Tonight on CBS is another installment of the 42nd (!) season of Survivor.
Way back in 2001, the winner of the third season, Survivor: Africa, was Ethan Zohn, and he’s still watching the show, so ABC Audio wanted to get his perspective on the current iteration of the Emmy-winning series.
“I’m torn because I’m an…old-school Survivor player. I played back in the day,” he says. “I just feel the way the game’s organized now, it’s not better or worse. It’s just different.”
He explains that, as opposed to his season’s 39-day adventure, “today’s game is 26 days,” adding with a laugh, “Like, seriously, anyone can last 26 six days, you know?”
Zohn admits that the current game seems confusing to him,” noting with a laugh, “I get through an episode like, ‘What just happened?!’ Like…there’s two idols, there is a clue, there is an advantage, there’s a disadvantage — all in one episode. I’m like, ‘Ahh! What’s going on?!'”
That said, Ethan’s still a fan. “I still think it’s so exciting, I think [host and producer Jeff Probst has] done a great job. I mean, the cast this year is pretty diverse and unique and [there are] a lot of backstories that you’re seeing that makes them interesting.”
Zohn, who not only is a Survivor winner, but a two-time cancer survivor, is running the Boston Marathon on Monday — marking his return to the race for the first time since 2014, when the deadly Boston bombings cut the event short.
He’s celebrating 10 years of being in remission, and he’s running to raise funds for the foundation AKTIV Against Cancer and its mission to make physical activity part of cancer treatment.
Serena Williams is one of the most celebrated, decorated and beloved tennis stars of all time. But her superstar status as an Olympic medalist doesn’t negate the fact that as a Black woman, she’s at times overlooked and undervalued.
In a personal essay for ELLE magazine, the 40-year-old star shares the harrowing story of what happened after she gave birth to her now 4-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., when Serena developed life-threatening blood clots throughout her body.
Generally speaking, Williams described her journey as a “wonderful pregnancy,” saying, “I guess I’m one of those women who likes being pregnant.” The fun of it all came to a halt after giving birth, when her requests for medical attention were ignored by nursing staff, she says.
As someone who’s already at-risk for blood clots, Williams asked of her nurses, “When do I start my heparin drip? Shouldn’t I be on that now?”
The apparent disregard for her health and safety made her worry. “All I could think was, ‘I’m dying, I’m dying. Oh my God,'” Serena wrote. Her constant coughing, which she was told “might burst her [C-section] stitches”, finally prompted a CT scan, which revealed clots in her lungs and arteries. After four subsequent emergency surgeries, they were successfully removed.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the story for many other Black women in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women are.
Thinking of those women who don’t have the same “happy ending” to their birthing story, Williams said, “Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me; I know those statistics would be different if the medical establishment listened to every Black woman’s experience.”
Black Maternal Health Week is celebrated every year from April 11-17.
L-R: Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Sophie Turner — HBO/Macall B. Polay
For eight seasons Maisie Williams played Arya Stark on the hit HBO show Game of Thrones and now she’s opening up about a time she “resented” the role.
In a recent interview with GQ UK, the 24-year-old actress got candid about her time on the fantasy drama, which spanned from 2011 until its finale in 2019, and revealed that growing up while on the show was a tough time.
“I think that when I started becoming a woman, I resented Arya because I couldn’t express who I was becoming,” she shared. “And then I also resented my body, because it wasn’t aligned with the piece of me that the world celebrated.”
With GoT now three years in the rearview mirror, is there anything Maisie misses?
“I don’t think it’s healthy [to miss it], because I loved it,” she said. “I look at it so fondly, and I look at it with such pride. But why would I want to make myself feel sad about the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I don’t want to associate that with feelings of pain.”
But, that doesn’t mean she’s opposed to doing a reboot or spin-off of some sort, adding, “I’m not saying [a revival] would never happen, but I’m also not saying it in this interview so that everyone goes, ‘The spinoff! It’s coming!’ Because it’s not.”
“It has to be the right time and the right people. It has to be right in the context of all the other spinoffs and the universe of Game of Thrones,” she said. “It has to be the right time for me.”
Millie Bobby Brown is getting real about what it’s like growing up in the limelight.
