Entertainment

As many Twitter users are calling foul on Elon Musk‘s plan to charge $8 a month for a blue “verified” checkmark, the company’s new CEO showed Kathy Griffin that nobody is above the company’s “terms and conditions.”

Kathy — and other users, including for a short time Valerie Bertinelli — thought it snarky to protest the new charge by turning their Twitter handles to “Elon Musk.” However, impersonating somebody on Twitter has always been a ban-worthy move, so Musk, in turn, switched off Griffin’s access to her account.

When Benny Johnson, an anchor for Newsmax took note of this, Musk responded to him Sunday by dropping a now-viral diss. “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian,” Elon wrote, earning more than 400,000 likes. One user even posted a picture of Griffin from her infamous Trump decapitation photo, but instead of a bloody head, she’s holding a bloody “checkmark” picture.

Elon then added, “But if she really wants to have her account back, she can,” before adding the cheeky caveat, “For $8.”

He later posted, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” and that anyone who violates will lose their coveted tick.

Critics in the past have accused Twitter of withholding — or in some cases deleting — checkmarks from conservative voices on the platform.

Musk claims that by monetizing the symbol, he’s trying to democratize the process to steer it away from the “lords and peasants” former system.

Griffin returned to Twitter later Sunday evening using her “dead mother’s account,” saying Maggie Griffin “would not mind.” However, that, too, is a violation of the impersonation rules.

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With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters this Friday, ABC Audio is looking back at the 2018 original film that started it all.

Black Panther‘s impact on both the culture and the entertainment world cannot be overstated. In an industry that incorrectly held onto the belief that a Black-led film couldn’t “open” at the box office, the 2018 Marvel movie, the first stand-alone adventure of the character the late Chadwick Boseman first played in Captain America: Civil War, debuted to $192 million — the fifth highest-grossing opening ever. 

Over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend on which it opened, the Ryan Coogler-directed movie’s bottom line ballooned to $218 million right out of the gate. 

Black Panther went on to earn more than $1.34 billion worldwide, and currently ranks at #6 of the highest-grossing movies in the U.S. and #14 globally.

Filmmaker and film critic Mike Sargent explained to ABC Audio, “It’s not that this movie made a billion dollars just because Black folks went to see it; it made a billion dollars because everybody wanted to see it.”

It was a lesson for Hollywood, he explains: “There’s nothing wrong with seeing a Black hero….There’s nothing wrong with cultural pride in a superhero movie. It shouldn’t be the first time ever, but it is. So it was a first on an enormous amount of levels.”  

Black Panther went on to win the Outstanding Cast award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2019 — the year it became the first Marvel movie ever to be nominated at the Academy Awards.

The Best Picture-nominated film took home Best Score for Ludwig Göransson, and historic wins for Black women: Costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler both brought to life the secretive, technologically advanced kingdom of Wakanda.

“We knew that we had something special that we wanted to give the world,” Boseman summed up on the podium at the SAG Awards. “…[We knew] that we could create a world that exemplified a world that we wanted to see.”

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Winston Duke will join Ryan Gosling in Universal’s movie adaptation of the 1980s adventure television series The Fall Guy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The original series starred Lee Majors as a stuntman who moonlighted as a bounty hunter. The new take, however, will follow a washed up stuntman, played by Gosling, who finds himself back on a movie with the man for whom he doubled long ago and who later replaced him. A mystery unfolds when the star goes missing. Duke will play the best friend of the stuntman. Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Stephanie Hsu also star…

The CW’s improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? will end with its upcoming 12th season, the series’ longtime star Colin Mochrie announced on Friday. “Hey everyone. Hope you are enjoying the current season of Whose Line. In January, we shoot our final season. Thank you all for the support over the years,” Mochrie wrote on Twitter. The show. an adaptation of the British show of the same name, originally aired on ABC and ABC Family from 1998-2007, before the CW revived it in 2013. Whose Line stars Mochrie, Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles and Aisha Tyler…

Vivica A. Fox will host the 9th Annual American Reality TV Awards, which recognizes the highest achievers in unscripted TV production. Special guests will include Sofía Vergara, Steve Harvey, Courteney Cox, Jerry O’Connell, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins and Abbott Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter, among others. The 9th Annual ARTAs will stream live for free on OUTtv, Monsters and Critics and in VR on ReelMood…

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Jimmy Kimmel will once again emcee the Oscars.

