Filming has wrapped on Lady Gaga‘s upcoming movie Joker: Folie à Deux, and to mark the occasion, director Todd Phillips shared a new look at the star in her role as Harley Quinn.
Phillips posted two photos: One of Gaga and one of Joaquin Phoenix, both in costume and makeup as Quinn and Joker. “That’s a wrap,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to these two (+ the entire cast) and the BEST crew that the film industry has to offer. From top to bottom. Gonna crawl into a cave now (edit room) and put it all together.”
In the photo, Gaga is rocking a messy platinum bob and a black jacket, with her Harley Quinn makeup: smeared red lipstick and black eye makeup. She doesn’t look quite as crazed as some of the images that have popped up from the shoot. Gaga posted the same photo to her own feed and wrote “That’s a wrap,” adding “X, Harleen.”
Gaga’s character’s actual name is Dr. Harleen Quinzel: She’s a psychiatrist who falls in love with Phoenix’s character Arthur Fleck, aka Joker.
The musical sequel is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 4.
Despite the popularity of vinyl, streaming shows no sign of slowing down. According to Luminate, the company that provides data to the Billboard charts, global music on-demand audio streams in 2023 crossed the one-trillion mark on March 31: the earliest that milestone has ever been reached in a single year.
Luminate has also crunched the numbers and revealed the top-five most streamed songs globally of 2023 so far. Number one is Miley Cyrus‘ smash hit “Flowers,” which has racked up 1.16 billion global audio streams.
That’s no surprise, considering the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks and has been a streaming monster since it was released. It became the fastest song ever to cross 100 million plays on Spotify in just seven days, breaking the record previously held by BTS‘ “Butter.”
SZA‘s hit “Kill Bill” is number two, with 885 million global audio streams so far, followed by The Weeknd‘s “Die for You,” with 629 million. “BZRP Music Sessions #53” by Shakira and Bizzarap is number four with 627 million, and Rema and Selena Gomez‘s collaboration “Calm Down” rounds out the top five with 601 million.
Rock fans saw a familiar face on this week’s episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer.Twisted Sister frontman Dee Sniderwas revealed to be The Doll, donning a costume that included a purple sparkly dress and heels.
“Let me tell you, Gene Simmons, Iggy Pop, no one can work pumps like I did,” Snider said after his unmasking, “and by the way ladies, it’s like riding a bike. I wore them in the ’70s and it all came back to me once I put it on.”
He ended his appearance by treating the audience to an impromptu performance of the Twisted Sister classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snider revealed he was pretty surprised to get the boot from the show, especially since he says Vegas had him as an odds on favorite to be in the top three.
“Quite honestly I was shocked when they said my name,” he says. “I don’t know who the other performers are, but I heard them rehearsing and I wasn’t too impressed. And the audience response to me was huge. So I was like, what?!”
He adds, “I thought I was gonna go all the way. You should have heard my [version of] ‘The Final Countdown.’ We were already rehearsing the next show. I crushed ‘The Final Countdown,’ but I never got to sing it.”
Nivea‘s exes are cheering her on in her search for love.
While speaking withPage Six, the Grammy-nominated star revealed what her exes and fathers of her children, Lil Wayne and The-Dream, thought about her decision to pursue love on Peacock’s new reality dating show Queens Court.
“I told Wayne about it. He was like, ‘Oh, wow, do your thing. I know it’s going to be a great experience,’” Nivea shared. “He was just cheering me on.”
When it came to the “Falsetto” singer, she says, “Dream was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is crazy. You’re gonna make everyone laugh!’”
“They were just very supportive and I think, like me, like, ‘Who knows what could come out of it? Why not?’” she added.
Nivea, 41, shares one child with Lil Wayne, 40 — 13-year-old son Neal — and three children with The-Dream, 45 — daughter Navy, 17, and twin sons London and Christian, 16.
While her fellow Queens Court stars — Tamar Braxton, 46, and Evelyn Lozada, 46, left the show engaged, Nivea’s journey to find love ended with two tearful breakups. Although she didn’t walk away with a partner, she did learn an important life lesson.
“The show helped me get to a place where I realized that I was OK with being alone and it really launched me into my self-love journey, which I’m so grateful for,” she shared.
The actor playing Michael Jordan doesn’t show his face in Ben Affleck‘s new drama, Air, but as the movie’s star, producer, co-writer and director explains, that’s because the legendary athlete showed him who the movie is really about: MJ’s mom, Deloris.
Set in 1984, the movie has Matt Damon playing Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, who stakes his reputation and career on the company crafting “the greatest basketball shoe that’s ever been made” for an unknown NBA rookie named Michael Jordan.
Jordan explained to Affleck it was his mom who convinced him to meet with Nike executives — and put in place a licensing fee for Air Jordans that remains one of the most lucrative in sports history.
“It’s sort of like being on Mount Olympus,” Affleck said of meeting with Jordan. “You know, you’re around somebody who is as close to a deity as you’re going to find, you know, and yet there was this moment where I saw an awe, and reverence and respect and adoration, love when he talked about his mother. And it just shocked me. And shame on me for not kind of assuming this was the case. But when I heard it, I realized right away, this is the story.”
Jordan had one small ask as to casting: “‘It has to be Viola Davis,'” Affleck recalls Jordan saying. “So that’s kind of like saying, ‘Can I get a basketball team together?’ ‘Sure, it has to be Michael Jordan,'” Ben says with a laugh.
“But then I thought, you know, this is very typical of who this guy is. Like, it has to be the very best. And so I knew that it was incumbent on us to create a role that was worthy of Viola.”
