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White House Correspondents Dinner Comes Back Strong, with Two Star Comedians: Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj

Roger Friedman
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White House Correspondents Dinner Comes Back Strong, with Two Star Comedians: Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj

The White House Correspondents Dinner is coming back, big time!

After three years of laying low, the WHCA has announced two big comedians to take on Donald Trump: Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj. This pair should bring back the celebrities and the buzz that that the dinner has been lacking since Donald Trump was elected president.

The question now is whether Trump will be man enough to accept his invitation to attend the dinner, set for April 25th. My guess would be: no.

But this is a smart move by the WHCA. When Barack Obama was president, the dinner was the hot ticket of the year. But with Trump’s election, and unending attacks on the press, the dinner has become a no-fly zone. Celebrity involvement has been minimal and all the fun has disappeared. Many parties were cancelled or furloughed until this administration was gone.

“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America.  I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy,” said Jonathan Karl, Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News and president of the WHCA.  “We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year.”

The WHCA will be presenting two new awards at the 2020 dinner: The Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability and the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists.  These are in addition to the longstanding Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and Merriman Smith Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure.

This year’s dinner will also include the inaugural presentation of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, administered by the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications to recognize outstanding statehouse reporting.

Roseanne Barr In Exile, Doubles Down on Trump Support Post-Acquittal: “I think the person he’s going to arrest first is President Obama”

Roger Friedman
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Roseanne Barr In Exile, Doubles Down on Trump Support Post-Acquittal: “I think the person he’s going to arrest first is President Obama”

Did you miss Roseanne Barr? I know I did. I guess because “The Conners” had such a great ratings week without her, Roseanne gave an interview some guy with a Skype and a mic yesterday. This is what she’s been reduced to after having over 10 million viewers just two years ago. The YouTube show was called “Comfy Sunday” and Roseanne looked comfy and unkempt speaking from her Hawaii home. She smoked during the opening part, but finally went inside sans cigarette because she says her family doesn’t allow it inside.

Roseanne covers a lot of ground in the interview, very free wheeling. She doubles and triples down on her support for Donald Trump. She says, “I think the person he’s going to arrest first is President Obama. “Obama will beg for Kenyan citizenship before this is over.”

Yes, she’s vile, crazy and unapologetic. But unless a house falls on her, Roseanne is not going away. She claims she signed away her rights to “The Conners” because she was assured it would not be renewed. As it turns out, “The Conners” — after a shaky start– is doing just fine. It should last five seasons at least. “What they did to me is unspeakble…They [ABC] hated Trump so bad they had to kill me [the character of Roseanne].”

PS I don’t know the names of these interviewers, but if you do, send them along to showbiz411@gmail.com and I’ll put them in.

 

Don’t Get Her Wrong: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Writes Letter to Trump Supporting Julian Assange

Roger Friedman
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Don’t Get Her Wrong: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Writes Letter to Trump Supporting Julian Assange

The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde is never shy about speaking out. That’s why we love her. She wrote a long Tweet today to Donald Trump supporting Julian Assange and protesting his extradition. Chrissie also says she allowed Rush Limbaugh to use her song “My City Was Gone” because her father loved listening to him. I always wondered why she didn’t stop him.

She writes “The other day when you gave that award to Rush Limbaugh, my father would have been so delighted. He loved listening to Rush, which is why I allowed my song, ‘My City Was Gone’, to be used on his radio show.
My father and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye. We argued a lot..
but isn’t that the American way? The right to disagree without having your head chopped off?Soon, I will be participating in a protest in London against the extradition of #JulianAssange (@wikileaks). I know my father would be mortified, but I feel strongly enough to do what I believe is the right thing; to protest further punishment of a man who sought to defend Freedom, albeit in a way you rightly disagree with. I know Mr. Assange broke the law (as i have done defending the treatment of animals) but I believe [ he has been duly punished and should now be set free.
Please consider my plea.
Yours truly,
Chrissie Hynde of @ThePretendersHQ”

The New “West Side Story” is a Convoluted Mess if You Don’t Know Better, “60 Minutes” and CBS’s Bill Whitaker Did an Accurate Report

Roger Friedman
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The New “West Side Story” is a Convoluted Mess if You Don’t Know Better, “60 Minutes” and CBS’s Bill Whitaker Did an Accurate Report

Tonight, CBS’s Bill Whitaker did an excellent report on the mess that is Ivo von Hove’s “West Side Story.” The musical revival opens this Thursday.

