Whoopi Goldberg blasts cancel culture: “The truth doesn’t seem to matter as much these days”

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Whoopi Goldberg is apparently fed up with cancel culture, and she spoke about it during an appearance at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Tuesday, according to Variety.

The View co-host, who was there to deliver the annual International Icon Interview, said, “I feel like the truth doesn’t seem to matter as much these days.”

“Because there is cancel culture, people will call or text and say, ‘I’m not buying your product. This is who you have talking about your product, me and my five million followers — if you keep her — we’re not going to buy your car, or we’re not going to buy your shampoo or we’re not going to buy your toothbrush or we’re not going to buy your Pampers,” Goldberg went on.

The Oscar winner, who said she was out of work for five years after she allegedly joked about President George W. Bush in 2004, was able to restart her career when Barbara Walters offered her a hosting gig on The View.

“Lucky for me, Barbara Walters offered me a job and said, ‘Hey, would you like to do this?’” the 65-year-old comedian and TV personality recalled.  “And I was like, ‘You know, I’m not in favor in the general public.’  [Barbara] said, ‘You’ll be perfect.’”

Asked whether she considered herself as having been canceled at the time because of the Bush joke, Goldberg replied, “No.  I would describe that situation as a lot of people covering their backsides, because the joke was never about him.”

“But no one ever stood up and said, ‘Hey, here’s what actually happened.’  And they put it in the newspaper,” she continued.  “They’d never seen what I exactly said, or what I said at all.  But all somebody has to do is say you said it.”

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Josh Duggar’s attorneys want child pornography case dismissed

Photo by Washington County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images

Attorneys for 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar have asked a judge to dismiss the child pornography case against him.

E! News obtained copies of the filing, in which Duggar’s attorneys requested the court to dismiss both charges against him, that of possessing and receiving child pornography.

His attorneys argue that investigators failed to preserve “exculpatory evidence” that could have helped exonerate Duggar, 33. In addition, his legal team claims that two acting secretaries of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were not properly appointed when the Duggar investigation was unfolding, which they claim merits dismissal of the charges.

In addition to seeking dismissal, the reality star’s lawyers also requested the court prevent certain evidence from being shown in court, should it head to trial — such as statements Duggar provided police before speaking to his lawyer, as well as photos of their client’s hands and feet, which they claim were not authorized.

Duggar is accused of downloading child sexual abuse material, some of which depicts children younger than 12, and having it in his possession in May of 2019, according to the indictment.  He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 40 years in prison.

Duggar has been the focus of several controversies over the years, starting in 2006 when he was investigated for allegedly molesting five underage girls when he was a teenager. Since then, two of his sisters — Jill, 30, and Jessa, 28 — have come forward as two of his victims.

 

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Tom Cruise’s helicopter makes emergency landing in UK family’s garden

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs, George Pimentel/WireImage

A family in Warwickshire, England got an unexpected visit from Tom Cruise when his helicopter landed in their garden.

The 59-year-old actor, who is in the U.K. filming Mission Impossible 7, was forced to make the emergency landing while the nearby Coventry Airport was temporarily shut down, according to BBC News.

The owner of the property, Alison Webb, says her family had only been told an unnamed VIP needed somewhere to land as the nearby airport was shut.

“It turned out to be an incredible day,” she adds. “It was surreal, I still now can’t believe it happened.”

Cruise posed for pictures and even gave a free helicopter ride to Webb’s children and her partner’s kids.

“He went straight over to the children for a chat, then came over and elbow bumped us and said thank you very much,” she revealed. “Then he said if the kids would like they could go up in the helicopter.”

Mission: Impossible 7 is expected to open in theaters on May 27, 2022.

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Tom Cruise’s helicopter lands in UK family’s yard

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs, George Pimentel/WireImage

A family in Warwickshire, England got an unexpected visit from Tom Cruise when his helicopter landed in their garden — or as we’d say in the U.S., their yard.

The 59-year-old actor, who’s in the U.K. filming Mission Impossible 7, needed to use the family’s yard to land while the nearby Coventry Airport was temporarily shut down, according to BBC News.

The owner of the property, Alison Webb, says her family had only been told an unnamed VIP needed somewhere to land as the nearby airport was shut.

