‘The Bachelor’ Senior Citizen Season Is (Finally) Coming This Fall

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor It’s been a tough couple of years for live music in the U.K., but now AEG Presents UK CEO Steve Homer sees light at the end of the tunnel. “Last year, we had some big successes and some big losses,” he tells Variety. “Now, we’re over that hump, sales patterns are almost back to pre-COVID levels in terms of predicting how things will sell. The business is in reasonably good shape, bearing in mind all the difficulties with people’s available money to spend.” Homer has been in sole charge for 18 months now, following the surprise exit of co-CEO Toby Leighton-Pope, now MD at TEG Europe. And having made several key hires in recent months – including former Royal Albert Hall exec Lucy Noble as artistic director; former Live Nation exec Lee Laborde as SVP of the promoting division; and former SJM promoters Chris Wareing (SVP of global touring) and Paris Harding (promoter) – Homer is now leading the company’s expansion into several new areas.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent A paparazzi photographer is suing Ye — the musician formerly known as Kanye West — for assault, battery and negligence after he was caught on-camera grabbing her phone and throwing it into the street. The photographer, Nichol Lechmanik, says she was just doing her job as a celebrity photojournalist when she was capturing content of Ye. “He reached into my car as if he were going to hit me, he grabbed my phone out of my hand and then angrily threw it into the street,” Lechmanik said on Thursday during a press conference. “He caused so much fear that I have not been the same since.”

The 25 men competing on this season of The Bachelorette have been revealed!

Charity Lawson is about to have her pick among 25 men as her journey to find love begins on “The Bachelorette.” Lawson — a fan-favorite from Zack Shallcross’ season of “The Bachelor” — will star as ABC’s leading lady for the next season of “The Bachelorette,” as the show hits its milestone 20th season on June 26. Among Lawson’s suitors are two men named Aaron, three named Caleb (one with a “K”), plus a Joe and a Joey. The contestants range from age 24 to 33 and include a firefighter, a pro wrestler, a “world record jumper,” a tennis pro, a yacht captain, a Harvard grad student, an attorney and a scientist.

The countdown is on! Less than a month before Charity Lawson is set to start handing out roses, ABC has dropped the official list of contestants for season 20 of The Bachelorette.

Prepare for an incredible fusion of musical powerhouses as Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, and Pitbull team up for The Trilogy Tour across North America this fall.

We’re Richmond ‘til we die! The season 3 finale of Ted Lasso is shaping up to be one of its biggest episodes yet — and could potentially mark the end of the beloved Apple TV+ series.

It’s the season finale of Ride tonight!

One of the highlights of this time of year is gardens bursting to life with colourful blooms. This week you may have caught the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on your TV as the popular event took place, or you might be planning a visit to the Manchester Flower Festival this year.

Prime Video has set September 1 for the Season 2 premiere of fantasy epic series The Wheel of Time. We’re also getting a first look at the second season in some new images released today.

The Warehouse Project will be back in September, with the likes of Bicep, Honey Dijon, The Blessed Madonna and Jamie Jones on the bill for its 2023 season. It’s also revealed that it will be opening up two new areas of its Depot Mayfield home, including the roof.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Is there going be a musical episode of “Only Murders in the Building” in Season 3?! While it hasn’t been officially confirmed that Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez will be singing and dancing at some point, I recently got a tease from musical impresarios Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. “We’ve worked on the next season of ‘Only Murders in the Building,’” Shaiman said. “We’re not allowed to say anything more than that, but you could probably do that math.” The third season also includes appearances by Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd and Jesse Williams.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent A Ukrainian influencer was pulled off the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, after she covered herself in fake blood on the steps up to the Palais, staging a protest in support of Ukraine. This year, the city of Cannes banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the festival. Ilona Chernobai — a Ukrainian fitness trainer with one million followers on Instagram — walked the red carpet at Cannes in a blue and yellow dress, symbolizing the Ukraine flag. As she got to the stairs, she pulled bags of fake blood from underneath her dress and poured them over herself. Security immediately grabbed her and escorted her off the carpet.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Leonardo DiCaprio was seen taking a selfie with a lady in red as he sat sandwiched in between Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux and festival president Iris Knobloch, deep in conversation at Kering’s Women in Motion Dinner. As he left, he walked to the back balcony of the party where Salma Hayek was sitting on a step smoking a cigarette. He bent over and hugged Hayek as he headed home just before 1:00 a.m. If DiCaprio had stayed a bit later, he might have been dancing on a table with Michelle Yeoh and Brie Larson. Yeoh — the night’s honoree as the recipient of Kering’s Women In Motion Award for 2023 — left shortly before 2 o’clock in the morning, glistening with sweat after dancing the night away with Larson, who is a member of the Cannes jury. The two Oscar winners got up on chairs to dance and were joined by a saxophone player, who jumped on the table, and even Frémaux, who got in on the dance party. (The video, first captured by Variety, has now gone viral with Yeoh and Larson sharing on their social media and raving about meeting each other for the first time.)

