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Harold Matzner, the businessman and Coachella Valley philanthropist who helped revitalize the Palm Springs International Film Festival as its chairman for more than two decades, has died. He was 88.

Matzner died Thursday at Eisenhower Health hospital in Rancho Mirage after a brief illness, a publicist announced.

Matzner led the Palm Springs fest from 2000 until he stepped down in April 2023, to be succeeded by Nachhattar Singh Chandi. He donated more than $12 million of his own funds to help turn the January event — which kicked off with humble beginnings in 1990 — into a must-attend awards-season happening as one of the world’s great showcases for cinema.

Nicknamed “Mr. Palm Springs,” Matzner donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits and championed healthcare, education and the arts in the area.

He also revived the Palm Springs Tennis Club and turned its lunchroom into Spencer’s, now a hot restaurant in town. He named it after his beloved 110-pound Siberian husky.

Harold Matzner, the Palm Springs-area businessman, philanthropist and celebrated patron of the arts credited with turning the Palm Springs International Film Festival into a major force in Hollywood, died Thursday following a brief illness. He was 88.

The longtime chairman of Psiff, he was a Palm Springs resident for 40 years, and his contributions to the city and its cultural and artistic scene earned him the nickname “Mr. Palm Springs.”

Born July 4, 1937 in Newark New Jersey, Matzner’s childhood was defined by the privations of the Great Depression and World War II years. Working in his father’s print shop, he also held a range of jobs growing up; briefly working as...

Harold Matzner, the philanthropist, businessman and cultural architect known as “Mr. Palm Springs” who transformed the Southern California desert city and revived and led its film festival, died Thursday in Palm Springs after a brief illness. He was 88.

Born on July 4, 1937, in Newark, NJ, Matzner worked as a sportswriter before turning his attention to marketing. He founded the direct-mail advertising film Cba Industries and remained its CEO into his 80s.

He found Palm Springs in the 1985 and soon made the city about 110 miles east of Los Angeles his focus. During the next four decades, he donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits, championed the arts and helped revive the city’s lagging film festival. He also was Chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Society.

In 1999, he stepped in to rescue the Palm Springs International Film Festival from near collapse. As its chairman for more than two decades, he donated...

Harold Matzner, the philanthropist and businessman who served as chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival for more than two decades, died Sept. 4 in Palm Springs after a brief illness. He was 88.

Over nearly four decades in the desert, Matzner donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits and helped the festival become an important stop on the Hollywood awards circuit.

“It is a difficult day for the city of Palm Springs and for all of us at the Palm Springs International Film Festival,” wrote festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi on behalf of the Palm Springs International Film Society. “From its inception, Harold gave so much of himself — day and night — to ensure this festival not only survived but flourished. Having led the festival since 2000, Harold’s vision transformed it into a world-class event and a key stop during awards season. Even after stepping down, he remained deeply involved, guiding...

Airplane! is generally considered to be one of the greatest movie comedies of all-time. The sequel, which introduced William Shatner and a bomb-wielding Sonny Bono to the franchise, not so much.

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The steep drop in quality can be explained by the fact that Airplane II: The Sequel was helmed by Canadian comedy writer Ken Finkleman, and not the original filmmaking team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker.

Well, it turns out that Zaz did offer to helm a follow-up to Airplane!, but their plans were torpedoed by legendary director and wine magnate Francis Ford Coppola.

David Zucker recently sat for an interview with right-wing YouTuber, and star of the “South Park of X,” Dave Rubin. Zucker discussed how Zaz was approached by Paramount to make Airplane II, and they even put together a pitch that would have picked up right after the events of the original film.

Don Mischer, the Emmy-accumulating director-producer who called the shots on the biggest live entertainment events in the world, from Super Bowl halftime shows and Olympic opening ceremonies to the Oscars and the Emmys, has died. He was 85.

Mischer died peacefully in his sleep in Los Angeles on Friday, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

The San Antonio native also helmed the Kennedy Center Honors, starting with the inaugural 1978 event through 1986 — he then produced the CBS telecast from 1993-2001 — and guided Barbara Walters‘ highly-rated ABC interview shows beginning in the late 1970s.

