There’s a reason Samantha Jones is a PR tour de force and not a chanteuse. Then again, if she cared what every bitch watching SNL thought about her, she’d never leave the house. During this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, television’s most popular shows took a cue from Nicole Kidman’s The Undoing opening credits tune and imagined the lyrics to a host of popular show’s theme songs, including The Mandalorian, The Crown, Queen’s Gambit, and (of course) HBO MAx’s upcoming Sex and the City revival And Just Like That…
While the show itself won’t feature any Kim Cattrall, Chloe Fineman’s version of the Sex and the City star knows exactly what the new show will be missing. “Sex And The City without Samantha/Doesn’t that sound fun?,” Fineman’s Cattrall croons. “It’s Sex and the City without the sex?/Hope you enjoy the city.” Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out we already know what iconic Kim Cattrall song should serve as the new show’s theme. Hopefully she’ll go for it.
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The musician performed on the long-running US comedy show last night (January 30), bringing tracks from his latest album ‘Tickets To My Downfall’ to the programme.
At the end of the night, the cast, Kelly and guest host John Krasinski gathered on the stage for the end credits. After hugging The Office actor, the musician went to pick up SNL star and friend Pete Davidson but fell, taking both of them off the stage.
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Moments later, both of the men reappeared on screen and, seemingly not having learnt their lesson, Davidson put Kelly over his shoulder. Watch footage of the moment below now.
“I remember when I was a kid watching [SNL] every weekend with my aunt and my dad, since they aren’t here to see this moment, I’m going to perform the song I wrote for them on the show,” the musician tweeted earlier this week. “Hopefully, I’ll feel them there.”
It followed the release of his self-written and directed “pop-punk musical” Downfalls High – a 50-minute film that he recently compared to Pink Floyd’s The Wall. In a four-star review, NME said of the project: “In a world of content for content’s sake – films have often been used by artists try and extend the lifespan of an album – Downfalls High feels driven by purpose.”
“Everybody was a judge and there was so much bullying going on. I thought about the effect that had on children, and how that’s changing, psychologically, our cellular makeup. All this darkness and meanness.”
Wright ended up directing “Land,” which tells the story of Edee (also played by Wright) who goes off the grid in nature to deal with her grief after a tragedy and realizes she needs other people for support.
“You need human connection and kindness to pull you through adversity,” the former “House of Cards” star explained.
When Wright wasn’t busy starring in and directing her new movie, which will be released on Feb. 12, she passed the time during the pandemic watching old movies on Criterion Channel.
Meghan Markle's name was removed from her and Prince Harry's son Archie Harrison's birth certificate, but she was not the one who chose to make the edit, despite a recent report, her rep says.
On Saturday, Jan. 30, The Sun claimed that she had "taken the unprecedented action of removing" her first and middle names, Rachel Meghan, from the document so that it included just her title, "Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex," under the "mother" category. On Sunday, Jan. 31, a spokesperson for Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex disputed the report.
"The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials," the spokesperson said in a statement to E! News. "This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex."
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the matter when reached by E! News.
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'The sheeple are mad': The Real Housewives of Orange County's Kelly Dodd defends attendance at crowded restaurant as she says she and her friends have been vaccinated
Reality star, 45, at center of controversy amid pandemic
On Saturday, she and friends were seen on a jovial maskless outing at a Newport Beach, California restaurant
Attendees joked about the virus at one point and mockingly toasted to 'super-spreaders'
She was let go by Positive Beverage over her behavior
She said she and her friends 'all got the vaccine and ... don't have' the virus
Fans of the show have called for her firing amid a pileup of incidents
The Real Housewives of Orange County's Kelly Dodd defended her attendance at a crowded restaurant over the weekend amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that she and her friends have been vaccinated.
'The sheeple are mad,' the 45-year-old reality star said after she caught flak Saturday amid a pileup of controversies for her words and actions amid the coronavirus pandemic, losing a corporate sponsor and garnering calls for her dismissal from the Bravo show.
'I'm not a superspreader because there's nothing to spread,' Dodd said on Instagram Stories, 'because we all got the vaccine and we don't have it, so there's nothing to spread about superspreaders.'
The latest: The Real Housewives of Orange County's Kelly Dodd, 45, defended her attendance at a crowded restaurant over the weekend amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that she and her friends have been vaccinated
On Saturday, she was seen with her husband Rick Leventhal, 61, and friends on a jovial maskless outing at a Newport Beach, California restaurant, with attendees joking about the virus at one point and mockingly toasting to 'super-spreaders.'
Dodd claimed she was 'getting a lot of hate for being at a restaurant we're allowed to be at' after California partially lifted dining restrictions amid the ongoing pandemic.