“It turned out to be an incredible day,” she adds.  “It was surreal, I still now can’t believe it happened.”

Cruise posed for pictures and even gave a free helicopter ride to Webb’s children and her partner’s kids.

“He went straight over to the children for a chat, then came over and elbow bumped us and said thank you very much,” she revealed. “Then he said if the kids would like they could go up in the helicopter.”

Mission: Impossible 7 is expected to open in theaters on May 27, 2022.

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Yes, Michael Keaton is playing Batman again, but he still has “no idea” about comics

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) In a wide-ranging feature chat with The Hollywood ReporterMichael Keaton drops some hints about his upcoming return as the Caped Crusader in the upcoming Flash film. 

Although the Oscar winner starred in 1989’s Batman, which kicked off the superhero movie craze — and also played the villain Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and appears in the upcoming Mobius — Keaton says he knows nothing about comic books. 

For Mobius, a Sony/Marvel film starring Jared Leto as the vampiric anti-hero, Keaton says the filmmakers walked him through recent MCU lore. “I’m nodding like I know what the f*** they’re talking about,” Keaton admits. 

He adds, “So finally, they were looking at me, and they just started laughing. They said, ‘You don’t know what we’re talking about, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t, no idea what you’re talking about.'”

As for returning as Batman in Flash, Keaton says it was It director Andy Muschietti‘s vision and Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson‘s script that hooked him. But there was something else, too.

“Frankly, in the back of my head, I always thought, ‘I bet I could go back and nail that motherf*****,” Keaton says of the Dark Knight, after refusing to star in Batman Forever back in 1995.  That said, the script that sees a time-shifting Ezra Miller‘s Flash exposing various timelines — and Batmen, including Ben Affleck‘s — was puzzling to Keaton.

“They had to explain that to me several times,” he confesses.

Keaton also admits, “What’s really interesting is how much more I got [Batman] when I went back and did him [again]. I get this on a whole other level now. I totally respect it…It’s iconic…”

Sony’s Mobius opens in January of 2022; Warner Bros.’ Flash debuts in November of 2022.

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Jake Gyllenhaal to star in and produce adaptation of ‘Oblivion Song’ from ‘Walking Dead’ creator Robert Kirkman

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Jake Gyllenhaal is heading to the comic-book world once again. The Spider-Man: Far from Home baddie will star in and produce an adaptation of Oblivion Song, the sci-fi comic series created in 2018 by The Walking Dead‘s creator Robert Kirkman

Some time ago, Kirkman explained the Oblivion Song plot to ABC Audio, and it’s clear to see just who Gyllenhaal will be playing.

“Basically, there was an event called The Transference that happened 10 years ago where a large chunk of Philadelphia switched places with another dimension,” Kirkman said, setting the stage. “Nathan Cole is one of the last remaining guys who would…pop into the other dimension and rescue people that were stranded there…in this other dimension that they’ve coined Oblivion now.”

He says of the hero, “[I]t’s a big question as to, you know, what’s wrong with his life that he feels the need to do this and why is he so obsessed.”

Oblivion Song, meanwhile, will be produced by New Republic Pictures, which helped bring the Oscar-winning 1917 to theaters in 2019, with Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories company and Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment.

Kirkman’s Invincible was recently made into a hit animated series for Amazon Prime, as his first adaptation, The Walking Dead, marches into its final season on AMC.

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Watch Nicole Byer, Wayne Brady in new trailer for ‘Nailed It!’; Billy Porter to direct Gabrielle Union’s ‘To Be Real’

Courtesy of Netflix

The season-six trailer for Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Nailed It! has been released.

Hosted by the hilarious Nicole Byer, the upcoming season will once again bring amateur bakers together for a chance to win $10,000. Some of the new challenges include “paranormal pastries” and an opportunity to celebrate Black History with various confections. Jacques Torres will return as judge, while Sam Richardson, Wayne Brady, Reggie Watts, Big Freedia, June Diane Raphael and Sasheer Zamata will step in as celebrity guest judges. Nailed It! hits Netflix on September 15.

