OHMYGOSSIP — Women in the ‘Star Wars’ film and TV franchises are trolled more than its male stars, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is warning.
The film studio boss, 70, spoke out about the abuse ahead of the release of the ‘The Acolyte’ – a female-led spin-off TV series of the
sci-fi film favourite that has been slammed by male keyboard warriors for featuring “too many” women.
She told The New York Times she is convinced females are bigger targets for the toxic outpourings of troll ‘Star Wars’ fans as its followers are mainly male.
Kathleen added: “Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation – it’s terrifying.
“I think (‘The Acolyte’ creator) Leslye (Headland) has struggled a little bit with it.
“I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more.
“Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.”
‘The Acolyte’ is an original story created by Leslye , 44, set before the events of ‘The Phantom Menace’.
Some fans have dubbed it ‘The Wokelyte’ due to amount of women in the series.
One troll said online: “Why are there so many women, girls and minority characters increasingly dominating the ranks of Jedi?”
But Kathleen said: “My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people.
“That’s an easy decision for me.”
Leslye is renowned for directing films including ‘Sleeping With Other People’ and co-creating Netflix’s popular comedy drama ‘Russian Doll’, and is the first woman to serve as showrunner of a ‘Star Wars’ series.
Her ‘Acolyte’ take on the franchise includes new ‘Star Wars’ characters played by actresses including Amandla Stenberg, Carrie Ann-Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith and others.
Kathleen’s comments come after female ‘Star Wars’ actresses Daisy Ridley, 32, and Kelly Marie Tran, 35, faced online harassment from fans when the most recent ‘Star Wars’ film trilogy was released – with Daisy recently using an interview with Variety to tell fellow women stars involved in the franchise to “tune out” of the criticism and “find the good in it all”.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Bruno Tonioli has claimed the dogs competing on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ are “treated better” than he is.
The 68-year-old judge has told audiences not to worry about the welfare of the animals taking part in the competition because they are always well looked after behind the scenes.
He told the Daily star newspaper’s Hot TV column: “They are protected all the time. The sound levels are brought down at different times so they’re not made to feel stressed.
“The dogs are so well looked after. There is a huge production. They are very well taken care of.
“They are actually looked after better than me. They get better dressing rooms!”
And it isn’t only the dogs with better backstage areas than Bruno, as he admitted he resorted to “barging in” on fellow judge Simon Cowell because he had a palatial dressing room during the London auditions, whereas the former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star’s own area made him feel like “a witch in the attic”.
He said: “When we did the auditions at the London Palladium I was put in the attic. My dressing room was so far away on the top floor and it was like a closet.
“I was like a witch in the attic.
“But Simon Cowell had a room that was like a suite and he even had a patio.
“So I kept barging in and joining him and having his drinks.”
Bruno recently joked that he had been “unleashed” with his role on the diverse talent show.
He said: “In a way the role I played in ‘Strictly’ is different from what I do here.
“I’m so grateful to ‘BGT’ for allowing me to show more of myself.
“I’m Bruno unleashed now, darling! I can use all my range, it’s exciting.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Love Island’ star Ciaran Davies broke his collarbone on the day he found out he was joining the show.
The 21-year-old surveyor from South Wales is among the cast looking for love in the ITV2 dating series this summer but he has revealed he only had a week in the gym to buff up because he’s been recovering from a very painful injury.
He told reporters: “I found out, I think it was a Saturday morning, that Saturday I had a rugby game after so I was very excited but obviously all the boys around me, I can’t tell anyone, then that same day I cracked my collarbone.
“Honestly, all I have done is make sure this is better, which it is, it’s been cleared and it’s completely fine.”
He added: “I’m already back in to the gym, so I think I had about a week before I came. So honestly, I have never trained and been to the gym so hard in my entire life just to try and get into shape, get the abs showing as much as possible.
“So I’ve done a little bit but maybe not as much as I want to.”
The cast for this year’s ‘Love Island’ includes a professional footballer, dancer and nurse. Girls looking to find their soulmate on the ITV reality series includes make-up artist Samatha Kenny, mental health nurse Mimii Ngulube, shop manager Jessica White, investment worker Patsy Field, professional dancer Harri Blackmore, and account manager Nicole Samuel.
The boys include surveyor and rugby union player Ciaran along with businessman Sean Stone, hairdresser Sam Taylor, recruitment manager Munveer Jabbal, and footballers Ayo Odukoya and Ronnie Vint.
