Entertainment

If you want exclusive behind-the-scenes stories about the ’90s sitcom A Different World, you should probably tune into Red Table Talk. This week’s episode features Jada Pinkett Smith as she reunites with her former co-stars from the show. They talk about Jada’s favorite episode, why Jasmine Guy put in her two weeks’ notice during season 1 and more.

Making an appearance are Jasmine, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer, Glynn Turman, Ajai Sanders and Karen Malina White. Debbie Allen, who produced and directed the sitcom, also joins the Different World cast, while Marisa Tomei and Patti LaBelle deliver virtual messages to the table.

The special RTT episode comes 35 years after A Different World‘s premiere. It is now streaming on Facebook Watch.

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Amber Heard announced Monday that she and her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, have settled their high-profile defamation case.

“After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case brought against me by my ex-husband in Virginia,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

She went on to say, “It’s important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.”

A jury sided with Depp in the lengthy defamation trial between him and Heard in June. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages. Virginia law states that punitive damages are capped at $350,000, so Depp will receive a total of $10.35 million.

In their respective testimonies during the trial, both Heard and Depp claimed the other abused them. The former couple, who met while filming 2011’s The Rum Diary and were married from 2015 to 2017, denied the other’s claims of abuse.

Heard filed a notice of appeal on July 21, with Depp filing a notice of appeal the following day.

In her note Monday, Heard touched on the impact of the media in the defamation case with her former spouse: “The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised [sic] when they come forward.”

She also said of the settlement, “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”

In her post, Heard also said she “lost faith in the American legal system” for how her case was handled.

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On Monday, Paramount Pictures gave fans a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

The feature detailed a truly absurd stunt Tom Cruise pulls off in the movie: a motorcycle jump off a cliff in Norway, leading to a BASE (buildings, antenna, spans and earth) jump hundreds of feet below.

The actor is shown gleefully being put through his paces by writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, skydiving trainers and other stunt people. “I have to try to keep myself from smiling,” the daredevil superstar admits as he’s about to skydive in preparation for the stunt.

And speaking of skydiving, Cruise also filmed a special thank you to fans for making Top Gun: Maverick the number one movie of the year — and his career.

He shot the message high in the air over South Africa while shooting another scene from the two upcoming M:I movies, which are being filmed mostly concurrently. Cruise begins the message in a helicopter, before continuing WHILE free-falling.

“Thank you for supporting Top Gun: Maverick and thank you for allowing us to entertain you, it truly is the honor of a lifetime. Very lucky,” the literally falling star says.

Cruise notes that he’s running out of altitude to actually film what he needs to for the film, so he ends by saying — ironically — “You have a very safe and happy holiday,” before concluding with, “We’ll see you at the movies.”

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A woman broke into Robert De Niro’s Upper East Side Manhattan townhouse early Monday morning and began snagging Christmas presents from under the tree, according to police.

Shanice Aviles, 30, was arrested on burglary charges after she was spotted entering De Niro’s E 65 Street home at 2:45 a.m.

ABC News has learned police were following Aviles because she was wanted in connection with six other burglaries. Police sources described her as a recidivist who had just been arrested December 8.

Early this morning, police saw her entering a townhouse on E 65 Street. When she did not come out, police entered the home and saw her taking presents from under the Christmas tree and putting them into a bag.

Hearing the commotion, De Niro came down the stairs. Police did not know it was his house until he appeared. There was no interaction between the actor and the alleged thief, police said.

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The Osbournes matriarch Sharon Osbourne is on the mend at home, after being hospitalized for a medical emergency she suffered Friday in Los Angeles.

Jack Osbourne posted a now-vanished Instagram Story on Saturday that noted, “She has been given the all clear from her medical team and is now home.” He went on to thank “everyone who has reached out with love and support.” Jack added, “As to what happened to my mum — I’m gonna leave it to her to share about when she is ready.”

What did remain on Jack’s IG Story feed was his online dressing down of a TMZ reporter looking for comment on the situation, which Jack said woke him up after spending “all night” with his mother while she was in the hospital.

E! News noted the 70-year-old former co-host of The Talk was shooting a TV project with her son at the Glen Tavern Inn in Santa Paula, Calif. when 911 was called over an undisclosed medical situation that sent Sharon to a nearby hospital.

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Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is requesting a reduced sentence for her role in a long-term telemarketing scheme, defense lawyers said in a sentencing memorandum filed Friday evening.

In the filing, Shah requested a no more than three-year sentence, as opposed to the 11- to 14-year range requested in plea deal advisory guidelines.

Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July, in connection with the telemarketing scheme that scammed elderly victims out of their savings by pressuring them to buy worthless services from companies in which she was involved.

The request for a reduced sentence came after, earlier in the day, a federal judge in New York ordered Shah to forfeit dozens of designer handbags, jewelry, clothes, and more.

The 108 items were seized in March of 2021 in a search of Shah’s home. The inventory includes scores of counterfeit bags and jewelry stamped with fake Chanel, Gucci, Bulgari and Hermès labels, according to a new court filing.

