Chris Rock Turned Down a ‘S–t Load’ of Money to Host the 2023 Golden Globes Following Oscars Incident: Report

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Cecilia Miniucchi’s “Life Upside Down” which stars Emmy-award winning actor Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Radha Mitchell (“Pitch Black) and Danny Huston (“21 Grams”). The movie world premiered at Venice in the Giornate degli Autori sidebar. IFC Films will release the film in select theaters and VOD on Jan. 27 and will stream exclusively on AMC+ in April 2023. “‘Life Upside Down’ is a romantic comedy following three couples, connected by friendship, love and work, who are each stuck in their respective homes in Los Angeles during the beginning of lockdown. Finally forced to face their spouses, friends, lovers, and eventually themselves head on, their lives turn slowly but surely upside-down.

Michele Amabile Angermiller New York City alternative rock station 92.3, which was once home to Howard Stern, will sign off on October 27 as Audacy flips the format to News radio 1010 WINS on the FM frequency. Alt 92.3 brand manager Mike Kaplan — who exited as program director of Los Angeles alt-rock station KROQ in March and as format vice president for Audacy’s portfolio of alternative stations (both positions are now held by Kevin Weatherly) — will remain through the transitional phase. Alt 92.3 will move to Audacy’s streaming platform, 92.3 HD2 and nationwide via the Audacy app and website. The station’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts will remain intact. 

J. Kim Murphy Legendary Television president Chris Albrecht has been placed on a leave of absence by the company, a spokesperson for Legendary confirmed to Variety Monday. No official reason for the exec’s leave of absence was provided.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic California is in the house, and will be for the next three years, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. A major exhibition, “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock,” has just opened and will run through 2025. The must-see walk-through traces a history of roots music in L.A. rock that expands to include the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Michael Nesmith in the 1960s; the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris in the ’70s; and Dwight Yoakam, Lone Justice and Los Lobos in the ’80s, among many other influential and sometimes commercially impactful figures. Variety recently visited the museum and spoke with co-curators Michael Gray, the facility’s executive senior director of editorial and interpretation, and Michael McCall, the museum’s senior editor, about why the ’60s through ’80s were a golden age for country-inflected rock in Los Angeles. The two curators also spoke about a number of the artifacts on display, from numerous Nudie’s-tailored jackets that set the visual tone for the era to key musical instruments to handwritten scores and setlists and even band flyers — see the gallery of photos below.

The stars are stepping out the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles‘ big event.

HBO has released a new trailer for upcoming series The Idol – check it out above.Created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, the drama series follows a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.Lily Rose Depp (The Dancer) and The Weeknd lead the cast, supported by Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Mike Dean and Hank Azaria.In the trailer, The Weeknd, who plays Tedros, says: “Los Angeles is where all the monsters of the world come to gather. Trust no one.”“I need full control,” he later remarks.

Arctic Monkeys have added two tour dates to their 2023 US tour. View details for the additional Red Rocks and Los Angeles gigs below.The Sheffield band announced their run of North American dates earlier this week, sharing that they’d be kicking off the tour at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 25 and wrapping it up at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on September 29.Now, the band has shared an additional date in California on Saturday, September 30. The band also announced a second show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on September 19.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of rapper PnB Rock and Los Angeles police were searching Wednesday for a third suspect they warned should be considered armed and dangerous. The Philadelphia artist, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was gunned down Sept. 13 at a South LA restaurant while eating with his girlfriend.

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested two suspects, an unnamed 17-year-old and a 32 year-old-woman named Shauntel Trone, in the shooting death of Rakim Hasheem Allen, the rapper and singer known as PnB Rock. The news was first reported by TMZ and confirmed in a press statement. The teenager is charged with murder and Trone faces a charge of Accessory to Murder.

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Money Heist” star Alvaro Morte is attached to star in “Talkies,” from “Luis Miguel” producer Gato Grande, which will be presented at the Iberseries inaugural Co-Production & Financing Forum on Sept. 28. “Talkies” covers the period between 1930 and 1934, an unusual time when foreign-language versions were shot on the same sets where the original English-language films were shot before dubbing or sub-titling technology existed.  Helmed by “Money Heist” director Alex Rodrigo and co-developed with Catalonia’s Veranda (“Merli”), the 8 x 45” series centers on the making of Spanish-language ‘talkies’ some of which, like the Spanish version of Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula,” were considered far superior. Morte will play the actor Carlos Villarias, who took on the Dracula role in the Spanish version.

Chris Shiflett has hinted Foo Fighters will make a new record when the time is right. The 'Best of You' rockers continue to mourn the loss of their beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins - who tragically died aged 50 in March - and honour his memory with the second of two memorial shows at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Tuesday (27. 09.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley), Ashley Romans (Y: The Last Man) and Katja Herbers (Evil) have joined the cast of the Peacock drama series from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof.