Tag: hollywood

Senators Blackburn, Warnock team up on bill to give entertainment industry some tax relief

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Raphael Warnock are usually on opposite sides of the aisle, but they are teaming up on a bill that would give the entertainment industry some tax relief.

The Creative Relief and Expensing for Audio and Television Enterprises Act, dubbed CREATE, would extend a $150,000 tax credit for production expenses incurred by entertainers, singers and songwriters through 2030. The credit is set to expire at the end of the year with an extension from Congress.

“Thousands of singers and songwriters call Tennessee home, and they should be able to write off recording production expenses that are critical to their work,” said Blackburn a Tennessee Republican. “The CREATE Act would support creators and keep America’s music industry strong by ensuring they can still count on this tax relief.”

Georgia has become a hub for filming television series and movies. More than 550 productions were made in Georgia in the past three years, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. During fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, film and television productions spent $2.3 billion.

“From productions like The Color Purple, to The Hunger Games, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Georgia has become a national leader in the arts and entertainment industry,” said Warnock, a Georgia Democrat. “Our continued investments in incentivizing domestic production for film, television, and music benefit our culture and our economy.”

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This Hollywood-Backed Bill Would Give Government Power To Block Websites

Lawmakers in Washington are once again attempting to give the United States a legal pathway to block websites, a power the federal government has never officially held on a broad scale.

The latest push comes in the form of the Block Bad Electronic Art and Recording Distributors Act, better known as “Block BEARD,” introduced in the Senate by Thom Tillis, Chris Coons, Marsha Blackburn, and Adam Schiff.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

On its face, the bill targets foreign websites accused of piracy. But the mechanism it creates would establish something far more significant: a formal, court-approved process that could be used to make entire websites vanish from the American internet.

Under the proposal, copyright owners could go to federal court to have a site labeled a “foreign digital piracy site.” If successful, the court could then order US service providers to block access to that site.

The reach is broad. The term “service provider” here mirrors the broad definition in the DMCA, potentially covering everything from ISPs and search engines to social media platforms, and perhaps even VPNs.

Proponents say this is about protecting the entertainment industry. In reality, it’s about setting a precedent. Once the government has a tool to block certain sites, history shows the definition of “unacceptable” content can expand. Piracy today could easily become something else tomorrow.

The ramifications go beyond the music and movie business. If courts can order an ISP to make a site disappear from view, the same logic could eventually apply to other types of content deemed problematic.

And because the bill has no public transparency requirements, the public could be kept entirely in the dark about which sites are blocked, why they’re blocked, or how long the blocks remain in place.

Supporters in the entertainment industry, including the RIAA and Motion Picture Association, are openly cheering the bill, pointing to similar measures overseas they claim have worked without harming free speech.

But the US is not the same as other countries. The First Amendment’s protection of speech and access to information means this kind of censorship tool carries far more constitutional baggage here than it does elsewhere.

What Block BEARD really represents is a milestone. If passed, it would be the first time the US creates a standing legal process for cutting off access to entire websites at the network level.

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Blake Lively Wants Names and IP Addresses

Blake Lively has decided that the best way to respond to online gossip and criticism is with subpoenas, lots of them. With a move that suggests her legal team spent a weekend watching “Enemy of the State,” Lively is now targeting 36 content creators, from high-profile commentators to pseudonymous hobbyists, all over rumors she says were part of a smear effort.

Some of the targets have large followings. Others barely register on the algorithm. One runs a YouTube astrology channel with fewer than 300 subscribers at the time of the subpoena. All are now being asked to turn over a wide array of personal and financial data, as if they were co-conspirators in a criminal probe instead of people who post opinions from their bedrooms.

The case, Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC, is already a headache in itself, but this new front seems designed less to resolve the actual lawsuit and more to comb through the internet for anything unflattering.

We obtained a copy of the Google subpoena for you here.

We obtained a copy of the TikTok subpoena for you here.

We obtained a copy of the X subpoena for you here.

If you’re out of the loop, Blake Lively is suing Wayfarer Studios, its co-founder Justin Baldoni, and several others, alleging sexual harassment, workplace misconduct, breach of contract, and a coordinated retaliation campaign designed to destroy her reputation.

According to the complaint, Lively raised concerns about repeated inappropriate behavior by Baldoni and Wayfarer executives during production of It Ends With Us. After the film was completed, she claims Baldoni and his team launched a covert “social manipulation” campaign to discredit her using fake grassroots content, crisis PR firms, and anonymous online posts, which she describes as a well-funded digital smear effort.

