GoneTrending

Robert Morse, who won a pair of Tonys for his performances in the Broadway productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Tru before playing Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency founder Bert Cooper on Mad Men, “died peacefully” on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home after a short illness, according to his agent.

Following the news of his passing, Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks paid tribute to her co-star. “Robert Morse. What a talent, what a career and what a life. I heard about Robert’s passing yesterday but the tears really came this morning when I had time to spend thinking about his extraordinary time on earth and my too brief but significant time working and becoming friends with him,” she wrote on Instagram.

Hendricks praised Morse’s kindness and said that they “had a close and loving friendship. We always found each other at parties and stuck together. I had endless respect for him and he treated me the same. To work with someone like Robert is an artists dream. I already miss you Robert.” In a follow-up post, she added, “R.I.P. The wonderful Robert Morse,” along with a photo from his most iconic Mad Men scene.

You can watch that scene below.

(Via Instagram)

The trailer for HBO’s highly-anticipated limited series The Staircase is here, featuring a glimpse at the fascinating true story behind the suspicious death of Kathleen Peterson, and the dramatic aftermath.

The series, directed by Antonio Campos, will follow author Michael Peterson (played by Colin Firth and his American accent) who becomes the lead suspect in his wife Kathleen’s (Toni Collette) untimely death after she was found at the bottom of a staircase in their North Carolina home. The miniseries will follow the drama within the family after Kathleen’s death, Michael’s court battles, and the infamous docuseries of the same name made by French director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, which became a Netflix hit.

Michael was eventually found guilty, though there were many theories that led both family friends and true crime fans to believe there was more to the story, and this miniseries is expected to shine a light on said theories. Earlier this year, Campos mentioned that there will be “a deep dive” into the infamous Owl Theory, which has gained traction over the years, due to several documentaries and podcasts about the case.

Sophie Turner, Parker Posey, and Patrick Schwarzenegger also star in the eight-episode series, which premieres Thursday, May 5th on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer above.

When the band is on stage, Greta Van Fleet singer Josh Kiszka has regularly been donning copies of sacred indigenous clothing. It’s clearly problematic and the polarizing band came under fire recently when fans, critics, and members of Indigenous communities began asking the Michigan band to #SpeakUpGVF via a hashtagged conversation on Instagram. Now, Kiszka has indeed stepped up and issued a formal apology/statement.

“To our Indigenous fans, I see you. I’ve taken time to listen and gather my thoughts,” he said in an Instagram post. “My appreciation for Indigenous culture is bigger than myself. I recognize the harm that ignorance can have on marginalized communities, something I’d never want to perpetuate. Hate, disrespect, and prejudice of any kind are not welcome in this community. As I’ve come into adulthood, I’ve been able to grow and learn. This growth has not stopped and will not stop here.”

While the word “sorry” or “apologize” are nowhere to be found in Kiszka’s statement, he did lay out a plan of action later in his statement, writing, “The Chippewa tribe has had a particularly profound impact on my life, having been exposed to their ceremonies and customs during my early years growing up in Michigan. I have made a charitable donation [to] the First Nations Development Institute to help keep Indigenous traditions like theirs alive and well. Should you want to support with me, please visit firstnations.org. Peace, Love, Unity, & Equality. Always. Josh.”

It’s surprising that it has taken this long for the singer to acknowledge the obvious issues with his stylistic choice and here’s hoping that he stays true to his words and wears literally anything else from here on out.

In 2016, Kid Cudi found himself in a tough place, as he made the decision to enter rehab for “depression and suicidal urges.” Since he left, though, he’s been doing a lot better. Now, Cudi has reflected on the experience in a new interview, saying that recent years have been “game-changing” for him.

In an interview for T: The New York Times Style Magazine‘s 2022 culture issue, Cudi says:

“In 2016, I was in rehab. I was at the bottom. I didn’t see anything positive happening for me. I thought that maybe it was the end of my career. After so many years of feeling miserable, it’s hard to imagine anything brighter on the horizon. But the last five years have been truly game-changing for me. Ever since I left rehab, it’s been nothing but me climbing up the mountain, getting higher and higher and achieving more, doing more, seeing more, learning more.”

He also offered a message for kids, saying, “Still, I never want kids to think there’s a quick fix, and that every time people see me now, I’m going to be happy and upbeat. I like to let kids know, ‘Right now, your favorite artist, who you think is the strongest man in the world, is having a bad day — and that’s OK. So if you have a bad day, that’s OK, too.’ I know the kids think I’m superhuman. And I am superhuman in a lot of ways, like with my music. But at my core, I’m very sensitive. I’m fragile at times. And I’m always trying to write my pain.”

Check out the full interview here.

Madison Cawthorn doesn’t have many friends left in his own party, so he’s courting favor with another ostracized member of the GOP: ex-president Donald Trump.

