Entertainment

Gal Gadot doesn’t like conflict, but she’s no shrinking violet, either.

When speaking on Israeli TV in May, Gadot responded to a report from The Hollywood Reporter that alleged Justice League director Joss Whedon had verbally abused her after she voiced concerns about her character and the film’s dialogue.  She confirmed Whedon “kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable.”

Looking back on those comments, the 36-year-old Wonder Woman actress recently told ELLE magazine, “Oh, I was shaking trees as soon as it happened. And I must say that the heads of Warner Brothers, they took care of it.”

Adds Gadot, “You’re dizzy because you can’t believe this was just said to you. And if he says it to me, then obviously he says it to many other people. I just did what I felt like I had to do. And it was to tell people that it’s not okay.”

“I would’ve done the same thing, I think, if I was a man. Would he tell me what he told me had I been a man? I don’t know. We’ll never know,” she continues. “But my sense of justice is very strong. I was shocked by the way that he spoke to me. But whatever, it’s done. Water under the bridge.”

Gadot will next be seen starring alongside Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in the action comedy Red Notice, coming to Netflix on November 12.

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Nicole Kidman‘s casting as iconic comedienne Lucille Ball might have been controversial, but she takes no prisoners in the teaser to Amazon Studios’ Being the Ricardos. 

“I am the biggest asset in the portfolio of the Columbia Broadcasting System,” Kidman-as-Lucy says in voiceover. “The biggest asset in the portfolios of Phillip Morris tobacco, Westinghouse. I get paid a fortune to do exactly what I love doing.”

She continues, “I work side-by-side with my husband, who is genuinely impressed with me. And all I have to do to keep it is kill for 36 weeks in a row. And then, do it again the next year.”

Oscar-winner Javier Bardem plays Lucy’s husband and I Love Lucy co-star Desi Arnaz in the period piece, from Academy Award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin.

The snippet ends with Kidman, in full Lucy wardrobe, on the set of the show’s famous “grape stomping” scene.

Amazon says of the project, “Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are threatened by shocking personal accusations, a political smear and cultural taboos” in the film, which is “a revealing glimpse of the couple’s complex romantic and professional relationship.”

The film is set during one critical week of production of I Love Lucy.

Being the Ricardos, which also stars Oscar-winner JK Simmons, with Nina Arianda and former Arrested Development co-stars Tony Hale and Alia Shawkat, hits Amazon Prime on December 21.

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(POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT) Some fans would already call Harry Styles a superhuman, but now he might be playing one in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The potential casting news came out of last night’s L.A. premiere of The Eternals. Variety writer Matt Donnelly tweeted, “Big reveal from #TheEternals premiere — Harry Styles has joined the MCU as Eros, brother of Thanos.

Eros — also known as Starfox in the comics — is said to be the complete opposite of the evil Thanos, who was played by Josh Brolin in The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy films. He’s carefree and has the power to change people’s emotions. To quote Marvel’s own database, “Eros grew up to be a fun-loving, carefree womanizer in contrast to his brother…”

Do with that what you will, tabloids. 

Apparently, Harry makes a cameo as the character at the end of The Eternals. Variety editor Marc Malkin also tweeted, “When Harry Styles shows up in the MCU. Audience squealed.”

The Eternals hits theaters November 5.

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Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On his Instagram, Sylvester Stallone bade farewell to his hit Expendables franchise. 

The actor, writer, and producer posted a video shot on the European set after he’d wrapped his last scene as mercenary Barney Ross in the fourth film in the series. 

“It’s been about 12 years,” the 75-year-old star noted, adding, “it’s time to be moving on.” 

“It’s always bittersweet,” Stallone said, explaining he’s “ready to pass the baton to Jason [co-star Jason Statham] in his capable hands.” 

