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‘First Wives Club’: Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau tease the second season and why it “really matters”

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau are once again tapping into their funny and spontaneous sides in the second season of the BET+ series First Wives Club.

Scott, who reprises her role as Hazel, an ambitious and often unpredictable singer, tells ABC Audio that the new season will bring the same old Hazel — but with plenty more drama.

“You know Hazel is nuts, right?,” Scott laughs. “She’s absolutely nuts and she is going to do whatever her heart moves her to do. She’s showing up to her friends with a little more excitement, and a new boo that her girlfriends [aren’t] necessarily feeling. But Hazel is going to do what Hazel wants to do.”

While Buteau’s character Bree is a bit more family-oriented, the comedian says that when it comes to important decisions, Bree’s a lot like Hazel — she always looks to her gal pals for guidance.

“This is probably the difference between between Bree and I,” Buteau explains. “Bree goes to her friends first and then figures out how to present it… And for me…I go to [my husband] first..”

Even though the characters they portray are mostly scripted, Scott and Buteau agree that the relationships they have on and off screen very “real.”

“The chemistry is on fire because we respect each other, we love each other, and we work well together,” Buteau shares. “We are actual friends. We check in with each other and that’s so important. You can’t just show up to set, especially during COVID and just say your lines and leave. No, we have done too much to get here safely. And we’re going to have fun and we’re going to make it count. And so this season really matters.”

The new season of First Wives Club is now available to stream on BET+.

Jussie Smollett appears in court again, related to his purported hate crime attack

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Former Empire star Jussie Smollett again appeared in a Chicago courtroom Wednesday on matters stemming from that 2019 incident in which he claims he was jumped by two white supporters of President Donald Trump in what he alleges was a hate crime.

The Chicago Tribune reports Wednesday’s proceedings centered on one of Smollett’s attorneys, Nenye Uche, having a potential conflict of interest in the case. Nigerian brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who claimed Smollett paid them $3,500 by check to help orchestrate and stage the crime, said Uche had previously reached out to represent them, something Uche denies.

Smollett was indicted for a second time in February of last year on six counts, including lying to investigators about the case. Prosecutors maintain he’d hired the brothers to stage the incident, and furnished as evidence the check the actor claimed was for “personal training.”

After they were seen on surveillance footage near the crime scene, the brothers told police Smollett concocted the assault after he became upset that a threatening letter sent to him did not get enough attention, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Smollett continues to insist the attack wasn’t staged.

Dan Webb, the special prosecutor tapped to investigate the case after the charges were initially dropped, said in February of 2020 that the actor made “numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime he, in fact, knew had not occurred.”

That letter itself, which contained a white powder later found to be a pain reliever, is the center of a separate federal investigation. At the time, former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson claimed the letter was also phony, but the investigation is apparently still ongoing.

‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic to be resentenced following court order

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

An Oklahoma judge has ordered resentencing for Tiger King star Joe Exotic.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit handed down the order Wednesday in the case of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the man known as “Joe Exotic” from the popular Netflix series Tiger King, ABC News affiliate KOCO in Oklahoma City reports. However, his conviction was affirmed.

In 2019, Maldonado-Passage was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for violating wildlife laws in addition to the failed murder-for-hire plots against his nemesis, Carole Baskin. At the time, he asked that the judge combine the sentence for the two murder-for-hire counts, but was instead given an individual sentence for each.

“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Maldonado-Passage’s conviction but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing,” the court documents state.

To sum it up, “Joe Exotic is not going free,” KOCO reporter Dillon Richards shared on Twitter.

“He was originally sentenced to 264 months (the lower end of the 262-327 month range) Now the judge will have to re-sentence, but this time his range will be 210-262 months instead,” Richards explained. “So essentially the likely effect is that this could knock a couple years off his 22-year sentence.”

Director Joshua Zeman unravels a whale of a tale in ‘The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52’

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The new documentary The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 is in theaters now and hits on demand streaming Friday.