Positive Beverage has cut its ties with Dodd amid the blowback of Saturday's incident, Entertainment Tonight reported Sunday.
'Our core values of wellness, community, diversity and inclusion should be reflected by our brand and anyone associated with it,' Positive Beverage's Zach Muchnick said in a statement. 'It has become clear over the past few months that Kelly's controversial views and opinions have distracted from our primary objectives, so effective today, we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal.'
Defense: Dodd said on Instagram Stories, 'I'm not a superspreader because there's nothing to spread, because we all got the vaccine and we don't have it, so there's nothing to spread about superspreaders'
Blowback: Positive Beverage has cut its ties with Dodd amid the blowback of Saturday's incident
Dodd seemed to take her firing from Positive Beverage in stride
Dodd seemed to take it in stride, saying on Twitter, 'I'm glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them well. I'm also really excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!'
Dodd on Friday said she was secure in her spot on RHOC, saying she was 'not fired' from the series, implying one-time costar Vicki Gunvalson was behind the rumors.
Dodd made headlines in connection with the virus last April after saying on social media that she believed that the pandemic was 'Gods way of thinning the herd' as she argued with an Instagram user who called her out after taking a cross-country flight.
After a user wrote to Dodd, 'If non-essential workers keep traveling back and forth like you, it will last longer,' the reality star replied, 'Do you know how many people died from the H1N1, the swine flu or SARS? It’s 25% get your facts straight you are only hearing numbers not the reality! It’s God’s way of thinning the herd!'
Dodd made headlines in connection with the virus last April after saying on social media that she believed that the pandemic was 'Gods way of thinning the herd'
Dodd claimed she was 'getting a lot of hate for being at a restaurant we're allowed to be at' after California partially lifted dining restrictions amid the ongoing pandemic
She subsequently apologized for the remarks, clarifying how she meant the comment to land.
'When I wrote that it’s "God’s way of thinning the herd," that’s not what I meant,' Dodd said on Instagram Stories. 'What I meant was, "Do these pandemics happen because it’s God’s way?" I’m not God. I’m not insensitive.
'I feel bad for all the families that have lost loved ones, and I do think we should all stay at home and protect everybody. That’s not what I meant, and I want to apologize to anyone who got offended, OK? I’m sorry.'
A number of fans on Twitter called for Dodd's firing from the show
She apologized again last month appearing on Watch What Happens Live, saying of her past controversy: 'It was insensitive and I apologize if I hurt or offended anybody.'
As of Sunday, on a global level, 2,226,935 people have died amid more than 102,922,990 positive diagnoses worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death total for COVID-19 in the U.S. was at 441,282 people, with 26,178,803 total positive diagnoses.
In Dodd's home state of California, the state Department of Public Health reported that 481 coronavirus deaths were recorded Sunday, as the state's death toll has surpassed 40,000.
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John Krasinski sent a sweet message to his daughters Hazel, 6 and Violet, 4, while hosting the first Saturday Night Liveepisode of the year.
The actor appeared on the Jan. 30 episode of SNL, alongside performer Machine Gun Kelly. John, who married Emily Blunt in 2010, wore a black sweater with H and V embroidered in the top left corner that had some fans speculating about the meaning behind the letters. His stylist Ilaria Urbinati, who also works with stars like Rami Malek, Donald Glover and Tom Hiddleston, explained the adorable reason behind the sweater on Instagram.
She wrote, "John wanted to have his daughters' initials monogrammed on his shirt for SNL goodnight looks - styled by yours truly in @boglioliofficial with @missoni pants."
Fans loved the proud dad's nod to his kids.
One wrote in the comments section of the post, "That's the sweetest thing ever!"
Another added, "Omg the shirt detail is so cute."
A third posted, "An incredibly cool look for John."
"Our core values of wellness, community, diversity and inclusion should be reflected by our brand and anyone associated with it," Zach Muchnick, Positive Beverage Head of Brand, said in a statement on Instagram. "It has become clear over the past few months that Kelly's controversial views and opinions have distracted from our primary objectives, so effective today, we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal."
CEO Shannon Argyros added in her own statement, "We welcome all people -- however they are and whatever they are passionate about -- to Positive Beverage. But there must always be an underlying layer of respect. Unfortunately, we feel Kelly's stance is no longer congruent with our core values. We appreciate her contributions during our affiliation, and she will always be a part of Positive Beverage's history, but we do not align with her opinions or global views while we uphold our own values."
Dodd, 45, who has had a partnership with Positive Beverage for the last two years and even bought a stake in the company in February 2019, reacted to the news on Twitter.
