Monday, July 31, 2023

Saucy Santana Gets Into His Bag, Becoming thread beauty's First-Ever Celebrity Ambassador


Makeup and Saucy Santana go together like PB&J. I've always admired how flawless his makeup looks. If you were to look up the definition of "beat face," I'm sure you'd see his face right next to it. Unsurprisingly, he has become the first celebrity partner with thread beauty — as a longtime werking makeup artist, "beauty ambassador" just fits.

"When I sat down with the thread beauty team to discuss candidates for our first-ever celebrity partnership, we made a list. Who could represent the community we've created at thread, especially our Gen-Z beauty lovers?" Melissa Butler, CEO of thread beauty, says to Hypebae Beauty. "Who could communicate the freedom, authenticity and unapologetic love for self that we so loyally champion? The team and I unanimously agreed that no one else was more unapologetically themselves at all times than Saucy Santana - Santana is THAT! He truly represents the idea of community and embodies the true meaning behind thread - being who you want, showing up however you want and realizing that even in our individuality, we're all somehow still connected by a thread — pun intended."

Santana spoke exclusively to the Hypebae Beauty team about his first-ever beauty brand partnership, what it feels like to be a Black, femme gay man in the entertainment industry and what's next on his journey.

Keep reading on for more.

Saucy Santana Thread Beauty Brand Ambassador LGBTQIA Melissa Butler Makeup Foundation

Santana, why was the partnership with thread beauty the right move for you? What do you believe sets the brand apart?

I'm excited to be partnering with thread beauty because it is a black-owned, female-founded brand that's relatable and affordable. I think it's a great thing that thread beauty caters to a wider range of deeper melanin tones and it is all $8 USD.

With some brands, once you get to a certain deep tone, they don't even offer many shades, and I know so many pretty dark chocolate people that weren't able to find foundation shades, or they were very expensive.

The fact that thread beauty offers 26 shades and everything is $8 USD is groundbreaking. It allows brown girls, boys and they's to be glam at an affordable price. I've never heard of a makeup brand that's a true ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, so for this to be such an integral part of the brand's core values definitely sets it apart.

Story continues

Saucy Santana Thread Beauty Brand Ambassador LGBTQIA Melissa Butler Makeup Foundation

How did you gain your confidence to always be unapologetically yourself inside and out and who encouraged you the most to show up as your authentic self?

To be honest, I always had a "F**k It" attitude. I feel like living out loud — it's so much more freeing than living in a cage, so I didn't really need a boost or an influence of confidence. I was just being my true self.

I feel like I was just being who I am, and that confidence exuded on its own.

As a former MUA, what products from thread beauty would you say every pro and aspiring MUA would need in their beauty kit?

Definitely, the multi-use "face it" complexion sticks and "cover it" complexion fluids. I love that thread beauty has over 26 shades, including deep, deep melanin tones for a flawless, chocolate complexion.

What are your thoughts on the representation of Black gay men within the beauty industry?

I feel like anything that represents us as a culture; then especially being black and feminine is great. It's hard, especially in the spaces that I am in, such as Hip-Hop and beauty, being black, particularly dark skin and feminine, so I really appreciate the recognition and us just being seen and visible in a positive light.

I find that representation is increasing. I was getting my nails done the other day, and I was smiling to myself, watching a boy who looked like me, with a beard, sit down and get his tips and his acrylic nails put on. I was so happy and so proud that more people were living their lives how they wanted and just being themselves.

Our representation might not be plentiful, but we're growing and that's having an impact. I think people are seeing me and others and it's making people feel more comfortable doing what they want to do. From when I blew up in 2019 to now, people are more receptive, expanding their minds and seeing us as normal people.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

3 Stocks That Stand to Get Crushed by Hollywood Strikes


InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

On May 2, the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) due to labor disputes primarily regarding streaming service residuals and uses of artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, to replace writers.

Then on July 14, SAG-AFTRA Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike stating similar issues with (AMPTP) to the Writers Guild of America. As soon as the strike was announced, the actors for the movie Oppenheimer left the London premiere. This is truly a historical event in that the simultaneous Strike between WGA and SAG-AFTRA hasn't happened since 1960.

But for investors, it's important to note that these two simultaneous strikes are massively affecting the entertainment industry. With a resolution not looking likely anytime soon, here are three companies that are going to see profound impacts on their businesses.

Disney (DIS) Disney logo on a store front. DIS stock.

Source: chrisdorney / Shutterstock

Disney (NYSE:DIS) is a global entertainment company that operates Disney Parks, such as Disneyland Resorts in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and Disney Resorts in China. Of course, this mammoth of a company has its own media and entertainment companies including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Studios, Hulu, ESPN, Freeform, ABC, Fox, and FX.

The recent Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes have hit the company pretty hard given that their media distribution segment was the the most profitable for the company before their onset. On July 13, the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, was interviewed by CNBC regarding the state of Disney's business and the Hollywood Strikes. He mentioned how the writers strike and actors, who began striking the day after this interview, would damage the industry.

According to their most recent earning reports, Disney reported revenue for their media entertainment and distribution segment of $21.8 billion and $7.8 billion from Disney Parks and Experiences. This indicates Disney derives 64% of their total revenue exclusively from media distribution. It's worth noting that the company share price has fallen 14% since the writer's strike began back in early May. 

Paramount Global (PARA) Paramount Plus mobile app icon is seen on an iPhone representing PARA stock.

Source: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is a media entertainment company that engages in TV and film media production as well as a direct-to-consumer business that provides streaming services. On their first quarter earnings call that took place on May 4, the company's CEO Bob Bakish addressed the writer's strike and how they plan to move forward. Since the studio has moved production offshore and is well-equipped with a list of new releases and an existing library, he spoke confidently, "Consumers really won't notice anything for a while."  

The company's share price fell by 28% directly following its first-quarter earnings reports due to unremarkable revenue growth, a significant net loss of $1.1 billion, and a dividend cut of 79% to $.05 per share compared to the previous year.

Over the last year, the stock has fallen by 37%. Given that Paramount Global releases its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 7, investors will be keeping an eye on the company to see how the Hollywood strikes will affect their earnings.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) The logo of the new Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) company on smartphone screen.

Source: Jimmy Tudeschi / Shutterstock.com

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) is a media company that produces theatrical release films and provides direct-to-consumer streaming services under the names such as MAX and Discovery Plus, as well as network television programs from CNN, Discovery, TBS, TLC, TNT, and Food Network channels.

Warner Bros. seems to be performing better than the other two stocks on this list due to the fact the company's share price has increased by 34% year-to-date. In their most recent earnings report for the first quarter, the company stated a 70% increase in total revenue and a net loss just above $1 billion.

Warner Bros., just like the other companies mentioned, will feel the effect of the Hollywood strikes, but to what extent may be difficult to tell at the moment due to the fact that Warner Bros. has a portion of their business not directly exposed to the strikes.

As of this writing, Noah Bolton did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Noah has about a year of freelance writing experience. He's worked with Investopedia dealing withtopics such as the stock market and financial news.

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New season of “Secret Celebrity Renovation”


New season of "Secret Celebrity Renovation" - CBS Los Angeles

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The host of "Secret Celebrity Renovation" Nischelle Turner joins us to talk about the third season of the show set to premiere on Friday with a special two-hour episode at 8 p.m. on CBS.

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Flutter Entertainment plc and Fox Corporation Announce Close of FOX Bet


LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flutter Entertainment plc ("Flutter") (London Stock Exchange/Euronext Dublin: FLTR) and Fox Corporation ("FOX") (Nasdaq: FOX, FOXA), announce today the decision to close sports betting platform FOX Bet. A phased closure of FOX Bet's operations will take place between July 31 and August 31, 2023.

