a slinky red dress, Carey sang her new song “I Don’t,” an anthem inspired by the chanteuse’s high-profile broken engagement with Australian billionaire James Packer.

In the song’s music video, Carey sets fire to a wedding dress as she asserts, “Probably think I’m coming back, but I don’t.”

Rapper YG, the featured artist on “I Don’t,” joined Carey for her “Kimmel” performance, which was likely great practice for Carey, who launches a North American tour in March.

Susan Sarandon last month.

(Richard Shotwell / Invision)

During the 2016 presidential campaign, actress and staunch Bernie Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon drew heat for telling MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that she couldn’t bring herself to vote for Hillary Clinton, even if it meant that Donald Trump would win the election.

“Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately,” she said at the time.

On Wednesday evening, MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” aired a new interview with Sarandon, who appeared with “Gasland” director Josh Fox.

“Do you feel that you properly appreciated what a Donald Trump presidency would be?” Hayes asked.

“I think that ... analyzing and spending time and energy talking about blaming people who made mistakes or what should have happened is really wasting your time and energy,” Sarandon said. “Because what we have now is a populace that is awake.”

Discussing Trump, she said, “He’s so clumsy and so bad at putting these things through that everybody’s awake and saying, ‘Oh, my god, what’s happening to the EPA?’”

“Which in some ways,” Hayes responded, “you could see as a vindication of what you said.... Is it bringing the revolution?”

“I really am not a proponent for trying to have a revolution when we could have had peaceful change.... We could have had a revolution that was a legal revolution. I would much rather have seen it with a leader like Bernie Sanders.”

Looking forward, she said, “What we have to do now is spend our time and energy focusing on how to fight what’s going on. And so when people are attacking me or trying to say this could have happened.... Really? That’s where we want to spend our time and energy?”

She next turned her attention to Hayes. “You’re a journalist,” she said. “How many hours did you spend on Standing Rock?... What we need from you is to allow people to understand what’s happening.”

She and Fox then got into a discussion of pipeline protests, which they predicted will spread across the country in reaction to the new administration.

“The good thing about this horrible thing of having Trump is that people are awake and they’re participating and they’re having town meetings,” Sarandon said. “This guy is so fumbling that he’s given a whole lesson in how things work, or don’t work.”

She concluded, “As Leonard Cohen said, ‘The cracks are [how] the light comes in.’ And so now we have to be the light.”

Three looks from the Yeezy collection, a collaboration between Kanye West and Adidas.

(Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Kanye West presented the fifth season of his Yeezy collection collaboration with Adidas in a darkened Pier 59 studio space here Wednesday afternoon. And after last season’s logistical nightmare of a show (the last-minute location reveal of Roosevelt Island, an hour-and-a-half delayed start time, models appearing to faint in the hot sun), this season’s runway production was surprisingly drama-free.

Kicking off at just 22 minutes past the scheduled start time, it was well within the acceptable window of “fashionably late” by fashion week standards.

Instead, the question was whether to consider it a “runway show” at all. Most of the presentation consisted of images from the men’s and women’s collection projected one by one onto the surface of a giant black rectangle in the center of the room from a live feed of the turntable-mounted models backstage.

A model, in clothing by Kanye West, is projected on a giant screen during the unveiling of the Yeezy Season 5 collection during Fashion Week in New York.

(Leanne Italie / AP)

The street-cast models did appear in the flesh at the conclusion of the short-and-sweet 13-minute-long presentation.

The format wasn’t the only thing that was a marked departure from last season’s show. Instead of the familiar shades of beige and putty, there was some honest-to-goodness color in the mix -- most notably reds, greens and a shade of blue that fell in the teal/turquoise range. These appeared on a range of voluminous varsity jackets, velour (or possibly velvet) V-neck tops, hooded sweatshirts and track suits.

Details included prep-school-style crests on some of the tops and many outerwear pieces printed or appliquéd with Kanye’s (and the Kardashian family’s) SoCal stomping grounds. Among the place names in the mix: Calabasas (on the back of a hooded three-quarter-length coat), Lost Hills, Agoura and the 91302 ZIP Code (which appeared, along with Calabasas, on the back of a red, super-roomy cardigan-meets-cape piece), and Mulholland on the sleeves of a long-sleeve T-shirt.

Thanks to the view-blocking cube, we weren’t able to personally confirm the celebrity attendees that had everybody buzzing – including Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, Tyga and Hailey Baldwin.

We’re actually not even 100% sure Kanye came out for the traditional post-show designer wave to the crowd.

But if it helps gets the collection seen – and in an efficient under-an-hour timetable from start to finish to boot – we’ll take a rectangular cube any day of the (fashion) week.

Plus, there’s always social media to tell us what we missed.

MORE FASHION WEEK COVERAGE:

In this new era, politics is on trend on the runways at New York Fashion Week

Philipp Plein’s New York Fashion Week debut includes Jeremy Meeks, the Naked Cowboy, Tiffany Trump and Madonna

Disney’s live-action adaptation of its animated “Mulan” film will be directed by Niki Caro. “Crouching Tiger” producer Bill Kong is also joining the film as executive producer.

The Los Angeles Times has confirmed the news first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Caro, who has directed films such as “Whale Rider” (2002), “McFarland, USA” (2015) and the upcoming “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” will be the second woman whom Disney has tapped to helm a movie with a budget of more than $100 million. She follows Ava DuVernay, who is directing Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” adaptation.

The only other women who have solo-directed live-action films at that budget level are Kathryn Bigelow (2002’s “K-19: The Widowmaker”) and Patty Jenkins (the upcoming “Wonder Woman” film).

Kong, meanwhile, is a Hong Kong-based producer who has worked on films including “Hero,” “House of Flying Daggers” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

“Mulan” faced some early controversy when details emerged that the adaptation would focus on the story of a male, non-Asian love interest rather than Mulan herself. But Disney responded to the rumors by clarifying that screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were retooling the original script purchased by the studio.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the “Mulan” team has had extensive conversations with Chinese cultural consultants about the film.

The cast for the “Mulan” adaptation has not yet been announced. A global casting search is underway for an actress to play the Chinese heroine, as well as the other main roles.

The film is due to hit theaters Nov. 2, 2018.

