Celebrity news and photos - East Bay Times https://www.eastbaytimes.com Tue, 17 Jan 2023 23:37:09 +0000 en-US hourly 30 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/32x32-ebt.png?w=32 Celebrity news and photos - East Bay Times https://www.eastbaytimes.com 32 32 116372269 Eve Jobs left behind as Selena Gomez snags her ex-boyfriend Drew Taggart https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/eve-jobs-left-behind-as-selena-gomez-snags-her-ex-boyfriend-drew-taggart/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/eve-jobs-left-behind-as-selena-gomez-snags-her-ex-boyfriend-drew-taggart/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 21:38:51 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718382&preview=true&preview_id=8718382 Apparently, there’s a limit to the opportunities that come from being the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

For example, it can’t buy Eve Jobs a happy love life, at least not at the moment. The 24-year-old model recently broke up with Drew Taggart, and the Chainsmokers DJ has already started a romance with Selena Gomez, an even more famous celebrity who happens to share his musical interests, Us Weekly reported.

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 12: Record producer Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, singer Daya and record producer Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers attend The 59th GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Record producer Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, singer Daya and record producer Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers attend The 59th GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) 

This news about Taggart and Gomez, which came via Us Weekly on Monday, apparently prompted Jobs to deactivate her Instagram account, just a few weeks after she posted a tribute to Taggart in December, celebrating his 33rd birthday, Page Six said. She gushed in a caption,  “Happy birthday lover.”

Jobs, an accomplished equestrian whose mother is Laurene Powell Jobs, and Taggart reportedly started what Us Weekly described as a “casual summer fling” last year. The romance supposedly fizzled by the end of the year, though Us Weekly said the split was “totally amicable.”

FILE - In this Jan 11, 2020 file photo, Selena Gomez attends the premiere of "Dolittle" in Los Angeles. Gomez will put her quarantine cooking skills on display in a 10-episode series for the upcoming streaming service HBO Max. After an angry mob of President Donald Trump supporters took control of the U.S. Capitol in a violent insurrection, Gomez laid much of the blame at the feet of Big Tech. It's the latest effort by the 28-year-old actress-singer to draw attention to the danger of internet companies critics say have profited from misinformation and hate on their platforms.. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Selena Gomez attends the premiere of “Dolittle” in Los Angeles in 2020. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) 

Still, it must be disconcerting for Jobs to have her private life caught up in the maw of celebrity news, especially as Taggart and Gomez, 30, started their romance so quickly and are not “trying to hide” it, a source told Us Weekly.

Gomez is “so affectionate” with Taggart and “can hardly keep her hands off him,” the source also said. Still, the two are trying to keep the relationship “very casual and low-key” while they are “having lots of fun together.”

Gomez’s love life has been the subject of celebrity gossip for years. The singer has experienced her shares of high and lows when it comes to her love life, particularly her high-profile, on-off romance with Justin Bieber from 2011 to 2018. On one of her breaks from Bieber, she dated The Weeknd for nine months in 2017. She’s also been linked to Niall Horan, Zedd and Charlie Puth.

“I feel like giving myself completely to something is the best way I can love,” Gomez said in an interview in November for Jay Shetty‘s “On Purpose” podcast. “But I never wanted the pain that I endured to put some sort of guard on myself — an armor if you will — and I never let that happen because I still believe and I still hope. … I would rather continue to get my heart broken than to not feel at all.”

Eve Jobs previously dated singer-songwriter Harry Hudson, who’s pals of Kylie Jenner and Jaden Smith.

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Jeremy Renner leaves hospital, returns home but faces ‘long recovery’ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/jeremy-renner-leaves-hospital-returns-home-but-faces-long-recovery/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/jeremy-renner-leaves-hospital-returns-home-but-faces-long-recovery/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:12:17 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718296&preview=true&preview_id=8718296 Jeremy Renner revealed Monday night that he’s left the hospital and is back home with his family following his devastating snowplow accident on New Year’s Day, but reports say he also faces a long recovery.

Renner, 52, tweeted Monday night that he watched the Season 2 premiere of his show “Mayor of Kingstown” at home, TMZ reported, instead of in a Reno hospital. Renner was transported to the hospital on New Year’s Day after being run over by his own 14,000-pound snowplow while helping a family member whose car was stuck in the snow near his Lake Tahoe home.

“Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home,” Renner tweeted.

It’s not clear if “at home” means what Renner calls his “special place,” his property in the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Reno, or if the actor is recovering elsewhere. And even if the Hawkeye actor has been released from the hospital, he still has a long recovery due to the severity of his injuries, according to the Daily Mail.

Shortly after the accident, Renner’s representatives said he suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries. Friends said that Renner’s injuries were much worse than feared and that he “nearly bled out” and “almost died” while waiting for help to arrive the morning of Jan. 1, the Daily Mail said, citing a report in RadarOnline.

