Entertainment

Amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes, actor Billy Porter shared the personal toll it has taken on him revealing that he has no choice but to put his house up for sale.

“I have to sell my house,” Porter shared in a recent interview with the Evening Standard. “Because we’re on strike. And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work].”

“The life of an artist, until you make f***-you money — which I haven’t made yet — is still check-to-check,” the Emmy winner continued. “I was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening.”

“So to the person who said ‘We’re going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments,'” You’ve already starved me out,” the Pose actor said, referencing a controversial comment made by an unnamed studio executive. 

Porter, who is currently in London for work, added that he plans to join the picket lines when he returns home. 

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Netflix dropped the trailer to the steamy new thriller Fair Play on Tuesday. The feature stars Bridgerton‘s Phoebe Dynevor and Solo‘s Alden Ehrenreich, respectively as Emily and Luke, a couple whose forbidden office romance while working at the same cutthroat hedge fund pushes their relationship to the brink when Emily gets promoted over Luke. Fair Play premieres October 13 on Netflix…

Sylvester Stallone‘s Netflix documentary Sly has been tapped to close the Toronto Film Festival on September 17. As a Netflix title, the retrospective documentary, per the streamer, “offers an intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor-writer-director-producer, paralleling his inspirational underdog-story with the indelible characters he has brought to life.” Sly launches in November on Netflix…

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has revealed that former child actor Austin Majors, best known for his role as Theo Sipowicz, son of Dennis Franz‘s Detective Andy Sipowicz, on NYPD Blue, died at 27 as the result of an accidental fentanyl overdose, according to Entertainment Weekly. The case remains open. Majors’ other credits included series ER, NCIS, Desperate Housewives and How I Met Your Mother, as well as the films Treasure Planet, The Price of Air, Little Manhattan and The Ant Bully…

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Nick Viall and Natalie Joy will soon be a family of three.

In a joint Instagram post shared on Tuesday, the Bachelor alum and his fiancée announced they are expecting a baby.

“Our biggest dream came true,” they wrote in the caption alongside several photos of them embracing, and an ultrasound image.

The photos were taken by photographer Sarah Partain.

Several Bachelor Nation alums flooded the comments section of the post, including Victoria Fuller from season 24 of The Bachelor, Serena Pitt Amabile from season 25 of The Bachelor and Dean Unglert from season 13 of The Bachelorette.

“I love you guys,” Fuller wrote in the comments. “All 3 of you.”

Viall and Joy announced their engagement in January with several Instagram photos from the proposal, showing off Joy’s ring and snaps of them embracing. They also posted a video of the proposal itself and their engagement party with friends directly afterward.

Nick and Natalie were first linked in 2020, and went public the following year. Nick opened up about his relationship on an episode of The Viall Files podcast.

“It’s fun. It’s great. I’m super happy,” he said in February 2021, later sharing that the two met online. “She slid into my DMs. It was very romantic.”

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Amazon Prime Video has released the trailer to Sitting in Bars with Cake, the adaptation of the based-on-real-life book of the same name by Audrey Shulman.

Grown-ish‘s Yara Shahidi and Hellraiser‘s Odessa A’zion star in the film as, respectively, Jane and Corinne, two 20-something besties in Los Angeles. The streamer teases the movie is “full of baking, dating and drama.”

According to Amazon, “Corinne, the ultimate extrovert, convinces her shy-but-extremely-talented home baker best friend to commit to a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars, with the goal of meeting people and developing confidence — also known as ‘cakebarring.'”

However, that year brings a “life-altering diagnosis” for Corinne, in what Prime Video calls a “moving celebration of female friendship, forging identity, and finding joy in the most unexpected places.”

Sitting in Bars with Cake, which also stars Ron Livingston and Bette Midler, debuts September 8 on Prime Video.

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The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday, August 8, that an accidental fentanyl overdose killed Robert De Niro’s 19-year-old grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez.

ABC News has learned De Niro Rodriguez died July 2 of what the medical examiner described as the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.

The manner of death was ruled accidental.

The findings are incidentally what Leandro’s mother, De Niro’s eldest child, Drena, suspected in an Instagram post captured by TMZ.

Drena said the powerful synthetic drug was the cause of her only child’s death, noting on Tuesday, July 4, “Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him so for all these people still f****** around selling and buying this s***, my son is gone forever.”

A suspect, Sophia Haley Marks, 20, was arrested weeks later at her home in Manhattan by the New York Police Department and Drug Enforcement Agency for allegedly supplying the drugs that killed De Niro Rodriguez, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Marks was charged with one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and alprazolam, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and two counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, each of which also carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Marks is allegedly known on the streets as the “Percocet Princess” and is believed to have sold drugs to De Niro Rodriguez, the sources said.

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For the first time since his career was derailed by a pair of sexual assault allegations that surfaced against him in 2021, former Sex and the City star Chris Noth is opening up.

Noth told USA Today that he cheated on his wife, Tara Wilson. The 68-year-old actor told the paper, “I strayed on my wife, and it’s devastating to her and not a very pretty picture. What it isn’t is a crime.”

As reported, Noth was never charged for the accusations from two women, who say they linked up with him in 2004 and 2015, respectively. In a statement, he called the allegations “categorically false” and maintained “the encounters were consensual.”