I’m glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them well. I’m also really excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!
"I'm glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them well," she wrote on Sunday. "I'm also really excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!"
Dodd's split from Positive Beverage comes after the reality star made comments about the coronavirus pandemic during her recent outings with friends. In several videos on her Instagram Story over the weekend, Dodd shared scenes of her and large groups of friends out for dinner and drinks in Newport Beach, California.
Positive Beverage/Instagram
When she started receiving messages from fans concerned about dining protocols COVID-19, Dodd and her friends made comments about being "allowed" to be at the restaurant and how they should be able to "live normal lives."
"I'm not a super spreader because there is nothing to spread," Dodd later said in a separate video, claiming that she and her friends "all got the [COVID-19] vaccine."
A rep for Bravo told PEOPLE that Dodd "has not gotten the vaccine."
Currently, California is only in Phase 1B of vaccine rollout — meaning people over the age of 65 qualify for the vaccinations, as well as anyone who works in education, childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture.
In another video posted on Saturday, Dodd and her friends likened COVID-19 restrictions to that of living in Russia.
This isn't the first time Dodd has said questionable claims about the ongoing pandemic, which has claimed the lives of over 439,000 Americans. In December, the mom of one appeared on an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen to express her remorse over saying that COVID-19 was "God's way of thinning the herd."
"At the time, it was a question — like, 'Why are all these people dying? ... Why [do] pandemics happen like this? Is it God's way of thinning the herd?' " said Dodd about the comment she made back in April on Instagram. "It was a stupid thing for me to say. It was insensitive and I apologize if I hurt or offended anybody, 'cause that wasn't really my intention. I got freaked out about it and in hindsight, it was the stupidest thing I've ever said."
"At first," the Bravo star added, she was "misinformed" about the virus, saying, "You guys have to realize this was back in January when this happened and I was misinformed."
"I'm claustrophobic and I can't stand wearing a mask — and now I understand the science behind it and I am ready, willing and able to wear a mask," she said. "And I know it's important, because I don't want to get sick and I don't want to get others sick. I'm just a human being; I make mistakes."
The reality star's estranged mother, Bobbi Meza, contracted the virus in November and was hospitalized.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
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Tom Brady wasn’t safe from ridicule on “Saturday Night Live” this week. During a cold open called “What Still Works,” a character played by Kate McKinnon interviews guests on a quest to find out what parts of the country are still functioning properly.
She rules out government, the stock market, social media and the coronavirus vaccine rollout (via an appearance by O.J. Simpson) before calling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, played by John Krasinksi, to the stage.
She immediately tries to set up Brady as the antidote to the rest of her guests. He’s in his 10th Super Bowl despite being 43-years-old. He joined a Buccaneers franchise that has historically struggled and its fortunes changed. He’s expected to win — and he wins. Tom Brady still works.
Brady admits to McKinnon that, despite all this, few people root for him. And she says she’d be rooting for Brady because he’s “the only damn thing this country can still rely on.”
But, of course, there’s a hitch.
“And it’s not like you’re a weird Trump guy or anything, right?” McKinnon asks.
“Thanks for having me,” Krasinski says before bolting.
You can watch the bit at 6:21 in the video below.
Oof.
Brady’s relationship with Trump took center stage in 2015 when he was spotted with a “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker. When asked if Brady hoped Trump would be president, he showed support for Trump in his election against Hillary Clinton.
“I hope so. It would be great. There would be a putting green on the White House lawn, I’m sure of that,” Brady told reporters.
“Then the whole political aspect came, and I think I got brought into a lot of those things because it was so polarizing around the election time. It was uncomfortable for me, because you can’t — and not that I would undo a friendship — but the political support is so different than support of a friend,” Brady said in an interview with Howard Stern on SiriusXM in April 2020.
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"Saturday Night Live" wasted no time diving into January’s plentiful political dramas in its first show of the year this weekend after more than a month’s holiday break.
In the show’s "Blue Georgia" sketch, cast members and guest host John Krasinski portray the usually reliably red state as a Rachel Maddow-loving, avocado toast and vegan meatloaf-serving, and solar-heated porch neck of the country.
The "politically correct" transformation follows the state's real-life election of two Democrats to the U.S. Senate in a pair of Jan. 5 runoff contests, ousting incumbent Republicans.
"Good to see a fellow Blue Stater. We’re just like y’all," a small-town Georgian waitress, played by Aidy Bryant, tells a New York tourist, played by cast member Pete Davidson, who enters the diner.
"Do you know where the men’s room is?" Davidson asks after he sits down.
