August 2017

celebrities

Kennedy Center Honorees are Boycotting Gala

The 2017 Kennedy Center honorees: Actress, dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, singer-songwriter and actress Gloria Estefan, hip-hop artist LL COOL J, musician and record producer Lionel Richie, and television writer and producer Norman Lear. The Kennedy Center Honors will be a remarkably low-key affair this year it seems with dancer Carmen de Lavallade announcing she will not attend in a statement released on Thursday. ‘In light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our current leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House,’ state de Lavallade. That follows similar statements from honorees Lionel Richie, Norman Lear and Gloria Estefan, meaning that only LL Cool J is still confirmed to attend the event. This is the first time this has happened in the history of the ceremony, with Mel Brooks previously refusing the honor while George W Bush was in office and Paul McCartney claiming to have a cousin’s wedding when he was selected as part of the 2004 class of inductees. Both of those men were later honored after Barack Obama took office. Richie was asked if he would attend the event in the wake of Lear’s flat-out refusal to appear at the ceremony and Estefan’s caveat that she would consider going if President Trump agreed to sit down with her and discuss immigration. ‘I have to play it by ear. I’m not really happy as to what’s going on right now, with the – the controversies. And the weekly, daily, hourly. I think I’m going to wait it out and see where it’s going to be, by that time,’ explained Richie on Tuesday during an appearance on Today. ‘I’m going to wait it out. I understand Norman’s point of view. And I understand where we are as a country right now is going backwards.’ He then added: ‘All we can do is sit here and hold our breaths.’ The post Kennedy Center Honorees are Boycotting Gala appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

celebrities

Chris Brown “I Tasted Blood” – New Documentary

Chris Brown says he’s still haunted by the night he beat Rihanna — and remembers going into a blind rage when he busted her lip and she spit blood in his face. Brown gave the graphic blow-by-blow in a documentary called, “Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life” — in which he says there were MULTIPLE violent incidents during his relationship with Rihanna. But Brown goes into graphic detail about the attack on Feb. 8, 2009. Brown says it all started when she was going through text messages on his phone and she found something she didn’t like. Brown says Rihanna was upset — and things escalated quickly. “I remember she tried to kick me, but then I really hit her, with a closed fist, I punched her.” “I busted her lip. When I saw it, I was in shock. I was like, ‘F*ck, why the hell did I hit her?’” “From there she just spit in my face … spit blood in my face and it enraged me even more.” Brown says Rihanna got out of the car and began to scream for help — saying, “He’s trying to kill me.” Brown was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to 5 years probation, 180 days community service and a year of counseling. Brown says the incident is going to haunt him forever. The post Chris Brown “I Tasted Blood” – New Documentary appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

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London’s Big Ben to fall silent next week

Nearly every hour for the better part of the last 157 years, Big Ben’s bongs could be heard around London. But after one last ring at noon local time next Monday, the bell will fall silent for the next four years as the Victorian-era timepiece undergoes much-needed repairs. The Keeper of the Clock explained that the clock needs to be “dismantled piece by piece with each cog examined and restored” to assess an issue with the clock that rings the bell. There are those who aren’t down with the plan.  The Telegraph reported on a “backlash” from other MPs and columnist Frances Wilson wrote: “Silencing Big Ben is like stopping the heartbeat of our democracy.” An article in the Daily Mail said, “Not even Nazi bombs could silence the famous symbol of Britishness”. The complete renovation is projected to cost $40 million. The tower will be encased in scaffolding during construction, but one of the four clock faces will remain uncovered, a small consolation to Londoners unhappy about saying goodbye for now to the clock’s hourly bongs. The post London’s Big Ben to fall silent next week appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

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John Lennon’s Letter to Ex-Wife for Sale at Auction’s