In other news, Billy Porter has been tapped to direct Gabrielle Union‘s forthcoming queer teen comedy feature, To Be Real. According to Variety, the film landed at Amazon Studios after “a competitive bidding war that received multiple offers.” Described as an LGBTQ Superbad mixed with Booksmart, the film centers on three queer friends who leave their hometown for Pride Weekend in New York City, where they discover that “life over the rainbow is an insane, raunchy, often divisive, but ultimately FIERCE non-stop party.” Casting details for the film have yet to be announced.

Finally — ICYMI, Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green is re-teaming with star Jurnee Smollett for an upcoming spinoff to DC’s Birds of Prey. Variety reports that the new standalone film will center around Smollett’s Black Canary character and will be produced for HBO Max. Smollett confirmed the news on Twitter, writing in part, “Guess the Canary is out of the cage!  So excited to finally embark on this adventure with my creative soul sis @MishaGreen.”

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‘Booksmart’ star Beanie Feldstein vows “no more halters” after near Oscars wardrobe malfunction

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Beanie Feldstein learned an important fashion rule the hard way at the 2020 Oscars.

“I was wearing a stunning dress that had a halter clasp at the neck,” the Booksmart star recalls in an interview with W magazine, published Monday. 

“The gown had boning and a sort of shelf for the bust, but there was no bra involved,” she continues, then jokes, “I’m all about representation, and I’m here to represent big, low-hanging Jewish breasts.”

“The halter on the dress was struggling.  It was hanging on for dear life,” adds the 28-year-old actress.  “There was a countdown clock backstage, and there was a minute and 20 seconds left before I had to go on in front of an audience of millions…I was nervous and accidentally stepped on the front hem of my dress, and with that step, the clasp gave way.”

“At that point, there was 18 seconds to go.  Luckily, someone backstage had a safety pin and re-clasped me, but I almost flashed the entire world that night,” she says.

“The moral of this story,” concludes Feldstein, “is, I’m a busty, low-hanging Jewish girl, and you have to be who you are.  Which means no more halters.”

Feldstein stars as Monica Lewinsky alongside Clive Owen, Edie Falco, Sarah Paulson and Annaleigh Ashford in Impeachment: American Crime Story, premiering September 7 on FX.

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Laverne Cox says she will “never ever” have children of her own

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Laverne Cox is opening up to fans about her decision to not have children.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the Emmy nominated actress made it clear that she isn’t interested in raising children, because she’s still working on herself.

“I see so many friends and colleagues becoming parents.  I’m happy for all of you,” said Cox, 49, in an infographic. “I’m even happier for me, ecstatic even that I am NOT becoming a parent ever, never ever.”

She declared, “The thought brings me so much joy!”

“Enjoy the most important job on the planet, raising children.  I’m enjoying watching you from a distance,” Cox went on.  “I’m doing the work of reparenting my inner child.  That’s more than enough work.”

Cox captioned the announcement, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Elliot Page says ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ helped him overcome loneliness, shame and self-hatred

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Elliot Page says the film But I’m a Cheerleader helped him overcome loneliness, shame and self-hatred. 

The Umbrella Academy star was honored with Outfest’s Achievement Award on Sunday and in his acceptance speech spoke about the importance of representation, especially while growing up, according to Variety

“I for one know that without the various representation that I was able to stumble upon as a kid and a teenager — there was very little — I just don’t know if I would have made it,” Page said. “I don’t know if I would have made it through the moments of isolation and loneliness and shame and self-hatred that was so extreme and powerful and all-encompassing that you could hardly see out of it.”

“And then, you know, at 15, when you are flipping through the channels and you stumble on But I’m a Cheerleader and the dialogue in that film, and scenes in that film just transform your life,” he continued, referencing the 1999 satirical rom-com starring Natasha Lyonne as a high school teenager whose parents send her to conversation camp after suspecting she’s gay.

“I almost think we don’t talk enough about how important representation is and enough about how many lives it saves and how many futures it allows for,” the Oscar nominee shared. 

“It’s [Outfest] and organizations like yourself that are completely changing that. And helping get stories out in the world that I know are reaching people in moments where they feel desperately alone and afraid and like they have no sense of community. And it offers somebody a lifeline,” Page added. “And I know that representation has done that for me.”

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