Entertainment News

"Sit down!": Christie Brinkley calls out those saying Dolly Parton should "dress her age"

Mireya Acierto/Getty Images - Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images

Christie Brinkley is defending Dolly Parton's recent cheerleader look, which she wore during an NFL halftime performance on Thanksgiving Day.

Parton performed during halftime at the Dallas Cowboys versus Washington Commanders game on November 23, donning a bedazzled Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders outfit for the occasion.

While some appreciated the 77-year-old country superstar's festive attire, others didn't — and Brinkley had a few words for those folks.

"Whoever had the nerve to suggest that the one and only Dolly Parton should dress her age, should sit down!" the supermodel, 69, wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday. "You should know you can't define an icon like Dolly Parton by a number!"

"Also immeasurable are her too numerous to count talents, her boundless good energy and effervescent humor, and her golden philanthropic heart full of love!" she continued. "The fact that she can also rock a Dallas cheerleader outfit too, is inspiring and fun!"

Brinkley also gave a shout-out to Parton for her Rockstar album reaching #3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart — the highest-charting album of her career — writing, "Brava! You go girl!"

She ended her post by calling the "Jolene" singer's cheerleader outfit "killer" and suggesting a new first for her: "Maybe @si_swimsuit [the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue] is next?

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Tim Burton reveals 'Beetlejuice 2' has wrapped

Netflix/Tomasz Lazar

On his Instagram Thursday, Tim Burton revealed that his long-awaited sequel to the 1988 hit Beetlejuice has finished shooting. "Thank you to everyone involved," the director added to a caption of a picture of himself posed casually in a chair.

As reported, the movie — starring Michael Keaton reprising as the titular "ghost with the most," his original Beetlejuice co-stars Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara, and franchise newcomers Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe, got right back to filming after the SAG-AFTRA strike was resolved.

And it didn't take long to wrap: Burton recently told The Independent the movie was already "99% done," adding, "Literally, it was a day and a half" remaining on the shooting schedule when the strike was declared in July.

The filmmaker had told the U.K. publication he really enjoyed making the sequel. "I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies."

Incidentally, one of the first replies to Burton's wrap post was from his Wednesday co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones, who fangirled, "Can’t wait!!!!!"

Beetlejuice 2 is slated for a September 6, 2024, release.

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Jury selection begins in Jonathan Majors misdemeanor assault case

Getty Images for Disney

Jury selection began Thursday in the misdemeanor assault trial of Creed III star Jonathan Majors in New York City.

Majors entered the courtroom holding girlfriend Meagan Good's hand and carrying a bible.

Prospective jurors are seated in the courtroom as selection of six jurors and two alternates is underway. Majors watched as each of them entered and turned in his chair to glance at the faces in the crowd.

He stood, clasped his hands and bowed his head toward the prospective jurors as the judge introduced him.

One woman raised her hand when the judge asked if anyone was familiar with those in the courtroom. She identified the actor but was not automatically dismissed.

One other development Thursday morning was that defense attorneys learned they will be allowed to tell the jury that the alleged victim, Majors' ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, was arrested by the New York Police Department last month — even though the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute her.

Majors has filed a cross-complaint against Jabbari, and the defense said her arrest is "part and parcel" of its case.

"There is no case law the People have cited that prevents the defense from asking Ms. Jabbari about her actions that night," defense attorney Seth Zuckerman said.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to preclude the defense from discussing Jabbari's arrest.

Majors was arrested in March, after officers responded to a 911 call in Manhattan for an alleged domestic dispute. Jabbari was treated at a hospital for minor neck and head injuries, including a cut to her ear, police said.

Majors' attorney Priya Chaudhry had claimed the Loki actor was the one who was assaulted and described him as "the real victim in this shameful ordeal."

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Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks featured in 'Elle's Women in Hollywood issue

Adrienne Raquel

Elle has released its 2023 Women in Hollywood issue, naming FantasiaTaraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks among the list of nine influential female entertainers. 

Deemed "The Phoenix" in the December/January issue, Fantasia opened up about moments in the past when she felt she didn't want to sing anymore. 

