Category: Matthew Lawrence

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Mrs. Doubtfire’s Matthew Lawrence wants Robin Williams to be the voice of AI

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It’s the news that possibly some people are talking about: The Lawrence Brothers were at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Huey, Dewey, & Louie Joey, Matthew & Andrew are there to plug their latest joint venture: a graphic novel called The Lawrence Brothers Detective Agency, which they describe as their own mash up of The Hardy Boys, Scooby-Doo, Barry, and BoJack Horseman. That’s… a lot. The idea came to them 15 years ago when they were on vacation together, and is currently one month into a Kickstarter campaign to fund it. As of this writing, the bros have raised $16,377 towards their goal of $50K. If that doesn’t work, maybe they can apply for an NEA or NEH grant— oh, wait, never mind. What’s really making headlines out of their appearance, though, are some comments middle-brother Matthew made about his Mrs. Doubtfire costar Robin Williams. Matthew thinks it’d be so cool if Robin, whom we lost 11 years ago, was posthumously made into the “voice of AI.” The idea came to him when he stumbled on an old commercial in which Robin spoke in a “computerized” voice.

Move over, Siri and Alexa. Matthew Lawrence believes that his late Mrs. Doubtfire costar Robin Williams should be the next “voice of AI.”

The actor, who played one of the children nannied by Williams’ titular Mrs. Doubtfire in the 1993 comedy, tells Entertainment Weekly that he would love to use artificial intelligence to “do something really special” with the late comedian’s voice. Williams died by suicide at 63 in 2014.

“I would love — now, obviously, with the respect and with the okay from his family — but I would love to do something really special with his voice because I know for a generation, that voice is just so iconic,” Lawrence shares in EW’s Comic-Con video suite on Friday.

“It’s not just the fact that I knew him and worked with him and so it’s in my head — it’s in everybody’s head. And it would be so cool.”

The idea came to Lawrence after watching one of Williams’ old commercials and realizing that it contained some interesting present-day parallels.

“It’s kinda like this very contemporary, modern, almost sort of foreshadowing of what’s going on commercial that he did, where he did this computerized voiceover,” he explains. “And it always stuck with me. And then, during his passing, with the AI coming out, I’m like, ‘Man, he’s gotta be the voice of A.I. He’s gotta be the voice in something.’ So yeah, I would love to do that.”

The uses for the program are potentially endless, including having Williams become the helpful voice giving you driving directions on your phone. “It would be Robin!” Lawrence cheers. “It would be so cool. I’m telling you.”

When speaking with EW in April, Lawrence explained that Williams taught him two really important life lessons during the film’s production: the “type of compassion you need to have for people,” and how you “don’t judge until you walk in someone else’s shoes.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

I mean, where do we even begin here? There’s the thin logic of, “His voice is in my head, that means it’s in everyone’s head!” There’s the ridiculousness of Matthew hatching this idea after hearing Robin use a robot voice in an ad. There’s the weirdness of an actor advocating for the use of AI, not for themselves but with another actor. There’s Matthew being all giddy saying, “I would love to do something really special with his voice,” and then the ONLY concrete example given is using Robin’s voice… for the GPS on our phones. That one really cracked me up. But the most important issue with this bonkers suggestion from Matthew, is the bit where he says, “With the respect and with the okay from his family.” Clearly, Matthew didn’t have the respect to check out if the family had put out any thoughts about Robin and AI, before he went and blabbed about it to the press. Because Robin’s daughter Zelda Williams has been on the record for years now with her anti-AI views in general, and also specifically how disturbing it has been to unwittingly encounter AI versions of her father that have already been made.

Between this and Matthew totally telling on himself earlier this year, in his anecdote about working with Gabrielle Union in the 1990s, maybe Matthew might want to run his thoughts by one or a few people before he takes them live? Just a thought.

