Entertainment

Judge Arun Subramanian ruled to deny bail for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday.

Both federal prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys submitted their final letters about whether the music mogul should be allowed out on bail on Monday.

Prosecutors argued that Combs’ attempt to influence witnesses while in jail “constitutes obstruction” of his criminal case. They also called out Combs’ “recent efforts to influence the jury pool” through a social media campaign organized by his children.

Defense attorneys said that their client’s conduct was protected free speech, meant to combat “outrageous claims about Mr. Combs” by “government agents, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and others with questionable motives.”

Subramanian had asked the parties to submit these final arguments in writing and said he would issue a written decision on bail.

Combs, who pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges, has offered to remain on home confinement in a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with 24/7 security guards and restrictions on visitors and communications.

Last Friday, the defense called the proposed conditions “far more restrictive” than Combs faces in jail.

They included limiting phone calls to lawyers, restricting visitors other than lawyers and specific family members, keeping a visitation log, and avoiding contact with witnesses or potential witnesses.

However, federal prosecutors have said there are no conditions that can reduce Combs’ risk of tampering with witnesses or shaping the opinions of potential jurors.

They also brought up a 2016 video of Combs attacking then-girlfriend and protégé Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway, saying that it showed the danger he could pose to women if allowed out on bail.

In court last Friday, prosecutors summarily said that Combs “cannot be trusted” to follow the rules of a pretrial release.

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The Wicked promotional run has become the press tour that has spawned a thousand memes, as stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were seen constantly tearing up, full-out crying and being dramatic while talking about the film. But the star of another musical film — albeit an animated one — says people just don’t understand what it’s like to be, as she puts it, “a theater kid.”

Auli’i Cravalho, who provides the voice of the main character in Disney’s Moana and Moana 2, tells Vanity Fair, “I need people to understand what it’s like to be a theater kid. Being a theater kid is emotional. Get off my girls Ariana and Cynthia’s backs. Do you understand me?”

She continues, “You don’t know what it’s like to be working on a film for this long. The film is two hours and 40 minutes long. If you’re not crying after working with someone for that long, and you’re both theater kids and you’re singing live … I am very passionate about this.”

Auli’i says she plans to see Wicked as soon as she can.

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Margot Robbie is waiting for the world to catch up on Babylon.

On a recent episode of the Talking Pictures podcast, host Ben Mankiewicz told Robbie he kept wondering, “Why don’t people like this movie?” as he watched the Damien Chazelle-directed 2022 film.

“I am still saying that,” Robbie said. “I love it.”

She elaborated, saying she doesn’t understand why the film didn’t connect with audiences.

“I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it,” Robbie said. “I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time and you’re like like, ‘How is that possible?’”

Robbie also had nothing but good things to say about working with Chazelle, whom she described as thorough.

“Do you know what I loved so much about working with him? I felt like no one had really put their foot to the floor with the gas, but he wanted that all the time. He wanted more always. Even when we were prepping,” Robbie said.

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How far will Moana 2 go at the box office? That’s yet to be determined, but the film has already scored a Disney Animation record.

The film earned $13.8 million at the box office on Tuesday in preview screenings, according to Variety. That makes it the largest preview sum amounted in Disney Animation’s history. It’s also the most a film has made in a pre-Thanksgiving preview, and it’s the second-best preview sum of all time for an animated movie.

To compare this to recent animated films, Inside Out 2 brought in $13 million in Thursday previews before it scored $152 million over its opening weekend, while Toy Story 4 collected $12 million in Thursday previews and scored $121 million over its first three days.

Moana 2 officially opens in theaters on Wednesday. It is estimated to earn anywhere from $135 million to $145 million over its first five days.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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Ben Stiller and Linda Cardellini star in the new holiday film Nutcrackers, which arrives Friday on Hulu.

The movie follows a man, played by Stiller, who returns to rural Ohio to care for his recently orphaned nephews. David Gordon Green directed the film, in which he cast actual real-life brothers to play Stiller’s nephews.

“It was refreshing. It was fun for me as an actor to be able to be in scenes with these kids who were kind of like learning as they went along,” Stiller said. “David created an atmosphere for them to just to do their thing and to be real. And it was a fun process watching that happen.”

Cardellini agreed, saying she was excited about the concept.

“When I read the script and I realized they were going to be real brothers, and that this was a very specific and unusual story that David was going to tell, I was so excited about it,” she said. “The idea of playing this woman who is sort of the voice of reason amongst all this chaos, it just appealed to me. I wanted to be part of the project. I thought it was special.”

Stiller said Green wanted to make a movie that felt timeless.

“He’s just such an independently minded filmmaker who comes from that world,” Stiller said. “I think his goal was to make something that was organic and real and kind of imperfect and emotional and funny and reminded him of movies that he watched growing up.”

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Universal Pictures, the production company behind Wicked, has shut down rumors of a pay gap between the movie’s two stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,” a spokesperson from Universal told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday. “The women received equal pay for their work on ‘WICKED.'”

Speculation about unequal salaries began circulating on platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and social platform X , with claims that Erivo earned $1 million compared to Grande’s $15 million.

The rumors gained traction after being picked up by some news outlets. While Universal did not disclose the exact salaries of the co-stars, the studio firmly denied any pay inequities.

Wicked is the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the 2003 Broadway musical, originally starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, which itself is based on Gregory Maguire‘s 1995 novel.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film features an all-star cast, including Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard.

Released in theaters on Friday, Wicked draws inspiration from Maguire’s novel, which is a revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

The film earned a staggering $164 million globally during its opening weekend, making it the third-largest opening weekend ever, following Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2, according to The Associated Press.