While on Tuesday’s episode of The Guilty Femininst podcast, the Stranger Things actress, who turned 18 in February, opened up about how she’s navigated the industry while coming of age.
“I deal with the same things any 18-year-old is dealing with: navigating being an adult and having relationships and friendships, and it’s all of those things. Being liked and trying to fit in, it’s all a lot, and you’re trying to find yourself while doing that,” she shared.
“The only difference is that obviously I’m doing that in the public eye. So it can be really overwhelming,” Brown added.
The Enola Holmes actress went on to explain that she’s also noticed a change in how she’s been treated since reaching her milestone 18th birthday earlier this year.
“I have definitely been dealing with that, more within the last two weeks of turning 18,” she said. “Definitely seeing a difference between the way people act and the way the press and social media have reacted to me coming of age.”
Although Millie feels turning 18 “shouldn’t change anything,” she admits, “it’s gross, and it’s true. I think it’s just a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized. And so I have been dealing with that, but also have been dealing with that for forever.”
Netflix just dropped a new trailer for the forthcoming fourth season of Stranger ThingsVol. 1, which debuts May 27.
Bridgerton season two is Netflix’s third-most popular English-language TV series, the streaming service announced on Tuesday. The list is calculated based on a shows’ first 28 days on the streaming service, but Bridgerton managed to accomplish that in just 17 days. “The series had 115.75M hours viewed on the English TV list, appearing in the top 10 in 91 countries, making it the most-viewed title for the third week in a row. The season also entered the Most Popular list at #3, with 560.50M hours viewed. Shonda Rhimes now holds three spots on the Most Popular list with Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2 and Inventing Anna, per Netflix…
The password is “reboot.” NBC is reviving the classic game show Password, with Keke Palmer taking the reins as host, the network announced on Tuesday. Just like the original, contestants from all walks of life will partner with celebrities in the word-association game in which they try to guess a word based on single-word clues offered by their partner. Password launched in 1961 hosted by Allen Ludden. NBC revived the show in 1979 and 1984 prior to becoming a hit game on both Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show. Fallon, who’s a co-producer, will play in each of the eight hour-long episodes. The premiere episode will be dedicated to Betty White, who regularly played on the original series and who was married to Ludden until his death in 1981…
Hulu on Monday released an extended trailer for Conversations with Friends. Based on the 2017 novel by Sally Rooney, the 12-episode series follows a college student named Frances — played by newcomer Alison Oliver, in her first-ever screen credit — who finds herself involved in a “series of relationships that force her to confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time.” Conversations with Friends, premiering May 15, also stars Sasha Lane, Jemima Kirke and Joe Alwyn…
(NOTE LANGUAGE) The entertainment world is reacting to the news of actor and stand-up comedian Gilbert Gottfried‘s death on Tuesday after a “long illness.” He was 67.
Jon Stewart: “RIP Gilbert. Opening for Gilbert Gottfried at Carolines and Princeton Catch was one of the great thrills of my early stand up life. He could leave you gasping for breath…just indescribably unusually hilarious…Damn.”
Judd Apatow: “Nobody was funnier than @RealGilbert on a roll. He could put you into convulsive hysterics. He was also the sweetest man. His podcast is a comedy treasure. What a terrible loss. Sending my condolences and love to Dara and his family.”
Jimmy Kimmel: One of a million crazy-funny Gilbert memories is when he made a deranged caller to the @HowardStern show repeat a LONG story 15 times, each time pretending he couldn’t hear what he said.”
Mark Hamill: “He was a unique voice in comedy on so many levels. Unpredictable, one-of-a-kind, hilarious & irreplaceable! Thank you for the lifetime of laughs, sir.”
Jason Alexander: “Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily. What a gift. I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me. My best wishes and sympathy to his family.”
Kevin Smith: “We cast @RealGilbert as Patrick Swayze in the Clerks Cartoon because a) Patrick refused and b) I was a big Gilbert Gottfried fan. I first saw him on SNL and Mtv (https://youtu.be/QHd56BRUOjs) but grew to love him via USA Up All Night, the Stern show & his epic Iago. RIP, Comedy King.”
Seth MacFarlane: “Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh so hard [on the set of A Million Ways to Die in the West], I could barely do my job. A wholly original comic, and an equally kind and humble guy behind the scenes. He will be missed.”