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Photos credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images, WENN/Avalon, Getty

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Matthew Lawrence: Gabrielle Union turned me in to the studio in the 1990s

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I wouldn’t be able to pick Matthew Lawrence out of a line-up, even though he’s been acting since he was a kid. He’s arguably famous for Boy Meets World, Mrs. Doubtfire and being Joey Lawrence’s brother. Back in the 1990s, he was cast in a TV movie alongside Gabrielle Union. He would have been around 19 years old, and Gabrielle would have been in her mid-20s. Apparently, she asked him if they could rehearse their lines and he said “nope” and so she “reported” him to the director or whatever. This is the story he’s telling this week and it’s getting a lot of attention.

Matthew Lawrence recently said on the “Magical Rewind” podcast that the only time he got into trouble on a film or television set was when Gabrielle Union allegedly reported him. According to Lawrence, the incident occurred after he declined Union’s offer to rehearse their lines together on the set of their 1999 TV movie “H-E Double Hockey Sticks.” Lawrence starred in the film as a hockey player who becomes the target of a young devil, played by podcast co-host Will Friedle.

“There was this one moment where — and, again, I’m oblivious, I had no idea — and [Gabrielle] wanted to rehearse. And I was like, ‘No, I’m good,’” Lawrence remembered (via Entertainment Weekly). “And she got angry and went and reported me to the director and the studio. The only time in my entire career, because usually I’m, like, the advocate, and I’m fighting for kids and, like, you know, women’s rights. This is the only time in my life when I was called into the office for something I did on set. And I had no clue.”

Lawrence explained that he declined Union’s request to rehearse their lines together because he wanted the scene to feel as fresh as possible when the time came to shoot it. He no longer thinks that way as an actor.

“At that point, in my mind — now I can do whatever, and nothing’s gonna faze me — [but] at that point in my mind, I really loved memorizing the lines, knowing all the beats,” Lawrence said, “but hated running it, cause it felt like it took all the freshness out of it.”

“H-E Double Hockey Sticks” aired on ABC in October 1999 as part of “The Wonderful World of Disney” series. It was the same year that Union starred in the popular teen comedies “10 Things I Hate About You” and “She’s All That.” Lawrence said that everybody on the set of their TV movie knew Union would go on to be a star.

[From Variety]

What’s funny is that Gabrielle was probably so annoyed with this guy. She didn’t want to deal with his nonsense, so she went to whoever was in charge and she was like “you deal with this because he’s on my last nerve.” Again, this was the ‘90s! It was a TV movie! She was standing up for herself in a time when most actresses would have felt like they just had to “get over it” when a costar wouldn’t rehearse with them. Anyway, Team Gabrielle.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Chilli’s relationship with Matthew Lawrence: ‘It’s real & there is nothing fake about it’

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Last week, Chilli Thomas accepted the Legacy Award on behalf of TLC at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon. She acknowledged her group mates and talked about their past and upcoming tour in her acceptance speech. At the event, she also talked to Page Six and dished about her relationship with Matthew Lawerence. She talked about how real and amazing their relationship is and how he’s changed everything about how she looks at relationships. Aw!

He’s no scrub.

Chilli gushed over her “amazing” romance with Matthew Lawrence at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon this week.

“It’s real and there is nothing fake about it,” the TLC singer, whose real name is Rozonda Thomas, told Page Six at the event. “I’m here with him because I wanna be and he wants to be. We’re just so happy, we really are.

“I honestly didn’t think that I would experience what I’m experiencing now and I was OK with that.”

The “No Scrubs” singer added that she was never someone who needed to be in a relationship.

“He has changed everything, the way I look at relationships. It’s so different,” she swooned.

However, Chilli declined to say whether a marriage was in the cards for the pair.

“We’re still in the beginning stages so we’ll see,” she said with a laugh.

[From Page Six]

Okay, maybe I’m just a cynical single, but I do roll my eyes a bit when people gush as much as these two, their reps, and his brothers have been gushing. Even T-Boz has confirmed she approves. It’s a lot, from all sides! They just got together around the holidays and confirmed their relationship in January. So it’s fairly new and they’re still in the honeymoon phase and new relationships often are like this. They can feel special and amazing and one-of-a-kind in the beginning. Anyway, it’s nice that they seem to be on the same page and it’s not one of them that seems more in love than the other. At first I thought it was Matthew, with his talk about kids and the full bloom of love, but it seems like Chilli is right there with him. It’s nice that they’re so happy. I’d just be happy if Chilli dropped her skincare routine.

