Meagan Good wants to become a gun owner ... and while she says she didn't always feel that way, the recent rise of home invasions in Los Angeles changed her mind.
Meagan explained her change of heart in tonight's interview with Charlamagne Tha God on his Comedy Central show "Tha God's Honest Truth" ... saying she would feel more comfortable with a gun after seeing home invasions on the rise in Hollywood.
The actress says she used to think she didn't need a gun at home because there wouldn't be time to grab the weapon if a situation arose ... but now she says she wants to be able to at least have the option.
While Meagan says she doesn't want to shoot or kill any potential home invaders ... she says she is willing to defend herself with a gun.
Meagan's fears are real.
TMZ broke the story ... Clarence Avant's wife, Jackie, was shot and killed inside the couple's Beverly Hills home Wednesday morning after at least one suspect made it inside during a home invasion robbery.
LAPD
These cases are part of an alarming trend ... in the days before Halloween, Dorit Kemsley had 3 men (shown above) storm into her bedroom to threaten her life before fleeing with six-figures worth of valuables.
It's evening happening outside of homes ... Terrence J told cops last month he was pulling into his driveway when another car pulled up and the men inside ordered him out of his car, firing shots and giving chase when he refused their commands and drove off.
Bottom line for Meagan ... she's embracing the 2nd Amendment.
Meagan's full interview airs tonight on Comedy Central, and you can tune in to Charlamagne's show Fridays at 10 PM.
John Schneider is sharing his thoughts on Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” movie set shooting.
On Oct. 21, Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the New Mexico set of his planned film “Rust” when a gun he was holding discharged. A projectile from the weapon fatally struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
An investigation into the incident has been underway for a month now, and Baldwin spoke out Thursday night, claiming during a tell-all interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that despite holding the gun, he “didn’t pull the trigger.”
Ahead of Baldwin’s interview, a preview was released, which featured Baldwin’s comments, and Schneider, 61, shared his thoughts on the matter in an 18-minute video titled “Seriously Alec?“
Schneider claimed the interview was “all designed to make us feel sorry for Alec Baldwin” and claimed the actor’s teary-eyed emotional responses during the interview were “bulls–t.”
Schneider questioned the conversation, asking whether viewers were supposed to “believe that a gun went off by itself.”
“This is a wonderful business we all work in. We are honored and privileged to be part of it,” Schneider continued. “So when someone takes a crap – which obviously George and Alec have done here and obviously this woman is still deceased. Her family is still without a mother, without a wife. This is absurd.”
Actor John Schneider, right, railed against Alec Baldwin for claiming he did not pull the trigger of the gun on the set of the film “Rust”.Getty Images
The “Dukes of Hazzard” alum said he believes “the propaganda machine” is responsible for perpetuating the idea that Baldwin “is a victim.”
“Three weeks ago, it was a prop gun. Four weeks ago, nobody knew how in the world this real weapon was loaded on the set,” Schneider said. “Today, he didn’t pull the trigger.”
“What kind of idiots do you take us for?” the actor questioned. He then pleaded with law enforcement, asking investigators not to believe Baldwin’s claim, calling it “nonsense.”
“Guns do not go off by themselves,” Schneider insisted. “Let us not forget this was a single-action – it was not a Colt, it was a replica … – a single-action weapon needs to be cocked and fired. So what kind of idiots do you take us for?”
“There is just no world in which guns go off by themselves,” he repeated. “… Hutchins is still deceased. And their family is not getting an apology, they’re not getting any – in my opinion – they’re not getting any justice, they’re not getting any answers.”
Schneider then developed an analogy, comparing the “Rust” shooting to a bully pushing a child off of a swing on a playground, resulting in serious injury.
“What is the bully going to say? ‘I didn’t push her! I didn’t push her,'” the actor said. “First they’re going to say, ‘I didn’t know. I didn’t know what was going on.’ Then if that doesn’t work – which, by the way, it still doesn’t work because you are supposed to check the weapon, you fellow – but then you have the audacity to say, ‘I didn’t pull the trigger.'”
The star added that it was “still inexcusable” not to check a weapon when it’s handed to you, even if you’re told it’s unloaded, but admitted it would be “very easy to accidentally pull that trigger.”
It wasn’t just Baldwin that the actor took aim at, however. He called ABC’s Stephanopoulos “the poster boy for leftist propaganda.”
“Why in the world anyone would look at an interview with George as being anything enlightening or having a modicum of truth, I don’t know,” Schneider said. “But that’s just me.”
Schneider also said that he’s “incredibly embarrassed for” Stephanopoulos “because, my God, why are you perpetuating this BS?”
Tristan Thompson is allegedly expecting a third child, this time with his Houston-based personal trainer.