Flutter operated FOX Bet as part of The Stars Group US ("TSG US") along with the US facing operations of PokerStars. Flutter will retain ownership of PokerStars, in addition to US sports betting market leader FanDuel. FOX will retain future use of the FOX and FOX Bet brands, including FOX Bet Super 6, and intends to launch an all-new FOX Super 6 game later this summer.

FOX will continue to hold its option to acquire 18.6% of FanDuel and in addition holds a 2.5% stake in Flutter.

Notes to Editors

About FOX Bet: FOX Bet, a sports betting platform available in Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was launched in 2019 by FOX and TSG. TSG was acquired and operated by Flutter as of May 2020.

About Fox Corporation: Fox Corporation produces and distributes compelling news, sports, and entertainment content through its primary iconic domestic brands, including Fox News Media, Fox Sports, Fox Entertainment, Fox Television Stations and Tubi Media Group. These brands hold cultural significance with consumers and commercial importance for distributors and advertisers. The breadth and depth of our footprint allows us to deliver content that engages and informs audiences, develop deeper consumer relationships, and create more compelling product offerings. FOX maintains an impressive track record of news, sports, and entertainment industry success that shapes our strategy to capitalize on existing strengths and invest in new initiatives. For more information about Fox Corporation, please visit www.FoxCorporation.com.

About Flutter Entertainment plc: Changing the Game – Flutter is a global betting and gaming group with an ambition to drive positive and sustainable change in our industry. Flutter's brand portfolio includes America's number one sportsbook FanDuel, along with PokerStars, Sky Betting and Gaming, Paddy Power, Betfair, Tombola, Sportsbet, Sisal, Adjarabet and Junglee. Through these world class brands, we excite and entertain customers, while leading the way in responsible play. Our strength is the Flutter Edge, optimising the advantages of our global scale to drive business performance and positive impact for our customers, colleagues and communities. For more information about Flutter Entertainment plc, its brands and reporting divisions, please visit www.flutter.com.

Fox Corp Logo (PRNewsfoto/Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.)

 

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flutter-entertainment-plc-and-fox-corporation-announce-close-of-fox-bet-301888595.html

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How to watch ABC’s ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ new episode for free July 30


ABC's "Celebrity Family Feud" continues its ninth season this Sunday, July 30 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

For those without cable who want to watch the new episode, they can do so for free through either FuboTV and DirecTV. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users.

You can also watch the series the next day on Hulu, which offers a free first month when you sign up, followed by payments as low as $7.99 per month thereafter.

"Comic, actor, author and Emmy Award-winning talk-show host Steve Harvey pits celebrities against each other in a prime-time version of one of TV's most popular and enduring game shows, 'Family Feud," FuboTV said in a description of the series.

"Fan-favorite celebrities and members of their families compete against other stars and their relatives to win money for charity as they try to come up with the most popular responses to survey-style questions that were posed to 100 people," it added. "The lively competition is filmed in front of an audience in Los Angeles."

How can I watch "Celebrity Family Feud″ on ABC for free without cable?

The new episode is available to watch through either FuboTV or DirecTV. Both offer free trials to new users. You can also watch the series the next day on Hulu, which offers a free first month when you sign up, followed by payments as low as $7.99 per month thereafter.

What is FuboTV?

FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels.

What is DirecTV?

The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more tha n 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

‘The Expanse’ Returns, As A Telltale Video Game, And A Path Forward For Hollywood Too


(Game image courtesy Telltale Games)

Among the cavalcade of video games arriving this summer came one last week from a familiar franchise, and a familiar publisher, whose story-telling approach also suggests an opportunity for strike-shuttered Hollywood media companies trying to figure out a future less dependent on legacy film and TV.

The game is based on The Expanse, a science-fiction book and short-story series by William S.A. Corey whose first of many installments, Leviathan Wakes, debuted in 2011.

The franchise was built on a deeply imagined future Solar System of fiercely competing Earth, Mars and Outer Belt contingents, breakaway rebel groups, an alien hyperspace gate and a bunch of other stuff built around numerous complex characters, political machinations, and more.

The books soon spawned a TV show, produced by Alcon ALC , that ran on NBCUniversal’s SyFy network for three seasons, building an ardent fan base whose adherents included Amazon AMZN founder Jeff Bezos. When SyFy cancelled the show in 2018, Alcon successfully shopped the show to Amazon Prime Video, where three more seasons ran before the show concluded last year.

Now comes The Expanse: A Telltale Series, a name that gives away the publisher, the much loved, formerly defunct Telltale Games.

Telltale was a storied game studio known for a specific kind of point-and-click game experience that was more about exploration and narrative than explosive, fast-twitch, wall-to-wall action. Before closing suddenly in 2018, the studio made several dozen titles, many based on Hollywood franchises such as The Walking Dead, Law & Order, Back to the Future, Game of Thrones, and CSI.

CEO Jamie Ottilie bought and revived Telltale in 2019 along with co-founder (and Chief Revenue Officer) Brian Waddle, intending to revive the company’s approach to story-driven games that provide an immersive adventure without requiring a juggler’s eye-hand coordination to succeed.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series is built around a prequel, by several years, of the TV series’ events. It explores the earlier career of Belter ship captain Camina Drummer, played by actress Cara Gee in the TV series. Gee, who also voices her character in the game, was distinctive for her tough-as-nails persona and the clipped patois of the asteroid-mining Belters who live millions of miles from Earth in permanent low-G.

In a somewhat unusual approach, Telltale will indeed release four more episodes in the series, one dropping every two weeks through late September. A bonus episode, Archangel, was announced at the recent San Diego Comic-Con and will be available later this fall.

That’s a lot. At the same time, the game covers just a tiny slice of The Expanse’s, uh, expansive creative canvas, creators said.

“The story we’re telling is big for these characters, but it’s not galactic,” said motion-capture producer Dan Ruescher of game studio Deck Nine, which developed the game for Telltale. “The stakes are very personal.”

But even small-stakes stories set in a big narrative universe can be compelling for fans who want to more from a beloved narrative universe, Ottilie told me earlier this summer. Just as importantly, telling that tale didn’t require Telltale to lavish spending on high-end technical tools or require the audience to meet extreme system specifications.

Rather, Ottilie said, many fans just want to live in a story. They don’t need to be hard-core gamers. They just have to be comfortable enough on computers to click their way through an engaging story where their decisions have long-term consequences on the outcome.

In one early example, the player must decide whether Drummer will save the leg of a problematic crew member trapped in a doorway or lose a load of potentially valuable salvaged cargo, which is what her boss wants her to do. The player’s decision will affect the crew member’s future loyalty and much else as the story unfolds.

“It’s just a spider web of complexity,” said Deck Nine lead programmer Tom Marnell. “There are characters that are hard to keep alive. Choices matter.”

Because Drummer’s back story is a relatively little-known corner of The Expanse, Deck Nine and Telltale were able to “paint our own picture” while remaining true to the extensive lore built up over the many books, TV shows, graphic novels and other material from the franchise, Marnell said.

So what lessons can bigger media companies â€" their film and TV productions shut down amid twin actor and writer strikes for what may be months to come â€" extract from Telltale’s project?

The big one: all the studios need to more aggressively explore story-telling beyond films and TV. Netflix NFLX has already begun that process with a two-year-old video game division that’s released a number of mobile games based on its big franchises such as Stranger Things that are free to subscribers.

Netflix executives have termed their game efforts as a way to both learn the industry and build more long-term subscriber engagement in their franchises and the larger Netflix brand. It’s a smart move to figure out the insides of the $180 billion game industry, especially given how much time younger audiences spend there compared to film and TV.

Netflix isn’t the only Hollywood company in the game space. Disney’s LucasArts division has been making Star Wars-based games â€" including great ones such as Battlefront and Knights of the Old Republic â€" for decades.

Disney divisions such as Marvel and other media companies routinely license out some of their intellectual property for games, and sometimes turn games into movies and TV shows, some of which have done very well (others, less so).