"Yes, back in 2015," cast member Beck Bennett tells Davidson while playing Georgia man "Skeeter, he/him," the owner of the town’s electric truck dealership who looks a little like KFC's Colonel Sanders. "We don’t have a men’s room, but the all-gender restroom is just down the way."
Artists set up a painting of Stacey Abrams in the King Historic District on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in Atlanta. (Associated Press)
After Davidson admits surprise the diner has an all-gender restroom, Bennett jokes that Davidson thinks all Georgians are "crazy Christian types."
"Oh no, and even if you are, it’s fine," Davidson answers. "I’m Jewish."
"I hope you know what we do to Jewish folks down here in Georgia," Bennett as Skeeter warns ominously.
"We elect them!" he laughs, referring to Sen. Jon Ossoff, the Democrat who defeated Republican Sen. David Perdue in one of the runoffs. Ossoff thus became the state’s first Jewish U.S. senator. (Also winning on Jan. 5 was Sen. Raphael Warnock, the state’s first Black U.S. senator. He defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.)
Later in the sketch, Deputy Jimmy, played by Andrew Dismukes, bursts into the diner, saying how "honored" he was that a group of Black Lives Matter activists wanted to "protest in our town!"
Then, a Floridian wearing a MAGA hat, played by Alex Moffatt, enters the diner and gets a stern reminder from Krasinski, the town’s sheriff.
"This is Stacey Abrams country," the lawman warns, referring to the high-profile Democrat who lost a race for governor of the state in 2018 and then launched Fair Fight Action, a group credited with helping Democrats win the two U.S. Senate races.
But at the end of the sketch, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the diner patrons' collective refusal to wear masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
"Because we’re free!" they shout.
The show also took on U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., during the cold open, did a sketch on the GameStop stock controversy and mocked the riots at the U.S. Capitol and former President Trump’s impeachment.
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"Saturday Night Live" returned for a new year, poking fun at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the coronavirus vaccine rollout and a Wall Street crisis during the show's cold open.
In a skit titled "What still works," actress and comedian Kate McKinnon hosted a mock talk show with a slew of fellow cast members spoofing various figures in the news in recent weeks.
Among them was Greene.
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"Thanks for having me," comedian Cecily Strong, portraying Greene, tells McKinnon, immediately offering her a handgun.
McKinnon then asks about some of the conspiracy theories she promoted on social media before being elected to Congress in November.
Strong's Greene rattles off a list of false claims about the 2018 Parkland high school shooting and the September 11 terrorists attacks in New York City, asking: "Did anyone actually see it happen?"
McKinnon, apparently concerned and perplexed, asks, "You're a U.S. representative?" and presses her about what her colleagues on Capitol Hill have done in response to her statements.
"They promoted me to the Education Committee," Strong's Greene says.
"So government does not work," McKinnon replies.
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Fellow cast member Pete Davidson joins McKinnon next, playing the role of a man identified as the "majority shareholder of GameStop."
"Uhhh, we sell games," an apparently oblivious Davidson says. "People download all their games now, so we're kind of like what you would call .."
"A dying business?" McKinnon asks. "So now it seems like ..."
"The entire system is a joke?" Davidson says.
A rush on GameStop stocks last week by armchair investors organized on the internet led to the company's value on Wall Street to skyrocket before stock trading app Robinhood suspended trades on the company, a move that was met with bipartisan backlash.
Longtime cast member Keenan Thompson also made an appearance during the show's first cold open of its new year, playing the role of O.J. Simpson and wearing ankle tracking device while boasting about getting the coronavirus vaccine.
"So among the first 3 percent of all Americans given the vaccine was O.J. Simpson?" McKinnon asks.
"Guilty as charged ... about the vaccine," Simpson replies.
"Alright so the vaccine rollout, it doesn't work," she said.
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That's how the NBC variety show opened its program on Saturday night, with cast member Kate McKinnon hosting a show that asked what still works in America. The first category was "government."
"Our first topic is government and already I have my doubts," McKinnon said.
Greene, who was played by Cecily Strong, came out and immediately offered McKinnon a gun.
"So Congresswoman Greene... hard to say those words together," McKinnon said. "What are some of the theories you believe in?"
Strong's Greene responded, "How much time you got?"
After hearing some of Greene's theories, McKinnon asked if she really believed those things and then asked if she's really a US representative.
"People can Google you and it'll say she's a real member of the US government?" McKinnon asked again.
"That may not be the first thing that comes up, but yes," Strong's Greene responded.
McKinnon thanked Greene for coming and said, "so government doesn't work." She then moved on to the stock market, which had a wild week thanks to Reddit, and brought on the majority shareholder of GameStop, "Derek Boner."
