Entertainment

Following Sunday’s announcement that Bre Tiesi is expecting his eighth child, Nick Cannon opened up about becoming a father again Monday on his self-titled talk show.

“As everybody knows, I got a lot of children, and I love them all sincerely” said Cannon, who hosted a gender reveal party with Tiesi over the weekend in Malibu, California. “I try to always operate on the high frequency, but as much as I try to ignore some of the negative or the lower frequency things…I’m not impervious to, you know, hearing and reading what people say about me.”

The 41-year-old entertainer says he’s heard the snide comments about having several kids with multiple women, and he admits they “definitely affect me.”

“I’ve known about Bre’s pregnancy for a while now, even before my youngest son Zen passed in December,” Cannon revealed.

“I always talk about the guilt that I felt in losing Zen, and from how to deal with this for my other children,” he continued. “I wanted to respect the grieving process with [Zen’s mother Alyssa Scott], and Bre was respectful enough,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do…to say it when I was dealing with Zen or to hold off. Even right now, that it came out yesterday, that wasn’t planned to talk about it.”

The Masked Singer host currently shares 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey; son Golden, four, and one-year-old daughter Powerful Queen with Brittany Bell; and twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, who were born in June, with Abby De La Rosa. Zen, his son with Scott, died at the age of five months in December.

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Several television networks and streaming platforms are celebrating Black History Month, which begins Tuesday, February 1, with special programming. Here are a few highlights:

Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love — February 1 on Masterclass: A three-part, 54-lesson class examining the past, present and future of race in America, featuring Angela Davis, Cornel West and more.

Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power — February 1 on Starz: A documentary on California congresswoman Barbara Lee, who is known for her racial justice activism and work with the Black Panther Party.

Screen Queens Rising — February 3 on ABC: A special exploring the rise of Black actresses in entertainment, featuring Halle Berry, Tessa Thompson, Debbie Allen and more.

X/onerated – The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice — February 3 on ABC: A profile of Muhammad Abdul Aziz, who was wrongfully convicted of assassinating Malcolm X in 1965.

One Thousand Years of Slavery – The Untold Story — February 7 on Smithsonian Channel: Docuseries executive-produced by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance examining the legacy of slavery around the world.

American Masters: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands — February 8 on PBS: Two-hour special honoring the life of trailblazing opera singer Marian Anderson.

Everything’s Gonna Be All White — February 11 on Showtime: Three-part docuseries about the history of race in the United States from the perspective of people of color.

Fannie Lou Hamer’s America: An America Reframed Special — February 22 on PBS: Special telling the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi-born sharecropper who became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and co-founder of the Freedom Democratic Party.

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Today is the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman, which debuted on this day in 1982 on NBC.

Letterman’s show inspired a generation of comedy writers, from his successors Conan O’Brien and Seth Meyers to Peacemaker star Steve Agee, who used to write for O’Brien and later, for another Dave fan, Jimmy Kimmel.

“’82, oh my God,” Agee reminisced to ABC Audio. “Letterman changed everything for me, it was like, finally, there was a late-night host that like I really appreciated their…abstract sense of humor.”

He adds with a laugh, “It was, you know, way more different, you know, than Carson.”

Agee recalled, laughing, “There was an episode of Late Night with David Letterman, I think they called it ‘The 360 Show,’ where over the course of an hour, the camera rotated 360 degrees, so at 30 minutes you’re looking at a show completely upside down — and they never address it. This is just like, ‘OK, why not? Why not put on a Velcro suit and jump onto a Velcro wall?'”

Agee explained that even long after Dave left NBC for his CBS show, Late Night‘s shadow still loomed over the format. “In the early 2000s, I was working at Jimmy Kimmel Live! and our head writer…was Steve O’Donnell, who was Dave Letterman’s head writer. Steve O’Donnell created the Top Ten list — like that was Steve…He was legendary…”  

Letterman hosted Late Night for 11 seasons before moving to CBS in 1993, after Jay Leno took over as host of The Tonight Show — a job many expected would go to Letterman, including outgoing host Johnny Carson. Meyers came aboard Late Night in 2014 after Jimmy Fallon moved to The Tonight Show.

Tonight, Seth Meyers will welcome Letterman back to Late Night, to celebrate the milestone anniversary.

