Entertainment

Amanda Bynes is now in control of her own affairs. In a brief hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday afternoon, Ventura County Judge Roger Lund ruled in favor of terminating her conservatorship.

“The conservatorship is no longer needed or required, and therefore the petition for termination is granted,” the judge declared. 

Bynes’ mother, Lynn, was put temporarily in charge of Bynes’ affairs following a 2013 incident in which the actress reportedly started a small fire in a neighbor’s driveway, which came on the heels of previous erratic behavior. After the driveway incident, Bynes was placed on a temporary psychiatric hold.

The conservatorship was reinstated in 2014, the same year Bynes revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

Bynes, who turns 36 on April 2, recently started an Instagram, and her now-deleted first post, weeks before today’s hearing, saw her thanking fans for her support in the matter. 

Recently, Amanda’s attorney, David A. Esquibias, told People that his client “believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.”

Bynes has yet to publicly comment about Tuesday’s ruling.

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Over a month after giving birth to her son with Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner announced that they’ve changed his name. 

“FYI our sons [sic] name isn’t Wolf anymore,” the Kylie Cosmetics founder shared in an Instagram Story on Monday evening. “We just really didn’t feel like it was him.”

“Just wanted to share because I keep seeing Wolf everywhere,” she explained, adding the praying hands emoji. 

Kylie didn’t reveal her son’s new name.

Kylie and Travis welcomed their son on February 2, 2022. The baby boy joins big sister Stormi, who turned four the day before her brother was born. The couple first revealed their son’s name as Wolf Webster about a week after he was born.

The name change announcement came hours after Kylie and Travis released a 10-minute YouTube montage titled “To Our Son,” where the proud parents reveal clips from throughout Kylie’s pregnancy all the way up to the birth. Messages from family members — including Kylie’s mom Kris Jenner and Travis’ mom Wanda Webster — are interspersed as well.

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Maybe it was the God of Mischief Loki, or his real-life equivalent, prankster director Taika Waititi, but Marvel Studios trolled the heck out of fans with its release of the “all new trailer” to his upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. 

However, despite a caption promising a first look at the July 8 release, Marvel Studios’ official account posted the trailer to Waititi’s previous Thor film, Ragnarok. 

Suffice it to say, fans weren’t pleased: One posted a cartoon of Thanos Googling, “How to snap one person out of existence,” to get even with whoever was responsible for the joke.

Myriad Marvel memes were posted in protest by fans, including a Spider-Man No Way Home exchange between Peter Parker and Doctor Strange, with Peter asking, “Happy?” and Strange replying, “No, I’m annoyed.” 

Another was from Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy saying, “You betray me,” and more than one was Chris Hemsworth in his Thor costume, flipping off the camera in a Marvel movie outtake.  

Thor: Love and Thunder will star Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, and Tessa Thompson, as well as Chris Pratt, Karen Gillian, Matt Damon, Anthony Hopkins, and Mark Ruffalo, among others. 

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

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) While admitting the COVID pandemic has been “devastating” for the hospitality industry, outspoken Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares star Gordon Ramsay says there was a silver lining: Restaurants are getting better post-lockdowns.

“Well, just s***holes in a prime position” were wiped out, he tells the Radio Times, and new and better restaurants are “taking advantage because they’re in a great location and they’ve got the [foot traffic now].”

He says, “the crap’s gone,” and “now we’ve wiped the slate clean, which is good.”

With many restaurants shuttered, would-be patrons got savvier in their own kitchens, he explains, which will make for a more enjoyable dining experience now that we’re able to go back to fancy dinners out.

Ramsay explains, “Customers have got so much smarter in the last two years. They know a lot more about food than they ever have done, and have been making their own sourdough, so it’s taught everyone [in the restaurant industry] to raise their game.”

“It’s wiped the arrogance from the industry,” he declares. 

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A new poll of everyday movie fans gave them a shot to cast their own Oscars votes ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night, and they say Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune should take home Best Picture. 

