ANTHONY ANDERSON TO HOST STRIKE-POSTPONED EMMY AWARDS: According to Variety, Anthony Anderson has been chosen to host the 75th annual Emmy Awards on January 15th, 2024. The awards ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on September 18th, 2023, but was postponed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. “With our industry’s recent challenges behind us, we can get back to what we love — dressing up and honoring ourselves,” the Black-ish actor said in a statement. “And there’s no better celebratory moment to bring the creative community together than the milestone 75th Emmy Awards. When Fox asked me to host this historic telecast, I was over the moon that Taylor Swift was unavailable, and now I can’t wait to be part of the biggest night in television.”
OPRAH WINFREY SAYS EXECUTIVES WANTED BEYONCE OR RIHANNA TO BE IN ‘THE COLOR PURPLE:’ While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter recently about the 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple, Oprah Winfrey said that there was pressure to cast Beyonce or Rihanna in the film. “To be completely honest about it, if you were doing this film for $30 or $40 million, the interest in the cast would be very different,” she told the outlet. “Once the film moved to $90 to $100 million, then everybody wants us to bring Beyoncé. 'Can you get Beyoncé or can you get Rihanna?' So we're sitting in a room saying, 'Listen, we love Beyoncé. We love Rihanna, but there are other actors who can do this job.'” The former talk show host added, “I do remember conversations about, 'Y'all, Beyoncé is going to be busy this year.' It wasn't even a negotiation, because you're not getting Beyoncé.”
CHECK OUT THE TRAILER FOR ‘CIVIL WAR:’ On Wednesday (December 13th), A24 released the first trailer for Civil War, starring Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Sonoya Mizuno. Dunst plays a photojournalist in the film, who risks her life to capture the downfall of America after “19 states have seceded.” Offerman stars as the President of the U.S., who orders airstrikes against the nation’s citizens. “Citizens of America, the so-called Western forces of Texas and California have suffered a very great defeat at the hands of the United States military,” he says in the trailer. According to Variety, Civil War is set to reach theaters on April 26th.
JENNIFER ANISTON FACES BACKLASH FOR COMMENTS ABOUT FOREGOING INTIMACY COORDINATOR ON SET OF ‘THE MORNING SHOW:’ During a recent episode of Variety‘s Actors on Actors series, Jennifer Aniston spoke about filming her sex scene with Jon Hamm, whom she’s been friends with for 12 years, on The Morning Show. “I never felt uncomfortable,” she said. “Jon was such a gentleman, always — I mean every move, every cut, ‘You OK?’ It was also very choreographed.” She added that the show’s director, Mimi Leder, made her feel “protected” the whole time. “They asked us if we wanted an intimacy coordinator. I’m from the olden days, so I was like, ‘What does that mean?'” she added. “They said, ‘Where someone asks you if you’re OK,’ and I’m like, ‘Please, this is awkward enough!'” Some on social media felt she was “minimizing” what an intimacy coordinator does with these comments and went on to stress their importance on set.