Entertainment

Ten days after the passing of his five-month-son, Nick Cannon has shared fond memories of Zen.

“We had a short time with a true angel,” Cannon tells People in this week’s cover story. “My heart is shattered. I wish I could have done more, spent more time with him, taken more pictures. I wish I could have hugged him longer.”

Zen died on December 5 from a brain tumor, four months after he was diagnosed. Cannon, and Zen’s mother, Alyssa Scott, then worked to make every day special with their son.

“We focused on Disneyland, our favorite place,” explains the 41-year-old entertainer. “Every month we would celebrate his birthday, just really seeing it as a victory every time he had a milestone that he was still here with us.”

Zen’s illness became more serious over the Thanksgiving weekend, when he had trouble breathing.

“He was gasping for air. We’d wake up, and he wouldn’t be breathing for maybe five to 10 seconds at a time, and then he’d let out a huge gasp,” the TV talk show host recalls. ”You could see it frightened him. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Anticipating that Zen was dying, Cannon and Scott made the decision to spend the day with their son at the beach.

“I was like, ‘We have to watch the sun rise and just be here with him one last time,'” he says. “It was beautiful.”

“He was the most loving baby,” says Cannon. “I look at being his father as a great privilege.”

 

 

 

 

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On Wednesday, the penultimate episode of Hawkeye dropped on Disney+.

Irish actor Fra Fee plays Kazi, one of the senior henchmen of the Tracksuit Mafia, who tangles with Jeremy Renner‘s Clint Barton/Hawkeye throughout the series.

As a huge Marvel movie fan, Fee admits to ABC Audio, “I still have to pinch myself on a regular basis. It’s all very bizarre that of course, you’re desperately trying to play it cool, it’s like, say, ‘Yeah, this is a cool character, I reckon I can give this a go,’ inside, you’re completely losing your … everything,” he says with a huge laugh.

A scene in last week’s episode, that saw Fee being held at the mercy of Renner’s archer Avenger, took him a bit to get over, Fee says.

“That was a moment!” he laughs. “I’ll not tell a lie that was a moment, and we had a laugh in the car that day, but I was definitely nervous going into like, ‘What? What has happened to my little mediocre life? This is insane.'”

Fee explains, “I’ve been such a fan of this world, and I adore the movies, but one of my favorite scenes of all time is Jeremy’s scene [in Avengers: Endgame] when he loses his family in The Blip is one of the most tragic, so beautifully expressed, beautifully displayed performances, and so to actually continue his story is…just such an honor. It really, really is.” 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Ben Affleck‘s battle with alcoholism has played out in the public eye, but he made it personal in a new conversation on Sirius/XM’s The Howard Stern Show.

Affleck told Stern he “probably still would have been drinking” were he still married to his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner. The pair were married from 2005 to 2018,

“Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped,” says the 49-year-old actor. “I was like, ‘I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ And what I did was [I] drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”

Affleck says that he and Garner “tried” to make it work “because we had kids, but…we didn’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.”

Ben called tabloid coverage of their divorce “Bulls***,” adding, “…We had a marriage that didn’t work. This happens. She’s somebody I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn’t be married any longer.”

He said they tried their best to split “amicably,” but “…Did we get angry? Yes, but fundamentally it was always underpinned with a respect. I knew she was a good mom. I always hoped she knew I was a good dad. I knew I was.”

Affleck admitted his kids were the reason he quit drinking. “[W]hen I felt as if it impacted them…It was the worst day of my life…But since that day, I swear to Christ, I have not ever wanted to drink once.”

Affleck and Garner share three children: 16-year-old Violet, Seraphina, 12, and 9-year-old Samuel.