This year’s most successful theatrical release was based on an iconic 35-year-old video game franchise. NBCUniversal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide after its spring release. And The Last of Us, built around an award-winning PlayStation adventure game, grabbed 24 Emmy nominations after debuting on HBO/Max this spring. More game-based adaptations are coming fast.

Sony is sending Gran Turismo, a feature built on its most successful game franchise, to theaters on Aug. 11. This weekend, NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service debuted the series Twisted Metal, based on a hugely successful car-combat game series (think Death Race 2000 meets It) that first launched in 1995.

Whatever the quality of those new shows, they’ll both be laboring without benefit of their stars doing promotions, interviews, or appearances on red carpets or talk shows. Surely Gran Turismo would be faster off the starting line if stars Orlando Bloom, David Harbour and Djimon Honsou (plus Ginger Spice!) could promote it, but they can’t under union strike prohibitions.

Which brings us back to creating more games and game-like experiences that aren’t built on old platforms and ways to telling stories.

The studios have long regarded games as mostly an afterthought handled by the consumer products division, a nice licensing check that spiffs up the bottom line. That’s perhaps one reason why those projects aren’t under the same contracts that shut down Hollywood, and also why many adaptations are just terrible.

But now studios need to figure out where they’re going to tell stories in the future, because everything is changing, possibly very quickly.

Disney CEO Bob Iger put it most baldly and publicly earlier this month when he told CNBC that the linear TV business is “broken.” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher basically agreed with Iger’s diagnosis in announcing the actor union’s strike a few hours later, ca lling for a new kind of contract to account for the new ways stories are distributed and experienced, beginning with streaming video.

In the same interview, Iger also hung out the For Sale sign for ABC and other linear networks, while asking for partners to bear the cost of running cable sports giant ESPN.

All of the owners of legacy cable and broadcast operations are pondering their next steps as cord-cutting and streaming wallop ad revenues and fees from cable systems. TV’s long-time cash cows are running dry, a long-term decline that will worsen dramatically if the strikes lurch into the fall season.

The movie business is also struggling, despite the opening 10 days of success for Barbie and Oppenheimer, which together have grossed nearly $1.8 billion so far, according to BoxOfficeMojo.

But the rest of theatrical exhibition is still trailing the pretty good ol’ pre-pandemic days of 2015 to 2019, when annual domestic box office routinely topped $11 billion. Theater chains that survived the pandemic are now facing an ugly fall with no stars to promote their movies and numerous big movies already shifted into next year.

The big media companies are facing fundamental changes to businesses they’ve run for decades. Games such as Telltale’s take on The Expanse suggest a direction they need to pursue more vigorously. Fans want to spend more time in stories and universes they love. Hollywood hasn’t done enough to get better at those new approaches.

This will become even more pressing once the Metaverse, however it may eventually be defined, is fully here. But for now, Hollywood companies need to start learning to tell the stories they tell in immersive new ways that fans will pay to enjoy for years to come. Now is a good time get going on the future.

Kylie Verzosa is first Asian celebrity to have AI model


Kylie Verzosa. Image from Instagram

Kylie Verzosa. Image from Instagram

Kylie Verzosa. Image from Instagram

MANILA, Philippines — Beauty queen-turned-actress Kylie Verzosa has now joined the growing number of famous personalities who has turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to help keep up with the demands of their celebrity status.

"I partnered up with some developers in San Francisco to create an AI model version of myself," the 2016 Miss International titleholder said when she spoke in the panel titled "The future of technology and how it affects youth empowerment, legacy brands, tourism, and social media" at the Sigma Asia Summit held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on July 21.

"But it's going to take some time because I'm the first girl in Asia that's going to be able to do it, so it could still use a bit of improvement," Verzosa shared, and said she tapped AI to help her connect with her fans more efficiently.

It was not how she initially planned it out to be, though. As an advocate for mental health, Verzosa thought of using AI to help Filipinos with their mental health concerns. "But with recent issues, I knew that it was quite a struggle for an AI model to talk about mental health because it was such a touchy subject, especially for the youth here in the Philippines," she said.

It was her father who introduced AI to her. And like so many other people, she met it with a lot of skepticism. "He told me to do some research on the AI industry, and quickly enough ChatGPT exploded onto the scene. ChatGPT was able to do so many different things, write literature, write captions. I even use it personally for my captions," Verzosa shared.

She said she is receiving "a lot" of messages every day, "and I want to be able to reply to them because I see how happy it makes them." She compared the experience with her own situation as a confessed "fangirl" of Hollywood celebrities. "If I could just speak to, let's say Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn or Cate Blanchett, and ask them for advice on anything, let's say my next role or next film, that would be amazing," Verzosa explained.

Kylie Verzosa speaks at a panel at the Sigma Asia 2023 summit./ARMIN P. ADINA

Kylie Verzosa speaks at a panel at the Sigma Asia 2023 summit./ARMIN P. ADINA

Kylie Verzosa speaks at a panel at the Sigma Asia 2023 summit./ARMIN P. ADINA

When INQUIRER.net asked if she has already engaged with her own AI model, Verzosa replied, "so I got the beta version a few weeks ago, we could still do a few improvements on it, we could still deepen its Tagalog, its pitch was a little bit higher. It spoke a little bit faster than I did. The Tagalog wasn't so Tagalog enough the way I wanted it to."

And she knew exactly how she wanted it to sound like, she said. "Before entering this model, they had to ask me a list of 20 to 30 questions, let's say how you handle challenges, or what made you last cry, or what made you laugh. And I didn't answer them so perfectly. I wanted it to be as human as possible, because I'm like that, I'm not perfect, you know?" she shared.

"So, maybe it depends per AI model, but I don't want mine to be perfect. So I think it also depends on each model and each AI, but I don't think AI should be a perfect being or any model should be perfect," Verzosa continued.

She also said she has been talking to the developers for the past month. "So I think the next version is going to come in the next week or so, but it's starting to look good," Verzosa said. EDV

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13 Spooky Stories About Celebrity Ghosts That Gave Me Chills Reading


After Dean bought the car, he showed it to his friend, fellow actor Sir Alec Guinness, who wrote in his diary, "The sports car looked sinister to me...exhausted, hungry, feeling a little ill-tempered in spite of Dean's kindness. I heard myself saying in a voice I could hardly recognize as my own, 'Please never get in it. If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.'" After Dean's fatal crash in that car, the engine and transmission went into two separate racing vehicles. The vehicle with the engine crashed, and the driver walked away, but the vehicle with the transmission hit a tree, killing the driver. The car was then taken on a tour with the National Safety Council, where it mysteriously burst into flames in storage. The car survived with only two melted tires. The other two were sold and simultaneously burst on the road leading to a driver running off the road. The car is also said to have broken the hip of a bystander while on display, fall and kill the driver transporting the car, and disappear from a sealed boxcar in 1960. The car hasn't been seen since.

I'm a Celebrity's Louise Minchin on biggest challenge from new project


I'm a Celebrity's Louise Minchin on new project David M. Benett - Getty Images

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! star Louise Minchin has revealed the biggest challenge she faced when working on her new project.

Appearing on The One Show this week to talk about her new book Fearless: Adventures with Extraordinary Women, Minchin told hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp about the many challenges she faced along the way.

In the book, Minchin takes on a number of sports challenges with "incredible women", which included freediving under ice and swimming to San Francisco's Alcatraz island.

Related: BBC Breakfast's Louise Minchin announces new career move after quitting show

According to Minchin, one of the scariest and most extreme challenges she faced was a cave diving expedition she undertook with explorer Christine Grosart as her guide.

"It even makes me feel nervous thinking about it n ow," she said as a picture of her and Grosart flashed on the screen. "This is just after I'd got out of the caving, I'd been four hours in the dark with this amazing woman Christine Grosart who's a paramedic and also a cave explorer and there is not enough money in the world to pay me to go back in."

