Entertainment

The NBA is celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a special PSA titled, Imagine.

The clip begins with three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade saying, “Imagine changing the world by appealing to the hearts and minds of your neighbors, and answering hate with love. Imagine all that power. Now, imagine all that power in you.”

The video shows a classroom of young students watching a video of Dr. King speaking and also includes photos of the Nobel Peace Prize winner leading civil rights marches in the South in the 1960s. The PSA ends with the caption, “Honor the legacy by living it. Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

BET is honoring King’s legacy by premiering BET Her Presents… Becoming: Michelle Obama In Conversation, Monday at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Moderated by grown-ish star Yara Shahidi, Mrs. Obama discusses themes from her acclaimed memoir, Becoming. They are joined on stage by students from 22 colleges across the country for conversation about mental wellness and diversity.

Finally, the African American Film Critics Association announced the winners of the 13th annual AAFCA Awards on MLK Day Monday.

King Richard and The Harder They Fall each won four awards. For King Richard, Will Smith won Best Actor, Aunjanue Ellis won Best Supporting Actress, Saniyya Sidney won Breakout Actor, and Reinaldo Marcus Green took home Emerging Director. The Harder They Fall won Best Picture, Best Ensemble, Best Music, and Jeymes Samuel was recognized as Best Director.

Jennifer Hudson was also honored as Best Actress for Respect. The winners will be celebrated at the 13th Annual AAFCA Awards on March 2 at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles.

Here’s the full list of 13th annual AAFCA Awards winners:

Best Picture: The Harder They Fall
Best Director: Jeymes Samuel, The Harder They Fall
Best Screenplay: Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up
Best Actor: Will Smith, King Richard
Best Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Respect
Best Supporting Actor: Corey Hawkins, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Breakout Actor: Saniyya Sidney, King Richard
Best Ensemble: The Harder They Fall
Emerging Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green, King Richard
Best Music: The Harder They Fall, Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi, and Jay-Z
Best Independent Feature: Who We Are
Best Documentary: Summer of Soul

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(SPOILERS AHEAD) 1883 viewers didn’t see this one coming, as the road west came to an end for a fan-favorite on the latest episode of the popular Yellowstone prequel on Paramount+.
 
Cowboy-for-hire Ennis, played by Eric Nelsen, met an untimely death while protecting Isabel May’s Elsa Dutton  and their band of pioneers from a gang of marauding prairie bandits. Oh, and the couple had just gotten engaged too.
 
“It still hurts for me to even think about it,” Nelsen tells ABC Audio. “I remember reading the script for the first time and just crying…I had no idea it was coming.”

The Ennis/Elsa coupling had become a lighter spot in a story set against the backdrop of the dangers of westward migration across the American Frontier. In a lot ways, Nelsen said something like that had to happen.

“It’s safe to say, nobody is safe,” he says. “Tragedy is throughout this entire series…these people went through this, and it gives you so much more respect and appreciation for what we have, from what these early settlers went through.”
 
And even though it looks like his time on 1883 has wrapped up, he called it “life changing” being able to work with show creator Taylor Sheridan and co-stars like Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Hollywood heavyweight Sam Elliott.

“The main thing I learned from Sam was overall kindness,” Nelsen says. “He’s got such a way with people. He’d be filming all day long and he’d finish his scenes, and there would be two more and after his. He’d sit and watch and support everybody else who was filming that day.”  
 
New episodes of 1883 are available Sundays on Paramount+.

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Taika Waititi has a pretty wicked sense of humor, and the Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner proved it again with an Instagram Live video on Sunday, in which he “accidentally” revealed the return of Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man into the MCU. 

Of course, it was just a fairly elaborate gag.

Downey’s Tony Stark sacrificed himself to save the world at the close of Avengers: Endgame, but a fake script posted by Waititi, supposedly from his forthcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, gave fans a false sense of hope that he might return. A close look at the script page, however, proved Waititi was just pulling their legs.

Fans, including Phase Zero – MCU on Twitter, snapped a screenshot of the screenplay, and it’s pretty obvious the whole thing was a prank. After all, it’s doubtful Marvel Studios would have Downey return to big screen at all, let alone with a hearty, “Wazzzaaaap!” a la those Budweiser commercials from 1999.

The same goes for some of the other dialog. After a hug, Thor asks the resurrected Stark, “But how? I saw you die.” 

“Science,” Stark explains, adding, “Also, Thanos is back.” 

