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Megyn Kelly Apologizes on Her Show for “Black Face” Comments After “Today” Show Attacks Her

Roger Friedman
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Megyn Kelly Apologizes on Her Show for “Black Face” Comments After “Today” Show Attacks Her

NBC’s Megyn Kelly was severely criticized on The Today Show this morning by her colleagues for her “black face” comments on yesterday’s show. Kelly is already loathed by the same colleagues. Her racist statements didn’t help the situation.

This morning Kelly brought on two African American contributors, Roland Martin and Amy Holmes. Kelly stared into the camera, appeared contrite, and issued an apology directly to…someone out there. Who knows? She is clueless, and should be fired.

Holmes tells her: “The point is, I can dress up as Diana Ross for Halloween and you can’t.”

NBC News continues to be tone deaf about Kelly.

The NY 80s Are Dead and So is Banker Thomas Kempner, 91: No Mention in His Obit of “Social X Ray” Wife Nan Kempner

Roger Friedman
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The NY 80s Are Dead and So is Banker Thomas Kempner, 91: No Mention in His Obit of “Social X Ray” Wife Nan Kempner

Thirty years ago in New York, the world was a different place. There was something called Society. Aileen Mehle aka Suzy wrote about it, so did Billy Norwich. Occasionally it seeped into Page Six, and into Liz Smith’s column.

The women who ran New York Society then were Pat Buckley, the wife of writer William F. Buckley, and Nan Kempner, married to banker Thomas Kempner. They jetted around the world on a schedule that included galas, balls, charity functions. They were old Mean Girls. They were thin and wore millions of dollars worth of clothes. Their husbands, rather than become eunuchs, had affairs.

Tom Wolfe dubbed these women “social X rays” in “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” He wrote: “The skinny middle-aged women, the “social X-rays,” wear puffy dresses to disguise their juiceless bodies, while the “Lemon Tarts,” sexy young blondes, hang on the arms of rich financiers.”

And now they are all dead: the husbands, the wives, and Wolfe.

Revealed now is the death of the last of them, Thomas Kempner, 91, a grandson in the extended Loeb banking and realty family. He was Nan’s husband and in the 80s he embarrassed her by cheating with a woman named Iris Sawyer. They had a seven year affair that ended very badly. I wrote about in New York magazine in 1994. When the affair was over, the Kempners weren’t satisfied that Tom had lied to Iris about his intentions. They bankrupted her, too. She died in August 2017 at age 83, penniless destroyed.

So let this be the legacy of Thomas Kempner. That’s the only way I knew of him. But his life is telling. After Nan died he married his secretary. She’s listed as his beloved widow in the paid Legacy obit from his family. There is no mention of Nan Kempner. She once struck fear in the hearts of Upper East Side women. Now she’s been erased.

Iris, who became my friend, will never be erased. She was a warm, smart, gentle lady who had everything taken away from her, as she said, thanks to trusting Tom Kempner. Iris’s lawyer, Jackie Bukowski, and I, sat with Iris during her last days as she lay dying in a not so great nursing home provided by Medicaid. She’d been a filmmaker, a PR whiz, a political adviser, and a very good jewelry designer. But meeting Kempner did her in. She can’t speak now. But she will never be forgotten.

 

On “The Conners,” Roseanne Becomes a Passing Reference, Opening Titles Are Same as Before, Just Without Her

Roger Friedman
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On “The Conners,” Roseanne Becomes a Passing Reference, Opening Titles Are Same as Before, Just Without Her

On “The Conners” second episode, Roseanne– the character– becomes a passing reference. She is gone from the show. She’s also gone from the title sequence, but it’s the same– same music, same set up as the camera pans around the kitchen table. The only difference is that Darlene sits in Roseanne’s seat.

On the second episode, David (Johnny Galecki) returns, with his girlfriend played by Juliette Lewis. ABC made a big deal out of this and nothing about Justin Long making his first appearance as Darlene’s new boyfriend. Odd. Both newcomers have possibilities and they’re strong actors, not from sitcoms.

Overall “The Conners” is a well written, funny show, smarter than “Roseanne” but without any edge. Sara Gilbert has moved up to lead as Darlene, and she’s wry and knowing without being coarse — which Roseanne Conner certainly was. Lacy Goranson is either better or Becky is being written better, I’m not sure which. Laurie Metcalf– what can you say? She’s sublime.

