Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Lewis Howes(LOS ANGELES) — Rule of thumb, pick on somebody your own size and not the son of a former global bodybuilding champion. The person in question is Patrick Schwarzengger, son of seven-time Mr. Olympia title winner and part-time Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The 26-year-old claimed on Sunday that someone tried to fight him for an extremely inane reason. Someone was upset at him for wearing a mask in public.
“A man just tried to come and fight me because I was wearing a mask,” the younger Schwarzenegger recounted on Twitter. He added that the unnamed aggressor told him, “I’mma slap you across your face for that mask.”
Of course, the Midnight Sun actor shrugged it off, adding, “I was like huh…..”
Despite fans pressing Schwarzenegger for more details, the actor refused to elaborate on the situation.
However, he now joins the ever-growing list of celebrities, such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Aniston, that are urging fans to wear masks in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
For those wondering about who would have won if a fight had broken out, let it be known that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself confirmed that he can’t compete with his son, writing in a 2015 birthday tweet, “Happy birthday @PSchwarzenegger. I never thought I’d have a son who was stronger and smarter than me.”
By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
PermalinkBilly Porter throws his full support behind Kamala Harris ahead of DNC performance
ABC/Rick Rowell(LOS ANGELES) — The Democratic National Convention starts Monday and one of the many esteemed guests speaking at the ceremony will be Pose star Billy Porter, who is eagerly looking forward to the event for several important reasons.
One thing he’s anxiously awaiting is his performance. Speaking with ABC Audio, Porter revealed, “I’m singing ‘For What it’s Worth,'” which is a cover of the Buffalo Springfield protest anthem.
When asked how he worked with the DNC to put together a show-worthy performance, the Tony winner disclosed, “They came to my house, they set up a green screen, I sang the song.” Porter also tossed in that he “put on a cute outfit” and that “It was social distanced. Everybody had on a mask.”
Porter is also looking forward to leaving a mark on new voters in this time of uncertainty because it mirrors his hard-fought life experiences.
“I am first generation post-civil rights movement, and then I came out as gay in 1985 and, you know, we went straight to the front lines to fight for our lives during the AIDS crisis,” The 50-year-old actor recounted. “So activism is in my DNA. Fighting is the only thing I know. It’s the air I breathe.”
The Grammy winner also said the 2020 election is important because “these last four years has been a horror show” and that it’s time for everyone to pack the polls on November 3 because “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. That’s what Frederick Douglass said.”
When asked about his thoughts about Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris, Porter could barely contain his approval.
“He got the right one,” the American Horror Story alum affirmed. “I’m glad he chose Kamala. She was my first choice, but whoever he chose was gonna get my vote.”
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
SWAG and Swabs: Venice Film Festival announces anti-COVID-19 protocols
Mick Jagger with fans at 2019’s Venice Film Festival – ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images(ITALY) — September’s Venice Film Festival will look very different than years prior, and not only because COVID-19 has reduced the number of attendees and movies screened.
Deadline obtained a copy of the rules the festival has put in place to keep its attendees safe from the virus, including a socially-distanced red carpet, mandatory nasal swabs, temperature checks and more.
As the first major movie awards event to soldier on following the pandemic, all eyes are on the organizers.
All guests will have to follow the protocols, the trade explains, but only travelers from outside the EU have to go through mandatory tests for the virus at least three days before they leave their home countries. Negative test results must be presented at the border, along with an invitation, before guests can attend.
What’s more, guests from outside the EU who plan to spend less than 120 hours at the Venice Film Festival will have to get swabbed 24 hours after arrival; flunking it with a positive test “will result in confinement,” according to the trade. The festival will cover the cost of testing, Deadline also explains.
Spending longer than 120 hours buys you a third mandatory test, and while awaiting results, attendees are advised to socially distance, wear masks, and “avoid tourist activities.”
Gone will be the usual scrum of paparazzi on the red carpet — a reduced number of photographers will shoot arrivals, around which the public will not be allowed to congregate or get autographs as in years past. Instead, the red carpet festivities will be broadcast for viewing both online and on TV.
Mandatory temperature checks will be in place, as will be hand sanitizing stations. The festival’s grounds, as well as hotels serving the guests, will also be sanitized regularly in accordance with new safety standards.
