Entertainment

Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Michael B. Jordan and Sofia Coppola have been named this year’s honorees for the Academy Museum Gala to be held on October 14, according to Deadline. As a fundraiser, the event has gotten permission to move forward by WGA and SAG-AFTRA. The evening will help raise vital funds to support the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ exhibitions, education initiatives, and public programming, including screenings, K-12 programs, and access initiatives in service of the general public and the local community of Los Angeles…

Game of Thrones and EastEnders actor Darren Kent “passed away peacefully” on Tuesday at the age of 36, Kent’s agency Carey Dodd Associates tweeted on Tuesday. His other credits included Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Kent, who had a rare skin disorder, earned praise for his role in the 2011 film Sunny Boy. in which he played a boy with a rare skin condition that prevents him from being in the sun and halts his desire to be a regular teenager…

Variety reports Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro will be back for on ABC’s The View when it returns for its 27th season on September 5. The daytime chat show ended the 2022-2023 TV season as the No. 1 daytime talk show among both households and total viewers, averaging 2.375 million total viewers, per Nielsen. It marked the third consecutive year that The View took the top spot in both viewers and households in daytime…

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Alec Baldwin could still face manslaughter charges in the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust.

The two charges of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin, who was holding the gun when it went off, were dropped in April.

However, a forensic report released on Tuesday, August 15 found that his Colt .45 would only fire if the trigger was pulled.

“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver,” forensic firearm examiner Lucien Haag wrote in the report, obtained by ABC News affiliate KOAT.

Throughout the investigation, Baldwin has claimed he did not pull the prop trigger. However, the report includes frames from one of the videos showing Baldwin’s index finger on or near the trigger.

“Charges are still being considered against Mr. Baldwin but a final decision has not yet been made. We are proceeding carefully and thoughtfully,” special prosecutor, Kari Morrissey, said in a statement to ABC News.

Following the report, Jason Bowles, attorney for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who still faces charges from the incident, filed a motion requesting special jury instructions that would include telling the jury that if a crime was committed, Baldwin would be more culpable than the armorer, according to KOAT.

In his statement to ABC, Morrissey called the motion “nothing but a press grab,” explaining, “Jury instructions are ruled upon by the Court at the close of evidence during a trial and he simply used this ‘motion’ as a means to disseminate the ballistics report. We can’t respond to the motion until the close of evidence and the trial is now set for December 6, 2023.”

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Millie Bobby Brown is opening up about two major events in her life: the final season of Stranger Things and her wedding to fiance Jake Bongiovi.

Having catapulted to fame on Stranger Things during its first season in 2016, Brown will bid her beloved character, Eleven, farewell during the forthcoming fifth and final season. While there’s no premiere date yet, largely due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes, Brown says she’s ready to say goodbye.

“I think I’m ready,” she told Women’s Wear Daily in an interview conducted prior to the actors strike. “It’s been such a huge factor in part of my life, but it’s like graduating high school, it’s like senior year.”

The Enola Holmes actress continued, “You’re ready to go and blossom and flourish and you’re grateful for the time you’ve had, but it’s time to create your own message and live your own life.”

While Brown’s journey on Stranger Things is coming to a close, there’s a new beginning in her future with Bongiovi, son of rock legend Jon Bon Jovi. The couple announced their engagement in April and wedding planning is in full swing — but she’s staying mum on details.

The Florence by Mills Beauty founder said she likes to “draw the curtains because I believe in privacy for my own sanity,” adding that when it comes to her wedding, she’ll be “probably drawing the curtains, just because there are only so many moments in life that you get only once. And to have everyone’s opinions and eyes looking at that just feels unnatural to me.”

Millie added, “So I feel it’s important to keep those things, those small precious moments in life, really close to your chest.”

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While most first heard of The Diplomat star Keri Russell when her show Felicity became a hit, the actress’s first big gig was as a Mouseketeer in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.

According to an interview with W magazine that took place before the SAG-AFTRA strike, it seems she was happy to put that particular credit behind her.

The publication asked Keri if she saved anything from her Mickey Mouse Club days; she replied, “My sanity, my dignity. Not everyone got out alive.”

That said, she apparently didn’t regret the experience, adding of her co-stars, “Some of those people are still my best friends — Ilana [Miller] and Lindsey [Alley].”

She added there was a wealth of talent in that cast, even if she didn’t count herself among them.

“I was there at a time when there were a lot of famous kids there,” Russell said.

“And I say this completely truthfully: I was literally the least talented one there. I’m not kidding,” Keri continued. “When I look at those kids, I’m like, why in the world did they pick me? Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears. It was wild.”

Incidentally, Gosling told GQ something similar in a May cover story: “Everybody was at, like, prodigy level.”

“I certainly wasn’t a child prodigy. I didn’t know why I was there. And I think that was the consensus,” he continued.

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A new species of snake discovered in 2022 at Otishi National Park in Peru has been coyly named in honor of Harrison Ford, who played perhaps the most famous ophidiophobic character in movie history, Indiana Jones.

It was Indy’s lament in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark that demonstrates the herpetologists’ sense of humor: “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”

Introducing Tachymenoides harrisonfordi: a copper and brown snake, measuring around 16 inches long, that feeds mainly on frogs and lizards.

While the origin of Henry Jones Jr.’s fear of snakes happened in his youth, as seen in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the introduction to the world of the slitherer named in Ford’s honor came in the form of an academic paper submitted to Salamandra, The German Journal of Herpetology.