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Actor Jeff Daniels Hopes Trump Supporters Suffer Financially “I Hope You’re Losing Tons of Money”

Far-left actor Jeff Daniels is living up to his role as the inept and bumbling Harry Dunne from ‘Dumb & Dumber’ with his latest screed on anyone who dares to embrace beliefs outside of Hollywood’s radical left orthodoxy.

In a new interview with Nicolle Wallace for her podcast, “The Best People,” Daniels says he hopes Republicans who voted for President Donald Trump will lose a lot of money.

Daniels also fantasized about what could have been with a Kamala win, including the horrifying longing of having Liz Cheney as Secretary of State.

“I still think about Kamala, and how I think she would have been a good choice. I don’t care what they say, because she would have done what Lincoln did. Liz Cheney would have been Secretary of State.”

“But when Mitch [McConnell] started stacking the courts 25 years ago, I said it on your show once, they can see it coming,” Daniels said.

“The new America that is diverse and treats everyone with equality and respect and dignity, you know, kind of like Jesus did. We’re ready for that.”

“And Mitch and company could see it coming. They were going to be the minority, so they just started and then here we are, and now you got it, and now you’re losing money,” Daniels continued.

“I hope you’re losing tons of money, those of you who thought this would be OK,” Daniels went on. “My question is, what are you guys going to do about it?”

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‘American Idol’ Double MurderSuspect Arrested in Wild New PhotosMore Than a Dozen Cops Surround Him

The man suspected of killing an “American Idol” music supervisor and her husband was taken into custody yesterday … and, TMZ has obtained pictures of the arrest.

The photos show 22-year-old Raymond Boodarian standing in front of a row of garages at a residential complex, with numerous cops surrounding him … no shirt on and his hands cuffed behind his back.

The pictures are all taken from behind Boodarian, so you can’t see his face. One garage door behind the group is open … though it’s unclear if that’s where he came from.

As we told you … Boodarian was arrested Tuesday after law enforcement sources told us they found fingerprints at the house of Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca, that matched the suspect.

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‘American Idol’ boss, husband executed in their $4.5 million home in gory double murder

A boss on “American Idol” and her husband were executed in a suspected double murder inside their $4.5 million Los Angeles home, cops said.

Robin Kaye, an award-winning music supervisor for the hit competition show, was found slaughtered along with her musician husband, Thomas Deluca, after an apparent break-in at their house in the upscale Encino neighborhood, a Los Angeles Police Department source told TMZ.

Both were 70.

The couple’s bodies were found during a “welfare check” Monday afternoon after they had not been heard from in four days, the LAPD said.

Both victims had what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head. 

“There is no suspect information at this time. LAFD responded and pronounced the victims deceased at scene. The motive is unknown. The investigation is ongoing,” the department told The Post.

Kaye was found dead in the pantry, and Deluca in the bathroom, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Officers also found blood in the entryway and a broken window, which the killer possibly used to get inside.

The home was apparently not ransacked, pointing away from the possibility of a burglary, authorities told TMZ.

Aerial footage of the house from ABC 7 showed what looked like a smashed sliding glass door.

The cops were called to the house Thursday after neighbors spotted a suspicious person hopping the fence, but officers found no evidence of foul play.

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Eco-Hypocrites Take Hundreds Of Private Jets To Bezos Wedding

Around a hundred private jets carrying celebrities have descended on Italy to deliver eco-hypocrites including Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates to the wedding of tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

Bezos is holding a three day event, yes three days, in Venice at a cost of somewhere in the region of $50-100 million.

While the exact same people lecture you about taking the occasional economy flight for a family getaway, they’re literally chartering their own carbon spewing flights just for themselves to attend a piss up.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are getting married in Venice, and the three-day wedding celebration will bring in nearly 100 private jets and a guest list full of billionaires and celebrities, including Oprah and Leonardo DiCaprio, Mercury News reports.

Streets have been closed, boats rerouted, and security teams stationed across the city for the event, taking place from June 26-28. Now, people who live there — and plenty of others online — are calling the whole thing over-the-top and extremely out of touch.

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Barbra Streisand: Worries Over President Trump May Have ‘Subconsciously’ Influenced Song Selections on New Album

Legendary singer, actress and Hollywood liberal Barbra Streisand said her worries about President Donald Trump may have ‘subconsciously’ influenced her selection of songs for her new album, a series of duets with fellow music legends and stars including Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney titled, “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2”. Streisand also said she is “horrified” watching TV about the world and Trump.

Streisand’s made her comment in an interview with the AP promoting the album (excerpt):

Sure, duet success is nothing new to Streisand, who has topped the charts with Neil Diamond on “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” and Donna Summer on “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” and a string of albums including “Duets,” “Partners” and “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway.”

