Entertainment

In an ABC special airing Friday at 8 p.m. ET, Matthew Perry sits down with Diane Sawyer to discuss his sobriety, fame, and his life today, as written about in his new memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

Perry’s book details his hard-fought, nearly fatal battle with addiction. At one point, he was taking 55 Vicodin pills a day. “Addiction is the obsession of your mind: ‘Now give me everything you gave me before and more,'” Perry says. “I had to wake up and realize I need to get 55 of them, or I was going to be really sick.”

To fill the need, Perry says, he’d fake illnesses like migraines, even enduring MRIs to help sell the doctors on giving him prescriptions. “I guess the weirdest thing I did was on Sundays, I would go to open houses and go to the bathrooms…and see what pills they had in there and steal them,” Perry recalls. “And I think they thought, ‘Well, there’s no way that Chandler came in and stole from us.'”

The actor is now in a better place, thanks to a strong support system. “Alone you lose to the disease,” he says. “And now I finally feel okay and feel like I’ve got some strength.”

The book also highlights the good times in his life. Perry says he had a “chain crush” on his Friends cast mates Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow. “Well, how do you not have a crush on Jenny and Courteney and Lisa?” he smiles.

He tells Sawyer, “It made it kind of difficult to go to work because I had to pretend that I didn’t exist.” He says of Aniston, “I was kept wondering, ‘How long can I just look at her? Is three seconds too long?'”

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After ending his production contract with the Starz network in September, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has a new TV and film partner.

Fiddy has signed a three-project deal with Lusid Media, according to Variety. His first project will be an unscripted true crime series for Peacock that will debut in 2023.

“I am excited by the kind of stories we’re going to be bringing to life together, and can’t wait for the first project to reach Peacock next year,” Jackson said in a statement. “G-Unit Film & Television continues to go from strength-to-strength, and this partnership with Lusid is another great collaboration for the team.”

Lusid Media President Zak Weisfeld added, “50 Cent is a storytelling phenomenon, and we’re excited by the combination of our track record in the unscripted entertainment space, and the dynamism of 50 and the G Unit team. There’s a whole different energy and a unique point of view that makes our joint projects really special.”

Jackson and G-Unit Film & TV produced the Power franchise at Starz, including three spinoffs. G-Unit also produces the Starz series BMF, with the second season set for January 2023.

The company’s latest project is the unscripted series Hip Hop Homicides, debuting November 3 on WeTV. The first episode will examine the murder of Pop Smoke, who was fatally shot on February 19, 2020, during a home invasion in Hollywood.

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Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are divorcing after 13 years of marriage.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and the Brazilian supermodel, who married in 2009, confirmed their split on social media.

In both their posts, Brady and Bündchen said they had “gratitude” for their time together and that the decision had been made “amicably.”

“We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the center of our world in every way,” Brady wrote. “We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve.”

Bündchen echoed that sentiment, writing, “My priority has always been and will continue to be our children whom I love with all my heart. We will continue co-parenting to give them the love, care and attention they greatly deserve.”

Brady called the situation “painful and difficult,” and said he and Bündchen “only wish the best for each other as we pursue whatever new chapters in our lives that are yet to be written.”

“The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,” Bündchen said.

Both Brady and Bündchen also asked for privacy.

The news comes after much speculation on the status of their relationship. Tabloid reports have hinted at alleged contention between the two due to Brady’s decision to return to football after a brief 40-day retirement earlier this year. Brady has struggled this season and the Buccaneers have stumbled to a 3-5 record and current three-game losing streak.

The supermodel tweeted her support for Brady before his game on September 11, writing, “Let’s go @TomBrady ! Let’s go Bucs !”

The couple also shared several loving posts for one another throughout 2022 and celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary in February, with Brady describing Bündchen in a post as the “best mother and wife and supporter in the world.”

Brady and Bündchen share two children together: 12-year-old Benjamin and 9-year-old Vivian. Brady also has a 15-year-old son, Jack, from his previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.

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On Friday, the based-on-real-life drama Till hits theaters nationwide.

The film stars Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother-turned-activist of murdered Chicago teen Emmett Till, who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 for the “crime” of whistling at a white woman.

Director Chinonye Chukwu tells ABC Audio she made the conscious decision to avoid the brutality of the event, but instead show the aftermath. Till-Mobley did, as well, choosing to have Emmett’s body, and what he endured, on display. The public outcry over the resulting photos shocked much of the nation and paved the way for the civil rights struggle in the U.S.

“This story that I decided to tell is about Mamie and her journey,” the filmmaker insists. “And so it … was not necessary to show the physical violence inflicted upon Emmett … but what was important was to show the body as an extension of Mamie’s decision that, you know, she made in 1955. But to do so in a way that was intentional and sparing yet effective.”

Deadwyler says of the crime, “I feel like people don’t know as much as they think they know from the history books. I feel like … certain states don’t want you to know the history from the history books.”

Jalyn Hall portrays Emmett; the actor is the same age Till was when he was murdered. “Oftentimes we forget he was just a 14-year-old boy, you know, who had dreams, goals, a personality that was loving. He loved to dance. He loved to sing. He loved his relationship with his mom … So it was…just that authentic joy as a kid, which was easy for me because it’s easy to see yourself in this beautiful spirit.”

In June, ABC News launched the podcast Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley, which is available now on all major platforms.

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Thursday’s episode of Call Me Kat included a tribute to late castmember Leslie Jordan, who died
died Monday in a car crash in Hollywood on Monday. He was 67 years old.

A 30-second video featured a montage of clips of the Emmy-winning actor from various appearances in Fox series over the years, including Call Me Kat, The Cool Kids, Fantasy Island, Lego Masters and The Masked Singer. The memorial concluded with a title card that read, “Forever a part of the Fox family.”

On Call Me Kat, Jordan played Phil, the gay head baker at a café run by the show’s titular character, played by Mayim Bialik. Jordan completed work on nine episodes of the show’s third season, which is currently airing.

Fox has paused production on the series in the wake of Jordan’s death. Bialik posted a statement on Instagram on behalf of the cast and producers of the show, writing, “There aren’t words to convey the loss we are experiencing as a cast and a Call Me Kat family.”

“Leslie Jordan was larger than life. He was a Southern gentleman; tender, wise, naughty and hilarious,” the post continued. “We got to know and love him at the height of his happiness and joy and it is inconceivable to imagine a world without our Leslie: the man who would spit on his contact lenses before putting them in his eyes, the man who had a story about every man in Hollywood and some of the women as well, the man who lived to make people laugh.”

Jordan’s other screen credits included Will & Grace, American Horror Story and The Help. He also gained social media attention from his silly Instagram videos during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Comedian Chris Redd was punched in the face in front of a New York City comedy club, where he was scheduled to perform Wednesday night.

WABC-TV, citing a a preliminary police investigation, reports that Redd was getting out of his car just before 9:40 p.m. when a man who apparently looked like a security guard charged him and punched him in the face.

The 37-year-old Saturday Night Live vet reportedly was bleeding heavily from the nose and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.

The suspect fled the scene. As of late Thursday night, no arrests had been made.

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Inside Amy Schumer star Amy Schumer will host Saturday Night Live for the third time on November 5 with musical guest Steve Lacy, the NBC late-night sketch comedy show announced on Thursday. Schumer previously hosted the NBC show in October 2015 and May 2018. There will be a third consecutive SNL on November 12 with guests not yet announced…

Hocus Pocus 2 set a record for streaming minutes by a movie. Nielsen says the Disney sequel, starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, had the most-watched debut for a streaming movie ever since it started keeping track — 2.7 billion minutes viewed in its first week on Disney+ after its September 30th premiere. Disney+’s Encanto was the previous champ, with 2.2 billion minutes…

