Thursday, October 10, 2024
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Kanye West Buys Conspiracy Social Media App Parler from Right Wing Mercer Family: Will Music Biz Look the Other Way?

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Kanye West has left the building.

The right wing rapper who this week declared himself an anti-Semite has exited mainstream culture for the world of QAnon and conspiracies. He’s bought Parler, a website for nutjobs who share his crazy beliefs, after being censored and suspended by Twitter and Instagram.

Parler is owned now by Rebekah Mercer of the right wing Mercer family, which has funded a lot of the conspiracy messaging that created January 6th and off the wall politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene.

More interestingly, Parler is run by a man named George Farmer who is the husband of conspiracy theorist and hatemonger Candace Owens. In recent days West, who calls himself Ye, has been quoting Owens in his anti-Semitic rants. It seems a little like Farmer and Owens have played Kanye, but he gets what he deserves. Despite his claimed $2 billion worth Kanye has lost of his business lately including deals with the Gap, Adidas, and his banking with JP Morgan.

The move puts Kanye on a level with Donald Trump, who has his own right wing app, Truth Social. In the last week, a former employee of Truth Social has made startling claims about the site’s business practices.

For Kanye, the purchase of Parler is notable in that Alex Jones, of “Info Wars,” was just ordered by a jury to pay nearly a billion dollars to the families of Sandy Hook children for claiming their murders never happened. Just as Jones is being adjudicated against for spreading lies, Kanye has been claiming that George Floyd, who died at the hands (and knee) of Minneapolis police, actually died from fentanyl. Floyd’s family is considering filing a lawsuit against West.

The next questions regarding Kanye will involve his music distributor, Universal Music Group, and entertainment attorneys who are representing him in these business deals. Will they all pretend this isn’t happening? Or will they have the guts to cut ties with Kanye for good?

Kanye Kancelled: Watch Ye Double Down on Anti-Semitism, Claim George Floyd Died from Fentanyl

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Kanye West must be cancelled now if he hasn’t already been.

Kanye has turned into a dangerous joke. He’s spouting anti-Semitism anywhere he can. He also says this in interview that George Floyd died from fentanyl, not from a knee on his neck for nine minutes. Kanye also suggests that his late friend, designer Virgil Abloh, died of something other than cancer. Did Louis Vuitton kill Abloh?

It’s enough already for this blowhard. I’m only republishing the video so people can see what he’s doing, and that’s being allowed to do it. His contacts with the Gap and Adidas are over. He’s committing financial suicide. But Kanye’s going far beyond just his business. His assertion that George Floyd died any other way that police violence should ensure that the Black community shuns him, as well.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pvjLUW_HQ54

Is “SNL” Having Trouble Getting Hosts? Next Show Will Again Feature Double Duty Musical Guest (Jack Harlow)

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Not sure what’s going on at “Saturday Night Live.” They appear to be having trouble booking hosts.

Last night the host and musical guest was Megan Thee Stallion. Double duty hosts are rare and not always a ratings grabber. At least when “SNL” has two different stars coming in, they’re pulling from a variety of areas for an audience. If the host is young and hip, then at least the musical act is broader, or vice versa.

So it was a shock to learn during the show that the next live installment, on October 29th, would be hosted by musical guest Jack Harlow. Huh? Harlow, a white rapper, seems to be a favorite in Lorne Michaels’ office. He recently co-hosted Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Why? Not made clear. He seems like a nice guy, but he’s not exactly a superstar. Many are scratching heads wondering exactly what he does. I guess we’ll find out on October 29th.

But aren’t there a plethora of TV and movie stars standing on line to host the show? What happened to the campaign for Carol Burnett? Why hasn’t Whoopi Goldberg ever hosted? Why aren’t we seeing Cate Blanchett, Movie Star of the Moment?

Meantime, what we do know is a lot of money is being put into 24 year old Harlow, who comes from a Louisville horse racing family, to build him as a star. He’s just filmed the remake of “White Men Can’t Jump,” had a solo hit single, with “First Class,” and a featured hit with Lil Nas X. He’s everywhere suddenly. The fix, as they used to say, is in.

As for “SNL,” we won’t know until late Monday or early Tuesday if the Megan Thee Stallion plan worked with viewers. I watched it for an hour, happy to have closed captions thanks to the amount of mumbling. And the show did not use the Herschel Walker sheriff’s badge episode as a sketch, which was too bad.

Box Office: “Halloween Ends” with a Whimper at $41 Million, Way Below $50 Mil Projections

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It was a scary “Halloween” indeed.

The much hyped “Halloween Ends” somehow blew it: coming in at $41 million for the weekend, well below the projected $50 mil.