By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Comedienne Tig Notaro to replace Chris D’Elia in Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Clusterfest(LOS ANGELES) — Comedian Chris D’Elia, who has been accused of sexually harassing underage girls — a claim he has denied — is being digitally replaced in Zack Snyder’s zombie movie Army of the Dead.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that comedienne Tig Notaro would be replacing D’Elia in the film, using a combination of reshoots and digital trickery.
The film, about a Las Vegas heist amid a zombie apocalypse, also stars Marvel movie star Dave Bautista, Theo Rossi, and Omari Hardwick, among others. The trade notes the film wrapped shooting last year, and was in post-production when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Hollywood.
The post-production process allowed the director to have an opportunity to swap D’Elia with Grammy-winner Notaro, who will reportedly shoot her scenes using “a combination of techniques,” including green screen and computer-generated digital compositing, to seamlessly make her part of the cast, which, naturally, has already dispersed.
By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback explain why “superpowers” weren’t the biggest draw for them to sign on to ‘Project Power’
Skip Bolen/Netflix © 2020(NEW YORK) — Jamie Foxx had a lot good reasons to sign on to his new Netflix thriller Project Power.
The film, which also stars Dominque Fishback as an impressionable drug dealer, follows the Academy Award winner as Art, a former Army Ranger, who’s on the hunt to find his abducted daughter. Foxx tells ABC Audio that being involved in a film about special abilities was a big draw for him.
“The project to me was just super dope,” he says. “Like the idea that you could take a pill and get superpowers. I was like, ‘I ain’t got to read the script. I need to know where the pills at. I need to know where that is.'”
But special powers aside, Foxx says another reason why he decided to take on the role was because he got the opportunity to work with a promising new talent.
“Once we got started, there was this wonderful light that walked into the chemistry process of getting this together. Her name is Dominique Fishback, and she took us to the moon… in the movie,” he says.
According to Foxx, Dominque’s dedication to the role was truly inspiring and made him want to “get up and go to work in the morning.”
“She’s on her way,” he says. “And so that’s what made me want to jump into it.”
The feeling was clearly mutual for Fishback who says working with Foxx was like “getting a chance to fill out [her] childhood dreams” of [starring in] Man on Fire opposite Denzel Washington.
“And I got to do it with Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” she says. “So I don’t really think about…the [superpower] pills. I mean that was like the cherry on top.”
Power Project is now available on Netflix.
By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Amy Schumer says she “can’t be pregnant ever again”
NBC(NEW YORK) — Amy Schumer is getting candid about her future baby plans.
The 39-year-old comedian and her chef husband Chris Fischer currently have one son together, 15-month-old Gene David, who they conceived through in vitro fertilization, however, when it comes to expanding their family, the couple doesn’t plan on taking the same route.
“We did IVF and IVF was really tough on me,” she says during the upcoming episode of Sunday Today with Willie Giest, according to People. “I don’t think I could ever do IVF again.”
Despite the rough time with IVF, Schumer revealed that they’ve explored other options but aren’t necessarily ready to pull the trigger on them.
“I decided that I can’t be pregnant ever again,” she shared. “We thought about a surrogate. but I think we’re going to hold off for right now.”
In the meantime, the I Feel Pretty star is enjoying being a mother and spending time with her son.
“Life is so much more beautiful,” she said of motherhood. “He’s the best thing in my life.”
By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Connecticut women are shooting their shot with Bradley Cooper using cookies
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for National Board of Review(CONNECTICUT) — They say the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach… and women in Connecticut are doing just that with their newest neighbor Bradley Cooper.
According to Page Six, the A Star Is Born actor has been seen roaming the streets of the coastal city of Fairfield. He was spotted jogging around and pumping gas in June, sparking an intense manhunt to find out where the Hollywood hunk is hiding out.
Well, women think they finally found the multi-million dollar mansion Cooper is staying at and are hoping to bag him as a boyfriend.
Rick Higgins, a real estate agent in the area who is representing the property rumored to be Cooper’s vacation spot, says women have been going full Stepford Housewives to get his attention.
“We have had things like women dropping off cookies or muffins that they bake at the gate with the request that he return the dish personally, dinner party invitations, etc.,” says Higgins.
However, there’s one problem. That house where they’re dropping off all their cookies and banana loafs is not where Cooper is staying. The confectionary avalanche became so bad, Higgins was forced to make a giant graphic that reads “Bradley Cooper has NOT purchased 640 Sasco Hill Road… despite the rumors!”