A single male snake was spotted at the park, which is located in a volatile area of the country controlled by drug cartels, the scientists explained in the paper.

After DNA and other testing, it was determined to be a never-before-seen species, and as is tradition, that gave naming rights to the scientists who discovered it.

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On his Instagram, Joachim Rønning, the filmmaker set to direct the upcoming third film in the Tron series, lamented the state of striking Hollywood on what would have been the Disney-produced movie’s start date.

His post on Monday, August 14, commented, “Today was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on TRON: ARES (a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human). Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone.”

Elsewhere, Rønning noted that “being an actor or a writer, means you’re a freelancer. And I can tell you, the constant uncertainty is not for everyone. To that end I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a better safety net.”

He also added a warning about one of the strikers’ sticking points with the studios: The use of AI in Hollywood, which the filmmaker called a “threat…to all creatives.”

That said, the director urged, “The AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA and WGA need to speed up the negotiating process and not leave the table until it’s done. This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious?”

He adds, “These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work – under conditions that are fair to everybody.”

Tron: Ares will have Oscar winner Jared Leto playing the title role, with DAHMER: Monster Emmy nominee Evan Peters and Yellowjackets star Sarah Desjardins.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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While the movie Elvis showed that his manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, didn’t always have the superstar’s best interests in mind, the same can’t be said of Parker’s big-screen alter ego, Tom Hanks, to his Elvis co-star.

According to an interview with Austin Butler in The Times of London, Hanks offered the young star his first gig after the Oscar-nominated performance — a lead in Apple TV+’s upcoming miniseries Masters of the Air — for the sake of Butler’s mental health.

As has been widely reported, Butler put himself through the ringer to portray Elvis Presley, not only adopting The King’s accent, but also transforming his body for the role.

In the interview, Butler explained the role took him “to the very edge of what is possible,” noting, “I don’t think I’ll ever have an experience like that again, but if I have to really dig, it makes me feel alive.”

With his going “to the very edge” in mind, Butler says Hanks offered him a role in his upcoming World War II series, which was co-produced by Steven Spielberg. “You have immersed yourself so deeply in Elvis that, for your mental health, it would be wise to go straight into something else,” Butler said, quoting the Hanks.

“If you just jump off the train, you might have emotional whiplash,” Hanks reportedly told Butler.

The 31-year-old actor can be seen in Masters of the Air, alongside fellow recent Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan, starting September 20 on Apple TV+.

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On his Instagram Tuesday, August 15, Matthew McConaughey appeared with his 15-year-old son, Levi, to plead for help for the people affected by the Maui wildfires.

“The fires over there have already put so many people out of home and taken so many lives,” the Oscar winner expressed. “These people need to stabilize to survive.”

Matthew explained it’s a family effort, with his wife and eldest son. “Camila, myself and Levi are working with this organization called Baby2Baby. They are working with partners who are on the ground in Maui, saying ‘This is what people need right now. This is what the most needy people need.’ That’s Aloha Diaper Bank, Maui Diaper Bank, Pacific Food Collective and Maui Rapid Response.”

Matthew continued, “…So if you’d like to help, check out Baby2Baby, see the work they’ve been doing, or any other way you can help…a lot of help is needed.”

Levi added, “Yeah, they’re gonna need it for the long term, so any way you guys can help, it’s appreciated.”

A caption below the video message read, “[The] McConaughey’s [sic] are funding an emergency aid plane with @Baby2Baby that is filled with hundreds of thousands more emergency supplies that will have an immediate impact on children and families on Maui.”

“Grateful we can help get these critical supplies to children and families who need it,” it continued, asking those who want to help to donate, listing a series of charitable organizations.

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With the popularity of resurgent shows like Suits on Netflix and Peacock, the percentage of Americans who actually watch broadcast TV has dropped to under 50% for the first time in history.

According to Nielsen data compiled by the Wall Street Journal, traditional TV has been taking a drubbing from its streaming competition more than ever, with streaming viewership reaching an all-time high in July.

Nielsen numbers from July show cable TV attracted 29.6% of the viewers in this country, compared to 20% for watchers of broadcast TV — your non-cable channels.

However, streaming scooped up 38.7% of Americans’ viewing time; 11.6% entertained themselves with DVD playback and gaming.

The data also shows people are “cutting the cord” more than ever, with around a quarter of cable subscribers switching over to streaming permanently for all their entertainment needs over the last decade.

And while networks are pilfering their own potential audiences for original programming on sister streaming destinations, it’s the older shows that are getting the eyeballs.

Suits, for example, became a streaming phenomenon in July, years after the USA Network show’s finale in 2019.

The legal drama that costarred Meghan Markle until she left in 2018 to marry Prince Harry dropped on Netflix in June, and 18 billion minutes’ worth were watched in July.

All that said, the streaming services have taken note of their popularity: The average cost of watching a major ad-free streaming service is rising up by nearly 25% in about a year, according to the publication.

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Just in time for Halloween — yes, it’s August, but we’re already going there — Walmart has exclusively dropped a must-have for any Stranger Things fan.

The retailer is selling life-sized — nearly 8 feet tall — Demogorgons, those toothy terrors from the hit Netflix show. They can be used to decorate your lawn for the spooky season or, well, anywhere else you decide to display seven-and-a-half-feet tall demons from the Upside Down.

The realistic models also move and emit spooky sounds taken from the show. They retail for $399 only at Walmart.com.

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