Metrotainment

Author: Ashley Brown

  • Joan Lee Passes On At 93

    Joan Lee Passes On At 93

    Wife of Marvel comic legend, Stan Lee, passed away at the age of 93. In a statement released by the family of deceased, she was said to have passed on quietly this morning surrounded by her family. The post also pleaded the general public to give them time to grief the loss. Sources close to the family have reported that the cause of her death is a stroke that she suffered from, earlier this week, which landed her in the hospital. In a similar statement released by Marvel picture the movie house acknowledged that they have lost a member of the Marvel family.

    Joan, who was a British hat model, got married to Lee in December 5, 1947 and were married until her passing. The stars were by all account continually in love with each other and supported each other throughout their careers.

    Lee in an interview last year revealed the circumstances that led him meeting his wife. The legend explained that Joan who at the time bore the last name Clayton impulsively got married to an American soldier during World War 2 and moved to New York. While she was working as a Hat model in New York she answered the door once and she saw Lee who came to the house to see another model but immediately fell in love with the star.

    The Hollywood legend has credited his wife for being inspiration behind some of the characters he created. Most important amongst them was the Fantastic Four comic, which Lee created when his wife told him to do something fun before he retired as a comic creator.

    Joan aside from being a former Hat model is also a writer of a book “The Pleasure Palace” released in 1987. She and her husband also played a cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse. The British and American citizen was also the voice for Madame Web in the animated Spider-Man series.

    The internet has reacted to the death of Joan and several movie executives giving tribute to the star. Deadpool creator, Rob Liefeld, led the list of well-wishers with Chadwick Boseman, Deborah Ann Woll, Jake Tapper and others also paying tribute.

  • Asian American Actors Leave Hawaii 5 amid Equal Pay Dispute

    Asian American Actors Leave Hawaii 5 amid Equal Pay Dispute

    Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park would no longer be part of the cast of Hawaii 5 as the two actors failed to sign a new contract to shoot season 8 of the TV series. The two stars failure to continue on the show is reportedly caused by the fact they wanted to earn the same fee as their other co-cast who are predominantly white. Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan are the two leading acts of the show and are also the highest paid. The Asian actors reportedly demanded the same pay with Alex and Scott but producers of the show refused to yield to such demands.

    On Wednesday, in a lengthy post released on Facebook, Kim explained the cause of his departure from the show making claims of discriminative pay on the show. The star claimed that the major reason for his departure is the fact that they couldn’t agree on a contract. He however made claims that suggest that he demanded for equal pay.

    Guy Aoki, founding president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans which are a body that champions the cause of Asian American actors in responding to the issue says it’s clearly racially motivated. He claimed that there have been a racial hierarchy established in the movie industry since the 1960s and the effect is still clearly in place up till date.

    Phil Yu who writes for the influential Asian blog “Angry Asian Man” also blasted the decision not to renew the contract of the Asian stars and claims that from its acts the show obviously values white actors more than their Asian counterpart.

    This is however not the first time Asian actor would be departing from the TV series which has previously run for & seasons. In January of this year, Masi Oka who had also been on the show since its first season also left the show amid contractual crises.

    Producer of the show Peter Lenkov have however come out to deny the allegations and claims the stars chose to leave after they were offered unprecedented pay. He further claimed that the departure has no racial undertone whatsoever.

  • Kenny Omega Rules in New Japan Pro Wrestling

    Kenny Omega Rules in New Japan Pro Wrestling

    Canadian wrestler Kenny Omega reigned supreme against Tomohiro Ishii in the main event of the New Japan Pro Wrestling’s two day tour in Long Beach. The wrestler, who is supposed to compete at the G1 Climax tournament kicking off in Japan later this month, won a brutal affair with both men emptying the tank in a 31-minute war of attrition.

    The two stars had earlier competed in the night in a different events with Omega defeating Jay Lethal and Ishii moving past British technical wizard Zack Sabre Jr. however, Okada, coming off two failed opportunities at Kazuchika Okada’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship was the more impressive of the two in their respective matches.