Fandango’s streaming service Vudu quizzed everyday folks as to whom they think should go home with Sunday night’s biggest prizes, and the sci-fi epic came out on top, with 27% of the votes — far outpacing the 11% who thought the leading contender The Power of the Dog should win.

Thirteen percent preferred Steven Spielberg‘s reimagining of West Side Story.

Dune was also the fans’ pick for Best Adapted Screenplay, as it was adapted from Frank Herbert‘s seminal sci-fi epic.

On the acting side it was closer: 24% said Andrew Garfield should win Best Actor for tick…tick…BOOM!, but 23% tapped Will Smith for King Richard, tying with Benedict Cumberbatch for Power of the Dog. 

As for Best Actress, 28% of viewers voted Kristen Stewart be crowned for playing Princess Diana in Spencer. By comparison, 24% wanted to see Nicole Kidman win for Being the Ricardos, and 22% preferred Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Voters in this poll tapped J.K. Simmons in Being the Ricardos and Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog, respectively, in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress category.

While they didn’t choose West Side Story for Best Picture, voters in Vudu’s poll wanted to see Steven Spielberg hoist the Best Director trophy for the musical; Encanto was their choice for Best Animated Feature, and it’s tune “Dos Oruguitas” by Lin-Manuel Miranda outranked Billie Eilish‘s title track from No Time To Die as Best Song.

See how close the viewers’ votes came to the officials ones, when the 94th Annual Academy Awards airs Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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Ahead of the Oscars on March 27, here’s a look at the leading contenders for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Will Smith is nominated for Best Actor for his role in King Richard as the father of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams. This is Smith’s third Oscar nomination, and so far, he’s won quite a few of the awards that are key indicators of Oscar glory, including the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTA Awards for Best Actor.

Benedict Cumberbatch earned his second Oscar nod this year for his role as an abusive cowboy in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.  He’s won a few awards so far this season, but not as many as Smith.

In the Best Actress category, Jessica Chastain may be the one to beat. She’s earned her third Oscar nod for her starring role as the late televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye — and she’s won the most awards of any other female acting nominee leading up to the Oscars.

But don’t count out Nicole Kidman. A previous Oscar-winner, she received her fifth career nomination for her portrayal of TV icon Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.  

The rest of the Best Actor field includes Andrew Garfield for tick, tick…Boom!, two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth, and previous winner Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos.

The rest of the Best Actress nominees include Bardem’s wife Penélope Cruz — also a past Oscar winner — for Parallel Mothers. Olivia Colman, nominated for The Lost Daughter, has an Oscar at home as well. The only first-time nominee in the category is Kristen Stewart, for Spencer.

Tune into the 94th annual Academy Awards March 27 on ABC to see who takes home the prizes.

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Heeeere’s Benji! Deadline reports A new London stage adaptation of Stephen King‘s horror classic The Shining is in the works with Ben Stiller in talks to play the role of crazed, haunted dad Jack Torrance, portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 film. Rehearsals are set to begin in the fall, in anticipation of a January 2023 opening. The play is expected to eventually move to Broadway…

Betty Gilpin will reunite with Damon Lindelof, co-writer of the 2020 film The Hunt, for the Peacock drama series Mrs. Davis. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the streamer confirms it’s “an exploration of faith versus technology -— an epic battle of biblical and binary proportions.” Lindelof’s previous credits include HBO’s Watchmen and The Leftovers, as well as ABC’s Lost, all of which he co-created and directed. Gilpin will next be seen starring alongside Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in the Starz anthology series Gaslit, premiering April 24…

American Housewife‘s Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger have been cast as the leads in a pilot for The Winchesters, the CW’s prequel to the hit series Supernatural, according to Variety. Donnelly and Rodger will play Mary Campbell and John Winchester, respectively, the parents of Supernatural protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester, played respectively by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Per Variety, Ackles will narrate Dean’s parents’ love story, detailing how they put it all on the line to not only save their relationship, but the entire world…

The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior has joined the cast of Fast and Furious 10, according to Deadline. She joins Jason Momoa and franchise stars Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez and Sung Kang, who all are expected to return. Diesel will co-produce with Justin Lin, who’s also on board to direct…

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This season’s breakout hit network comedy is back tonight with new episodes.