Karlie Kloss is under fire for cultural appropriation again, and the fashion model has taken to Twitter to apologize.

The 24-year-old fashion model was featured in the latest issue of Vogue dressed as a traditional Japanese geisha, with a patterned robe and black wig, posing alongside a sumo wrestler. Her family heritage is Danish and German.

Social media users were unimpressed with both Vogue for producing and Kloss for participating in a shoot aping an unfamiliar culture.

Kloss issued a statement of apology early Wednesday morning.

This is not the first time Kloss has found herself in such a predicament. In 2012, the former Victoria’s Secret model stirred outrage when she appeared on the runway in a fringed leather bra and panties, high-heeled moccasins and a floor-length replica Native American headdress.

Victoria’s Secret responded by excising that outfit from the runway’s broadcast and Kloss again apologized via tweet.

The March installment of Vogue has spurred controversy since the first images from the issue were released last week.

Though the magazine touts the issue as embracing diversity with models who are proving “the new norm is no norm,” Twitter users disagreed.

The March cover features seven models — Liu Wen, Ashley Graham, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Imaan Hammam, Adwoa Aboah, and Vittoria Ceretti — from differing ethnic backgrounds, but who share similar facial features and complexions. The attempt at diversity underwhelmed some Twitter users.

Also at issue was how the magazine portrayed Ashley Graham, the lone plus-sized model to make the cut for the cover.

While the six other models have their arms around one another, Graham’s arm is held at her side, a move that social media users theorize is to obscure part of her leg.

Eagle-eyed users also found a bit of suspected editing trickery in Gigi Hadid’s Stretch Armstrong-esque arm also obscuring Graham’s torso.

As for that controversy, Graham shared the cover photo on her Instagram last week stating that being included was a dream come true. In comments, she assured fans, “I chose to pose like that” and “No one told me to do anything.”

Representatives for Vogue did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

“Carpool Karaoke” is becoming an Apple Music series of its own, and now there’s a trailer to tease some of the upcoming adventures.

The new extended look at the standalone show, which Corden won’t host, features a bevy of stars taking to the streets in song, often to hilarious ends.

“Old white women think I’m Pharrell sometimes,” John Legend admits to Taraji P. Henson while Alicia Keys cracks up in the passenger seat.

The clip features Billy Eichner chiding Metallica for not knowing the words to Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” Shaquille O’Neal and John Cena crowding into a very tiny car, as well as Chelsea Handler and Blake Shelton getting wasted in a bar while singing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” in an episode that ideally ends up as “Designated Driver Karoke.”

But fans of “The Late Late Show,” which spawned the viral video behemoth, need not worry: Corden will make an appearance on the new series, tooling around the streets with an ageless Will Smith.

The duo even take their crooning to the next level (literally) by getting in a helicopter and taking to the sky while singing R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.”

A release date for “Carpool Karaoke” has yet to be announced.

The first scene of a movie is often its defining moment: In subtle and large ways it lets the audience know where they are, where they’re going — and often, what to expect along the way. But deciding on that first major statement can be a challenge; sometimes, a main character dancing to “Thriller” in the bathroom mirror is the wrong choice.

Here, directors and editors from nine awards-season contenders share why they began their films as they did – and what alternate openings were abandoned along the way.

Tom Cross (editor, “La La Land”)

First scene: Amid an all-too-familiar massive L.A. freeway backup, a musical number breaks out and our hero and heroine meet cute while sparring with one another in their cars.

Revelations: “Damien [Chazelle, director] wanted to introduce our characters in a memorable way, but also their world: La La Land,” says Cross. “Our characters dream big, so it was important that the film start with a bang.”

Alternate reality? “The original plan was to open with a main title sequence that would serve as an overture. We eventually lifted out the overture and put the traffic number ahead of the intro. What was airtight on the page had been transformed through the shooting, and re-editing achieved the original spirit.”

Read More

Alanis Morissette

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Singer Alanis Morissette’s Brentwood mansion was broken into by burglars who made off with a safe containing $2 million in jewelry and other valuables, sources said.

Los Angeles police Det. Meghan Aguilar said the burglars took the entire safe and did some damage to the house. The break-in occurred on Thursday.

Read More

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Actor and vintage plane buff Harrison Ford was involved in a close-call incident involving a 737 passenger jet at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on Monday, and the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

FAA officials did not disclose the name of the pilot involved in the incident but provided a brief narrative of what happened.

The incident comes nearly two years after Ford crashed a plane at a golf course near Santa Monica Airport.

Read More

Mariah Carey

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Not even the greatest of technical difficulties can keep Mariah Carey from returning to a television stage.

The pop diva tweeted Tuesday that she will be stopping by “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Wednesday night to sing her new single, “I Don’t.”

The appearance will be Carey’s first television performance since New Year’s Eve, when her stint on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” went so very wrong.

Carey’s painful six-minute set to ring in 2017 featured the songstress alternately lip-syncing to some of her greatest hits and standing amid her background dancers telling the audience that her earpiece was not functioning.

The immediate aftermath of Carey’s appearance was a flurry of finger-pointing. The Carey camp blamed Dick Clark Productions, with a spokesperson saying, “Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to continue with the performance given the circumstances.”

For its part, Dick Clark Productions claims that it had no part in any technical difficulties and that even if Carey’s earpiece wasn’t working, there were eight monitors playing her song right next to the stage. To that end, Carey’s backup dancers seemed to have no trouble hearing the music.

All eyes will no doubt be on Carey when she returns to television Wednesday. And if the unthinkable should happen and the technical support isn’t quite what Carey is expecting, she might want to take a cue from Adele. At Sunday’s Grammys, the British singer stopped and restarted her wobbly performance of George Michael’s “Fastlove,” learning from her own experience the previous year.

Or Mariah can be Mariah and all will be welll in the world.

First Lady Melania Trump tweeted Monday for just the fifth time since taking over the @FLOTUS handle, thanking actress Emily Ratajkowski for her support.

Though Trump and Ratajkowski may differ when it comes to politics — Ratajkowski spoke at a Bernie Sanders rally in February 2016 — they are united when it comes to defending women from those who shame them for their sexuality.

That’s long been Ratajkowski’s stance, and in this instance, the woman she championed just happened to be Trump.