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Matthew Lawrence ‘didn’t mean to put pressure’ on Chilli by saying he wanted kids

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Last we talked about Matthew Lawrence and Chilli Thomas he was gushing about their amazing relationship to Entertainment Tonight. He also mentioned their plans to have kids when asked, saying, “That’s the game plan. That’s what we’re trying to do.” I said at the time that seemed fast relative to their relationship, but was likely due to their ages — Matthew is 43 and Chilli is 52. Turns out someone else must have thought it was fast because now Matthew is backtracking a little bit.

For Matthew Lawrence, his romance with Chilli was simply meant to be.

But after the two began dating last fall, the Boy Meets World alum, who recently shared his hopes to start a family one day, noted the true timing on their future plans.

“It’s such an interesting story,” he told E! News’ Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Justin Sylvester. Referring to his older brother Joey Lawrence, he added, “Joe and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together…when we were growing up. And I missed the first go around and now he’s starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it’d be great if we could do it again, when I didn’t have the chance to raise a family together.’”

“So that’s what I meant by that,” Matthew said of his recent comments on starting a family. “I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything.”

But as Matthew noted, he has no doubt that Chilli—who shares son Tron, 25, with ex Dallas Austin—would be “incredible” if those plans were to happen eventually.

“She’s an amazing person,” the actor shared. “She’s already a mother, she has an incredible son. I respect so much as to how she’s raised him. She’d be an incredible mother again and I’d be incredibly lucky but that’s way in the future.”

[From E! News]

Matthew said all the right things about Chilli here. It is a lot of pressure to put on someone fairly early in a relationship, and public pressure at that. He was asked about it in the initial interview, but he could have deflected a bit in that answer if he hadn’t actually discussed it with Chilli. And as he mentions here, she already has an adult son so maybe she’s not sure about doing it all over again. What Matthew says about Chilli as a mother and her son is really sweet and now he’s doing the caveat that if they have kids she would be a great mom again, but that’s why in the future. I guess he learned from that last interview. But did anyone else think what he said about Joey was a little unintentionally shady? Makes sense that he would be excited at having another opportunity to raise kids alongside his brother. But publicly referring to your brother’s third wife and daughter as their “new family” is a little tactless. I’m sure Matthew didn’t mean anything by it, but I’d be a little peeved if I were Joey, his “new family,” or his second wife and those two kids.

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Cheryl Burke awarded custody of dog in court case with Matthew Lawrence

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Cheryl Burke’s divorce from Matthew Lawrence has seemed somewhat contentious based on the information about it she’s putting out there herself. She strongly implied that he cheated and she took him to court over custody of their dog. The dog custody issue persisted after their actual divorce was finalized, but now it’s resolved — Cheryl gets custody of Ysabella.

Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence have reached a settlement in their pet custody dispute.

According to court documents, obtained by Us Weekly on Saturday, January 14, the Dancing With the Stars alum, 38, was awarded all ownership rights pertaining to French bulldog Ysabella. Per the court filing, Lawrence, 42, has agreed to give up any documentation or data pertaining to the pup.

While Burke and the Boy Meets World alum settled their divorce late last year, they remained at odds over who would care for their Frenchie.

“I am now officially divorced. This all happened on premiere night of Dancing With the Stars,” the Dance Moms alum said during an October 2022 episode of her “Burke in the Game” podcast. “But it is still not over because we have to go to trial — unless he all of a sudden calls it off — but that will happen in January.”

She added at the time: “I am still really hurt by the whole situation because that is my dog. Ysabella is my daughter; I am a dog mom. I couldn’t even imagine my life without her. I could just cry right now.”

Lawrence, who was married to the choreographer for three years, had previously gifted Ysabella to his then-bride following their May 2019 nuptials. Throughout their relationship and divorce proceedings, Burke took charge of taking care for the pooch.