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The Godfather, of course, is known as an Oscar-winning cinema classic, but the fact of the matter is Francis Ford Coppola struggled to get the movie to the screen. That battle to bring author Mario Puzo‘s saga of the Corleone family to theaters is the basis of Paramount+’s anticipated series The Offer, which now has a brand-new teaser. 

Based on Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy‘s experiences of making the film, the series sees Miles Teller portraying the young, driven producer.

Law & Order and The King’s Man vet Matthew Goode plays producer Robert Evans; Ted Lasso‘s Juno Temple is famed agent Bettye McCartt; Giovanni Ribisi plays mobster Joe Colombo; and Dan Fogler portrays Coppola.

“This could become a cultural phenomenon,” Goode as Evans says in the teaser. “The likes we’ve never seen before.”

As mentioned, the filmmakers not only had to “beg, borrow, and steal” from Hollywood for the money to make the picture, but also had to deal with mobsters like Ribisi’s Colombo, who wasn’t happy in the least for the Mob to get the limelight. “This makes us look like a joke. And it’s bad for business,” he warns. 

Meanwhile, Folger, appearing as the spitting image of ’70s-era Coppola, asks, “What is our opening line?…’I believe in America.'”

The series also stars Colin Hanks as skeptical producer Barry Lapidus and Patrick Gallo as Puzo.

The first three episodes of The Offer will premiere on Thursday, April 28, exclusively for Paramount+ subscribers, and the remaining episodes of the 10-installment limited series will be released on subsequent Thursdays. (VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE)

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David Boreanaz‘s Jason Hayes and his fellow frogmen will return for a sixth season of SEAL Team, which moved from CBS to its sister streaming network Paramount+ for season 5. 

A “very excited” Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount+ Original Scripted Series, said in a statement, “The show’s loyal fanbase followed the series to its new exclusive home, and it…[ranks] consistently in the top 10 most-watched original series.”

She adds, “We can’t wait for the fans to see what our brilliant creative team has in store for Team Bravo next season!”

Boreanaz, who is an executive producer on the show and also directs episodes in the action series, was asked by ABC Audio if there are additional creative freedoms on streaming versus a traditional TV network.

“There is,” he agreed emphatically, stressing the series makes the mental health issues military members face a top priority.  “I mean, it’s going to allow us to really examine these storylines much deeper and get into their lives and what they how they’re affected by it and the mental health of these characters,” Boreanaz says.

He adds, “You know, it’s something that we pride ourselves on when doing these shows, is to be able to touch those lives of people that are out there now that can kind of escape, and like family members [of] military people that they’ve lost a son or a daughter and they can find respite and say, ‘Thank you for showing that or portraying that.'”

Of SEAL Team, which keeps the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel veteran in elite shape, Boreanaz says, “It’s the type of show that when doing it mentally and physically, it’s tough, but not compared to what these men and women do for our freedoms.”

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In a new poll that’s bound to get social media buzzing, Friends has been declared the “Best TV Show Ever.”

The survey of 2,000 Americans that was sponsored by YouTube TV shows 43% of respondents felt Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler’s sitcom topped the misadventures of Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine — as Seinfeld ranked second, at 40%. 

Thirty-seven percent favored Game of Thrones, while 36% said Three’s Company was their favorite — the same percentage that say Frasier always has them dropping their remotes to watch.

The Office ranked in sixth place, just ahead of M*A*S*H*, with Battlestar Galactica — original or the reboot isn’t specified — The Simpsons and The Wire rounding out the top 10.

The survey also looked into when viewers’ favorite shows were made. Nineteen percent claimed the ’80s and ’90s were prime time for television, 15% chose shows from the 2000s as their favorite, and 10% said shows from the 2010s are the best — the same percentage of those who chose the 1970s as TV’s Golden Age. 

Just 7% say we’re currently experiencing the best time for TV. 

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

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In a new cover story for People, Jennifer Lopez has pulled back the curtains on Bennifer 2.0. 

Lopez and Ben Affleck, 49, publicly stepped out together last year, rekindling a romance that began in 2002 but ultimately ended in a very public break-up in 2004, after Affleck proposed. 

“It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance,” says Lopez, promoting her upcoming movie Marry Me, which hits theaters and Peacock on February 11.

“I’ve never been better,” says the 52-year-old movie star and recording artist.

As for Affleck, Lopez says, “I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him,” adding, “It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance.”