Whitaker spent four months behind the scenes at the show, where the lead actor, Isaac Powell was injured, forcing the show to postpone its opening by two weeks. Actor Ben Cook, who I saw at the second preview performance, dislocated his shoulder and left the show completely. Another actor, Amar Ramasar, who is the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit from his time at the New York City ballet, is the subject of protests. Producer Scott Rudin told Whitaker he doesn’t care.

Whitaker didn’t mention that that Rudin has joined forces with two Hollywood powerhouses, David Geffen and Barry Diller, to produce this show. The only living member of the triumvirate that created “West Side Story” in 1957, Stephen Sondheim, 85 and ailing from a fall, has been paying close attention to what’s going on. I can only imagine the money he was paid to allow the cutting of his song, “I Feel Pretty,” and the changing of Jerome Robbin’s choreography.

So, yes, I’ve seen “West Side Story.” I held my tongue because the show had a very long preview period anyway– two months, not including the extra two weeks– and I’d reported that Sergio Trujillo had come in to help cutting edge choreographer Anna deKeersmaecker try to make her work less abrasive to Robbins fans.

In his piece, Whitaker mentioned “two choreographers” came in to help DeKeersmaeker, without giving names. Trujillo is a Tony award winner. From the looks of Whitaker’s piece, he hasn’t had too much influence.

Whitaker said in his piece there is so “snapping” in the dances, and there’s no balcony– meaning a fire escape– for the singing of “Somewhere.” This is true. There are no sets, just a black brick unadorned stage. Cut into the back wall is a set that we can’t really see. It’s used by the videographers who go back there and transmit the action to the Drive in like back wall of the theater, now a massive projection. When I saw the show, sometimes no one was on stage, it was all taking place on video. It was annoying and depressing. von Hove, who used a lot of video projection for “Network,” has gone whole hog with it here.

The videos are more distressing than the changes in the choreography. The dances now are just underwhelming. They aren’t bad. They just lack Robbins’ passion. There is no snapping, Whitaker is correct. If you’re seeing “West Side Story” for the first time ever, you won’t know the difference. Later, if you see the movie, you’ll smack your forehead and wonder what the heck these people were thinking. But back to the videos: they are constant, and moving. I felt like I needed a Dramamine. Maybe that’s been changed. Also, they were supposed to be street shots of Hell’s Kitchen. They looked like Long Island City.

Powell was excellent in the show I saw, so were Shireen Pimentel, Ben Cook, Yesenia Ayala and Ramasar. Powell is not performing matinees from what I’ve been told. Cook is gone. Are they as good as the cast I saw a decade ago when co-author Arthur Laurents was still alive? No. Did I miss Karen Olivo as Anita? A lot. And the Robbins dancing? Yes. I remember that cast sailing through the air, they were wondrous. But you don’t miss what you don’t know. I thought the biggest mistake, aside from no ‘balcony,” was the Officer Krupke number now inflected with violence. What a shame.

How will “West Side Story” be received on Thursday? I’ll bet the New York Times loves it, for many reasons. They want to seem hip and cool. They will be hard pressed to go against Rudin, Diller, and Geffen. Plus, the show has been selling out since it previews began. Most audiences won’t know the difference. The good news is, “West Side Story” will survive this episode. We are the same age. We’ve survived up to this point. Our snap is still there, even if you don’t see it.