The actress tweeted Monday morning about an unidentified journalist from the New York Times who allegedly tried to slut-shame the first lady the night before, behavior Ratajkowski was having none of.

“I don’t care about her nudes or sexual history,” the actress tweeted, “and no one should.”

Ratajkowski dismissed the actions as a disgusting gender-specific attack.

The model and actress, best known for sexually charged turns in “Gone Girl” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video, has long been outspoken about the double standard invoked when it comes to women’s sexuality.

“Look at pop culture: Mick Jagger is 73, and he still sometimes wears his shirt open and gyrates onstage. We understand that this is a part of his performance and artistic brand,” Ratajkowski wrote in an essay for Glamour in September. “Meanwhile, when Madonna, who is 58 and a revolutionary in that same kind of artistic sexuality, wears a sheer dress to the Met Gala, critics call her ‘a hot mess’ who’s ‘desperate.’”

In March 2016, Ratajkowski drew criticism from Piers Morgan after appearing in a topless selfie with Kim Kardashian.

“Do you want me to buy you some clothes? You look freezing,” Morgan tweeted at Ratajkowski to which she tartly responded, “Thanks, but I don’t need clothes as much as you need press.”

Beyonce performs at the 59th Grammy Awards.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Beyoncé and Adele went head-to-head four times at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. Both were nominated for album of the year, song of the year, record of the year and best pop solo performance. In every category, Adele was awarded the Grammy. Every time, Beyoncé, the peerless pop music icon of our time, was told she was second-best.

Unequaled artists have long bumped up against the glass ceiling that awards shows impose on black excellence.

Read More

×

Adele tearfully thanked Beyonce while accepting her album of the year award for “25.”

Nick Cannon has announced he will not be returning to “America’s Got Talent” as host.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Actor and comedian Nick Cannon is leaving his longtime gig as host of the NBC reality show “America’s Got Talent” after allegedly being threatened with termination by network executives.

Cannon announced his departure via a 700-word Facebook post Monday morning, explaining how his decision comes after a dispute with NBC head honchos over jokes in his recent Showtime comedy special.

“Nick Cannon: Stand Up, Don’t Shoot” aired Friday night on the premium cable channel and featured a different Cannon than “AGT” audiences might be used to, with frequent uses of the N-word. The word even makes an appearance in a joke about how that evening NBC stood for “N– Better C’mon.”

TMZ reported Friday that NBC executives learned about the content via Cannon’s appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” and stated that Cannon was nearly fired over the incident before the network decided against it.

With the new week, it appears that Cannon himself has had second thoughts. His statement in its entirety follows. (Statement formatting has been edited for clarity.)

I write this from a deeply saddened and dolorous mindset. After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened with termination by Executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke. This has weighed heavy on my spirit.

It was brought to my attention by my “team” that NBC believed that I was in breach of contract because I had disparaged their brand. In my defense, I would ask how so? Or is this just another way to silence and control an outspoken voice who often battles the establishment.

Recently many of my mentors have cautioned me that soon ‘The System’ would come down on me because I was speaking too many truths and being [too] loud about it. I had no idea that it all would hit so close to home.

I find myself in a dark place having to make a decision that I wish I didn’t have to, but as a man, an artist, and a voice for my community I will not be silenced, controlled or treated like a piece of property. There is no amount of money worth my dignity or my integrity.

I have loved hosting “America’s Got Talent” for the last 8 seasons, watching talented, brave, and courageous Americans accomplish their dreams in front of millions has been nothing but a joy, and everyone has been a pleasure to work with but my soul won’t allow me to be in business with corporations that attempt to frown on freedom of speech, censor artists, and question cultural choices.

Not to get too detailed but this isn’t the first time executives have attempted to ‘put me in my place’ for so called unruly actions. I will not stand for it. My moral principles will easily walk away from the millions of dollars they hang over my head. It’s never been about the money for me, what is difficult to walk away from is the fans, the people who love me on the show. This hurts tremendously.

I felt like I was apart of the fabric of our great nation every summer, representing every culture, age, gender, and demographic. Now for the rug to be pulled from underneath me and to be publicly reprimanded and ridiculed over a joke about my own race is completely wrong and I have to do something about it. I have fought many battles in my career and have never been afraid to go up against the system.

I have mulled over my process for days and felt it was best to once again speak my mind about an unjust infrastructure that treat talent like they own them. Maybe it was my mistake for signing the contract in the first place, in which I will take full responsibility and have already taken action to restructure my own team of advisors.

I now have to set out on a journey of freedom as an artist. As I was quoted in a recent interview, ‘You can’t fire a Boss!’ and that is the essence that I possess. So I wish AGT and NBC the best in its upcoming season but I can not see myself returning.

As of lately I have even questioned if I want to even be apart of an industry who ultimately treats artists in this manner. Most of us don’t realize that there are 6 major corporations that control 90 percent of media in America and the amount of minority executives is dismal.

With this being the case, true equality in our industry is impossible. There will always be a ‘do as I say’ mentality that mirrors society’s perception of women and minorities, and only a few will stand up against it. I proudly stand as one of those few, and will gladly take on whatever repercussions that come with it. I love art and entertainment too much to watch it be ruined by controlling corporations and big business.

I believe it’s our duty as artists to make a difference and create change even if it’s one act at a time. Dr. King said it best, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”

“America’s Got Talent” is scheduled to begin filming Season 12 next month.

Representatives for NBC and Nick Cannon did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Katy Perry had a lot to say at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Katy Perry wasn’t content to let her music do the talking at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards.

The pop songstress performed her latest single, the politically charged “Chained to the Rhythm,” at Sunday night’s ceremony, but may have had her most controversial moment of the evening on the pre-show red carpet.

“It’s called taking care of your mental health,” Perry told E! News’ Ryan Seacrest when he inquired after her recent recording hiatus, before later adding, “I haven’t shaved my head yet.”

That might have seemed like a random non sequitur, but Perry elaborated later on in an interview with CBS.

“It’s like the last color in the spectrum that I can do,” said the newly blond Perry. “I’ve done all of them, and the only thing left to do is shave my head, which I’m really saving for a public breakdown.”

It’s evident that Perry was referencing Britney Spears’ struggle with mental health, which culminated in a 2007 incident in which she publicly shaved her head.

After Spears’ difficulties, her father was granted guardianship over her, a position he continues to hold.

This is not the first time Perry has publicly sparred with a fellow pop star. The singer has been embroiled in an ongoing feud with Taylor Swift for years.

Twitter users were less than impressed with Perry’s comments, spawning the hashtag #KatyPerryIsOverParty and registering their displeasure through tweets.

Representatives for Katy Perry did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Netflix dropped the “Lemonade” tribute that Amy Schumer could only dream of creating. The streaming service provider released video Monday announcing the Season 3 premiere date for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

The Emmy-nominated comedy, featuring Ellie Kemper as a former doomsday cult member acclimating to life outside of her 15 years in a bunker, returns to Netflix on May 19.

The teaser features Kimmy’s best friend and all-around superstar Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) strolling the streets of New York in full “Lemonade” yellow dress fabulousness, a loving homage that’s sure to wash the bitter aftertaste of Monday night’s Grammy Awards from the mouths of Beyoncé fans.

The first two 13-episode seasons of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” are available to stream on Netflix.

When thinking about Al Jarreau, who died in Los Angeles on Sunday at age 76, one word comes insistently to mind: Smooth.

Much like his longtime friend and kindred spirit George Duke, who died in August 2013, Jarreau owned that free-flowing and often breezy subgenre somewhat derisively known as “smooth jazz.” In reality, it was a cross-pollination of jazz with funk, pop and R&B that his voice helped establish in the ’70s and ’80s. From the nimble, rounded style that allowed him to glide from note to note in his biggest hit “We’re in This Love Together” to the feeling evoked by the sound of his name itself, Jarreau became synonymous with a bright sort of cool that soared beyond jazz’s often sharp corners.

Also like Duke — who counted Frank Zappa and Miles Davis among his collaborators — Jarreau’s 50-year career defied such simple categorization. A Midwestern native, Jarreau cut his teeth at Bay Area clubs like the Half Note and Gatsby’s before moving to Los Angeles, where he appeared on the city’s club and talk-show circuit.

In the early ’70s, when his career began to take off, Jarreau earned comparisons to jazz greats such as Billy Eckstein, but his breakout 1975 album “We Got By” could evoke soul great Bill Withers, most notably on the album’s bawdy and bluesy title track, in which Jarreau was backed by subtle strings and keyboards. From the same recording, “You Don’t See Me” offered a showcase for Jarreau’s acrobatic scat vocals playing off a spare funk backdrop.

The subsequent live double-album “Look to the Rainbow,” released in 1977, offered a similarly fierce display of vocal invention. His percolating interpretation of Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” — a song most commonly associated with Dave Brubeck — is a rapid-fire tour-de-force as Jarreau breathlessly emulates three or four different instruments over the course of seven and a half propulsive, improvisation-rich minutes. Jarreau eventually came to be synonymous with a seeming imperviousness to rough edges, but here, it certainly wasn’t for want of stretching himself in search of them. “Look to the Rainbow” also earned Jarreau his first Grammy for jazz vocal performance.

Read More

Al Jarreau, the legendary jazz artist and seven-time Grammy winner, has died. He was 76.

The singer died about 6 a.m. Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital surrounded by family and friends, his agent said. The cause of death was not immediately known, but news of his passing comes two days after he announced his retirement from touring and was admitted to the hospital for exhaustion.

Dubbed the “Acrobat of Scat” for his vocal delivery and admired by fans for his imaginative and improvisational qualities, Jarreau had a career that spanned five decades and 20 albums. His biggest single was “We’re in This Love Together” from 1981. He also sang the theme song for TV’s “Moonlighting.”

He is the only Grammy vocalist to win in the jazz, pop and R&B categories.

“All through his career, he was someone who was daring,” said jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, who collaborated with Jarreau on an album celebrating musician George Duke. “He was totally original. Nobody before him sang like that. He was a courageous singer because he had no problem making something new every single night he was on stage. It was extraordinary to watch.”

Read More

Adele arrives at the 59th Grammys at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Adele ended her night at the 2017 Grammy Awards with back-to-back wins for album of the year and record of the year, but used her final moments on stage to salute Beyoncé and her “monumental” album “Lemonade.” Beyoncé, meanwhile, wowed the audience with a spiritual performance and also took home the prize for urban contemporary album. Chance the Rapper was also among the top winners of the night, taking the prize for new artist as well as rap album.

Marla Maples, left, and daughter Tiffany Trump attend the Taoray Wang collection during New York Fashion Week on Feb. 11.

(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Taoray Wang))

Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of President Trump, took in a New York Fashion Week show Saturday morning, sitting front row at the Fall/Winter 2017 Taoray Wang runway show at Skylight Clarkson Square on Washington Street. Her mother, Marla Maples, was at her side, and a scrum of Secret Service agents and venue security were posted nearby.

The fashion flock had been speculating about a possible Trump appearance since fashion week kicked off Thursday because the Shanghai-based label (which has shown at New York Fashion Week for the last few years) custom designed the white double-breasted coat she wore on Inauguration Day.

We didn’t get a chance to speak with Trump (“You can take one picture,” we were told when we approached, “but no questions”) before the show, and after the runway finale walk, she and Maples were whisked backstage (presumably to meet the designer) and then off the premises.

As members of the fashion media and well-wishers surrounded Wang backstage, the designer looked around and shook her head in amazement at the beehive of activity. “This is bizarre,” she said.

Marvel explains how 10 years of of superhero movie making will culminate in one film with the first look from the set of “Avengers: Infinity War.”

And yeah that’s Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Star-Lord all in the same shot from the Atlanta set of “Infinity War.”

Robert Downey Jr. also took to Facebook Live on Friday from the set of the upcoming movie to answer a few questions from fans.

Friday night, PBS is airing a documentary about U.S. representative John Lewis and his lifetime spent dedicated to American politics and civil rights.

Lewis, who has served as a representative from Georgia for the last 30 years, was 21 when he joined the movement for civil rights, serving as one of the original 13 Freedom Riders in an effort to integrate mass transit.

During the heart of the movement in the 1960s, Lewis worked closely with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., serving as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for several years, as well as marching with King at Selma, as documented by Ava DuVernay’s recent film

Despite his long list of accomplishments Lewis made headlines most recently during a highly publicized dispute with then President-elect Donald Trump.