Boner, who was played by Pete Davidson, corrected McKinnon by saying, "first of all, it's pronounced 'stonk' market."
McKinnon then asked Davidson's Boner if the company's crazy week reflects GameStop's business.
"Uh, we sell games?" Davidson's Boner asked.
McKinnon came to the conclusion that the stock market doesn't work, either.
After going through topics such as social media and the Covid-19 vaccine rollout (both of which aren't working either, according to McKinnon), "SNL" finally found something that works in America: Tom Brady.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, who's heading back to the Super Bowl with his new team, appeared on the show played by this week's host, John Krasinski.
"You're supposed to win football games and you just keep winning football games," McKinnon said. "You might the only thing in America that still works... So I guess everyone must be rooting for you, right?"
"Almost no one," Krasinski's Brady responded.
McKinnon said she'd be rooting for him because the country can still rely on him and "it's not like you're a weird Trump guy or anything, right?"
Krasinski's Brady immediately thanked McKinnon for having him and left the stage.
McKinnon ended the segment by saying that she's been slowly losing her mind, and then belted out the show's signature catch phrase, "Live... From New York! It's Saturday night!"
LONDON (AP) — Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock and roll band The Animals who is credited with coming up with one of the most famous opening riffs of the 1960s, has died. He was 77.
The band’s label ABKCO Music confirmed that Valentine died on Friday, saying it was told of his death by his wife, Germaine Valentine. The cause of death was not given.
“Valentine was a pioneering guitar player influencing the sound of rock and roll for decades to come,” the label said in a statement.
Valentine took up the guitar at 13 in his hometown of North Shields in northeast England, subsequently getting involved in the skiffle craze — a kind of fusion of American folk, country, jazz and blues — that was sweeping the U.K. His skiffle band The Heppers evolved into The Wildcats, a rock and roll band that became popular across the north of England, partly because of Valentine’s habit of rolling on the ground while playing his guitar.
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Having learned his craft, Valentine formed The Animals in 1963 alongside singer Eric Burdon, bassist Chas Chandler, organist Alan Price and drummer John Steel.
The band’s most famous hit came in 1964, when their rock-infused take of the folk song “The House of the Rising Sun” topped the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S.
The song, whose opening riff has been a rite of passage for budding guitarists around the world ever since, had such resonance in the U.S. that many people were surprised to hear that the band came from the industrial heartland of England.
Burdon paid tribute to Valentine on Instagram, writing: “The opening opus of Rising Sun will never sound the same!... You didn’t just play it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton’s passing.”
Valentine remained with the band for four years and is also heard on other classics by the band including “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.”
Valentine released solo work subsequently and intermittently returned to the band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
In recent years, Valentine has been living in the U.S. state of Connecticut, returning to skiffle music with the formation of his band Skiffledog.
"Yeah, we can say that," said Timberlake with a smile. "There is a possibility."
"Let's go with yes. I've been in and out of the studio working on stuff. I played you a few tunes," he reminded Fallon.
Timberlake last released a full-length album in 2018, Man of the Woods. More recently, he collaborated with Ant Clemons on the song "Better Days," which was performed at the primetime Celebrating America concert on Jan. 20, following the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Looking toward the future, Timberlake told Fallon he'd love to one day work with Kendrick Lamar or Travis Scott. He also joked that he'd allow Fallon in on a track.
Among her many accomplishments, including being the recipient of three Emmy Awards, Tyson was the first African-American to win a lead actress Emmy, for her performance portraying a woman from the 1850s to the civil-rights era in the 1974 CBS telefilm The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. She notably received an Oscar nomination for her role in 1972's Sounder, and she won a Tony award in 2013 for her work in The Trip to Bountiful.
"The love between us was and is tremendous," Kravitz said in his post. "As long as I have had consciousness, I’ve known Godmother. She and my mother were kindred spirits. Sisters. And after my mother passed, Godmother's role in my life was amplified. I constantly felt her spirit over me. She always gave me unconditional support. She came to my shows, came over for holidays, met me for dinners, stayed with me in Paris when I first moved there, and never let me too far out of her sight. Our phone calls went on sometimes for hours."
"We spoke just a few nights ago and talked about everything. She had just sent me her book that has been sitting on my nightstand where it will remain. She did it all, wrote the book, and then God called her. I can hear Godmother saying 'ok, now y’all can read about it, I’m going home.' Rest peacefully, Godmother. You did it all exquisitely," wrote Kravitz, referring to her just-published memoir, Just As I Am.
See his full note in honor of Tyson, as well as a series of personal photos, on Instagram.