Speaking about the frightening experience, Minchin said she thought the pair would be going into a beautiful and well-lit cave, but the expedition was actually a dark and claustrophobic nightmare.

Getty Images

Related: The One Show's Alex Jones has innuendo blunder with Strictly star

"I thought we'd sort of go into a beautiful cave and it would be well lit and we'd wander around and there'd be stalagmites and stalactites," said Minchin. "We literally arrived, there was a hole in the ground, it was tiny, I had to squeeze through and keep on squeezing through for the next four hours. And for me, I'm really claustrophobic and I found it really, really hard."

Minchin's book is available to purchase in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook now.

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Sunday, July 30, 2023

Hollywood strikes having ripple effect on British entertainment industry


Hollywood strikes having ripple effect on British entertainment industry - CBS San Francisco

Watch CBS News

The United Kingdom has seen many productions shut down as a result of the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes. Many film and television workers in Britain say that the best outcome for the industry globally is for SAG- AFTRA and the WGA to get the terms that they want. Haley Ott reports.

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Dex Millions shares what inspired his yearly celebrity basketball game


Dex Millions shares what inspired his yearly celebrity basketball game

Dex Millions shares what inspired his yearly celebrity basketball game

Dexter "Dex Millions" Dale (Photo credit: Rubye Lane)

Dexter "Dex Millions" Dale is CEO of StarLink Entertainment. His passion for the music industry helped the careers of many Chicago artists, specifically the dancer D Low. For the past few years Dale has shown the same type of passion in helping to address the violence in the streets of Chicago.

Dale established the "Stop the Violence Celebrity Basketball Game" where many of Chicago's most notable celebrities come out to compete for bragging rights while raising awareness and shining the spotlight on solutions to the violence in Chicago. Rolling out spoke with Dale about the celebrity basketball game and what people can expect this year.

What inspired the Celebrity Basketball Game?

This was inspired by my love for basketball and a desire to want to put an end to the senseless gun violence that has affected Chicago. There are far too many people who are losing loved ones to gun violence. We as a society must come together and recognize that the only way things will change is if we change it.

Talk about why it's important to have the "Stop the Violence Celebrity  Basketball Game. 

The Stop the Violence Celebrity Basketball Game is important because it is one way for us to come together through the love of basketball. The game is just the vehicle that helps us deliver the message to everyone about the importance of stopping the violence.

Dex Millions shares what inspired his yearly celebrity basketball game

Dex Millions shares what inspired his yearly celebrity basketball game

Stop The Violence Celebrity Basketball Game (Photo source: instagram @dexmillions)

What are your thoughts on the violence that is happening in Chicago?

Anytime you hear about someone losing their life to gun violence it makes you angry. No one should have to live in constant fear of being a victim of gun violence. I am hopeful that with our new mayor that we will be able to change the narrative about Chicago and really show the nation what this world class city has to offer.

What was the response like when you reached out to your celebrity friends ? 

My friends have always been champions of my work. They've supported me throughout my entire career. Whenever I need anything they are right there supporting and encouraging me. So when I reached out and asked them to play basketball for a good cause, it was an immediate "yes."

What can people expect at the game?

Attendees can expect a riveting game with lots of fun and excitement. There will be several vendors, plenty of food options and lots of young people. There will be over a thousand people all gathered together in a safe space seeing some of their favorite influencers, hip-hop artists and athletes on the court for a good cause.

How can people do more to help ?

People can partner with us as we are going to be giving out school supplies, book bags and so much more. We are looking to collaborate with corporations who see the value in this event and want to help us level up.

The Stop The Violence Celebrity basketball Game will take place on Aug. 20, 2023 3 p.m. at 2641 W Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60612

Dr. Dre, Gwen Stefani, Def Leppard, And More Were Announced As The 2024 Hollywood Walk Of Fame Recording Inductees


The 2024 Hollywood Walk Of Fame inductees list has been revealed, and Dr. Dre, Gwen Stefani, and Def Leppard are amongst the 31-person list of honorees. Last year, Stefani delivered her speech as she joined her husband, country music star Blake Stelton, during the ceremony to reveal his placement among the legends.

Dre himself has attended several ceremonies in the past when his friends were being acknowledged by the organizing committee, including the ones for 50 Cent (2020), Ice Cube (2017), and Snoop Dogg (2018). Now, all eyes are on him as the producer will bring out a host of special guests when his ceremony is held.

Brandy Norwood, Charles Fox, Darius Rucker, Glen Ballard, Sammy Hagar, and Toni Braxton round out the rest of the new inductees. However, those aren't the only musicians to be honored next year. The late Otis Redding will also receive his posthumous star. Instead of being recognized for his impactful music career, the soul legend is being honored for his contributions to live theater. The same goes for Sheryl Lee Ralph, whose career started in musical theatre. Ralph is being acknowledged in the television category.

Although the official date of the ceremony has not been revealed, radio personality Ellen K shared her excitement for the big day as an official selection committee member. "The committee did an amazing job choosing these very talented people," said Ellen. "We can't wait to see each honoree's reaction as they realize that they are becoming a part of Hollywood's history with the unveiling of their star on the world's most famous walkway."

The Real Deal: Jobs in entertainment industry looking bright


Jul 28, 2023, 10:52amUpdated 2d ago

By: News 12 Staff

Feeling luck? Then roll the dice on landing a job in the entertainment industry at places like Mohegan Sun.

Caleb Silver, of Investopedia, says Connecticut entertainment employment is strong and beating out tri-state neighbors and places around the country.

At Mohegan Sun, it's all about food and fun.

"We have so much to offer," says Kimberly Noto, vice president of marketing at Mohegan Sun. "We have two beautiful hotel towers. We have over 70 restaurants, bars and shops."

New this summer is a new outdoor space that features a sun patio bar. And to keep bringing guests back, Mohegan is going all in on adding to the venue and making sure there is a packed line up for the arena.

Tesla is coming to the casino also.

"We are rolling out a Tesla electric vehicle showroom - the first of its kind in Connecticut," says Noto.

Noto says the casino is a second home to its 5,000 employees.

"We have a very large property to support and wonderful team members who do that," says Noto.

Hollywood’s Slo-Mo Self-Sabotage


“Black Mirror,” the anthology series best known for dreaming up dystopian uses for near-future technology, took aim at its own network in the timeliest episode of its most recent season. Settling on her couch after a difficult stretch at work, a woman named Joan (Annie Murphy) logs on to Streamberry, a barely veiled stand-in for Netflix, and stumbles upon a TV show based on the events of her day: “Joan Is Awful,” starring Salma Hayek. The program proceeds to ruin her life, but it’s nothing personal; Streamberry, which runs on cutting-edge algorithms, made “Joan Is Awful” with no human input. Not a single writer or actor is involved in the production: the scripts are churned out by artificial intelligence, and the performances are elaborate deepfakes. The “Black Mirror” episode, which débuted in th e midst of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, struck an immediate chordâ€"unsurprisingly so, given that concerns about A.I. have become a flash point in the union’s negotiations with the studios. One member of the Screen Actors Guild, which has joined the writers on the picket line, called the episode “a documentary of the future.” But Joan’s travails left me wondering whether Streamberry was too rosy a portrait of where Hollywood is headed. Even in this bleakly automated vision of entertainment as Hell, there’s still some semblance of risk and innovation.