ABC announced Monday morning that the late-night host will report for podium duty for the third time at the 95th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Kimmel previously hosted both the 89th annual show in 2017, and the 90th in 2018.

In the announcement, Kimmel joked, “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap. Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said ‘no.'”

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang commented, “Jimmy is the perfect host to help us recognize the incredible artists and films of our 95th Oscars. His love of movies, live TV expertise and ability to connect with our global audiences will create an unforgettable experience for our millions of viewers worldwide.” They added that with Jimmy’s help, “…the Oscars will celebrate its rich 95-year history, the collaborative nature of moviemaking, and our diverse, dynamic and deeply creative community of filmmakers.”

Last year’s ceremony saw Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer sharing hosting duties, in a night that was overshadowed by Will Smith‘s infamous on-stage slap of comedian and presenter Chris Rock.

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Black Adam provided a bright spot in what was another dismal box office weekend, holding strong at #1 for the third straight week with an estimated $18.5 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $137 million. The DC antihero film, starring Dwayne Johnson, has collected $182 million overseas, for a global tally of $320 million.

One Piece Film: Red, the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan with $120 million, had a solid North American debut with an estimated $9.5 million — good for a second place finish.

Third place went to Ticket to Paradise, which added an estimated $8.5 million in North America, for a three-week total of $46.7 million. The rom-com’s $90.5 million international gross brings its worldwide tally to $137 million.

Smile held on to fourth place, delivering an estimated $4 million. It’s six-week domestic tally is just shy of $100 million, to go along with $104 million overseas, for a total of more than $200 million globally.

Rounding out the top five was the horror flick Prey for the Devil with an estimated $3.88 million. It’s two-week domestic tally stands at $13.6 million.

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Amy Schumer on Sunday revealed that her 3-year-old son Gene was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus, two days before hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

“This was the hardest week of my life. I missed Thursday rehearsals when my son was rushed to ER and admitted for RSV. Shout out to all the parents going though this right now. I got to be with him the whole day at the hospital and the beautiful humans at @nbcsnl couldn’t have been more supportive,” the Life and Beth and Inside Amy Schumer star shared Sunday on Instagram, adding, “My son is home and better.”

Schumer, who marked her third SNL hosting gig on Saturday, also gave a shout out to the show’s staff, writing, “The reason this show is so fun to do isn’t actually the performance or the show itself. It’s getting to spend time with the people there. The cast and the writers of course but the people who are behind the scenes making it run smooth are my favorite.”

“Thank you everyone there and to the doctors and nurses who helped us,” she concluded.

Chicago P.D. actress Sophia Bush replied, “So glad the little guy is alright, and that your people held you through it.”

Singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton wrote, “Wow Amy that is intense beyond. So happy he’s out and doing well!”

“I’m so glad he’s okay and you were beyond brilliant,” added comedian Judy Gold.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that most people recover from RSV in a week or two but the virus can be serious for infants and older adults. The CDC reports an increase in RSV detections and RSV-associated emergency department visits and hospitalizations in multiple U.S. regions, with some regions nearing seasonal peak levels.

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Aaron Carter, younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, has died, ABC News has confirmed. He was 34.  His management told ABC News, “I can confirm the reports are true…a statement will be released shortly by the family and management. Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time.”

TMZ reported that Carter died Saturday in his home in Lancaster, CA.

Carter, once known as “The Little Prince of Pop,” was born in Tampa, Florida. He made his solo stage debut in 1997 at age nine, opening for the Backstreet Boys in Berlin. He soon secured a record deal and released his self-titled debut in Europe that same year, and in the U.S. in 1998.  Singles from that album were top 10 hits in the U.K., Austria and Germany.

