Entertainment

For the millions of fans that made Black Panther a billion-dollar blockbuster, now you’ll have a chance to eat like the people of the movie’s fictional nation of Wakanda.

The Official Wakanda Cookbook by Malawian-American chef Nyanyika Banda has over 70 delicious recipes inspired by the box office hit, and its forthcoming sequel.

And while it would have been an easy lift to go kitchy, with, say, “Vibranium Veggies,” or “T’Challa’s Churros,” Banda didn’t, and took the assignment very seriously.

The veteran of number of acclaimed kitchens across the country, including WD-50 and Saveur magazine’s test kitchen, was influenced by her studies of and writing on African food, and the book is filled with authentic entries including entrées, street food, and a range of recipes that appeal to every palate and skill level.

Some of the recipes include beef samosas, and dishes like Baked Sweet Potato and Kale Eggs, along with Marvel-canon descriptions as to where you could find them in the technically advanced nation, if it were real.

For example, according to the book, its Basbousa cakes recipe you can try are made by Kylee and Ayla, two sisters who own a bakery in the fictional city of Birnin Azzaria. Its “Village Curried Chicken” is usually prepared for Wakandan council meetings, according to Banda’s book.

The Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, is set for a November 11 debut in theaters.

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

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(NOTE CONTENT) Of all the explosive revelations made Wednesday when Johnny Depp testified in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, one trended thanks to two cheeky hashtags: #MePoo and #AmberTurd.

Depp alleges that after one of his many fights instigated by Heard, this one after her 30th birthday party in 2016, she or one of her friends left a gross gift: Someone intentionally pooped in his bed.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star had left one of the homes he shared with his now-ex after the row, and she and her pals were bound for the Coachella. With her out of the picture, Depp testified, he planned to return to the home to gather items that were important to him, including mementos of his friendships with Marlon Brando and Hunter S. Thompson.

However, he was warned against returning, and the excremental evidence was shown to him in a cellphone photo taken by a security guard.

“My initial response to that was…I laughed,” Depp said in court. “It was so bizarre and so grotesque that I could only laugh. So I did not go down there that day.”

Of course, those photos were entered into evidence yesterday for all to see. In fact, Depp was cross-examined about them, with lawyers for Heard doubting the poop’s provenance, positing that his two dogs, Pistol and Boo, could have made the apparently large deposit.

“They’re teacup Yorkies,” Depp countered. “They weigh about four pounds each…It was not the dogs.”

Depp alleged in detail Wednesday that he suffered physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Heard, who herself has previously alleged Depp abused her during their tumultuous relationship.

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Producers of the Tony Awards don’t want a repeat of Will Smith‘s infamous Oscars slap, and they’ve issued a strong message for potential copycats: A letter sent by Tony Award Productions to potential ticket-buyers and obtained by Deadline includes the following warning in its FAQ section: “The Tony Awards has a strict no violence policy. In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event immediately.” Smith stormed the Oscar stage on March 27 and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face, after the latter made a joke referencing the movie G.I. Jane and Jada Pinkett Smith‘s bald head. The King Richard star was subsequently slapped with a 10-year ban by the Academy…

Showtime has given an eight-episode order to the limited series Fellow Travelers, starring Doom Patrol‘s Matt Bomer, according to Variety. Based on Thomas Mallon‘s novel of the same name, the series is described as “an epic love story and political thriller, chronicling the volatile romance of two very different men who meet in the shadow of McCarthy-era Washington.” Bomer will reportedly play Hawkins Fuller, who “maintains a behind-the scenes career in politics” and “avoids emotional entanglements,” until he meets Tim Laughlin, “a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith”…

Jessica Alba will host and executive-produce the upcoming Roku original series Honest Renovations, the streamer announced on Wednesday. Alba and her co-host, The Cool Mom Co. Founder & Editor Lizzy Mathis, will help “deserving families complete the home renovations of their dreams and confront issues about parenting through candid conversations,” according to a statement from Roku. “Becoming a parent was exciting, scary and confusing all at once,” Alba said in a statement. “Parenthood is the most transformative life experience, and no matter how much you think you’re prepared; you never really are.” She added, “I can’t wait to share the stories of the special families and their incredible home renovations with viewers on The Roku Channel.” Honest Renovations will kick off production later in 2022…

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The long-awaited episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer featuring former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani finally aired on Wednesday and, as expected, the reveal had judge Ken Jeong leaving the stage in disgust.

Giuliani’s unmasking as the Jack in the Box, following his performance of George Thorogood‘s “Bad to the Bone,” stunned all the judges, including Nicole Scherzinger, who asked if it was Robert Duvall.

“No, that’s not Robert Duvall,” Jeong replied.

Robin Thicke commented, “This is definitely something I never would have guessed.”

Host Nick Cannon also appeared shocked, saying, “Mr. Giuliani, with all of the controversy that’s surrounding you right now, I think it surprises us all that you’re here on The Masked Singer.”