(UPDATED) Billionaire Peter Nygard, Now Accused of Severe Sexual Misconduct, Used to Underwrite Hollywood’s Annual Night of 100 Stars

Roger Friedman
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(UPDATED) Billionaire Peter Nygard, Now Accused of Severe Sexual Misconduct, Used to Underwrite Hollywood’s Annual Night of 100 Stars

Peter Nygard is in trouble. Described as a fashion executive, Nygard has been accused of rape, sodomy and very depraved fetishes in a class action suit filed this week in Manhattan Federal Court. The charges make Jeffrey Epstein look like a newcomer in the field.

But there’s a Hollywood connection. For the better part of 25 years, Nygard underwrote and sponsored the annual Night of 100 Stars on Oscar night. The party, first held at the Beverly Hills Hotel and in later years at the Beverly Hilton, ran concurrently with the Academy Awards. Created by beloved Hollywood personality Norby Walters, Night of 100 Stars was “The Party for Everyone Else,” celebrities– a many from eons of TV – who had nothing to do with the Oscars.

It was at the Night of 100 Stars that you could meet Barbara Eden or Lassie or Lou Ferrigno, and so on. Aging ingenues, retired stars, people you thought had died, and so on were the specialty of the house. When the party was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the 2000s, it would end after the Best Picture was announced. Since it was in the ballroom downstairs, and Miramax hosted its post-Oscar party in the Polo Lounge, you’d arrive with Oscar winners from the show while bejeweled, formally attired guests of Walters and Nygard were exiting. It was a crazy juxtaposition of Hollywood then and now.

The last Night of 100 Stars was held in 2017 before Walters retired. Nygard, famous for living around the world and in Lyford Cay, Bahamas, hasn’t been much since then. But the party gave him access to a version of Hollywood, and a glamour he couldn’t access through the actual Oscars.

According to the NY Post: “The almost-billionaire lured at least 10 women to the manse under the guise of cash payments and lucrative modeling opportunities and said they were attending “pamper parties” where they were plied with booze, drugs and violently assaulted, the complaint, filed by the DiCello, Levitt, Gutzler and the Haba Law Firm, alleges.”

(Nygard is described in the law suit as being into Coprophilia, or pleasure derived from excrement. There are so many crude jokes about Hollywood people being crapped on, it made me wonder if Nygard took it literally. Now, that was a mistake.)

The Facebook page for the now defunct Night of 100 Stars reads: Every year Norby and Richard Walters host the ‘Night of 100 Stars” with Billionaire Clothier Peter Nygard as the main event sponsor to bring you the best Oscar Viewing Event in Los Angeles. You will meet Iconic celebrities from Hollywood and from around the world. You’ll meet and greet past Oscar winners, producers, directors, and actors…There is no show in town that allows such close access to Hollywood’s elite as “Night of 100 Stars’. Night of 100 Stars Viewing Gala Red Carpet Event is second to none when it comes to the number of Academy members that attend. Guests will gather at the luxurious Beverly Hilton Hotel where they will enjoy cocktails at the open bar and be able to mix and mingle with the stars. When the Oscar awards viewing begins quests will enjoy a 4-course dinner as only Hilton knows how to prepare. After dinner and viewing the Oscars, guests have the opportunity to meet and greet with their favorite stars.”

The lawsuit’s allegations include those of a then-15-year-old girl who was brought to Nygard’s luxurious Lyford Cay estate where the fashion executive tried to anally sodomize her, successfully raped her and then asked her to defecate in his mouth before offering her money, according to the Post.

“This horrific episode is just one of many like it detailed in the complaint against Nygard and his business entities by 10 brave women,” a press release about the lawsuit states. “The class action lawsuit accuses Nygard of sex trafficking and rape — all financed and facilitated by his family of corporations and their employees.”

PS I have no doubt neither Walters nor any of the guests at Night of 100 Stars had any idea of any of this. As with Epstein, the alleged deeds were carried out far away. Nygard was just a colorful character with a lot of money who wanted to meet “stars.” Reached for a quote, Lassie had no comment.