Meanwhile, Mischer was the architect of dozens of landmark TV specials, including 1983’s Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which featured a reunion of The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk” during a “Billie Jean” performance, and 1990’s The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson and 1998’s Sonny & Me: Cher Remembers, both of which aired mere months after the shocking deaths...

Dame Joan Plowright’s career spanned several decades, and she became one of the most celebrated actresses in Britain. She’s equally brilliant on stage and screen and has immensely contributed to the arts. Similarly, Cher, a pop culture icon and acclaimed actress has impressed everyone with her charisma and versatility throughout her career.

Joan Plowright in Enchanted April | Miramax

When these two legendary women came together for a film, their chemistry was unmatched. Their collaboration shows how a talented cast can bring a movie to life, and the fact that two amazing actresses can co-exist in a project, without trying to overshadow the other.

Joan Plowright and Cher’s beautiful chemistry in Tea with Mussolini Cher | Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube

Joan Plowright and Cher came together for a semi-autobiographical film, titled, Tea with Mussolini, and it was helmed by Franco Zeffirelli, who brought out the best in both actresses.

Darlene Love brought some festive cheer to The Tonight Show, performing her holiday classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” The singer appeared with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul and Paul Shaffer, who played grand piano for the rousing version of the 1962 hit.

Love originally recorded “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” for the 1963 compilation album A Christmas Gift for You From Philles Records (also known as A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector), which was produced by Phil Spector. Cher notably performed background vocals on the song and...

Image Source: HarperCollins In the 1970s, Cher was everywhere. Although her music partnership with Sonny Bono was fading, her solo career was taking off, with a string of hit singles. But while Sonny & Cher’s run on the music charts was ending, the duo’s run on television was just beginning. With The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show, they gave us six seasons of ’70s-style television variety shows, filled with music, comedy, and Cher’s ostentatious wardrobe (often courtesy of legendary designer Bob Mackie). And on her own, Cher had a two-season run of her own variety show. Between the various shows, she worked with some of the hottest stars of the day. One of the most memorable guest appearances came when The Jacksons visited her solo show, and she performed a medley of the group’s hits, singing and dancing alongside Michael Jackson.

In her newly released memoir, Cher reflects on the challenges she faced during her marriage to Sonny Bono, shedding light on the difficulties behind their celebrated public partnership.

The book explores their journey from friends and roommates to an impulsive marriage in an apartment bathroom. It reveals the darker aspects of their relationship, including Bono’s infidelity and controlling behavior.

Cher describes how the strain of their marriage took a significant toll on her mental health, leading to moments of despair. In one instance, she recounts experiencing suicidal thoughts while staying in a Las Vegas hotel suite in October 1972.

“There I was, twenty-six years old and in what had become a loveless marriage,” she writes. “Sonny had given me the vehicle and the confidence to become the somebody my mother always told me I would be, and then he just lost interest.”

She continues: “I stepped barefoot onto the balcony...

After supplying fans with nearly five decades of pop and dance anthems, Cher announced she may have one project left to release. During an interview at the London’s Lyceum Theatre Monday in support of her new memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the singer said her next album is “probably my last.”

“I’m really excited,” Cher said of the project, according to The Sun. “They are great songs and I’m just really excited that I’m doing it. I’m really excited to be doing anything now.

The Goddess of Pop never went out of style. Cher revamped the music industry with her endless aura and ability to transform our moods with her music. One could say that she paved the way for female musicians who are now ruling over the industry. Cher isn’t just a name, it’s an emotion. She has broken musical boundaries and shattered fashion norms, establishing her place in the industry for years to come. Cher’s one of those icons who deserve the legendary title.

American singer, Cher | Credits: @cher / Instagram

However, even someone as poise and regal as Cher has had her petty teenage moments. When it comes to teens’ love lives, they are incomplete without drama. Whether it’s your “boyfriend” sharing his lunch with a different girl in the school cafeteria or disregarding you in front of his friends, there are red flags all around! Read on...