Lopez admits there was “a little bit of fear” of going public again, but says things are different this time around.

“Before we kind of put [our relationship] out there, and we were naïve and it got a little trampled.”  This time, she says, We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience, we’re at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things.”

Affleck is the father of daughters Violet, 16, and Seraphina Rose, 12, and 9-year-old son Samuel, which he co-parents with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Lopez is the mom to 13-year-old twins Max and Emme from her marriage to ex-husband Marc Anthony.

Lopez says her new extended blended family benefits from her relationship working out so well.

“I honestly believe that love rules all,” J. Lo says. “Love always conquers everything — relationships, kids, work, work relationships. It’s all about how loving, open and accepting you can be…”

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After 22 seasons and 7 Super Bowl Rings, Tom Brady is calling it a career. 

In a lengthy Instagram post, Brady addressed his legions of fans to break the news. 

“I have always believed the sport of football is an ‘all-in’ proposition — if a 100% competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed … I have tried my very best these past 22 years,” Brady began.

“There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life. This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things.”

The quarterback, arguably the greatest of all time, also noted, “I’m fortunate to have cofounded incredible companies like @autograph.io @bradybrand, @tb12sports that I am excited to continue to help build and grow, but exactly what my days will look like will be a work-in-progress,” he wrote.

“I am going to take it day by day. I know for sure I want to spend a lot of time giving to others and trying to enrich other people’s lives, just as so many have done for me.”

Even as the oldest player in the league, 44-year-old Brady had one his best seasons in his swan song. He led the league in passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43).

Brady played two seasons with the Buccaneers after leaving New England in 2020. In his first season in Tampa Bay, he led the Bucs to their first Super Bowl win since 2003.

He holds virtually every career record by a quarterback, including most passing yards (84,520), pass completions (7,263) and passing touchdowns (624).

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Bachelor alums Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon are officially parents!

The couple welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Dawson Demitri, Haibon announced on Instagram Monday. 

“Baby Dawson is here and healthy!” he revealed in the caption.

“Ashley is recovering and doing well! It really couldn’t have gone much smoother,” Haibon added. “He’s so sweet & beautiful and has been sleeping all day. Unlike his Mom and Dad who are on no sleep right now but it’s totally worth it!”

The 33-year-old parents, who first met in 2015 on Bachelor in Paradise before dating in 2018, revealed their baby’s moniker last month and clarified the meaning behind it. 

“This is Jack Dawson from Titanic-inspired,” Iaconetti told Us Weekly. “We are a little concerned … not concerned, [but] we want people to know this is not after James Van Der Beek’s [Dawson’s Creek] character. This is after a Leonardo DiCaprio character.” 

“‘Titanic’ has always been my favorite movie of all time,” she added. “I was 10 when I saw it.”

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Rachel Maddow plans to step away from her nightly show for a few weeks to develop other projects for NBCUniversal, the MSNBC host announced on Monday’s show. One of them is a movie adaptation of her book Bag Man, which will be produced by Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels and directed by Ben Stiller. An MSNBC source said that that a rotating group of hosts are expected to fill in for her while she’s gone. However, she’s expected to continue appearing on special event coverage, such as the State of the Union address, set for March 1. Maddow’s hiatus begins on Friday…

Brett Goldstein, the Emmy-winning star and writer on Ted Lasso, has signed an exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros., the studio behind the Apple+ comedy series to develop, create and produce new TV projects for the  studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Goldstein started out as a writer on Ted Lasso before being tapped to portray the team’s gruff but lovable team captain Roy Kent. Goldstein is also reteaming with Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence to write and executive produce Shrinking, a comedy series for Warners starring Jason Segel that earned a straight-to-series order at Apple…

Jennifer Garner, Brockmire‘s Tyrel Jackson Williams, and The Afterparty‘s Zoë Chao have been tapped as series regulars, and Dead to Me‘s James Marsden has signed on for a key recurring role in Party Down, a revival of the cult comedy, according to Deadline. They join original stars Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ken Marino, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, and Megan Mullally, who are all returning for the six-episode new season. Lizzy Caplan was unable to reprise her roll due to a scheduling conflict. Once again, Party Down will follow Scott, Lynch, Marino, Starr, Hansen, Mullally as a Los Angeles catering team — a sextet of Hollywood wannabes — stuck working for tips while hoping for their “big break”…

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