1923, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel for Paramount+, will debut December 18 exclusively on Paramount+, the streamer revealed on Thursday. Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford star the series, which takes place in the new titular year. The series’ official description reads, “1923 focuses on the Dutton family’s next two generations as they struggle to survive historic drought, lawlessness and prohibition, and an epidemic of cattle theft; all battled beneath the cloud of Montana’s great depression, which preceded the nation by almost a decade. The show will also touch on the end of World War I, which occurred in 1918″…

Sources tell Variety that The Good Place‘s William Jackson Harper will appear in the upcoming Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Details of his role are being kept under wraps. He joins Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas, who reprise their roles from 2015’s Ant-Man and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. Kathryn Newton has been re-cast as Cassie Long, Scott Lang/Ant-Man’s daughter, who, based on the film’s trailer, invents a gadget that sucks the gang into the Quantum Realm and puts them face to face with Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania buzzes into theaters February 17, 2023. Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

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The White Lotus returns with its second season on HBO Sunday night, and, this time around, the show trades Hawaii for the Italian island Sicily.

A new location also means a new cast, who spoke with ABC Audio about what to expect from the new bunch of episodes from creator Mike White.

Aubrey Plaza joins the show as Harper, a woman processing her husband’s recent professional success and wealth. She recounts the details of working in Sicily, noting that the “energy to the volcano” loomed large.

“You can taste it in the wine – literally,” Plaza said. “The wine in Sicily tastes like volcanic ash, and it’s an acquired taste. And I’ve come to really love it.”

Michael Imperioli also joins the cast, and he says he wishes he was still filming in Italy.

“We were living and working in a hotel that was closed to the public,” Imperioli said. “I’d be perfectly happy staying there if we could keep the story going and the show going.”

According to Plaza, “every actor wanted” to be a part of the show’s first season, which won 10 Emmys last month.

“Mike White had the golden ticket to Hawaii,” Plaza said. “If you got that golden ticket, you were out. You were out of the quarantine. Everybody wanted it.”

Jennifer Coolidge got one of those golden tickets last year. She reprises her Emmy-winning role as flighty heiress Tanya McQuoid in season 2, and she says the shores of Maui gave off a foreboding energy in the first season.

“Sicily has that, too,” Coolidge said. “You feel many things when you’re in Sicily. And it’s really like Sicily is another person, and a person that’s sort of unpredictable. They’re both equally mesmerizing. I can’t believe we lucked out. We got both places.”

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A year after the fatal Rust movie set shooting in New Mexico, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has handed the results of its exhaustive investigation to the district attorney.

On October 21, 2021, a live round discharged from a Colt-style revolver that Alec Baldwin had pointed at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, fatally injuring her and wounding director Joel Souza.

Heather Brewer, spokesperson for New Mexico’s Office of the First Judicial District Attorney, noted in a statement, “Today, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies received the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s investigative report on the Rust movie set incident. The District Attorney and her team of investigators and prosecutors will now begin a thorough review of the information and evidence to make a thoughtful, timely decision about whether to bring charges.”

The statement concluded, “As with all cases that the District Attorney handles, her focus will be on upholding the integrity of the process, enforcing the laws of the state of New Mexico, and pursuing justice.”

The producers of the Western were fined for violating safety protocols; investigators found a “mix” of harmless prop bullets, blanks and live ammunition on the set.

In an ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos last December, Baldwin insisted he didn’t pull the trigger and that he was assured the weapon was “cold,” or safe to handle.

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Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is throwing his support behind James Gunn’s move to DC.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Warner Bros. Discovery had picked Gunn and producer Peter Safran to be co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios, making them the heads of the new division, which will replace DC Films.

Gunn has famously directed movies for both Marvel and DC. He is the filmmaker behind all three of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films and DC’s The Suicide Squad.

At the premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Wednesday, Feige told The Hollywood Reporter that he “speaks to Gunn almost every day” before he highlighted their most recent collaborations.

“We have a wonderful thing called the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special coming out, we have a wonderful thing called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming out in May,” Feige said. “How he’ll have any time to work on DC until May I don’t know, but once he does have the time I’ll be very excited. I’ll be first in line.”

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