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Eilish chose to respond to a question about who her "ideal boy" would be. Apparently, he'd be a little something like Scar from Disney's animated feature film The Lion King.
For those that didn't already know, Eilish answered a question about the release date of her upcoming documentary, The World's a Little Blurry: It'll be available on Feb. 26.
And when a fan asked "how many tracks approx on upcoming album," Eilish implied there would be 16.
Eilish also shared an update on her dogs and a peek at her favorite restaurant.
Check out her mini question-and-answer session on Instagram.
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Saturday Night Live returned from hiatus last night with its first post-Trump (and blessedly Alec Baldwin-free) cold open, addressing a month’s worth of news via a segment called “What Still Works?” Kate McKinnon explains, “It’s a new year and we have a new president so some things should work, but do they?” She brings out a cast of characters to determine what still works, starting with Cecily Strong in the role she was born to play, Congresswoman and QAnon enthusiast Marjorie Taylor Greene. Strong-as-Greene has thoughts on the Parkland shooting (“The teachers were actors and the children were dolls”) as well as, of course, 9/11 (“Did anyone actually see it happen?”). Other guests include Pete Davidson as majority Gamestop shareholder Derrick Boner, along with Mikey Day and Alex Moffat as Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively. The cold open wraps up with the troubling and unsurprising realization that nothing still works, but at least we still have Kate McKinnon telling Day-as-Dorsey that his beard “is working in terms of keeping me a lesbian.”
"Yeah, we can say that," said Timberlake with a smile. "There is a possibility."
"Let's go with yes. I've been in and out of the studio working on stuff. I played you a few tunes," he reminded Fallon.
Timberlake last released a full-length album in 2018, Man of the Woods. More recently, he collaborated with Ant Clemons on the song "Better Days," which was performed at the primetime Celebrating America concert on Jan. 20, following the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Looking toward the future, Timberlake told Fallon he'd love to one day work with Kendrick Lamar or Travis Scott. He also joked that he'd allow Fallon in on a track.
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"Early in my radio career, there was this artist. And he had the No. 1 song on the R&B charts at the time. He came and did an interview on my radio show and he asked me out for dinner. So I say, 'Yeah,'" Wendy revealed. The night quickly took a turn, however. "He wanted to go change for his own party. When we went to his hotel, he invited me to his room and I went. He goes in the bathroom to do whatever. When he comes out, he's got, like, nothing on. A pair of boxers. And I'm like, 'OK, what's about to happen?' My dumb behind, instead of just getting up and walking out, I'm like, OK, I'm going to see how far this is going to go. I don't want to have the sex. I don't want want to be involved with an artist. He ended up pushing himself on me, and he date raped me. And I left after that, went home and scrubbed my skin off, cried. That was that. I never told anybody. I just handled it."
When asked by a producer off-camera why she hasn't ever named her attacker, Wendy responded, "It's my story to tell. I know I can say his name, but, you know what, I'll let him breathe. Because he was a one-hit wonder. Thank God I am not dead or diseased, you know? If anything it made me more focused and determined to move on with my life."
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From the attack on the United States Capitol to the inauguration of President Joe Biden and all of the COVID-19 developments in between (including a still-rising number of cases in California, a U.K. variant and a very slow rollout of the vaccine), so much has happened since “Saturday Night Live” last aired a new episode it seemed an increasingly impossible task for the NBC late-night sketch comedy series to respond to the news. But the Jan. 30 episode — the first one of the new year and the new political administration — did its best by kicking things off with a fake show-within-the-show cold open sketch entitled “What Still Works?” in which Kate McKinnon looked at what in American society still worked.
“It’s a new year and we have a new president so some things should work,” she said in the sketch.
Starting with a look at the government — and including special guest Congresswoman, education committee member and QAnon promoter Marjorie Taylor Greene (played by Cecily Strong), she had her doubts that things did, though. It didn’t help that Strong’s Greene sat down, offered her a gun from her purse and then launched into a list of her theories, including that both the Parkland shooting and 9/11 were hoaxes. About the former she said, “The teachers were actors and the children were dolls,” while she wondered aloud, “Did anyone actually see it happen?” about the latter.
Additionally, she claimed the California wildfires were created by Jewish space lasers.
“Those are real things you believe and tell other people about?” McKinnon asked. “You represent the U.S. People can Google you and it’ll say, ‘She’s a real member of the U.S. government.'”
Concluding that the government doesn’t work, McKinnon said she regretted “not taking that gun” before moving onto look at the state of the stock market, with Pete Davidson joining her as Derrick Boner, “the new majority shareholder of GameStop.”