Marlee Matlin: “I am so sad to read about the passing of Gilbert Gottfried. Funny, politically incorrect but a softie on the inside. We met many times; he even pranked me on a plane, replacing my interpreter @655jack(they’re like twins). Sending love to Dara & his children. RIP #gilbertgottfried”
Conan O’Brien: “I saw Gilbert perform in 1985 and when he entered to applause he said, “Thank you, thank you very much.” He then continued to say “thank you” repeatedly for ten full minutes. It was the nerviest, funniest thing I had seen. So sorry to lose this sweet and delightfully funny man.”
George Takei: “I shall miss you, my friend, my sometimes foil, my always pain in my side, usually from the belly laughs. The heavens are a great deal louder with you out there now, I’m sure. Keep ‘em shaking their heads and smiling, Gilbert.”
Dane Cook: “Sending love to @RealGilbert’s wife Dara, his family & fans. Gilbert Gottfried was never not funny. He was a lovely guy, always friendly & made many people happy.”
Kathy Griffin: “Gilbert would be the first one to make a joke about this picture today. The first. And he would not hold back.”
Al Franken: “Big loss to the world of comedy. Gilbert Gottfried has left us. Fearless and hilarious!!! A truly lovely man, loved by all in comedy. May his memory be a blessing to his family, his friends & all he made laugh!”
Richard Lewis: “Gilbert, I don’t want to believe this. I loved him. I’m heartbroken for his beautiful family. Say it ain’t so. For almost 40 years his spectacular comedy blew me away. You can’t be funnier. My God, all who experienced him are crushed. Say it ain’t so.”
Bill Burr: “Rest In Peace Gilbert Gottfried! First time I saw him live he did his Jackie Kennedy bit: “Jackie do you remember where you were…” in front of drunk Bruins fans at Nicks. #RIPGilbertGottfried”
Tom Green: “Sad to hear of the passing of the groundbreaking and legendary Gilbert Gottfried. Here was the last time I saw you in Miami. My condolences to the family and friends of this genius comic, artist, and provocateur. Comedy mourns tonight. #comedy”
Stevie Van Zandt: “RIP Gilbert Gottfried. A completely unique comedian and classic voice. Our contemporary connection to Comedy’s Old School. Forever a ‘50s and ‘60s guy. Not too many of us left. Seems like I just did his Sirius/Podcast. Will always be the legendary example of making miserable fun.”
Meghan McCain: “I really love Gilbert Gottfried’s comedy and documentary on his life and – I really wish God would stop taking all the people who make us laugh and happy. Way too young, way too soon. Love and light to his family and loved ones.”
Alan Zweibel: “No one made me laugh more than Gilbert Gottfried and no one I know had a bigger heart. R.I.P. my friend. I enjoyed every minute of knowing you. #GilbertGottfried @RealGilbert”
Joy-Ann Reid: “Posting this to laugh while I cry. That time I got to Gilbert Gottfried with Gilbert Gottfried at COMICON, back in the #AMJoy days. What a great and funny guy. Rest in peace and deepest condolences to his family.”
Jackie Hoffman: “I guess all the great comedians are dying because no one‘s allowed to make jokes about anything any more #RIP Gilbert”
Treat Williams: “RIP Gilbert Gottfried I’m so sorry we did not have that last dinner You were delightful”
Diane Warren: “Make ’em laugh in Power forever Gilbert Gottfried”
Need Earth Day plans? Netflix has you covered with their new docuseries Our Great National Parks. Narrated and executive produced by President Barack Obama, the new series brings you up close to nature’s greatest creatures in its most iconic landscapes.
“I’d like to think that this the series speaks of the importance of wilderness everywhere and because we need it now more than ever, and it needs us,” James Honeyborne, a producer of the series, tells ABC Audio. “It’s a two way thing. It’s about our relationship with wilderness as well.”
While exploring that relationship with wilderness, they were able to capture rare footage of hippos body surfing the waves, something Honeyborne says was “so hard to get,” sharing that the crew spent a lot of time in Gabon in Africa before managing “to get the material of these big hippos going into the ocean, catching waves to actually move up and down the coast.”
After watching the docuseries you can choose which National Park is your favorite, but if you ask Honeyborne, the answer is Monterey.