Make-up artist Samatha, 26, from Liverpool, claims she is going to be bringing “some fire” to the villa. She said: “I think I will definitely bring some fire, I’m very opinionated and wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m really bubbly too so I’ll definitely have a laugh as well as bringing some scouse glamour.”
Mimii Ngulube, 24, believes being a “girl’s girl” and her sense of humour will win her a man on the show.
She said: “I’m a girls’ girl. My girls are my rocks and I’m theirs so I’ll be a good friend as well as going in there to find a man. I like dressing up so I’ll bring style, and I’d like to think I’m quite funny so I’ll make people laugh. “
I’m bringing honesty as well – I’m good at picking up on people’s personality traits and side-eyeing those who might be a liar.”
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Ronnie Vint, who plays for Lewes FC, said he was looking for “blondes with nice boobs”.
But he emphasised he wanted someone who was “family orientated, caring and career-minded”.
The footballer added his biggest claim to fame was being 30-year-old Bradley Dack’s best man when he married former ‘Love Island’ contestant Olivia Attwood, 33, in June last year.
He said: “Bradley Dack is my best friend and he and Olivia are a big part of my life. I call Olivia my big little sister, she always looks out for me.”
‘Love Island’ starts at 9pm Monday 3 June on ITV1, ITV2, ITVX and STV.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Neighbours’ legend Ian Smith gave up on retirement because he found it too stressful.
The actor decided to quit work last year when he turned 85, but he recently confirmed plans to reprise his role as Harold Bishop in the Australian soap – and he’s admitted he said yes to the TV offer because relaxing was just too difficult.
He told new! Magazine: “I turned 85 last June and retired. I thought I had prepared myself for it. Well, I hadn’t.
“I got a fly fishing rod, a metal detector and an electric bike. But life needs more than those things and I was finding myself almost stranded – I even tried to cook!”
Ian went on to reveal he was thrilled to get a call from ‘Neighbours’ bosses inviting him to rejoin the show following his last appearance in 2022.
He went on: “I got a phone call asking if I would come back to the show. I wanted to kiss them. I just said, ‘Yes!’
“I should have been stand-offish, and said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, how much are you going to pay?’
“But no, I said, ‘Yes! Yes!’ I’m the most fortunate elderly actor; kept off the street, still using his brain and doing what he loves. It’s lovely.”
Ian has played Harold on and off for more than 30 years and was last seen onscreen in the soap’s 2022 finale.
‘Neighbours’ has now been brought back since it was initially axed and Ian will be returning as a regular cast member for the first time in 15 years – even featuring in the show’s opening titles.
His return was announced in a statement posted on the show’s X account, which read: “After 15 years of living away, the legendary Harold Bishop is returning to Erinsborough.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ian Smith back to the show and the opening titles, where he belongs.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Stephen Merchant says test audiences hated ‘The Office’.
The comic, 49, who co-created the iconic mockumentary sitcom with his old friend Ricky Gervais, 62, said it scored so low in screenings it only beat a showing of women’s lawn bowling.
He told ‘The Dish’ podcast: “I’m very proud of that (test screening result.)
“I don’t know why particularly women’s lawn bowls but that was the one that scored lower.
“That shows you what the test screenings mean.”
Stephen added the results led to BBC executives airing the show in the summer, which meant it had low ratings as everyone was on holiday or outdoors instead of watching TV – before it won a captive audience when it was repeated and showered with awards.
He said: “They stuck it on in summer when no one watched it on BBC, it got repeated and then we won a couple of trinkets, and we were off to the races.”
‘The Office’ ran for two six-episode series, with a pair of Christmas specials.
After its initial struggle with ratings, it has become one of the UK’s biggest comedy exports.
As well as being shown internationally on BBC Worldwide and channels such as BBC Prime, BBC America, and BBC Canada, it has been sold to broadcasters in more than 80 countries – including ABC1 in Australia, The Comedy Network in Canada, TVNZ in New Zealand, and the pan-Asian satellite channel Star World.
At the British Comedy Awards in 2001, the sitcom won Best New TV Comedy award and a year later Best TV Comedy.
In 2004, the series won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television series: Musical or Comedy – the first UK comedy in 25 years to be nominated for a Golden Globe, and the first to win one.
Stephen’s new BBC comedy ‘The Outlaws’ has had warm reviews, with one saying it was “both outrageously funny and craftily plotted”.
It features a bunch of down on their luck Bristol natives stuck on community service who get sucked into drug-dealing.
Now on its third series, its latest plot involves a body as Rani Rekowski (played by Rhianne Barreto), needs help dumping a corpse from her spurned ex Ben (Gamba Cole) and the gang.