There’s a set up now for Darlene and David’s daughter, 16 year old Harris, to be pregnant. Maybe, maybe not. I really liked the one scene with DJ’s wife, Gina. I hope she gets in there more.

Now, to the World Series. We’ll see in the morning if the Game affected “The Conners” ratings.

UPDATE: Critics Love Rami Malek in Queen BioPic “Bohemian Rhapsody” But Don’t Like the Film Very Much

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Critics Love Rami Malek in Queen BioPic “Bohemian Rhapsody” But Don’t Like the Film Very Much

Update: Well, most people like Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury but very few have endorsed the movie. It’s got a 54 on Rotten Tomatoes, and I suspect it’s going to get worse. I’m told it played very well in its London premiere. Will negative reviews kill it? Or kill Rami’s awards chances? He’s quite good.

 

Review: Scaramouche!

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Bryan Singer’s story of the rock group Queen, and its star, Freddie Mercury, could not be more fun or more moving. If Freddie had to die, at least now he gets a proper send off. The recounting of the group’s rise to fame is a witty, silly, sad rollercoaster ride that never lets you go. And while you’re on it, the music is propulsive.

The main thing is that Rami Malek, looking sometimes like a young Mick Jagger, transforms into Farrokh Bulsara, born in Tanzania and destined to be Freddie Mercury, perfectly. Malek, star of “Mr. Robot,” is absorbed into the role. You never think once that it’s an imitation or trick. Malek’s performance is an immersion, much like Jamie Foxx in “Ray.” Malek has to be on Oscar lists in Best Actor. (That would be Malek, Gosling, Cooper, Mortensen at least.)

And to think, at one time Sacha Baron Cohen might have played Freddie. Others wanted a shot at it, too. But it turns out Malek grasps the bitchiness, the hubris, the camp, the style, the musical sensibility, and the pathos– there’s a lot of pathos. Because Freddie’s quick rise to fame culminates in his contracting AIDS at a time when it was a death sentence. You realize there could have been so much more.

What makes the film work, though, ultimately, is a terrific screenplay from Anthony McCarten. He drums around on the central theme of family. Farrokh knew his family didn’t understand him, so he sought out another one. The other members of Queen– Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon–are not predictable choices. They’re straight, and straight arrows. But they accept Freddie for who he is, and ultimately none of them can live without each other.

You’d have to make a mini series to go through all the songs, what they meant, how they were written. McCarten is smart– he crystallizes them with a breakdown of the 6 minute “Bohemian Rhapsody” which is the template for Queen. In a nice twist, Mike Myers plays the record executive who doesn’t get that “BR” will be a monster hit. It was Myers, years later with “Wayne’s World,” who’d revive interest in the song for a new generation. He’s very good.

McCarten is also smart to give credit to the other bandmembers– Queen wasn’t a one man show. The actors who play them– Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazell0– are just right.  Lee is a standout as Brian May, whose sizzling lead guitar and songwriting kept Queen from becoming too outrageous. The band was Mercury’s ballast.

There are also lovely performances by Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin, the love of Freddie’s life (it was platonic but intense) and Allen Leech as Paul Prenter, Freddie’s lover and manager. (It’s a decided departure for Leech, known to many as Branson on “Downton Abbey.”) Tom Hollander has a smaller role as Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, nicknamed “Miami” Beach, their guiding light.

Not everything is right in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” time line. Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. In the movie, he gets the news in 1985 before Live Aid, which is used as Queen’s comeback and Freddie’s seeming assertion that He. Will. Survive. Oh well. For dramatic purposes, McCarten has taken a lot of license, skipped some minute details. We will forgive him. Freddie will forgive him. It works for the movie, and this isn’t “Lincoln.” This is Queen.

In the end, like Queen was all about Freddie, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is all about Rami Malek. It’s funny. Rami, Brie Larson, and Lakeith Stanfield– all hot names now, Brie with an Oscar– all broke out in a very tiny 2013 film called “Short Term 12.”  “Short Term 12” didn’t even get an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Film (Larson and Malek were nominated, didn’t win.) The film didn’t even have a normal distributor– it was released by Cinedigm, which runs digital productions in movie theaters. Who would-a thunk it? Looking back, Cinedigm’s Chris McGurk was really prescient.