A few lines later, after displaying an Iron Man suit decorated with, “all the flags of every nation,” Stark explains to the God of Thunder, “Everyone who died is coming back, and this time we’re avenging more than ever….From now on, we’ll be known as ….The Avengererers.”

The actual Thor: Love and Thunder, in which we guarantee this scene won’t appear, hits theaters July 8.

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The third episode of Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett proved pretty divisive with the Star Wars fanbase, all thanks to some space scooters. 

The Robert Rodriguez-directed episode sees Temuera Morrison‘s bounty hunter-turned crime boss hiring a group of young cyborg thugs, but their appearance — and their candy-colored, arguably Earth-bound hovering scooters — drew flak from some fans. Many made references to Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, or to Griff Tannen’s hoverboard gang in Back to the Future 2, or Rodriguez’s Spy Kids series.

The term “Mos Vespa” was coined, a play on the Tatooine city Mos Espa, and of course, the iconic Italian scooter brand.

There were its defenders, too, seeing the scooters as a tribute to 1979’s Quadrophenia, and British mod culture. 

But the controversy wasn’t limited to the nerdisphere: Morrison was asked about it on Friday, at Disney+’s portion of the Winter Television Critics Association confab.

“Some of these things are out of our control,” he noted, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We can’t say as performers, ‘We don’t want to work with these people, that’s not good enough.'”

He allowed of the gang, including Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher, “They brought a lot of color to it, I thought … they were great, were working hard.”

Co-star Ming-Na Wen added, “This is a real homage to the things George Lucas always loved — whether it was the Mods in the ’60s, or American Graffiti.”

Wen added, “Sophie was a lovely human being, and I definitely enjoyed getting to know her.”

A new episode of The Book of Boba Fett drops Wednesday on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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The new year wasn’t off to a good start for Full House alum Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli.  Their home has been burglarized, to the tune of $1 million. 

The incident occurred on January 3 between 2 and 3 in the morning, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department confirmed to ABC News. Loughlin and Giannulli were not at their Hidden Hills home at the time. Neither were their children 23-year-old Bella, 23 and 22-year-old Olivia Jade. 

Authorities state that the suspects entered through the back bedroom window of the couple’s Los Angeles home and stole items worth approximately $1 million. They believe the burglars could be part of a South American crime group, which TMZ describes as a crew of crooks who “travel to America, hit locations and then quickly leave the country.”

Loughlin “feels violated by what happened,” according to a Us Weekly source, who added, “It was a very emotional day for her.”

A search is underway for the suspects.  

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Comedian Bob Saget continues to be honored.

After the comedian’s unexpected death last week, he was laid to rest on Friday and, for the first time his widow, Kelly Rizzo, has taken to Instagram to pen a heartfelt tribute to her lost love.

“My sweet husband. After much reflection this week, I’m trying, really trying, to not think I was robbed of time. But instead to think: How lucky was I that I got to be the one to be married to THE MOST INCREDIBLE MAN ON EARTH,” Rizzo wrote alongside a selfie of the couple, who wed in 2018.

“I was the one who got to go on this crazy ride with him and be in his life these last 6 years. We had that time to make each other the happiest we’d ever been and change each other’s lives forever. I got to be the one to love him and cherish him,” she continued. “He deserves all the love. Every ounce of it. Because that’s how amazing Bob was. He was love. If you were in his life you KNEW he loved you. He never missed an opportunity to tell you.”

Rizzo wasn’t the only one remembering “America’s Dad.” America’s Funniest Home Videos also honored Saget, who was a former host of the show, with montage of moments described as “Bob being Bob.”

Before playing the clip, current AFV host Alfonso Ribeiro announced, “As you’ve heard, the world lost a legend last week, and AFV lost a family member.”

“Bob Saget is synonymous with AFV to this day, and this show wouldn’t have been the same without his unique sense of humor,” he continued. “It’s been my honor to continue carrying the torch Bob so brightly lit.”

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Paramount Pictures’ fifth Scream film scared up an estimated $30.6 million at the box office to dethrone Spider-Man: No Way Home, which held the top spot for the past four weeks. The horror flick, with returning stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, is expected to deliver an estimated $35 million factoring in Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday.

The aforementioned Spider-Man: No Way Home slipped to second place — though the web-slinger has nothing to complain about. The film took in an estimated $20.8 million between Friday and Sunday, and by the end of Monday the latest Spider-Man film should pass $700 million stateside, good enough for fourth place on the list of highest-grossing domestic releases of all time, behind Avatar‘s $760.5 million, Avengers: Endgame with $858.4 million and Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens with $936.7 million.