"I just was like, 'Why are my albums not going number one? Why am I not selling out? Why am I still showing up at the shows and the promoter ain't got my money?'" she recalls thinking. 

The singer says she had to remind herself that "I am the trophy." And if there's a piece of advice she'd offer to young people, it'd be: "Make sure you still love it. Don’t get caught up in all the hoopla—remember what you fell in love with."

Taraji, "The Advocate," told Elle her biggest career goal is retirement. "I will always work," she clarifies. "I really want to start enjoying the fruits of my labor more and be in a position where I can rent a yacht and call my family and be like, 'Meet me in Spain.'"

Brooks, "The Spark," shared the best piece of advice she received from The Color Purple producer Oprah Winfrey: "I have everything I need within me, and that the ancestors are with me on my journey."

Others included on the 2023 Women in Hollywood list are Jennifer LopezJodie FosterAmerica FerreraLily GladstoneEva Longoria and Greta Lee

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'Guardians of the Galaxy' star Karen Gillan reveals she's making her debut on 'The Simpsons'

Fox

Karen Gillan will lean into her Scottish roots this Sunday on The Simpsons, the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise star revealed on Instagram

"I can finally announce the role I was born to play," the actress and director captioned a photo of her animated self, slow dancing with a longtime character from the long-running series. 

"That's right folks, I'm Groundskeeper Willie's new Scottish love interest in The Simpsons. SO honoured to join this legendary show!!!! Episode airs this weekend!" she continued. 

Simpsons star Dan Castellaneta has voiced Homer Simpson and other characters since 1989, including Willie aka William MacMoran MacDougal, Springfield Elementary School's head groundskeeper and janitor.

Gillan normally hides her native accent onscreen: It has gone unheard in her role as the cyborg Nebula in the Marvel movies, and in films like Gunpowder Milkshake and the Jumanji reboot adventures opposite Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson.

Gillan's post earned more than 180,000 likes, and an attagirl from her fellow Guardian Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis in the Marvel movies, and who was recently seen in the newest Mission: Impossible movie. "Omg f****** amazing!!!!!!" she enthused.

Gillan's episode, "Ae Bonny Romance," sees Willie kidnapped back to his home country, and the Simpsons family -- and apparently, romance -- follows.

The Simpsons airs at 8 p.m. ET Sundays on Fox.

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In Brief: Sebastian Stan to reportedly play a young Donald Trump in new movie, and more

Deadline reports Captain America and Avengers movies star Sebastian Stan has been tapped to play a young Donald Trump in the upcoming movie The Apprentice. According to the trade, the film is described as "an exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit. It's a mentor-protege story that charts the origins of an American dynasty. Filled with larger-than-life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers." Succession's Jeremy Strong and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova also star respectively as Roy Cohn and Ivana Trump...

Is There Still Sex in the City? Candace Bushnell, author of the book on which the popular HBO series Sex and the City was based, hopes to find out in a new reality dating show currently in the works. The show, per Entertainment Weekly, will "follow four women in their 50s as they escape to a country chateau to flirt with a series of suitors from all walks of life." Is There Still Sex in the City? would mark the fifth TV show based on Bushnell’s books, following Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle, The Carrie Diaries, and Max's And Just Like That... .

The CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola will with its upcoming fifth season, the network revealed on Wednesday. The Chuck Lorre-produced sitcom, starring Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku as the titular characters, was the #1 new comedy of the 2019-20 television season and, since its second season, has delivered more viewers than any other network comedy, according to CBS. Additionally, Bob Hearts Abishola was one of the two top two comedies during the 2022-23 season among African American viewers, along with The Neighborhood...

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Medical issues force Jamie Lynn Spears out of 'I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!'

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Jamie Lynn Spears has left the U.K. series I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! for "medical grounds," ITV announced on Wednesday.

"She's been a fantastic campmate who has triumphed at trials and bonded well with her fellow celebrities," ITV added.

However, on Tuesday's episode, the Zoey 101 and Sweet Magnolias star shared with her castmates that she hated being on the show, explaining, “This place is where people go to have the worst days of their lives. Dear God, please help me to make it. I think I’ve got to leave, I think I’ve got to leave.”

Spears is the second contestant to leave the British reality show, following journalist Grace Dent, who withdrew on the 11th day of the series.