Maralee Nichols is suing the Sacramento Kings player for child support despite the fact that her baby has yet to be born, according to the Daily Mail, citing court documents. The baby was allegedly conceived on Thompson’s 30th birthday in March, when he and Khloé Kardashian were still dating.
Thompson acknowledged having sex with Nichols several times at a hotel after the pair attended a party together, according to a declaration included in the filing.
Neither Thompson’s attorney nor his rep immediately returned Page Six’s request for comment.
However, Thompson claims that night was the only time he was intimate with Nichols, but attorneys for Nichols claim their affair began at least “five months” before his 30th birthday and involved Nichols traveling to California on multiple occasions and continued after she got pregnant.
A paternity lawsuit claims Tristan Thompson impregnated his personal trainer while he was still dating Khloé Kardashian.Getty Images
Kardashian is also mentioned in his statement, which was signed off on Aug. 5, and is referred to as Thompson’s “ex-girlfriend” and the mother of his child, True Thompson.
Thompson also has a 4-year-old son, Prince Thompson, with model ex Jordan Craig, 30.
In November, Thompson filed an emergency motion for confidentiality order and motion to seal file. According to the docs, obtained by Page Six, the confidentiality order was granted, but his motion to seal the records were denied.
Page Six broke the news in July 2021 that Kardashian and Thompson broke up after Instagram model Sydney Chase came forward and claimed in an April interview that he had slept with her in the fall.
Thompson’s ex Khloé Kardashian is named in the paternity suit.Getty Images for Remy Martin
“They’re getting along. There is no drama,” a source said, adding that “everything is amicable, and they are on the same page with co-parenting.”
Their split also came after reports that Thompson was allegedly spotted entering a room with three women at a Bel Air birthday party and emerged 30 minutes later looking “disheveled” — just one day after dining with Kardashian and True.
Currently, the Good American founder is back to sharing cryptic quotes on her Instagram Stories, perhaps in response to the paternity suit going public.
Antony Sher, one of the most acclaimed Shakespearean actors of his generation, has died aged 72
ByJILL LAWLESS Associated Press
December 3, 2021, 3:35 PM
• 3 min read
LONDON -- Antony Sher, one of the most acclaimed Shakespearean actors of his generation, has died aged 72, the Royal Shakespeare Company said Friday.
Sher had been diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year. His husband, Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director Gregory Doran, took leave from his job to care for him.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1949, Sher moved to Britain in the late 1960s to study drama. He joined the RSC in 1982 and had a breakthrough role in 1984 as the usurping king in “Richard III.”
He went on to play most of Shakespeare’s meaty male roles, including Falstaff in the “Henry IV” plays, Leontes in “The Winter’s Tale,” Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice,” Iago in “Othello” and the title characters in “Macbeth” and “King Lear.”
Non-Shakespearean roles for the company, based in the Bard’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, included Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's “Death of a Salesman” and the title role in Moliere's “Tartuffe.”
Sher also performed with Liverpool’s innovative Everyman Theatre and at many of London’s main theaters, getting his first West End starring role as a drag artist in Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy.” He won the 1985 best-actor Olivier Award jointly for “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Richard III.”
He gained a second Olivier, as well as a Tony Award nomination for playing artist Stanley Spencer in Pam Gems’ “Stanley” at the National Theatre and on Broadway.
After winning acclaim as a pillar of British theater, Sher began to explore both his Jewish and his South African heritage.
He adapted Primo Levi’s powerful Auschwitz memoir “If This is a Man” into a one-man stage show, “Primo,” that ran on Broadway in 2005.
He created the solo show despite being afflicted with debilitating stage fright.
“If you suffer from stage fright, is it a good idea to perform a one-man show? The answer, surprisingly, turns out to be yes,” Sher told the Associated Press in 2005. “It is the best cure for stage fright in the world, because it’s make or break. There’s no middle ground.”
Sher's last role for the RSC came in 2019 in South African writer John Kani’s “Kunene and The King.” Sher played a veteran actor diagnosed with cancer, looked after by a Black South African carer.
Kani, who starred opposite Sher, said the two men had been “comrades in the struggle for a better South Africa.”
On television, Sher starred as a memorably sleazy university lecturer in 1981 BBC series “The History Man.” His film roles included Dr. Moth in “Shakespeare in Love,” Benjamin Disraeli in “Mrs Brown” and Adolf Hitler in “Churchill: The Hollywood Years.”
Sher also wrote several novels and theatrical memoirs, along with an autobiography, “Beside Myself,” and exhibited his paintings and drawings in galleries. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000, becoming Sir Antony Sher.