Nygard’s rep asks me to please add this: This lawsuit was expected. 

It is exactly what Peter Nygard predicted would happen when he filed his RICO lawsuit in New York last year against land baron and hedge fund billionaire, Louis Bacon. This is just the latest in a 10+ year string of attempts to try to destroy the reputation of a man through false statements. It is no different than the conspiracy exposed in 2010 through various legal actions filed by Peter Nygard, where it was shown that women were bought off to make such false claims. The RICO Complaint exposes a long-running malicious and vicious conspiracy dating back to at least as early as 2010 to pay off and coerce women to fabricate and manufacture sexual stories in an effort to destroy Nygard and his business. The allegations are completely false, without foundation and are vigorously denied. Peter Nygard looks forward to fully exposing this scam and, once and for all, clearing his name.

 

A. E. Hotchner, Biographer of Ernest Hemingway, the Man Who Told Paul Newman to Put Salad Dressing in Bottles, Dead at 102

Roger Friedman
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A. E. Hotchner, Biographer of Ernest Hemingway, the Man Who Told Paul Newman to Put Salad Dressing in Bottles, Dead at 102

It’s the end of an era. A. E. Hotchner has died at 102. Let me tell you, he was quite amazing, the inventor of his own legend, a myth maker, and much more. He was a terrific writer and a great entrepreneur, not to mention an impresario and raconteur.

Hotch, as we knew him at Elaine’s, was most famous for his friendship with Ernest Hemingway. His biography of Hemingway, called “Papa Hemingway,” published in 1966 put him on the map. The book solidified his place at Elaine’s, the great watering hole for writers on the Upper East Side. He held court there until Elaine’s death in 2010. He wrote a coffee table called “Everyone Comes to Elaine’s” and even attempted a musical about Elaine starring Lainie Kazan that didn’t make it past workshop stage. It was in Elaine’s that I met him in the late 80s.

Hotch’s other biographies included those of Doris Day, Sophia Loren, and Paul Newman. It was the friendship with Newman which actually eclipsed the one with Hemingway. It was Hotchner who convinced Newman to bottle his salad dressing and spaghetti sauce, and turn the whole thing into a charity that funded their not for profit Hole in the Wall Gang camps. Hotch lived in Westport, same as Newman, and they became local royalty. Hotch and Newman were friends til Paul’s death, and Hotch was always connected to Newman’s Own.

Hotch’s career really was as writer of teleplays in the late 50s and early 60s for the golden age of television. It was in addition to writing celebrity profiles and articles for myriad magazines. A lot of the teleplays were based on Hemingway’s stories and novels, like “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Snows of Kiliminjaro.”

A story we each knew, improbably, bonded us: Around 1960, while living in Westport, Hotch met the father of a friend I made years later, in my 20s. Hotch was so enamored of this guy, a charmer with a lot of great stories and inventions. He lost some money and some face when he peddled a story on this guy to the Saturday Evening Post only to learn from fact checking department that nothing was real. Hotch was red faced; he’d invested a lot of money in nothing.

But the story became apocryphal, and we often dissected it for fun. He never did turn it into fiction. But his novel, “The Man Who Lived at the Ritz,” showed his flair for drama. It was a bestseller, and became a hit mini-series.  No one knew how to tell a story like Hotch, which is why Elaine loved him. He could spin a yarn. I’m sure he has joined her big table in the sky, where Elaine, Liz Smith, Elaine Stritch, Peter Maas, Terry Southern and so many of the greats are holding court. And Hotch is introducing them to Hemingway and Newman, of course, as they pull up chairs.

Box Office UPDATED: Will Ferrell-Julia Louis Dreyfus “Downhill” Disaster with Just $4.6 Mil Opening 3 Day Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office UPDATED: Will Ferrell-Julia Louis Dreyfus “Downhill” Disaster with Just $4.6 Mil Opening 3 Day Weekend

SUNDAY: It was worse than expected. Three day weekend was just $4.6 mil. Holiday weekend: $5.1 mil. I don’t know why, never saw it. Wasn’t invited. I guess I know why now. Talented people were misled, I guess. This will have to be removed from theaters quickly.

