Open Thread

Deadline reports: Today in Wisconsin, President Joe Biden responded to the latest in a string of hecklers interrupting his public appearances. “As I said last week,” Biden told the crowd in an appearance broadcast on MSNBC, “we remain in the battle for the soul of America.” “All right. God love ya,” replied Biden directly to the man, who was then …

Deadline Hollywood reports: The man whose infant image graced the cover of Nirvana’s multimillion-selling Nevermind album has seen his lawsuit about that photo tossed by a Los Angeles judge. Spencer Elden, age 31, claimed in his legal papers that the shot of him swimming towards a dollar bill on a fish hook amounted to child porn. US District Judge Fernando …

Deadline Hollywood reports: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the biggest thing Amazon Prime Video has ever done, and it looks like the TV series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing has delivered big time. Launching with two episodes in 240 counties and territories across the globe on September 1, the J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay co-created …

Deadline reports: CNN White House correspondent John Harwood said that today will be his last day at the network. Harwood wrote on Twitter, “Personal news: today’s my last day at CNN … proud of the work … thanks to my colleagues… i’ve been lucky to serve the best in American media – St. Petersburg Times, WSJ, NYT, the NBC family, …

Variety reports: Netflix is moving up the timeline for the debut of its cheaper, ad-supported plan to November — in order to get out before the Dec. 8 launch of the Disney+ tier with advertising. In July, Netflix told investors that it was targeting the launch of the ad-supported plan “around the early part of 2023.” But now, Netflix’s ad-supported …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Blonde star Ana de Armas is speaking out against her Marilyn Monroe bio-drama getting an NC-17 rating. When asked about the rating by French fashion magazine L’Officiel, the actress replied, “I didn’t understand why that happened. I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: The Independent Spirit Awards were the latest Hollywood voting body to go genderless with its awards, announcing on Aug. 23 that the best lead actress and best supporting actress awards were being retired forever. Instead, there will be only “best lead performance” and “best supporting performance” awards handed out to a gender-diverse pool of 10 nominees …

The Verge reports: Movie tickets across the US will cost just $3 on Saturday, September 3rd in celebration of National Cinema Day. If you’ve never heard of such a holiday before (at least in the US), that’s because it never existed until now, apparently. The $3 ticket price (not including tax) applies across all tickets, formats, and showtimes — and …

The Insider reports: Amazon has put big money into its new series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” book trilogy. The 8-episode season of “The Rings of Power” has cost the company $715 million, or more than 5.1 million annual subscriptions to Amazon Prime, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last year, Amazon said that it had …

Variety reports: Hulu has set the premiere date for its next big doc: the Adam McKay and Billy Corben-produced Jerry Falwell Jr. project, “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty,” Variety has learned exclusively. “God Forbid” tells the sensational story of evangelical leader and former Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., his wife Becki Falwell and Giancarlo …

People Magazine reports: On Friday, Britney Spears and Elton John unveiled their highly anticipated new duet “Hold Me Closer,” which combines the chorus of John’s 1972 smash “Tiny Dancer” and verses of his 1992 hit single “The One” with fresh, dance-pop production — and marks Spears’ first release since the termination of her 13-year conservatorship. Ahead of its official debut, …

Deadline reports: “Time to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote today of the Florida leader. Newsom proposed to do so by donating $100,000 to DeSantis’ opponent in the November midterm, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla). Newsom posted the statement on Twitter along with a link to an ActBlue fundraising page and the prompt, “Who will join …

Billboard Magazine reports: Lourdes “Lola” Leon is following in her famous mother’s footsteps. The 25-year-old daughter of Madonna shared her debut single “Lock&Key” on Wednesday (Aug. 24) under the moniker Lolahol, carving her own path in the music industry with the seductive club anthem. “Lock&Key,” which was co-produced by Eartheater, arrives via her label Chemical X. The song is also …

Deadline reports: A revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford could land on Broadway this Spring, with the team behind Hamilton – producer Jeffrey Seller and director Thomas Kail – attached, according to a published report. The production – reported exclusively today by Philip Boroff’s Broadway Journal site – would be the latest …

Deadline Hollywood reports: History was made at HBO with the debut of House of the Dragon. The Game of Thrones prequel drew 9.986 million viewers across linear and HBO Max platforms in the U.S. Sunday, the largest audience for any new original series in the history of pay cable. The premiere also marked the largest series launch on HBO Max …

The Detroit Free Press reports: The grand reopening of the Belle Isle slide was a zany sight, as riders soared into the air. The culprit: the slide was freshly waxed, according to staff members. The giant ride was reopened on Friday after closing due to COVID-19. Children excitedly flooded the gates, until seeing others ride down. Slide goers flew into …

Billboard Magazine reports: After a career in the public eye with huge chart hits, lauded Broadway performances and a much-beloved song in a ’90s Disney classic, R&B star Tevin Campbell is ready to let fans in on a part of his personal life. In a new interview on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, Campbell confirmed that he identifies as a …

Deadline reports: CNN’s chairman and CEO Chris Licht told anxious staffers Friday that more changes are coming to CNN, as he addressed the news of Brian Stelter’s exit following the cancellation of his Sunday show Reliable Sources. According to sources who were present, Licht told CNN employees at Friday’s well-attended editorial meeting, “There will be moves you may not agree …

Variety reports: Data provided exclusively to Variety Intelligence Platform from Q Scores, the longtime industry standard for quantifying celebrities’ star power and appeal, indicates Will Smith’s numbers tanked months after the actor smacked presenter Chris Rock on live TV. Before the incident, Smith consistently ranked among the country’s top 5 or 10 most positively rated actors in Q Scores’ semiannual …

The Daily Beast reports: Wendy Williams often appeared incoherent in the months leading up to the cancellation of her talk show, and then had to be repeatedly reminded that the program had been axed, according to a new report that sheds light on her battle to stay on the air. Sources said Williams spent the summer of 2021 in and …