Still, the rumor train is still chugging along with people in the coastal cities of Fairfield and Westport attesting that it’s not only Bradley Cooper who’s staying in the area, but also Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt… despite their agents claiming that all three are West Coasting.
So, either Fairfield is experiencing a mass hallucination or the state is testing out a new slogan to get more people to move there… since it’s apparently the fourth most moved out of state, says Hartford Business.
By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Report says ‘Jurassic World: Dominion”s dino-sized COVID-19 precautions cost $9 million
Kevin Winter/Getty Images(LONDON) — When Jurassic World: Dominion became the first major studio film resume production last month following the COVID-19 shutdown, it came at a price: upwards of $9 million, according to The New York Times.
According to the paper, cast and crew in England have to follow a 107-page safety manual, and added expenses include renting out an entire hotel for the shoot’s participants for 20 weeks, as well as conducting some 18,000 COVID-19 tests.
Star Bryce Dallas Howard tells the paper, “Until now, actors were not really included in prep. But in order to get any of us on a plane, we had to thoroughly understand the protocols, who was involved and hear second and third opinions. We are the guinea pigs who are going to take the leap.”
Among those protocols is dividing the Universal Pictures film’s 750-person crew in half, with those essential to shooting being dubbed the “Green Zone” and the rest performing their duties off-set.
Sets are fumigated every day prior to shooting, and the actors’ chairs are spaced out with orange cones to enforce social distancing. Some 150 hand sanitizing stations were also installed, the paper details.
Howard wasn’t incorrect with her “guinea pig” analogyL the Times notes that as production ramps up on the Avatar sequels in New Zealand and the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Australia, other studios are looking to Jurassic World: Dominion as a pandemic safety production model going forward.
Jurassic World: Dominion, also starring Chris Pratt, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern and Sam Neill, is set for a June 11, 2021 opening.
By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Kristin Chenoweth sings opera after showing how easy it is to get a COVID test
Disney(NEW YORK) — If you never had a COVID-19 test, know that it calls for a cotton swab to be inserted into your nose until it reaches the back of your throat. While important, the test is, understandably, uncomfortable.
Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth did her duty on Thursday by demonstrating two things when it comes to getting a COVID-19 test. One, how easy it is to get one and, two, how one needs to behave while it’s being administerd.
Still, that didn’t stop her from goofing off once the test was over and done with.
In a video posted Thursday, the actress is seen clutching a pillow that says “No Whining.” As the doctor inserts the swab, the 52-year-old actress tries to keep her fidgeting to a minimum. Chenoweth then immediately fires up her vocals once the swab is extracted and belts out an opera-worthy note in celebration and, perhaps, shock.
After taking a moment to rub her nose, the Wicked alum stands up and cheerily notes, “See, if I can do it, everybody, you can too!”
Chenoweth dutifully explained in the caption that “High notes are applicable in every situation.” But, beyond sprinkling in some of her signature humor, she hopes that her video will help normalize testing.
“Got a precautionary #COVID19 test today,” the Pushing Daisies alum announced in hopes of inspiring others to help in the fight against the pandemic. “Look how quick and easy it is!”
Beyond it being a quick and easy process, Chenoweth also encouraged, “Protect others and get your tests, my loves!!”
By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Morgan Freeman top star-packed ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ table read
Araya Diaz/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Morgan Freeman will lead a star-studded charity table reading of the classic 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The fundraiser, called Feelin’ Alive, put together by comic Dane Cook, also stars Shia LaBeouf, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn and Henry Golding, and will benefit Penn’s nonprofit CORE, as well as REFORM Alliance — which was launched last year by a group including Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Robert Kraft and Michael Rubin.
Exactly which roles the actors will play remains a mystery, although Penn, 59, says he won’t be reprising his memorable role as surfer dude Jeff Spicoli, only hinting, “I’m very confident in the new guy.”
The actors’ parts will be revealed at the online event, taking place next Thursday.
Original Fast Times director Amy Heckerling and screenwriter Cameron Crowe will make a special introduction at the event. Crowe, referencing one of Spicoli’s famous line from the movie, says in a statement obtained by Deadline, “It is, as a great man once said, ‘totally awesome.’”
The original film also starred Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold and Forest Whitaker.
Dane Cook Presents Feelin’ A-Live, will be available to view via Facebook Live and TikTok through CORE’s Facebook page, and will also stream on Live X Live.
By George Costantino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.