Finishing in third place was Universal’s Sing 2 with an estimated $8.3 million between Friday and Sunday. It’s projected to finish the long weekend with $11 million. The animated musical has earned $119.4 million to date here in the States to go along with $96.3 million internationally, bringing its four-week worldwide total to $215.7 million.

The female-led thriller, The 335, continued to struggle, finishing fourth in its second week of release with an estimated $2.3 million. The film has collected a total of $8.4 million domestically, and $2.6 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $11 million.

Rounding out the top five was The King’s Man, finishing just percentage points behind with an estimated $2.3 million. It is projected to make $3 million by the end of Monday. The King’s Man’s domestic box-office total now sits at $28.7 million. The movie has grabbed $63.8 million overseas, putting its worldwide tally at $92.5 million.

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Betty White is being honored today on what would have been her 100th birthday.

The Golden Girls TV icon passed away December 31, just a few weeks shy of the milestone birthday on January 17.

Over the weekend, her hometown of Oak Park, Illinois celebrated her life with various “Be Like Betty” festivities around town, according to ABC-TV affiliate WLS. There were some special guest speakers as well, including the singer of The Golden Girls theme song, Cindy Fee.

In honor of her official birthday, the Illinois Senate has announced that Monday will officially be known as Betty White Day in Illinois.

If you weren’t in Betty’s hometown over the weekend, there are still plenty of ways to pay tribute. A previously-planned documentary, Betty White: A Celebration, has been revamped to include Betty’s final video message to fans. The film will have a one-night showing at 1,500 theaters nationwide Monday.

The Hallmark Channel, meanwhile, is featuring a Golden Girls marathon, plus a special presentation of Betty’s 2011 Hallmark movie The Lost Valentine at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Meanwhile, NatGeo Wild is airing a special about the star’s animal advocacy work, called Betty White Goes Wild, at 9 p.m. ET. And speaking of her animal advocacy, the #BettyWhiteChallenge is encouraging people to donate $5 to animal rescue organizations in her name today. More than $550,000 has already been raised for the challenge since it was announced earlier this month.

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Ariana DeBose, star of Steven Spielberg‘s West Side Story, hosted this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, which opened with James Austin Johnson’s President Joe Biden blaming the COVID-19 surge on the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“There’s one simple thing you can do to make this whole virus go away: Stop seeing Spider-Man,” Johnson’s Biden said at a press conference addressing the rise in COVID cases.

“Now think about it, when did Spider-Man come out? December 17. When did every single person get omicron? The week after December 17,” he explained, adding, “Stop seeing Spider-Man. That’s really all I have to say.”

During her opening monologue, DeBose shouted out Afro-Latinas and was joined by SNL‘s Kate McKinnon for a West Side Story medley featuring “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Something’s Coming” and “America.”

Later DeBose showcased her song and dance skills in a spoof of another popular musical, The Sound of Music, featuring appearances from McKinnon, Bowen Yang, Chris Redd, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman and Kenan Thompson.

SNL also poked fun at Peacock’s dark reimagining of the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with a parody that featured Redd as Jaleel White‘s Steve Urkell character from Family Matters given the same dark spin.

Musical guests Bleachers, subbing for scheduled Roddy Ricch, performed “How Dare You Want More” and “Chinatown,” from their 2021 album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.

SNL alum Will Forte hosts January 22’s show with musical guest Måneskin.

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A month after New Mexico authorities issued a search warrant for it, Alec Baldwin has reportedly surrendered his cellphone to law enforcement. 

The Santa Fe District Attorney tells ABC News that they now have the device; investigators sought to find information possibly related to Baldwin fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western Rust, an October 21, 2021, incident that also injured director Joel Souza.

New Mexico authorities said as late as Thursday that they hadn’t received the phone.

Last weekend, Baldwin insisted that he was cooperating with investigators’ request despite the delay, telling followers on Instagram that any story to the contrary was “a lie.”

Baldwin’s lawyer Aaron Dyer had previously issued a statement that claimed they wanted to “take steps to protect Mr. Baldwin’s family and personal information…unrelated to the investigation,” as “[a] phone contains a person’s entire life, and personal information needs to be protected.”

Other outlets, including Variety, noted that the actor had surrendered his phone to the Suffolk County, New York, authorities, who were going to “download the data and provide relevant material to the Santa Fe County (N.M.) Sheriff’s Office.”

Late last year, Baldwin insisted to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he didn’t pull the trigger of the vintage-style Colt revolver he was pointing at Hutchins during a rehearsal. Nevertheless, a live round that went unnoticed in the pistol discharged.

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