To survey the film and television industry today is to witness multiple existential crises. Many of them point to a larger trend: of Hollywood divesting from its own future, making dodgy decisions in the short term that whittle down its chances of long-term survival. Corporations are no strangers to fiscal myopia, but the ways in which the studios are currently squeezing out profitsâ€"nickel-and-diming much of their labor force to the edge of financial precarity while branding their output with the hallmarks of creative bankruptcyâ€"indicate a shocking new carelessness. Signs of this slow suicide are all around: the narrowing pipelines for rising talent, the overreliance on nostalgia projects, and a general negligence in cultivating enthusiasm for its products. Writers and actors have walked out to demand fairer wages and a more equitable system, but they’ve also argued, quite persuasively, that they’re the ones trying to insure the industry’s sustainability. Meanwhile, studio executivesâ€"themselves subject to C-suite musical chairsâ€"seem disinterested in steering Hollywood away from the iceberg. This is perhaps because the landscape is shifting (and facets of it are shrinking) so rapidly that they themselves have little idea of what the future of Hollywood might look like.

The apocalyptic vibes are of fairly recent vintage. The 2007-08 W.G.A. strike, for example, didn’t, and couldn’t, anticipate the ways in which the Internet, and then the tech giants, would upend the television industry. Even back then, the writers took issue with the compensation structure for Web-hosted content, but the union was mostly bargaining with companies that were firmly rooted in Hollywood and its traditions. The streaming wars, of which writers and actors rightly see themselves as collateral damage, have introduced players like Apple and Amazon, for whom content is only a tiny portion of their broader business strategiesâ€"a value-add for iPhone users or Prime subscribers. Together with Netflix, the move-fast, break-things, maybe-fix-later crowd has brought with it the Silicon Valley playbook of burning up investor or reserve cash now in the hopes of profit tomorrow, and in the process has forced some of Hollywood’s most storied studios , most notably Disney and Warner Bros., into billions in debt to stay competitive.

Some of the first Cassandras to draw the public’s attention to this slo-mo self-sabotage were the striking writers. W.G.A. members have expressed alarm not only that their profession has become devalued and unstable through low pay but also that the paths that allowed newcomers to eventually become showrunners, which have existed for the past half century, have been eroded by the studios. On the podcast “The Town,” Mike Schur, the creator of “The Good Place” and the co-creator of “Parks and Recreation” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” identified some of the skills beyond writing scriptsâ€"such as editing, sound mixing, and color correctionâ€"that he learned about from his mentor Greg Daniels on his first episodic writing job, on “The Office.” Schur’s apprenticeship took place not just in the writers’ room but on setâ€"a location from which TV writers are increasingly being shut out. Schur notes that approximately eleven members of the “The Office” â€™s writing staff went on to become first-time showrunners, including Mindy Kaling and B. J. Novak, in an example of the system working as it should. Today’s mini rooms make it so that fewer writers are hired and that their stint on a show is often over by the time the cameras start rolling, rendering it more challenging for neophytes to build the kind of résumé that enables them to advance in the industry. The dismantling of this ladder is all the more counterintuitive given that the scarcity of experienced showrunners during the content boom h as been a known problem for years.

The movies may be in grimmer shape. The industry’s pursuit of I.P. at the expense of originality has all but trained younger audiences not to expect novelty or surprise at the multiplex, assuming that they’re going to the theatre at all. Hollywood has never been known for overestimating the audience’s intelligence, but it’s hard not to wonder how it is supposed to be inculcating a love of cinema in childrenâ€"that is, future moviegoersâ€"when the splashiest films on offer are explicitly buckets of regurgitation. Early summer gave us the live-action “Little Mermaid,” the latest in Disney’s cannibalization of its archives. The animated film was one of the first movies that I remember seeing, and it really did feel magical. Even then, Ariel’s coming of age was criticized in some cir cles for making its heroine a boy-crazy shopaholic, but the fact that millennials continue to lovingly mock it years later attests to its endurance as a classic. The 1989 film swelled with passion and longing, transported us to unseen worlds, and left us with indelible characters and glorious earworms. It convinced girls that it was O.K. to want more (even if it was more thingamabobs). There’s a measure of progress, to be sure, in recasting Ariel as a Black mermaid played by Halle Bailey, but the mixed reviews all but confirm that it’s a dead-eyed knockoff of the original . It’s true that early impressions can forge a childhood attachment to almost anything, but the way that kids grow to love movies as adults is by offering them, well, great films and relevant themes, instead of a parade of listless remakes with stories that were meant to speak to a generation three decades ago.

Perhaps we should have seen the breakdown of the star-making machine as a preview of things to come. Screen celebrity is nearly as old as the movie industry itself, but the device seems to have stopped minting household names some time in the past twenty years. The movie stars of yesteryear are still the movie stars of today. A study by the National Research Group, a market-research firm that specializes in entertainment, life style, and technology, found that, of the twenty actors most likely to pull audiences to a theatre, only one was under the age of forty (Chris Hemsworth), and the average age of that group was fifty-eight. (The sexagenarian Tom Cruise topped the list.) In lieu of finding and launching the next Denzel Washington or Julia Roberts, studios have poured millions into digitally de-aging graying A-lis ters. Hollywood stardom is becoming something unthinkable at any other era of its existence: a gerontocracy.

I.P. is again to blame. Franchises killed the movie star. Spider-Man can be played by Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield or Tom Holland, Batman by Michael Keaton or Christian Bale or Ben Affleck or Robert Pattinson or Michael Keaton again. An industry famous for worshipping youth is more clueless than ever about what to do with its young people. (What’s “a Tom Holland movie”? Who can say?) And, for those emerging actors who used to see background work as an entry point to a notoriously gate-kept industry, it turns out the studios might prefer to digitally scan their likeness instead, possibly locking them out of opportunities for more days on set.

After “Top Gun: Maverick” broke box-office records, sequels may have been seen as the key to luring audiences back to theatres, which have been languishing since the pandemic. But this summer’s long-in-the-tooth franchisesâ€"“Mission: Impossible,” “Transformers,” “Indiana Jones,” and “The Fast and the Furious”â€"have performed just satisfactorily, if not disappointingly. “Barbie,” meanwhile, saw the director Greta Gerwig infuse the half-century-old blond blank slate with her own idiosyncratic anxieties to produce a Zeitgeist-capturing film with an unmistakable authorial imprimatur. But Hollywood’s ignoring the obvious takeaway, which is that viewers appreciate novelty. Instead, Mattel has announced that it will follow up “Barbie” by raiding its toy closet for more I.P., and has put dozens of projects based on its products into development.

Trends in television are no less dispiriting, with networks soliciting “visual Muzak,” as some in the industry have put it. The TV writer Lila Byock told my colleague Michael Schulman this spring that the streamers are most eager for “second-screen content”: shows to have on in the background while the viewer presumably scrolls through their phone. In a recent interview, the actor and director Justine Bateman said that network notes now request that shows be less engaging so that distracted audiences won’t lose track of the p lot and turn them off.

Even the strike’s prolongation suggests an inane shortsightedness. Film and television are already losing the competition for eyeballs to video games and the Internet. The Bloomberg journalist Lucas Shaw has reported that “people spend more time (and money) on video games than they do on movies, and they spend more time watching YouTube than any other TV network.” The lack of new scripted programming on the broadcast networks as a result of the strikes is forecast to hasten their coming obsolescence. The momentum from the successes of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in bringing audiences back to theatres has been squandered by the pushing back of many of this year’s releases to 2024. But, the longer the studios stretch out the strike, the more likely it is that consumers will form new leisure habits on TikTok or Animal Crossing.

The disruption that Netflix and the streaming wars have unleashed on the entertainment industry in just the past decade has been so unpredictable that it seems foolish to predict only doom, although that’s certainly where the arrows are pointing. But even Hollywood’s boosters have to admit that, since the streaming era, movies and television feel less special, labor conditions (for writers, actors, and below-the-line crew members) have plummeted, and the industry’s turbulent mergers and layoffs call into question which legendary institutions will still stand in another ten or twenty years. I won’t purport to know how to fix Hollywood, but the answer doesn’t seem to lie in highlighting the industry’s creative torpor and timidity while driving away the people with the institutional knowledge to transform an idea into hours of spectacle, comfort, provocation, or maybe even art made by hundreds or thousands of people. Perhaps Hollywood isn’t willing to bet on its future, but it can at least stop from actively working against it. â™¦

Book review (fiction): Debut 'Do Tell' drags you into Old Hollywood's underbelly in a noir-like novel


Edie O’Dare was there that night, the night that changed the lives of a dozen names in Hollywood â€" the night Sophie Melrose, newcomer at FWM studios, was sexually assaulted by Freddy Clarke, famous for playing dashing heroes. And for all that Edie wants to be hardened and unattached, Sophie grabs ahold of her heart from the first interaction they have together.

Lindsay Lynch’s debut novel “Do Tell” goes far beyond that fateful night in 1939 and the court case that follows â€" which is loosely based on the real case brought by Peggy Satterlee and Betty Hansen against actor Errol Flynn â€" and creates a noir-like tale of Hollywood’s underbelly.

Edie’s acting contract is almost up, and Sophie’s court case propels her into a new career as a gossip columnist. She suddenly finds herself in competition with Poppy, whom she used to feed gossip to from the FWM sets, premieres and parties because Edie has learned how to blend in with a crowd. She’s learned the trade, how to barter information and pull strings, when to make up details and even full stories. But some stories may be beyond her control.

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When the trial ends, the fallout is quickly overshadowed by a world war, casting a shadow over Hollywood to both ludicrous and devastating effect.

Despite the flowing dresses and gilded everything, the glamor of Old Hollywood is met with a distinctly noir feel that Edie brings as she sleuths in the proverbial shadows, using dirty tricks and touching moments of empathy alike to get where she needs to go. She’s a hardboiled detective and a femme fatale all wrapped up in one. And, like a good noir, the clues were there, but you’ll have to wait until Edie pieces it together to get the full story. For all her skills and conniving, there’s something big she’s overlooked.

Pithy, sharp-witted comments jab directly at society. Edie’s like a cool aunt who’s wise beyond her years but can still party it down and has connections all over town. She sees through the farces of Hollywood, the fake engagements and double standards, and finds a way to enjoy herself and be part of it anyway.

Things get terribly messy, but the ending is surprisingly sweet, a poetic justice that is not at all what you would expect from the opening chapters, turning a book about Hollywood gossip and the patriarchy into one about love and how to find fulfillment.

If your best subject at trivia is Turner Classic Movies, if you go to conventions dressed like a starlet from Hollywood’s gilded age, “Do Tell” is a must-read.

Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker May Want to Steal These Unique Celebrity Baby Names


Alabama Barker Roasts Dad Travis Barker Over Baby Name

What's in a name? A whole lot, just ask these stars.

While we love learning our favorite celebrity couple is expecting, there's nothing quite as thrilling as finding out the name they give their newest addition (especially when people like Khloe Kardashian make us wait nine months for the big reveal). Though some monikers tend to be more surprising than others, just ask Alabama Barker.

When Travis Barker revealed he wants to name his and pregnant Kourtney Kardashian's son Rocky Thirteen, the 17-year-old couldn't help by roast her dad. "That's so bad," she recently told him during Complex's "GOAT Talk" video series. "Let's see how that goes when he's at school."

The inspiration? Well, "Rocky George played guitar for Suicidal Tendencies," the Blink-182 drummer explained. "And 13 is just the greatest number of all time."

For her part, Alabama also had some interesting suggestions. "Audemars, Milan, f--kin' Patek," she shared, seemingly referencing luxury watches before adding, "I also like Cloud—like, something weird."

And tbh, we'll be on cloud nine when Kourtney welcomes her fourth baby, her first with Travis. 

Until then, perhaps these stars and their kids can help inspire a name for baby Kravis. After all, X Æ A-12 Barker has a nice ring to it, don't you think? And there are plenty more to choose from.

Keep reading to revisit Hollywood's most unique baby names and learn the special meanings behind them...

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Apple Martin

As Gwyneth Paltrow explained to Oprah Winfrey, her daughter's unforgettable name was actually picked by Chris Martin: "When we were first pregnant, her daddy said, 'If it's a girl I think her name should be Apple'...It sounded so sweet, and it conjured such a lovely picture for me, you know. Apples are so sweet and they're wholesome, and it's biblical."

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Exa Dark Sideræl Musk

Singer Grimes said in an interview with Vanity Fair, published in March 2022, that she and Elon Musk privately welcomed a baby girl recently via surrogacy.

"Exa is a reference to the supercomputing term exaFLOPS (the ability to perform 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second)," she said. "Dark, meanwhile, is 'the unknown. People fear it but truly it's the absence of photons. Dark matter is the beautiful mystery of our universe.'"

Sideræl—pronounced "sigh-deer-ee-el"—is "the true time of the universe, star time, deep space time, not our relative earth time," she said, and a nod to her favorite Lord of the Rings character, Galadriel, who "chooses to abdicate the ring."

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

X Æ A-Xii Musk

Elon Musk introduced his and Grimes' baby boy X Æ A-12 to the world on Twitter in May 2020. They later slightly modified the spelling of their child's name in order to meet California's legal guidelines, which only permit letters from the English alphabet. Switching over to roman numerals, the parents agreed to spell his name, X Æ A-Xii.

"X, the unknown variable," Grimes explained on Twitter. "Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence) A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent."

Grimes continued, "A=Archangel, my favorite song" with an accompanying a rat and sword emoji. "Metal rat."

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Kulture Kiari Cephus

Cardi B and Offset welcomed their daughter in 2018. 

When asked where the inspiration for their baby girl's name came from, "Bodak Yellow" rapper said, "Kulture [heart emojis] anything else woulda been basic Okrrrrr." As for her middle name, Kiari is actually the Migos rapper's first name. 

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True Thompson

Khloe Kardashian welcomed her daughter with Tristan Thompson in 2018, and welcomed a baby boy Tatum via surrogate in 2022.

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Atlas Noa

"In my 32 years of life I thought I had seen a lot of places, experienced a lot of things, met a lot of people and felt love...then came you," Shay Mitchell shared of picking a moniker for her and partner Matte Babel's daughter. "Truth is I had no idea I was capable of loving anything like this before you arrived."

Warren Toda/EPA/Shutterstock

Esmeralda Amada

In 2014, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling introduced the world to Esmeralda Amada. In an interview with The Violet Files, the Hitch star shared that the couple's daughter's name carries a sentimental meaning. "Ryan and I both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and we just think it's a beautiful name," she said. "Amada was my grandmother's name. It means 'beloved' in Spanish."

Mendes and Gosling used the moniker once again when naming their second daughter Amada Lee Gosling, who they welcomed in 2016. 

Donato Sardella/Getty Images for REVOLVE

Raddix Madden

Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden's little girl has a pretty cool name, and Diaz took to Instagram to announce welcoming the baby into the world, adding, "She is really really cute. Some would even say RAD."

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Elsie Otter Pechenik

Zooey Deschanel and ex-husband Jacob Pechenik revealed their daughter's name is Elsie Otter because the furry critters are "really sweet, they're also smart, they use tools to keep their favorite tools, [and] they hold hands while they sleep."

YouTube

Stormi Webster

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott gave their baby girl the name back in 2018. As for where the inspiration for Stormi's name came from, the Kylie Cosmetics founder shared, "When I was pregnant, I used to call her 'Stormie'—when I would talk to her in my belly. It just always felt right."

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Ocean King

Inspired by their faith, Alexa PenaVega and Carlos PenaVega named their first child Ocean King. Providing more context for fans, the Spy Kids star said, "God called the dry ground 'land' and the water the 'seas'. And God saw that it was good. That is why we went with Ocean. And he is a son of the one true 'King'. For us it has a beautiful biblical meaning."

