Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Cleobella x Katherine Schwarzenegger
Wedding bells are in the air for actor Patrick Schwarzenegger and his longtime girlfriend, model and actress Abby Champion.
On Tuesday, the couple announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post with sweet photos from the proposal which took place on a beach.
In one image, the Gen V actor kisses Champion on the cheek while she shows off her ring. Another image shows the two of them standing behind a large heart-shaped flower display made of roses.
Schwarzenegger, who is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, also shared a throwback photo of them from nine years ago when they were younger.
“Two little kiddos falling in love,” he said.
The news of their engagement was shared by Shriver on Instagram, who said she was “beyond inspired” by Schwarzenegger’s and Champion’s love.
“@abbychampion and @patrickschwarzenegger make such a beautiful couple!” she continued. “They love each other, they accept one another, they cheer one another on. They are each others best friend, confidante, and cheerleader.”
“Their love is something to behold,” she said. “I’m so happy for them, for their now, and for their future! Abby and Patrick, we all love you! Here’s to more love in our world.”
Actor Lee Sun-kyun, who played a main role in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, was found dead in his car in Seoul, South Korea on December 27. He was 48.
Officials were investigating the death as a possible suicide, police said. The actor had reportedly been under police investigation since late October on suspicion of using marijuana and other drugs, which are illegal in South Korea.
Lee’s representatives had accused an unidentified woman and another individual as being at the center of the situation: They accused them of blackmailing the actor over the drug use — which his reps insist was unintentional — and swindling him out of money.
Lee reportedly tested negative for drug use recently, and his attorney claimed the actor would take a lie detector test in an effort to clear his name.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, his representatives expressed their “sorrow and despair” over the news and cautioned against “spreading false facts based on speculation and malicious reports” after his death.
In Parasite, Lee played Dong Ik, a wealthy tech exec who unknowingly hires a family of swindlers to tend to his home and family. He also starred in the Korean sci-fi series Dr. Brain, which is streaming on Apple TV+.
Arguably, the biggest story of the year in Hollywood was what the entertainment industry wasn’t making.
For the first time since 1960, the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike in 2023, and the protracted work stoppages meant production on movies and TV shows grounded to a halt, as members of both unions hit the picket lines.
The two unions shared common concerns in their fights against the allied studios: the need for increased compensation in the age of streaming, and curbs against the use of artificial intelligence to replace both union writers and performers.
The WGA strike struck first: At 12:01 a.m. PT on May 2, writers picked up picket signs instead of pens, in many cases joined by SAG-AFTRA performers who hadn’t yet struck but were showing solidarity.
Late night shows were affected first. With no writers for those monologues and other content, the shows moved to repeats.
Following a tentative agreement between the studios and the union’s negotiators, the WGA strike was declared over on September 27.
They were the first to stop work, and the late night shows became the first to return; scripted shows’ writers rooms filled back up, and screenwriters were free to get back behind their keyboards.
The SAG-AFTRA strike went into effect July 14, and work on movies including Deadpool 3 and Gladiator 2, as well as countless TV shows, stopped, as did celebrities’ promotion of their projects.
In fact, the strike’s effects were seen firsthand in real time, when the cast of Oppenheimer, including Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, walked off the London red carpet of their own premiere the second word got out that the strike was declared back in the States.
Months of picketing followed, as did a star-making performance from Fran Drescher: The former Nanny star turned SAG-AFTRA president was hailed as a champion of her fellow actors. “We cannot go back to the way things were,” she declared at a strike event in New York City in August. “Too much has changed. They have to wake up and smell the coffee!” she continued.
In the end, Drescher and SAG-AFTRA negotiators hammered out a three-year deal with the studios’ representatives, securing new compensation, health care and AI guidelines. A tentative agreement was reached on November 9, after 114 days of striking.
The cameras started rolling again nearly immediately.
The three-year agreement was ratified on December 5, with its protections effective retroactively to November 9 — the day the agreement was reached — and expiring June 30, 2026.
All told, it is estimated that the twin strikes caused an estimated $6 billion in economic damage; hundreds of thousands of people were left out of work, from actors to caterers and other ancillary industries that rely on movie and TV production.
The numbers are in for movies that made their debut in theaters on Christmas Day and the musical adaptation The Color Purple beat expectations with an $18 million debut, according to Variety.
It’s the second biggest Christmas opening of all time, behind the $25 million earned in 2009 by Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
Moviegoers have been singing the praises of The Color Purple, which stars Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and Halle Bailey, among others: It had an A from fan ratings site Cinescore and a 94% Audience Score from Rotten Tomatoes.
Of the other Christmas Day releases this year, Purple handily bested George Clooney‘s historical directorial effort The Boys in the Boat, which made $5.8 million, and Ferrari starring Adam Driver, which earned $2.8 million.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Mayim Bialik would not be returning as co-host of the syndicated game show Jeopardy!, and that Ken Jennings would be its full-time host going forward. Now, Jennings is sharing his thoughts on the decision.
Jennings tells ABC Audio that he and Mayim “got along great” and he’ll “miss her on a personal level,” but adds that he does see the benefits of Jeopardy! returning to just one host. As he notes, that aspect of the show always brought comfort to people during the late Alex Trebek’s tenure.
“People rely on Jeopardy! kind of as a part of their evening. It’s an institution. It’s a legacy. They have fond memories,” he says. “And there’s something about the show that does represent stability in a changing world.”
He adds that another benefit of having a single, permanent host is that “there won’t be any more clickbait-y headlines about hosting and whatnot.”