McKinnon broke down the recent skyrocket of GameStop’s stock by pointing out that two weeks ago it was valued at $17/share and then went to $413/share. “Would you say that reflects the kind of business GameStop has been doing in the past two weeks?” When Davidson’s Boner pointed out that people download all their games now, McKinnon said it was a “dying business.”
“The entire system is a joke?” he said.
Of course that led McKinnon to add the stock market to the “doesn’t work” pile alongside the government before moving onto social media, which she pointed out some people think never worked.
Mikey Day and Alex Moffat joined her, portraying Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, respectively.
“Fundamentally Facebook still works,” said Moffat’s Zuckerberg. “Not only does it help form communities online, it also helps people meet in real life, for example, at the Capitol.”
The vaccine rollout was next up, with Kenan Thompson playing O.J. Simpson as a recent receiver.
“Teachers can’t get the vaccine, but you did?” McKinnon asked. “People with long-term lung conditions can’t, but you did? Among all 3% of all Americans getting the vaccine was O.J. Simpson.”
The final topic was Tom Brady, and in a rare moment of the episode’s host taking part in the cold open sketch, John Krasiski played Brady and came on to speak for himself. But as McKinnon listed his accomplishments, from heading into his 10th Super Bowl to taking “one of the worst franchises in football” to the championship in his first year, she just went ahead and declared that he still worked.
“It’s not like you’re a weird Trump guy or anything, right?”
“Thanks for having me,” he said, as he stood up and exited stage left.
The first sketch after Krasinski’s monologue also responded to recent political headlines, with the host playing a small town Georgia Sheriff who is introducing his young relative (played by Davidson) visiting from New York to some of his townspeople. Since Georgia went blue during the election, they claim they are just like New York — and quickly prove showcase how they think so, with complaints about CNN, “with its corporate, neo-liberal, ‘both sides’ nonsense,” as Aidy Bryant’s character put it (Just give me my Rachel Maddow!”), listing their pronouns, calling Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” “the good book,” serving avocado toast and shouting out their Jewish senator (Jon Ossoff).
When Moffat showed up in a MAGA hat, Krasinski pointed out that “this is Stacey Abrams country” and had his deputy (Andrew Dismukes) escort him to the state line. But when Melissa Villaseñor, playing a health inspector, complained that no one was wearing masks, they exclaimed that the pandemic was a hoax.
Later in the episode Colin Jost and Michael Che riffed further on the last few weeks during their “Weekend Update” segment.
Some, like “the inauguration, Christmas and [that] the terrorist watch list now includes white people,” Jost pointed out were actually good events. “Diversity. It’s good to see yourself represented,” he said.
Beck Bennett also stopped by the news anchor desk to portray Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who was recently kicked off Twitter. But while they focused on discussing his alleged insurrection, relationship with Donald Trump and lawsuits against him, they somehow skipped over the fact that he sued a publication for rumors he had a romantic relationship with Jane Krakowski.
“Saturday Night Live” airs live coast-to-coast Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
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Wendy Williams' new biopic and documentary, Wendy Williams: The Movie and Wendy Williams: What A Mess!, are both premiering on Lifetime on Saturday, and the films focus on the talk show host's rise to fame, along with her rocky family life.
While the biopic spends a lot of time exploring Wendy's relationship with now ex-husband Kevin Hunter, the couple’s son, Kevin Hunter Jr., also makes a cameo.
While Wendy talks about her son here and there on her show and Instagram, he mostly lives a BTS life. But who is Kevin Hunter Jr., exactly? Here’s the lowdown.
He’s 20.
Wendy marked Kevin Jr.’s birthday in August with an Instagram pic packed with mementos from his childhood and birth. "Today is my biggest day!" she wrote in the caption. "Son Kevin and I are celebrating his 20th birthday. He’s in Miami and I’m in NYC, but love never stops."
She continued, "If you look closely you'll see remains of 1st hair cut, my [cervical stitch] is on sneaker, like a mom... I DO have all his teeth😂I'm not a fan of cake, but today OK...for my son❤ What are you doing?"
Kevin Jr. has a rocky relationship with his father.
He pleaded not guilty in June 2019 to charges that he assaulted his father. According to TMZ, Kevin Jr. allegedly punched Kevin Sr. in the nose during an argument. Kevin Sr. did not press charges.
He’s supportive of his mom.
Kevin Jr. was there for his mom when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a moment that Wendy later celebrated on Instagram. "My son shine! 💙💙💙⭐️⭐️⭐️," she captioned a photo of herself kissing Kevin on the cheek.
Kevin is a rainbow baby.
