Entertainment

Mean Girls actress Lindsay Lohan, is among eight celebrities charged with cryptocurrency violations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lohan and the other celebrities were charged in connection with a broader investigation of crypto asset entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his companies — Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. and Rainberry Inc. — for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities, as well as spearheading a scheme to pay celebrities to tout such assets without disclosing their compensation.

In addition to Lohan, The SEC announced charges against Soulja Boy, Austin Mahone, Lil Yachty, Akon, Ne-Yo and Kendra Lust for “illegally touting TRX and/or BTT without disclosing that they were compensated for doing so and the amount of their compensation,” according to the SEC.

With the exception of Soulja Boy and Mahone — the celebrities have settled with a collective of more than $400,000 without admittance or denial of wrongdoing, the SEC added.

A representative for Lohan said in a statement obtained by Variety that the actor was unaware of any disclosure obligations, adding, “Lindsay was contacted in March 2022 and was unaware of the disclosure requirement. She agreed to pay a fine to resolve the matter.”

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Justin Roiland, the co-creator and voice star of the hit animated series Rick and Morty, has been cleared of domestic violence charges.

Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Edds noted in a statement picked up by outlets, including Variety, “We dismissed the charges today as a result of having insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Roiland’s career took a major hit after he was charged with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit in an incident with a woman he was with back in January 2020.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Adult Swim, which airs Rick and Morty; Hulu, which runs his show Solar Opposites; and 20th Animation, which produces his series Koala Man, all severed ties with him.

The 42-year-old made mention of that in a lengthy social media post he captioned “Justice.”

Roiland said in part he was thankful the charges were dismissed, adding, “I’m still deeply shaken by the horrible lies that were reported about me during this process.”

He expressed, “Most of all, I’m disappointed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the word of an embittered ex trying to bypass due process and have me ‘canceled.'”

He concluded, “That it may have succeeded, even partially, is shameful. However, now that the legal case has ended, I’m determined to move forward and focus both on my creative projects and restoring my good name.”

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Adam Sandler recently reunited with close friend and on-screen partner Jennifer Aniston ahead of the premiere of their third movie together, the action-packed Murder Mystery sequel Murder Mystery 2.

The comedic duo joined Good Morning America on Wednesday to chat about the movie, fresh off the heels of Sandler’s latest achievement, winning the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

“We got emotional, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Sandler said of the celebration at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. “It was all great friends of mine there making speeches, family members … everybody got us teared up, but it was a lot of funniness, and a lot of people made fun of me and the way I look. I loved it.”

Aniston was in attendance at that event alongside a slew of entertainment royalty, including fellow longtime Sandler co-star and close friend Drew Barrymore. So the two decided to do a bit about being Sandler’s love interests.

“We thought we’d be funny cause there was a Twitter thing a couple years ago and they’re always sort of comparing us, who’s the better movie wife or movie love, so we just thought we’d do a little bit on that,” Aniston explained on Wednesday, to which Sandler confirmed, “You guys were funny, everybody loved it.”

The pair, who play husband and wife in the Murder Mystery films, confirmed on GMA that they’ve actually “been pitching the idea” for a film alongside Barrymore.

“We want to do all three of us together and just put an end to this competition,” Aniston said with a laugh.

“There’s no competition,” Sandler added. “Just two great ladies.” Adam also called Aniston “one of the funniest people I know.”

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One of the locations made famous in the movie Grease is coming to real life, thanks to Paramount+. To promote its prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, the streaming service is opening the doors of the Frosty Palace, the favorite hangout of Rydell High’s students.

First seen in the 1978 smash Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and of course a main location in Pink Ladies, the diner will be recreated for a two-day interactive event in Los Angeles, where fans “can expect to be completely immersed in nostalgia as they are transported back in time and surrounded by retro 1950s tunes and custom décor, all while enjoying twists on familiar diner fare and partaking in iconic social media-worthy photo moments.”

There will also be merchandise and other giveaways during the event, which will run Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7.

Tickets and details for the event can be found here.

Incidentally, the pop-up is being held at another iconic retro movie location, Mel’s Drive-In Diner on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood: A Mel’s eatery was a main location for George Lucas‘ classic American Graffiti, which was set in 1962.

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Losing a loved one can be hard on a family, but apparently that wasn’t the case for the cast of The Goldbergs. As reported, Jeff Garlin‘s Murray was killed off between seasons 9 and 10 to cover for the actor having parted ways with ABC after accusations of bullying and other behavior.

The show’s matriarch, Wendi McLendon-Covey, just admitted to Sirius XM’s Radio Andy host Andy Cohen the situation was “a long time coming.”

“That it finally happened, it was like, ‘OK, OK. Finally, someone is listening to us,'” she continued.

However, McLendon-Covey did admit the loss of Murray was compounded by the real-life death of her Goldbergs TV dad, George Segal, who died in 2021.

“To have to go through another loss on a sitcom, you know, you can’t keep asking your audience to mourn people,” she said, adding, “That’s not why they tune in.”

That said, after shedding some light on the obviously touchy topic, the actress asked Cohen if they could change the subject, and he complied.

She explained it was exhausting recapping the events, because of the “PTSD of it all.”

The star of the upcoming comedy Paint also added, “I feel like the less people know about [the situation], the better. No one … benefits from knowing anything.”

