The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's latest "Inclusion in the Director's Chair" report analyzes the gender and race/ethnicity of the directors behind last year's 100 highest-grossing movies in the country, while the San Diego State Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film's most recent "Celluloid Ceiling" report examined the employment of women in key behind-the-scenes roles with top-grossing movies at the domestic box office, The Hollywood Report noted. Among other things, SDSU reported that 11 percent of 2022's helmers were women (down from 12 percent in 2021 and a high of 16 percent in 2020), while USC counted 9 percent in 2022 (down from 12.7 percent in 2021 and a high of 15 percent in 2020). The Woman King, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Don't Worry Darling and Father Stu were just a few of the 100 top-grossing films of 2022 with women directors.
Actor Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy; Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) revealed he covered up a tattoo he'd dedicated to someone who, later on, engaged in homophobic rhetoric, Out noted. Adding that his mother is lesbian, Bautista told GQ, "I was part of a team of a person I considered a friend and someone I really looked up to. And then he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and, you know, turned out to be an extreme homophobe, and so I had a huge issue with it." Bautista plans to leave the Marvel Universe following Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
The Fox show Call Me Kat paid tribute to late cast member Leslie Jordan in its Jan. 5 episode—in which Dolly Parton appeared in a surprise tribute. Before it aired, star/executive producer Mayim Bialik said the main goal as a cast was to figure out "how [to] honor our friend while also honoring a grieving process that doesn't end with two weeks off production," The Hollywood Reporter noted. On Call Me Kat, Jordan played Phil, a baker at a cafe owned by Bialik's title character. Jordan—who died in a car crash in October 2022—made his final show appearance in December with "Call Me Fancy Puffenstuff," the eighth episode of the third season that is currently airing.
Rolling Stone released its "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" list—and music fans have thoughts on those who made the cut and those who were snubbed, PinkNews noted. Celine Dion, Cher and Judy Garland were among those ignored. Dion has won 240 awards, including six AMAs, seven Billboard Music Awards and five Grammys, including Record and Album of the Year. Aretha Franklin was ranked the greatest of all time, with Whitney Houston and Sam Cooke rounding out the top three; Al Green, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles and Billie Holiday join Beyonce to make up the top 10.
Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss—who play the lesbian couple in the critically acclaimed music-composer film Tar—talked with Deadline about, among other things, why the movie is not a clear #MeToo story. Blanchett said of her character, "You're dealing with someone who has come to the end of a teaching cycle, who seems to be in an incredible position of power, that is at a high point in her career. … She sees this young cellist at the beginning of her career. It's always a man with a woman when you talk about a muse. But what actually happens between them, I think what is interesting about what [director/screenwriter] Todd [Field] has written—no one ever knows. But everyone talks about what happens [between them]. … And so, it's left to the audience to decide." The full interview is at deadline.com/2022/12/the-partnership-tar-cate-blanchett-nina-hoss-interview-1235202395/ .
Superstar Janet Jackson is the latest musician to conduct #MeToo checks among their teams, according to The Sun. Beyonce had vetted producers and rejected songs by artists for her record Renaissance if they had faced accusations of abuse or harassment—and now Jackson's doing the same for her "Together Again Tour," checking everyone from dancers to general staff members.
Stranger Things co-star Noah Schnapp has come out as gay on TikTok, Out noted. The actor shared a video dubbing over the trendy "You know what it never was? That serious" audio tag; over the video, he wrote, "When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was 'we know.'" During the fourth season of Stranger Things, released on Netflix last year, the character of Will struggled with coming out as gay.
Rosie O'Donnell revealed why she wasn't in attendance at The View's emotional tribute to Barbara Walters on Jan. 3, ET noted. "They invited me but I wasn't able to make it," O'Donnell said in a video. "And I didn't want to be in a big group of people. I don't know—I was worried I would get upset and I didn't want to do that. So, there you go." Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and the other current co-hosts of The View honored Walters, and there were in-person and Zoom appearances by former View co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Debbie Matenopoulos, Lisa Ling, Sherri Shepard, Star Jones and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Harvey Fierstein donated a $250,000 matching grant to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club's capital campaign, with funds going to help complete the renovation and restoration of the company's building in NYC's East Village, Playbill noted. The four-time Tony-winning actor and writer, who got his start at the landmark off-off-Broadway institution, is encouraging the public to donate so his matching grant can be used in full.
