Bill Pullman’s iconic Independence Day speech will be watched by many on Monday, July 4, but the chances of him tuning in is slim to none.
15.06.2022 - 23:29 / usmagazine.com
Feel good film guru! Bill Abbott made Hallmark Channel the go-to hub for all-things holidays for 20 years before his departure in 2020 and launching GAC Media in 2021.
Abbott turned heads in January 2020 when his exit as the CEO of Crown Media Family Networks (Hallmark’s parent company) was announced after 11 years in the role and two decades with the group. His step down came after the company received backlash in December 2019 over how it handled a commercial featuring a same-sex couple.
At the time, Hallmark pulled a Zola.com ad that showed two women exchanging vows and sharing a kiss on their wedding day once a conservative group claimed the commercial was not “family-friendly.” The choice to drop the ad caused even more controversy from viewers, alleging Hallmark Channel had a lack of diversity and LGBTQ+ story lines, a criticism that Abbott claimed “wasn’t fair” while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter a month before the commercial controversy.
The cable channel eventually changed their tune and put the clip back on the network and Hallmark issued an apology. The following month president and CEO of Hallmark Cards, Inc. announced that Abbott was moving on, saying in a statement, they “wish him continued success.”
In wasn’t long before Abbott was back on his feet. He acquired GAC, originally called Great American Country, in June 2021. The network’s two channels, GAC Family and GAC Living, launched three months later and quickly began giving Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries a run for their money.
“We want to be the leader and family television,” Abbott said on a March episode of the “Up Next with John Contratti” of his new empire. “We think that we’ve assembled a terrific team, not only at our networks,
Bill Pullman’s iconic Independence Day speech will be watched by many on Monday, July 4, but the chances of him tuning in is slim to none.
Tom Cruise enjoyed some very special celebrations on Sunday.MORE: Nicole Kidman's daughter Bella Cruise reacts to beautiful wedding photoThe Top Gun star turned 60 on 3 July – and he chose to spend the day at Silverstone watching the British Grand Prix. WATCH: Nicole Kidman’s relationship with her adopted childrenTom stunned onlookers with his incredibly youthful appearance as he mingled with fellow guests, and was clearly in high spirits, beaming for the cameras as he walked around the paddock.READ: Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's son Connor stuns fans with new fishing photoMORE: Nicole Kidman's daughter Bella publicly shows her support for dad Tom CruiseThe Hollywood actor was inundated with birthday messages on social media – but it was his daughter Bella Cruise's update that really stood out.
summer transfer window is in full swing, but it is not only agents and club owners who are working full tilt – behind the scenes the removal men who ship the star players' belongings across the globe are flat out, too. Elite footballers are crisscrossing the world this month as squads worth hundreds of millions of pounds are assembled for next season and VIP shippers are following them to all corners of almost every continent, to fetch or deposit prized possessions. '[Once the deal is done] they want to move tomorrow, or today even', said Andy Wells, owner of Premier Relocations, who will move more than 100 players this summer.
The romance that surprised everyone is officially done!
NBC has set Ukraine: Answering The Call, a one-hour primetime special aimed at education and raising funds for those whose lives have been shattered by the escalating war in the country.
David Benedict Jessica Lange was once asked if there couldn’t have been someone on the set of the painfully overwrought Southern gothic movie, Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart,” who could have got everyone to tone things down, to which she giggled, “You mean, like the Taste Patrol?” Large stretches of Theresa Rebeck’s new, wildly dysfunctional family drama “Mad House,” now running on the West End, suggest that the Patrol has been similarly missing in action.You can see why actors of the caliber of David Harbour and Bill Pullman — plus equally gifted British talents Akiya Henry and Sinéad Matthews — wanted to appear in this world premiere. Rebeck has barely been produced in the U.K., but it’s immediately clear she knows how to whip up bitterly comic set-pieces for actors to sink their teeth into.
Matthew McConaughey is addressing President Biden signing a gun control bill following the tragic mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the actor's hometown. On Saturday, President Joe Biden signed the «Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,» which enacts commonsense gun laws and provides funding for mental health support and anti-violence programs.McConaughey took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the measure, saying, «While this bill isn't perfect, it is a shining example of a great American potential and political virtue: the act of compromise and validating an opposing viewpoint.»In his eight-slide post to the social media platform, captioned, «America… the land of AND,» McConaughey addressed the Second Amendment, the heartbreaking loss in Uvalde, and American politics at large. A post shared by Matthew McConaughey (@officiallymcconaughey)«This bill will save innocent lives by keeping guns out of the law breaking and irresponsible hands that are trying to hijack the Second Amendment,» he wrote. «Our government took a step in the right direction.
Christian Bale plans to see the new Batman movie, but hasn’t gotten around to it yet.
Bill Nye the "Science Guy" is officially a married man. People magazine shared that Nye, 66, wed journalist and author Liza Mundy, 61, in late May at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The couple’s initial introduction stemmed from Mundy’s book, "Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II," where she mentioned Nye’s mother, Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye. Bill Nye is officially a married man! The "Science Guy" wed author Liza Mundy in late May.
Bill Nye the Science Guy is a married man!
Bill Nye is a married guy!
ditched the DC world for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and he claims he doesn’t know a thing about it.The English method actor will next be seen in the MCU’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” and recently revealed to Total Film that he had no hesitations about taking on another superhero role after starring in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy. “Absolutely not, no,” he said.
Tom Cruise maintains a good relationship with his two eldest children, Bella and Connor, whom he shares with ex-wife Nicole Kidman.MORE: How the Duchess of Cambridge and Tom Cruise broke royal protocolUnlike their superstar parents, both Bella and Connor live their life completely out of the spotlight and choose not to speak publicly about their family. WATCH: Nicole Kidman's relationship with adopted children with Tom CruiseWith that in mind, Bella chose to share a rather unusual post on Sunday – Father's Day in both the US and the UK, where she lives with husband Max Parker.READ: Nicole Kidman's daughter Bella publicly shows her support for dad Tom CruiseMORE: Nicole Kidman's relationship with children Bella and Connor Cruise: the latest detailsThe 29-year-old posted a photo of her own artwork; an abstract piece using deep reds, black, blues and whites.
Former president Bill Clinton stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden this week, and we got an answer out of him we didn’t expect!
Summer loving! Luke Macfarlane has been a Hallmark Channel staple since 2014 — and after signing a multi-picture deal with the network in May he doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
Selome Hailu Amazon Prime Video has picked up the QCode podcast “Last Known Position” for a TV adaptation with Gina Rodruguez set to star and executive produce.The podcast is a scripted project also starring Gina Rodriguez and charts the fallout of a brand-new, state of the art American commercial jetliner vanishing on its maiden voyage over the Pacific. The ensuing air crash investigation discovers evidence of a creature of the deep that may have been responsible.