It also features posh influencer Lady Gabby (Eleanor Tomlinson), and actors Richard E Grant and ‘Baby Reindeer’ star Jessica Gunning, with Stephen playing lawyer Greg.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Jay Blades has cancelled a planned festival appearance in the wake of his uncle’s murder and marriage collapse.
‘The Repair Shop’ host, 54, was left reeling by the killing of his uncle Richard Brathwaite, 72, who he revealed last month had been killed – a week before his fitness instructor wife Lisa Zbozen, 43, announced the end of their short-lived marriage.
His appearance at the Hay literary festival on Thursday (30.05.24) was axed as he continues to take time out after the traumas.
A statement from Jay’s team said: “We wanted to confirm that as Jay Blades continues to take time out, he won’t be attending the session as advertised at this year’s Hay Festival.
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment that this may have caused and we hope you enjoy the rest of the festival.”
The festival confirmed ticket holders will be refunded.
Jay had been due to speak to journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, 52, at the Hay event in Wales about his book ‘Life Lessons: Wisdom and Wit from Life’s Ups and Downs’, which is filled with his inspirational tales about making the best of life.
Jay said last month he’d be taking a break from social media after the death of his uncle, and earlier this month, Jay’s wife Lisa announced the end of their brief marriage, after the couple got married at a beachfront villa in Barbados in November 2022.
Filming on the new series of the BBC’s ‘Repair Shop’ at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in Chichester, West Sussex, has started without Jay.
His uncle Richard was stabbed to death on a quiet north London street in March, with the Old Bailey hearing it followed a “long-running” neighbour dispute.
Lisa said when she walked out on Jay their 18-month marriage had “just got worse and worse”, until she “grabbed a bag of a few things and I left”.
She added in an emotional social media post on 2 May: “I have been quiet until now, but the papers seem to be picking up this story, but some parts have been definitely missed, so it’s forced my hand… this was the whole post on a private forum: I don’t know how to say this because it’s still really raw.
“I probably should be really angry but I’m just incredibly sad about the whole thing right now. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much.
“I wanted my husband to love me and keep me safe, and I would love him right back, but it just got worse and worse, until I grabbed a bag of a few things and I just left.
“Anyway, That’s why there’s been no new workouts.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Tommy Fury is “in no rush” to marry Molly-Mae Hague.
The ‘Love Island’ star proposed to his influencer partner last summer, months after they welcomed their daughter Bambi in January 2023, but is adamant the couple aren’t busy planning their wedding.
He told Closer magazine: “We’re not putting pressure on it. We’re enjoying being engaged and enjoying that period of our life, so we’re in no rush.”
He also shut down any speculation about whether they will be having another child, adding: “I don’t know. You can’t plan things like that. It just happens, doesn’t it?”
The couple, who met on ‘Love Island’ five years ago, became first-time parents when daughter Bambi arrived and they became engaged in July 2023 when Tommy staged a surprised proposal during a trip to Ibiza and presented his love with a £600,000 ring.
Molly-Mae later admitted the romantic moment came as a huge surprise as she had no idea Tommy was planning to propose and she had actually been in a bad mood prior to the big moment.
In a video posted on YouTube, she explained: “This vlog was recorded before everything went down but I couldn’t not come on and say hi, say I’m a fiancée!
“It was recorded a couple days before we left for Ibiza, an extremely real day in my life, it’s comedy gold some of the comments, [me asking] why are we going to Ibiza? Stressing about packing because it was so last minute.
“I was completely fooled. I thought we were going for something completely different.
“Watching back I was like, ‘This isn’t my finest side,’ I spoke about why I was bit down in the dumps in this vlog.
“As a woman, when you have a gut feeling that something is not right and I couldn’t put my finger on what was going on but Tommy was not acting himself and I think it was contributing to how I felt. Something felt off.
“You’ve seen the not so fine side of me, I’ve been real, I’ve been miserable not bringing energy. “I’ve been a little bit sad today and I think it’s my hormones, so please do bear with me.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones are reuniting for a marathon charity screening of ‘Normal People’.
The actor, 28, and actress, 26, saw their careers take off after playing tortured lovers Connell and Marianne in the 2020 BBC show and sparked rumours on Tuesday (28.05.24) they were reuniting for a second series of the hit when they posted a selfie online with the caption: “We’ve got some news to share!! Watch this space.”
Element Pictures, which produced ‘Normal People’ added to the rumours by reposting the picture.