For producer Sophie Todd, “Leuser National Park in Indonesia, just because it’s an incredibly beautiful rainforest where you can still see forest elephants, orangutans, tigers and rhinos in the same place.”
In addition to exploring the world’s National Parks, the producers got to work with Obama, something they agree just made sense.
“As president, he protected more natural space than any president in U.S. history in terms of area. So I mean, it’s just a natural fit, really, wasn’t it?” Todd says.
“Yeah,” Honeyborne agrees. “It felt very authentic to have him there. And it was wonderful that we were able to to have him introduce each episode because he has a connection to each location that we have filmed.”
Better Call Saul lead and Nobody star Bob Odenkirk will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday.
The comic, writer and star of AMC’s Breaking Bad and its spin-off will receive the 2,720th star on the same day Better Call Saul‘s sixth and final season begins on AMC.
For fans of both shows, some more good news if you ever want to visit: Odenkirk’s star, located at 1725 Vine Street, in front of the Aster Hotel, will be next to that of his friend and former Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston.
It was recently revealed that Cranston’s Walter White, as well as fellow Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, who played Jesse Pinkman, would make an appearance on the final season of Odenkirk’s prequel spin-off.
Gilbert Gottfried, actor and stand-up comedian, has died after a “long illness,” his family confirmed on his social media accounts. He was 67.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness,” the statement began. “In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend and father to his two young children. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert’s honor.”
A statement provided to ABC News by his longtime friend and publicist, Glenn Schwartz, says Gottfried “passed away at 2:35pm ET on April 12, 2022 from Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia due to Myotonic Dystrophy type II.“
Known for his gravelly-voiced, near shouting on-stage delivery — as well as for his unflinching ability to “go there,” tackling material that few other comedians would — Gottfried began his stand-up career in the late 1970s in New York City. He also stole scenes in movies like Beverly Hills Cop 2, and later, he found fame with a younger generation as the voice of Iago the parrot in the Disney 1992 animated film Aladdin.
Gottfried was also known for voicing the duck in the long-running Aflac commercials, until he was fired for making a joke at the expense of the victims of the Japanese tsunami in 2011.
In the statement from Schwartz, Gilbert’s friend and podcast co-host Frank Santopadre said of Gottfried, “Gilbert’s brand of humor was brash, shocking and frequently offensive, but the man behind the jokes was anything but. Those who loved and him were fortunate enough to share his orbit knew a person who was sweet, sensitive, surprisingly shy and filled with a childlike sense of playfulness and wonder.”
Santopadre added, “He’ll be dearly missed by family, friends, fans and comedy lovers the world over. To quote Gilbert himself, ‘Too soon!'”
Social media was quick to start tributes to the comedian, with one of the first to comment being Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander, who tweeted, “Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily. What a gift. I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me. My best wishes and sympathy to his family.
The ongoing legal battle between exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard managed to get even uglier in a Virginia courtroom today.
During their defamation trail, Heard made a never-before-revealed accusation of sexual assault, claiming it happened while the star was “black-out drunk” and when the pair was married.
According to Rolling Stone, one of Depp’s attorneys, Camille Vasquez, told the jury, “Ms. Heard had never made that accusation against Mr. Depp — it was never part of her allegations of abuse in 2016,” with his lawyers calling the accusations “convenient.”
The crux of the case is a Washington Post op-ed written by Heard, in which she claimed that she suffered domestic abuse during her marriage — without naming the Pirates of the Caribbean series star.
Vasquez continued about Aquaman star Heard, “When she realized the seriousness of what she alleged…she panicked and alleged sexual assault. In Mr. Depp’s fifty-eight years, not a single woman has ever accused him of violence, and nobody in Hollywood or the world had any reason to believe he was an abuser — until Ms. Heard publicly accused him.”
Vasquez added, “The only medical report of an injury during their relationship was a severe one sustained by Mr. Depp…She threw a vodka bottle at him that hit his hand and exploded, severing the end of one of his fingers.”
Depp’s attorneys also brought receipts proving Heard apparently reneged on a promise to donate her $7 million divorce settlement to both the ACLU and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn told the jury, “It’s not about which party can sling more mud…that’s what Mr. Depp wants to turn this case into.”