Good Morning America's Robin Roberts is set to marry girlfriend Amber Laign after 18 years together, Page Six revealed. "I'm saying yes to marriage. We're getting married this year," the news anchor told author/motivational speaker Gabrielle Bernstein after admitting she was "hesitating" to share the news because she had not "said it out loud yet." Roberts said she and Laign "talked about" marriage in the past but "put it off" once the Plant Juice Oils co-founder was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2021; Laign completed radiation therapy in July 2022 after enduring complications with chemotherapy.
Anita Pointer—one of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters, whose string of pop, country and R&B hits in the 1970s and '80s included "I'm So Excited," "Neutron Dance," "Automatic" and "Fire"—died of cancer at age 74, The New York Post noted. Anita was the second oldest of four sisters who started performing as the duo of June and Bonnie in 1969 and soon became a trio when Anita quit her job as a secretary to join the group, according to an official biography. The group later became a quartet for a while with Ruth—the only one of the original singing sisters still alive—although Bonnie left the group in the late '70s and they became a trio once again.
At the Dec. 27 performance of Broadway's Death of a Salesman, an audience member rushed to the front of the auditorium to yell at Wendell Pierce, currently starring in the seminal Arthur Miller play, Playbill reported. Pierce did his best to defuse the situation, reasoning with the patron while attempting to direct them to the lobby of the theatre, so the performance could continue. The patron (allegedly drunk, according to another theatergoer) and their partner refused, and were eventually escorted out by law enforcement.
Jamie Lee Curtis joined the celebrities who are weighing in on the so-called "nepo baby" debate, The Hollywood Reporter noted. Recently, New York Magazine published the feature "The Year of the Nepo Baby," which detailed the lineages of many Hollywood folks who have famous parents and other relatives working in the entertainment industry—a reflection of how nepotism has supposedly helped some people in show business. Curtis—the daughter of legends Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis—said, in part, "The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt." She added, "It's curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever. I have come to learn that is simply not true."
The stars of the 1968 film Romeo & Juliet are now suing Paramount Pictures for more than $100 million for alleged sexual abuse, negligence and more, Deadline reported. "Defendants were dishonest and secretly filmed the nude or partially nude minor children without their knowledge, in violation of the state and federal laws regulating said child sexual abuse and exploitation," the filing from Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting states. The subject of sexual-harassment and sexual-assault claims in the past (from actors such as Johnathon Schaech), gay Romeo & Juliet director Franco Zeffirelli died in June 2019 and is not a defendant in this action.
On Dec. 31, Kathy Griffin took to social media to slam Andy Cohen for an interview he gave TMZ back in 2017, Out noted. Back then, CNN fired Griffin from co-hosting the network's New Year's Eve show due to the comedian's controversy with then-president Donald Trump; Cohen was then hired to co-host with Anderson Cooper. When questioned about Griffin, Cohen pretended not to know Griffin, repeatedly asking, "Who?" So Griffin recently tweeted, "Ugh. Every year someone sends me this clip around New Year's Eve. This guy was my boss for years. Decided whether or not I worked at Bravo. Can you imagine seeing your ex-boss on TMZ like… this? Ouch! Anyway, I can't wait to watch Miley and Dolly tonight."
In a related matter, on Live with Kelly and Ryan, co-host Ryan Seacrest claimed to Kelly Ripa during their talk show that Andy Cohen snubbed him while the two were filming opposing New Year's Eve specials, HuffPost noted. Ripa, who is friends with Cohen, quickly opposed Seacrest's version of the story. "That's not true," Ripa said. "He said he was trying to get your attention." Cohen responded to the allegation on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, saying Seacrest has "a bug up" about him and that he had no intention of brushing him off.
