Oscar Win For ‘The Queen Of Basketball’ Cements Legacy Of Lucy Harris, Validating Support From EP’s Shaq, Steph Curry, Director Ben Proudfoot

What’s in a name? While it can be difficult to pick out the perfect moniker for an animal companion, many stars have found inspiration in other celebrities’ names.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC and Paramount+ have set cast for new drama, The Gold, which quietly began filming this month in London, we can reveal.

Jada Pinkett-Smith, 50, stepped out for a public event for the first time after her husband Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars a few weeks ago, and she looked radiant. The actress attended the opening of the Rhimes Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles on April 9 and wore a figure-flattering glittery gold dress as she posed on the red carpet. She was joined by Shonda Rhimes and Debbie Allen for some of the pics and flashed a big smile in front of the cameras.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Olson (Our Flag Means Death) and Britian Seibert (The Knick) have been cast in heavily recurring roles on Retreat, a limited series from The OA creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, starring Emma Corrin.

Jason Alexander paid tribute to the late Estelle Harris in a pair of tweets eulogizing her on Sunday April 3. Estelle, who died at 93 on Saturday, played the mother to Jason’s iconic character George Costanza in the beloved sitcom Seinfeld in the 90s. Jason, 62, looked back on the many laughs that the two shared on-set over the years while filming the classic comedy series.

Chris Rock‘s brother didn’t mince words when addressing Will Smith‘s Oscars slap, slamming the “King Richard” star for the controversial moment heard and seen around the world.

While you may want the Oscar slap heard ’round the world to stop reverberating, its echo keeps ganing mileage. While Will Smith got ahead of the Academy and resigned last night before they could weigh in with any major punitive reprisals—a wise and canny move—the conversation continues.

EXCLUSIVE: As Bill Compton would say, bloody good: Author Charlaine Harris, whose bestselling book series about vampires inspired the hit series True Blood on HBO, is going into the podcasting biz. She’s teaming with Realm to write a yet-to-be-named, multi-episode series that will launch in 2023.

Jake Gyllenhaal, 40, and his girlfriend Jeanne Cadieu, 26, enjoyed a rare red carpet appearance together at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 27. The couple posed side-by-side at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills after the 2022 Academy Awards, where Jake presented “Best Original Song” with Zoe Kravitz. At the afterparty, Jake and Jeanne — who have been dating for around four years, but usually keep their romance out of the spotlight — looked absolutely gorgeous together in their respective high-end outfits.

Greig Fraser and editor Joe Walker were among those who spoke out about the Academy’s decision to cut eight categories from the live telecast at Sunday’s Oscars.Earlier this week, dozens of sound designers, engineers and mixers signed a petition challenging the move to award the sound Oscar during its pre-telecast hour on Sunday. As threatened, guild members wore their badges upside down as a form of silent protest.In the press room after winning the cinematography Oscar, Fraser, whose category was shown in main part of the show, said, “Everybody in this crowd realizes why this happens, we understand the economics.

The Los Angeles Police Department says that Chris Rock has declined to file a police report against Will Smith after the “King Richard” actor slapped him on the Oscars stage. While the LAPD left out the names of both Smith and Rock in their statement, they add that if Rock wishes to file a police report at a later date, the department will be available. “LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program.

Jessica Chastain has just won her first Oscar!

The Oscars looked kindly on Jessica Chastain.

Jane Campion has made history once again. Just the second woman nominated for Best Director in 1994 for “The Piano,” she now has become the third woman to win the prestigious Oscar category for “The Power of the Dog.” This is her second Oscar statue after winning Best Original Screenplay for the aforementioned “Piano.” READ MORE: Kirsten Dunst: “Roles Are Only As Good As The Films They’re In” [Interview] The Australian native has won a cavalcade of Best Director honors for “The Power of The Dog,” including the DGA Award, the BAFTA Award, the Golden Globe, the LA Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, a Venice Film Festival honor, and the Critics Choice Award.

Jon Burlingame editorBillie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won the original-song Oscar for “No Time to Die,” the title tune for the latest James Bond film, at Sunday’s 94th annual Academy Awards.It’s the third consecutive Academy Award for music in the long-running spy franchise, following Adele’s win for 2012’s “Skyfall” and Sam Smith’s for “Writing’s on the Wall” from 2015’s “Spectre.”The two wrote the song nearly three years ago and it was released in February 2020.It was also a clean sweep for the brother-and-sister duo, as they had already won a Grammy and the Golden Globe, plus Critics Choice and Society of Composers & Lyricists awards, for “No Time to Die.”Eilish, 20, becomes the second youngest honoree in this category, after 19-year-old Czech-Icelandic songwriter Markéta Irglová’s win for “Falling Slowly” from 2007’s “Once.” O’Connell is 24. Eilish and Finneas wrote “No Time to Die” in late 2019, as post-production on the 25th 007 epic was underway.

video of the incident has circulated online.A former Pentagon official told Yahoo Sports earlier this month that Griner, a Phoenix Mercury player who competes in Russia during the WNBA’s off-season, could be used as a “high-profile hostage” as tensions mount between President Biden and Russian President Putin over the escalating Ukrainian war.Former WNBA star Lisa Leslie told the “I am Athlete” podcast she’d been advised not to make a “big fuss” over Griner’s arrest in a clip released on Friday.“We were told was to not make a big fuss about it so that they could not use her as a pawn, so to speak, in this situation in the war,” Leslie said in the clip. “So, to make it like it’s not that important or don’t make it where we’re like, ‘Free Brittney’ and we start this campaign, and then it becomes something that they can use,” she said. “I won’t say who said that, but that’s what’s been spreading through the women’s basketball world.

Kobe Bryant did four years ago in another category, Shaquille O'Neal can say he's an Oscar winner, as well.“The Queen of Basketball” — with a pair of basketball legends in O’Neal and Stephen Curry among the executive producers and top promoters of the 22-minute film — won the Academy Award for short subject documentary Sunday.It comes about two months after the death of Harris, who scored the first basket in Olympic women’s basketball history and was the first woman officially drafted by an NBA team. Ben Proudfoot directed the short, which educated even some ardent basketball fans on the story of the trailblazer.“If there is anyone out there who doubts that there is an audience for female athletes and questions whether their stories are valuable or entertaining or important … let this Academy Award be the answer,” Proudfoot said at the award ceremony in Los Angeles.Harris is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as is O’Neal.