In a January interview with NBC, Lewis stated that he felt that the Trump was not a “legitimate president” thanks to reported Russian interference in the 2016 election and, because of that, he would not be attending the inauguration.

Trump took exception to the statement from Lewis, delivering a particularly robust Twitter rant that accused Lewis of “all talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad!” and suggesting that the congressman focus more on “burning and crime-infested inner cities.”

The negative tweets at Lewis spurred a boycott among House Democrats, with more than 50 members skipping the inauguration in solidarity for the veteran representative.

“John Lewis: Get in the Way” airs at 10:30 p.m. Friday on PBS.

The documentary will also be available to screen online via PBS mobile apps beginning Saturday.

Katherine Jackson filed for a restraining order against nephew Trent Lamar Jackson on Wednesday.

(Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

All is not well within the Jackson clan.

On Wednesday, Katherine Jackson, the matriarch of the legendary musical brood — including Janet and the late Michael Jackson — was granted a temporary restraining order against nephew Trent Lamar Jackson.

Court documents obtained by The Times, allege that Jackson’s daughter Rebbie, as well as other family members, have witnessed ongoing abuse by Trent Lamar Jackson, who previously had been employed as Jackson’s driver.

Trent Lamar Jackson is the son of Luther Jackson, brother of Joe Jackson, Katherine’s ex-husband.

“Trent made himself a care custodian of Mrs. Jackson to control her every move,” the documents read. “He’s threatened not to take her home for not complying with his demands, he has refused to return her home from travel; he deprives her from contact with her family so he can maintain undue influence over her, causing her depression, angst and fear.”

The documents go on to claim that Trent Lamar Jackson’s actions were calculated so that he could maintain control of Jackson’s finances and stay in her guest house free of charge.

“Constant, sometimes subtle, emotional abuse was effective in making Mrs. Jackson confused and unsure of what was happening to her,” the claim states. “She is clear now and scared for her safety, after terminating his employment. Now that he knows his conduct will be revealed, she fears what he may do to her upon her return.”

Jackson’s nephew has been ordered to return all keys, passwords and combinations for her property, as well as to cease use of her financial accounts. He also has been ordered to remain 100 yards from his aunt and not to enter the gated community where she resides.

These accusations come after an eventful several months for the family, with Jackson’s daughter Janet giving birth to her first child in January, followed by UK television provider Sky TV’s decision to scuttle a controversial episode of “Urban Myths” focusing on her late son Michael portrayed by Joseph Fiennes.

Jackson’s claims will be heard in front of a judge on March 1.

For the record: An earlier version of this post said that Trent Lamar Jackson was the son of Lawrence Jackson. He is the son of Luther Jackson.

Shia LaBeouf’s anti-Trump protest piece has been shut down because it created an unexpectedly volatile situation and serious public safety hazards, museum officials said Friday.

The embattled actor’s HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US installation at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image debuted on President’s Trump inauguration day and was meant to run through the duration of his presidency. The around-the-clock streaming performance invited willing participants to chant the words “he will not divide us” in front of a webcam as many times and for as long as they wished.

However, a few days after its debut, LaBeouf was arrested after he shouted down an alleged white supremacist who arrived to troll the work and other such incidents prompted the museum to cut off the installation’s webcam.

“The installation created a serious and ongoing public safety hazard for the Museum, its visitors, staff, local residents, and businesses,” museum officials said in a statement on Friday. “The installation had become a flashpoint for violence and was disrupted from its original intent.”

Looking into a camera placed on a wall outside the museum, a diverse group of teenagers chanted their protest on inauguration day “as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community,” the artists said. But with other altercations taking place, threats and arrests being made, the NYPD had to patrol the area regularly.

“While the installation began constructively, it deteriorated markedly after one of the artists was arrested on the site of the installation and ultimately necessitated this action,” the officials said.

“Ending our engagement with the installation is the most prudent path forward to restore public safety to the Museum, its visitors, staff, and the community,” they added.

Additionally, neighbors complained that noisy visitors loitered on their porches in the early morning hours, urinated and smoked marijuana, according to Page Six.

The “Transformers” actor took to Twitter to continue the protest, sharing a black image that read “The Museum Has Abandoned Us.”

On Friday, the artists left a message on the website where the participatory performance was streamed.

“On February 10, 2017, the Museum of the Moving Image abandoned the project,” it said. “The artists, however, have not.”

Rosie O’Donnell has made no secret about her interest in portraying Trump advisor Steve Bannon on “Saturday Night Live.”

(Evan Agostini / Associated Press)

Ever since Melissa McCarthy blew the roof off of last week’s “Saturday Night Live” with her uncanny (and unhinged) depiction of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, the Internet has been salivating over casting women in other prominent roles in the Trump administration.

So far, longtime Trump foil Rosie O’Donnell as White House strategist Steve Bannon seems to be a resounding favorite, with O’Donnell herself volunteering as tribute.

Speculation around O’Donnell as Bannon reached a fevered pitch on Thursday, when the actress debuted a new Twitter avatar featuring, you guessed it, her as the former Breitbart chairman.

In response, the Internet lost its collective mind.

But the question remains: Come Saturday, will O’Donnell be playing Bannon on the late-night comedy series?

Maybe not.

According to representatives for O’Donnell, the avatar change comes from a social media user who created it and brought it to her attention, a claim that appears to check out.

For now, the dream of O’Donnell as Bannon remains a dream.

Representatives for “Saturday Night Live” did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marvel Television and Hulu continue to solidify the “Marvel’s Runaways” cast, this time casting the villains, a group called the Pride who happen to be the parents of the Runaways kids, with actors from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “This Is Us,” The Wire” and more.

The cast is as follows:

Ryan Sands (“Hat Hair,” “The Wire”) as Geoffrey Wilder; Angel Parker (“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “The Strain”) as Catherine Wilder; Brittany Ishibashi (“This Is Us,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”) as Tina Minoru; James Yaegashi (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Broadway, “Madame Secretary”) as Robert Minoru;

Kevin Weisman (“Hello Ladies,” “Alias”) as Dale Yorkes; Brigid Brannagh (“Army Wives,” “True Colors”) as Stacey Yorkes; Annie Wersching (“Timeless,” “The Vampire Diaries”) as Leslie Dean; Kip Pardue (“Remember the Titans,” “Ray Donovan”) as Frank Dean; James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel”) as Victor Stein; and Ever Carradine (“The Handmaids Tale,” “Goliath”) as Janet Stein.

