Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis have been added to the cast of Idris Elba‘s upcoming Netflix film Luther, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Directed by Emmy nominee Jamie Payne, the film is described as “an epic continuation of the Luther saga,” which originally aired on BBC for five season between 2010 and 2019. It followed Elba as DCI John Luther, a homicide detective who was often drawn into “the darkness of the crimes” that he investigated. Details on casting and a release date for Luther has yet to be announced.
In other news, Deadline has learned that Apple TV+ has given a December 17 release date to their Mahershala Ali-led futuristic drama, Swan Song. The film, which also stars Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina and Adam Beach, follows Ali as a husband and father who is “presented with the risky chance of surviving a terminal illness.” Swan Song marks the producing debut of Ali, who is a two-time Oscar winner.
Finally, HBO Max has given an October 28 release date for the second season Love Life. Executive-produced by William Jackson Harper, the new season follows Harper as Marcus Watkins, a man emerging from a years-long relationship with the woman he thought was his soul mate. As previously reported, Greenleaf alum Keith David recently joined the second-season cast to take on the role of the narrator.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Seth Green‘s irreverent, Emmy-winning stop-motion animated show Robot Chicken just started its 11th season on Adult Swim, and co-creator Matt Senreich tells ABC Audio he can’t believe it, either.
“It’s something Seth and talk about this on a daily basis, is when we started this thing, it was a second job for both of us,” Senreich told ABC Audio. “I was working in comic books and he was a full-time actor, and then we both had to adjust to our careers to make this animated television show.”
He adds, “When we sold this show to Adult Swim was they said…’You’re you’re an animated SNL. You’re a sketch comedy show using action figures. This thing could go on forever.’ We laughed at that point,” Matt admits.
Robot Chicken has a collection of famous voices behind its animated characters, and one of them is Battlestar Galactica and The Mandalorian star Katie Sackhoff. She calls Robot Chicken‘s longevity “absolutely amazing.”
Sackhoff explains she came in to voice a few characters in her first appearance on Robot Chicken years ago, but one quickly became a fan favorite, a Strawberry Shortcake-like character called B**** Pudding.
“I wasn’t a voiceover actor when I came in, I…came into play myself, but Adult Swim was so cheap,” she lauighed, “they had paid me to come in and play myself. And I think that we finished so quickly that they were like, ‘We should get our money’s worth and have her play some more characters.'”
Senreich explains Sackhoff’s foul-mouthed character was an instant hit behind the scenes as well. “Those are the sketches that just pop, when someone comes in and just sells it.”
And about her new gig, playing Mandalorian leader Bo Katan — which began as a voice part on Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Senreich surprised Katie by telling her that Robot Chicken had a lot to do with it.
“Before you got that gig on Clone Wars, [Mandalorian producer Dave] Filoni called Seth and I asked him what you were like to work with…He’d seen the stuff that we’d done. And he was like, ‘She’s awesome.’ And we’re like, ‘Yes, she is.’
Sackhoff was stunned, exclaiming, “Thank God I wasn’t a total b**** to you guys!”
The Clone Wars role led to Sackhoff’s playing the live-action version of the same character in The Mandalorian.
Star Wars is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — The arrests of more than a dozen purported mobsters Tuesday in New York and New Jersey show “the underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well,” according to the FBI.
Colombo crime family boss Andrew “Mush” Russo, underboss Benji Castellazzo and consigliere Ralph DiMatteo were among 14 purported mobsters charged Tuesday with labor racketeering, extortion and money laundering. Ten members of the Colombo crime family and one member of the Bonanno crime family were arrested, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Most of the alleged mobsters were arrested in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday, while Colombo captain Vincent Ricciardo was arrested in North Carolina. DiMatteo, 66, remains at large.
Russo and Castellazzo are allegedly long-time members of the family, at 87 and 83 years old, respectively.
The charges describe what federal prosecutors in Brooklyn called “a long-standing, ruthless pattern” of exerting control over a labor union by threatening to harm its leaders unless they selected vendors for contracts who were on the take.
The defendants also tried to force the union and its affiliated health care fund to divert more than $10,000 per month to the Colombo family, prosecutors said.
The indictment quoted Ricciardo threatening to kill someone labeled John Doe #1 if he did not comply.
In a June 21 recording, Ricciardo allegedly explained that John Doe #1 knows, “I’ll put him in the ground right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his f—— house, you laugh all you want pal, I’m not afraid to go to jail, let me tell you something, to prove a point? I would f—— shoot him right in front of his wife and kids, call the police, f— it, let me go, how long you think I’m gonna last anyway?”