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Universal has pushed the release date for Fast & Furious 10 from April 7, 2023 to May 19, 2023, according to Variety. The Justin Lin-directed action movie was originally slated to open April 2 of this year, but was replaced by F9: The Fast Saga because of delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  F10 was later pushed back to June 25. The cast has yet to be revealed, but franchise star Vin Diesel is expected to return, along with Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez.  Dwayne Johnson is not set to return to the franchise, and it’s still up in the air as to whether John Cena will reprise his role as Jakob Toretto, according to Entertainment Weekly…

The 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominees were announced on Tuesday and Zola leads with seven total nods, including Best Feature, Best Director honors for Janicza Bravo, and a Best Screenplay nomination for Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris. Zola star Taylour Paige celebrated her Best Female Lead nomination on Instagram, writing, “thank you @filmindependent this is so beautiful.” The Novice grabbed second place, with five nominations. The 37th annual awards ceremony is set to return in-person in Santa Monica on March 6. This is the second year that independent television and streaming is recognized as well as movies. The complete list of nominees can be found at FilmIndependent.org…

Deadline reports Wilmer Valderrama is set to executive-produce and star as Zorro in a TV series for Disney Branded Television. The NCIS star said in a statement, “Growing up, Zorro was the one character that made me, as a Latino, feel like I could be a hero. As an adult and a storyteller, I have a responsibility for the stories that I help bring to life.” Valderrama adds that introducing Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega, to a new generation of kids “is a dream come true.” Valderrama, who voices the character Augustin in Disney’s Encanto, is also currently co-producing the family comedy series Mexican Beverly Hills for CBS and Hipster Death Rattle for the CW…

Apple TV+ has renewed the M. Night Shyamalan-directed thriller Servant for a fourth season, over a month ahead of its January 21 season three premiere. Shortly after the announcement on Tuesday, Shyamalan tweeted that the show’s fourth season will be its last. “I set the goal to tell 1 story in 40 episodes knowing there was no guarantee we would achieve it,” he wrote. “It was a huge risk. Thanks Apple TV+ & Servant cast, crew & fans.” Servant follows a grieving couple, played by Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell, who bring a nanny with a mysterious background, played by Nell Tiger Free, into their home…

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And the winner of The Voice season 21 is…Girl Named Tom!

Tuesday’s finale crowned the group from Ohio — consisting of Liechty siblings Caleb, 26, Joshua, 24, and Bekah, 20 — as the season’s winners, making The Voice history as the first non-solo act to win the singing competition. This also marks Kelly Clarkson‘s fourth win in seven seasons as a coach. 

Before Girl Named Tom was officially announced as the winners, viewers were treated to a star-studded show chock full of performances from Coldplay, Walker Hayes, Tori Kelly, Keke Palmer, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, and Alicia Keys. 

Additionally, each judge performed a song with their remaining mentees. In addition to Girl Named Tom, Kelly performed with 14-year-old contestant Hailey Mia. Black Shelton performed with each of his mentees, Paris Winningham and Wendy Moten, and John Legend took the stage with Jershika Maple.

New judge Ariana Grande‘s picks didn’t make it to the finale, but she took the stage to perform “Just Look Up,” with Kid Cudi. 

After the finale, Girl Named Tom took to Twitter to thank fans for helping “fulfill three siblings’ dreams.” In the note, the band explained that their father was in “horrific pain following yet another surgery” but they stayed in LA to finish the show because it’s what their parents wanted. The group added that they will be flying back to their parents “as soon as possible.”

They trio also thanked The Voice and promised fans that “this is NOT goodbye.”

“We have dozens of new songs that we cannot wait to share with you,” they said. “We love you, we are grateful to you, and we hope you have a special holiday season. See you in 2022!” 

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Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette, saw Michelle and her three remaining suitors leaving Minnesota in favor of the beautiful beaches of Mexico for the fantasy suite dates.

It was also the last chance for Brandon, Joe and Nayte to open up to Michelle like never before if they expect to win one of the two remaining roses up for grabs.

Ahead of the dates, Michelle told co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe where she stood with each of the men: she had “no concerns” with Brandon going into their date; while Michelle “loved” everything she’d seen of Joe so far, their relationship needed to progress a little further. Nayte, was “a good-looking dude” with “a lot of depth,” but Michelle wondered if she loved him more than he loved her.

Each man passed muster, with Brandon telling Michelle, “Since day one when I met you, I knew that you were the one,” before vowing, “‘Til I take my last breath, I will put you first.”

Joe, noted that Michelle’s passion for teaching paired with his ability to bounce back after a devastating sports injury and use that to inspire others would make him and Michelle a “powerful couple.”

During their one-on-one date, Michelle asked Nayte point blank if he was ready for an engagement, to which he responded, “Most definitely.”

That left Michelle wondering ahead of the rose ceremony if she could possibly be in love with all three men, leading to her toughest elimination yet.

