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David Simon

Taylor Swift Claps Back at Damon Albarn

Taylor Swift is NOT happy that Blur/Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn said in a new interview that she doesn’t write her own songs. (When the interviewer tried to correct him, he said, “That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great.”) Swift tweeted in response, “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”

Jack Antonoff added: “I’ve never met damon albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs taylor writes and brings in. if you were there … cool … go off. if not … maybe …. shut the f–k up?”

-Likely feeling the heat from Swifties, Albarn quickly jumped onto Twitter to try to diffuse the situation, posting “I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting.” I mean, it was a Q&A so I don’t really see how things were taken out of context but sure, man.

-Also, lots of people are pointing out how many co-writers he had on his last album, and also that Billie Eilish (who he praised in the interview) co-writes with her brother. Why bother going after one of the world’s biggest female singers in the first place, let alone when you don’t have a leg to stand on?

Garrett Hedlund is having a rough few days. Sources confirmed to People the rumours that have been floating around for a while that he’d split from baby mama Emma Roberts, and on Saturday he was arrested in Tennessee for public intoxication.

Evan Rachel Wood details more alleged abuse by Marilyn Manson in her HBO documentary Phoenix Rising, which debuted at Sundance. She accuses him of violently dragging her through a hotel, says he threatened to “fuck up my whole family from the bottom up, starting with my dad,” and says she was “essentially raped on camera” during the filming of Manson’s 2007 video “Heart-Shaped Glasses.”

Kristen Stewart says she and fiancée Dylan Meyer celebrated their engagement before things started locking down again. “We were kind of moving about the world a little more freely at the time. We did have an engagement party, which was nice and lucky and obviously not something we could have done now so I’m thankful for that.”

Kanye West and Julia Fox rocked some Canadian tuxedos in Paris.

-After Emilio Estevez bowed out of the Mighty Ducks series amid rumours that he disagreed with its covid protocols, Josh Duhamel has stepped in for season two.

Eric Clapton continues to try to drive any remaining fans away, claiming people vaccinated against covid are under ‘mass formation hypnosis.’

Adele apologized to some fans with Facetime calls after she abruptly postponed her Vegas residency.

-The Wire creator David Simon reveals that he almost had to choose a completely different theme song because Tom Waits could not figure out how to use a VCR.

Brad Pitt has teamed up with music producer Damien Quintard to relaunch the historic Miraval Studios in France, where Pink Floyd, Sting, The Cure and AC/DC recorded their albums.

-Did every TV writer decide this was the season that their characters were going to have heart attacks after a Peloton ride?

Prince Andrew having 72 teddy bears is the least disturbing rumor about him to surface lately.

-This is a fun piece about which celebrities are actually reading the books they claim to be reading.

Will Arnett, Ken Jeong, Annie Murphy, Conan O’Brien, Sharon Stone, Marshawn Lynch and more improv their way through crime scenes in the official trailer for Netflix’s Murderville. Improv can be hard to watch but this trailer intrigues me.

 

Jennifer Lopez is a Visionary

jennifer lopez on the adweek cover

Jennifer Lopez covers the new issue of Adweek, who has given her their Brand Visionary award. Ben Affleck was asked to weigh in and said, “All I can tell you is that I have seen firsthand the difference representation makes because I have seen, over and over and over and over, women of color approach Jennifer and tell her what her example as a strong woman and a woman succeeding and demanding her fair share in the business world means to them. I am in awe of what Jennifer’s effect on the world is.”

-Yet another Britney Spears doc is coming, this one from Netflix, who just released a short teaser.

Jake Gyllenhaal screened his new movie The Guilty and told the audience that rumours of a showering strike were greatly exaggerated. “It was an answer to a question where I was being sarcastic and ironic and it’s followed me around ever since. I showered before I came here, so I’m sorry!”

-The Ted Lasso crew held a “friends and family” Emmys afterparty that featured karaoke, the famous biscuits and a birthday cake for Jason Sudeikis. I love that Brendan Hunt wore the pants from the last episode!

-This could rock the entertainment world: For the first time in its history, IATSE, which is made up of over 375 unions representing every discipline of film and tv labour, is preparing to strike after the latest contract talks between the organization and producers faltered. The stories about TV and film crew members being overworked and exploited seems to have reached the tipping point with the sudden popularity of this anonymous Instagram account.

Kathryn Hahn is set to play Joan Rivers in a limited Showtime series called The Comeback Girl.