“The right side of Jeremy’s chest was crushed, and his upper torso had collapsed,” a friend said. “He also had a bad head wound that was bleeding and a leg injury.”

The actor is aware of the extent of his injuries and knows he has a long recovery ahead of him, with friends saying it could take up to two years “before he is back in fighting shape,” the Daily Mail said.

Despite his injuries and the need for multiple surgeries while in the hospital, Renner has posted on social media a few times, last week thanking fans for their “kind words.” He also shared a video of him getting a head massage while in the intensive-care unit. He acknowledged last week on Instagram that he was “too messed up to type. But I send love to you all.”

Renner’s family members have been by his side, including his mother Cearley and sister Kym, the Daily Mail said. Last week, his sister Kym told People that the actor is working hard to recover with the help of physical therapy.

“If anyone knows Jeremy, he is a fighter and doesn’t mess around,” Renner’s sister told People. “He is crushing all the progress goals. We couldn’t feel more positive about the road ahead.”

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https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/jeremy-renner-leaves-hospital-returns-home-but-faces-long-recovery/feed/ 0 8718296 2023-01-17T12:12:17+00:00 2023-01-17T12:12:22+00:00
Sundance 2023: These 15 films will have people talking https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/sundance-2023-these-15-films-will-have-people-talking/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/sundance-2023-these-15-films-will-have-people-talking/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 19:09:28 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718243&preview=true&preview_id=8718243 The independent filmmaking industry deserves a chance to shine and get away from that stormfront of mostly bad-box office news.

That opportunity arrives Jan. 20-Jan. 29 at the Sundance Film Festival, which returns to live screenings after two virtual versions and offers a robust showcase for some of the best features the world has to offer.

Numerous world premieres and buzzy titles will attract movie lovers, ear-muffed celebrities, journalists, publicists, studio reps and onlookers to Park City, Utah.

But if you can’t make it there, know that some of the titles will be available to stream beginning Jan. 24. More information on these and more films is available at festival.sundance.org.

Here are 15 to look out for, a number of which have Bay Area associations.

“Stephen Curry: Underrated”: Award-winning Oakland documentary-maker Peter Nicks (“Homeroom,” “The Waiting Room,” “The Force”) bring his ever-observant eye to the life and career of one of our most popular and respected NBA players — Golden State Warriors icon Stephen Curry. Filmmaker and Oakland native Ryan Coogler is one of the producers of this Apple TV+ documentary, which relates the inspirational story of Curry and how the four-time NBA champ defied naysayers and became a phenomenon. Sadly, it’s not available online, and there’s no word yet on when Apple TV+ will release it.

“Shortcomings”: Sacramento-born graphic novelist Adrian Tomine has drawn deserved comparisons to America’s most daring cartoonists. If you haven’t read any of the UC Berkeley alum’s rich works — and you really should — this edgy adaptation from director Randall Park (yes, the cute actor from “Fresh off the Boat”) will likely make you a fan. It follows three Berkeley chums fumbling about with love, desire, heritage and expectations. It’s available online.

“Fremont”: For his fourth feature film, Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali comes up with a novel and timely concept.  A former Afghan translator (newcomer Anaita Wali Zada) finds herself saddled with an empty life in the titular East Bay city, but things change when she assigned to write Chinese fortune cookie messages at the factory where she works. “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White costars. Shot in B&W, Jalali’s feature will be available online.

“Earth Mama”: Some films get snapped up by studios and distributors even before they get their world premiere at Sundance. Such is the case with 29-year-old Savanah Leaf’s debut feature set in the Bay Area. A24 swooped in to grab the former Olympic volleyball player’s coming-of-age drama about Gia (Oakland newcomer Tia Nomore), a pregnant single mom with two other children in foster care. The film is not available online, and there’s no release date from A24 yet.

“Fairyland”: Debut filmmaker Andrew Durham wrote and directed this adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir about growing up in the ‘70s with a free-spirited father (Scoot McNairy) following the sudden death of her mother. Alysia is often left to her own devices as her father begins to date men once they relocate to San Francisco. Geena Davis, rock singer Adam Lambert and Maria Bakalova costar. The film is not available online.

“Fancy Dance”: Sundance loves coming-of-age stories. This exciting release from first-timer Erica Tremblay attests to that. The world premiere drama is about two girls from an Oklahoma reservation — the resourceful Jax (Lily Gladstone) and her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) — taking a road trip to find Roki’s missing mother. It’s available online.

“Cassandro”: Gael Garcia Bernal lands a juicy, high-profile role as the real-life gay luchador (professional wrestler) Saúl Armendáriz, who, with the assistance of his trainer, breaks barriers by assuming the identity of an alter ego — the out and proud Cassandro. This is documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams’ feature debut, and it looks like a winner. Bad Bunny and Raúl Castillo costar. It’s not available online.

“Infinity Pool”: His horror freakout (“Possessor”) rattled Sundance a few years ago, now director Brandon Cronenberg (David Cronenberg’s son) follows it up with what looks to be another unabashedly bizarre and brazen horror shocker. Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård lend their magnetic star power to this dark look at the festering underbelly of tourism. It might even make you think twice about booking that next trip to a tropical paradise. It’s not available online, but will arrive in theaters to disturb Jan. 27.

“Mamacruz”: Dramas about sexual awakenings (or re-awakenings), in general,  tend to focus on characters under the age of 50. Director/co-writer Patricia Ortega makes an exception here with a story about a buttoned-up, religious grandmother who dares to dip into porn and talk more freely about sex — to the chagrin of some, and the acceptance of others. Kiti Manver will be a Sundance standout. It’s available online.

“Kokomo City”: Four transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia talk with candor and insight about their profession, dreams and lives in D. Smith’s B&W eye opener of a documentary. It’s also her debut, and heralds a great career ahead. It’s available online.

“You Hurt My Feelings”: Nicole Holofcener writes and directs what sounds like another one of her refreshingly unique dramedies. It’s her fourth film at Sundance and follows novelist Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and how she reconsiders her relationship with her therapist hubby Don (Tobias Menzies) when she overhears him dissing her new novel. Oops. It’s not available online.

“Rye Lane”: Director Raine Allen-Miller’s feature debut is a romantic dramedy wherein a teary-eyed Dom (David Jonsson) gains more pep in his step courtesy of a wild day spent in South London with Yas (Vivian Oparah). It looks to be a charming and telling look at two 20-something people of color who might be ready to fall in love. It’s not available online.

“Twice Colonized”: What often distinguishes the Sundance is its dedication to illuminating various perspectives, cultures and ideas. Such is the case with this topical and engrossing documentary from director Lin Alluna on Greenlandic Inuit lawyer and activist Aaju Peter. It’s a fascinating character portrayal that takes the time to reflect on the Inuit experience and on colonialism. It’s available online.

“Magazine Dreams”: Expect Jonathan Majors’ career to soar higher than ever after the world premiere of director/writer Elijah Bynum’s character study of a fiercely devoted bodybuilder. Majors, so great in “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” physically inhabits the part in what promises to be a gritty, explosive and complex look at the world of bodybuilding. It has the potential to be one of the biggest talkers at Sundance, and it’s available online as well.

“Cat Person”: Ready to get a bit uncomfortable? The perils of dating will likely come into all-too-sharp focus in this drama by director Susanna Fogel (a co-writer on “Booksmart”) about a 20-year-old student (Emilia Jones) learning that the alleged “cat person” (Nicholas Braun) she’s dating isn’t exactly who he pretends to be. Screenwriter Michelle Ashford adapts the New Yorker short story that was a viral sensation. It’s also available online.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com

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Jimmy Kimmel shows Prince Harry getting oedipal about Diana in his frostbite story https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/jimmy-kimmel-shows-prince-harry-getting-oedipal-about-diana-in-his-frostbite-story/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/jimmy-kimmel-shows-prince-harry-getting-oedipal-about-diana-in-his-frostbite-story/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 18:52:26 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718231&preview=true&preview_id=8718231 While scholars and cultural critics have been writing serious think pieces about Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare,” particularly the potential historical significance of his insights into the allegedly dark and destructive machinations of the British royal family, Jimmy Kimmel and others have had fun focusing on the intimate details that the Duke of Sussex shares about his private parts.

The host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has produced two bits since last week that make fun of Harry’s discussion about how he suffered a frostbitten penis while participating in a trek to the North Pole with other military veterans in 2011. The segment from Monday night also zeros in on Harry’s need in his book to regularly connect events, including his frostbite woes, to his late mother, Princess Diana, as if to emphasize how much of a presence she remains in his life.

Indeed, Kimmel has Harry invoke the name of Sigmund Freud — the author of the Oedipus complex psychoanalytic theory — in the bit that has the duke thinking about his mother while seeking relief from his frostbite. For the segment, Kimmel introduces “a new children’s book” that he said was inspired by the blockbuster success of Harry’s book and particularly the popularity of his frostbite story.

“It’s a twist on “The Princess and the Pea,” Kimmel joked. “It’s called ‘The Prince and the Penis.’ The kids will love this. It’s time to gather them around because I have the honor of sharing the first read of the new book.”

Thereupon, Kimmel produced a faux children’s book, with brightly colored illustrations and a rhyming, “The Night Before Christmas”-style tale about “a silly young codger” who suffers frostbite on a trip to the North Pole.

“Oh Mummy, oh Mummy, he cried with a scream and from then up on high, she appeared with some cream,” Kimmel read from the faux book, with an illustration of Diana up in a cloud, wearing her famous black “Revenge Dress.”