“Me too!” replied Giuliani, explaining, “I guess the main reason is, I just had a granddaughter Grace, and I want her to know that you should try everything, even things that are completely unlike you and unlikely.”

“I’m done,” said Jeong, before walking off the set.

Guiliani’s appearance on the show first made headlines back in February when the episode was recorded.

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The new Starz series Gaslit, debuting Sunday, hopes to shine a lot more light on the lives of the major players in the Watergate scandal. Series creator Robbie Pickering tells ABC Audio he wanted to explore the humanity, and motivations, of those who were involved in the break-in that brought down Richard Nixon.

“The villains were a lot more relatable and warm and kind of bumbling than you think. And the heroes were also, they were more complex and bumbling and selfish than they’ve been portrayed,” says Pickerling. “And I really wasn’t interested in telling a story about the events of Watergate, as much as the emotional messes that went into this scandal and that actually go into all these scandals.”

Gaslit‘s cast of characters include Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell and his wife Martha, played respectively by Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. British actor Dan Stevens plays former White House lawyer John Dean and tells ABC Audio he learned a lot from the series.

“I didn’t know who Martha Mitchell was, didn’t know much about [Dean’s wife Mo], didn’t know much about Frank Wills, the guard to who uncovered it all,” he admits. “And so a lot of these characters are given the chance to shine in this version. And yeah, it was a real education.”

The Downton Abbey star says even though the film deals with something that happened 50 years ago, the massage still rings true today.

“This kind of level of corruption on any scale and the spectrum of personality types that are kind of drawn to this kind of misdemeanor in an effort to gain power, to stay with power, you know, to creep ever closer to the inner circle kind of applies to any administration in any era,” he explains.

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Alec Baldwin has tweeted out a reaction to the fine issued by the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) to the producers of his movie Rust over the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

Rather that issuing his own statement, the outspoken actor posted his lawyers’ official response.

“We are grateful to the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for investigating this matter,” the statement begins. “We appreciate the report exonerates Mr. Baldwin by making clear that he believed the gun held only dummy rounds.”

The rep continues, “Additionally, the report recognizes that Mr. Baldwin’s authority on the production was limited to approving script changes and creative casting. Mr. Baldwin had no authority over the matters that were the subject of the Bureau’s findings of violations, and we are pleased that the New Mexico officials have clarified these critical issues. We are confident that the individuals identified in the report will be held accountable for this tragedy.”

On the day in question, the firearm Baldwin was pointing at Hutchins discharged, fatally striking her, and injuring the movie’s director, Joel Souza.

Rust Movie Productions LLC was fined more than $136,000 for, according to a press release from the agency, plain indifference to the “recognized hazards associated with the use of firearms on set that resulted in a fatality, severe injury, and unsafe working conditions.”

One of those safety rules is that employees must “refrain from pointing a firearm at anyone, except after consultation with the Property Master, Armorer or other safety representative, such as the First Assistant Director.” OHSB concluded, “By failing to follow these practices, an avoidable loss of life occurred.”

Baldwin contended the movie’s first assistant director, David Halls, handed him the Colt-style pistol after declaring it “cold,” or safe to handle.

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The New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) has fined the producers of Alec Baldwin‘s Western Rust $136,793 as a result of their investigation into the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2022.

The agency issued a “Willful-Serious citation,” declaring that “Rust Movie Productions, LLC management knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set and demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety by failing to review work practices and take corrective action.”

Hutchins was killed and the director of the film, Joel Souza, was injured when a live round in a pistol aimed by Baldwin discharged during a rehearsal in a New Mexico church. The actor insists he was assured the firearm was “cold,” meaning safe to handle.

Investigators later found on the set a mix of live rounds, inert “dummy” rounds — which should have been loaded into the pistol — and blanks.

“Rust Movie Productions, LLC was cited for the plain indifference to the recognized hazards associated with the use of firearms on set that resulted in a fatality, severe injury, and unsafe working conditions,” the agency said in a press release. It also noted that the investigation into the shootings “encompassed 1,560 hours of staff time, 14 interviews, and review of 566 documents.”

New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said in a statement, “Our investigation found that this tragic incident never would have happened if Rust Movie Productions, LLC had followed national film industry standards for firearm safety,” and said producers demonstrated a “complete failure…to follow recognized national protocols that keep employees safe.”

In response to the OHSB report, Stefan Friedman, the attorney for Rust Movie Productions, noted, “While we appreciate OHSB’s time and effort in its investigation, we disagree with its findings and plan to appeal. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Halyna’s family.”

Jason Bowles, the attorney for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, declared in a statement that the OHSB report found that his client “was not provided adequate time or resources to conduct her job effectively, despite her voiced concerns.” The Bowles statement further asserted that the OHSB report concluded that producers “failed to call Hannah in to perform her armorer duties and inspect the firearm right before its use in the impromptu scene with Baldwin. As we have stated before, had anyone from Production called Hannah back into the church before the scene to consult with her, this tragedy would have been prevented.