    After the match, the star explained that he would be scouting the entire globe looking for competition for his newly acquired title. He explained that the new japan show was a great promotion for him because of its level of acceptance. The wrestler said “This belt is going to be strong. It’s going to be something you look forward to seeing. The scouting starts now”. The star also said he would celebrate the current victory at the nearest In-N-Out Burger.

    Other results has David Finlay, Jushin Thunder Liger and KUSHIDA defeated Yoshitatsu, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu with Yoshitatsu finally tapping out the give the trio the victory. Juice Robinson, Jay White, Titán, Dragon Lee and Volador Jr. defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Hiromu Takahashi). Also, Bullet Club (Hangman Page, Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) defeated War Machine and Michael Elgin with he star clinching the victory by a Rite of Passage move.in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match The Young Bucks (c) defeated Roppongi Vice to clinch the protracted title and claiming victory over a tough opponent.

    Wrestling is a growing culture in japan with different tournament being organised all over japan to promote the sport. However whether omega can break into the big leagues is still yet to the scene. Bodies like the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the WCW (World Championship Wrestling) would dominate the world of wrestling all over the world and the Canadian star would be hoping to break into the fold someday.

  • Olivia De Havilland Condemns Her Feud Portrayal By A Top Network As She Moves To Court To File Charges

    Olivia De Havilland Condemns Her Feud Portrayal By A Top Network As She Moves To Court To File Charges

    Hollywood grande dame Olivia de Havilland is being seen by a lot of people as taking quite a drastic move by resorting to suing the network and Murphy’s production company. Her lawyers in a recent interview revealed that Olivia was unhappy with the way she had been portrayed in the TV series Feud: Bette and Joan.

    While recently answering questions from journalists, one of her lawyers stated, “Miss de Havilland was not asked by FX for permission to use her name and identity and was not compensated for such use. Further, the FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself.”

    De Havilland has spend most of her life in Paris and on Saturday she will be turning 101.On Friday, she went ahead to file the charges in a Los Angeles Superior CourtHer lawyers are in her full defense and they lately outlined that FX and its partners had unlawfully appropriated celebrity’s name and identify as well

    The deeply criticized the move to depict her in a false light in a bit to sensationalize the series .They said that it was wrong to go that far only to promote their business. FX network and brand turned a blind eye to Havilland’s interests and they promised to do all within their means to see to it that justice was served.

    According to Ew, a top attorney by the name Suzelle Smith has been vocal in relation to the matter. She disclosed that any living celebrity bore each and every right to protect both her name and identify in an industry that is currently flooded with persons wanting to exploit others for personal gain.

    Some top news reporters recently moved out to squeeze out some comments from FX .It was all in vain after FX declined to make any comments in relation to the matter. A lot of people around the glove will be closely following on the matter in the coming days to see how it ends.

  • Van Susteren Disappointed After Moving From Fox News to MSNBC

    Van Susteren Disappointed After Moving From Fox News to MSNBC

    Van Susteren, a former Fox News host has been hit below the belt by the loyal MSNBC viewers. She was running the For the Record With Greta show. The cable news network decided to let go of the presenter after its viewers expressed dissatisfaction. Most of them couldn’t see anything special about her apart from being a former Fox News Host.

    The program she had been running according to reports had consistently been receiving lower ratings. Weekend host Ari Melber and the MSNBC chief legal correspondent will be the ones to fill the slot.

    According to Huffingtonpost, MSNBC president Phil Griffin was the official that announced the departure of Van Susteren. He said that they enjoyed working with the anchor and the show team. In late April before the White House Correspondents Dinner, some top news reporters reached out to the news anchor seeking to understand her take on what had been happening in her career life.

    Van Susteren had been quick to point out that she was happy with her new work station. She termed the transition from Fox News seamless. According to her, it was a great thing that she had moved with her staff from Fox News to MSNBC. She appeared optimistic, but it must have been sad for her that matters didn’t turn out like she expected.

    Some people familiar with the matter unleashed some details in relation to the matter, though they preferred to remain anonymous. They disclosed that plans to get rid of the anchor had started some two weeks earlier, but Van Susteren was kept in the dark. The sources said that Melber was the person behind the negotiations.

    CNN has reported that the anchor was making preparations to start her show when she suddenly received the news about her termination. Her husband, who happens to be a trial lawyer that has over the years negotiated the anchor’s contract, revealed that matters related to her termination were under discussion. The most disappointing part was that Van Susteren was denied the chance say goodbye to her viewers.