“I think he always felt like an outsider and his outsider’s vision was his strength,” said Harriet Walter, who starred opposite Sher in “Macbeth” and “Death of a Salesman.”
“He had abundant creative energy and protean powers and an almost clinical curiosity about what makes people tick,” she said.
Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro said Sher’s performances “profoundly deepened my understanding of Shakespeare.”
“He was a brilliant actor and an incredibly kind and thoughtful person,” Shapiro said. “Hamlet put it best: “take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.’”
Sher and Doran were one of the first couples to have a civil partnership in Britain after same-sex unions were legalized in 2005. They married in 2015 when the U.K. legalized gay marriage.
George Clooney said he once turned down $35 million for one day's work.
The actor told The Guardian that he'd gotten an offer to feature in an airline commercial.
It was associated with "a country that, although it's an ally, is questionable at times," he said.
George Clooney said he was once offered $35 million for one day's work but turned it down after deciding it wasn't worth it.
The Oscar-winning actor and producer revealed his almost payday during an interview with The Guardian published on Friday.
The interviewer asked him whether he'd ever thought, "I have enough money now."
"Well, yeah. I was offered $35 million for one day's work for an airline commercial," he said, adding that he consulted with Amal, his wife, "and we decided it's not worth it."
The airline was associated with "a country that, although it's an ally, is questionable at times," he said, "and so I thought: 'Well, if it takes a minute's sleep away from me, it's not worth it.'"
Amal and George Clooney.Getty
Alongside his decades-long career in Hollywood, Clooney, 60, has an extensive business portfolio. The Guardian mentioned reports that he'd earned over $40 million for his advertisement work with the Swiss coffee maker Nespresso.
Later during the wide-ranging interview, Clooney, who's on a promotion tour for his latest film, "The Tender Bar," was asked why he no longer acted as frequently as he used to.
"In general, there just aren't that many great parts — and, look, I don't have to act," he said. "My wife and I had this conversation when I turned 60 this summer. I said: 'I can still bounce around pretty good, and we both love what we do. But we gotta make sure we don't book ourselves silly.' So, part of it is just us making sure we live our lives."
"The Tender Bar," based on a book of the same name by J.R. Moehringer, stars Ben Affleck, Lily Rabe, and Tye Sheridan. It's set to be released in theaters later this month.
Billie Eilish has entered a new hair era! After spending much of 2021 being platinum blonde while promoting her album Happier Than Ever, the Grammy winner just debuted fresh new brunette hair on Instagram, which she captioned "Miss me?"
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Billie initially dyed her hair blonde back in March, and then debuted bangs a few months later. She told Ellen that the decision to go blonde actually came after she saw a fan edit: “It was me with whatever hair color I had, and they just edited blonde hair on me, and I was like, ‘It’s so sick, I want it.’”
But Billie also revealed to Elle Magazine that one of the reasons she went blonde was because too many people recognized her signature green hair.
“I couldn’t go anywhere with that hair because it was so obviously me. I wanted anonymity," she said, adding that she felt completely free when she changed her look. "I went to a park with a friend, and I was like, ‘No, I can’t take off my hood!’ I was terrified of the paparazzi and these stalkers I’ve had. But my friend was like, ‘Don’t worry: You’re okay. Nothing’s gonna happen.’ And I took my hood off, and I felt like a new person.”
“I had no goal of ‘This is going to make everybody think differently of me.’ I’ve had different-colored hair and vibes for everything I’ve ever done. I wanted this album to have its own thing," she continued. "The other day, I posted a video from when I had green hair, and I saw people go, ‘I miss this Billie, the green-haired Billie.' I’m still the same person. I’m not just different Barbies with different heads.”
Kay, BRB while I go get some boxed dye to recreate this look at home. Pray for me.
Mehera BonnerMehera Bonner is a news writer who focuses on celebrities and royals.
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It’s a funny quirk of theater that Annie Live! was actually the least nervous I’ve ever felt sitting down to watch one of these live musicals. If there’s one group of people I trust to deliver consistency, it’s kids trained in musical theater. So even though this particular production opened with a bizarre Brechtian acknowledgement of the fourth wall by way of what felt like a Gap Kids ad, and then forced young star Celina Smith to go through the stress of a quick change on national television (talk about a “moment before”), nothing could throw this young cast off its game. Less than 10 minutes in, elementary schoolers were already doing butterfly flips across the stage while singing in perfect harmony. It’s hard to think of a better way to say “theater is back, baby!” than a pre-teen belting her face off while walking a live dog around the stage. The audience couldn’t stop themselves from applauding mid-song and neither could I.