Ricciardo and his cousin had allegedly been collecting part of John Doe’s salary since 2001 before broadening extortion efforts in 2019, according to the DOJ.
The 75-year-old Ricciardo, known as Vinny Unions, is already a convicted felon and was shot in the back in November 1992 when masked men ambushed a car he was riding in on the way to a wake, according to The New York Times. One of the other people in the car was killed, and another survived after being shot eight times.
“Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself. The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well. These soldiers, consiglieres, under bosses, and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don’t seem to comprehend that we’re going to catch them,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Driscoll said in a statement.
One of those arrested, Teddy Persico Jr., was on federal supervised release from a previous racketeering conviction, authorities said.
Also arrested was purported Bonanno organized crime family soldier John Ragano, who allegedly falsified paperwork at safety training schools saying workers had completed Occupational Safety and Health Administration classes when they had not. Ragano’s schools were actually fronts for meetings of the La Cosa Nostra crime family and used to store illegal drugs and fireworks, according to the indictment.
Ragano, 59, was allegedly known by the nickname “Maniac.”
The defendants could each face up to 20 years in jail, according to the DOJ.
A new documentary about Alanis Morissette, Jagged, will air on HBO at a future date after having its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday. But Alanis didn’t attend the event and says she won’t be supporting the film in any way, claiming that it includes “implications and fact that are simply not true.”
So far, the documentary has already made headlines because it features Alanis discussing being sexually assaulted and/or abused by multiple men when she was below the age of consent.
In a statement provided to ABC News, Alanis says she agreed to participate in the movie, but sat for her interview “during a very vulnerable time (while in the midst of my third postpartum depression during lockdown).”
“I was lulled into a false sense of security and their salacious agenda became apparent immediately upon my seeing the first cut of the film,” she continues. “This is when I knew our visions were in fact painfully diverged. This was not the story I agreed to tell. I sit here now experiencing the full impact of having trusted someone who did not warrant being trusted.”
The Grammy-winning star goes on to say that she won’t be attending any event promoting the movie because she’s on tour, and also because the documentary “includes implications and facts that are simply not true.”
“While there is beauty and some elements of accuracy in this/my story to be sure — I ultimately won’t be supporting someone else’s reductive take on a story much too nuanced for them to ever grasp or tell,” Morissette concludes in her statement.
Alanis doesn’t specify which aspects of the film she finds to be “not true.”
The audience at the Grand Ole Opry got a special surprise on Monday when Keith Urban‘s wife, actress Nicole Kidman, joined him onstage during theLoretta Lynn’s Friends: Hometown Rising event.
Keith was one of the many performers at the star-studded benefit concert, which aimed to raise money for the many people affected by the devastating flooding in Middle Tennessee in August. Loretta Lynn‘s ranch is in Humphreys County, where there were 20 reported casualties and hundreds of homes destroyed.
After performing hits “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Wasted Time,” Keith revealed that he was going to be donating a signed guitar to be auctioned off for the cause — but he wasn’t alone in the effort.
“This is the Volunteer state. So I want to do my bit and sign this guitar,” he said, beckoning friend and “Out the Cage” collaborator Breland to also sign it.
“I think it needs one more signature. If I could just get my wife to put her autograph on this too,” Keith declared. The Academy Award-winning actress then made her way to the stage to sign the instrument as cheers erupted from the crowd.
“I’ve never been on the stage at the Opry. Wow!” Nicole exclaimed.
Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were among Loretta’s many other famous friends who performed at the event.
Travis Scott wants to travel from his Astroworld to a utopian world.
The eight-time Grammy nominee hit RIAA triple-Platinum status in 2018 with his latest album, Astroworld. He named his upcoming album Utopia as his personal remedy for a world he says is filled with hostility.
“Medicine, nursing, being a better person, talking, language, communication—you know, a utopian state. That’s what my album is about, ” La Flame tells CR Fashion Book.
“You think utopia is a society where everything is good: health, buildings, architecture—nah. It’s just about proper lines of communication. Because that’s the dystopian s*** We’re in right now,” he continues. “It’s all hate, hate, hate, and all of that is drawn from what? Miscommunication, non-communication, non-understandable communication, ignorance to communication. ‘I don’t like this person.’ Why? Because somebody told me something to not like this person? Because in history I read to not like this person? Why?”
Scott’s daughter with Kylie Jenner, Stormi, turned three years old in February, and on September 7, Kylie announced they are expecting their second child. The “Franchise” rapper says being a father has caused him to change his priorities.
