Model mom: Ashley Graham responds to flak for weaning her twins off breastmilk

Model mom: Ashley Graham responds to flak for weaning her twins off breastmilk
Model mom: Ashley Graham responds to flak for weaning her twins off breastmilk
Good Morning America

Ashley Graham has been open with her Instagram followers as she journeyed into motherhood, telling ABC Audio before the birth of her first child, Isaac, in 2020 that she was taking notes from her social media followers. “The mommy community has embraced me so much,” she said at the time.

But now, as a mom of twins, she’s learning online feedback cuts both ways. She told guest Daily Show host Chelsea Handler on Tuesday night that she’s gotten flak online for her decision to stop breastfeeding her twin sons, Malachi and Roman.

“There’s this whole thing with people telling you how to feed your child,” the model and body positivity advocate vented.

“With my first kid, I was like, ‘I can only breastfeed! This is the right way!'” she said of raising Isaac, now 3.

Graham continued, “Then I had the twins, and I was like, ‘I’m not doing this. This is not working here. Both of you want both of these? This is a lot of work.'”

“Overnight, my whole life changed, and it felt like I was feeding a nation,” she joked.

The 35-year-old former Sports Illustrated pinup said five months after she and husband Justin Ervin added the twins to their family, she switched to formula, and the now-1-year-old boys are “so strong and happy.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lea Michele calls “reach-outs” after Glee diva accusations “eye-opening”

Lea Michele calls “reach-outs” after Glee diva accusations “eye-opening”
Lea Michele calls “reach-outs” after Glee diva accusations “eye-opening”
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Lea Michele is getting rave reviews and breaking box office records as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway, but the recent accolades come after she weathered some negative headlines.

Back in 2020, a social media post in support of the Black Lives Matter movement led some of her former Glee co-stars to shade her, with Samantha Marie Ware saying Lea had made her “first television gig a living hell.”

Others piled on about Michele’s alleged diva behavior, including costar Heather Morris. Michele quickly lost an endorsement deal with food prep company HelloFresh. More recently, Chris Colfer said seeing Michele onstage would be “triggering.”

Michele addressed the controversy in Interview magazine: “I think these past two years have been so important for everybody to just sit back and reflect.” She said she “did a lot of personal reach-outs” in that time.

She added, “The most important thing was for everybody to just take a step back. More than anything, I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to apply the things that I’ve learned over the past 10-plus years in a positive way.”

“At the end of the day, what matters the most is how you make people feel,” she said.

Michele continued, “The conversations that I’ve had behind the scenes with some people were incredibly healing and very eye-opening for me. I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I’m not going to ever blame anything on the things that I’ve been through in my life. But you also can’t ignore those experiences or deny them. They are a part of the patchwork of my life.”

She also commented that taking the Funny Girl role was “an opportunity to introduce people to who I am now.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘DWTS’ pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy reveal their baby boy’s name

‘DWTS’ pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy reveal their baby boy’s name
‘DWTS’ pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy reveal their baby boy’s name
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Almost a month after welcoming their first child together, Dancing with the Stars pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy have revealed his name.

Rome Valentin Chmerkovskiy,” Johnson, 28, shared Tuesday on Instagram, alongside a photo of the baby, which also showed his face for the first time.

“Cannot believe it’s been 4 weeks of being completely infatuated with you. Thank you for bursting my heart wide open and showing me what unconditional love is. Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!!!” she added, along with the footnote, **the left dimple melts me every time.”

Jenna revealed the birth in a January 11 Instagram post, writing, “Our world is forever changed 1.10.2023,” along with a black-and-white photo showing a closeup of the baby grabbing her thumb and Chmerkovskiy’s hand wrapping around both of them.

Johnson announced her pregnancy in July, captioning a pic of Val, 36, kissing her belly, “Baby Chmerkovskiy coming this January! My heart has grown beyond comprehension while growing this little miracle inside of me. We can’t wait to meet our precious angel.”

A month later, Jenna wrote on Instagram, “IT’S A……BOY!!!!!!!” alongside images of she and Val popping containers of blue confetti.

“Today we are officially half way there to meeting our son,” she continued. “Saying those words still makes me emotional!! SO EXCITED to be a boy mom.”

It’s the first child for the couple, who who tied the knot in 2019.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Christina Applegate hints at retirement after 2023 SAG Awards

Christina Applegate hints at retirement after 2023 SAG Awards
Christina Applegate hints at retirement after 2023 SAG Awards
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Christina Applegate, who has been battling multiple sclerosis since 2021, may be looking to retire from acting following this month’s 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards on the 26th.

“It’s my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal,” the Dead to Me star told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published on Tuesday.

“Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment,” Applegate, 51, explained.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve heard the last of the Married with Children alum, though. Applegate says she’s contemplating producing, development and “doing a s*** ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”

Her most recent awards show appearance was at the Critics Choice Awards last month — her first awards show since her diagnosis.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Grammys made sure Adele was “authentically surprised” by Dwayne Johnson

The Grammys made sure Adele was “authentically surprised” by Dwayne Johnson
The Grammys made sure Adele was “authentically surprised” by Dwayne Johnson
CBS/Sonja Flemming

One unexpected moment at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, besides Bonnie Raitt winning Song of the Year, came when host Trevor Noah surprised Adele by introducing her to a celebrity she loves and had never met: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson tells Variety that moment was 100% not scripted — Adele really didn’t know about it.

“We wanted to do something special for Adele,” Johnson tells Variety. “I know that she is a very big fan of mine and has made that clear publicly many times. But I’ve got to tell you, I am a huge fan of hers, as well — her music, her journey, her openness and directness in how she speaks. I’ve always admired that about her.”

Johnson was initially set to attend the taping of Adele’s CBS special in 2021. He couldn’t make it, so he sent her flowers instead, which Adele later said made her “nearly fall off my chair.” That show’s producer, Ben Winston, is also the producer of the Grammys, so when Johnson confirmed that he and his wife would attend the show, Winston pitched him on the idea.

“We had kicked around ideas all week,” Johnson says. “The key to a surprise like that is to actually keep it a surprise. Myself and the Grammys went to great lengths to make sure that Adele was authentically surprised in the moment, and she was.”

Johnson says later that evening nobody was more surprised than he was when he gave out the Record of the Year award and Adele’s name was in the envelope.

“That’s why I was able to say, ‘Get up here best friend, Adele!’” he explains. “It was such a special night. And she’s such a special, iconic, brilliant, inspiring artist … I love that woman.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In Brief: ‘La La Land’ headed to Broadway; ‘Fawlty Towers’ reboot, and more

In Brief: ‘La La Land’ headed to Broadway; ‘Fawlty Towers’ reboot, and more
In Brief: ‘La La Land’ headed to Broadway; ‘Fawlty Towers’ reboot, and more

Deadline reports CBS is planning to replace The Late Late Show with James Corden with a reboot of @midnight, a series that aired on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017. The Late Show host Stephen Colbert will executive produce the show, which, in its first incarnation, was an Internet-themed panel game show where three guests competed in a series of improv games. Chris Hardwick, who hosted the original series, is not expected to have direct involvement in the reboot, according to the outlet…

LA is heading to New York — that is to say, La La Land, the 2016 movie musical starring Emma Stone as an aspiring actor and Ryan Gosling as a jazz musician who pursue their dreams in Los Angeles, is being adapted as a Broadway show, according to Variety. The Broadway cast has yet to be announced. La La Land, which grossed $151 million in North America and $472 million worldwide, won several Academy Awards, including best director for Damien Chazelle and best actress for Stone…

Here’s some great news for Fawlty Towers fans — a reboot of John Cleese‘s popular Brit-com is in the works from the Monty Python alum and Rob Reiner. Cleese is set to write and star alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese in the series, which, according to Deadline, “will explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world.” Fawlty Towers, which ran for two six-part seasons, finishing in 1979, ranks #1 on numerous best all-time British comedy lists…

Three Women, the Shailene Woodley-led drama, recently scrapped by Showtime, is getting a new life at Starz, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series, also starring DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin and Blair Underwood, was one of three to get the axe — along with Let the Right One In and American Gigolo — as a result of the premium cable channel’s consolidation with Paramount+. Three Women is the latest castoff scripted series to land at stars, joining Minx, after the latter was dropped by HBO Max after one season…

The MTV Movie & TV Awards — scripted and unscripted — will return on Sunday, May 7 for a live show at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles. After a year off the air in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the show returned with two ceremonies in 2021: the MTV Movie & TV Awards on one night and the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted on the next. Host, honorees, performers, presenters and additional details will be announced at a later date…

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lauren Ash, Hannah Simone say ‘Not Dead Yet’ breaks the mold for shows about seeing dead people

Lauren Ash, Hannah Simone say ‘Not Dead Yet’ breaks the mold for shows about seeing dead people
Lauren Ash, Hannah Simone say ‘Not Dead Yet’ breaks the mold for shows about seeing dead people
ABC

Not Dead Yet breaks the mold of a character suddenly gaining the power to see the dead, say stars Hannah Simone and Lauren Ash.

The show stars Gina Rodriguez as Nell, a woman who takes a job writing obituaries at the local paper and gains the ability to see those she’s writing about. Ash, who plays Lexi, said the show excels at fleshing out the characters and what connects them.

“I think the premise of the show is brilliant,” she told ABC Audio. “I think that it’s always fun to see a new guest star basically every single week who are, like, 12 out of 10 amazing actors and people.”

The guest stars she’s referring to are actors like Rhea Perlman, who play the deceased people who talk to Nell as she writes their obituaries.

Simone is pleased with how the show explores the topics of grief and past regrets. “I just feel like it’s authentic storytelling,” she expressed. Simone also appreciates the show doesn’t shy away from ruining a second chance and making mistakes, adding, “It just feels real. It’s not a show where things feel forced.”

