Erik Pedersen Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorWhile 2020 has been a year to forget for just about everybody else, Patrick Mahomes begs to differ. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback won the Super Bowl in February, and today he signed the richest contract in NFL history.The 24-year-old Texas Tech alum inked a 10-year extension worth $503 million — with $477 million guaranteed — that will keep him with the AFC club until 2032.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorCharlie Daniels, the veteran country singer and fiddler who scored crossover pop hits with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Uneasy Rider” and “In America,” died today after a massive stroke. He was 83.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorIt’s not often that you see iconic weaponry from a galaxy far, far away in the same clip as an Omnitrix and a classic costumed superhero, but Julian Bass just changed all that.The 20-year-old Georgia State University theater major has gone viral with a self-produced video in which he morphs through three of his favorite hero characters, complete with inventive scene changes.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorIt’s been a week of bad news for Los Angeles as coronavirus cases spike and new restrictions were imposed, and now comes news that the first Major Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium since the Carter administration has been canceled.This will be the first time in 75 years that MLB won’t field its Midsummer Classic. The last time was amid the 1945 travel restrictions as World War II was winding down in Europe and U.S.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorNo!The legendary NBA announcer who famously cries “Yes!” when a basket is made won’t be doing any play-by-play when the league’s restarts its paused season.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorWith so many people working from home these days, it’s time for a new season of comedy about working at the office — social distancing be damned. Comedy Central has set the Season 3 premiere of Corporate for 10:30 p.m.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorThe world’s largest contemporary circus producer is folding up its tents — for now. Cirque du Soleil said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, saying, “We have no choice but to take a pause for a little while.”The Montreal-based organization’s U.S.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorHBO has acquired and set a premiere date for The Weight of Gold, a feature documentary on the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorKelly Asbury, an animation writer-director and voice actor whose credits include Shrek 2, Smurts: The Lost Village and Beauty and the Beast, died today after battling cancer for several years. He was 60.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorSyfy has set a premiere date and released a trailer for Season 4 of Wynonna Earp, its popular drama about a female descendant of the legendary lawman. Watch the first S4 footage above.Because of the coronavirus-related production break, the new season’s first six episodes will culminate in a midseason finale airing at 10 p.m.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorCentral Park star and co-creator Josh Gad said on NBC’s Today this morning that replacing Kristen Bell as the voice of a mixed-race character on the Apple TV+ series was “frankly an easy decision to make.” Watch the clip above.The move to have a TBA black actor voice the Molly character was announced Wednesday.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorCall them the Artists Former Formerly Known as Dixie Chicks.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorEXCLUSIVE: Quibi is developing a scripted shortform dark romance series from Palo Alto helmer Gia Coppola. Love Lindsey, Forever will be written by Mattson Tomlin (The Batman), and Automatik is producing.Love Lindsey, Forever tells the story of Lindsey, who is 22, in love and dying. But when she learns of a company experimenting with new cryogenic technology, she makes a desperate bid for a second chance at life.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorJust when you thought it was safe to go back in the living room, Baby Shark is coming back. Nickelodeon has given the official green light to Baby Shark’s Big Show! (working title), an animated series for preschoolers based on the viral video that has more than 5.7 billion YouTube views.Nick has ordered 26 episodes of the show, to premiere in 2021.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorDisneyland in Anaheim has delayed its planned reopening while it awaits approval from California officials. The decision comes as the state is seeing a marked spike in new cases of coronavirus.Here is the release Disney just put out:We previously announced a proposed phased reopening of our theme parks for July 17, pending government approvals.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorThe estate of Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is suing Netflix, Legendary and the author, writer and director behind the upcoming film Enola Homes over copyright and trademark issues.The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown as the much-younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, who proves to be a highly capable detective in her own right. The pic is based on The Enola Holmes Mysteries book series by Nancy Springer, who also is a defendant.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorLewis John Carlino, who scripted and directed The Great Santini and earned an Oscar nom for penning I Never Promised You a Rose Garden among many other credits, has died. He was 88.Carlino died June 17 on Whidbey Island off Washington.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorBeat the drum and hold the phone — the sun came out today. Nearly three months after Opening Day was canceled amod the burgeoning coronavirus outbreak, Major League Baseball and its players union have agreed to play a truncated 60-game regular season starting in late July.The sides finally sorted out their differences after the pandemic sidelined the season that was to begin in March and has kept America’s pastime off the field since.