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Amanda Bynes announces forthcoming podcast

Bynes in 2014 - GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Amanda Bynes is back on Instagram, and she tells her followers she's working to launch a new podcast with her best friend, biochemist Paul Sieminski.

"Having his beautiful mind being a part of this podcast is just going to bring it to another level, I think, because he's gonna ask great questions, and I think he'll carry most of the weight in terms of topics of conversation," Amanda said in her video.

Evidently, the 'cast will center on the entertainment industry, the former All That star tells The Messenger, adding the pair toured a studio in preparation for the podcast's launch in December.

"At first we are going to interview our friends and then we're hoping to take it mainstream, and interview celebrities and artists," she said on Instagram.

Bynes recently revealed she and Sieminski are working on a "coffee table book," for which they undertook a "super-secret photo shoot" in Los Angeles.

This is the first time Bynes has gone public after she was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department last April for a mental health evaluation. Her mother's nine-year conservatorship over her affairs, related to her mental health, ended in 2022.

The She's The Man veteran has dealt with psychological issues for years; in March, TMZ reported she called 911 on herself after she was spotted wandering around naked in Los Angeles. Bynes was taken to a police station and reported she was undergoing a psychotic episode, triggering a 72-hour hold.

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"I'm not done with living": Shannen Doherty gives update on stage 4 cancer

Doherty in 2019 – Rachel Luna/FilmMagic

Shannen Doherty isn't done fighting in her yearslong battle against stage 4 breast cancer.

"I don't want to die," the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, 52, told People for its December 11 cover story.

"I'm not done with living. I'm not done with loving. I'm not done with creating. I'm not done with hopefully changing things for the better," she continued. "I'm just not — I'm not done."

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. She announced she was in remission in 2017.

In 2020 she revealed that the cancer had returned and was stage 4.

Earlier this year, the Charmed alum announced that the cancer had spread to her brain and that she had undergone surgery to get a tumor, which she named Bob, removed from her brain.

In her cover story this week, Doherty told People that her cancer has now spread to her bones.

"When you ask yourself, 'Why me? Why did I get cancer?' and then 'Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?' that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life," she said.

Part of that purpose, Doherty said, is proving that people with cancer diagnoses can be "vibrant."

"My greatest memory is yet to come," she noted. "I pray. I wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to me without asking for too much. It connects me to a higher power and spirituality. My faith is my mantra."

Doherty also said those fighting cancer are "grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here."

It was announced Wednesday that the actress is launching a memoir-style podcast, Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty, which premieres December 7 on iHeartRadio.

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Jonathan Majors' domestic violence trial begins

Majors, Good - Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Majors, 34, faces misdemeanor assault and harassment charges stemming from an incident in March with his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.

Majors has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could serve up to a year in prison.

Majors entered criminal court early Wednesday in a long black coat and sunglasses accompanied by his girlfriend, actress Meagan Good, and his defense attorney, Priya Chaudhry.

He appeared to be carrying a Bible in his left hand.

Before jury selection began, Majors' attorneys argued the actor's celebrity status means the courtroom should be closed while the parties discuss an "evidentiary matter." His attorneys deemed the undisclosed matter so sensitive that anything short of closing the courtroom and keeping it under seal would severely undermine Majors' ability to receive a fair trial.

An attorney for media organizations argued the defense has been making public statements "like crazy," so there was no issue about excessive publicity.

Other pretrial motions dispensed prior to jury selection may include whether prosecutors will be allowed to call so-called "prior bad act witnesses," other women whose prior accusations against Majors are not part of the misdemeanor assault charges.

Once the jurors are chosen and sworn, the judge will send them home and instruct them to return Thursday for opening statements.

Majors was arrested after officers responded to a 911 call in Manhattan for an alleged domestic dispute. Jabbari was treated at a hospital for minor neck and head injuries, including a cut to her ear, police said.

The Marvel star has denied the assault and filed a cross-complaint against his ex. Chaudhry claims Majors was the one assaulted and is "the real victim in this shameful ordeal."

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Jennifer Lawrence says aging, makeup has sparked baseless plastic surgery rumors

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Jennifer Lawrence is opening up about aging in the spotlight.