 

Rare Image That May Explain Mick Jagger-L’Wren Scott Relationship Goes on Auction

Roger Friedman
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Rare Image That May Explain Mick Jagger-L’Wren Scott Relationship Goes on Auction

A rare photo of Mick Jagger and his deceased girlfriend L’Wren Scott is up for auction on Paddle 8 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

It’s a picture of Mick exiting the men’s room at the Eden Roc Hotel in Cap d’Antibes while L’Wren was simultaneously entering the ladies room. Jagger doesn’t seem to notice Scott.

The photo was taken by Jean “Johnny” Pigozzi, dilettante snapper of stars, who follows Jagger wherever he goes, particularly in Cannes.

There aren’t other prints available right now. The only other source I found for it was sold out. On Paddle 8, it carries an initial bid of $2,400. For Stones fans it would be priceless. It’s also just a great image that maybe sums up what was going on. Scott would go on to commit suicide by hanging herself from a doorknob in her apartment on March 17, 2014.

Steven Spielberg Stays Mum on “West Side Story” Casting (Camilla Cabello? Selena Gomez?) as He Co-Chairs Arthur Miller Foundation Dinner

Roger Friedman
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Steven Spielberg Stays Mum on “West Side Story” Casting (Camilla Cabello? Selena Gomez?) as He Co-Chairs Arthur Miller Foundation Dinner

Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw aren’t often in New York, but they came in last night to co-chair the Arthur Miller Foundation dinner at City Winery– named after America’s greatest playwright (“Death of a Salesman,” in case you didn’t know).

The Foundation is bringing theater to all of New York’s public schools, a big project that is complementary to programs like Rosie’s Broadway Kids at the Maravel Center on West 45th st. The Arthur Miller Foundation goes into the schools themselves. This year they honored Kelly Gilles, a veteran public school teacher.

They also honored Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner, who wrote Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and is working on his adaptation of “West Side Story.” Also honored were HBO Documentary Films.

Among the performers on stage were new Tony winners from “The Band’s Visit” Katrina Lenk and Ari’el Stachel, as well as Nathan Lane, Edie Falco, Tituss Burgess, Anthony Ramos, Denée Benton, Solea Pfeiffer, Sherie Rene Scott, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Sasha Hutchings.

At least one Spielberg leading man was in the audience– Liam Neeson, star of “Schindler’s List.” But Daniel Day-Lewis, now retired, husband of Rebecca Miller, was AWOL.  “He’s at home,” Rebecca explained. Daniel– come out, see us, we miss you!

I did ask Spielberg about “West Side Story.” I told him I predicted the casting of Ansel Elgort, which surprised him. He said of those public casting calls in different cities, “they were real. They really were.” I told him I also mentioned Selena Gomez and Camilla Cabello for leads. He narrowed his eyes and said, “I certainly know those names. But I can’t tell you anything!”

Uh-huh. We’ll see.

Ratings: Lena Dunham’s “Camping” Sitcom Falls 31% to Just 404K Viewers, “Walking Dead” Settles at 5 Million Level

Roger Friedman
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Ratings: Lena Dunham’s “Camping” Sitcom Falls 31% to Just 404K Viewers, “Walking Dead” Settles at 5 Million Level

It wasn’t a great night on cable for two popular  institutions.

Lena Dunham’s HBO sitcom fell to just 404,000 viewers in its second week. “Camping” also scored a very low .10 in the key demo from 18-49. That means mostly people old– like me– watched it (I didn’t) and maybe they fell asleep.

This is a pretty steep drop from last week’s 589K and .13. Viewers are fleeing.

This could be an explanation for the professional divorce between Dunham and ex partner Jenni Konner. They just shut down their website.

The 400K number is way off from the first three seasons of “Girls,” which was a hit before it leveled off to that number toward the end of six seasons. But when “Girls” first hit, they had twice as many viewers. There’s no buzz on “Camping.” It’s unlikely we’ll see a second season.

Meantime, “The Walking Dead” has leveled off at 5 million viewers. It’s still number 1 on Sunday night, the zombie hour lost 1 million viewers off its premiere two weeks ago and it looks like those are the people staying…for now.  Those 5 million are still two-and-a-half times as many as Alec Baldwin’s viewership on ABC an hour later. And they’re equal to the numbers network shows get. But gone are the days of 10 million people watching “The Walking Dead.”

 

 

Drake’s Made a New Video for His Hit “Mob Ties” Starring Barry Keoghan and Radio Man

Roger Friedman
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Drake’s Made a New Video for His Hit “Mob Ties” Starring Barry Keoghan and Radio Man

Drake’s “Scorpion” album is the gift that keeps on giving.