Carter’s follow-up, Aaron’s Party (Come and Get It), was his biggest hit: It was RIAA-certified triple Platinum, and included his only two U.S. charting singles: “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” and “That’s How I Beat Shaq.” He later opened for Britney Spears on her Oops!…I Did It Again tour.

Carter branched out into acting, making his Broadway debut in 2001 in Seussical The Musical and appearing on TV shows like Lizzie McGuire, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and 7th Heaven, and in movies like Fat Albert and Ella Enchanted.

In 2006, Aaron, Nick, Aaron’s twin Angel and their siblings B.J. and Leslie, starred on the E! reality show House of Carters. Leslie died in 2012 of a drug overdose; she was 25.  Aaron’s relationship with his siblings has been volatile: In the past, Nick and Angel have both sought restraining orders against Aaron; Aaron also accused Leslie, and later Nick, of abuse, which Nick denied.

In 2009, Aaron came in fifth on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and has appeared in various other reality shows, such as Marriage Bootcamp: Family Edition and Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook Off.  Over the years, he’s had various legal and financial troubles, and in 2017, he entered rehab.

By 2020, Aaron had set up an OnlyFans account. In 2021, he was cast in a Las Vegas musical production, from which he was fired because, allegedly, he refused to be vaccinated. In 2021, he and Lamar Odom held an exhibition boxing match, during which Odom knocked Carter out in the second round.

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When Nick Cannon shared an Instagram photo with his very pregnant girlfriend Alyssa Scott, his pal Ryan Reynolds tweaked him on the good news.

Cannon is expecting his 11th baby with Scott, his second with the model. The pair had a son, Zen, who died of cancer at 5 months old in December 2021.

Reynolds retweeted a People story about the new baby, joking, “We’re gonna need a bigger bottle.”

It’s a double-edged joke: One, a Jaws reference, and another a callback to way back in June of this year — when Cannon was only a dad of eight. He took part in a Father’s Day video with Aviation Gin CEO Reynolds, who had him mix a cocktail known as an Aviation Vasectomy. “Yes, it’s delicious, but the Aviation Vasectomy is clearly not yet 100% effective,” Reynolds warned.

Cannon’s baby news comes after he recently welcomed his ninth baby, his first with girlfriend LaNisha Cole, and then his 10th, his third with Brittany Bell.

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Quentin Tarantino won’t be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a director. At least that’s the word from the Oscar-winning screenwriter and Pulp Fiction director to the Los Angeles Times.

While promoting his new book, Cinema Speculation, Tarantino says he wouldn’t be able to put his unique spin on the material if he did a Marvel movie. “I’m not a hired hand. I’m not looking for a job,” he said.

While he admits he was being “snarky” in his book in saying filmmakers “can’t wait” for the superhero movie boom to deflate, but admits the situation is like the one filmmakers in the 1960s went through when movie musicals were all the rage.

“The analogy works because it’s a similar chokehold” on the industry in terms of theatrical content nowadays, he says.

Unlike Martin Scorsese — who derided superhero movies as “not cinema” — Tarantino didn’t directly diss the superhero genre. However, the Once Upon a Time In Hollywood director says he just thinks big budget event movies are “not necessarily my favorite type of film.”

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HBO’s Emmy-winning sci-fi drama Westworld is riding off into the sunset. ABC Audio has confirmed the series, which stars Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson and Ed Harris, won’t return for a fifth season.

Its cast also boasted two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and three-time Breaking Bad Emmy winner Aaron Paul. West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose joined the cast for what turned out to be its final season.

An eight-episode fourth season of the series, about a futuristic world occupied by both real and synthetic humans, debuted in June.

Based on a 1973 Michael Crichton film of the same name, the series was nominated for 54 Emmy Awards and won nine.

In a statement, the cable network noted, “[Producers] Lisa [Joy] and Jonah [Nolan] have taken viewers on a mind-bending odyssey, raising the bar at every step. We are tremendously grateful to them, along with their immensely talented cast, producers and crew, and all of our partners at Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television. It’s been a thrill to join them on this journey.”

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