  • Movie Academy Body Promotes Diversity with New Invitees

    Movie Academy Body Promotes Diversity with New Invitees

    The world acclaimed giver of the Oscar award “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” has invited 774 mew members into its fold. The body which gives the most popular movie awards in the world have faced questions of lack of diversity in its members in the past and its new invitee list aims at correcting such impression. Aside the diversity angle, the number is seen as a graduation on the number of invitees in recent years as it is higher than 683 invitations that were issued in 2016 and 322 in 2015.

    The body has been facing questions of lack of diversity since 2014 when its members were said to be predominantly white and male. There was protest against the academy body members symbolised by the #OscarsSoWhite movement. There have also been reports in recent times of black actors boycotting the award ceremony for the perceived lack of black inclusion in the nominee list. At the beginning of 2016, of 6,261 in the body’s voting pool 92% were white while 75% were male.

    However, the new list of invited members reflects a more balance racial and gender picture. The new list, which represents talented people from 57 countries is 39 percent female and 30% people of colour. Seven branches of the body invited more females and males and they are actors, casting directors, costume designers, documentary, executives and film editors. This represents a more balance list of invitee in comparison with what has obtained in the past.

    American singer, song writer, producer and actor Justin Timberlake who shook the crowd at the Oscars in February with his opening performance of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” was invited to be a member. So was creator of hit stage play Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda who got the nod for his amazing work on the musical drama. The list also included Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Naomie Harris, Riz Ahmed, Jordan Peele, Barry Jenkins and a lot more people with African and Hispanic origin.

    The full list is a step in the right direction for the body that has endured criticism in the past for marginalisation of black people.

  • The “Pretty Little Liar” Finale and the A.D. Theory Spoiler

    The “Pretty Little Liar” Finale and the A.D. Theory Spoiler

    As the finale of hit TV series draw to a close fans of the show have been given a teaser as to the identity of the series star villain A.D. which would be officially revealed when the final episode is released. Rumour is nonetheless ripe is to real identity of the star villain. Is it is the custom throughout the entire seasons fans have been swapping stories of their guesses as to who the A.D. is but none has match the current anticipation.

    Howbeit, the show producer, Marlene King recently revealed that fans would have to wait until season 7 to figure out who the villain actually is. She also claimed that they intend to generate a new story from the identity of the villain. This does not stop the shows loyal fans from speculating anyways. One of such fans is Cosmopolitan writer Eliza Thompson who claimed she has gone back to re-watch previous with the aim of looking for clues that explains the identity of the villain.

    Thompson, on the strength of her latest research pointed out that Scott has a history of mental illness which has been evident throughout the show. This would mean that he spent time at Radley. However, Thompson’s takes her theory a step further with the assertion that A.D. could stand for “Aria’s Dad” which is another plausible alternative theory.

    Furthermore, in press photos released before the season finale the spoiler alert might have taken a new turn. The first picture show Liars placed around a figure in a dark room sitting on a couch which better lighting would suggest an image of someone that looks like Mona. The clique in the picture seems to be unhappy about something as they question the Mona like figure with visible frustration on their faces. Whether or not this theory would be held to be true would however be known at the end of the season finale.

    What is however clear is that all the theories would be brought to an end once the finally is aired. This is due to the fact that the show producers have a record of wrapping up villain character at the end of seasons.

  • Erin Andrews, ex-NHL player Jarret Stoll marry in Montana

    Erin Andrews, ex-NHL player Jarret Stoll marry in Montana

    Former NHL player Jarret Stoll and sportscaster Erin Andrews have tied the knot. According to Andrews’s publicists, the 39-year old Fox Sports reporter and co-hot of ‘‘Dancing with the Stars’’ married Stoll on Saturday which also marked his 35th birthday.

    The news of the wedding was first shared by the People Magazine. The magazine reported that the wedding took place at the sunset in Montana before small group of family and invited guests.  Andrews’ gown was designed by Carolina Herrera. The two who have been dating since 2012 got engaged last December at Disneyland.