Brandon added to the tension by interrupting the ceremony to have a word with Michelle alone.

After reiterating his promise to always put her first, they rejoined the other men, where a devastated Joe learned that he was going home.

The three-hour Bachelorette finale airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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He hasn’t commented publicly about it, but O.J. Simpson‘s parole has ended early. 

The former football great and actor, who was famously acquitted in 1995 of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, was convicted in 2008 of armed robbery and kidnapping, following a 2007 confrontation with two sports-collectibles dealers in a Las Vegas hotel.

Simpson, 74, had been on parole since October 2017 following a nine-year prison stint stemming from the incident, but the Nevada State Police’s Division of Parole and Probation recently sent an early discharge request to the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners.

On November 30, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners conducted an early discharge hearing, and on December 6, the board approved the request, according to the Nevada State Police.

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50 Cent is developing a new series for Starz, based on Snoop Dogg’s 1996 murder trial.

Named after Snoop’s 1993 hit song, “Murder Was the Case,” from his seven-times RIAA_certified Platinum Doggystyle album, the show will explore when the “Gin and Juice” rapper was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Philip Woldemariam, a member of a rival gang. Snoop, who was acquitted, was represented by the late Johnnie Cochran, famous for also representing O.J. Simpson in his 1995 trial for the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. 

“This was a pivotal moment in my life and career and I’ve deliberately waited until I found the right partner to bring this to the screen,” Snoop says in a statement

In other news, as the Insecure series finale approaches, Issa Rae has produced an emotional documentary about the five seasons of her hit HBO series.

A trailer for Insecure: The End opens with a tearful Rae saying to the cast and crew, “I am just incredibly humbled, blessed. You aspire and you dream. I never imagined I would get to work with so many amazing and talented people. You guys have elevated me.” Insecure: The End will air on December 26 on HBO Max, the same day the Insecure season five series finale airs on HBO.

Finally, Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, have contributed $5 million to Spelman College in Atlanta, the largest alumni donation in the school’s history. LaTanya graduated from Spelman, and their donation will help renovate the school’s John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts building, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Following the renovation, the theater, lobby and dressing rooms at the building will be renamed the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center.

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Every classic sitcom has their trademark sets, and a new survey shows that a third of Americans say if they could live anywhere, they’d chill like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. 

The non-scientific poll of 2,000 TV watchers in the U.S., which was commissioned by the furniture company Article, revealed that the mansion in which Will Smith chilled with his aunt and uncle in the beloved show would be their favorite sitcom house to call their own.

Perhaps just that many people ran afoul of a couple of guys up to no good, makin’ trouble in the neighborhood.

At any rate, by a wide margin, the Fresh Prince manse beat out the second-place finisher, Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment in The Big Bang Theory — which in turn just edged out number three, The Brady Bunch home. 

Thirty-six percent of those polled chose Will’s crib, compared to 29% who dug the Big Bang digs, while 28% picked the Bradys’ house, and 19% chose Carrie’s apartment from Sex and the City — the same percentage of those who’d like to live in TV Jerry’s apartment from Seinfeld, and Monica’s crib on Friends. 

Other TV faves included the Florida home seen on The Golden Girls, the stately residences in Bridgerton, and the Full House house. 

Clearly, those polled were asked to choose based on the nostalgia quotient, not the real estate value of each set — though the huge Fresh Prince mansion would tick both boxes.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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It looks like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West won’t be getting back together — at least that’s according to reports of the contents of Kardashian’s divorce papers. 

Page Six published copies of the paperwork, which noted, “No counseling or reconciliation effort will be of any value at this time.”

“[West] and I both deserve the opportunity to build new lives,” the divorce filings continue, “Therefore, I am asking that my request to bifurcate and terminate our marital status be granted.”

According to the documents, Kim listed that Hollywood industry standard “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, saying they “have caused [the] marriage to irretrievably break down,” and that “The continued maintenance of technical marital status between [West] and [Kardashian] serves no useful purpose, and there is no reason to maintain the legal relationship.” 

Kim, 40, filed for divorce from Kanye, 43, in February after six-and-a-half years of marriage. They’re reportedly is seeking joint custody of their four children — North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and one-year-old Psalm.

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