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Cate Blanchett debuted her latest acting role in “The New Boy” at the Cannes Film Festival this week, but the Oscar-winner wouldn’t mind staying behind the camera a bit more. “I’m always trying to get out of acting,” Blanchett said. “I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.” Speaking at her Kering Women in Motion talk at Cannes, in conversation with her producing partner, Coco Francini, Blanchett said that her recent producing work behind the camera “feels an extension, for me, of my work as an actor.” “I remember an Australian film director saying to me really early on in my career that I had to stop taking small roles,” Blanchett recalled. “And I said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘That was the most interesting role.’ I didn’t want to play the lead. I want that one.”

“The Crown” Season 6 has been slated for a fall 2023 release, Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria announced at Netflix’s virtual Upfront presentation Wednesday. The sixth installment of the historical drama will turn its attention to the royal love story between Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy), chronicling the pair’s fateful meeting on St Andrew’s campus and the subsequent romance that followed.As “The Crown” closes out its sweeping timeline of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, Season 6 is set in the 2000s as William begins his time at University determined to have a normal life when he meets Kate, who hails from Berkshire. Scenes from the upcoming season of the drama series remained true to real life with production filming at St.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent A new social media campaign with the hashtag #CannesYouNot is calling out the Cannes Film Festival for “celebrating abusers for 76 years.” The campaign was launched online, days before the festival, by supporters of Amber Heard. Her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s new film, “Jeanne du Barry,” will open the prestigious festival on Tuesday night when Cannes kicks off in the South of France. Eve Barlow — a journalist, activist and close friend of Amber Heard’s — posted the hashtag across her social platforms. “Cannes seem proud of their history supporting rapists and abusers,” Barlow posted on social media with the French expression, “Plus ça change,” which roughly translates to, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Kelly Clarkson has addressed a report detailing the culture on her daytime talk show, which contained allegations that “The Kelly Clarkson Show” is toxic behind the scenes. “To find out that anyone is feeling unheard and or disrespected on this show is unacceptable,” Clarkson said in a statement posted on Instagram. “I have always been, and will continue to be, committed to creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment at ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show.'” On Friday, Rolling Stone published a report in which 11 current and former employees anonymously made complaints about being “overworked” and “underpaid” on Clarkson’s talk show, telling the magazine that working under the show’s “toxic environment” was “traumatizing to their mental health.” In the report, the anonymous staffers said Clarkson is “fantastic,” but a number of the producers make their lives “hell.”

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum country star Jimmie Allen has been suspended by his agency UTA, following a sexual assault and battery lawsuit lodged against him. “We have suspended our representation of Jimmie Allen due to the recent allegations against him, which we take seriously,” a spokesperson for UTA told Variety. Allen has been accused of rape, sexual assault and harassment by his former day-to-day manager, who sued the singer and his former management firm, alleging she was manipulated and groomed by Allen into an abusive sexual relationship while she worked on the singer’s management team. The lawsuit was first exposed in a Variety investigation into the woman’s allegations.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent In May 2021, Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum country star Jimmie Allen visited “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to promote his latest project, a children’s book titled, “My Voice Is a Trumpet.” Images flashed across the screen of Allen with his wife and kids, as he spoke about his recent wedding and gushed about his new baby girl. “When you see things happening that shouldn’t, stand up for it,” Allen said on the talk show as he shared the inspiration behind his book. “It’s so important to teach them at a young age,” he continued. “That way, they grow up to be adults that still have that same confidence to speak up for themselves and speak up for other people.”