    During an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in January Andrews said they had gone there for Christmas cerebration as well as witnessing the Christmas decorations which finally ended in a lovely dinner.

    The wedding comes after a rocky and year for Andrews.

    She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September 2016 just a few months after winning a stalking court battle.  She settled with two companies that were found to blame for the stalker who booked in a room next to hers and later posted nude videos of her on the internet.  Stoll has a 13-year career playing in the NHL during which she played for Los Angeles, Edmonton, the New York Rangers and Minnesota.

    In other news, Prince Harry has revealed that he once wanted to move out of the British royal family. In an interview that was published in the Mail, the prince revealed that all the time he spent in the army was “the best escape I’ve ever had’’ saying that at one point, he considered giving up on his title.

    Prince Harry, who is fifth in the line of succession, said: ‘‘I felt I wanted out, but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself.’’

    His comments come after an interview that was published in the Newsweek in which he is quoted to have said he doubted if anyone in the royal family wished to be king or queen.  He however said the royal family will carry out its duties at all time as required.

  • The Unwavering Leslie Jones

    The Unwavering Leslie Jones

    As Leslie Jones trudged the Tower Bar in the Sunset Tower Hotel on Wednesday, sipping a Starbucks iced green tea, she gave a listening ear to an elderly white woman that moved to talk to her. The woman said, “I’m sorry, I just had to tell you how happy I am we have a voice out there like yours. Don’t let them stop you.”

    At the start, Jones appeared startled but as a matter of fact that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone considering the fact that the celebrity has over the years had to put up with so much negativity from the public. After a short while swung back to equilibrium to softly thank the elderly lady for the support she was showing her.

    Thereafter, Jones revealed that this was not the first time such a thing was happening to her. She’s a 6-foot-tall dark-skinned black woman with a signature spiky hairstyle which quite a large number of people have been saying makes her seem even taller.

    Jones while speaking to a number of top news reporters said that she was happy with herself since she had been able to achieve immense success in what she did best-comedy. She is definitely one of the top black female comedians in the world though she doesn’t like the idea of her immense success getting to her head.

    According to Buzzfeed.com, she criticized the aspect of the industry referring to her as the top black female comedian. Jones said that it was obvious she was black and she was also female. According to her, there was no need to bring that out in giving her titles. Instead, she preferred being called a comedian.

    The celebrity picked on the whites saying that there exists white female comedians and she has never heard that aspect of white being brought out. No one says white female comic! She condemned the double standards and wishes that the industry changes some things such as this.

    It is not about struggle on anything and thus it is important to just treat each and every comedian or actor with uttermost dignity.

  • Bob The Drag Queen Points Out That Every Aspirant Will Get Something Unique From Rupaul’s Drag Race

    Bob The Drag Queen Points Out That Every Aspirant Will Get Something Unique From Rupaul’s Drag Race

    Bob the Drag Queen 30 years back took home the crown on the season 8 finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Some trusted sources have revealed that indeed this year is quite difficult for the celebrity. He has been traveling around the globe and one of the things in her-to-do list has been making the production of his own hour-long standup special.

    However, one thing that has continued to draw the attention of many people from across the board is the fact that he has not been giving any advice to the top four queens left coming for his crown on Drag Race season 9.

    Ahead of Cherry Pop‘s premiere this week at New York City’s SVA Theater, Bob outlined that the celebrities trying to get the award needed to get the feel of the vibe on their own. He went ahead to add that he personally did not have major expectations considering that there was nothing that could be compared to being the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Bob asserted that during his time he had remained open to whatever was to come his way.

    According to People.com, the Drag Queen outlined that each and every person got a different thing from it and that no one was expected to look forward to his advice. He wished all the aspirants the best of lack hoping that they would obtain whatever would fulfill them in the whole thing and also added that they needed to enjoy the ride.

    No one should make the mistake of thinking that there is absolutely nothing that can be gathered from Bob’s long career in drag, especially when it comes to traveling.

    To Bob, snatching the top title was a dream come true and he was delighted by the large number of fans that would usually surround him. While speaking to a number of top news reporters, the celebrity said, “Before I was performing of fans of drag, and now I’m performing from fans of Drag Race — which are two different things. I was always working with New York City crowds which are pretty hard to be honest.”