“You’re watching people in the relationships stumble in ways that we all really relate to,” she said, adding the writers “really went there with telling the truth.”

She said that is what makes the show “interesting and groundbreaking.”

Ash agreed, saying, “I think what the real kind of crux of what makes this show unique is that every single character is so vastly different from the character before … We’re getting to see the full stories of these people, rather than just we come in, and there’s a dead person and then they’re out.” 

Not Dead Yet premieres Wednesday, February 8, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ben Affleck’s Dunkin’ ad reportedly now a Super Bowl commercial with Jennifer Lopez

Ben Affleck’s Dunkin’ ad reportedly now a Super Bowl commercial with Jennifer Lopez
Ben Affleck’s Dunkin’ ad reportedly now a Super Bowl commercial with Jennifer Lopez
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images

As reported last month, Oscar winner and director Ben Affleck showed his love for Dunkin’ by shooting a commercial at one of its Massachusetts locations. But now it appears the commercial has a famous co-star: his wife, Jennifer Lopez.

J.Lo was spotted thanking staffers when the commercial shoot wrapped and chatting with Ben through the drive-thru window when he was “working” there. But Entertainment Tonight now reports his wife’s actually in the spot, and the famous couple’s ad is bound for the big game.

A source says, “Ben’s Dunkin’ commercial was initially supposed to be a regular commercial and campaign, but things changed and now it will be a commercial during the Super Bowl.” The spy added, “The commercial is funny and cute. It shows Ben working at Dunkin’ in his free time because he loves it so much. Then Jen pulls up to the drive-thru and asks him, ‘What are you doing here? Is this what you do all day?’ They’re both very excited about it.”

For the record, Dunkin’ demurred on the details, with Jill Nelson, the company’s chief marketing officer, telling ET, “Dunkin’ is airing its first-ever Super Bowl ad this year, but you’ll have to tune in on Sunday to see what’s ‘Ben’ brewing.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Attorney for Alec Baldwin seeks to disqualify special prosecutor in ‘Rust’ shooting case

Attorney for Alec Baldwin seeks to disqualify special prosecutor in ‘Rust’ shooting case
Attorney for Alec Baldwin seeks to disqualify special prosecutor in ‘Rust’ shooting case
ABC News

Alec Baldwin moved on Tuesday to disqualify Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor in New Mexico who investigated him over the fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the set of Rust.

“The special prosecutor in this case … is a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives. Under … the New Mexico Constitution, however, a sitting member of the Legislature may not ‘exercise any powers properly belonging’ to either the executive or judicial branch,” defense attorney Luke Nikas wrote.

Baldwin has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin was aiming a Colt-style pistol at her when a live round discharged, fatally striking Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

The actor’s defense attorney’s motion to disqualify argued Reeb was simultaneously exercising legislative and judicial power. He wrote, “A prosecutor who also serves as a legislator could face pressure to make prosecutorial decisions that serve her legislative interests, such as by prosecuting a prominent defendant … even in the face of conflicting evidence or law.”

The filing cited a funding request from First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies of $635,500 from the State of New Mexico Board of Finance for the prosecution of individuals related to the Rust shooting — that figure included $156,000 for Reeb’s salary.

“Representative Reeb is violating both the plain text and the purpose of the New Mexico Constitution’s separation-of-powers provision … She must be removed,” Nikas claimed.

In response, Heather Brewer, spokesperson for Carmack-Altwies, said, “Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys can use whatever tactics they want to distract from the fact that Halyna Hutchins died because of more than mere negligence on the Rust film set. However, the district attorney and the special prosecutor will remain focused on the evidence and on trying this case so that justice is served.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

See Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as the boss from hell in the official trailer to Amazon’s ‘The Consultant’

See Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as the boss from hell in the official trailer to Amazon’s ‘The Consultant’
See Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as the boss from hell in the official trailer to Amazon’s ‘The Consultant’
Prime Video

If you think your boss is bad, wait until you get a load of two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz in the official trailer for the Prime Video series The Consultant.

Based on Bentley Little‘s 2015 novel of the same name, the Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds Academy Award winner plays the titular role: Regus Patoff is a mysterious consultant called in after the murder of a gaming company’s CEO and quickly turns employees’ lives upside down.

Officially, Patoff is there to “observe, streamline, and improve” the company, but instead he manages to freak out his charges in increasingly creepy ways. “For those who work remotely, you have one hour to get here, or you’ll be terminated,” he tells his new employees moments after meeting them.

He fires another worker because he doesn’t like the way he smells. Then there’s his shadowy background: His last job was working for another CEO who was also murdered weeks after he hired the consultant.

Prime teases the “comedic-thriller series … explores the sinister relationship between boss and employee,” as Patoff’s demands and challenges to the company’s workers “put everything into question — including their lives.”

The eight-episode series, which also stars Nat Wolff, Brittany O’Grady and Aimee Carrero, premieres February 24 on Prime Video.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.