Statham played Ross’ buddy Lee Christmas in the successful series that debuted in 2010, and which has highlighted action stars of a certain age, including now-74-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger; Stallone’s Rocky IV nemesis Dolph Lundgren, who is 65; Mickey Rourke, now 69; former MMA fighter Randy Couture and martial artist Jet Li, who are 58; 66-year-old Bruce Willis; 65-year-old Mel Gibson; and Terry Crews, who is a relatively young 53.

To date, the modestly-budgeted Expendables movies have made $800 million worldwide. 

The fourth installment, coming out in 2022, adds martial arts legend Tony Jaa, Andy Garcia and Megan Fox to the mix. 

 

 

 

 

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Rebel Wilson shared her honest thoughts about how the world reacted to her dramatic weight loss and expressed discomfort that her physique overshadowed her other accomplishments.

Speaking recently to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, the 41-year-old actress explained that she starred in four movies in 2019, adding she produced two of them while another, Jojo Rabbit, was nominated the the Best Picture Academy Award.

“Yet I get more press the following year when I do nothing except lose weight,” the Pitch Perfect star lamented, adding, “When I was at my heaviest, I also had the most international attention on me.”

Wilson acknowledged, “People are so obsessed with [weight],” but insisted she wasn’t pressured by the headlines to get in shape.  Instead, she embarked on a fitness journey in order to address her emotional eating struggles that manifested along with her rising star status.

“Because I’m not a natural performer, my natural personality is very introverted; the way I dealt with that pressure was to eat,” she recalled. “I would reward myself with a block of chocolate.”

“For the first time in my life I’ve lost weight and maintained it,” she added, noting that her weight loss was a result of a total lifestyle change.

Saying she was “proud” of her hard work, Wilson admitted, “I’m not totally cured. I don’t think you can be. But I’ve learnt to manage it — and it’s not by reaching for a bowl of ice cream.”

Wilson also reflected on how her fitness journey improved her relationship with her body, adding, “It’s just about loving yourself and loving the journey that you’re on. And to me, the women I think are most beautiful are those who step into their own power.”

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Channing Tatum has waded into the Dave Chappelle Netflix/trans comments controversy, saying that while he does “understand” and “hate” that the comedian hurt so many people with his problematic comments about the trans and LGBTQ+ communities, he can’t turn his back on the man whose words comforted him in the past.

“Any human can hurt someone (usually cause they’re hurt) but any human can heal and heal others just the same,” Channing wrote on his Instagram Stories, according to Buzzfeed, saying Chappelle’s 2019 speech while accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center “healed” him.

“I can’t forget that,” he insisted.

Dave noted in the speech how his personality differs from the one he presents to the public, and how comedy saved his life.  “I was a soft kid. I was sensitive, I’d cry easy and I would be scared to fistfigh,” said Chappelle at the time. “My mother used to tell me this thing… ‘Son, sometimes you have to be a lion so you can be the lamb you really are.’ I talk this s*** like a lion. I’m not afraid of any of you. When it comes word to word, I will gab with the best of them, just so I can chill and be me.”

“And that’s why I love my art form, because I understand every practitioner of it,” Chappelle continued. “Whether I agree with them or not, I know where they’re coming from. They want to be heard. They’ve got something to say. There’s something they noticed. They just want to be understood. I loved this genre. It saved my life.”

While the speech was meaningful to Channing, he noted that it “does not excuse anything hurtful tho to be clear.”

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Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan and tennis legend Serena Williams are paying it forward to one lucky entrepreneur to the tune of one million dollars.

AfroTech reports that the two stars have teamed up to  assist students and graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, by launching a Startup Pitch Competition, which is aimed to inspire future business leaders who may not have equal access to opportunity.

Jordan’s Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic competition invites HBCU alumni and students to submit their business proposals and innovative ideas for a chance to win a million-dollar jackpot.  The competition is now open and is accepting applications.

The actor partnered with Williams’ Serena Ventures as well as MaC Venture Capital, two investment firms, to get the contest off the ground and “will work together to identify the most promising early-stage startup companies founded by current HBCU students or alumni.”