Fans can look forward to Wicked: Part Two, set to hit theaters on November 21, 2025.

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Former Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson were crowned the winners of Dancing with the Stars season 33, taking home the Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy during the finale Nov. 26 on ABC. Graziadei was the first Bachelor star ever to win the competition.

Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten came in second. Actress Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong followed in third place, while Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold came in fourth place. Retired NFL star Danny Amendola and Witney Carson placed fifth.

“It means everything,” Graziadei said of winning the Mirrorball. “This experience has been unbelievable, honestly. Everyone from the beginning. Ilona, you have been amazing this season. I love you. All the finalists, the judges, thank you for bearing with us. I tried my best, I promise. Thank you.”

During the finale, the five final pairs each performed a redemption dance and a freestyle dance. In the redemption round, the finalists each performed a dance assigned by the judges. Each finalist got creative during the freestyle round and performed epic dance routines that showed off their personalities.

The night also had a performance from the upcoming dance pros who will be joining the DWTS LIVE 2025 Tour, which kicks off Jan. 7 in Richmond, Virginia, and is set to wrap in Hollywood, California, in April.

Season 32 winners Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy returned to the ballroom with an impressive performance to Chappell Roan‘s “Pink Pony Club,” while Derek Hough also performed an Argentine tango.

Other contestants from the past season performed, too. Family Matters star Reginald VelJohnson did a sweet dance number to the show’s theme song with Emma Slater. Also performing were model Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko, and former Bachelorette Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber.

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Disney+ has moved the premiere date for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew up a day. The series will now premiere with two episodes on Dec. 2. According to the official synopsis, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew “follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.” Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News …

Writer/director Jim Abrahams, best known for his work with brothers Jerry and David Zucker on such comedy classics as Airplane!, Police Squad! and The Naked Gun films, died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son Joseph tells The Hollywood Reporter. Abrahams’ other credits with the Zucker brothers include 1977’s Kentucky Fried Movie, 1984’s Top Secret! starring Val Kilmer and 1986’s Ruthless People, featuring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito. On his own, Abrahams directed Big Business, starring Midler and Lily Tomlin, in 1988, as well as co-writing and helming the 1981 comedy Hot Shots! and its 1993 sequel, both starring Charlie Sheen …

Deadline reports Prime Video has greenlit the thriller drama series Silent River, starring and executive produced by John Krasinski and Matthew Rhys. Per the outlet, Silent River is “told through the lens of two men (played by Krasinski and Rhys) whose lives are far more connected than they realize” and explores “the cracks of small-town America in the wake of discovering a serial killer among them.” Krasinski will also reportedly direct the pilot, along with some additional episodes …

CBS has announced The Talk will air its final week of live shows Dec. 16-Dec. 20. Along the way, hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood will welcome “an array of guests and big holiday giveaways” worth more than $2.5 million. Since its premiere in 2010, The Talk has earned 11 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, including for Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host …

Rosa Salazar, best known for playing the titular character in Alita: Battle Angel, has been tapped for a leading role in the CBS pilot Einstein, opposite Criminal Minds alum Matthew Gray Gubler, according to Variety. Gubler plays the great grandson of Albert Einstein, a tenured professor whose “bad boy antics land him in trouble with the law and he is pressed into service helping a local police detective (Salazar) solve her most puzzling cases.” Salazar will next be seen playing Rachel Leighton aka Diamondback in the upcoming Marvel film Captain America: Brave New World …

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Fans of the 2016 Disney animated film Moana can revisit their favorite characters with the new sequel, Moana 2, which is in theaters Wednesday. The film picks up three years after the original film, with Moana, voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho, setting out on a new journey with the demigod Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson.

Taking on the challenge of following up such a successful film are directors Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr. and Dana Ledoux Miller, who discussed their approach to the sequel with ABC Audio.

Derrick says one of the most important things in making this movie was “finding that universal connection that people have with Moana,” explaining, “I think when we came back to tell her story, it was just coming back with an old friend.” 

“I think Moana’s superpower is her empathy, and I think that’s an incredible characteristic, and it leads and guides all of her decisions,” Hand adds. “So we used that when we were making the sequel.” 

Hand also says it was important to maintain the relationships from the first movie: “Moana and Maui together is like magic. To see both Auliʻi and Dwayne come back into the booth and recreate that, that’s something … we definitely needed to have again.”

And Ledoux Miller says they didn’t really concern themselves with picking up specific elements from the original film.  

“It was really about how can we tell the best story for Moana,” she says. “It was really about pushing Moana to become a better leader and to help her grow up.” 

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of the film that should feel familiar to fans of the original. 

“We’re fans of the first film,” she says, “so having Easter eggs and callbacks just kind of came naturally to us.” 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Vanderpump Rules is officially returning for season 12, but it is going to look a little different.

Bravo announced the renewal news on Tuesday, also confirming that the new season of the show will be a reboot of sorts. An entire new cast will make up the servers, hosts and bartenders, with Lisa Vanderpump returning to oversee it all.

According to a press release, season 12 will be made up of a new group of “close-knit SUR-vers who are as complicatedly involved with one another as their iconic predecessors.” While it will look different, the release promises “plenty of drama, situationships and frenemies.”

Vanderpump commented on the new changes, saying, “[T]he last 12 years of filming have been an extraordinary run full of laughter, tears and everything in between.”

She thanked the former cast for all they have brought to the show.

“I can’t thank enough those who have shared their lives. How I love you all. In the restaurant business, one shift always gives way to another. Cheers to the next generation of Vanderpump Rules,” Vanderpump said.

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