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorWarnerMedia Entertainment and iHeartMedia are partnering to co-produce a slate of companion podcasts for HBO Max’s upcoming original and legacy shows.The podcasts will play as standalone productions but often will center on and help promote HBO Max programming, the companies said.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorAlicia Keys is set to host Kids, Race and Unity: A Nick News Special, an hourlong program set for 7 p.m. June 29 on Nickelodeon.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorThe comedy fallout over President Donald Trump’s less-than-perfect rally Saturday continued apace tonight as Trevor Noah weighed in. During his monologue for The Daily Social Distancing Show, the host fairly reveled in the embarrassingly low turnout that reportedly (gasp!) made POTUS furious.“Aww, poor Trump,” Noah said.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorDays after local politicians and the MPA trumpeted that Georgia is reopening its busy film and TV production sector, the future of its lucrative tax credit incentive program suddenly appears cloudy.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorLos Angeles County health officials said today that the region saw a record 2,571 new cases of coronavirus on Monday — which is more than 20% higher the previous daily mark set last week.Officials also reported 18 deaths in the past 24 hours, which is seven more than Sunday. The Public Health department has identified 85,942 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorJoel Schumacher, who directed some two dozen films including Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, St. Elmo’s Fire, A Time to Kill and Falling Down, died today after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorShowtime’s political docuseries returns in two months. and it will be a three-ring The Circus covering the pandemic, systemic racism and a crucial presidential election.The premium cabler said today that the second half of Season 5 will bow at 8 p.m.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorCome as you are — leave with a multimillion-dollar ax. A guitar that Kurt Cobain played during Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged concert sold for a cool $6.01 million at auction Saturday.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorLos Angeles County saw a spike in confirmed new cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours, jumping by a near-record 2,056, according to health officials. They also reported 48 deaths, up from the 38 reported Friday.Those numbers bring the totals to 81,636 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across L.A.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorUPDATED, 3:48 PM: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today sided with a lower court’s ruling that a California law barring websites like IMDbPro from disclosing actors’ ages is unconstitutional. Read details of the case below.Sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, AB 1687 requires subscription-based entertainment casting/hiring databases to remove paid subscribers’ date of birth from its websites upon request.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorSome of Ian Holm’s castmates from The Lord of the Rings movies are paying tribute to the actor who died today at 88. Holm played Bilbo Baggins in the first and last films in Peter Jackson celebrated early-2000s trilogy adapted from J.R.R.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorABC has set a summer premiere date for United We Fall, the family comedy starring Will Sasso and Christina Vidal-Mitchell that it ordered back in May 2019. The series had been eyed for a fall launch.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorShowtime’s Desus & Mero will return from its June hiatus with new episodes starting July 5 — now if only Desus Nice and The Kid Mero had something to talk about.The premiere date marks a move from Mondays to Sundays for the late-night series, creating a first-run block with The Chi and Black Monday. It also will continue to air on Thursdays.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorNetflix has taken down an episode of W/Bob and David, its 2015 series starring the Mr. Show duo of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, over a sketch that showed Cross in blackface, Deadline has confirmed.Titled “Know Your Rights,” the sketch featured Cross as Gilvin Daughtry, the leader of Citizens Against Unlawful Abuse!, who stops at a DUI checkpoint and interacts with an affable policeman played by Keegan-Michael Key.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorIt’s been a cruel spring for sports fans as the coronavirus pandemic sidelined teams, players and leagues around the world. Kevin Hart feels that pain too, and today he premieres a new five-episode homebound season of his iced-down web series Cold as Balls.The first episode of Cold as Balls: Cold Calls, featuring NFL star Richard Sherman, debuts today on Hart’s and Lionsgate’s digital network Laugh Out Loud.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorFormer Vice President Joe Biden has been making the rounds of news and talk shows lately, and tonight he did a virtual interview with Trevor Noah for The Daily Social Distancing Show.   “If you were to become president, do you think that there would be a world where defunding the police would be the solution and getting some of these responsibilities away from police forces — police in schools, police handling mental illness, police handling homelessness, etc.?”The

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorStacey Abrams didn’t pussyfoot around about the problems that plagued Georgia’s presidential primary this week. “It was an unmitigated disaster,” the state’s former gubernatorial candidate told Stephen Colbert on tonight’s homemade episode of CBS’ The Late Show.“What was it?” he asked her.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorTrevor Noah and The Daily Social Distancing Show returned from a two-week hiatus tonight — but dang if there he had anything to talk about. It’s not like, y’know, stuff happened.But Comedy Central’s intrepid late-night host soldiered on and opted to tackle an old topic: police brutality.The day before George Floyd is laid to rest, an often grim-faced Noah said: “People have been comparing this moment to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.