Cher is looking back on the two directors she didn’t like working with.

In an interview with the U.K.’s Times published Friday timed to the release of the first of her two-part memoir, the singer discussed her acting career and the difficulty of working with two filmmakers in particular.

“There are only two directors I didn’t like: Peter Bogdanovich and the guy from The Muppets,” she said as she reflected on clashing with Bogdanovich on 1985’s Mask and with Frank Oz on 1990’s Mermaids. “I actually got the guy from The Muppets fired. I said, ‘either you’re going or I’m going,’ which is a shame because he’s a really good director, but he had a thing about me. He would go, ‘At least my wife loves me!’”

On the late Bogdanovich, who died in 2022, Cher continued, “He was an asshole. He was not...

Hoda Kotb is an experienced host on The Today Show, so it is surprising she would encourage a visiting celebrity to make such a large on-air blunder. Kotb was interviewing Singer Cher when she encouraged the artist to drop an f-bomb on national morning television. So what exactly happened? Keep reading to find out!

Hoda Kotb Makes A Big Mistake

Today Show host Hoda Kotb was interviewing Cher on Tuesday when she made a very large mistake. Cher and Hoda sat down to discuss Cher’s latest book “Cher: The Memoir, Part One.” Kotb was asking Cher to recount an interaction she had with famous actress Lucille Ball. Turns out the conversation was not appropriate for television, but that didn’t stop Hoda from asking her to tell it!

Today: Hoda Kotb

Cher explained to Hoda Kotb that when she was in the process of leaving her ex-husband Sonny Bono,...

When Cher’s Ex-Husband Wanted To Kill Her (Photo Credit – Instagram)

In her memoir, ‘Cher: The Memoir (Part One),’ which was released recently, Cher made a shocking revelation wherein she revealed that her ex-husband Sonny Bono contemplated killing her once. For the unversed, the singer shared a difficult and tumultuous marriage with the late singer and politician. She vividly recalled one of the disturbing incidents wherein Bono had confessed to her that he felt like killing her.

In her memoir, Cher admitted that she felt so unhappy in her marriage with Sonny Bono that she also contemplated committing suicide by jumping off the balcony of her Las Vegas hotel room. The ‘Believe’ singer mentioned in her memoir how she told Sonny she wanted to sleep with Bill, a guitarist in their band. She did not mean any of it; it was just a ploy to get separated from Bono.

Describing the incident,...

Tina Turner once asked Cher for advice about leaving her abusive marriage to Ike Turner, the “Believe” singer writes in her memoir “Cher: The Memoir, Part 1.” The Turners came onto Cher’s self-titled TV show twice, and on one visit, Tina asked Cher, “Tell me how you left him.”

The request came after Tina asked for help covering up a bruise. “One of the days we were shooting, she came to my room before we went on asking if I had some cover-up. She had a bruise on her arm she didn’t want showing on camera. I told her I had something that would work,” Cher writes.

“I looked at her and told her, ‘I just walked out and kept going,'” she continues.

Cher noted that the request from Tina reminded her of the one she once made to Lucille Ball when she wanted to leave Sonny Bono.

Cher dropped a profanity live on morning television on Tuesday (November 19)!

The 78-year-old entertainer was making an appearance on the Today Show to promote her new memoir.

While speaking about her split with Sonny Bono, host Hoda Kotb asked about Cher reaching out to Lucille Ball for advice, in which her answer involved saying “f–k.”

Keep reading to find out more…

“I can’t say it on TV,” Cher said, to which Hoda said, “We’ll bleep it.”

As Cher continued to tell the story, she said, “I said, ‘Lucy, I’m calling you because to my knowledge, there’s never been a situation besides mine, except yours.’ And so, she said, ‘F–k it, you’re the one with the talent.’”

Hoda then started laughing, saying, “Okay, we didn’t have the seven second [delay], but we will get it for the next feed.”

“You said I could!” Cher replied.

Cher reveals the considerate steps she took when including her transgender son, Chaz Bono, in her new memoir, saying she got his approval to use his “dead name,” Chastity.

The singer made the heartfelt disclaimer at the front of her memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, noting that she received Chaz’s blessing to use his so-called “dead name” before transitioning in 2008 within parts of her book.

“In this memoir, I refer to my son Chaz as Chas, the name he went by during the years covered in this book,” Cher wrote in the book. “Chaz has granted his blessing for this usage. In the next volume, at the appropriate point, I will refer to my son as Chaz.”

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Chaz, the son of Cher and her late ex-husband Sonny Bono started his transition...

You can’t say Cher didn’t warn Hoda Kotb this morning on The Today Show. Cher was there to promote her new memoir, and Kotb asked Cher about advice she’d received from comedy icon Lucille Ball after her 1975 divorce from Sonny Bono. “I can’t say it on TV,” Cher insisted, asking if the show’s producers could bleep out the offending words.

Don’t worry, said Kotb. “We’ll bleep it!”

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Given the green light, Cher talked about reaching out to her longtime pal. The wacky redhead knew all about public divorces, shocking the world when she broke it off with Desi Arnaz after I Love Lucy ended. “I said, ‘Lucy, I’m calling you because, to my knowledge, there’s never been a situation besides mine except yours,’” Cher said.

Ball’s sage advice about how to handle the situation? “Fuck him,” she said. “You...

For those unaware, Cher is coming out with a memoir, aptly titled “Cher: The Memoir (Part One).”

For those also unaware, Cher now says that her former husband thought about killing her at one point.

There. Have we gotten your attention?

Sonny Bono and Cher, way back in the day. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Back in the early 1970s, Cher was married to fellow musician Sonny Bono.

They released the iconic duet “I Got You Babe,” they co-starred on the show The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, they were a Very big deal at the time.

But they weren’t entirely happy back then. At all.

In her book, Cher details a stint in Las Vegas at the Sahara Hotel in October 1972 … when she told her husband she wanted to sleep with Bill, a guitarist in their band.

Cher poses during a photocall ahead of the Balmain show as...

In her new memoir, Cher recalls a dark moment in her “loveless marriage” to Sonny Bono when she considered jumping off the balcony of her Las Vegas hotel room (via People).

The incident occurred in 1972, three years after Cher and Bono officially wed. (Cher was 16 and Bono 27 when they met in 1962; they had an unofficial wedding ceremony in 1964.) At the time, the couple was wildly popular thanks to their numerous hit songs and their smash variety TV show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. But professional success did not bring personal fulfillment.

Cher is opening up about a former love.

The 78-year-old entertainer explained her decision to file for divorce from her second husband, Gregg Allman, after only nine days of marriage in her upcoming memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One.

When the couple conceived son Elijah Blue Allman in 1975, they decided to tie the knot “within a few days,” via Page Six.

Keep reading to find out more…

They got married in Las Vegas that June, four days after Cher finalized her divorce from her first husband, Sonny Bono.

“There was little about our wedding day that was romantic. There would be no honeymoon,” she noted in the book.

Cher filed for divorce from the Allman Brothers Band member the following week after allegedly finding a “plastic bag full of white powder” in his toiletry bag and hearing from friends that he was planning to leave her. They reconciled after Gregg went to rehab,...

Cher opened up about her chaotic marriage with the late singer and politician Sonny Bono in her recently published memoir where she spilled the details of how she almost attempted to end her life several times. One of the most iconic and in-demand pop stars from the ‘60s, she rose to fame as one-half of the folk-rock duo, Sonny & Cher.

Credits: Cher in an interview with Edward Lawrence / YouTube

Bono tragically died in 1998 after a skiing accident at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California. At the time of his death, he and Cher were already on good terms. The latter even gave a eulogy at his funeral.

Cher Writes About Her Troublesome Marriage With Sonny Bono

Cher revealed the nitty-gritty details of her marriage with Sonny Bono in her book Cher: The Memoir, Part One (via Page Six) as she recalled the harrowing times she spent with her late husband.

Cher stopped by The Tonight Show to chat about her recently-released memoir, Cher, The Memoir: Part One, and took the opportunity to announce that she is making new music.

“It was hard,” the singer told host Jimmy Fallon of writing her memoir, which chronicles her early life as Cherilyn Sarkisian and her rise to fame, including meeting and marrying Sonny Bono, and forming the husband-and-wife Sixties duo Sonny & Cher.

“It was a bitch,” she continued. “It’s not going through your life that’s hard so much. But I did...

Cher and Mary Bono remain locked in a bitter power struggle over music royalties, even after a judge ruled last May that the singer’s 1978 divorce agreement with ex-husband Sonny Bono was strong enough to fend off Mary’s attempt to recapture his publishing interests.

At a court hearing Monday, a lawyer representing Mary argued that Cher’s right to collect her 50 percent share of composition royalties for hit songs including “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” ended for good on July 1, 2022. That was the date Irving Azoff...

Cher has always been supportive of her son Chaz Bono’s gender identity — and she’s making no exception in her memoir. According to The New York Times, the pop legend makes a disclaimer toward the front of Cher: The Memoir, Part One, writing that she received Bono’s “blessing” to use his deadname to talk about him before his 2008 transition.

“In this memoir, I refer to my son Chaz as Chas, the name he went by during the years covered in this book,” Cher wrote in the book. “Chaz...

Here’s what Cher’s net worth is in 2024

(Photo Credit – Instagram)

Known as the Goddess of Pop, Cher has built a career far beyond music and movies. Although she saw a lot of career downfalls as well, the success of her six-decade career is reflected in her Oscar-winning performances. Not only this, Cher is among the household names in the industry, and she earned her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of the Sonny & Cher duo. She recently set the stage with her iconic songs at 2024’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

What Is Cher’s 2024 Net Worth?

Born as Cherilyn Sarkisian, Cher has an estimated net worth of $360 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. Her career in the music industry started when she met producer Phil Spector through Sonny Bono and began working as a backup singer. As Sonny and Cher developed a close relationship,...

Sister Wives star Kody Brown seems to be in a negative headspace now that his family has crumbled apart for good. This season, he’s reflecting on the end of his relationships and comparing them to Cher and Sonny Bono’s split.

Kody Brown Can’t Seem To Move Past His Break-Ups

It’s been several years since Kody Brown had four wives, but it seems like he’s still struggling to adjust. In an upcoming episode, he likens his triple divorce to the infamous Sonny and Cher break-up.

“When Sonny and Cher got divorced, I was six, I was five, and it broke my heart,” the family patriarch shares in a clip from Sunday night’s new episode. “It freaked me out. I was like divorce is the biggest evil of, you know, it’s just something that saddened me.”

Sister Wives/TLC

“At six and seven years old,...

Its exciting and new. Come and join us. Were expecting you. Anyone who grew up in the 70s or 80s, or who loves retro TV, will recognize those words as lyrics from the iconic theme song to the romantic comedy-drama The Love Boat. The ABC series, which aired for nine seasons from 1977 through 1986 along with several special episodes, hailed from Aaron Spelling, the powerhouse behind iconic shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, Dynasty, and Melrose Place. And it was a massive success. Ryan Murphy, arguably this generations Spelling, may have drawn inspiration from this series for his latest hit. Doctor Odyssey is a medical drama that takes the procedural format to the open seas.

The main similarity between these two shows is, of course, that they both take place on the water via cruise ship. But its difficult not to draw other comparisons. In fact, Doctor Odyssey is a modern-day version of The Love Boat.

Growing up under the spotlight wasn’t easy on Chaz Bono. Given his parents’ status, with Cher being regarded as one of the most prolific pop artists to date, the author often found himself under tabloid scrutiny and things only aggravated as he grew older. The ’90s were especially hard for Bono, as the media forcibly outed him as gay.

Chaz Bono | Credit: American Horror Stories/Hulu

Bono, who has been a prominent LGBTQIA2S+ rights activist since making the transition from a woman to a man in the late 2000s, recounted the traumatic experience that he had to deal with as a result of the forced outing.