Trump recently sat down for an interview with British TV personality Piers Morgan for Morgan’s new show. The two have been friendly-ish in the past but, in a promo for the upcoming episode, Morgan lobs some tough critiques at Trump over his handling of the 2020 Presidential Election and the Jan. 6th insurrection that followed. In the clip released to the press, Trump can be seen throwing a hissy fit, storming off set ad demanding his mic be turned off, but his team is now claiming the video was just edited to make Trump look bad.

And of course Cawthorn, who can’t pass up a chance to see his name in headlines — even if it means concocting ridiculous stories about cocaine-fueled orgies involving his own party members — jumped on the bandwagon to defend the guy whose biggest campaign talking point lately has been his war on toilets.

Cawthorn advised Trump to sue Morgan (for what, we just don’t know) on Twitter, launching another tweet a day later claiming it was the social media platform’s fault that the video of Trump storming off set was trending. He even tagged Elon Musk in the post, which seems odd since Musk says he wants to buy Twitter to promote more free speech, not silence it.

Madison, buddy, you’re just trying too hard.

(Via RawStory)

Adrien Grenier’s newest gig is a role that his Entourage counterpart Vincent Chase would be proud of, maybe. I don’t know, it’s been a long time since I’ve watched Entourage and I remember absolutely nothing about Vincent Chase’s personality or interests. But he did play Aquaman, so maybe Vincent Chase cares about the environment. Anyways, I hope you are sitting down because this is huge: Entourage star Adrien Grenier is going to space . . . in a balloon.

The startup World View is developing a space balloon, a capsule that will launch tourists into almost but not nearly space, set to launch in 2024. World View’s capsules are designed to be lifted by a zero-pressure stratospheric balloon, rising 30,000 meters above giving passengers a view of the Earth’s curvature, aka the thin blue line of the atmosphere and the darkness of outer space. World View, which will offer trips in its capsules for a small fee of $50,000 per seat, has named Grenier its Chief Earth Advocate, according to Robb Report.

“If that isn’t the coolest title ever, I don’t know what is,” Grenier, a UN environment ambassador, told Robb Report. “I’m excited about the mission to inspire shifts in perception, shifts in people, so that everyone can participate in a radically improved future,” Grenier, who gets to enjoy a ride as a part of the gig, continued. “By allowing people to have those profound cognitive changes in their perception, we can activate together to build that future.”

The role of Chief Earth Advocate which is “largely undefined” according to Grenier, sounds a lot like advocating for the environment and space tourism by… convincing rich people to take a $50,000 ride to almost space. “I’m on the list, which is the perfect segue to remind people that they can reserve their place in line, and if they use my name, they get 20 percent off the reservation fee,” Grenier said. Putting yourself on the list will cost a very reasonable $500, btw.

Ellen Pompeo is coming to the defense of her former Grey’s Anatomy co-star Katherine Heigl. During the latest episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, the Grey‘s star praised Heigl for being “100 percent right” about the working conditions on the hit ABC drama. Unfortunately, when Heigl voiced her concerns back in 2009, she was lambasted by David Letterman and Diane Sawyer, both of who essentially brushed her off. Sawyer even went so far as to tell Heigl to her face that “no one feels sorry for you.”

As a result of the backlash (coupled with the coupled the controversy over her criticisms of Knocked Up and the writing on Grey’s Anatomy) Heigl watched her film career implode and has only recently seen vindication for highlighting the “insane” working conditions. Via Deadline:

“I remember Heigl said something on a talk show about the insane hours we were working. She was 100 percent right,” Pompeo said to Kate Walsh, her guest on the podcast. “Had she said that today, she’d be a complete hero. But she [was] ahead of her time. She made a statement about our crazy hours, and of course, let’s slam a woman and call her ungrateful. When the truth is, she’s 100 percent honest and it’s absolutely correct what she said, and she was f*cking ballsy for saying it, and she was telling the truth, she wasn’t lying.”

Heigl hasn’t forgotten how she was treated for pushing back on the long hours for Grey‘s. In September 2021, she voiced her support for IATSE workers who were striking for better working conditions and expressed in an Instagram post that she finally felt “vindicated” after “I got my ass kicked for speaking up” years ago.

(Via Deadline)

Emmy nominee Christina Ricci just increased her chances at becoming Emmy winner Christina Ricci.

The very good child actress turned exceptional adult actress will compete for an Emmy for her performance as the mystifying, nerdy, Andrew Lloyd Weber obsessed, and possibly cannibalistic nurse Misty on Showtime’s Yellowjackets in the supporting actress category instead of the leading actress category, per Variety. In this move, Ricci will compete for a nomination against her co-stars who play the teenage versions of the main characters instead of the original plan, which had Ricci competing in the lead category along with the actors who play the adult versions of the Yellowjackets including Melanie Lynskey (who won a Critic’s Choice Award for her performance), Juliette Lewis and Tawny Cypress.