Three finalists will be chosen, who will then have to make a final pitch to the two firms, as well as Harlem Capital and Cake Ventures, who are also serving as advisors to the competition.

The $1 million winner will be announced December 18 during TNT’s broadcast of an HBCU college basketball showcase featuring four institutions: Howard University, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T University and North Carolina Central University.

The showcase, called the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic Basketball Showcase Finals, is a double header between Hampton vs NC Central and Howard vs NC A&T.

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You’ll see some veteran music stars in the ABC drama Queens, premiering tonight. Rapper Eve stars alongside singer Brandy and former 3LW member Naturi Naughton, playing a group of women rappers who were popular 20 years ago, but for whom that success and lifestyle is now a distant memory.

For Brandy, joining the show was a no-brainer, telling ABC Audio, “I just loved the fact that it was a 90s hip hop legendary group of women. I’ve never seen that even in hip hop today.”

“Then, it was never a hip hop girls group, ever. And so I was like, this is different,” she continued. “This is deep. I love it. I want to be a part of it. What do I sign up?”

Additionally, the Queens script was one that Brandy says that she could really relate to.

“The entire struggle of being, at the top of your game and then kind of losing it and getting an opportunity to do it again. Like I could relate to that,” she shares. 

Included in that script is some original music and rhymes, which Eve reveals she didn’t pen herself and jokes, “If I had to it would be “Old McDonald had a farm” over and over again.”

As for Naughton, it wasn’t so much coming up with lyrics that intimidated her as much as having to rap in front of one of the most successful female rappers of all time.

“I was a little bit scared when Eve was next to me,” she says. “Whenever my verse comes after hers I’m like God daggit I really have to kill it! I can’t come after Eve and not kill it!”

Catch Queens Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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The cast of Dancing with the Stars celebrated one of America’s most beloved movie musicals — Grease — on Monday and the night included several surprise cameos from the original cast… as well as a shocking goodbye.

Judge Len Goodman was forced to deliver yet another tie-breaking vote at the end of the night after the audience sent Spice Girl‘s Melanie C and influencer Olivia Jade into the bottom two. Len sided with fellow judge Derek Hough to spare Olivia, overruling Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli who opted to save the British singer.

Despite the painful goodbye, the night provided plenty of highlights.

Olivia Newton John, who played Sandy in the 1978 film, opened the show with a special dedication to the cast and crew. 

Frankie Avalon belted out “Beauty School Dropout” in the 1978 feature, performed the standout hit on the ballroom floor as Amanda Kloots danced the Viennese waltz. 

JoJo Siwa earned the season’s first perfect score. The actress nailed her foxtrot to “Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee (Reprise),” which brought Goodman to his feet to compliment the “superb” routine.

The night also saw Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore‘s big comeback!  The reality star shook off the sting of almost being sent home for the past two consecutive weeks and earned her first straight set of 9s for her sensual rumba to “There Are Worse Things (I Could Do).”  

Dancing with the Stars returns with a spooky vengeance next Monday at 8 p.m ET on ABC, celebrating all things Halloween! Of course, that also means social media is ablaze over what — and how many — outfits host Tyra Banks will change into over the course of the night.

Here are the current standings:
JoJo Siwa, Nickelodeon star, with Jenna Johnson — 40/40
Amanda Kloots, The Talk co-host, with Alan Bersten — 39/40
Kenya Moore, former Miss USA, with Brandon Armstrong — 36/40
Melora Hardin, The Office actress, with Artem Chivensky — 36/40
Suni Lee, Olympic Gold medalist, with Sasha Farber — 36/40
Olivia Jade, influencer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 36/40
Jimmie Allen, country music singer, with Emma Slater — 34/40
Michael “The Miz” Gregory, WWE superstar, Witney Carson — 32/40
Cody Rigsby, Peloton instructor, with Cheryl Burke — 32/40
Iman Shumpert, NBA player, with Daniella Karagach — 28/40

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