Chaz Bono Heavily Struggled After Being Forcibly Outed Chaz Bono | Credit: Bury the Bride/Tubi

Chaz Bono found his academic years extremely hellacious as a kid, given the school’s straight and strict nature. Things weren’t much better at home, as...

This month, ahead of her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the publication of the first volume of her memoir, Cher will unveil a new career-spanning anthology “personally curated by the legend herself.” Her most expansive to date, Forever includes Cher’s earliest hits on her own (“Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves,” “Dark Lady”), her Eighties power ballads (“If I Could Turn Back Time,” “I Found Someone”), and unstoppable club hits (“Take Me Home” and “Believe”). A Forever Fan Edition adds in her breakout hits with Sonny Bono, a...

One thing Cher’s career has never been is predictable.

As a teenager in the Sixties, she cut her teeth with future husband Sonny Bono and producer Phil Spector. They would produce massive pop hits like “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” that became staples in the Seventies. For a lesser star, that would have been the end of a good run but Cher is not like any other star. She and Sonny ended up reviving their careers with a variety show until they divorced. Cher would...

Award-winning singer, Oscar-winning actress, all-around entertainer, and Twitter icon Cher has announced a two-part memoir, titled Cher: The Memoir. The first half of the story will arrive on November 19th via HarperCollins. Pre-orders are ongoing.

Described as a book showcasing “her trademark honesty and humor,” the first part of the memoir series will trace Cher’s childhood years, dreams of fame, her relationship with her mother, and the experience of meeting and later marrying longtime creative partner Sonny Bono. “Cher: The Memoir reveals the daughter, the sister, the wife, the lover, the mother, and the superstar,” the description reads. “It is a life too immense for only one book.”

Cher: The Memoir – Part One will be available in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and Kindle format. Check out the cover artwork below.

Cher achieved another huge milestone this year when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — even after...

Cher’s highly anticipated memoir is finally getting a release date and cover reveal.

Dey Street Books, an imprint of the William Morrow Group at HarperCollins Publishers, announced on Wednesday that they will publish the first of a two-part memoir this fall.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One, will be published on Nov. 19.

Cher The Memoir Part One

“After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir,” the publisher teased. “With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.”

The upcoming memoir is set to chronicle the singer’s childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono, while detailing “the highly...

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Fall 2024 will be the Season of Cher: After getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October, the icon will release her memoir, out on Nov. 19.

Cher, The Memoir: Part One will chronicle her early life as Cherilyn Sarkisian, including her battle with dyslexia as a child and her dream of superstardom. The book will follow her rise, meeting and marrying Sonny Bono, and...

Cher has won her yearslong copyright lawsuit against Sonny Bono’s widow over royalty payments from the Sonny & Cher catalog, a federal judge in the Central District of California ruled on Wednesday.

The dispute tied to Cher’s suit goes back many years. When she and Bono settled their divorce in 1978, it was determined that Cher was entitled to a 50 percent stake in the Sonny & Cher publishing catalog. After Bono died in 1998, Cher and Bono’s heirs entered a partnership over the songs. But in 2016, Mary Bono exercised the Copyright Act’s “termination rights,...

Cher has offered some insight into her dating history, including why she prefers younger men.

“I’m really shy when I’m not working and kind of shy around men,” Cher, 77, explained during an appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show. “And the reason I go out with young men is because men my age or older — well, now they’re all dead — but before they just never, they were always terrified to approach me.”

She continued, saying that younger men are a bit bolder and jokingly suggested they were “raised by women like me.” Later on in the interview, she discussed how her current partner, Alexander “A.E.” Edwards, had introduced her to Tupac, and he quickly became one of Cher’s favorite artists. “I was so taken aback by the depth of the words,” she told Hudson.

Elsewhere in her chat with Hudson, she recounted turning down a date...