To the paper, Noth expressed, “There’s nothing I can say to change anyone’s mind when you have that kind of a tidal wave. It sounds defensive. I’m not. There’s no criminal court. There’s no criminal trial. There’s nothing for me to get … my story out.”

He added, “And there’s even more absurd add-ons that are completely ridiculous, that have absolutely no basis in fact.”

Noth claimed he’s “been slimed” by the accusations, which he said could potentially result in civil lawsuits, calling it “a money train for a lot of people.”

Still, Noth, who was fired from The Equalizer show after the reports surfaced and suffered other blowback, remains determined. “I’m not going to lay down and just say it’s over,” he said.

“It’s a salacious story, but it’s just not a true one … I’m an actor. … And I have children to support. I can’t just rest on my laurels.”

He added, “So yeah, I have enough to let a year drift, but I don’t know how to gauge or judge getting back into the club, the business, because corporations are frightened.”

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After breaking records for the large-format theater chain, Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer is staying put in IMAX theaters.

ABC Audio has confirmed IMAX is extending the run of the star-packed, acclaimed movie, which has made $550 million worldwide, nearly unheard of for a three-hour historical drama. All 19 North American IMAX 70mm locations will continue screening the movie starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt through the end of August.

Through Monday, August 7, Oppenheimer has made $117.5 million in IMAX theaters alone, making it Nolan’s highest-grossing release in his preferred format, and the eighth highest-grossing IMAX release of all time.

Nolan has always been an innovator using IMAX film, which he has called “a portal into a level of emotion you can’t get from other formats.” He actually helped invent a black-and-white film specifically for Oppenheimer, calling the results “magical and inspiring.”

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The Australian horror pic Talk To Me, which centers on demonic possession when a person happens to shake an embalmed hand, was made for under $5 million, and it already has more than five times that, er, in hand.

The film from Danny and Michael Philippou has made more than $26 million worldwide since its release on July 28. A24, the studio behind it and Oscar winners like The Whale and Everything Everywhere All at Once, apparently have more chills from the pair up its sleeve.

The siblings tell The Hollywood Reporter that they’ve already shot a prequel, centering on the two brothers featured in the movie’s bloody open. “It’s told entirely through the perspective of mobile phones and social media, so maybe down the line we can release that,” Danny told the trade, noting also they’ve also got material…on hand for a follow-up.

Danny explains, “…while writing the first film, you can’t help but write scenes for a second film. So there’s so many scenes. The mythology was so thick, and if A24 gave us the opportunity, we wouldn’t be able to resist. I feel like we’d jump at it.”

With those box office returns, it appears A24 couldn’t resist, either.

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In a statement from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), it was revealed on Monday, August 7, that visual effects (VFX) crews working for Marvel Studios have voted to unionize.

“A supermajority of Marvel’s more than 50-worker crew had signed authorization cards indicating they wished to be represented by the [IATSE],” the union announced.

The decision comes amid months of public complaints from veteran computer effects wizards who have claimed to be overworked, and viewer gripes of substandard looking visual effects in movies like Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which the artists blamed on “impossible” deadlines.

A representative for the union that has a membership of 140,000 people, representing virtually every behind-the-scenes job in movies, stages and TV, explained, “This marks the first time VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same rights and protections as their unionized colleagues in the film industry, even though the sector has been around for half a century.”

Bella Huffman, VFX coordinator, summed up her colleagues’ complaints. “Turnaround times don’t apply to us, protected hours don’t apply to us, and pay equity doesn’t apply to us,” she said. “Visual Effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who’s suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won’t be exploited.”

In the statement, Mark Patch, VFX organizer for IATSE, added, “For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry,” calling the vote a “historic first step for VFX workers coming together…demanding respect for the work we do.”

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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Rina fans everywhere, rejoice.

If you haven’t recovered from that cliff-hanger season 3 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series ends with — where Ricky (Joshua Bassett) and Gina (Sofia Wylie) finally admit their feelings and kiss for the first time — then you should probably take time to prepare for season 4.

Ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Bassett and Wylie spoke to ABC Audio about what it was like to further develop the Rina relationship in the final season of the Disney+ series, which streams Wednesday, August 9.

To Bassett, the experience was “a dream come true to work with Sofia in such a way.”

“Ricky and Gina have a healthy relationship,” Bassett said. “Yes, they both have their issues, and they’re still teenagers in high school, and so there’s the natural sort of drama that comes with that, but in general I think their hearts are in the right place. And I think that that’s a really beautiful thing that each character deserves.”

Wylie added that the journey to romance was hard-earned for the couple.

“We’ve seen Ricky and Gina as kind-of friends, and then truly friends and then something more than friends, but a weird in-between,” Wylie said.

“And they’re enemies at one point,” Bassett adds, referring to season 2. Wylie notes the pair, “like, didn’t speak.”

Wylie says this just makes Rina’s dynamic more multilayered.

“It’s really interesting to see now, finally, a new layer — a much more intimate layer — of their relationship, and what that will mean for them as individuals,” Wylie said. “I think always when there’s new characters introduced that that does mess with dynamics, and we’ll see if they can work through that and what happens with the relationship towards the end.”

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