Showtime has canceled comedian Ziwe Fumudoh‘s late-night talk show, Ziwe, after two seasons and given a six-episode series order to Mandy Patinkin’s Seasoned, according to Variety. Ziwe featured interviews, musical numbers and sketches. Season 2 guests included Drew Barrymore, Blake Griffin and Emily Ratajkowski. Seasoned, featuring Patinkin and his wife Kathryn Grody, is based on the couple’s off-screen relationship. It follows “the delightfully tumultuous relationship and life of a successful, gregarious, deeply committed, slightly insane married couple played by Patinkin and Grody,” per the outlet, which also reports Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s upcoming Heist 88 has been moved from Paramount+ to Showtime…
Hulu on Wednesday dropped the trailer for season 2 of Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi. The show features the Top Chef host hitting the road to visit and cook with chefs in immigrant communities across the U.S.A. Per the streamer, “Over borscht, cornbread, pasteles and more, Padma uncovers the roots and relationship between our food, our humanity and our history — ultimately uncovering stories that challenge notions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be American.” Taste the Nation season 2 premieres May 5 on Hulu…
A week after its series debut, The Big Door Prize, has gotten an early season 2 renewal, Apple TV+ announced on Wednesday. Based on M.O. Walsh’s novel of the same name, the comedy, starring Christopher O’Dowd and Gabrielle Dennis, tells the story of a small town that is forever changed when a mysterious machine appears in the general store, promising to reveal each resident’s true life potential. The Big Door Prize also stars Ally Maki, Josh Segarra, Damon Gupton, Crystal Fox, Djouliet Amara and Sammy Fourlas…
The Bold Type and Mad Men alum Sam Page has joined the cast of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy in a recurring role, according to Variety. He’ll play Sam Sutton, “an Air Force pilot who is seriously injured in a base-jumping accident. Although he’s coping with trauma, he somehow maintains his sense of humor and charm,” per the network. Page will make his first appearance during the May 4 episode, titled “Come Fly With Me”…
John Wick: Chapter 4‘s Keanu Reeves is in talks to star in Outcome, the Apple Studios dark comedy co-written and directed by Jonah Hill, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Reeves would play Reef, “a damaged Hollywood star who must dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past,” per THR. Hill and Apple Original Films are also developing a Grateful Dead biopic in which he’ll star and co-produce with Martin Scorsese, who’s also been tapped to direct as well…
We now have more information on the latest BTS content from Disney+, this time featuring Suga.
SUGA: Road to D-Day, will find the 30-year-old rapper heading out on a musical journey that takes him “around the world from Seoul to Tokyo, Las Vegas and beyond in search of musical inspiration for his upcoming album D-DAY,” per the streamer.
The revealing documentary will give fans a glimpse of Suga at his most vulnerable — opening up about writer’s block with other musicians, and digging deep into his most traumatic memories to come up with lyrics for several of his latest songs. We’ll also get to see exclusive live clips of songs on Suga’s D-DAY album.
SUGA: Road to D-Day premieres April 21 on Disney+.
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is set to star in a new animated show based on the comic book series Hellicious, Varietyreports.
The project is currently in development with TBS, with Kiedis also set to be an executive producer.
Kiedis plays the character Briggy Bundy, a “rock-goth icon” who finds himself in Hell after his soul is stolen by Cherry, the “precocious 7-year-old granddaughter” of the one–and-only Devil.
A premiere date for Hellicious has yet to be announced.
Kiedis already has several acting credits to his name, including a role in 1991’s Point Break. He’ll have a long way to go to match the filmography of Peppers bandmate Flea, who’s been in movies such as Back to the FutureII and III, The Big Lebowski and last year’s Babylon.
In addition to making his way onto your TV, Kiedis has been traveling the U.S. on RHCP’s current U.S. tour supporting the band’s two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. The outing continues Thursday, April 6, in Fargo, North Dakota.
Comedian Leslie Jones typically displays her sense of humor, but in her upcoming memoir, she’ll be digging a bit deeper. Set to release in September, Leslie F******* Jones will see her open up about her life journey and the “moments that equal up to what became Leslie Jones.”
Leslie tells People that writing her memoir was a “very therapeutic” experience in which she learned “that I actually worked my a** off” to get where she is today.
“I would find myself telling a story and I would be like, ‘Holy s***. Yeah, I remember. How did you make it through that?’ … And then you go, ‘Oh, damn. I actually put in the work to be where I am right now,'” she says. “So I think I learned the trials and tribulations, how much I’ve triumphed, how much I’ve changed, how much I’ve grown. Just a lot of things. A lot of self-realizations.”
Though she’s been in the entertainment industry for decades, Leslie has chosen to focus on her memoir simply because she has the time.
“I think this was a good time, because it’s a nice break before I have to get busy again. … So I also wanted to do it while I did still remember everything,” she explains.
She hopes that when people read her story, they learn that “she didn’t just fall into comedy. She had to work for that s***.”
“I want people to learn that if you have an inspiration and a desire to do something, that’s f****** great, but you got to work,” Leslie adds.
Leslie F****** Jones will be released on September 19.
Rod Stewart and wife Penny Lancaster have donated a white and gold teapot to raise money for a very good cause.
The pair shared on Instagram that they’ve signed their “favourite teapot” and donated it to Smile Train UK’s celebri-TEA auction, with money raised helping “children born with cleft around the world,” according to Smile Train.
As of Wednesday, the highest bid was over $850. The auction ends Sunday.
The auction is part of the organization’s #BigSmileTeaParty fundraiser, which asks folks to help raise money by either donating the cost of a cup of tea or hosting a tea party with family and friends. Rod notes the money “will change a child’s life forever.”
The tea pot auction is live now, but unfortunately items cannot be sent to the U.S. In addition to the teapot from Rod and Penny, there are teapots from the likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Joanna Lumley and more.