When 1980’s Airplane! proved to be a massive hit, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year – up there with The Empire Strikes Back and Best Picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer – it was inevitable that it would get a sequel. But how often are comedy sequels good anyway? When have they ever really recaptured the magic and the laughter of the original? Well, Airplane II: The Sequel gave it a go…by basically being the same movie. Except this time around, Zaz wisely opted out, leaving the production without the strong leaders who reinvented the spoof genre. Instead, they got the guy who wrote Grease 2, one of the most notoriously awful sequels ever! So, strap in – no, not to an airplane but a space shuttle – as we find out: Wtf Happened to This Movie?!…The Sequel!

1980’s Airplane! did incredibly well upon release, making just under $85 million on a $3.5 million budget,...

Is Cher’s $1 million royalties claim against Mary Bono strong enough? A judge seems to think so.

At a court hearing Monday, a federal judge said he believes Cher is entitled to receive ongoing composition royalties from songs including “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” as outlined in her 1978 divorce agreement with Sonny Bono – despite Sonny’s heirs exercising their right to recapture his underlying copyrights under the federal Copyright Act.

In his tentative ruling delivered from the bench, U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt said he...

As of today, the traditionally protective Walt Disney Co will have to deal with an onslaught of Mickey Mouse parodies, mockeries and likely rather explicit variations as the iconic character slips into the public domain.

Sorta.

In the sober light of 2024, Steamboat Willie, the 1928 short that effectively launched the empire that Walt built, can now be used by anyone and everyone. The legal status of Mickey and Minnie Mouse from Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy, from earlier that same year, has been long fought over and probably not something to which Disney was looking forward. Yet, in a new year that also sees Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking Orlando, Peter Pan, Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus, Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman and Tigger from AA Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner now in the public domain, if you are anticipating a Steamboat Willie free-for-all, think again.

Besides Disney being notoriously litigious,...

Today, Jan. 1, isn’t just New Year’s Day — it’s also Public Domain Day, where thousands of cinematic treasures, literary classics, Great American Songbook selections, and works of art see their copyrights expire and enter the public domain.

The headliner this year is the fair use of Mickey Mouse — at least, the Steamboat Willie version of the beloved character — as that copyright expiration has been anticipated for years. However, there’s much more than just Mickey entering the public domain in 2024.

Jennifer Jenkins, Director of Duke’s Center for...

Cher is probably not the first name that comes to mind when you think of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and if she says so, it’ll stay that way. Despite having a dynamic career and officially becoming the first woman to ever have #1 singles over the course of seven decades, Cher will forever distance herself from the foundation.

Now 77, Cher recently told Kelly Clarkson that while she may not be the only artist to have achieved such a feat, she thinks hers is more impressive because “it took four of them to be one of me,” citing The Rolling Stones. Then she added, “And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!” The Stones, for reference, were inducted in 1989, the same year Cher released one of her biggest hits, “If I Could Turn Back Time”.

While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has become something of a joke,...

Los Angeles, Dec 2 (Ians) Singer Cher claims that despite her years in the spotlight, she has never been demanding or difficult to work with and such antics don’t “make sense” to her.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I am the least diva-like person. That (behaviour) does not make sense to me,” she told talk show host Graham Norton when asked if she is a diva.

The ‘Believe’ singer is currently promoting her festive album ‘Christmas’ but said she’s barely listened to the record because she isn’t a “huge Cher fan,” reports aceshowbiz.com.

Asked if she listens to her own music, she said: “Not really. I listened to it until I was sure it was right, but I am not a huge Cher fan!” However, she did acknowledge the album is “good.”

She said: “I didn’t want to (do a Christmas album before). When I did say yes,...

Los Angeles, Dec 2 (Ians) Singer Cher claims that despite her years in the spotlight, she has never been demanding or difficult to work with and such antics don’t “make sense” to her.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I am the least diva-like person. That (behaviour) does not make sense to me,” she told talk show host Graham Norton when asked if she is a diva.

The ‘Believe’ singer is currently promoting her festive album ‘Christmas’ but said she’s barely listened to the record because she isn’t a “huge Cher fan,” reports aceshowbiz.com.