The couple are also parents to Kingston James, who they welcomed in 2019, and Rio Rey, who they welcomed in 2021.

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

Malti Marie Chopra Jonas

In January 2022, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra announced they welcomed their first child. E! News later confirmed they are the parents of a a baby girl, born by surrogate on Jan. 15 in San Diego.

Instagram; Getty Images

Slash Electric

Amber Rose loved the name she gave her and Alexander "AE" Edwards' son so much, she decided to get it inked on her forehead. She also had her and Wiz Khalifa's son Sebastian's name tattooed

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Kenzo Kash

Kevin Hart's baby boy's name means "strong and healthy." The Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle star is also dad to Heaven and Hendrix. 

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Mia Mejia

Bachelor alums Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici became parents to baby Mia back in December 2019. They're also parents to sons Samuel Thomas and Isaiah Hendrix.

Courtesy of Bloomingdale's

Gideon Scott

When it came to naming twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, Neil Patrick Harris said that he and husband David Burtka wanted something versatile, noting that the name "Gideon" could be "a scientist or a guitar player in a band." 

Instagram

Canon Wardell Jack

For Steph Curry and Ayesha Curry's third child, the moniker means "officiant of the church" and "young wolf." The couple also share daughters Riley Elizabeth and Ryan Carson. 

Mike Windle/Getty Images

Lazer Lee Louis Pentz

Diplo decided to name his second son after his electronic dance music trio, Major Lazer. 

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Blaze Tucker

Kandi Burruss became a mom for the third time back in November 2019, introducing the world to baby Blaze. She is also mom to son Ace and daughter Riley. 

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Psalm West

Unique names have become a Kim Kardashian and Kanye West staple as evidenced by their children's monikers: North West, Saint West, Chicago West and Psalm West. 

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Luna Simone

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen became parents to Luna Simone back in 2016. During a visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Cravings author revealed that the name was inspired by a blood moon that had occurred right before her birth. "There was a blood moon happening, and it was really a beautiful night," she recalled. "There was a really big, vivid red moon. It was just gorgeous."

Krystal Nielson/Instagram

Andara Rose

Would any other name smell as sweet? Bachelor Nation's Krystal Nielson and Miles Bowles introduced their little girl to the world, announcing the name: "It's official!!! Glitter baby has a name!!!! Introducing our beautiful angel, Andara Rose Bowles."

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Tiana Gia

Dwayne Johnson and wife Lauren Hashian's youngest daughter's moniker seems to be inspired by Princess Tiana from Disney's Princess and the Frog. 

Instagram; Getty Images

York Banks Asla

Tyra Banks and her boyfriend Erik Asla welcomed baby York Banks Asia via surrogate back in 2016. 

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Royalty Brown

Chris Brown's little girl has a name fit for a queen. 

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Story Grey

There must be a good story behind Derek Jeter and Hannah Davis' daughter's name. 

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Vittorio Genghis Stevens & Lozen Orianna Judith Stevens

Hope Solo and Jerramy Stevens had twice the joy when they welcomed their twins into the world.

Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Blue Ivy Carter

Beyoncé and Jay-Z unforgettably named their firstborn child Blue Ivy, followed by equally standout names for their twins, Rumi and Sir. 

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Future Zahir

Back in 2014, Ciara and Future welcomed their son Future Zahir, whose name was inspired by his dad's stage name. The "One Two Step" singer is also mom to daughter Sienna Princess, and Win Harrison, who she shares with husband Russell Wilson. 

Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET

Willow Smith

Willow Smith's name pays homage to dad Will Smith. Similarly, her brother Jaden Smith's moniker was also inspired by mom Jada Pinkett Smith. 

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View More Photos From Most Unique Celebrity Kid Names

A version of this story was originally published on Sunday, June 21, 2020 at 6 a.m. PT.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Harry and Meghan 'can take advantage of crippling Hollywood strikes', says TV expert


The Duke and Duchess of Sussex can turn Hollywood's crippling walkouts by actors and writers to their advantage, a film and TV expert believes.

American director, producer and entertainment coach Paul Duddridge claims: "It will give them a much-needed chance to review their creative strategies."

His comments come after former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller warned the strikes over streaming payments and AI could spark a "Hollywood Apocalypse" in which "the entire industry could collapse".

They follow an announcement Harry and Meghan's company Archewell will not be among 39 independent production firms allowed special dispensation by union leaders to complete filming current projects.

This means their plans for a first scripted TV series for Netflix – a prequel to Charles Dickens's classic novel Great Expectations – are on indefinite hold.

But Mr Duddridge believes the strikes gives the couple "an opportunity to regroup and retool their operations".

He said: "So far, their creative projects have received very mixed reviews.

"Harry and Meghan need to flip the narrative. They have seemingly worn out the goodwill and not set the world alight with their creative output in the US.

"They are now well-positioned to salvage their image with a critical success. They should grab this opportunity with both hands. It may be their last."

A senior Hollywood executive added: "Their efforts will have to be as diverse as possible to continue yielding revenue streams while Archewell is forced into a hiatus."

One immediate money-spinner could be the relaunch of Meghan's blog The Tig, which she shut down in 2017 just before her engagement to Harry.

Celebrity weddings 2023: Which stars got married this year?


Every month is wedding season in Hollywood.

We are already halfway through the year, and so far every month has featured a grand or intimate wedding ceremony between two stars.

Celebs like Naomi Watts, Chrishell Stause, Justin Long, Simone Biles and more have all walked down the aisle and exchanged vows with their spouses in front of friends and families.

< p>With so many "I dos," it can be hard to keep track of all the new couples. Below, find a list of a few of the notable celebrity weddings that have taken place in 2023, along with details about their ceremonies, ranging from intimate to star-studded. compiled a list of all the celebrity weddings this year and included details about their star-studded ceremonies.

Take a look at all the couples who started a new chapter in their love stories in 2023.

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup kicked off the summer by getting married. The two actors tied the knot in June and Watts later shared a photo of them on the steps of what appeared to be a courthouse on Instagram.

"The Watcher" star wore a lace, white dress while her husband donned a blu e suit. "Hitched!" she captioned the sweet photo of the "Almost Famous" actor placing his arm around her. She included a dove, bonded symbol and heart emoji.

Beanie Feldstein and Bonnie-Chance Roberts

Actor Beanie Feldstein said "I do" to producer Bonnie-Chance Roberts in May. The two wedded at Cedar Lakes Estate in New York's Hudson Valley surrounded by family and celebrity friends like Sarah Paulson, Ben Platt, Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine.

The venue had a special significance for the newlyweds. "It is our happy place together," Fe ldstein said in an interview with Vogue.

She added, "I grew up going to summer camp for 10 years, and my parents and both sets of my grandparents met at summer camp, so camp is a lineage of love through the generations of my family. Even though we met in London and fell in love on a film set, to get married at a camp was a truly beautiful emotional homecoming."

Story continues

Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse

After dating for about five years, actor Dylan Sprouse and model Barbara Palvin tied the knot in a ceremony held in her nati ve country of Hungary. The couple told Vogue that they exchanged their vows in the church where her parents married 34 years ago and had another civil ceremony at her family's property on the island of Harlekin Birtok.

The Victoria's Secret Angel also revealed that they are planning a second wedding in California for the fall.

"We're excited to go back to L.A. to our pets and rest a bit — before we start planning the American wedding," she told Vogue.

Kate Bosworth and Justin Long

Actors Kate Bosworth and Justin Long confirmed their engagement on his "Life is Short" podcast in April.

Bosworth, on the podcast, explained that the couple had just gone through "this really hard thing" and said they were "trying to move through things at the time." A therapist recommended they "(ask) the other what they need."

"I remember waking up not so many mornings after that therapy session, and I looked at Justin and I said — I remember, I smiled at you, and I said, 'What do you need?'" she recalled.