“Now I became a pops, you want to be there to eat food together and turn up for little Stormi,” he comments. “She’s so fire because she goes to sleep now. We try to do a more natural vibe [with parenting], like more self-discipline. Like, OK, you know you got to go to bed at nine, are you going to stay up till eleven or are you going to go to sleep now? And it’s so cool [to hear her say], “I’m going to sleep ya’ll!”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday introduced their latest version of a sweeping election reform bill to counter the record-number of voting restrictions that have passed in GOP-led states, which they say make it harder for minorities and low-income Americans to cast a ballot.
The modified bill, now known as The Freedom to Vote Act, is a compromise after the previous For The People Act failed to pass in the Senate last June.
Significantly, the new bill was crafted by a group that included moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, a key swing vote, after he opposed an earlier version of the legislation charging that it was too broad and lacked bipartisan support.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised a vote on the bill next week, most likely a procedural vote to break an expected GOP filibuster.
“This is a good proposal. One that nobody in this chamber should oppose,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday morning. “My colleague Senator Manchin is working with Republicans to secure support for the bill and we look forward to hearing what changes they might make on legislation.”
Changes in the newly negotiated election reform bill.
The new bill still encompasses sweeping election law changes, from voter ID requirements, expanded early voting, making Election Day a national holiday, banning partisan gerrymandering, and implementing election security and campaign finance measures.
But among the provisions dropped or changed is the automatic mailing of ballots. Under the new measure, any voter may request a mail-in ballot but they are not sent out automatically. The legislation will continue to allow voter roll purges but requires changes to be “done on the basis of reliable and objective evidence and prohibits the use of returned mail sent by third parties to remove voters.”
The bill would also no longer implement public financing of presidential and congressional elections. Still, there are a number of election security provisions, including mandatory, nationwide use of machines that deliver paper ballots.
In an attempt to address Republican states that passed changes giving partisan officials a say in election outcomes following President Donald Trump’s false allegation that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” Senate Democrats have proposed in the bill establishing “federal protections to insulate nonpartisan state and local officials who administer federal elections from undue partisan interference or control.”
“The fact of the matter is that this legislation is critical for stopping some of the most egregious assaults against voting rights happening at the state level. A few weeks ago, the governor of Texas signed one of the most sweeping voter suppression bills in the entire country,” Schumer said.
Voting rights advocates have praised the bill and are urging the Senate to pass the legislation.
“The Freedom to Vote Act is a very strong bill. It gives powerful new momentum to the fight to protect democracy. It should be passed, and soon,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.
“There is now no substitute for action. As redistricting unfolds across the country, time is of the essence. Lawmakers from both parties should embrace this new legislation, and will do so if they are serious about protecting democracy,” he added.
It is unclear if this bill would garner the support of many Republicans, though Manchin has been talking to fellow moderate Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The Minority blocked the Democrats’ first stab at the bill claiming it was a solution in search of a problem and maintaining that election administration is the province of states — not the federal government.
Yet, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, signaled that there are provisions in the latest bill that she could support.
“He sent me a very high-level summary last week which they read, but it does not have many of the details fleshed out. There are two provisions in that if they’re done correctly I would support. One is the disclosure of contributors to dark money groups, but it has to apply to all of them,” Collins said.
Ten Republicans would be needed to overcome the chamber’s filibuster rule requiring 60 votes for most legislation. To modify that rule, all 50 Democrats would need to be on board with changing Senate rules to allow the legislation to pass on a simple majority vote — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — but Manchin has point blank refused to support such an extraordinary move.
“The filibuster is permanent,” Manchin told ABC News when pressed on a voting rights specific carve-out.
At this point, it appears there is not likely to be enough GOP support to pass the measure, though Manchin said he’s continuing conversations with Murkowski and that the Senate has “made some good strides” finding compromise.
“We made some major changes from the original position we’re taking and we’ve got something that makes a lot of sense,” Manchin told ABC News’ Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott on Tuesday.
“I’m anxious to go talk to all my Republican friends, which I’ve been doing, giving the outline of what we’re trying to change and see if there’s a filibuster,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — A family is desperate for answers after their 22-year-old daughter disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend this summer.
Florida residents Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, embarked on the journey in July in their white Ford Transit van from New York — where Petito is originally from, her family told ABC News.
The couple had made stops in Colorado and Utah, with Instagram posts showing them at the Mystic Hot Springs in Utah on July 26 and on a large rock structure at Arches National Park in Grand County, Utah, on Aug. 12.
Petito had planned to document the trip on her YouTube channel “Nomadic Statik.” The sole video, posted on Aug. 19, featured an eight-minute compilation of the couple’s adventures so far.
Petito was last seen on Aug. 24 checking out of a hotel with Laundrie in Salt Lake City, her family said. She last spoke to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, on Aug. 24, when she informed her that she and Laundrie were on their way to Grand Teton, Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park, Schmidt told ABC News.
