Sam Smith and Normani are facing a copyright lawsuit over their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," filed by three songwriters who say the song is "strikingly similar" to an earlier track with the same name and refrain, Billboard noted. Songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda and Rosco Banlaoi accused Smith and Normani of stealing the core from their 2015 track "Dancing With a Stranger." The lawsuit also named a wide range of other individuals and corporate entities allegedly involved in the production of the 2019 song.
Also, Dua Lipa is facing a second copyright lawsuit over her smash hit song "Levitating," this time claiming she lifted material from a pair of decades-old disco tracks, per Billboard. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer accused Due Lipa of copying their 1979 song "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" and 1980 song "Don Diablo." They said the opening melody to "Levitating" was a "duplicate" of the melody to their songs.
The Power of the Dog actor Benedict Cumberbatch responded to A Star Is Born co-star Sam Elliott after he criticized the Jane Campion film for "allusions of homosexuality," out.com noted. "I'm trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast over here," Cumberbatch said, apparently referring to Elliot's comments on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast. "Without meaning to stir over the ashes of that … someone really took offense to—I haven't heard it so it's unfair for me to comment in detail on it—to the West being portrayed in this way. … "The more we look under the hood of toxic masculinity and try to discover the root causes of it, the bigger chances we have of dealing with it when it arises with our children." According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Power" co-star Jesse Plemons said Elliott's criticisms "made me laugh."
Jane Campion also responded to Sam Elliott's comments about The Power of the Dog, Deadline noted. Elliott complained that Campion's Western was "a piece of sh*t," with "allusions of homosexuality," comparing the cowboy characters to Chippendales dancers that "wear bow ties and not much else" and who are "running around in chaps and no shirts." On the DGA Awards red carpet, Campion said of Elliott: "I think it's really unfortunate and sad for him because he's really hit the trifecta of misogyny and xenophobia and homophobia. I don't like that. I think he was being a little bit of a b-i-t-c-h. Plus he's not a cowboy; he's an actor."
Houston native Jackson Fox—who made history as Survivor's first trans male contestant to enter the competition—was asked to leave the show after only 48 hours of gameplay because he failed to disclose something about his medication history, out.com noted. Fox failed to disclose to the production staff that he was taking lithium medication until the day before filming started; he said he started taking it nearly six years ago in 2016, when he started taking care of his terminally ill mother, to help him with his anxiety and get sleep.
GLAAD announced that Grammy-winning musician Kacey Musgraves will receive the Vanguard Award at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, April 2, per a press release. The Vanguard Award is presented to allies who have made a significant difference in promoting the acceptance of LGBTQ people. Previous honorees include Beyonce and JAY-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Kerry Washington, Cher, Janet Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Patricia Arquette and Antonio Banderas. GLAAD also announced that Andrew Garfield will present the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Michaela Jaé Rodriguez.
Broadway's Cort Theatre will be renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre when it reopens following extensive renovations later this year, Playbill noted. The change, made by The Shubert Organization in recognition of Jones' long Broadway career, will establish the theatre as the second in Broadway history to be named for a person of color. The move will place Jones' name at the venue where he made his Broadway debut in 1958 in Sunrise at Campobello.
Kanye West has added Jason Lee, the out founder/CEO of Hollywood Unlocked, to his team under the title of head of media and partnerships, Variety reported. Lee said his new role resulted from the camaraderie he established with the superstar musician doing a video interview for Hollywood Unlocked that went up last month. Lee had a moment of being as controversial as West this year, when Hollywood Unlocked went with a false report that Queen Elizabeth II had died of COVID—a story he initially defended as well-sourced before apologizing.
Euphoria star Jacob Elordi has weighed in on Nate's sexuality following the show's roller-coaster second-season finale, PinkNews noted, citing Variety. Elordi, who plays abusive quarterback Nate Jacobs on the HBO show, said his character is "deliberately misunderstood" but doesn't agree with fans who think he is in the closet. Jacob Elordi says he's "never really approached" Nate's struggles "in terms of sexuality." "I always approach it in terms of family," he told Variety. "I think the sexuality thing is born from his not having a relationship with his father, or not having the relationship he thinks he should have with his father and mother."
British thespian Eddie Izzard has found her first starring role as a woman in the new Hammer Films horror movie Doctor Jekyll, out.com noted. The film is the latest in a long line of adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. In it, Izzard will play Dr. Nina Jekyll, a reclusive scientist who finds friendship with her newly hired assistant Rob (Scott Chambers) as they have to work together to prevent Hyde from destroying her life. This will be Izzard's first starring role as a woman since she clarified her gender presentation in December 2020.
R&B singer Tevin Campbell ("Can We Talk?") seemingly came out as gay in a now-deleted tweet, according to out.com . "My mom keeps telling me Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, and Tevin Campbell were gay," the fan's tweet read—to which Campbell simply quote-tweeted and said, "Tevin is," accompanied by the rainbow flag and sunglasses emojis. Also, the rainbow flag emoji is also now included in Campbell's Twitter bio on his verified account. Speculation about Campbell's sexuality has circulated for years but had never been addressed until now.