But it’s now been revealed the pair will attend a showing of the series on 16 June at an as yet unnamed central London cinema, along with its director Lenny Abrahamson, 57, producer Ed Guiney, 58, and other “friends from the show”.
Proceeds will benefit Pieta, a suicide and self-harm prevention charity based in Ireland, as well as UNICEF.
The raffle has so fair raised more than £22,000.
Paul and Daisy said in a joint statement on the site hosting the draw for tickets: “Hello everyone, Paul and Daisy here! We can’t believe it’s been over four years since ‘Normal People’ came out and how much it continues to move and impact people.
“We along with our director Lenny Abrahamson and Element Pictures are hosting a marathon screening of all 12 episodes at a Central London cinema on Sunday 16th June, to raise money for the wonderful Pieta and UNICEF.
“We will also be in attendance with Lenny and producer Ed Guiney, as we’ve never seen it on a big screen together and we would love to see as many of you there as possible!”
The prize draw opened on  Thursday (30.05.24) at 6pm and will close at 11.59am on Monday 10 June – the same day winners will be chosen at random.
A total of 140 people will each receive two cinema tickets to the screening on Sunday 16 June and will be told by email on 11 June if they have been selected.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Elizabeth Debicki has found it “slow” shaking off her role as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’.
The ‘Widows’ actress, 33, played the tragic royal – killed in a Paris car crash aged 36 in 1997 – in the final series of the popular Netflix drama, and has now said moving away from the role was “bittersweet” as it left her with both fond memories and the fallout from “terrifying” pressure to get her portrayal of the princess right.
She told Variety: “It’s been a slow moving away from it. I’ve taken my treasures from it.
“It’s twofold. On a personal level, I’ve learned a lot from playing that character and as an actor it was a hugely terrifying challenge.”
Elizabeth last year told how playing Diana in her last days was an emotional “challenge”.
She starred as the princess in the sixth and final series of ‘The Crown’, which charted the doomed relationship between Diana and her rumoured lover Dodi Fayed, played by Khalid Abdalla, 43.
She was quoted by the Daily Mirror telling how she stuck closely to writer Peter Morgan’s “emotional blueprint” for Diana in the role.
She said: “I think it’s a unique challenge as an actor, to portray those days.
“It’s his interpretation and it made emotional sense to me, so I clung to that.”
‘The Crown’ showed Diana and Dodi on holiday with the princess’ sons William and Harry on their famous super yacht holiday in Saint-Tropez in July 1997.
Weeks later Di and Dodi, 42, along with their driver Henri Paul, 41, were killed during a car chase in Paris tunnel.
Imelda Staunton, 68, made her comeback to ‘The Crown’ for its final series to play the Queen, who died aged 96 in September 2022.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Hacks’ has been renewed for a fourth season on Max.
The Emmy-winning comedy series, which stars Jean Smart, 72, as Deborah Vance, an iconic stand-up comedian who hires young comedy writer Ava Daniels (played by Hannah Einbinder) to help reinvent her stale act.
Sarah Aubrey, head of Max Original Programming, said in a statement about the show’s renewal: “We congratulate ‘Hacks’s’ brilliant cast and crew, and our partners at Universal Television.
“‘Hacks’ is a masterfully crafted comedy delivering laughs and sharp insights about the vulnerability and joy of sharing a dream.
“The creative team behind this singular show is not only brilliant but also a joy to work with.
“We couldn’t be happier to give viewers another season with Deborah, Ava and the rest of the ‘Hacks’ family.”
Universal Television president Erin Underhill added: “Hats off to (producers) Jen (Statsky), Lucia (Aniello) and Paul (W Downs) for crafting a world as compelling and poignant as it is clever and funny.
“We applaud our outstanding cast, who made it easy to fall in love with these flawed, hilarious and deeply human characters, and we thank everyone at Max for a terrific partnership over the first three seasons and counting.
“We can’t wait to deliver more ‘Hacks’ to fans around the world!”
The season three series featured Deborah “riding high off the success of her stand-up special while Ava pursues new opportunities back in Los Angeles”, according to a blurb for the show.
Its cast included Paul W Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kaitlin Olson, Jane Adams, J Smith-Cameron, Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher McDonald, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Goldwyn, Mark Indelicato, Rose Abdoo and Lorenza Izzo.
‘Hacks’ is created by showrunners Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky and is executive produced by companies including Paulilu, First Thought Productions and Fremulon and 3 Arts Entertainment.

Source: VacationHunter.Online