But “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2” is different. Streisand said her worries about the world and President Donald Trump’s second administration may have subconsciously contributed to her selection of some of the album’s more serious tracks — like Sting’s “Fragile” and her reworking of “Love Will Survive” from last year’s “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” series into a duet with Seal.

“I’d like to be happier,” Streisand said. “But every time I turn on the television — and I’m a glutton for punishment, obviously — I’m fascinated and horrified at the same time, you know?”

At a recent dinner with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Streisand said he described the current state of Washington as “created chaos, corruption and cruelty.”

Streisand added, “I thought, ‘That kind of sums him (Trump) up.’”

Streisand attacked Trump in her 2023 memoir, My Name Is Barbra, reported the Hill (excerpt):

Streisand also ripped Trump, saying the 45th president “lies as easily as he breathes.”

“I can’t stand being lied to, and I don’t think the country should be lied to either,” Streisand wrote, before quipping of Trump, “And I just couldn’t comprehend how he could tell all these lies with absolutely no guilt (clearly he’s not Jewish.)”

Streisand expressed shock at Trump’s 2016 White House win, saying of the New York real estate developer, “You wouldn’t go to a doctor who has no qualifications or experience in treating your disease. Why on earth would people want to entrust our country to a narcissist whose lack of experience, recklessness, and blatant disregard for the truth made him completely unfit to be president?”

“What worried me was that the younger generation would emulate this man, who showed no kindness or empathy for other human beings,” she said.

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Actor From ‘The Office’ Pushes Back on MSNBC Host When She Blames Trump and Musk for Loss of Trust in Media

Rainn Wilson, the actor best known for appearing in the comedy series ‘The Office’ recently spoke with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and pushed back on her when she tried to blame President Trump and Elon Musk for the loss of trust in media.

Wilson is probably not a Trump supporter himself, but he does make an excellent point about the media and their selective concerns about government.

Ruhle talks about her belief that it’s the media’s job to hold the powerful to account, and Wilson reminds her that the media did not think that way at all when Biden was in office. He is exactly right.

FOX News has details:

“President Trump won and tons of people were shocked or angry or frustrated and they’re tuning out, and at the same time, you have the Elon Musk media machine, because they want you to leave traditional media, they want you to go to X, which is a bastion of misinformation,” Ruhle said during an appearance on Wilson’s “Soul Boom” podcast released on April 17.

“What we need to do is just cover what’s happening in America, right? We have to cover Democrats trying to figure out what their lane is and how they’re going to get back on their feet, and we have to simply cover what this White House is doing.”

However, Wilson suggested there was a lack of interest among left-leaning media to aggressively cover problems during the Biden administration.

“This is where I would push back, when I see this kind of insight and passion being directed at the current administration and the lack of this kind of insight and passion being directed at the previous administration, where again, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about left-leaning news media organizations were kind of like, ‘La la la la, everything’s fine,’” Wilson told Ruhle in a clip flagged by The Daily Caller.

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REPORT: George Clooney Exploded on MSNBC Producer After Being Exposed as Useful Idiot for Getting Biden Out of 2024 Race

Actor George Clooney was reportedly furious with MSNBC last year after Morning Joe connected the dots between Obama and his op-ed calling for Joe Biden to get out of the 2024 race.

Clooney’s op-ed kicked off a revolt by major Democrat donors who decided to withhold donations to the party unless Biden stepped aside, so in the end, Clooney’s strategy worked as intended.

What was he so angry about? Being exposed as a useful idiot, maybe?

FOX News reports:

George Clooney exploded on MSNBC producer after Mika Brzezinski linked Obama to dramatic Biden op-ed: report

Actor George Clooney reportedly lost his temper on an MSNBC producer working on “Morning Joe” after host Mika Brzezinski suggested that former President Barack Obama may have influenced Clooney to write his New York Times op-ed on former President Joe Biden…

The explosive confrontation between an unnamed MSNBC producer and Clooney was revealed by Biden biographer Chris Whipple in his forthcoming book, “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History.”

The “Morning Joe” segment that led to Clooney losing his cool featured Brzezinski suggesting that Obama may have been behind the actor’s NYT op-ed calling for Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential race.

“This wasn’t George Clooney,” Brzezinski claimed, later adding: “I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence.”

These claims led to Clooney calling a producer for the show in a rage, according to Whipple’s account.

“How the f— could you let her link me with Barack Obama saying he made me write the op-ed?” Clooney allegedly shouted at the “Morning Joe” producer.

Touchy! Touchy!

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