“I have to give credit to my dog Ysabella for keeping me going a lot of the time,” the two-time DWTS champ wrote in an exclusive essay for Us Weekly last October. “Yep, I’m a full-blown ‘dog mom’ and not ashamed to say it! Going through a public divorce, there have been days where I wanted to just stay in bed and hide, and the idea of numbing my emotions with a vodka soda can sound pretty appealing. But Ysabella has tons of energy and gets me outside to go for walks multiple times a day, she loves me to play with her and I honestly can’t imagine life without her by my side 24/7.”

[From US Weekly]

I’m no expert in pet custody, but if Matthew gave Cheryl the pup as a gift, it would seem she’s the rightful owner/mom, but I think documents may have played a factor as well. Something similar happened to my friend during a breakup — she went to court with her ex because she wanted the dog, but despite the fact that she was more attached and had done all the caring, the dog ultimately went to her ex because his name was on all the papers. It sounds like Cheryl was the appropriate person for the dog — the dog was a gift to her and she did all the caring. I’m sure Matthew loved the dog as well — obviously, if they went to court — but she was Cheryl’s dog. I definitely empathize with Cheryl in this situation. Regardless of the circumstances under which we parted, I couldn’t imagine an ex ever trying to take my beloved pet and especially not after a contentious breakup. It sounds like the dog is bringing Cheryl a lot of peace at this time and that’s great.

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TLC’s Chilli and Matthew Lawrence go public: ‘They are really cute together’

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Well, well, well, what do we have here? Over the summer, there was speculation that Matthew Lawrence and Chilli Thomas were dating after they were spotted on the beach together in Hawaii. This sighting came a few months after Matthew’s divorce from Cheryl Burke was announced, and Matthew and Chilli’s teams were quick to shut down speculation that the two were together. But not anymore! Chilli and Matthew finally went Instagram and tabloid official over the weekend.

Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Matthew Lawrence are diggin’ on each other.

The TLC singer, 51, and Brotherly Love actor, 42, are dating, Chilli’s rep, Christal Jordan, confirms to PEOPLE.

The two became involved romantically just ahead of Thanksgiving, after they were previously photographed on a beach in Hawaii in August.

Jordan further confirms that Chilli and Matthew spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Atlanta, where the actor met Chilli’s family.

“I’ve been with Chilli since 2005 and I’ve never seen her this in love,” Jordan tells PEOPLE. “She is glowing. They are really cute together.”

The two went Instagram official over New Year’s weekend, sharing a joint Instagram post that featured a video of them dancing in match Christmas pajamas, in the style of A-ha’s “Take on Me” music video.

“This makes me very happy!! ❤️❤️,” Matthew’s former Boy Meets World costar Danielle Fishel wrote in a comment.

TMZ was the first to report that the two are dating.

[From People]

So they announced with a cute video and Chilli’s rep confirmed that they’re dating. They don’t confirm the timeline but maybe they got together shortly before or after hanging out in Hawaii. Maybe their relationship was more new then and they wanted more distance from Matthew’s divorce before officially going public. Over the summer, Cheryl Burke hinted heavily that she and Matthew were divorcing because of his cheating. Okay, she actually put him on blast with a bunch of vague yet pointed posts about it. She didn’t specifically call out Chilli then, or now, but did post “well, that was fast” after her ex-husband’s relationship was confirmed this time. I feel bad for Cheryl because it definitely sucks to see an ex move on. And if that ex did you wrong it especially stings to see them happy. But I’m very interested in this Chilli/Matthew pairing. Chilli was always my favorite member of TLC. This is the unexpected, millennial childhood nostalgia couple we didn’t know we needed. They even look the same! (For context, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester are the obvious, millennial teen nostalgia couple we did know we needed). I want to see more cute dancing videos and more of Chilli back in the gossip sphere.

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photos credit: Jules Annan/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram and YouTube. Photo note by Celebitchy: I’m sorry for the weird header photo I’m not trying to be shady! There are no photos of Matthew from the past few years that aren’t with Cheryl Burke so it’s a screenshot from YouTube. Also all the new photos of Chilli are of her performing.