The Jamie Lee Curtis scarefest was also available on NBCUniversal’s Peacock, so people may have stayed home to see it. But no really watches Peacock, so it’s unlikely that caused a huge problem.

No, the movie was poorly received by fans who complained all weekend it wasn’t the movie they thought, or expected. The candy corn was bad, or something.

Still, no one complains about $41 million over four days. Almost all the recently released “serious” movies would love to have that after two or three weeks. And “Halloween Ends” doesn’t cost much. But it’s also far less than “Halloween Kills,” which came out last year and made $49.4 million on its opening weekend.

Julia Roberts-George Clooney Romantic Comedy Is a Hit with $68 Mil in Bank Before Opening

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When “Ticket to Paradise” opens this coming Friday, it comes with a nice dowry.

The Julia Roberts-George Clooney romantic comedy already has $68 million in its bank, every penny of it in different currencies.

“Ticket” has now played successfully in almost every foreign territory including the UK and Australia, where it’s made around $8 million in each country.

The Ol Parker special hasn’t gotten great reviews — just 69% on Rotten Tomatoes — but that won’t matter. Universal Pictures was very wise to open it everywhere first, using Roberts and Clooney’s star power to draw audiences. And even with middling reviews, the first weekend in the US should be pretty good. Just seeing those two calming, glowing Hollywood faces is sort of a relief.

If “Ticket to Paradise” does well enough — a $20 million opening weekend — I say, ask Clooney and Roberts to host the Oscars. We need a throwback to Hollywood glamour. And god forbid if anyone tries to jump on that stage!

(Watch) Live from New York: Herschel Walker Hands “SNL” Opening Sketch, on A Platter

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How can this not be the opening skit on “SNL” this weekend? The sheriff’s badge — “it’s real! — was only a fraction of the hilariously stupid things Herschel Walker presented at tonight’s Georgia Senate debate. Anyone who would vote for this man needs a mental wellness check. Seriously. Walker is a total moron. It’s a disgrace that he’s representing the GOP or anyone.

(Watch) Bruce Springsteen’s Haunting Tribute to Soul Legends Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson with Commodores’ “Nightshift” from New Album

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Bruce Springsteen dropped a second single today from his “Only the Strong Survive” album. It’s a moving cover of the Commdores’ 1984 hit, “Nightshift,” which memorialized the deaths that year of Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson.

This was the first record by the Commodores after Lionel Richie left the group, and it was big. “Nightshift” was written by the group’s lead singer, Walter Orange, with songwriting team Dennis Lambert and Franne Golde.

Bruce has the spirit in this one, he looks mesmerized. So looking forward to this album November 11th.

Box Office: “Halloween Ends” But the Money Begins as Final Chapter Scores Huge Previews

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Boo!

Well, Universal put in the time, and now it’s paid off. “Halloween Ends,” the final chapter in the 40 year Halloween franchise, hit a home run last night.

Preview screenings brought in $5.4 million. Or as we like to say, the movie scared up a fright! (Those cliches won’t be used again.)

Jamie Lee Curtis has been everywhere doing everything all at once. Let’s hope she has a nice piece of the ‘back end.’ (No, this isn’t a cannibal movie.) “Halloween Ends” can add on a nice $25 mil this weekend.

Gory hallelujah!

Poor Ringo: Famed Beatle Tests Positive Again for COVID, Whole Tour Cancelled

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Ringo thought he was negative the other day and his tour was back on. Alas, he says now he’s positive again, and the whole tour is cancelled.

I’m so glad I saw him when I did a few weeks ago. Ringo is a legend, and a hero. Wishing him all the best getting well. This does sound like he got Paxlovid, everyone gets COVID again, it seems, after taking the drug.

But you know what? He’ll get buy with a little help from his friends.

Donald Trump’s Bad Week: Jan 6th Committee Subpoena, SCOTUS Rules Against Him, Depo Ordered in E Jean Carroll Defamation Suit

It may not be time yet to open the Champagne, but we’re making progress. Donald Trump is having a very, very bad week.

Today the January 6th committee voted unanimously to subpoena him. They want him right in front of them. He won’t come, but it’s a big gesture and they know it.

Also today, the Supreme Court ruled against his request to allow a special master to review classified government documents that were seized from his Florida residence during an FBI raid in August. Ouch!

Yesterday, a judge ruled that Trump must submit to a deposition in the defamation case filed against him by journalist E. Jean Carroll. She says he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid 90s. The deposition will be next week. Trump won’t answer anything, but the humiliation is worth it I hope his young son and grandchildren get the message.

So we don’t have him in jail yet. But all this will make for quite a time on the campaign trail. How can his followers not see how all this is adding up?