Kimmel clearly believes that Harry has opened himself up for such lambasting, given what the duke writes in “Spare” about seeking relief from his frostbite by using a cream by Elizabeth Arden — a brand he notes that his late mother used.

In “Spare,” Harry (or his ghostwriter, J.R. Moehringer) describes how the frostbite left him “oscillating between extremely sensitive and borderline traumatized.” To Harry’s credit, his tone is somewhat humorous. “The last place I wanted to be was Frostnipistan,” Harry also said, explaining how a female friend suggested he try the Elizabeth Arden cream.

“My mum used that on her lips,” Harry said, expressing discomfort at the idea of applying it “down there.” Harry said his friend  replied, “It works, Harry. Trust me.”

Harry said he acquired a tube and opened it. He also writes, “The smell transported me through time. I felt as if my mother was right there in the room.” He said he applied a “smidge” and acknowledged, “‘Weird’ doesn’t really do the feeling justice.”

In Kimmel’s version of Harry’s “story,” the Harry figure similarly expresses discomfort with the idea of using his mother’s favorite cream. “But Mummy, did you not put this on your lip. … But Mummy, have you not hear about Sir Sigmund Freud?” That line is a reference to Freud’s theory about a young male’s attachment to the parent of the opposite sex.

Kimmel’s children’s book shows an illustration of Diana coming down from her cloud and applying the cream on her son, leaving “everyone living happily ever after.”

Last week, Kimmel mined comedy and audience laughs from actually playing the audiobook version of “Spare,” with Harry reading from the passage about his use of the Elizabeth Arden cream and how it evoked “weird” thoughts about his mother.

Kimmel’s children’s book bit provoked a mix of reactions. Many people left tweets with laughing emojis and praised Kimmel for offering an example of how Harry plays “the Mummy card” — aligning himself with the legacy of his popular mother in interviews and in his book. Others shared GIFs that showed they enjoyed the bit but also recognized that Kimmel was getting to the edge of what’s considered politically correct.

Others, though, scoffed at Kimmel’s “amateurish” humor. One person suggested he was jealous because his late-night rival, Stephen Colbert, got an interview with Harry last week on his show. Others took offense with how they thought Kimmel disparaged the memory of Diana, who died in 1997 in a car accident in Paris.

“Diana deserves much more respect than this,” one person said. “I don’t approve of this kind of shallow writing and literal Freudian puns — even if it is supposedly comedy. Go for Harry by all means — I care little to none, but not by his mother, who is of a diviner subject to me to this day & beyond.”

Other comedians also have had fun with Harry’s North Pole story, including Chelsea Handler. However, she used her opening monologue at the Critics Choice Awards Sunday night to suggest that the public is both scintillated by also weary from Harry’s oversharing about his frostbite, which left him uncomfortable while attending the royal wedding of his brother, Prince William, to Kate Middleton.

At the awards show, Handler said, “Niecy Nash-Betts is nominated for ‘Dahmer.’ ‘Dahmer’ became the third highest viewed show on Netflix, which a combined watch time of 1 billion hours.”

She continued: “Which, apparently, is the same amount of time we’re going to have to listen to Prince Harry talk about his frostbitten penis. Enough already.”

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Uncertain future for Lisa Marie Presley’s 14-year-old twins: Can’t return to home where mom died as possible custody battle looms https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/uncertain-future-for-lisa-marie-presleys-14-year-old-twins-cant-return-to-home-where-mom-died-as-possible-custody-battle-looms/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/uncertain-future-for-lisa-marie-presleys-14-year-old-twins-cant-return-to-home-where-mom-died-as-possible-custody-battle-looms/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:32:11 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718104&preview=true&preview_id=8718104 Sadly, the death of Lisa Marie Presley has left open a big question about where her 14-year-old twin daughters will live.

The girls, Finley and Harper, are too traumatized to return to the Calabasas home where their mother suffered a fatal cardiac arrest Jan. 12, TMZ reported. Meanwhile, their father, Michael Lockwood, may be gearing up to go to court to demand full custody, TMZ also reported. If so, he would reignite a bitter years-long custody battle that involved a trial, ferocious disputes about money and allegations about Presley’s acknowledged substance abuse problems and mental anguish following the 2020 suicide of her 27-year-old son Benjamin Keough, as the Daily Mail reported.

These contentious legal issues may be temporarily put aside as Presley’s family prepare to honor her with a public memorial service Sunday at Graceland, the Memphis, Tennessee estate that Presley inherited from her father, Elvis Presley. “Riley, Harper, Finley and Priscilla are grateful for the support, well-wishes, and outpouring of love honoring their beloved Lisa Marie,” a representative for Riley Keough said in a statement to People.

Presley died last week after being rushed to a Los Angeles hospital for a reported cardiac arrest. She was 54. People said that Presley’s final resting place will be Graceland’s Meditation Garden, where Elvis Presley and her son, Benjamin, also are buried.