In retrospect, I can’t believe we got A Christmas Story Live! and The Grinch Live! before someone thought to stage a production of Annie. Not only is it a beloved musical, it’s also a genuinely good show too. Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin’s score is full of bangers, not just in the show’s best-known numbers, but also in catchy songs like “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” “Easy Street,” and “N.Y.C.” Between the popularity of the original cast album, the 1982 movie with Carol Burnett, the 1999 Wonderful World Of Disney version with Victor Garber and Kathy Bates, and the 2014 movie with Quvenzhané Wallis and Jamie Foxx, it’s a show that’s got buy-in from multiple generations. Plus it’s literally set at Christmas! Leaping lizards, what else could you want?
Best of all, NBC finally listened to the plea I’ve put in basically everyreview since these live musicals started: They filmed the show in front of a live audience and let the crowd actually laugh at the jokes, rather than just cheer like they were at a rock concert. I don’t know why it took eight full years for someone to think of treating theater like theater, but at least NBC made up for it by bringing in an audience knowledgeable enough to make sure Megan Hilty got her own entrance applause in addition to Tituss Burgess’ ecstatic reception after the duo arrived onstage together as Rooster and Lily St. Regis, respectively. That’s exactly how two Broadway legends should be treated.
Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Annie Live! threw down the gauntlet early by squeezing in “Maybe,” “It’s The Hard Knock Life,” and “Tomorrow” all before the first commercial break. And the show kept up that momentum for its full three-hour runtime. Even the flaws— Harry Connick Jr.’s horrifyingly fleshy Daddy Warbucks bald cap, a few crew members popping up in shots here and there—just added to the fun of the whole thing. These live musicals should be a touch ridiculous, otherwise what would we tweet about? Annie Live! reminded us that girls can be orphans, billionaires can be good, and Nicole Scherzinger can fan kick while scatting. So while, sure, maybe Smith’s unexpectedly raw, naturalistic take on Annie doesn’t necessarily make sense in the same show where Taraji P. Henson is going full twitchy pantomime villain as Miss Hannigan, it doesn’t really matter when both performances are wonderful in a cast without a weak link.
Annie Live! also hugely benefited from director Lear deBessonet’s simple, pared back staging. While some of these live musicals have gone big with multiplesoundstages or concert-styleproductions, Annie Live! mostly unfolded like an actual stage show. Jason Sherwood’s elegantly simple set put the emphasis on the performers—especially the dancers, who stole the show in the big ensemble numbers. (You can feel how hungry these performers have been to put on a show after the pandemic put a kibosh on live theater for so long, and Sergio Trujillo’s choreography served them incredibly well.) And while Alex Rudzinski’s camera direction wasn’t always the best at complementing deBessonet’s stage pictures, that’s a fairly minor critique. On the plus side, other than a few late microphone moments, Annie Live! was basically the first of these live musicals to finally get the sound mixing right, which is a huge win in my book.
Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC
It also helps that Annie just feels like a nice thematic fit for our current moment. There’s something poignant about its lighthearted look at the power of optimism in the face of the Great Depression. (Hope you enjoyed that Herbert Hoover history lesson, kids!) Plus its celebration of found family is lovely too. Though this is definitely a fun-first show, I actually found myself surprisingly moved by Connick Jr.’s mournful reprise of “Maybe” when Daddy Warbucks thinks he’s going to have to say goodbye to little orphan Annie. And by the time Annie and Warbucks expressed their love for one another after she finds out her biological parents died years ago, I was full-on tearing up.
Annie Live! does what these live musicals should have been doing from the start: Pick strong source material, cast it well, and embrace the unique format of live theater, rather than try to turn it into something else. Perfectly paced and anchored by Smith’s star-making breakthrough performance, Annie Live! proved to be a lovely way to spend a Thursday night amidst the busy rush of the holiday season and the general scariness of the world right now. While so many of the previous live musicals have felt like fleeting ephemera I’ll never rewatch again, Annie Live! is one I might actually be tempted to revisit tomorrow.
Stray observations
Yes, I did clap for Annie’s big entrance in her iconic red dress, and I hope you did too.
Nicole Scherzinger walks an unparalleled line between giving an earnestly great musical theater performance and a ridiculous camp musical theater performance, and that is her power.
Some of the camera work was pretty scattershot tonight, but I did love that Steadicam shot down the steps in “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here.”
I also loved the fantastically colorful period styles from costumer designer Emilio Sosa, although I’m a little baffled by the choice to bookend the show with kids in modern dress.
I truly can’t overemphasis what a difference it made to have a live audience laughing and responding to the show itself! It was especially sweet when the crowd broke into applause for Warbuck’s line, “I’m glad to see Broadway getting back on its feet in spite of the hard times.”
I’d take a New Deal for Christmas! Or a kind billionaire who wants to adopt me.