The Academy Award-winning actress discussed with Kylie Jenner how her appearance has changed over the years thanks to makeup and growing older, shooting down rumors that she's "had full plastic surgery," in a chat for Interview magazine.

"It's incredible what makeup can do because I work with [makeup artist] Hung [Vanngo], who overlines the lip, and I call him a plastic surgeon, because everybody in the last few months since I've been working with him is convinced that I had eye surgery," Lawrence told Jenner.

"I'm like, 'I didn't have eye surgery. I'm doing makeup,'" she continued.

The "Hunger Games" actress, 33, then shared with Jenner how she has seen people comparing her appearance when she was first starting out to now and speculating on what she's had done.

"I started at 19, so I get the before and after pictures from when I'm 19 to 30 and I'm like, 'I grew up. I lost baby weight in my face, and my face changed because I'm aging,'" she said.

Lawrence continued, "Everybody thought I had a nose job, and I'm like, 'I've had the exact same nose. My cheeks got smaller. Thank you for bringing it up.'"

Jenner echoed Lawrence's sentiments, saying, "I'll see before and after photos when I'm 12 years old versus 26, and my eyebrows are filled differently. I have contour on. I'm like, 'How can you compare my 12-year-old face and say I've gotten my jaw shaved and eyelids removed?' I'm like, 'What are we talking about?'"

The Kylie Cosmetics founder also said in the chat that she got into lip contouring because she wanted the "illusion that I had fuller lips," later noting that she did eventually get lip fillers.

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SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher to be honored at Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Awards

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Fresh after securing a new contract for SAG-AFTRA performers following a protracted strike, Fran Drescher will be honored with a human rights award.

The former Nanny star and the union's president, who was hailed for her dogged defense of her fellow actors throughout the strike, will be feted at the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Awards in New York City on the evening of Wednesday, December 6.

The honor is bestowed on "exemplary leaders across government, business, advocacy, and entertainment who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to positive social change."

The night's festivities will be emceed by Alec Baldwin.

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Peacock debuts trailer to Seth MacFarlane's prequel series 'Ted'

Peacock

On Wednesday, Seth MacFarlane personally introduced the trailer to his Peacock prequel series based on his hit Ted movies.

"Telling the story of Ted (MacFarlane) and John's early days," Seth explains, the '90s-set show's sneak peek is set to The Proclaimer's "500 Miles" — which is comically slowed down when the potty-mouthed teddy bear and his 16-year-old thunder buddy John Bennett (Max Burkholder) "get high for the first time."

Burkholder is, of course, playing the younger version of Mark Wahlberg's grown up — in age, at least — character from the films.

The sneak peek also sees Ted dressed as an Ewok at a costume party and John's painful realization he's the last virgin in his high school class.

The series debuts January 11.

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Adam Sandler's animated 'Leo' sets Netflix record

Netflix

Adam Sandler's new animated movie Leo is a hit for Netflix, and it managed to break a record for the streamer to boot.

With 34.6 million views, Leo became both the most-viewed title of the week and the streamer's biggest animated debut hit.

The movie, which co-stars the voice of Old Dads co-writer and director Bill Burr, has Sandler playing the titular school pet lizard to Burr's turtle Squirtle. With the pals having been in the same classroom for decades, the lizard decides he needs to go on one last adventure.

The movie also features the voices of Jason Alexander, Everything Everywhere Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu, Sandler's fellow SNL vets Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner and Rob Schneider, and those of Adam's real-life actress wife, Jackie, and their daughters, Sunny and Sadie.

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'Saturday Night Live' announces Adam Driver and Kate McKinnon for December shows

NBCUniversal

On its official Instagram account, Saturday Night Live has announced that Ferarri's Adam Driver will be hosting for a fourth time, on December 9, with Olivia Rodrigo as the evening's musical guest. It will be the GUTS artist's sophomore appearance.

The sketch show also announced that former cast member and Barbie co-star Kate McKinnon will be returning to Studio 8H to host for the very first time the following week, December 16.

Billie Eilish will be making her third appearance on the sketch show that night; she was the host and musical guest in 2021 and in 2019, was the musical guest for that season's premiere.

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