Daniel Radcliffe will tackle Stephen Sondheim next season in a new revival of the 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop, per Deadline. The revival, to be directed by Maria Friedman and choreographed by Tim Jackson, is slated to open late this year; the full cast and specific production dates have yet to be announced.
As the final season of black-ish comes to a close and the current grown-ish class graduates Cal U, the"-ish" universe continues with Emmy-nominated grown-ish picked up for a fifth season, a press release noted. Marcus Scribner heads over from black-ish to join his TV sister Yara Shahidi on the Freeform spinoff, reprising his role as Andre Johnson Jr. as he embarks on his own journey to being "grown." The final season of black-ish returns with new episodes on Tuesday, March 22, on ABC, and all seasons are available to stream on Hulu; grown-ish airs on Thursdays on Freeform and streams the next day on Hulu.
Christian Siriano announced that he's auctioning off a two-toned tulle dress inspired by the Ukrainian flag, PopSugar noted. Siriano also promised to match the highest bid for the gown, as well as donate all proceeds to organizations that directly aid Ukraine. Siriano has not specified how long bids for the dress will be accepted, but anyone interested in bidding can email the designer's team at info@christiansiriano.com .
Law & Order: Organized Crime star Chris Meloni put Ricky Schroder's latest attempt at anti-vax activism in check, calling out the former NYPD Blue and Silver Spoons star a day after he arrived in Washington, D.C. as part of the so-called "Freedom Convoy" protests, per Yahoo! News. Schroder posted a video online in which he stated: "Our bodies are our own; we own this. We get to decide what goes in and what goes out. Understood?" Meloni then reposted the video, asking "So……pro[-]abortion?" Among other things, Schroder once even helped put up and raise the $2 million necessary to bail Kyle Rittenhouse out of jail.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was detained by Bank of America staff in Atlanta back in January after he was mistaken for a bank robber, Variety revealed. The director confirmed the incident to Variety: "This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on." According to TMZ, which first reported the news based on a police report, Coogler was detained after he went to Bank of America to make a transaction (a withdrawal of $12,000). However, the bank teller misinterpreted the situation as an attempted robbery when the amount of the transaction triggered an alarm on the banking system.
Dune, Nightmare Alley and No Time to Die won Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) Awards in the live-action feature categories during the organization's 26th Excellence in Production Design Awards, The Hollywood Reporter noted. Awards for live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Nightmare Alley won the award for a period film, Dune for a fantasy film and No Time to Die for a contemporary movie. Additionally, Encanto topped the animated feature category. Additionally, Dune helmer Denis Villeneuve received the William Cameron Menzies Award and The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion was honored with the Cinematic Imagery Award.
The reality series Naked and Afraid featured the first transgender woman contestant in the show's history, Yahoo! News noted. Terra is only the second transgender person to compete on the show; in 2019, trans man Quince Mountain appeared on the show. She was paired with a South African farmer named Shaun; while he described himself as "conservative," he was nothing but welcoming to Terra, even hugging her. While Shaun only lasted three days into the trial, sustaining a concussion from the fall, Terra completed the 21-day challenge.
The first Black reality TV series, College Hill is making a return to the airwaves, per Black Enterprise. The twist this time is that, instead of covering unknown college students attending HBCUs, this reboot will star former and current reality TV participants. The show will feature Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member NeNe Leakes; former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player and Celebrity Big Brother cast member Lamar Odom; For the Love of Ray J's Ray J; Bad Girls Club cast member Dream Doll; and Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce main star Big Freedia.
Pamela Anderson will make her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the long-running musical Chicago this spring, per Deadline. The former Baywatch and Home Improvement star will take the stage at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre Tuesday, April 12, and end her eight-week limited run Sunday, June 5. The revival of the John Kander/Fred Ebb/Bob Fosse musical, which recently marked its 25th anniversary, won six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival.
Modern Family star Ariel Winter will be the lead of NBC's multi-camera comedy series Hungry, per Deadline. She succeeds Demi Lovato, who had been attached to the project for almost a year but stepped down from acting duties for scheduling reasons just as the pilot was about to start production. Valerie Bertinelli, Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, Ryan McPartlin, Alex Brightman and Ashley D. Kelley also star in the pilot, which comes from Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner's Hazy Mills, SB Projects and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Three-time NBA champion and two-time MVP Stephen Curry has joined forces with basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal to support the Oscar-nominated short subject documentary The Queen of Basketball as executive producer, with a mission to make Lusia "Lucy" Harris a household name, a press release noted. Harris died unexpectedly at age 66 on Jan. 18. The Queen of Basketball—currently streaming on nytimes.com and The New York Times YouTube channel as well as at vimeo.com/580833148& the story of one of the greatest women's basketball players; she won three national trophies, scored the first basket in women's Olympic history and was drafted to the NBA.