Leonardo DiCaprio produced the doc that centers on a quest to find the creature scientists believe has spent its life in solitude because it sings at 52 Hertz, a frequency that, in theory, other whales can’t understand.

“It was first heard on a bunch of hydrophones in the ocean used by the Navy to suss out submarines,” director Joshua Zeman tells ABC Audio. “They heard this mysterious sound. At first, they didn’t know what it was. And then the scientist, Dr. William Watkins, believed it was a whale, a whale that called at a frequency that was unknown by any other.”

Why are people so captivated by a lonely whale? That’s what Zeman, who notes people would “people would freak out [and] start to cry” when he told them the story, explores in the documentary.

“You know, they would get goosebumps,” he explains. “And I was like, what is it about this story? Like, I’m a storyteller. I pitch a lot of stories. And I had never gotten such a visceral reaction from people. And I was like, OK, just from a storytelling standpoint, I want to know what it is.”

“It’s the man’s existential human crisis staring back at them in the mirror. You know, we all don’t want to die alone, but it was also the fact that this fear and crisis and human condition was in the form of a whale,” adds Zeman. “You know, whales are so big, they humble us. And then maybe it’s because the ocean is just so vast. So, it’s like our human crisis, like supersized to the point of like blowing our minds.”

Netflix to release an animated series created by Meghan Markle

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

As part of the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry‘s deal with Netflix, the streamer announced today that it’s bringing to life an animated project with the working title Pearl.

According to Netflix, the show will be a “family series that centers on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl, who is inspired by a variety of influential women from history.”

The project will be created under the runaway royals’ Archewell Productions banner, named after their first child, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, and co-produced by David Furnish, Elton John‘s husband; the celebrity couple are pals with Harry and Meghan Markle.

“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,” Markle says in a statement. “David…and I have been eager to bring this special series to light, and I am delighted we are able to announce it today.”

The series will be co-produced by Sherlock Gnomes and Tangled vet Carolyn Soper and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan and Amanda Rynda.

The song Tom Hiddleston performed on ‘Loki’ debuts on ‘Billboard’ charts

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tom Hiddleston can add a new accolade to his expansive resume. On Tuesday, the British actor became a Billboard-charting artist.

Hiddleston can credit his Billboard debut to the song he belts out in Loki‘s third episode, in which he stars as the titular Norse god of mischief.

The Golden Globe winner sings the Asgardian drinking song “Very Full” almost entirely in Norwegian in the episode titled “Lamentis.” The track is now available on the recently released Loki: Volume 1 soundtrack.

“Very Full” — or “Jeg Saler Min Ganger” — debuted in the top 10 on the World Digital Song Sales after selling over 500 downloads. The particular chart tracks non-English and non-Spanish singles.

Hiddleston performs “Very Full” twice in the third episode of Loki, the first time when he drinks too much and leads a train full of affluent individuals into a rowdy singalong as Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino, stares on in horror. The second time is during during the end credits.

Loki‘s final episode premieres today on Disney+, though a second season is forthcoming.

This isn’t the only song originating in a Disney+ series to shake up the Billboard and streaming charts. Previously, Kathryn Hahn‘s WandaVision earworm “Agatha All Along” went to number one on the iTunes soundtrack chart.

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

Good Times: Norman Lear’s classic TV shows ‘All in the Family’, ‘The Jeffersons’, and more coming to Amazon Prime and IMDb TV

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Amazon Prime has snagged a deal with producer Norman Lear to bring his classic TV shows to streaming this month, including the Emmy-winning sitcoms All in the Family and Maude, as well as the groundbreaking Diff’rent Strokes, One Day at a Time and Good Times.

All in the Family, Good Times, Maude and One Day at a Time will launch on Thursday, July 15, on Prime Video and IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service; 227 and Diff’rent Strokes will debut that day on Prime Video, as well.

Additional titles, including The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son and Sanford, will launch on Prime Video later in 2021.

“That Sony [Pictures Television] found a home for that library with Prime Video/IMDb TV, where new generations could find it, is the best present a man entering his 100th year can have,” said Lear in a statement.

Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios added, “Norman Lear is a national treasure and his impact on television and popular culture is immeasurable. We are so honored to bring his classic television series to Prime Video and IMDb TV so new audiences and a new generation can laugh, enjoy and be inspired, like so many of us have been throughout the years.”

Demi Moore: Working it in swimwear on a working vacation?

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Demi Moore is showing off what 58 looks like for her, in a series of Instagram snaps showing off the Indecent Proposal star in a black bikini.

“Getting ready for another day in paradise,” the actress captioned the snaps, which were taken in Greece.

Page Six reports Moore was in Crete as the godmother for the christening of the baby of some mogul friends, but turned the event into a vacation.

However, here’s a pretty decent proposal: Moore could arguably log the entire trip as a working vacation as far as write-offs go, because the suit she’s wearing is from Andie Swim, a company in which she invested back in 2018.

In fact, Moore — along with her daughters Rumer, Scout and Talullah — recently all rocked swimsuit looks from the company on Instagram.

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Gillian Anderson shares her honest thoughts on brassieres

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

27th Annual SAG Awards/Getty Images for WarnerMedia

Like the truth, Gillian Anderson is apparently out, there.

The Emmy-winning actress had a unique way of keeping herself preoccupied ahead of Tuesday’s announcement of the 2021 Emmy nominees. Taking to Instagram live, the Crown actress answered a variety of questions from fans, which led to her sharing her honest thoughts about lingerie — specifically bras.

The lighthearted conversation saw Anderson, 52, explaining that she doesn’t find brassieres very comfortable and would rather go the rest of her life without wearing one ever again.

“I don’t wear a bra anymore. I can’t wear a bra. I’m sorry,” she remarked. “I don’t care if my breasts reach my belly button!”

The actress, who just secured her sixth Emmy nod for her portrayal of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Netflix’s The Crown, spoke about her experiences filming the critically acclaimed series and discussed the various scenes that stick out most in her mind.

“Probably the most complicated scenes [I filmed] were the audience scenes, just because there was so much dialogue and trying to make them different from each other,” Anderson answered, before teasing that she is sitting on some behind-the-scenes videos of the entire cast goofing off in Scotland when they were filming the second episode.

The X-Files alum also revealed in her lengthy IG live that her greatest fear is relaxing, that her first concert — that she can recall — was seeing The Eagles when she was 16, and that she prefers gelato over ice cream. The latter answer made her go off on a nearly five-minute discourse about her love of the frozen dessert.

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Don Cheadle, Sonequa Martin-Green share “the fun” and message behind ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

It wasn’t much of a challenge for Iron Man star Don Cheadle to go from superhero to a Looney Tunes supervillain in his new film Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Cheadle, who plays Al-G Rhythm, a tyrannical computer A.I. who hopes to “delete” his competition, says his “evil” Space Jam character isn’t as bad as everyone makes him out to be.

“I think he’s still the good guy,” Cheadle tells ABC Audio. “I’ve played all kinds of guys: good guys, bad guys, unscrupulous characters. Al-G was a lot of fun.”

It was also “a lot of fun” for Sonequa Martin-Green to take on her role of Kamiyah, a character loosely based on LeBron James‘ wife, Savannah. Martin-Green says she “appreciated the way her character was written” because she’s the “matriarch” and “nucleus” of the family.

“You get to see the strength and ferocity met with the grace and the patience,” says Sonequa. “And you see this woman navigating perfectly in and out of these relationships, knowing exactly how to say what, and when to say it… And I think it pays homage to Savannah.”

While both actors can agree that the compelling characters are what make the film authentic and entertaining, Cheadle notes that it’s the messages in the film that provide the important takeaway.

“It’s about individualism and letting people be who they’re going to be,” he says. “Not trying to dictate who people have to be so that you feel comfortable.”

Cheadle continues, “Even as a dad, being a father, that’s one of the biggest challenges… So… it’s about people being who they want to be and letting people experience their lives for themselves and supporting that as a parent at all costs.”

Space Jam: New Legacy hits theaters on Friday.

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