People magazine also confirmed that Presley’s three daughters will inherit Graceland, which Rolling Stone estimated is worth about $500 million, because it is open to the public for tours and other events.

Since Presley’s death, Finley and Harper have been spending a lot of time at the Los Angeles home of their grandmother, Priscilla Presley, TMZ said. Their older half-sister, actor Riley Keough, has been spending time there as well, while Lockwood has “been central” to making sure the girls’ needs are met during this difficult time.

However, Lockwood is determined that the girls will ultimately live with him, TMZ said. Presley and Lockwood were married in 2006. After Presley filed for divorce in 2016, the estranged couple became locked in a dispute over custody and money. As recently as November, the exes were in court fighting over financial support and attorneys’ fees, according to The Blast.

Following a trial at the end of 2020, Lockwood was given 40% custody of the twins, while Presley had 60%; the girls were living with her at the time of her death, TMZ said. Under California law, Lockwood would normally be granted full custody, unless a judge determines he’s not a fit parent.

Sources connected to the Presley family told TMZ that Lockwood will definitely go to court to get full custody. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before he gives up custody of those children,” a source close to Lockwood told TMZ

Complications could arise if Danny Keough, Presley’s other ex-husband, decides to make a case for custody, TMZ said. Presley and Danny Keough were married from 1988 to 1994, and the couple and the twins were living together at the time of her sudden death, TMZ said. Keough came to regard himself as the girls’ stepfather. Some family members also told TMZ that Riley Keough or Priscilla Presley might make a bid for custody.

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‘The Price of Glee’ labors to connect the tragedies tied to the Fox series https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/the-price-of-glee-labors-to-connect-the-tragedies-tied-to-the-fox-series/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/the-price-of-glee-labors-to-connect-the-tragedies-tied-to-the-fox-series/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:04:39 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718090&preview=true&preview_id=8718090 Review by Brian Lowry | CNN

There’s an old saying in journalism that “Three is a trend,” which seemingly serves as the underlying rationale for “The Price of Glee,” a three-part docuseries from Investigation Discovery (a.k.a. ID). Recounting triumphs but mostly tragedies associated with the hit Fox show, the project feels as if it’s on significantly surer footing charting the former and basically just icky when delving into the latter.

The tone is set right off the bat, as on-screen chyrons note that the musical series became an instant sensation when it premiered in 2009, making stars of its young and talented cast. “By 2020, all of them would be famous,” the script continues. “And three would be dead.”

The different circumstances surrounding each of those situations, however, makes the effort to connect them particularly tenuous. While there’s talk along the way and toward the end about a “Glee” “curse,” alluded to by some of the crew as well as journalists, cooler heads note that bad things sometimes happen without rhyme or reason to them.

Related: Has the ‘Glee curse’ struck again? Matthew Morrison’s reported firing sparks talk

“The Price of Glee” holds together for a time, recounting how the show burst onto the scene with its fresh-faced performers as well as the demands associated with that sudden fame. To compound those issues, the studio behind the show was eager to cash in on its popularity, leading to a concert tour that offered little opportunity for rest from the daily grind.

In that sense, “Glee” is emblematic of any number of Hollywood success stories and the precipitous falls that sometimes follow them, as well as the feuds and wounded feelings that often accompany that.

The initial focus is on the clearest example of a “price” associated with the show — namely, Cory Monteith, who had struggled with substance abuse before “Glee” and saw those challenges resurface as he wrestled with the attention and money that came his way, culminating in his fatal drug overdose in 2013.

The second part also recycles allegations of haughty on-set behavior by Lea Michele, and tensions between her and Naya Rivera. None of the principal cast participated in the documentary, which relies upon old clips as well as interviews with members of the crew, assorted journalists, the obligatory psychotherapist, and friends of some key players, adding to the tabloid sensibility.

The third chapter deals rather hastily with the suicide of Mark Salling, after his arrest for possession of child pornography, in 2018; and more extensively with the tragic 2020 accident that killed Rivera, who drowned in California’s Lake Piru, where she was spending the day with her son.

That last hour includes an interview with her father, George Rivera, who speaks about compartmentalizing his feelings in order to cope and speak publicly about what happened. As part of that, the producers take him back to the location where his daughter died, which feels as uncomfortable as it is unnecessary.

There have been some excellent documentaries in the last few years about the toll of youthful stardom, including HBO’s “Showbiz Kids” and “Phoenix Rising,” Evan Rachel Wood’s coming-of-age tale; and “Kid 90,” Soleil Moon Frye’s chronicle of being young and famous in Hollywood.

Ultimately, though, “The Price of Glee” feels trapped by its title, laboring to fill in what are at best dotted lines. That might be the price of garnering attention, but in terms of the project’s credibility, it’s a high one to pay.

