Carol Speed (1945–2022), star of blaxploitation classics “The Mack” and “Abby”

Sitting in a soft pink cardigan, surrounded by enormous, pink iced cakes with pink butterflies on the kitchen wall behind her, Dolly Paron cuts an imposing figure as she chats on to HollywoodLife’s musical editor, Jason Browe.This feisty, well renown and celebrated song writer weighed into the reported Damon Albam feud with Taylor Swift. “I don’t care what people think about my songs. Taylor Swift is a great writer, with or without anybody else.

New York University’s Clive Davis Institute has introduced its first-ever course on Taylor Swift, which launched on Jan. 26 and continues through March 9.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAmazon Prime Video has acquired the North American and Latin American rights to Anthony Nardolillo’s “7th & Union,” starring Mexican actor/comedian Omar Chaparro (“Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “Stuck”). Grandave Intl.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York University’s Clive Davis Institute has introduced its first-ever course on Taylor Swift, which launched on Jan. 26 and continues through March 9.Taught by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos, the class will cover her evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters, discourses of youth and girlhood, and the politics of race in contemporary popular music, according to a rep for the program, who noted that the course has a long waitlist.

Carol Speed, who lit up the screen in the cult blaxploitation film The Mack died on Jan. 14 in Muskogee, Okla. She was 76 her family announced her death in a statement published online, but did not specify the cause.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 4 of “Ozark.”“Ozark” fans saw Javier “Javi” Elizondro blow away newlyweds Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery) and Wyatt Langmore (Charlie Tahan) with two shotgun blasts in Episode 7 of the drama’s final season on Netflix.That wasn’t quite the wedding gift anyone expected, but Alfonso Herrera, who plays Javi, says there are other layers to the ambitious, calculating nephew of Mexican cartel kingpin Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) — who knows his nephew has him in his deadly sights.“When I first got the script, and even when I got my lines for the audition, I saw something very interesting about Javi,” Herrera, 38, told The Post. “He likes to enjoy life, to be in the present with the birds or when he’s having dinner or talking to someone.”Viewers met Javi this season as Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman, Laura Linney) inextricably aligned themselves with Novarro, who tasks them with a scheme to “launder” him through the FBI so he can travel freely between Mexico and the US without fear of being arrested.

Dolly Parton has praised Taylor Swift and Britney Spears in a new interview for “stand[ing] up for [themselves]” in the face of criticism and controversy.In an exclusive interview by Hollywood Life on Wednesday (January 26), Parton talked about the two pop stars while discussing her new line of baking products, the Dolly Parton Baking Collection with Duncan Hines.When addressing recent comments by Damon Albarn about Swift’s songwriting abilities, Parton said she doesn’t “care what other people say” about her songs, but called Swift “a great writer – with or without anybody.”Parton added that she gets “rubbed wrong sometimes when people mistreat the artist,” and said that it is “magnificent” that Swift isn’t afraid to call out detractors publicly.She also praised Britney Spears, apparently for Spears’ lengthy and ultimately successful legal battle against her father and to free herself from her conservatorship. “I don’t like to judge other people and their problems,” she said, “but when all that stuff that happens, like with Britney Spears – when they get [wrapped up in] controversy like that, you have to kind of stand up for yourself.”Earlier this week, Albarn said in a Los Angeles Times interview that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs”.

iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations are here!Celebrating the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and app from last year, the ninth edition of the awards ceremony is set to be a star-studded affair. Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Karol G, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Megan Thee Stallion, Bad Bunny and many more are among the nominees.This year, listeners will have the chance to decide winners in several new and established categories.

Showcase” event.“Showcase,” an annual variety comedy show spotlighting up-and-coming performers, has served as a launching pad for the careers of numerous stars, such as Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”), Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip”), Ego Nwodim (“Saturday Night Live”), Nico Santos (“Superstore”), Drew Tarver (“The Other Two”) and Nicole Byer (“Nailed It!”). Formerly a live theatrical production attended by executives, casting directors and talent agents across the entertainment industry, this year’s Showcase will be a pre-filmed hour of sketch comedy shot on location in Los Angeles.

Wilco have announced the full line-up for this year’s edition of their Solid Sound festival, with two dozen acts spanning a diverse range of genres and formats.Riding hot on the heels of this month’s Sky Blue Sky – the four-day Mexican festival that saw Wilco play three separate shows, as well as a solo set from frontman Jeff Tweedy – Solid Sound will take place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) over the extended weekend of May 27-29.Joining the alt-rock icons will be a slew of their contemporaries both established and emerging, with acts like Japanese Breakfast, Sylvan Esso, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Iceage and Hand Habits billed high.Tweedy will also play a special set with a range of as-yet-unannounced guests, billed on the poster (which you can find below) as ‘Jeff Tweedy & Friends’.Elsewhere at the festival, John Hodgman and Jean Grae will host a showcase of stand-up comedy, with guests like Negin Farsad, River Butcher and Nick Offerman.Other standout inclusions are a set by the Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen, a performance by Nels Cline’s Consentrik Quartet, and the ‘On Fillmore’ installation led by Finnish pop singer Jonna Tervomaa.A post shared by Wilco (@wilco)Tickets for Solid Sound will include full access MASS MoCA – hailed as the US’ most expansive gallery of contemporary art – with current attractions including installations by the likes of James Turrell, Laurie Anderson, Sol LeWitt, Jenny Holzer, and Anselm Kiefer. Three-day passes can be purchased from the festival’s website.Meanwhile, Wilco were recently inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.

Lisa Kennedy Every now and again, a documentary filmmaker finds a bona fide star to pin the meaning of her film on, a figure so compelling she leaves a comet trail of thoughts and feelings after the movie’s end. Isabel Castro’s “Mija” boasts two: music manager Doris Muñoz and singer Jacks Haupt. Make that three, including the writer-director herself.

Gorillaz star Damon Albarn has responded to Taylor Swift with an apology, but her fans aren’t buying it and are calling him out again.

Whoever had “Taylor Swift feuding with Damon Albarn” on their 2022 Bingo Card is…probably cheating. Taylor, 32, unleashed her fury and the anger of Swifties upon Damon, 53, on Monday (Jan. 24) after the Los Angeles Times published an interview with the British musician. After the Times’ Mikael Wood suggested that Taylor was an “excellent songwriter,” Damon said that she “doesn’t write her own songs” and that “there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes.”