In 2022, Garlin announced he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

It was recently announced that the current 10th season of The Goldbergs would be the show’s last.

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In an interview with The New York Times, Oscar-winning screenwriter and the Emmy-winning creator of The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin, revealed he suffered a near-fatal stroke last fall.

Sorkin explained to the publication that months before he began rehearsals for a Broadway revival of Camelot, he woke in the middle of the night and couldn’t walk straight down his hallway.

His doctor recommended he get checked out immediately and quickly informed Sorkin his blood pressure was so high he was “supposed to be dead.”

The 61-year-old had suffered a stroke, his doctor informed him. For weeks Sorkin slurred his words; he feared he was “never going be able to write again.” He’s still having trouble signing his name and can’t taste food.

A heavy smoker for decades, Sorkin called the health scare “a loud wake-up call.”

He admitted, “I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong.”

He began eating right and exercising, and quit smoking cold turkey — which proved difficult for the prolific writer. “[The cigarette] was just part of it, the way a pen was part of it,” he said.

Sorkin was hesitant about revealing his health situation, but reconsidered, saying, “If it’ll get one person to stop smoking, then it’ll be helpful.”

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Not only was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s Black Adam ultimately unsuccessful, but at least according to Shazam star Zachary Levi, Johnson’s failed attempt to shape the DC universe around himself also hurt Shazam‘s sequel.

Levi reposted a story from The Wrap that confirmed Johnson personally blocked Levi from appearing as Shazam in Black Adam. He also reportedly ordered a last-minute nixing of a Shazam sequel after-credits scene in which Levi’s character would be recruited into Black Adam‘s Justice Society of America.

“The truth shall set you free,” Levi captioned the Instagram Story.

It was all a part of Johnson’s efforts to “undermine Shazam,” the trade reports.

While the character of Black Adam is canonically a foil of Levi’s red-suited hero, Johnson refused to appear as the heavy in 2019’s Shazam and publicly set his sights on an Adam/Superman matchup instead. He even lured Henry Cavill out of superhero retirement to play the latter in an Adam after-credits, only to have the entire thing blow up in his face when the movie underperformed, and James Gunn and Peter Safran made new superhero plans for Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Shazam‘s sequel managed to top the box office over last weekend, albeit with a weak $30 million bow. While the original had a 90% from ratings aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an 82% Audience Score, critics and fans are split on the follow-up, with a 51% from critics — but an actually better audience score than the original, at 87%. 

Levi addressed this disconnect via Twitter, explaining in a now-deleted Tweet, “I think the biggest issue we’re having is marketing. This is a perfect family movie, and yet a lot of families aren’t aware of that. Which is just a shame.”

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Smash, the short-lived Broadway musical-themed NBC show, is coming to the Great White Way in 2024.

In an announcement Wednesday, the TV show’s producers Steven Spielberg and Neil Meron trumpeted that a Broadway version of the musical series about a Broadway musical will be directed by The Producers Tony winner Susan Stroman for the 2024-25 season.

The upcoming production will feature beloved songs from the series, which was about the mounting of a fictitious Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell, but also new tracks from Hairspray legends Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

Starring Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty and Debra Messing, Smash only ran for two seasons, but Spielberg noted how it remains “near and dear” to his heart.

He adds, “It was always my hope that a musical inspired by the show would eventually come to the stage. We now have an incredible creative team, and I’m looking forward to completing the Smash journey which began with my producing partners over ten years ago.”

Meron added, “Ever since the show ended in 2012, not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask us when will they see Smash as a musical. We think we’ve come up with something the die-hard series fans will love but that will also be exciting for people who never saw an episode of the show.”

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High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens is set to shoot a travel documentary that will take her to the Philippines, her mother’s homeland.

The as-yet-untitled project, filming in Palawan and Manila later this month, will focus on the close relationship between the 34-year-old actress’ Filipino mom, Gina, and sister, Stella.

“I feel like ours is such a relatable story to so many women all over the world,” Hudgens said in a statement on Tuesday. “The more that we can share, the more we can lift each other up.”

Following her breakout role in High School Musical, Hudgens went on to star in Spring Breakers, Gimme Shelter, Bad Boys for Life, and Tick, Tick …Boom! She’s also set to reprise her role as weapons expert Kelly in Bad Boys 4, alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

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We Crashed star Anne Hathaway and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Michaela Coel have been tapped to lead the cast of the upcoming movie Mother Mary, according to Deadline. The film, directed by The Green Knight filmmaker David Lowery, is about the relationship between a fictional pop star and a fashion designer, played by Hathaway and Coel, respectively. Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX will write and produce original songs for the film, with an original score composed by Daniel Hart…

Variety reports The Theory of Everything‘s Eddie Redmayne will executive produce and star in The Day of the Jackal, Peacock and Sky’s upcoming reimagining of Frederick Forsyth’s novel and Universal’s film of the same name. Redmayne will play the titular character, who is hired by the OAS, a French dissident organization, to kill then-president of France Charles de Gaulle…

Rashida Jones is the latest addition to the growing cast of In the Blink of An Eye, the upcoming feature from Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She joins Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon in the film that “follows three storylines, spanning thousands of years,“ that “intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.” Jones’ character, per THR, is an anthropology professor who is taking care of her dying mother…

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