Wendy has opened up about the struggle to conceive Kevin Jr. She said during the 2015 PBS special American Masters: The Women's List, per Essence, that she "fought tooth and nail to be a mother. I suffered several miscarriages including two at five months." Wendy also added that her son is a "hard-won child."
He has overcome a drug addiction.
Five years ago, Wendy shared on her show that Kevin Jr., then 15, overcame an addiction to the synthetic marijuana, K2. She later spoke about the experience with ET, saying, "Our son, three years ago, he smoked K2. Now this is a drug, we see it on the news, people are walking around like zombies."
Wendy said her son "became someone I didn’t even know." But, Wendy said, her family got help for Kevin Jr. "I’m glad to say we were able to bring him back all the way around," she said.
Kevin's currently in college.
He goes to school in Miami, according to Page Six.
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For the past 35 years, Wendy Williams has taken the media world by storm, dominating the radio industry for nearly three decades and later winning over the hearts of millions on her daytime talk show, "The Wendy Williams Show."
Now Williams is letting fans into her hot topic-filled life in her new biopic, "Wendy Williams: The Movie," premiering Saturday night, followed by her eponymous documentary, "What A Mess!"
In both projects, the 56-year-old media mogul bares it all, sharing personal struggles that she's faced throughout her life, including weight challenges that started as a child, cocaine addiction, alleged rape, several miscarriages, and her tumultuous relationship with her now ex-husband and former manager Kevin Hunter.
While her marriage began to publicly unravel several years ago due to alleged infidelity and abuse, Williams told Insider that privately she had been executing her divorce plans for nearly two decades. The two wed in 1997.
When asked at what point in her 21-year marriage she felt like her happiness had become compromised, Williams emphatically said, "the second year because that's when I finally got successfully pregnant with [my son] young Kevin and gave birth to him."
(L to R) Ciera Payton as Wendy Williams and Morocco Omari stars as Kevin in Wendy Williams: The MoviePhoto by Ryan Plummer and Brendan George Ko / Courtesy of Lifetime Copyright 2021
"I went into the delivery room knowing in my mind, 'I'm planning my divorce,'" she continued. "Kevin was a serial cheat. He cheated when I dated him. He cheated when I married him. He cheated while I was on bed rest during the entire nine months of me being pregnant."
Insider reached out to Hunter, but didn't immediately hear back.
Williams, who finalized her divorce from Hunter in 2019, claimed her ex cheated because he "got too comfortable." But despite problems at home, Williams said she made a conscious decision to stay because of her now 20-year-old son, Kevin Hunter Jr.
"I couldn't [leave] because the bigger the talk show got, and the more I would look into my son's eyes ... the more I decided to give of myself and I figured I'd get it on the back end, so to speak," the daytime talk show host, who's set to remain on air until 2022, told Insider.
But after the two became estranged, Williams said she hoped to set a good example for her son.
Morocco Omari stars as Kevin and Ciera Payton as Wendy Williams in Wendy Williams: The MoviePhoto by Ryan Plummer and Brendan George Ko / Courtesy of Lifetime Copyright 2021
"I prayed young Kevin would be smarter than his parents and that I would be able to execute the proper divorce and be the proper single mother," she said.
Still, the talk show host said Hunter "will always be my friend because we must be civil to each other because we are Kevin's parents."
"I don't regret meeting Kevin. I don't regret falling in love. I don't regret staying with him for all 25 years — 21 of them married," Williams added.
Despite going through a very public divorce while filming, Williams was so committed to the authenticity of her biopic that she invited Hunter to travel to Vancouver where they were filming.
"He was definitely invited by me as well as Lifetime, with a promissory note from me that he would not be talked about in any other way, but my truth in the documentary and depicted in any other way but my truth in the movie," she added.
Ciera Payton as Wendy Williams in Wendy Williams: The MoviePhoto by Ryan Plummer and Brendan George Ko / Courtesy of Lifetime Copyright 2021
Still, Lifetime confirmed to Insider that Hunter declined to participate.
As for moving on to her next phase of life now that her son is out of the home and away at college, Williams is wasting no time on getting exactly what she wants.
"At 56 years old, you don't have too many more chances to get your life together. So, I will continue to be my own best friend until the day I die because only I know what's best for me," she said. "My [late] mother didn't know what was best for me. My sister doesn't know what's best. You don't know what's best. My bosses never knew what's best for me. Only I know what's best for me."
"I'm extremely happy that I'm still relevant enough that I'm able to come through some pretty ... double doors and say, 'How you doing?' and still be young, fun, and pop culture relevant," she added.
"Wendy Williams: The Movie," premieres Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, followed by her eponymous documentary, "What A Mess!"