Quinta Brunson created and stars in ABC’s Abbott Elementary, which is basically a workplace comedy set in a Philadelphia public school, and when they say write what you know? She tells ABC Audio that’s exactly what she did.

“My mom was a teacher for 40 years in the Philadelphia school district. I was a Philadelphia public school student for most of my, you know, years,” she explains. “I rode to school with her in the morning. I stayed with her after school…I heard about every student and every decision the school district was making or a principal…that was going to make her job a little bit harder that year.”

Despite that, Brunson had to beg her mother to retire when it was time, recalling, “She was driving me nuts because she wouldn’t.”

“This job that she had so many feelings on, she still didn’t want to leave,” she continues, “and I think that’s where the love of the field for me and the love of the show came from.”

So what does mom think of Abbott Elementary? “I think she enjoying the show. My mom’s a sitcom watcher. You know, her my dad they’re TV watchers…And I think it’s really cool because they’re watching Abbot almost as if I’m not their daughter. They’re just, it’s another show for them to enjoy.”

An added bonus — Quinta’s family now understands what she does for a living.

“At point I was making like, really good money working at BuzzFeed. And my mom just didn’t know what BuzzFeed was. So she was like, are you stripping? How are you paying for everything?” she recalls. “So this is a very concrete thing that is understandable to the whole family.” 

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The talent just keeps on rolling in on American Idol.

Monday’s episode of the singing competition saw a lot of talent come through the doors, with one lucky contestant securing the final Platinum ticket of the season.

Here’s a look at the night’s talent.

Tobias Hill, 26: This self-proclaimed jack of all trades sang “Knocks Me Off My Feet” by Donell Jones, and while it didn’t exactly knock the judges off their feet, Katy Perry admitted he had “stardust,” and the judges gave him a shot to prove himself with a ticket to Hollywood.

Morgan Gruber, 17: After a beautiful rendition of Elle King‘s “Can’t Be Loved,” Gruber was declared a “diamond in the rough” by the judges, with Luke Bryan and Katy even marking her down as Top 20 talent. She earned a standing ovation and a trip to the next round of competition.

Kaylin Roberson, 23 and Matt Gorman, 23: This couple came in together and sang their original song “Fast Forever.” While they hoped to stay together throughout the competition, only Kaylin made it through to Hollywood week. The judges even drew comparisons to Huntergirl who snagged the seasons first Platinum ticket.

Saylor Woodmansee, 18: Drawing from the emotion of her father leaving her and her mother for another woman, Saylor gave a passionate audition of Kodaline‘s “All I Want.” Although her voice cracked several times during the performance, the judges saw past it and pushed her through to the next round.

Cameron Whitcomb, 18: Hailing from Canada with a strong accent, Cameron surprised the judges when he began singing and a smoky, deep voice emerged as he sang “Rock, Salt and Nails” by Waylon Jennings. Lionel Richie thought needed more time to develop, but Katy and Luke sent him through to Hollywood.

Jay Copeland, 23: After dropping out of college to go after his dream and try out for American Idol, this soulful singer got Katy out of her seat and dancing as he belted out Stevie Wonder‘s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).” The judges couldn’t help but rave about him, declaring that they’d been waiting for someone like him. Needless to say, he earned a ticket to Hollywood, but he’ll get to relax because he was given the season’s final of three Platinum tickets.

American Idol continues Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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Deadline is reporting Christina Ricci is back in the family…the Addams Family that is. The actress, who played macabre moppet Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld‘s ’90s-era Addams Family movies, will be back for Wednesday, a forthcoming Netflix series based around the character. 

The trade notes that Ricci won’t be reprising the role — Scream 5 star Jenny Ortega is playing Wednesday — but Christina will be cast in a recurring role that producers want to keep secret “to protect the surprise for fans.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Wednesday’s mom, Morticia Addams, in the Tim Burton-produced series, with Luis Guzmán playing family patriarch Gomez, who was portrayed by the late Raul Julia in the films.

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