Todd Chrisley, who stars in the reality series Chrisley Knows Best, went on his family's podcast (Chrisley Confessions) to shut down rumors about his alleged affair with former business associate Mark Braddock, according to Out. "What insulted me the most is that, out of all these 54 years, for me to finally be accused of being with a man, it would be someone who looked like Mark Braddock," Chrisley said, adding that Braddock is "a toad" and "someone that looks like a thumb." Chrisley is expected to begin his 12-year prison sentence for bank fraud and tax evasion on Jan. 17 in Florida.
The first six albums of hip-hop pioneers De La Soul—who had the critically acclaimed 1989 debut album Three Feet High and Rising—will finally be available on streaming services for the first time on March 3, Variety noted. The catalog, held up for decades by complicated sample clearances and other legal issues, was acquired by Reservoir Media as part of its acquisition of the Tommy Boy Records catalog; Reservoir will distribute the catalog via its Chrysalis Records.
Netflix canceled the queer-inclusive show 1899 after just one season, according to Out. Featuring a steamy romance between Elite's Miguel Bernardeau (playing Angel) and actor Jose Pimentao (playing Ramiro), 1899 focused on a group of international migrants traveling on a steamship in the hopes of starting a new life in New York City.
But to no one's surprise, Netflix renewed the show Wednesday for a second season, according to Deadline. The show, starring Jenna Ortega as the title character, has been viewed for more than 1 billion hours—only the third show to do that on Netflix. The series overtook Dahmer to become the second most-watched U.S. show, behind season four of Stranger Things.
Musician Moby recently took to social media to announce that he was finishing up a new album called Ambient 23 with a release date of Jan. 1—and now the full-length is out, Pitchfork noted. In a separate update posted on the day of the release, he stated, "Made to help anxiety (my own, and hopefully yours, too). For 2023, may we all be less anxious (and may we all stop looking for validation from a culture we don't respect…)." He added that Ambient 23 is "inspired by…early ambient [heroes]" including Martyn Ware, Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre and Will Sergeant.
Tiger King star Joe Exotic (real name: Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage) and Dillon Passage have finalized their divorce, Out noted. Exotic announced his marriage to Passage at the end of the series, after viewers had watched him engage in a series of relationships. On Instagram, Passage said, "Excited to move forward with my life and with my amazing partner John [Devarti,] who supports me in all things! Next step: engineering school!"
Megan Fox opened her DMs to willing girlfriend applicants, despite being engaged to rapper Machine Gun Kelly, PinkNews noted. The bisexual Jennifer's Body actor took to Instagram with a couple of selfies and a short video showcasing her smile, asking women to "submit applications." The Transformers actress has long been open about her sexuality, clarifying in an interview with Esquire in 2009: "I think people are born bisexual and they make subconscious choices based on the pressures of society. I have no question in my mind about being bisexual."
Openly gay pro football player Carl Nassib confirmed that he is dating former Olympic swimmer Soren Dahl, Out noted. In an Instagram Story, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Nassib posted a picture of himself with his arm around Dahl, who is wearing a Nassib jersey. The NFL star wrote in the caption: "Kicking off 2023 with my man and a trip to the playoffs." Nassib's team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, recently won the NFC South title after defeating the Carolina Panthers 30-24.
Ireland Baldwin—Alec Baldwin's daughter with Kim Basinger—is expecting her first child with musician RAC, aka Andre Allen Anjos, Page Six noted. This is the couple's first child together; they have been dating for at least a year. This first pregnancy for Ireland—who, at one time, dated female rapper Angel Haze—comes a few months after she said she was "unbothered" when her dad and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, announced they were expecting their seventh child together.
Harry Hamlin is standing by his wife Lisa Rinna's decision to leave Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after eight seasons on the show, Page Six noted. "[It was the] correct decision, the right decision to make at this point after eight years," the actor told People. "Eight years is a long time to do anything, the same thing over and over again. It's time to move along." Hamlin's comments come one day after his wife announced that she was leaving RHOBH after her contract expired at the end of the series' 12th season.
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City co-star Jen Shah has been formally sentenced in her wire-fraud case, Deadline noted. Shah will be going to prison for six-and-a-half years, or 78 months, with an additional five years of supervised release. Shah agreed to pay restitution to all the victims and said that the profits from the merchandise with the tagline "Free Jen Shah" that she was selling "through a third party vendor" would be "devoted to the victims."