Rust Movie Productions has 15 business days to pay the OHSB penalty and provide the agency with certification of corrective action, or they can contest the citation.

Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death suit in February against a number of parties, including Baldwin and the film’s production, alleging in part that reckless behavior and cost-cutting led to Hutchins’ death.

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(NOTE CONTENT) In dramatic testimony in a Fairfax, Virginia courtroom Wednesday, Johnny Depp testified to a litany of psychological and physical abuse he says he suffered at the hands of his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

The testimony laid out, in graphic detail, the attack Depp said he endured during at a rented home in 2015, during which he says Heard threw a large vodka bottle at him, severing the tip of his right middle finger.

The altercation happened after a clean and sober Depp said he fell off the wagon, after first locking himself in a bathroom. While a despondent Deep took “his first drink of alcohol in some time,” Heard allegedly began berating him, grabbed the vodka bottle and threw it at his head. It missed, and shattered behind him.

Depp says he responded by grabbing another larger bottle and pouring himself another shot. Depp said Heard grabbed that bottle, too, and threw it, smashing it against his hand and the bar and cutting off the top of his finger.

With his finger “gushing blood,” Depp said he recalled thinking to himself, “No one should have to go through this,” and suffered a “sort of a nervous breakdown.”

He added, “I started writing with blood on our walls, little reminders of our past…lies that I caught her in,” Depp said soberly, noting he could hear only “white noise, just somebody yelling, a high-pitched constant attack…of insults.”

“I was in shock,” he explained.

When his attorney showed him a photo of him in the emergency room, it sparked another memory for Depp, who pointed out an injury on his cheek, saying it was where Heard stubbed a cigarette out on it.

The actor also claimed to have told doctors at the emergency room he’d cut his own finger “to protect” Heard. “I didn’t want to see her get in trouble,” he explained.

The actor also testified he contracted MRSA three times after the injury, which was hidden from moviegoers during subsequent film work using CG technology. “I feared that I would lose my finger, my arm and my life,” he said.

Depp’s testimony earlier in the morning spoke about his substance abuse and painful attempts at detoxing, all the while detailing what he described as constant “bullying” he endured during his tumultuous relationship with Heard.

Heard’s lawyers were scheduled to cross-examine Depp after a lunch break.

Depp is suing the Aquaman actress for defamation for her 2019 Washington Post op-ed in which she said she was a victim of domestic abuse, and implied her abuser was Depp.

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TA-DUM…DA DUM DUM: It looks like Netflix will start clamping down on sharing passwords, following a brutal loss of some 200,000 streaming subscribers in the first three months of this year.

The Wall Street Journal reports the streaming service could lose as many as two million total subscribers this quarter.

The loss of 200,000 subscribers was the largest loss suffered by the company in a decade, and caused a 35% drop in the stock price for the streaming giant on Wall Street Wednesday.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings revealed the grim subscriber statistics during an earnings call on Tuesday, in which he detailed plans to clamp down on subscribers sharing their passwords — which the company’s never seriously addressed — and also proposed a cheaper, ad-supported subscription rate.

The Journal reports Netflix had added more than 18 million subscribers in 2021, which was weaker than normal, and a drastic decline from the 36 million it had added in 2020, when millions of people were at home in front of their TVs during the early pandemic lockdowns.

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“You brought the love. You brought the thunder!” That’s the word to fans from Chris Hemsworth, who thanked them Tuesday for watching Thor: Love and Thunder‘s trailer more than 209 million times in just 24 hours.

The impressive performance ranks as the fourth most-watched coming attraction trailer in a 24-hour timeframe, following the views for three other Marvel Studios films.

The current record holder is Spider-Man: No Way Home, for which fans clicked “play” some 355.5 million times upon its trailer debut in August 2021.

In second and third place, respectively, are two other Hemsworth films, Avengers: Endgame, which attracted 289 million views in December 2018, and the trailer to Avengers: Infinity War, which attracted 230 million views when it hit the Internet in November of 2017.

Fans have been buzzing about Love and Thunder for months before getting their first official peek of the movie, and Bobby Holland Hanton, Hemsworth’s trainer and stunt double, tells ABC Audio it’s worth the wait.

“We knew that this was going to be amazing. I’m excited to say it’s going to be crazy,” says Holland, who’s doubled for his friend for more than a decade. “I’ve got a little part in it which I’m stoked about. The stunt team [members] were…absolutely incredible…And we put some really amazing stuff together.”

“Chris was on form, Taika’s on form,” Holland adds. “I think everyone’s going to be very, very, very pleased with the final result.”

Writer-director Taika Waititi‘s Thor: Love and Thunder, which also stars Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, opens May 8.

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

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