Dance Fever, the fifth album from Florence + the Machine, is set for release May 13, a press release noted. The single "My Love" recently debuted alongside a video by director Autumn de Wilde. "My Love" follows the recently released "King" and "Heaven is Here," both of which arrived alongside videos by de Wilde choreographed by Ryan Heffington.
Taron Egerton (Rocketman; Kingsman: The Secret Service; Sing 2) was unable to finish his Saturday night performance of the new play, Cock, collapsing in the middle of its first show at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, Deadline noted. After a brief delay, director Marianne Elliott came on stage to assure the crowd that Egerton was doing "absolutely fine" backstage. However, he was unable to continue, and understudy Joel Harper-Jackson stepped in for the final section of the play. Egerton returned March 7.
Actress/singer Mandy Moore will release her new full-length studio album, In Real Life, via Verve Forecast on May 13, a press release noted. The new album follows Silver Landings, the album that marked Moore's first new body of work in over a decade and was released in March 2020. Along with the album, Moore announced an expansive summer headlining tour for North America—her first in more than a decade—and is set to perform at Newport Folk Festival in July.
The Simpsons will make history Sunday, March 13. According to Variety, for the first time ever—after 33 seasons and 719 episodes—the top four key creative roles that guide animation in a "Simpsons" episode are all women. This achievement will be aired during Women's History Month.
Stephen Karam's acclaimed adaptation of his own Tony-winning play The Humans is soon available to own on Digital, per a press release. The movie stars nominees Richard Jenkins, Steven Yeun and June Squibb alongside Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein and Jayne Houdyshell, reprising her Tony-winning role. It will be available to rent March 15 and is coming to Blu-Ray on April 19.
Network mainstays Survivor (which is currently having its most LGBTQ-inclusive season ever) and The Amazing Race will return next season, as will competition series Tough as Nails and home makeover series Secret Celebrity Renovation, per The Hollywood Reporter. The four shows join five scripted series—drama CSI: Vegas and comedies Bob Hearts Abishola, Ghosts, The Neighborhood and Young Sheldon—on CBS' 2022-23 roster. The renewals will take Survivor through its 44th season and The Amazing Race to its 34th edition.
At the Academy of Country Music Awards, musician Morgan Whallen—despite the 2021 scandal around him using the N-word—won for album of the year, per Deadline. The fallout for the singer included being banned from attending the American Music Awards last fall. Among those who Wallen thanked in his brief acceptance speech were "those who showed me grace along the way." Miranda Lambert was chosen entertainer of the year for the first time after losing out in five previous years, NBC News noted. Also, Brothers Osbourne won for duo of the year; TJ Osborne reportedly kissed boyfriend Abi Ventura before going up on stage, according to out.com .
The IMDb TV series Judy Justice (Judge Judy Sheindlin's newest show) has been picked up for a second season, Deadline noted. "I am over the moon and couldn't be happier with the Judy Justice reception in streaming," said the ex-Manhattan family court judge. "Amazon has been a terrific partner and I look forward to our continued collaboration." With fans viewing more than 25 million hours of the show, Judy Justice is far and away IMDb TV's number-one Original program in first streams and hours watched.
Model Matthew Rondeau allegedly attacked a transgender woman at Shanna Moakler's Los Angeles home while Moakler was away filming Celebrity Big Brother, Page Six noted. In early February, Elissa Lorenn allegedly went to Moakler's house with her friend Shayan to hang out with Rondeau. Lorenn claimed when they arrived, they found Rondeau in bad shape as he'd just learned Moakler—whom he's been on-again, off-again with since 2020—had allegedly cheated on him. Lorenn then alleged he made out with her but had a personality "switch" later that evening, attacking her. Last month in a separate incident with Moakler, police arrested Rondeau for felony domestic violence after he posted a terrifying video on her Instagram account.
Fox revealed to Variety who will be stopping by to help The Masked Singer's usual panelists help judge this season's costumed celebrities. Joining regular panelists Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke will be guests Eric Stonestreet (who appears on the second episode, on March 16), Leslie Jordan (returning for his second appearance on The Masked Singer) and Nicole Byer, stopping by for the first time.
Sonja Morgan, of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, has been signed by UTA for comedy touring, Variety noted. Morgan is set to launch a nine-city leg of her "Sonja in Your City" tour this spring, and tickets go on sale March 8. Morgan joined "Real Housewives" in the show's third season in 2010.
Nick Cannon's daytime talk show is coming to an end after one season, Variety noted. However, enough episodes have been pre-taped and banked so that the show will finish its season with original episodes airing through sometime in May. Insiders said a five-week hiatus was already previously planned, due to Cannon's busy schedule with responsibilities for his long-running Viacom improv show Wild 'N Out and Fox's hit primetime series The Masked Singer, which he hosts.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was near Santa Barbara to officiate the wedding of Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari, per a New York Post item that cited TMZ. ET also reported that the quarterback was spotted with Shailene Woodley (with whom he's reportedly reconciled) at the event and she "lovingly patted his behind."
