By Justin Gamble, CNN Opal Lee, the 96-year-old Texan who successfully championed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, was honored on Wednesday with the unveiling of a portrait at the state Capitol. The portrait of Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” is the first new portrait to be hung in the state Senate
Continue Reading By Dan Heching, CNN Some classics never go out of style, especially when it comes to John Travolta and “Grease.” The actor and singer appears in a new Super Bowl ad for T-Mobile, which dropped Thursday, in which he performs a new rendition of hit song “Summer Nights,” alongside Zach Braff and Donald Faison of
Continue Reading By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Vanessa Hudgens is officially a fiancée and offered a glimpse of her engagement ring from Major League Baseball outfielder Cole Tucker for the first time on Instagram on Thursday. News that Hudgens and Tucker were reportedly engaged began circulating last week, but the couple confirmed the news via the joint social
Continue Reading By Dan Heching, CNN Rock band Depeche Mode is back with its first new song since the death of founding member Andy Fletcher last year. Remaining band members Dave Gahan and Martin Gore dropped new song “Ghosts Again” — the lead single off their new album “Memento Mori” — on Thursday, along with a haunting
Continue Reading By Marianne Garvey, CNN Jon Hamm puts his last name to good use in a new campaign. When Hamm got a call from his commercial agent about a Hellmann’s Super Bowl ad, the actor agreed to appear in the spot, he said, because the company’s message was to encourage “viewers to get creative in the
Continue Reading By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN The trailer for Ben Affleck’s latest film “Air” has finally flown into our orbit. Director and star Affleck is featured in the trailer sporting a retro look for his portrayal of Phil Knight, former Nike Inc. CEO who oversaw the 1984 deal that changed the sneaker industry — and athletic endorsement
Continue Reading By Marianne Garvey, CNN “The Last of Us” star Melanie Lynskey is responding to criticism over her casting in the hit HBO series. Earlier this week, former reality star Adrianne Curry tweeted that she didn’t think Lynskey was a good fit the role, writing, “Her body says life of luxury…not post apocolyptic warlord.” Lynskey had
Continue Reading By Cheri Mossburg, CNN The parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was shot and killed during a rehearsal on the ‘Rust’ film set in 2021 are suing actor Alec Baldwin, the movie’s production company and others over her death. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges the defendants caused
Continue Reading Review by Brian Lowry, CNN Joining a genre of docuseries best described as “The Weirder the better,” “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence” details how a group of college students allowed their lives to taken over by a friend’s father, who coached, bullied and ultimately controlled them. Luckily for the producers, Larry Ray
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France and David Close, CNN Instead of having “Love On The Brain,” Rihanna has had Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII halftime show on her mind. The superstar singer said Thursday that all her attention is going toward preparing for her performance. “I’ve been so focused on the Super Bowl that I totally forgot
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France, CNN Yes, the seven floating stages during Rihanna’s Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show were theatrical and cool, but they also had a very practical purpose. And it had everything to do with the grass on the field. That’s according to Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show production designer, who spoke
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France, CNN Burt Bacharach has one of the most impressive songbooks in the history of the music industry. And while he is incredibly well known for hits like “Walk on By” by Dionne Warwick and “I Say A Little Prayer,” which was first recorded by Warwick and then covered by Aretha Franklin
Continue Reading By Jamie Gangel and Brandon Griggs, CNN Burt Bacharach, the acclaimed composer and songwriter behind dozens of mellow pop hits from the 1950s to the 1980s, including “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and the theme from the movie “Arthur,” has died, a family member of Bacharach confirmed
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France, CNN Evangeline Lilly has offered an update on her Marvel colleague Jeremy Renner’s recovery. The “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actress told “Access Hollywood” she had recently visited with Renner, who was crushed by his snow-removal tractor during an accident on New Year’s Day. The pair starred together in the 2008
Continue Reading Review by Brian Lowry, CNN “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” is less a coda to the franchise than a muted riff on it, an encore without much of a purpose. What drew director Steven Soderbergh back to material this thin is anybody’s guess, but if strippers like to talk about making it rain, this third and
Continue Reading Review by Brian Lowry, CNN “You” has already wrung an impressive amount of mileage out of its concept, getting the audience to identify with — if not necessarily root for — a suave, murderous stalker. Yet while the fourth season begins in characteristically twisty fashion, before it’s over the Netflix hit feels dangerously close to
Continue Reading By Elizabeth Wolfe and Brian Ries, CNN National Pizza Day may have melted away like mozzarella, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still wrap ourselves in the warm, gooey embrace of cheese, settle into a heavenly array of toppings and chomp down on some comforting crust. Besides, although the February 9 celebration has passed, there’s
Continue Reading Nick Glass, CNN | Natasha Maguder, CNN “The most mysterious and beloved artist of all time.” Without a hint of apology, this is how the general director of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbits, describes Vermeer. And it’s hard to disagree. Of course, we have other more recognizable names — Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh — but
Continue Reading Nick Glass, CNN | Natasha Maguder, CNN “The most mysterious and beloved artist of all time.” Without a hint of apology, this is how the general director of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbits, describes Vermeer. And it’s hard to disagree. Of course, we have other more recognizable names — Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh — but
Continue Reading Nick Glass, CNN | Natasha Maguder, CNN “The most mysterious and beloved artist of all time.” Without a hint of apology, this is how the general director of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbits, describes Vermeer. And it’s hard to disagree. Of course, we have other more recognizable names — Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh — but
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