MUMBAI: Here we bring you the new and fresh happenings from the world of Hollywood.
'For Colored Girls' playwright Ntozake Shange dead
Playwright Ntozake Shange, who wrote the 1975 Tony-nominated play For Colored Girls, is dead. He was 70.
Shange died on Saturday in Bowie, Maryland, according to her family, reported by media publications.
Shange, who was also a poet and author, had suffered a series of strokes in 2004 and died at an assisted living facility.
The influential play, a series of poetic monologues, has been hailed by numerous artistes, including Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The play centers on the racism and violence experienced by seven black women.
For Colored Girls played approximately 750 performances on Broadway, and became a feature film by Tyler Perry. Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington and Janet Jackson starred in the 2010 film.
Washington tweeted that she was "so grateful for her vision and voice."
Shange was born Paulette Williams in New Jersey and graduated Barnard College and received a master's from USC. Her Zulu name Ntozake means "She who comes with her own things" and Shange means "She who walks like a lion."
She won an Obie for the drama as well as for her adaptation of Mother Courage and Her Children.
Her other plays include A Photograph: A Study of Cruelty, Boogie Woogie Landscapes and Black and White Two Dimensional Planes. Among her novels are Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo and Some Sing, Some Cry, written with her sister, Ifa Bayeza.
Shange worked with a number of black theater companies and taught at universities including Brown, Rice, Villanova and DePaul.
Ava DuVernay also paid tribute, tweeting: "Rest now, Queen."
When Rita Ora felt insecure
Singer Rita Ora says she felt "really insecure" when she was attacked by online trolls.
In an interview to Harper's Bazaar magazine, the singer recalled how she felt "really down" when her music -- which she refers to as her baby -- was criticised online, reported by media publications.
"I went through a phase where at the time I put out a song and people responded with 'What is this?' It caused a lot of controversy and it made me question the power of the internet.
"Before that I only ever experienced one-off haters on pictures and things, but it never got under my skin. When it started to involve my music - which is my baby - I started to feel really insecure. It got me really down," Ora said.
Earlier this month, she confessed she was finally getting "very confident" in her skin.
Brad Pitt won't date another celebrity
Actor Brad Pitt is not likely to date another celebrity again in the near future, says his close associate.
Pitt's marriages to Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie have ended in divorce.
He has started dating again, but wants to keep his love life low-key, reported by media publications.
"I can't see Brad dating someone super famous again, I can definitely see him dating someone with a lower profile," said someone who has worked closely with the actor.
According to other sources, Pitt, who is currently filming director Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has been "hanging out" with a few women over the past few months.
But he is working to keep things private after having had so many very public relationships over the years, with women as Gwyneth Paltrow, Juliette Lewis and Aniston, to whom he was married from 2000 to 2005.
The spotlight can be a "challenge" for people who aren't used to it, said the source who has worked with Pitt.
"There's all this gossip and suddenly this person becomes a public character."
According to a friend, Pitt is "focused on his children, his work and wanting to have some sense of normalcy. He's dating casually but, for the foreseeable future, everything is about the kids."
Dwayne Johnson reflects on fatherhood
Actor Dwayne Johnson says he doesn't mind his daughter Jasmine waking him up to play after he has had an exhausting day at work.
The actor took to Instagram to reflect on the ups and downs of fatherhood on Saturday, reported by media publications.
"Working late and had only three hours sleep when this tornado busts in our bedroom, jumps on me and pleads with me to get up and take her to my closet (she keeps toys in my closet) to play," he wrote.
"We get there and then -- surprise -- she refuses to play and just wants me to hold her while she makes fart noises."
Despite his exhaustion, Johnson powered through, remembering the sweet side of Jasmine's antics.
"Tired as all hell, but thought there's going to come a time, years from now, when jumping in my arms is the last thing she wants to do and ain't going to be cool anymore," he reflected.
"So I'll always take these moments while I can," added the father of three.
He also shared a photograph of the father-daughter moment. Johnson can be seen cradling Jasmine, two, in his arms as she pursed her lips.
Demi Lovato sober since 90 days, says mother
Singer Demi Lovato has reached 90 days of sobriety, according to her mother Dianna De La Garza.
The singer has been in rehab since being hospitalized for an apparent drug overdose in July.
"She has 90 days," Garza said in an interview on a radio show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"I couldn't be more thankful or more proud of her because addiction being a disease, it's work. It's very hard. It's not easy, and there are no shortcuts," she said.
Garza said she isn't sure what led to her daughter's relapse.
"I knew that she wasn't sober," she said of Lovato, who apologized for no longer being sober in her ballad Sober, released in June.
"I didn't know what she was doing because she doesn't live with me and she's 26."
She recounted the "nightmare" she went through when she heard about Lovato's "overdose" via a text message.
In August, Lovato had shared an emotional message on social media about overcoming addiction. "I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery," she wrote on Instagram. "The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting."
Colton Haynes back with Jeff Leatham
Arrow star Colton Haynes and Jeff Leatham said they were back together and were giving their relationship another shot.
They separated after six months of marriage and filed for divorce in May.
Taking to social media on Saturday, they shared photographs from their wedding in honour of their first wedding anniversary, reported by media publications.
"Can't believe it's already been one year since we got married Jeff Leatham. Happy Anniversary my beautiful husband," captioned Haynes.
Leatham also shared a sweet note.
"I can't remember what it was like before you, and I don't even know how we got here but maybe that's exactly what I needed. Someone who could make me forget where I came from and someone who could make me love without knowing how to fall. R.M. Drake. Happy Anniversary my beautiful husband -- Life is a beautiful place with you beside me," Leatham wrote.
They shared a series of photographs of themselves in their matching white suits surrounded by an exquisite display of red roses.
Haynes and Leatham first publicly announced they were dating on Valentine's Day in 2017 after the Arrow star came out as gay the year before.
Beyonce urged to axe partnership with Topshop tycoon
Singer Beyonce Knowles is being pressurised to axe a partnership with Philip Green after accusations of bullying and sexual harassment emerged against the Topshop tycoon.
The singer-songwriter created a clothing line with Green, now 66, in 2014. It was named Ivy Park --after Beyonce and Jay Z's daughter Blue Ivy.
The brand was launched in 2016 but the American performer is now facing calls to abandon the multimillion-pound joint venture, reported by media publications.
Yasmeen Hassan, from campaign group Equality Now, told The Sunday Times, "Beyonce has put herself forward as a women's rights activist. She and her team need to look closely at these allegations."
Another activist, Nimco Ali, said, "Beyonce should say 'I don't want to work with Philip Green'."
Green was named last week as the businessman involved in allegations of inappropriate conduct and non-disclosure agreements.
Green strongly denied this and claimed that he had suffered "the worst week of my life".
He was also last week identified as the man who had taken out an injunction preventing publication of allegations about harassing staff -- which too he denied.
I had absolutely no value for myself: Demi Moore
Actress Demi Moore, who was honoured with the Woman of the Year Award by women's recovery centre and sober living programme Peggy Albrecht Friendly House here, says there was a time when she never felt good enough.
Moore, who has come a long way since she first became a star with her career making turn in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire, said it was early in her career that she found recovery, reported by media publications.
"I was spiraling down a path of real self-destruction and no matter what success I had I just never felt good enough," Moore said at the event on Saturday.
"I had absolutely no value for myself and this self-destructive path, it really quickly brought me to a real crisis point," the Ghost star said.
"It wasn't clear at the time, maybe it was divine intervention, but two people who I barely knew stepped up and took a stand for me and presented me with an opportunity, which I guess was more like an ultimatum - unless I was dead, I better show up."
Without divulging the details of what and why she went through, she said she was given a chance to redirect the course of her life "before I destroyed everything".
"Clearly they saw more in my than I saw in myself and I'm so grateful because without that opportunity, without their belief in me, I wouldn't be standing here today," Moore said, according to media reports.
"So today, I put down the measuring stick and I thank you for this beautiful acknowledgment and the opportunity to know the value of my worth."
Rami was 'terrified' playing Freddie Mercury
Actor Rami Malek felt 'terrified' playing the role of late singer Freddie Mercury in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
The 37-year-old Malek has admitted initially that he was feeling anxious about the challenge of playing Mercury, reported by media publications.
He confessed, "Every part of me was terrified. But then, what are you going to do? It's an opportunity of a lifetime. I couldn't pass it up."
Despite the pressure, Malek was determined to ensure that his on-screen performance was as natural as possible.
In fact, the actor made a conscious decision not to imitate the Queen star, who died in 1991 from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
"I was very cognizant of not wanting to imitate him or impersonate him at all.
"I started to think about how everything he did was spontaneous, in the moment. He is someone who lived every moment as if it was his last, I feel," he added.
Bohemian Rhapsody is slated to release on 2 November.
Carey Mulligan 'trusted her gut' with 'Wildlife'
Actress Carey Mulligan trusted "her gut" when she agreed to star in Wildlife, according to director Paul Dano.
The filmmaker told the dailymail newspaper, "She called back the next morning, probably not 12 hours later. She trusts her instincts and her gut."
The drama film is Dano's directorial debut, and it tells the story of a couple whose marriage falls apart.
Recalling his meeting with the actress, Dano said, "Carey has such a great facility for language - probably comes from doing theatre - and as she's talking, I realise the words sound so good in her mouth.
"I stood there thinking: 'Yes, I have a movie!'"
Mulligan has been performing since the age of six and has always considered acting to be her "thing".
The acclaimed star said, "I never did any professional acting while I was at school, but acting was just my thing and I tried to do every extracurricular version of it.
I was s**t at sport. I mean, I was enthusiastic, but I was useless."
Therapy has helped my career: Chloe Grace Moretz
Chloe Grace Moretz says therapy has been beneficial to her work as an actress.
"I think mental health, it's important to me as a human, but especially I think as an actor, it really helps. But I think there should always be someone that you talk to, whether it's an actual therapist or not.
"I like an actual therapist because you gain a breadth of emotional vocabulary, and it gives you a way to deal with everyday struggles, and also to see that your problems aren't singular.
"When you see that your problems are honestly kind of general, it's cathartic. And you see that you are not that special, which I thought was really great. I'm like, 'Oh my god, I have all these issues it's only me!' She was like, 'It's not only you, everyone deals with these and they are actually very common, and it's OK and you are going to be fine.' That's the best," Moretz told media reports.
She also shared that her last two movies have "reignited" her desire to act.
The actress stars in The Miseducation of Cameron Post, directed by Desiree Akhavan and Luca Guadagnino's Suspira remake and Moretz says both movies have been hugely important to her.
My son is a superhero: Michael Buble
Singer Michael Bublé says his son Noah is his "superhero" after beating cancer he was diagnosed with in 2016 at just three years old.
"I became the strength to somehow pull us and lift us. When they got it out and chemo was done, I just fell. My wife picks me up. He is five years old now and I say to him Spider-Man is amazing but they are fake, they are not real. You are my hero, you are my superhero," Buble said on the special edition of James Corden's 'Carpool Karaoke.
The 43-year-old singer, who also has two-year-old son Elias with Luisana Lopilato, added that his "whole life ended" when his son was diagnosed, and found it "too hard to talk about" at first.
"Obviously we got his diagnosis and that was it, my whole life ended. At first it was just, it is too hard to talk about. They said it wasn't great so we took it day by day," he said.
Jason Derulo cancels Prague concert over safety concerns
Singer Jason Derulo cancelled his concert here after his tour manager determined that the structural integrity of the stage was not up to the mark.
Sources familiar with the situation told tmz.com that Derulo was scheduled to perform at the Tipsport Arena and after arriving at the venue, his tour manager approached him and said he had serious concerns over the stage that could have compromised his safety and that of the dancers and fans.
They made a decision to cancel, which angered a number of fans who didn't understand the problem.
To calm down his fans, Derulo went to the balcony outside the arena and sang a bunch of songs with only a mic.
According to media reports, the venue authorities are now threatening legal action.
Camilia Cabello slams fans for calling her 'pregnant'
Singer Camilia Cabello has slammed people for calling her 'pregnant' and spreading rumours that she is expecting a baby with her boyfriend Matthew Hussey.
The rumours started on Friday after Cabello posted a photo of herself with one hand placed on her stomach, reported by media publications.
"you're still the only thing I did right," Cabello captioned the social media picture.
After seeing the picture, people flooded her post with comments asking if she's pregnant, based on her hand placement.
In response to the speculations, the Havana hitmaker wrote, "Guys don't be crazy. I've been eating delicious foods. Leave me and my belly alone."
Cabello and Hussey were first spotted together while on vacation in Mexico in February.
Source: IANS
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