Asked if she listens to her own music, she said: “Not really. I listened to it until I was sure it was right, but I am not a huge Cher fan!” However, she did acknowledge the album is “good.”

She said: “I didn’t want to (do a Christmas album before). When I did say yes,...

Days after Cher heralded the arrival of the holiday season with a performance alongside Santa Claus at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the icon made Christmas official by closing out the annual Rockefeller Center tree lighting with Darlene Love.

Sixty years after Love first recorded the classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” — which, ironically, had Cher on backup vocals — the two singers reunited once again to re-record that song for Cher’s recent Christmas album. On Wednesday, the singers linked up onstage to give that rendition a live airing:

In October,...

The word is all over town. After leading SAG-AFTRA to an historic new deal with the Hollywood studios, Fran Drescher has leverage, rediscovered fame and momentum.

Could she use all that to transition into a political career?

“This has been a great launching pad for her. So it wouldn’t be unusual for her to try to make that leap,” said Jorge Flores, a Los Angeles-based political consultant who has run campaigns for Congress and state offices.

“Certainly she has raised her profile significantly, and has developed a base with certain constituencies across labor,” he noted. “I could see her potentially running for Congress on the sort of issues that she’s been dealing with in SAG-AFTRA. Macro issues as far as cost of living, equity issues, is where I think her platform would be aligned with a member of Congress.”

Fran Drescher (center) shows off her heart plushie at...

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and other music stars served as major sources of inspiration behind the Halloween costumes displayed on morning and daytime talk shows this year.

Three shows featured hosts dressing up as Swift, with Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, Live‘s Kelly Ripa and The Talk‘s Amanda Kloots all dressing as the superstar singer-songwriter, with the latter two also passing out friendship bracelets in an ode to Swift’s hit Eras tour.

Live With Kelly and Mark took the Swift inspiration one step further, dubbing their annual Halloween extravaganza The Eras Show as they looked back through different decades of pop culture and of Live‘s own onscreen Halloween celebrations. While Ripa and Consuelos kicked things off with their take on the Barbie movie, they doled out friendship bracelets in an homage to Swift and spoke about the Eras tour inspiration for their show.

Ripa even suggested, despite her...

Earlier this year, Darlene Love picked up the phone and heard a voice on the other end she didn’t quite recognize at first. “Doll, hi!” she heard. “This is Cher.” Love asked her to repeat who was calling. “Cher, bitch!”

She was calling to see if Love would sing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” with her on her upcoming holiday album Christmas, revisiting a tune they sang together exactly 60 years ago on A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, one of the greatest Christmas albums in music history.

Cher is being accused of kidnapping her son Elijah Blue Allman by his estranged wife.

Marie King filed court documents back on Dec. 5, 2022 in which she claims that the 77-year-old music icon hired four men to remove Elijah, 47, from his hotel room back on Nov. 30, 2022 (the date of their wedding anniversary).

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In the court documents obtained by People, Marie, 36, claims that she and Elijah were in New York City trying to “reconcile” their marriage after he first filed for divorce in 2021.

Marie says that she and Elijah spent “12 days alone together from November 18-November 30, in New York, working on [their] marriage” when four men showed up at the hotel room to remove Elijah.

Marie also claimed “one of the four men who took” Elijah told her that they were hired by Cher, who was concerned about her son’s well-being.

“I am currently unaware of...

Cher has been accused of hiring four men to kidnap her son, Elijah Blue Allman, from a New York hotel room in an effort to stop Allman from reconciling with his estranged wife.

Marie Angela King, his estranged wife, made the startling allegation in court documents she filed in Los Angeles Superior Court back on Dec. 5. The court documents, obtained by Et, are only now making headlines after the case was uncovered as part of the estranged couple’s ongoing divorce case.

In court documents, King claims she was told Cher hired four men to remove Allman from a hotel room the night of their wedding anniversary. She claims they spent 12 days alone together since Nov. 18, but that all changed on Nov. 30, 2022, when four people barged into their hotel room and “removed [Allman] from our room.

“I was told by one of the four men who took him that they were hired by petitioner’s mother,...