“‘Marvel’s Runaways’ has enough great actors to support two shows, but I love that this project contains multiple generations of incredible talent all in one story,” added Runaways comic co-creator and series executive consultant Brian K. Vaughn in a statement.

Marvel previously announced Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin and Allegra Acosta in the title roles in the series.

For anyone wondering just how political this year’s Academy Awards are likely to get, here’s an early sign: One of Hollywood’s leading talent agencies is canceling its traditional Oscar party and will instead hold a rally to protest the Trump Administration’s controversial moves on the immigration front.

The United Talent Agency has announced that it will hold an event it is calling “United Voices” at its Los Angeles headquarters on Feb. 24, two days before the Oscars. In a press release, the agency said the rally is intended “to express the creative community’s growing concern with anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States and its potential chilling effect on the global exchange of ideas and freedom of expression.”

The agency also announced it will donate $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee.

“If our nation ceases to be the place where artists the world over can come to express themselves freely, then we cease, in my opinion, to be America,” UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer said in a letter to the agency’s employees announcing the steps. “When fear and division get the better of a society, artists are among the first to feel the impact—and to denounce the ill winds.”

At least one Oscar nominee, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi – whose film “The Salesman” earned a nod in the foreign language category and who is a UTA client – has said he will not attend the Oscars this year to protest President Trump’s recent executive order that sought to temporarily bar immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. The future of that order, which has been suspended, is now in question following a decision Thursday by a federal appellate court declining its reinstatement.

(Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

George Clooney’s wife, Amal, is reportedly pregnant with twins.

Hollywood’s power pair is expecting a pair of babies this June, according to well-connected “The Talk” host Julie Chen, who confirmed and announced the actor and the British human rights attorney’s life-changing event on today’s show.

Read More

Perhaps fans haven’t seen the last of “American Idol.”

“Idol” production company Fremantle Media has pitched a revival of the singing competition to NBC, according to Variety. The original series premiered in 2002 and aired on Fox for 15 seasons before ending its run last April.

However, even in the final moments of the series finale, host Ryan Seacrest hinted that the show’s end might be temporary.

“One more time -- this is so tough -- we say to you from Hollywood, good night, America,” said Seacrest. “For now.”

Of course, NBC is already home to the successful “The Voice,” a slightly different singing competition series, as well as the talent show “America’s Got Talent.”

Details about any changes this possible “American Idol” revival would see, or how it could affect NBC’s reality TV lineup are unknown.

×

Will Arnett, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Cera and Rosario Dawson voice characters in “The Lego Batman Movie.”

“The Lego Batman Movie” is an impish, big-hearted parody that also happens to be the best Batman movie since “The Dark Knight” in 2008. That may not sound like high praise coming so soon after “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but it’s no small accomplishment when the latest contribution to our collective superhero fatigue instead reveals itself as a possible cure — or a tonic, at the very least.

Read More

×

Will Arnett comes to San Diego Comic-Con International to discuss his career and his work on “The Lego Batman Movie.”

MORE: Movie reviews >>

Willie Nelson performs in Nashville on Jan. 17.

(John Humphrey / Associated Press)

Willie Nelson has postponed two more shows -- this time in Arizona and New Mexico.

Friday’s concert at the Desert Diamond Casino in Sahuarita, Ariz., and Saturday’s gig at the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque will be rescheduled, according to Nelson’s website.

The 83-year-old singer is still ill, Rolling Stone reported Wednesday.

“We are very sorry for the disappointment,” a statement on Nelson’s Facebook page said Wednesday. “We hope to make it up to you all very soon.” The statement advised that rescheduled dates will be announced as they become available.

On Monday, the country legend nixed three shows set for this week in Bakersfield and one in Tucson planned for this coming Friday because he was sick, his rep told the Associated Press.

In late January, a cold forced him to ax the first two of five shows planned for the Venetian in Las Vegas, but he was well enough to promote his new line of cannabis at an event in downtown Las Vegas on Jan. 31.

“I’m good. I’m getting there,” Nelson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, when asked about his health. He lighted a joint, took a hit and passed it on to a fan before leaving, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

He followed up with shows at the Venetian on Feb. 1, 3 and 4.

The Grammy Awards will feature musical tributes to the late George Michael, left, and Prince.

(Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images; Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

The 59th Grammy Awards will feature musical tributes to the late George Michael and Prince, but the Recording Academy isn’t saying up front who’ll be performing in each set.

“[W]e consider it our responsibility to tell music’s broader story by honoring its legends lost — that’s what we strive to achieve with our annual tributes,” Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the show, said in a statement.

“While it’s nearly impossible to convey the full depth of an artist’s cultural impact in a single performance, it’s that very challenge that has led us to some of our most memorable Grammy moments.”

Last year during the show, Lady Gaga led a tribute to David Bowie, singing a medley that included eight of his hits. She even got a tattoo.

Of course, given the sheer number of iconic musicians who died last year -— Merle Haggard, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones, Leon Russell and Juan Gabriel, among them — the Grammys could have organized several tribute segments.

This year’s performers include Adele, a “very pregnant” Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Kelsea Ballerini, William Bell, Chance the Rapper, Gary Clark Jr., Andra Day, Cynthia Erivo, Tori Kelly, Barry Gibb, Lukas Graham, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Little Big Town, Demi Lovato, Bruno Mars, Maren Morris, Anderson .Paak, Daft Punk, Sturgill Simpson, A Tribe Called Quest, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and the Weeknd.

Gaga and Metallica will duet. Urban included Prince and Bowie songs in an acoustic-guitar tribute medley on New Year’s Eve in Nashville.

Michael died last year on Christmas Day at age 53. Prince died April 21 at 57.

The Grammy Awards air live from Staples Center in L.A. starting at 5 p.m. Sunday, with plenty of storylines worth following.

Monday night’s MAKERS women’s empowerment conference in Rancho Palos Verdes kicked off with a surprise video statement by Hillary Clinton that elicited a huge roar from the crowd.