In addition to pleading guilty in July, Shah, 49, was ordered to forfeit $6.5 million. She must also pay restitution to victims of the nationwide telemarketing scheme that prosecutors said targeted elderly, vulnerable victims.

The judge’s forfeiture order allows prosecutors to sell Shah’s belongings and use the money to pay back victims.

Shah is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

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The first online trailer for filmmaker Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer dropped Sunday. Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy plays the title role of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the laboratory that developed the first atomic bombs for the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. Emily Blunt stars as Oppenheimer’s wife, while Matt Damon plays Gen. Leslie Groves, Jr., director of the Manhattan Project. Robert Downey, Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh also star. Oppenheimer opens July 21 of next year…

Sam Mendes‘ new HBO comedy pilot The Franchise has nailed down its main cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The pilot is set against the backdrop of the production of a superhero movie and stars Game Night and Made for Love‘s Billy Magnussen, Spaced‘s Jessica Hynes, Ozark‘s Darren Goldstein, Shrill‘s Lolly Adefope and American Horror Story‘s Isaac Powell star, along with Inglourious Basterds‘ Daniel Brühl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?‘s Richard E. Grant in recurring roles. The project marks Mendes’ first time directing for U.S. TV…

Netflix has pulled the plug on Blockbuster after just one season, according to Deadline. The workplace comedy, starring WandaVision‘s Randall Park as “an analog dreamer living in a 5G world,” who, along with his co-worker and longtime crush, played by Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Melissa Fumero, fights to stay relevant,” failed to catch fire with viewers, never cracking Netflix’s top 10…

Joseph Mawle, best known for his role as Benjen Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones, has been added to the cast of Paramount+’s Yellowstone prequel 1923, according to Variety. Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford star in the new original drama series that premiered over the weekend and which introduces “a new generation of Duttons led by patriarch Jacob and matriarch Cara” — played respectively by Ford and Mirren, per the streamer, and “explores the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west, and the Duttons who call it home”…

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Avatar: The Way of Water made a splash in theaters this weekend, opening with an estimated $134 million domestically — impressive, but below the predicted $150 million-dollar debut. Still, it tied The Batman for the fifth-largest domestic opening this year. Add to that overseas revenues and Avatar: The Way of Water earned $442 million globally in just one weekend.

Violent Night held on to second place this weekend, earning an estimated $5.6 million. The action comedy has earned $35 million over three weeks and $55 million worldwide.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which held the top spot for the past five weeks, fell to third place with an estimated $5.4 million weekend. That brings its North American tally to $419 million and $786 million globally.

Strange World landed in fourth place with an estimated $2.2 million, bringing its four-week total to $33.8 million and $57 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was The Menu with an estimated $1.7 million, raising its totals to $32.1 million domestically and $61.3 million worldwide.

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Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong said goodbye to the show after 11 seasons in a Weekend Update appearance where she reprised her popular character Cathy Anne one last time.

“I’m a little emo tonight, because I’m here to say goodbye,” she said, explaining that she was going to prison.

“After seven years, you had enough of me,” she joked, adding that prison would give her “some much needed stability” and she already had “friends on the inside” who “seemed to be doing okay.” A graphic behind her showed fellow former SNL stars Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant, who left the show after last season.

“Everybody has to go to jail at some point, right? It’s my time now,” she added. Breaking character slightly she noted, “I had a lot of fun here. And I feel really lucky that I have had so many of the best moments of my life in this place, and with these people that I love so much.”

The show’s final sketch featured longtime cast member Kenan Thompson honoring her for “eight incredible years working at Radio Shack”

“Well, I’ve been here 11,” she said.

“I know, and eight of them were incredible,” he replied.

Afterwards, Saturday night’s guest host Austin Butler, who stars in the movie Elvis, serenaded her with a rendition of Elvis Presley‘s “Blue Christmas,” joined by the entire cast.

SNL also announced Strong’s departure on its Instagram, sharing, “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it. We’ll miss you, Cecily!”

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Despite having been the Man of Steel, Henry Cavill is also a massive geek, evidenced by videos of him painting miniatures from the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000.

And while he won’t be playing Superman any longer, he’ll get to make a “lifelong dream” come true.

Games Workshop, the fiercely protective owner of the intellectual property, will be teaming up with the LEGO movies‘ producer Vertigo Entertainment, Amazon, and Cavill as executive producer to finally bring the beloved franchise to both the big and small screens.

For the uninitiated, Warhammer 40K is set in the far future, and has the sweeping arc of The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, intermingled with elements of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, with brutal battles spanning from the stars to the bloody trenches of 1,000 alien worlds.

The far-future sci-fi game has spawned a library’s worth of books, video games, tabletop miniatures and animated films.

“I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me,” Cavill said in the announcement. “The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh-on lifelong dream come true.”

Andy Smillie, creative director of Games Workshop, enthused, “Henry’s well-known love of Warhammer 40,000 — and his passion as a world-builder and storyteller — will serve us all well in the coming years. Finally, Warhammer will make it to the screen as the fans have hoped, and as they deserve. Exciting times!”

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