“The Price of Glee” premieres January 16 at 9 p.m. ET on ID  and Discovery+. Like CNN, Discovery is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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‘American Idol’ star CJ Harris dead at 31 of apparent heart attack https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/american-idol-star-cj-harris-dead-at-31-of-apparent-heart-attack/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/american-idol-star-cj-harris-dead-at-31-of-apparent-heart-attack/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:57:53 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8718078&preview=true&preview_id=8718078 CJ Harris, a singer who competed on ‘American Idol’ during the reality competition’s 13th season, has died. The Alabama native was 31 years old.

A family member told TMZ that Harris was taken to a hospital via ambulance but died following a suspected heart attack on Sunday in Jasper, Alabama.

Harris placed sixth in ‘Idol’ season 13 — which aired on Fox in 2014 — giving his takes on Darius Rucker’s “Radio,” John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change,” and Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter,” among his other performances on the show.

“You sing ‘cause you have to sing, not ‘cause you want to sing,” ‘Idol’ judge Keith Urban told Harris during the competition. ‘And I mean that in the deepest way. And that’s why it’s so believable and real.”

Harris followed his ‘American Idol’ run with a performance with Rucker at the Grand Ole Opry and an ‘Idol’ concert tour with other season 13 contestants.

“I grew up in the church, playing gospel music and singing in the choir. I guess I was a little nervous to go on ‘Idol,’ because I didn’t know if I was prepared. I didn’t have the training,” Harris told AL.com in 2015. “Now, when I get on stage in front of these crowds, it doesn’t matter if I have my eyes closed. I don’t have to keep a camera view. I can calm down, relax and be myself. Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to see those lights on stage. Every time I get into my bed right after a show, I still can’t believe I’ve been on stage. I’m having a lot more fun than I did on the TV show.”

Harris also moved to Nashville following ‘Idol.’ He moved in with fellow season 13 contestants Sam Woolf and Alex Preston.

The singer remained active on social media before his death, posting a selfie to Twitter on Sunday and sharing a TikTok video of himself performing The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” in late December.

“When I’m behind the microphone, I let everything go and let the music flow through me,” Harris previously wrote in his Facebook bio, per AL.com. “My friends, family, and fans have always supported me and always had my back, and I can never repay them for the love they have shown me.”

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Photos: Magda Gabor’s former Palm Springs home gets glam makeover, seeks $3.8 million https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/magda-gabors-former-palm-springs-home-gets-glam-makeover-seeks-3-8-million/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/17/magda-gabors-former-palm-springs-home-gets-glam-makeover-seeks-3-8-million/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:41:44 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8717909&preview=true&preview_id=8717909
  • Up for grabs at $3.8 million is the former Palm...

    Up for grabs at $3.8 million is the former Palm Springs home of socialite Magda Gabor, seen here in 1954, newly made over by designer Tracy Turco. (Composite by Sandra Barrera, Southern California News Group; Inset: AFP via Getty Images; House: Michael Roth)

  • The veranda. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The veranda. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The living room. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The living room. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The kitchen. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The kitchen. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The dining room. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The dining room. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The primary bedroom. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The primary bedroom. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The soaking tub in the primary bathroom. (Photo by Michael...

    The soaking tub in the primary bathroom. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • The pool. (Photo by Michael Roth)

    The pool. (Photo by Michael Roth)

  • A 1954 file photo of the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor...

    A 1954 file photo of the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and her sisters Eva and Magda. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

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The former Palm Springs home of late socialite Magda Gabor boasting a glamorous new makeover has hit the market for $3.8 million.

Bursting with color and original fabrics and wall coverings, the revamped three-bedroom, 3,441-square-foot home with four bathrooms is the vision of designer Tracy Turco.

“It’s such a unique property, and then Tracy takes it to a whole other level,” said Conrad Miller of Avenue 8, the co-listing agent.

Property records show Turco and her real estate developer husband, Jerry, picked up the home on a nearly two-third-acre hilltop lot in Little Tuscany in August 2020 for $1.74 million. The couple is known for buying and renovating neglected mid-century properties like a 1961 home by William Krisel listed for $1.149 million and the retro boutique hotels the Art Hotel, Tiki Hotel, Cheetah Hotel and Deco Palm Hotel.

Turco puts her spin on the 1964 abode while incorporating furnishings and treatments that are original to the eldest and only redhead of the famous Gabor sisters.

As Southern California News Group previously reported, Gabor bought the home in the late 1960s at the urging of her countess mother. The property had been the site of star-studded parties and even fashion shoots during her tenure.

County records indicate the property remained in her name and that of her sister Zsa Zsa through separate trusts until August 1998, when the property sold for $440,000.

According to the listing, the sisters “separately occupied the estate for over 30 years.”

A painting of Magda Gabor, who died in 1997 at 81, hangs on the foyer’s wall.

Her first initial is etched on the home’s mirrored walls, including the one that runs the length of the combined living and dining room with its hidden closet. The mirror reflects the veranda.