A letter written by John Lennon to his ex-wife disputing Yoko Ono’s involvement in their divorce is one of two letters up for auction. Both letters were written by the Beatles legend on Nov. 15, 1976, and both refer to Cynthia Lennon and her relationship with the media. The lot is estimated to be sold for $25,000 at the auction this week. Lennon and Powell, parents of Julian Lennon, were married in 1962. They divorced in 1968, and his affair with Ono, whom he’d met that same year, was cited as grounds for the split. Powell died in 2015. One letter, titled “An Open Letter to Cynthia Twist” (which was her married name at the time), was written as a response to an interview she’d given to a magazine. “As you and I well know, our marriage was over long before the advent of L.S.D. or Yoko Ono … and that’s reality!” he wrote. “Your memory is impaired to say the least. Your version of our first L.S.D. trip is rather vague, and you seem to have forgotten subsequent trips altogether! Lennon also referred to an episode involving mutual friends. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from your ‘Beatle’ past,” he concluded. “But if you are serious about it, you should try to avoid talking to and posing for magazines and newspapers! We did have some good years, so dwell on them for a change, and, as [Bob] Dylan says, it was ‘A Simple Twist of Fate’! Love & good luck to the three of you, from the three of us.” The letter was addressed to the editors of a magazine, with a handwritten introduction. “I would appreciate this letter being printed without any edits,” he wrote. “I think it only fair to me and your readers to present my side of the story. Thank you.” The firm responsible for the sale, R&R Auction Company LLC, notes that “Lennon’s clever pun at the close of the first letter, ‘A Simple Twist of Fate’ – a takeoff on Bob Dylan’s ode to a lost love – likely inspired his former spouse in her decision to title her forthcoming tell-all memoirs, A Twist of Lennon, which Twist was then publicizing. As Lennon’s official ‘side of the story,’ a public he-said-she-said self defense, these letters represent the unique final chapter in the life of the former Beatle and are thus of the utmost rarity and importance.” The post John Lennon’s Letter to Ex-Wife for Sale at Auction’s appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

celebrities

Alanis Morissette Lists Longtime Brentwood home

Famously angsty Canadian singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette and American rapper Mario “Souleye” Treadway listed their longtime residence along one of the more choice streets in L.A.’s Brentwood area with an asking price of $5.495 million. Property records indicate the seven-time Grammy winner, an occasional actress who appeared on “Nip/Tuck” and “Weeds,” has owned the double-gated residence since the fall of 1996 — the year following the release of her seminal mega-hit album “Jagged Little Pill” — when it was purchased for $1.795 million. On a .61-acre parcel with open canyon views out the back, the two-story, butter yellow and clay tile roofed residence dates to the 1950s and, per listing descriptions, has been “painstakingly remodeled” into a “hybrid of Mediterranean with craftsman details” with five and potentially seven bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. The post Alanis Morissette Lists Longtime Brentwood home appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

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Disney to Pull Movies From Netflix, Launch Streaming Service

Disney on Tuesday said it will be pulling its movies from Netflix and will launch a Disney streaming service of its own in 2019. It also said it will launch an ESPN streaming service early next year. To help do all that, Disney will acquire a majority of BAMTech, the streaming technology company owned by MLBAM, the internet company owned by Major League Baseball. Disney already owned a stake in BAMTech but will pay $1.58 billion for an additional 42 percent. Details of the Disney streaming service were sketchy Tuesday, with CEO Bob Iger saying that if a movie is Pixar- or Disney-branded, it will probably appear exclusively on the new service — including shows and movies made specifically for the service — but the jury is still out on Marvel and Star Wars films. The post Disney to Pull Movies From Netflix, Launch Streaming Service appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.

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Letterman Returning to Small Screen!

Two years after signing off CBS’ The Late Show, David Letterman is returning to the small screen. The longest-serving host in U.S. late-night TV history is set to topline a new talk show for Netflix. The untitled six-episode series will premiere in 2018. Unlike The Late Show, each hourlong episode of the Netflix series will be prerecorded and feature Letterman conducting longform conversations with a singular guest as well as exploring topics on his own — outside of the studio. A guest list has not yet been revealed. “I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix. Here’s what I have learned, if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first. Thanks for watching, drive safely,” Letterman said. The series is produced by RadicalMedia (What Happened, Miss Simone? and Oh Hello on Broadway and Abstract: The Art of Design) as well as Letterman’s Worldwide Pants banner. “Just meeting David Letterman was a thrill; imagine how exciting it is for me to announce that we will be working together,” Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said. “David Letterman is a true television icon, and I can’t wait to see him out in the wild, out from behind the desk and interviewing the people he finds most interesting. We’ll have to see if he keeps the beard.” The post Letterman Returning to Small Screen! appeared first on Today's Evil Beet Gossip.