"And he really looked at me, and he said, 'To spend my life with you.' And I smiled, and I said, 'Well, yeah, you have that. Oh, my gosh, you have that,' and he said, 'No, I mean I really want to spend my life with you,'" she continued.

Long seemed to subtly announce they were married the following month. Fans also pointed out that he appeared to be wearing a wedding band in one of Bosworth's Instagram stories on May 15.

Chrishell Stause and G Flip

Chrishell Stause announced on May 10 that she married G Flip in a sweet Instagram video that included the Australian musician's song, "Be Your Man."

The clip was filled with PDA-moments they have shared since they publicly confirmed their relationship in May 2022.

In the caption, the "Selling Sunset" star wrote, "Love doesn't always go as planned…Sometimes it's immea surably better."

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens

In April, Simone Biles Owens walked down the aisle and married NFL player Jonathan Owens. The four-time Olympic gold medalist uploaded a series of photos from their intimate courthouse wedding in Houston.

A few weeks later, they said "I do" again in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Vogue repo rted. The gymnast wowed in a semi-sheer, sparkly gown that featured a thigh-high slit. She also wore a hair clip that said, "Mrs."

She shared some photos from the second ceremony on Instagram. The football player proudly commented below the post, writing, "My beautiful wife."

Sia and Dan Bernad

Sia and her boyfriend Dan Bernad traveled to Portofino, Italy, and got hitched in May, People reported. The couple had an intimate ceremony at fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's property.

According to the publication, the singer-songwriter and her husband only had four guests in attendance and exchanged vows beneath a gazebo covered in flowers. The "Chandelier" singer donned a mermaid-style gown covered in lace and matching veil.

Lukas Gage and Chris Appleton

Kim Kardashian officiated the wedding of "The White Lotus" star Lukas Gage and hairstylist Chris Appleton, and Shania Twain provided the live entertainment.

In photos from the event, the couple wore matching black ensembles and fur coats. "Ring finger where the rock is," the actor wrote in his caption.

His husband captioned his post, "We did it" and included a ring emoji before tagging Kardashian and Twain.

Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge

Sofia Richie and her husband Elliot Grainge got married in April. While the wedding took place in the South of France, per Vogue, it was all over the internet.

Before the wedding, Richie posted her first-ever TikTok — a get ready with me video — before the big day. And with that, a new "it girl" was born. Hype surrounded every minute detail around the wedding weekend, including videos and photos.

Ben Savage and Tessa Angermeier

"Boy Meets World" alum Ben Savage proposed to girlfriend Tessa Angermeier in January and announced their engagement news on Instagram.

"The best is yet to come," he captioned a photo of the pair taking a picture beside a lake in Owensville, Indiana.

Two months later, People reported that the couple had tied the knot.

Stylist Chloe Engelhardt, a friend of the newlyweds, attended their wedding and posted pictures from the ceremony on Instagram.

"Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Savage, we couldn't be happier for you 'guuuyyyss,'" she gushed in the caption.

Clare Crawley and Ryan Dawkins

After searching for love in Bachelor Nation, former Bachelorette Clare Crawley finally found her soulmate in Ryan Dawkins. She revealed they were engaged in October 2022 by sharing a photo of the Mascot Sports CEO getting down on one knee on Instagram.

In February, the two said "I do" in a ceremony in Sacramento, California, where Crawley is from, People reported.

The reality television star told the publication, "If I had to do this day over every single day for the rest of my life … I wouldn't change a thing! Happiest day of my life hands down!"

She posted a few bridal photos on Instagram and wrote, "Mr. And Mrs. Dawkins!" in the caption.

Crawley revealed on Instagram on July 12 that the couple are expecting their first child together via surrogate. Dawkins has two daughters from another relationship.

Dawkins commented on the post and gushed, "You are the most incredible wife and bonus mom, bringing so much love & happiness into our lives. Our little one is beyond lucky to have you as a mom. I love you so much. Party of 5!"

Abigail Breslin and Ira Kunyansky

Actor Ab igail Breslin and Ira Kunyansky, who started dating in the spring of 2017, got married in January.

Breslin shared the news with the world by simply uploading a picture of a Cartier wedding band on her ring finger. "Ya girl got married y'all," she wrote in the caption.

"Married my bestest friend," she wrote in the caption of a photo of the couple dancing.

Kunyansky decided to post a funny photo from their special day on his page. He smiled in the picture as his bride looked shocked. "Love my other second half," he wrote.

Marc Anthony and Nadia Ferreira

Marc Anthony and Nadia Ferreira held an extravagant wedding in Miami, Florida, in January, ¡Hola! and Telemundo reported at the time.

While Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez oversaw the ceremony, stars like Salma Hayek, Lin Manuel Miranda and David and Victoria Beckh am sat in the crowd and watched the pair profess their love for each other.

In June, Anthony and Ferreira welcomed their first child together. He announced the arrival of the newborn, his seventh child, in a Father's Day post on June 18.

"God's timing is always perfect," he wrote in English and Spanish in the caption. "Happy Father's Day." He included a black-and-white photo of him cradling the infant.

Buzz Aldrin and Dr. Anca Faur

Buzz Aldrin celebrated his 93rd birthday by marrying his "longtime love," Dr. Anca Faur.

He posted about their nuptials on Twitter, writing, "On my 93rd birthday & the day I will also be honored by Living Legends of Aviation I am pleased to announce that my longtime love Dr. Anca Faur & I have tied the knot."

Aldrin added, "We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as eloping teenagers."

The bride wore a shimmery white gown while the groom sported a classic black tuxedo adorned with some of his medals.

Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola

"Mad Men" alums Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola returned to the location of the show's s eries finale, Anderson Canyon in Big Sur, for their nuptials earlier in July, People confirmed.

Before they walked down the aisle, Hamm spoke about looking forward to being a married man on iHeartRadio's "Table for Two" podcast on June 27.

"I suppose there are two ways to look at anything like that, which is like, 'Oh, what if it's terrible?' But the othe r way is like, 'This is meant to be something wonderful,'" he shared at the time.

He continued, "And, so you lean into that aspect of it, which I have been, and it's the reason why I really wanted to do it and really leaned into it (because) it's like this is the thing that leads to the next thing of life and that's what I hope. It's the journey and it's exciting."

Colton Underwood and Jordan C. Brown

In May, former "Bachelor" star Colton Underwood married Jordan C. Brown in an outdoor ceremony in California's Napa Valley, People reported.

Underwood told the publication the couple wanted to defy cultural expectations for their nuptials.

"We wanted to break some of the traditional norms of what a ceremony and a wedding look like," he explained in an interview conducted before the wedding. "And for the entire weekend, we recognize that a lot of people attending, both of our families and some of our friends, this will be their first queer wedding. We really want to make it special."

The pair honored queer people from the 18th and 19th centuries by posting their secret love letters around the venue.

"It helps us to pay tribute to the people who paved the way for all same-sex couples who now can get married," Brown said.

The newlyweds uploaded pictures from their wedding in a joint post on Instagram. "The Brown-Underwoods," they wrote in the caption.

Princess Iman of Jordan and Jameel Thermiotis

Princess Iman, the daughter of Queen Rania and King Abdullah II of Jordan, married businessman Jameel Alexander Thermiotis in March.

For the royal occasion, the bride donned a beautiful long-sleeve wedding gown that included a high lace neckline and matching veil. Thermiotis posed beside his wife in a three-piece black and gray suit.

Crown Prince Hussein walked his sister down the aisle before she greeted her father and they exchanged a hug and kiss.

Queen Rania celebrated her daughter's love story on Instagram. She wrote, "Iman, I pray this next chapter in your life brings you as much joy, love, and laughter as you have brought us over the years. Congratulations to the bride and groom!"

This article was originally published on TODAY.com