With its pink overhang and striped black and white valance, the veranda overlooks the mosaic-tiled pool and mountains beyond.

Views also abound from the breakfast room nearest the kitchen, with its custom-trowelled ceiling and original Hungarian rotisserie, to the primary bathroom. It has dual vanities, a shower and a soaking tub. A curtain closes the bathroom from the rest of the primary suite’s bedroom, with its sitting room/office, dressing room, makeup room and two walk-in closets.

Other Gabor-era originals include a grand piano, a dining room table and crystal chandeliers.

The patio table belonged to Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Brandon Holland of Avenue 8 shares the listing, which is available turnkey.

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Gina Lollobrigida dies; actress touted as ‘most beautiful woman in the world’ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/16/gina-lollobrigida-dies-actor-touted-as-most-beautiful-woman-in-the-world/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/16/gina-lollobrigida-dies-actor-touted-as-most-beautiful-woman-in-the-world/#respond Mon, 16 Jan 2023 13:26:22 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8717289&preview=true&preview_id=8717289 By Frances D’Emilio | Associated Press

ROME — Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida, who achieved international stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world” after the title of one of her movies, died in Rome on Monday, her agent said. She was 95.

The agent, Paola Comin, didn’t provide details. Lollobrigida had surgery in September to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall. She returned home and said she had quickly resumed walking.

Gina Lollobrigida attends the Opening Night Gala of the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival celebrating The 40th Anniversary Screening of "All the President's Men" at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on April 28, 2016. (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Lollobrigida attends a gala in Hollywood in 2016. 

A drawn portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which likened her to a “goddess” in an article about Italian movie-making. More than a half-century later, Lollobrigida still turned heads with her brown, curly hair and statuesque figure, and preferred to be called an actress instead of the gender-neutral term actor.

“Lollo,” as she was lovingly nicknamed by Italians, began making movies in Italy just after the end of World War II, as the country began to promote on the big screen a stereotypical concept of Mediterranean beauty as buxom and brunette.

Besides “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman” in 1955, career highlights included Golden Globe-winner “Come September,” with Rock Hudson; “Trapeze;” “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” which won Lollobrigida Italy’s top movie award, a David di Donatello, as best actress in 1969.

In Italy, she worked with some of the country’s top directors following the war, including Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi and Vittorio De Sica.

Two of her more popular films at home were Comencini’s “Pane Amore e Fantasia” (“Bread, Love and Dreams”) in 1953, and the sequel a year later, “Pane Amore e Gelosia” (“Bread, Love and Jealousy”). Her male foil was Vittorio Gassman, one of Italy’s leading men on the screen.

Lollobrigida also was an accomplished sculptor, painter and photographer, and eventually essentially dropped film for the other arts. With her camera, she roamed the world from what was then the Soviet Union to Australia. In 1974, Fidel Castro hosted her as a guest in Cuba for 12 days as she worked on a photo reportage.

Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco, a picturesque hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. Lollobrigida began her career in beauty contests, posing for the covers of magazines and making brief appearances in minor films. Producer Mario Costa plucked her from the streets of Rome to appear on the big screen.

13th August 1963: Gina Lollobrigida stars with Sean Connery in 'Woman of Straw', directed by Basil Dearden. (Photo by Victor Blackman/Express/Getty Images)
Lollobrigida stars with Sean Connery in “Woman of Straw.” 

Eccentric mogul Howard Hughes eventually brought Lollobrigida to the United States, where she performed with some of Hollywood’s leading men of the 1950s and 60s, including Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Yul Brynner.

Over the years, her co-stars also included Europe’s most dashing male stars of the era, among them Louis Jourdan, Fernando Rey, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Alec Guinness.

While Lollobrigida played some dramatic roles, her sex symbol image defined her career, and her most popular characters were in lighthearted comedies such as the “Bread, Love” trilogy.

With lush eyelashes and thick, brown curls framing her face, Lollobrigida started a hairstyle rage in the 1950s known as the “poodle cut.” Gossip columnists commented on alleged rivalries between her and Sophia Loren, another Italian film star celebrated for her beauty,

In middle age, Lollobrigida’s romance with a man 34 years her junior, Javier Rigau, from Barcelona, Spain, kept gossip pages buzzing for years.

“I have always had a weakness for younger men because they are generous and have no complexes,” the actress told Spain’s “Hola” magazine. After more than 20 years of dating, in 2006, the then-79-year-old Lollobrigida announced that she would marry Rigau, but the wedding never happened.

Her first marriage, to Milko Skofic, a Yugoslavia-born doctor, ended in divorce in 1971.

In the last years of her life, Lollobrigida’s name more frequently appeared in articles by journalists covering Rome’s courts, not the glamour scene, as legal battles were waged over whether she had the mental competence to tend to her finances.

