With just a few hours of Pride Month remaining, Amber Ruffin is doing a victory lap.
12.06.2024 - 03:09 / variety.com
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC isn’t cutting “Late Night” off the network’s regular schedule, but it is going to cut the show’s budget. The 8G Band, a signature element of the Seth Meyers-led program since it launched in 2014, will stop appearing on the after-hours NBC show, commencing in the fall. Eli Janney, the combo’s keyboardist, told Vulture Tuesday that the trio was informed in recent weeks that the band would cease to be a regular part of the program due to budget cuts.
“In the end, NBC was adamant about where they wanted the budget to go,” Janney told the entertainment-news site. “It’s not just the band; there’s a whole crew that works with the band, so there’s a lot of people employed. I think this was an easy way for them to cut the budget.
Easy is not the right word.” NBC declined to make executives available for comment, but a person familiar with the program confirmed that the band will not appear starting in the fall. NBC in May announced it had renewed “Late Night With Seth Meyers” through 2028, backing the 12:30 a.m. program after a period of speculation about whether it would continue in an era when late-night programing has come under new scrutiny.
The shows remain popular cultural touchstones, but the new ways in which people watch them — perusing clips via social-media — have sapped their strength in the ratings, forcing the TV networks to examine the finances of the programs. Several hosts have exited in the recent past, including James Corden, Conan O’Brien, Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee. In some cases, networks like CBS and Comedy Central have devised lower-cost models to replace them.
With just a few hours of Pride Month remaining, Amber Ruffin is doing a victory lap.
Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com Talk show host, comedian, writer, Tony Award nominee and former Variety Power of Women host Amber Ruffin came out to the public on the last day of Pride. Posting on her Instagram profile, the smiling star wrote, “In what will come as a shock to exactly zero people, I’m using the last day of PRIDE to come out! Be proud of who you are, little babies! I know I am! And I can’t wait to be discriminated against for a new reason!!” A post shared by Amber Ruffin (@amberruffin) The former writer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and host of her own talk show, “The Amber Ruffin Show,” Ruffin is also known for her recent work in theater, including co-writing the “Some Like It Hot” revival and, more recently, updating the book for “The Wiz” on Broadway.
Prince Harry and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have been firm friends for well over a decade, with the Duke of Sussex even giving the Glastonbury superstar a shout-out in his 2023 memoir, Spare. They first made a public appearance together in 2014 when Chris, aged 47, penned a song for the inaugural Invictus Games. On a snapshot shared via Coldplay's Twitter account, Prince Harry, then 39, was seen in the recording studio with the band prior to the song's debut.
The one where Lisa Kudrow finally rewatches Friends…
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Greg Gutfeld is going to get a workout during the Republican National Convention. The Fox News opinion host will hold forth in front of a live studio audience at 11 p.m. on each night of the RNC, slated to take place in Milwaukee from July 15 to July 18.
Jonathan Morano, a Peabody Award-winning writer of CBS’ The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, died peacefully June 20 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles following a 15-month battle with Glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. He was 56.
When Vanity Fair gathered ten male late-night TV hosts for a photo shoot for its September 2015 issue, it left someone out.
This week’s 20 Questions on Deadline guest is Seth Meyers.
Eddie Murphy was back at 30 Rock to promote his latest movie Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – thirty years after leaving Saturday Night Live.
Kim Kardashian is back on the west coast after her recent New York trip!
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a media apocalypse. Newspapers are dying, websites that filled that void with top-notch journalism have gone away and the outlets that are left still struggle to attract audiences and make a difference as social media and bad-faith cable networks pollute the public discourse. Thank goodness for the late-night talk shows, many of which are giving us some of the best news analysis and criticism out there — better than any of the hopelessly misguided news outlets that are still trying to report on politics like things are normal.
Stephen Merchant has hilariously been banned from the High and Mighty clothes store after he criticised its extra-large products.The towering 'The Office' co-creator, who is 6ft 7in, found himself barred by the chain's staff following his less-than-flattering comments about their range in a Time Out interview. He discovered his ban when someone from the costume department on one of his shows went to buy outfits for him and told a shop assistant: "I'm buying these for an actor." In a Sunday Express article, Stephen shared the laughable moment: "The woman behind the counter said, 'Which actor?'... 'Is it him?' She pulled out a copy of the Time Out interview and said, 'We're not selling clothes to him.'" OK! has reached out to High and Mighty for comment.
James Corden opened up about the special gratitude that he has for Mariah Carey.
Rihanna is stepping out for the night.
According to sources reporting on the matter this week, Jimmy Kimmel is eyeing his late night television exit amid plans to focus more fully on his son 7-year-old son Billy‘s battle against congenital heart defects.
Selome Hailu Jimmy Fallon has renewed his deal with NBCUniversal, holding onto his position as the host of “The Tonight Show” through 2028. The extension comes just after Fallon’s 10-year anniversary on the show, which NBC celebrated with a two-hour primetime special on May 14.
Jimmy Fallon is sticking around 30 Rock.
There was much concern within the late-night community that there would only be three nominations for the the Emmy’s Outstanding Talk Series category.
Ruth Jones has claimed that Gwyneth Paltrow acted “dismissively” towards her on the set of Emma, and asked for one of her two lines to be cut.Early on in her career, Jones had a small part in the 1996 period comedy, which starred Paltrow as the titular Jane Austen character.Speaking to her Gavin & Stacey co-star Rob Brydon on his Brydon & podcast, Ruth recalled: “I had two lines. I had to announce Gwyneth Paltrow and say, ‘Miss Woodhouse is here’.
A birthday dinner for Stephen Colbert turned into a humbling experience for John Oliver.