“Despite all the challenges we face, I remain convinced that yes, the future is female,” Clinton said in her first recorded statement since the inauguration of Donald Trump and women’s marches the next day.

The conference, which continues through Wednesday and is being live-streamed online, is bringing together powerful women at the height of their powers. Actress Octavia Spencer and activist Gloria Steinem kicked off the conference with a keynote conversation about Spencer’s movie “Hidden Figures,” and diversity in storytelling on Monday night. (And Steinem spoke exclusively to The Times about the election and the challenges ahead.)

But while Spencer and Steinem garnered a standing ovation and resounding applause, Clinton’s recorded statement prompted the loudest cheers of the night.

“Remember, you are the heroes and history makers, the glass ceiling breakers of the future,” Clinton said in the video. “As I’ve said before, I’ll say again: Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world.”

Check out the full clip below.

Marvel’s Defenders are one step closer to being complete. The first trailer for Netflix’s “Iron Fist” has been released, officially introducing fans to the magical martial artist Danny Rand.

The trailer shows Rand resurfacing at his family company, years after being presumed dead, as an adult who packs a pretty powerful punch.

“I left here 10 years old on a jet with my parents,” says Rand. “I became the lone survivor.”

It turns out that in his time away Rand has been training in K’un-Lun and he’s back in New York to take his family company back from the criminals who have made their way into the organization.

“I’ve been training my whole life for this,” Rand says. “This is my destiny.”

“Iron Fist,” of course, stars Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a casting decision that stirred a bit of controversy among those who believed Marvel should have used the opportunity to cast an Asian American actor in the lead. While the original comic book character is white, some fans have expressed fatigue with stories involving heroes taking stereotypical journeys east to discover magical Asian awesomeness.

Finn has previously addressed fans’ concerns over issues of cultural appropriation, asking them to “wait until you’ve seen the show, and then pass judgment.”

Marvel’s “Iron Fist” also sees Rosario Dawson back as Claire Temple as well as Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing. The series will premiere March 17 on Netflix.

Abdullah Al-Rifaie rushes to meet his family at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday after waiting for several days in Jordan to see if he would be allowed to reenter the U.S.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“Maybe they’ll have ‘La La Land’ on the in-flight entertainment,” Abdullah said on Saturday a few hours before he was set to leave Jordan on a plane bound for Los Angeles.

“If you don’t like it,” I joked, “don’t tell anyone. They won’t let you into America.”

“So many rules,” he said, laughing to ease his nerves. “I can’t keep up.”

It was true, the part about so many rules. The fate of Abdullah’s trip, and his future as a student in the U.S., was changing by the hour, thanks to the confusion sown by President Trump’s executive order on travel and the multiple rulings against it.

Abdullah Al-Rifaie, 19, has lived in Southern California for the last year and a half, attending classes on a student visa. He left Los Angeles in December on winter break to renew his visa — to follow the rules. But in the few weeks it took for him to successfully get his paperwork processed in Jordan, Trump signed the executive order restricting travel from seven majority-Muslim countries, including the one that issued Abdullah’s passport, Iraq.

The order had an immediate effect on the travel plans of Abdullah and of many far more desperate than him — refugees and asylum seekers whose lives were in danger in their home countries.

×

Abdullah Al-Rifaie, an Iraqi student, gains U.S. reentry after the court stay of President Trump’s travel ban from seven Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim countries.

My sisters, my mom and an attorney who offered her services pro bono when she heard of Abdullah’s plight tried to keep abreast of the rapidly changing news.

On Thursday, the situation looked bad. He should stay in Jordan for now, the lawyer advised.

On Friday, good news. A Boston judge issued a temporary restraining order against the travel ban. Visa holders from other countries on the list are getting in, we’re told, so he should get here now while he can!

But later on Friday, things changed again. Hold up, Abdullah was told. Valid visa holders are still being detained at U.S. airports and sent back to where they came from. Stay put.

Read More

(Monica Schipper / Getty Images)

Rosie O’Donnell has volunteered her services for “Saturday Night Live’s” comedy takedown of President Trump and his administration.

The former co-host of “The View,” who is already an outspoken critic of the president and has publicly quibbled with him in the past, says she would be willing to parody his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, on “SNL.”

“If asked, of course I would,” O’Donnell told NBC News on Tuesday. She also tweeted “available - if called i will serve.”

The casting, however, is not a done deal, and O’Donnell is not currently set to appear on or host the long-running NBC sketch series. The network has declined to comment about casting her on the show, and O’Donnell even deemed it “an alternate fact.”

O’Donnell’s announcement comes on the heels of Melissa McCarthy’s aggressive portrayal of Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, over the weekend and after calls for O’Donnell’s casting went viral on Twitter on Monday.

“[S]omeone tweeted it as an idea - after Melissa was so brilliant ... just a funny idea #truth,” O’Donnell tweeted Tuesday.

She called McCarthy’s take on Spicer “perfect” and also praised Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of the president, which has repeatedly prompted Trump to lash out against the actor and the series.

“‘SNL’ knows what they are doing,” said O’Donnell, who hosted the show in 1993 and 1996, spoofing actress Liza Minnelli, director Penny Marshall and manicurist-turned-mutilator Lorena Bobbitt.

Bannon, the controversial former editor of the far-right-leaning Breibart News, has been played in “SNL” skits by a Grim Reaper-clad Mikey Day. Bannon’s relationship with Trump was lampooned in the latest episode’s cold open as he encouraged the Donald to alienate allied nations in a series of impromptu phone calls.

O’Donnell’s feud with the president sparked circa 2006. when she criticized the billionaire for refusing to fire Miss USA Tara Conner from the pageant he controls after she admitted to substance abuse. He dubbed O’Donnell a “pig” and continued to tweet about her appearance and personal life.

Trump went after her again in 2014 when NBC reinstated her as a “View” panelist and she became an unlikely topic of discussion after the August 2015 and September 2016 presidential debates, when he declared that O’Donnell was the only woman he publicly insulted.

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk perform at the Grammys in 2014.

(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

Daft Punk’s first-ever pop-up shop is coming to Los Angeles for nine days, opening the day before the 59th Grammy Awards.

The Maxfield Gallery on Melrose will host the shop, which runs Feb. 11-19, and according to the store will include “a retrospective of archival set pieces, wardrobes & helmets, rare photography, films and more.”

Oh, yeah, limited-edition clothing too, from the likes of Off-White, Darkdron, Herve Manufacturer and Enfants Riches Deprives.

Daft Punk will be in town to perform live for the first time since doing “Get Lucky” at the Grammys in 2014, joining the Weeknd at Staples Center on Sunday for the awards show.

Janelle Monáe can confirm: Conan O’Brien’s hair is real. And that’s a pompadour pro judging a pompadour pro.

But wait — the singer doesn’t call her usual hairstyle a pompadour.

“I really did want to do my ‘Monáe,’ and I wanted to have a hair-off with you, but we went for something different today,” the 31-year-old “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight” actress told the host during a sit-down on his Monday show.

O’Brien explained that when he was 22, he might have been able to compete with her striking trademark ‘do.

“I could pile it up so much, get some mayonnaise in there and then bake it,” he said. (And if that isn’t an invitation, what is, really?)

“Can I touch it? I’ve always wanted to,” Monáe said. “I know this is so rude, because I don’t like people touching my hair ... at least I asked.”

Given the go-ahead, she fluffed his red locks gently at first.

“No, really, get your fingers in there,” he urged.

“No, I don’t wanna do it,” she said before giving in to temptation, and getting a reward for her effort.

“You guys, oh yeah, it’s not a lace front. I love it!,” she declared.

Nope, not a wig. Just a mousse that, according to O’Brien, is “mostly asbestos.”

Not one to rest on her success — or take a breather after the Super Bowl — Lady Gaga will duet with Metallica at the 59th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday.

A fan account tweeted a clip Monday night of a promo showing the pop star and the metal band set to duet, and Rolling Stone confirmed the pairing Tuesday morning. Then the singer retweeted a later message from the fan account, adding confirmation of her own.

Lead singer James Hetfield is “under strict doctor’s orders to not sing a single note,” Metallica said in a statement Saturday, so it looks as if Gaga will get the mike.

The Lady knows how to rock, however. She flew through a Bowie tribute at last year’s Grammy Awards and did some time on the way up in a Led Zeppelin cover band. You can hear her sing part of “Black Dog” here with Howard Stern, but remember, it’s Howard Stern, so expect the titillating talk after the tune. (Bonus? You’ll also learn a little about how vocal cords work.)

Nominees pose for the class picture during the Academy Awards annual nominees luncheon for the 89th Oscars at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Monday.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The annual Oscar lunch, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is usually a moment for bonding and photo taking among the year’s nominees. News is rarely made.

But this year, the bonding was reinforced by a forceful speech by Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who addressed last year’s #OscarsSoWhite issue and the Trump administration’s travel ban.

“Each and every one of us knows that there are some empty chairs in this room,” she said, referring in particular to Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and his star Taraneh Alidoosti. Their film “The Salesman” is nominated in the foreign language category. Neither is planning to attend the Feb. 26 ceremony because of the Trump policy.

Boone Isaacs also reinforced the Academy’s commitment to diversity by reminding the group of the 683 new members from around the world invited last year to join the Academy — the largest incoming class ever — and by “the new faces among this year’s nominees.”

“Wow!” she said. “What a difference a year makes.”

Actor Denzel Washington prepares for the class picture of all the nominees during the Academy Awards annual nominees luncheon for the 89th Oscars at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Monday

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Here is the transcript of Boone Isaacs’ speech at the nominees lunch:

“With your nomination, you are part of an almost century-old community, which is not just a Hollywood community, or an American community, but a global one.

“Filled with storytellers, domestic and international, [it’s] one that is becoming more inclusive and diverse with each passing day. I’m so proud to be part of that and to see all the new faces among this year’s nominees.

“Wow, what a difference a year makes.

“A year when the Academy grew by 683 new members. Men and women who will inspire the next generation with the same sense of wonder and enchantment that first touched each of you. Simply put, real progress has been made. Progress that I am confident will continue in the future as we continue to bring change to the Academy and our entire industry.

“When we expand our membership — when we reach out to be inclusive — we set a shining example. When our storytellers tackle issues of importance — from religious intolerance, to racism, to sexism — when we bring to the screen stories from around the world, we become agents of change. And when we speak out against those who try to put up barriers, we reinforce this important truth: That all artists around the world are connected by a powerful bond. One that speaks to our creativity and our common humanity.

“Today, we celebrate you. Your work and your achievements. But each and every one of us knows that there are some empty chairs in this room, which has made Academy artists activists. There is a struggle globally today over artistic freedom that feels more urgent than at any time since the 1950s. Art has no borders. Art has no language and doesn’t belong to a single faith. No, the power of art is that it transcends all of these things and strong societies don’t censor art — they celebrate it.

“America should always be not a barrier, but a beacon. We stand up in support of artists around the world. We stand up to those who would try and limit our freedom of expression and we stand up for this fundamental principle: That all creative artists around the world are connected by that unbreakable bond ... more powerful and permanent than nationality and politics.

“And just as our work does not stop at borders, borders cannot be allowed to stop any of us.”

It looks like Sean Spicer thinks Melissa McCarthy’s impression of him needs a little work.

While speaking with “Extra” on Sunday during the Super Bowl, the White House press secretary was asked about his thoughts on McCarthy’s guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

“I think Melissa McCarthy needs to slow down on the gum chewing,” Spicer said. “Way too many pieces in there.”

The skit, about the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with the news media, features McCarthy as an aggressive Spicer who appears in front of a room full of reporters “to swallow gum and take names.” McCarthy then goes on to take questions about President Trump’s executive order on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries as well as chief strategist Steve Bannon’s role on the National Security Council.

RELATED: From Streep to McCarthy, why women are the ones getting under Trump’s skin

Spicer said he learned about the skit from a flurry of text messages that led him to believe that “there was a national emergency or something really funny happening.”

When asked about Alec Baldwin’s recurring portrayal of Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” Spicer replied that he thought the skits were “mean.”

“He’s gone from funny to mean and that’s unfortunate,” Spicer said. “‘Saturday Night Live’ used to be really funny and I think there’s a streak of meanness now that they’ve crossed over into.”