On her website, Lollobrigida recalled how her family lost its house during the bombings of World War II and went to live in Rome. She studied sculpture and painting at a high school dedicated to the arts, while her two sisters worked as movie theater ushers to allow her to continue her studies.

Maria Grazia Murru contributed reporting.

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Lisa Marie carved her musical path as she bore Elvis’ legacy https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/14/lisa-marie-carved-her-musical-path-as-she-bore-elvis-legacy/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/14/lisa-marie-carved-her-musical-path-as-she-bore-elvis-legacy/#respond Sat, 14 Jan 2023 17:22:56 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8716482&preview=true&preview_id=8716482 By Kristin M. Hall | Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — She was dubbed a “rock princess,” but Lisa Marie Presley staked her own musical claim as a singer-songwriter, allowing her to express herself apart from — but sometimes alongside — her megastar father.

Presley, who died Thursday at 54, bore a heavy weight: The daughter of musical royalty, the face of the Elvis estate and fodder for tabloid gossip about her marriages.

There was no question music would be a center point of her life, starting when she was a child singing for her father, the King with the unmistakable voice.

“He’s always been a huge influence on me my whole life always. It’s the first thing I ever heard,” she told The Associated Press in 2012.

As the sole heir of Elvis’ estate, her early life was defined by the Elvis brand and her role building that legacy with her mother Priscilla. That often meant Elvis fans put their own feelings about her father and his music onto her and Priscilla.

Charles Hughes, an author and director of the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College in Memphis, noted that Presley faced sexism and racism in the tabloids — and among some Elvis fans — throughout her life, especially surrounding her relationship to another icon, Michael Jackson.

“There are very few people I can think of who had to do what she did … being the Presleys’ daughter, but being Michael Jackson’s ex-wife and being a mother and being in the public eye as long and as complicatedly as she was,” said Hughes.

She was 35 and a mother when her debut album “To Whom It May Concern” came out in 2003. The music was in the vein of the rock-pop sound influenced by Sheryl Crow, her sultry alto over distorted guitars and raw dark lyrics that hinted at her past relationships.

“The daring thing about her music, the daring thing about her recording career, the daring thing about her was her willingness to speak her truth,” said Joe Levy, editor at large at Billboard. “The songs on those first two records are more challenging, more daring, and more exciting for their lyrics than for their music.”

The album was well-received and certified gold, even though she didn’t play publicly very much, and it hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her first single “Lights Out” reached a No. 18 peak on Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay. Over her career, she sold 836,000 albums, while her songs have drawn 9.5 million official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.

Hughes said he still regularly plays the “Lights Out” music video for his students when he teaches about Elvis.

“It is such a compelling and a complicated take on the legacy and on her role in it. It’s not about him. I mean, it is, but it’s really about her,” said Hughes.

But doing press interviews in 2005 to promote her second album, “Now What,” meant being subjected to an endless barrage of questions about Jackson and her third husband Nicholas Cage, rather than the music.

Author Steve Baltin, who interviewed her several times over her career, said within music circles Presley was able to be herself and be accepted for her own talent. During her career, she worked with Pink, T Bone Burnett, Linda Perry, Richard Hawley, Ed Harcourt and many more.

“She was very respected as a musician, and while everybody else saw her as Elvis’ daughter, people in music loved her and they appreciated the fact that, one, she was talented, but two, she really supported music,” said Baltin.

Her third album, “Storm & Grace,” came out in 2012, after a period in which Presley had moved to England to work with British songwriters on what turned out to be a very American record. More bluesy and acoustic than her earlier records, the songs are full of melancholy and heartache.

On the song “Sticks and Stones,” she addresses critics with scorching mimicry, singing “She’s ain’t just like her daddy/oh what a shame/She’s got no talent of her own/it’s just her name.”

Baltin said Presley stopped trying to avoid the comparisons at that point in her career.

“That record, in particular, was the first time that she really started to accept who she was and accept all of her roots and how this played into her,” said Baltin. “So I think it was the record that was most completely her because she wasn’t trying to deny her past.”

Songwriter and musician Clif Magness worked with Presley for about two years making the first record, saying she was excellent at writing “dark and quirky” lyrics. He said he rarely pried about who inspired which songs, but he recalled her writing a song about her dad called “Nobody Noticed It.”

“It took about six months to get her to the point where she can be honest with herself and creative with her words and talk about her dad,” he said. “So that was really special.”

Presley’s lyrics to “Lights Out” were written after she had come back from a visit to Graceland, said Magness, where her father and her grandparents are buried in the back lawn, along with extra space for other Presley family members. Years later, in 2020, her 27-year-old son Benjamin Keough was buried there as well.

“I noticed a space left/next to them there in Memphis/in the damn back lawn,” she sings.

All roads lead back to Memphis for the Presleys and Lisa Marie will be interred there, too, something she foretold in her music decades ago.


Follow Kristin M. Hall at https://twitter.com/kmhall

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