In the extremely competitive supporting actress in a drama series category, Ricci could join Ozark’s Julia Garner (who has won best supporting actress for this role twice) and Succession’s Sarah Snook as a frontrunner. If nominated for her performance on Yellowjackets, which she deserves, it will be Ricci’s second Emmy nomination. Ricci recieved her first Emmy nomination for her guest performance on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006. Following increased poplarity and critical acclaim, Yellowjackets is practically gauranteed to collect an impressive amount of Emmy nominations including Ricci for best supporting actress and if it does not, maybe I’ll start eating dirt.

In the early 2000s, parody films were all the rage among teens who weren’t allowed to see the movies they were actually spoofing. One of the biggest franchises consisted of the Scary Movie films, which made fun of every horror movie ever, including The Exorcist.

As it turns out, Marlon Brando was originally slated to play a priest who performs an exorcism on Natasha Lyonne’s possessed character. While the role later went on to James Woods and Andy Richter, Lyonne looks back fondly on her moments with Brando in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“I have a VHS copy of the dailies that I got because Marlon Brando’s final role — sadly for him, but luckily for me — is doing this Exorcist opening teaser,” Lyonne recalled. She joked, “I don’t know what he was thinking, really.”

The Russian Doll actress then told the story of how the legendary actor had to hold her boob, as per the script. She recalled the exchange:

He had an oxygen tank and he just kind of held my boob, because that was in the script. He was supposed to be like, ‘The power of Christ compels you’ and he just held on. I was in this full monster makeup. I just remember being like, ‘Ah, this is the surrealism that André Breton, Salvador Dali were talking about.’

I had Brando with the earpiece and the hand on the boob, and the makeup. This was all happening at once, and I remember like, ‘You know, showbiz is all right.’ In that moment, showbiz was A-okay. Then he dropped out because of health reasons, and I got the dailies.

Though Brando didn’t end up in the film (he passed away a few years later) Lyonne will always have a memory of him getting to second base, and that’s priceless! Lyonne also joked that she and Richter remained friends after shooting. “Andy Richter and I still do bits about it. So, all told, a fine experience.”

30 years ago today, the Beastie Boys released their monumental third album, Check Your Head. It marked the group’s first major release to feature largely full instrumentation, with Mike D on drums, Ad-Rock on guitar, MCA on bass, as well as Mario C on drums and Money Mark on keys; a hallmark of the group that set them apart in the hip-hop canon forever. First released in 1992, the Beasties settled into their new G-Son studios in Southern California for the album’s recording.

In 2009, the Beastie Boys released an artist store 4LP box set that proved to be the definitive edition of Check Your Head. As with all collector’s items of this sort, it has become rare and out of print for over a decade. Now to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album, the group is putting out the set again, featuring the remastered 20-track album on the first two records, and then two additional records of live recordings, remixes, B-sides, etc. It’s presented in a fabric-wrapped, stamped, hardcover case.

Peep the tracklist and photo of the four LP Check Your Head vinyl below. While the official release isn’t until June 24th, you can pre-order the Check Your Head box set now, here.

Side A

“Jimmy James”
“Funky Boss”
“Pass The Mic”
“Gratitude”
“Lighten Up”

Side B

“Finger Lickin’ Good”
“So What’ Cha Want”
“The Biz Vs The Nuge”
“Time For Livin’”
“Something’s Got To Give”

Side C

“The Blue Nun”
“Stand Together”
“Pow”
“The Maestro”
“Groove Holmes”

Side D

“Live At P. J.’s”
“Mark On The Bus”
“Professor Booty”
“In 3’s”
“Namaste”

Side E

“Dub The Mic (Instrumental)”
“Pass The Mic (Pt. 2, Skills To Pay The Bills)”
“Drunken Praying Mantis Style”
“Netty’s Girl”

Side F

“The Skills To Pay The Bills (Original Version)”
“So What’ Cha Want (Soul Assassin Remix Version)”
“So What’ Cha Want (Butt Naked Version)”
“Groove Holmes (Live Vs. The Biz)”

Side G

“Stand Together (Live At French’s Tavern, Sydney Australia)”
“Finger Lickin’ Good (Government Cheese Remix)”
“Gratitude (Live At Budokan)”
“Honky Rink”

Side H

“Jimmy James (Original Original Version)”
“Boomin’ Granny”
“Drinkin’ Wine”
“So What’ Cha Want (All The Way Live Freestyle Version)”

The Check Your Head 30th Anniversary vinyl edition is out 6/24 via Universal. Pre-order it here.