SATURDAY: Julia Louis Dreyfus must be wondering, what the heck is going on? She’s literally the Queen of Comedy TV after incredible successes with “Seinfeld” and “Veep.” But her post-“Veep” movie, “Downhill,” has skied right off the mountain. On Friday, the movie– with very mixed reviews– made just $2.1 million. A $5.5 million weekend is ahead of it, if luck intervenes. It’s all, shall we say, downhill from here.

For Searchlight, formerly Fox Searchlight, “Downhill” is another box office non starter after a tough season. Even though “Jojo Rabbit” got a lot of attention, the numbers are hard: $28.7 million. There wasn’t wide appeal for a Hitler- Nazi satire. For some reason, Fox Searchlight bought the Terrence Malick movie, “A Hidden Life,” even though it had no commercial prospects. Box office stands at $1.7 million. It was a hidden audience. “Lucy in the Sky”– well, forget it, $320,000. And so on.

The last big hits for Fox Searchlight were the Oscar-producing duo of “Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards,” which arrived at the end of 2017. Even they didn’t go crazy with dollars. “Shape” made $63.8 million and “Billboards” did around $54 mil. But those numbers seem like a dream now.  “Downhill,” despite Searchlight’s new owner, Disney ABC, plugging it on the Oscars, is a nightmare.

Still, Searchlight has two big movies coming. “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is coming on May 8th. It’s from the “Veep” creator, Armando Iannucci, and it’s hilarious. Dev Patel and the whole cast are completely zany, the movie should be a hit if it’s marketed properly. And Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” looks great from its trailer. Fingers crossed they will each go up hill, but not be uphill battles. Searchlight means too much to us.

Pop Fizz: Justin Bieber’s “Changes” Album Debut at Number 1, But the Buzz Isn’t There With Singles or Streaming

Roger Friedman
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Pop Fizz: Justin Bieber’s “Changes” Album Debut at Number 1, But the Buzz Isn’t There With Singles or Streaming

Justin Bieber’s new album, “Changes,” debuted at number 1 right after midnight on Friday on iTunes. That’s as expected. Almost five years since the last album, and so much money poured into the promotion between listening parties and the multiple part “documentary” on iTunes called “Seasons.” (I watched the most recent episode, it looked like “Spinal Tap.”)

Bieber had already released one terrible single called “Yummy” and then a better one with Quavo called “Intentions.” They are respectively at number 48 and number 3 on the single charts. The album release hasn’t moved them. Billie Eilish’s James Bond song, “No Time to Die,” went straight to number 1 Thursday night and is lodged there now for the time being.

There is an underlying apathy about Bieber. You can see it on the Apple Music streaming chart. If the album were really a hit, all its tracks would be at the top of that chart. That’s what happens when a real hit album arrives. The songs are being streamed, on Apple Music and Spotify. But in this case, that’s not happening. Nothing is happening. One track, featuring Post Malone– another star of the moment– is doing well. But the “Changes” songs aren’t motivating much activity.

And why is that? I’ll tell you why: they aren’t good songs. They are droning and monotonous. Bieber has a limited musical and lyrical vocabulary. He has an 8th grade intellect. His interests are confined to himself and “relationships.” By the age of 25, Stevie Wonder had released “Songs in the Key of Life.” He combined jazz, big band, R&B, Latin sounds. The lyrics addressed birth and death and love in an adult way. Bieber has been all over the world and seen nothing of it. If he has anxiety it should be about the fact that he doesn’t read the newspaper.

So stay tuned. “Changes” are coming. And they’re not going to be happy ones. No one who works with Bieber is going to tell him this. Those people have made all the money they can from him. He doesn’t get that. They will encourage  him not to change, so by the time he’s 30 he will be totally moribund. If he’s really interested in music and not pants without a belt, tattoos, and race cars, he’d better delve into educating himself and spread his wings before they cease functioning.

