David Ellison finally clinched his prize Thursday, completing Skydance Mediaβs $8-billion takeover of the historic Paramount. But the tech scion immediately faced questions about President Trumpβs boast that he expects $20 million in free advertising and programming as part of a settlement to end Trumpβs lawsuit over CBS β60 Minutesβ edits. The settlement cleared the…
βChimp Crazyβ star Tonia Haddix on Thursday was sentenced to 46 months in prison. The 55-year-old exotic animal broker was convicted for lying to a federal judge about the death of her chimpanzee Tonka, whom she was hiding in her basement. Haddix, who calls herself the βDolly Parton of chimps,β pleaded guilty to perjury and…
Alfie Wise, who often appeared in films and TV shows with his friend Burt Reynolds, has died. He reportedly died July 22 of natural causes at the Thomas H. Corey VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., his longtime fiancΓ©e Stephanie Bliss told the Hollywood Reporter. He was 82. Wise and Reynolds shared the…
At a recent news conference, President Trump touched on questions about tariffs, Gaza and vaccines before zeroing in on one of his favorite subjects: TV and radio ratings. A journalist, referring to an unconfirmed report that Howard Sternβs SiriusXM radio show was being canceled, handed Trump a sugar-coated softball: βIs the Hate Trump business model…
Eddie Palmieri, the Grammy-winning Nuyorican pianist, bandleader and composer who helped innovate Afro-Caribbean music in the States and transform the New York salsa scene, died on Wednesday. He was 88. According to a post on his official Instagram, Palmieri passed away in his Hackensack, N.J., home. The New York Times confirmed via his youngest daughter,…
The rise of evil is more believable than its defeat. Implausible horror movies ask you to buy that a curse can be broken, a killer bested, nightmares tidied into a neat resolution. But filmmaker Zach Cregger enjoys making a mess. His buzzy breakout, 2022βs βBarbarian,β tangled several narratives in one basement, jolting audiences with a…
βFreakier Fridayβ proves that time is its own magical device. Generations of fans of the body-swap series β from the original 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers and Jodie Fosterβs 1976 Disney adaptation to this 21st century update β have had decades to learn firsthand that everyone becomes their parents, no cursed fortune cookie required. In…
Brandon Blackstock, the talent manager who was married to singer Kelly Clarkson for seven years, has died of an unspecified cancer. He was 48. βIt is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,β his family confirmed Thursday in a statement to The Times. βBrandon bravely battled cancer for…
There are some aspects of comedy you just canβt teach. But for comedian Chinedu Unaka, plenty was learned while giving lessons in a classroom. As a kid growing up in South L.A., it wasnβt planned that he would find his way to comedy by stepping up to the chalkboard to teach mild to moderate special…
The one and only pre-millennium building that LACMA director Michael Govan elected to save as part of his campus revamp was the museumβs Japanese Pavilion, designed by the brilliant, undeniably quirky architect Bruce Goff. The edifice is like nothing else near it, or in all of L.A.: a series of rough stone towers and fiberglass…