Already a monster hit with millions sold and streamed, “Scorpion” has spawned a few hit singles including “In My Feelings” and “God’s Plan.”

One of the hits, “Mob Ties” has already gotten 19 million views on YouTube for its lyric video. So why not shoot a real one?

I’m told Drake has done just that, in the last few days, under the Brooklyn Bridge. The video stars Barry Keoghan, the up and coming Irish actor who made a big impression in “Dunkirk” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”

Also starring is Radio Man, aka Craig Castaldo, the beloved autograph hound and fan who movie stars love and who frequents their sets. Radio Man tells me he was paid just $200 to appear in the video with his trademark boombox hanging round his neck on a chain.

“They make it seem like they’re playing Drake’s music through my radio,” Radio Man told me as he waited to meet Steven Spielberg in front of City Winery last night. “I’m a star!” Radio Man has appeared in many movies and is thought to be the inspiration for Robin Williams’ character in “The Fisher King.”

Watch Dolly Parton Sing “Girl in the Movies” A New Song She Wrote for Her Netflix Film “Dumplin'”

Leah Sydney
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Watch Dolly Parton Sing “Girl in the Movies” A New Song She Wrote for Her Netflix Film “Dumplin'”

Dolly Parton crooned her hopeful awards contender, “Girl in the Movies,” her song she wrote for the upcoming “Dumplin,” a Netflix film which stars Jennifer Aniston and the wonderfully talented Aussie actress Danielle Macdonald, so terrific in last years “Patticake$. ”

Dolly Parton has long been known as being tireless, but awards campaigning is not for the weak. She quipped to the adoring crowd of press, HFPA, BFCA voters and more.  She explained,  “They have got my little country ass worn out.  I’m flying back and forth to Atlanta where I’m doing a movie about my songs.  So if my voice is a bit ragged, she then expertly timed her best Dolly smile…. tough!”

Dolly co-wrote six of the soundtracks dozen tracks, which also features Danielle, as well as Miranda Lambert, Alison Krauss, Macy Gray and is produced by songwriter Linda Perry. 

I spoke with Danielle about introducing Dolly. She said: “I was so terrified I wanted to throw up.  I’m still reeling.   I met her once before, I went into a studio with her and recorded a song which was a whole other crazy situation, I wanted to throw up too.  You don’t even know what to say.  How do you introduce her?  Dolly doesn’t need an introduction, she just is.  She is one of a kind.”

 

Here’s Dolly:

 

LA Theater: Ben Levi-Ross Makes A Splash in “Dear Evan Hansen” with A List Audience Cheering Him On

Leah Sydney
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LA Theater: Ben Levi-Ross Makes A Splash in “Dear Evan Hansen” with A List Audience Cheering Him On

Ben Levi Ross literally tore the hearts out of the audience at the recent Ahmanson opening of the hit Tony Award winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen.”  Katy Perry was sitting near me and kept using tissues because she was crying, along with many others in the packed house. Ben Platt gave it all he got in the role of Evan on Broadway, which garnered him a Tony award and multitude of fans.

With this perfect production the Michael Greif directed, book by Steven Levenson and score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, has enthralled LA with its searing portrait of teenage angst in this social media maelstrom we live in. Ben Levi Ross, a 20 year old from Santa Monica CA, will get his own soaring accolades for this superb and soul bearing performance as broken armed Evan.  After being bullied at school with a fractured home life, he sees the chance to be “normal’ with a con he perpetuates at the expense of the suicide of a so called ‘friend.”  The social media part kicks in, and the story has its twists and turns. 

The cast is equally as terrific as Levi Rosss.  Jessica Phillips as his mother Heidi, Maggie McKenna as his love interest Zoe, Marrick Smith as the troubled Connor, Phoebe Koyabe as his classmate Alana, Jared Kleinman playing his wisecracking classmate Jared, and Christiane Noll and Aaron Lazar as Connor’s grieving parents, well they are all wonderful.  The creators were all there and besides Katy, Maya Rudolph, Nia Vardalos, Chrissy Metz, Neil Meron and many more celebs and VIPS attended.  In LA, “Dear Evan Hansen” is a  “Hamilton” hot ticket and deservedly so.  Congrats Ben Levi Ross and company to a sublime theatrical experience. 

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