 

Lynn Cohen, 86, A Great Actress Whose Name You Didn’t Know, Famous for “Sex and the City,” “Hunger Games: Catching Fire””

Roger Friedman
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Lynn Cohen, 86, A Great Actress Whose Name You Didn’t Know, Famous for “Sex and the City,” “Hunger Games: Catching Fire””

Lynn Cohen died yesterday at age 86 according to friends on social media. She was not famous in the movie star sense and won no awards, but she was beloved and well known in the acting world. You’d know her face if you saw her. She played Magda, Miranda’s nanny on “Sex and the City” for years and was well known from “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” I was always excited to see her and talk to her at screenings.

Cohen got her start in movies and TV late in life. In 1993 she appeared as Mrs. House in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery.” She’s been murdered, or so Woody and Diane Keaton think, by Mr. House, played by Jerry Adler. From there Lynn Cohen’s career takes off like a rocket. She has more than 20 acting credits listed just in the last two years on the imdb.

On TV she became famous for playing Miranda’s– Cynthia Nixon’s– nanny on “Sex and the City.” On the imdb it says she was in 13 episodes– it seems like more. She was also featured in both of the movies. She also appeared in 12 episodes of “Law and Order,” and was Philip Seymour Hoffman’s mother in “Synedoche,  New York.” She had memorable movie roles also in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” and in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

Before and during her run in films and TV, Lynn also had a long theater career. She made her Broadway debut in 1990’s “Orpheus Descending,” and returned as part of the cast of “Ivanov” in 1998. Her long list of stage credits also includes off-Broadway and regional theater appearances in shows such as “The Traveling Lady” at Cherry Lane Theatre.

She was lovely, and will be sorely missed. Condolences to her husband, Ronald Cohen.

 

Justin Bieber Drops First New Album in 4 Years, Called “Changes” But Not Really Reflecting Any

Roger Friedman
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Justin Bieber Drops First New Album in 4 Years, Called “Changes” But Not Really Reflecting Any

He’s still full of tattoos. The main changes JUstin Bieber has gone through are getting married, and dealing with anxiety. He’s got video series on YouTube in which he keeps whining about mental health issues. But he’s not very introspective and he’s too bright. On the latest episode of “Seasons,” which sounds like the name of Hallmark card store, Bieber says of manager, Scooter Braun, “even if everything falls apart, he’ll always be there in some capacity.” (I cracked up at that one. I’m sure he will.)

The new album is called “Changes.” The first single, “Yummy,” is quite awful. The second single, with Quavo, was a bit better. But basically for a person who’s been all over the world, Bieber has life experience. He is a perfectly packaged piece of Kraft cheese substitute stored in a Ziploc bag. He is, to use an old word, thick. Someone should set him loose in the wild and see if he can make it back in one piece. He also looks, I’m sorry, like he never washes. So we’ve got that, too.

Stevie Wonder was 25 years old in 1976 when he released “Songs in the Key of Life.” Bieber is 25 now, and it’s clear something similar won’t be happening. (Stevie was also 6 years into his musical awakening and emancipation.) So whatever epiphany Bieber fans might have thought was coming is not. This is what it is.

The lyrics…what can I say? One song reportedly has a line “Let’s get it on expeditiously.” Basically, all the songs sound the same. They are sung the same, to computerized music. You could almost call it lounge music, very laid back. Ambien, not ambient. There is no musicality involved. Or particular musicianship. The lyrics are all about Justin, how he feels, what he says about the feelings. He has no view beyond his pre-fab McMansion life. I liked one song, “Come Around Me.” And the singer Kehlani makes for a nice break amid Bieber’s droning. But much of the production feels like it was lifted off a Babyface album circa 1992. But at least “Come Around Me” has a melody and a hook. That’s more than you can say, expeditiously, about the rest of it.

Oy, Justin. Smokey Robinson’s gonna smack you for “Second Emotion.” Are you kidding?

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