“I’m happy to host whenever asked,” Jennings states.
Believe it or not, it’s been almost 20 years since Jennings first appeared on Jeopardy! as a contestant, and he acknowledges that he does sometimes miss competing on the show.
“But the great thing about being a host is you’re kind of playing along in your head. You know, you feel like you’re still part of the game,” he says. “It kind of scratches the same itch without having to panic if I don’t know the response.”
In addition to the daily syndicated Jeopardy!, Jennings is currently hosting Celebrity Jeopardy!, which kicks off its semi-finals on Tuesday, January 2, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
It was a movie date night nobody could have predicted that proved that opposites attract.
On July 21, moviegoers had a choice: On one hand, there was Greta Gerwig‘s cotton candy-colored comedy Barbie, starring Margot Robbie as America’s most famous doll come to life, and on the other, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan‘s R-rated nuclear-age drama Oppenheimer.
In the end, movie fans chose both and “Barbenheimer” was born.
Barbie, which also starred Ryan Gosling as Ken, as well as a host of other Barbies and Kens — including Issa Rae and Dua Lipa, and Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir —became the biggest movie of the year, raking in more than $1.4 billion worldwide and spawning a hit soundtrack to boot.
Oppenheimer went on to gross more than $951 million worldwide — making it the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie in history, after only 2019’s Oscar-winning Joker.
The study of the father of the atomic bomb, Robert J. Oppenheimer,also became the highest-grossing biopic of all time and the biggest moneymaker about World War II.
What’s more, Oppenheimer‘s star-filled cast, including Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. as his political foe Lewis Strauss, are likely a lock come Oscar nominations.
Robbie, who also produced Barbie, recently looked back at the phenomenon that became known as “Barbenheimer,” describing what happened behind the scenes as the movies were set on a release day collision course.
In an Actors on Actors interview for Variety, she revealed one of the producers for Nolan’s nuclear age drama suggested she shift Barbie‘s theatrical release plans. “If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date … We’re not moving,'” she recalled with a smile, adding she thought the movies were “a perfect double billing.”
In a post he dropped online on Christmas Eve, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson spoke about a potential “dark horse” presidential candidate who could shake up the 2024 election.
He then introduced that “dark horse:” Frank Underwood, the character Kevin Spacey played on House of Cards. Spacey didn’t break character in the appearance, but referenced his real-life alter-ego’s career when he told former Fox News host Carlson, “We both got canned by our networks.”
You may recall that Spacey’s run as Underwood on the Netflix show ended when he became was accused of sexual assault, though he has appeared as the character online a few times since then. He was subsequently exonerated.
In Carlson’s post, Spacey-as-Underwood went on to say, “I think I have a long and very solid relationship with the public and that is a bond that has never been broken.”
Carlson then asked Underwood, “Do you watch Netflix anymore?” to which he replied, “Probably as much as you watch Fox.” “Fair!” Carlson said with a laugh.
Tucker also said he’d “sleep on” a decision to be Underwood’s “running mate” for the next election.
Whatever the motivation for the unlikely team-up, it was an undeniably viral one: It’s received more than 37 million views on X, formerly Twitter, since it was first posted on December 24.
Sporting a fanny pack, a mullet wig on his normally smooth head, a black turtleneck and a gold chain, Johnson crooned “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” occasionally changing the lyrics to fit his fit.
He even took the time to pause the song and pat his fanny pack — in case you missed it — before finishing the tune and blowing a kiss to the camera.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom debuted at #1 over the four-day holiday weekend. However, its $40 million opening wasn’t superheroic.
Its 2018 original, also starring Jason Momoa as the King of Atlantis, opened with $67 million on its way to more than $1.1 billion. But the sequel, which cost more than $200 million to make, won’t come close to that high water mark, most prognosticators agree. It’s Warner Bros. Discovery’s fourth under-performing superhero movie of the year, following The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Blue Beetle.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom makrs the studio’s last superhero flick before the much-anticipated James Gunn/Peter Safran reboot of the studios’ comic properties.
However, Warner Bros. had sweeter news from Wonka, which came in second for the weekend with $28 million. The prequel, starring Timothée Chalamet as the magical chocolate maker, has made nearly $255 million to date.
The animated film Migration took third place with $17.5 million, while Sony’s romantic comedy Anyone but You debuted in fourth place, collecting $8 million. The Indian action film Salaar Part 1 managed to snag fifth place, with $6.9 million over the four-day span, according to Deadline.
Have no fear, your reality roundup is here! Here’s a look at what’s happened in the world of reality television this week:
Real Housewives of Miami (Bravo)
Fans of Real Housewives of Miami got a peek at what’s in store when the show returns midseason. A new trailer teases a trip to Mexico, Guerdy Abraira and her husband fighting over a surgery she refuses to have, Larsa Pippen reacting to a jewelry gift from boyfriend Marcus Jordan, an explosive confrontation between Julia Lemigova and Adriana de Moura and lots more drama.
The Masked Singer (Fox)
The 10th season, yes 10th, of The Masked Singer came to a close, with Ne-Yo being crowned the winner. The R&B singer, who spent the season as the Cow, won with performances of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” and Rihanna’s “Take a Bow.” Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider, who performed as Donut, was the runner up.
Survivor (CBS)
The 45th season of Survivor wrapped up after weeks of watching the contestants outwit, outlast and outplay each other on a secluded island in Fiji. Dee Valladares walked away with the $1 million prize, beating Austin Li Coon five votes to three.