“She sounded good and excited to continue her trip and excited to start her YouTube channel,” Schmidt said in tears. “She seemed OK.”
Schmidt said she did not think much for the first few days when she had not heard from her daughter. But after those passed, she began to worry.
“A few days is one thing when you’re out camping, but when it starts to become seven, eight, nine, 10 days, that’s a problem,” Schmidt said.
Petito’s last Instagram post on Aug. 25 showed her holding a miniature pumpkin, captioned “Happy Halloween.” The post was not geotagged. Schmidt said she has received two text messages from Petito’s phone since they last spoke, but they did not include any photos or details of the trip, so it is not clear whether Petito actually sent those texts.
Petito’s family is continuing to plead for help in locating their daughter.
“We don’t know where she is,” her father, Joseph Petito, told ABC News.
Laundrie has since returned to the couple’s home in North Port, Florida, with their van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing by her family to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Saturday.
The North Port Police Department in Florida wrote in a statement on Facebook that while there is “no definitive information that a crime took place here in North Port … the circumstances are odd.” Investigators in Florida are actively gathering evidence and details “to assist in finding needed answers,” the police department said. The FBI is also assisting in the investigation.
Laundrie’s family said in a statement that the family hopes Petito is found but did not provide any further comment.
“This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family,” the statement, released by Steven P. Bertolino, an attorney for the family, read. “It is our understanding that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family. On the advice of counsel, the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.”
Petito’s stepmother, Tara Petito, described her as an “amazing artist” who “loved natural beauty.”
“She always tried to smile and make people smile, you know, always enjoying every moment,” Joseph Petito said.
Petito’s last Instagram post on Aug. 25 showed her holding a miniature pumpkin, captioned “Happy Halloween.” The post was not geotagged. Schmidt said she has received two text messages from Petito’s phone since they last spoke, but they did not include any photos or details of the trip, so it is not clear whether Petito actually sent those texts.
Petito’s family is continuing to plead for help in locating their daughter.
“We don’t know where she is,” her father, Joseph Petito, told ABC News.
Laundrie has since returned to the couple’s home in North Port, Florida, with their van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing by her family to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Saturday.
The North Port Police Department in Florida wrote in a statement on Facebook that while there is “no definitive information that a crime took place here in North Port … the circumstances are odd.” Investigators in Florida are actively gathering evidence and details “to assist in finding needed answers,” the police department said. The FBI is also assisting in the investigation.
Laundrie’s family said in a statement that the family hopes Petito is found but did not provide any further comment.
“This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family,” the statement, released by Steven P. Bertolino, an attorney for the family, read. “It is our understanding that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family. On the advice of counsel, the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.”
Petito’s stepmother, Tara Petito, described her as an “amazing artist” who “loved natural beauty.”
“She always tried to smile and make people smile, you know, always enjoying every moment,” Joseph Petito said.
G-Eazy was arrested last week in New York City and charged with assault, ABC News has confirmed.
The rapper and his crew got into the fight with two men inside the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel in New York’s trendy Meatpacking District nightclub early Friday morning. A 29-year-old man was hit with a bottle, while a 32-year-old man was punched on the street outside the club.
The two men later reported the assault to police, and G-Eazy was issued a desk appearance ticket yesterday for assault. He will appear in court next month. This didn’t affect the rapper’s weekend, though: He went on to appear at the MTV VMAs on Sunday night in Brooklyn.
In other G-Eazy news, the video for his collaboration with Carlos Santana and chart-topping songwriter Diane Warren, “She’s On Fire,” just dropped on Tuesday. The song appears on Diane’s debut album Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions and Santana’s upcoming album, Blessings & Miracles.
Vandals seriously damaged destroyed Pop Smoke‘s gravesite over the weekend, and on Monday, his family spent the day cleaning the area.
“Whoever you are, you have my attention. Now what!?” his mother, Audrey Jackson, wrote on Instagram with photos and video of the destruction. “We sat and talked to each other and to him,” she added.
TMZ reports that Pop Smoke’s marble plaque, displaying his birth name, Bashar Barakah Jackson, at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, was broken. Police visited the cemetery Sunday afternoon after an employee discovered the crypt was vandalized. Damage is estimated at $500.
The five-time Billboard Music Award winner was shot and killed at age 20 on Feb. 19, 2020 during a home invasion in Los Angeles. Both of his albums, 2020’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, and Faith in 2021, which were released after his death, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
Pop is also featured on Kanye West‘s new Donda album, and on September 30, the late rapper will be honored with the Voice of Hope award at the Songs of Hope gala in Los Angeles