-A Pitch Perfect TV series has been ordered at Peacock. The series is set several years after the events of the films, with Adam Devine returning as Bumper, who moves to Germany to revive his music career when one of his songs becomes big in Berlin. It’s got good bones: Elizabeth Banks will produce, while The Good Place’s Megan Amram will be the showrunner.

Uma Thurman penned an op-ed condemning Texas’ anti-abortion law and shared her “darkest secret”: she had an abortion in her teens.

-Meanwhile, David Simon just pulled his new HBO project out of Texas because of the law.

Amy Schumer revealed she is recovering from surgery after having her uterus and appendix removed due to “painful and debilitating” endometriosis: “I’m gonna try to share this story at some point to raise awareness because so many people don’t even know the word endometriosis.”

-Family Guy included a PSA on how vaccines work. That’s where we’re at now. Baby Stewie has to explain science.

JoJo Siwa quickstepped her way to history in her Dancing with the Stars debut. She’s the first female celeb to be paired with a female pro.

Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, revealed she’s been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years.

When asked about the comparisons of Gerard Butler‘s 2009 film Gamer to the recent action flick Free Guy, Butler responded “I actually don’t know what Free Guy is.’ When his Copshop costar Alexis Louder explained, he said “Oh shit, is it? … I don’t watch Ryan Reynolds movies.” LOL

-I really like the Vulture series where they ask an actor a bunch of questions about a random role on their resume. Up today is Richard E. Grant talking about Spice World.

-Fans are having issues with the ending of Sally Rooney‘s Beautiful World, Where Are You. There are 944 people ahead of me in the library hold, so I will never know.

-Here’s the first trailer for Joel Coen’s The Tragedy Of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

-And here’s the trailer for Netflix’s Passing, Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. Set in ’20s Harlem, a Black housewife (Thompson) suffering through a quiet emotional breakdown reunites with a childhood friend (Negga) who’s now passing as a wealthy white woman. I still find it weird that Hall’s the one to tell this story, but the trailer is impressive.

Ellen Goes as Cardi B for Halloween

-I’ll give it to Ellen — she does a mean Cardi B impersonation.

-I did not expect Courteney Cox‘s Halloween video to go there…

-There are reports that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss walked away from their Star Wars project in part due because they didn’t want to deal with another “toxic fandom” after their Game of Thrones experience. Something tells me it would have gotten a hell of a lot more toxic under those two.

Kelly Clarkson‘s Hocus Pocus tribute is something to behold.

Aaron Sorkin wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg in the New York Times: “This can’t possibly be the outcome you and I want, to have crazy lies pumped into the water supply that corrupt the most important decisions we make together.” It’s kind of ironic that Sorkin’s Social Network is a big reason people viewed Zuckerberg as a scrappy underdog instead of someone in over his head for wayyyy longer than they should have.

-Ah boo. Meg Ryan and John Mellencamp have reportedly called off their engagement after eight years together.

Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox are in the Broadway play Betrayal, and last night they switched costumes from their individual superhero franchises: Tom was dressed as Daredevil and Charlie was Loki. My Twitter feed went berserk.

-I’m late to the game but I finally saw Jojo Rabbit last night and wow. Loved. Here’s a cute video of Taika Waititi and Stephen Merchant breaking down a scene from the film.

-Here’s our first look at Normal People, the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney‘s book (which people loved way more than I did).

-A snippet of Eminem‘s new song leaked and apparently it’s called “What If I Was Gay?” which, based on his previous history, has everyone bracing themselves.

Cuba Gooding Jr has been charged with six counts of forcible touching and 3rd degree sexual abuse. He pleaded not guilty.

-HBO/BBC’s adaptation of His Dark Materials is getting mixed to good to great reviews. I’m confused.

-Radiohead’s Thom Yorke‬ released a hand-illustrated video for “Last I Heard (…He Was Circling The Drain)” composed of 3,000 hand-drawn frames.

John Krasinski talking about his super impassioned father-in-law is adorable.

Emilia Clarke and Jimmy Fallon played the “Box of Lies” game and she was hilariously bad at it.

-This is another good thread in response to David Simon‘s Rolling Stone interview.

-The trailer for Netflix’s The Witcher, the streamer’s upcoming fantasy adventure based on the Polish novels and video games and starring Henry Cavill, has landed. It hits Netflix on Dec. 20.