Sugar Ray Leonard has been sober since 2006. One of the greatest boxers of all-time and a champion in five weight classes, Leonard has not been shy to talk about the negative role that he believes drugs and alcohol have played in his life. In July of 2006, he admitted he was an alcoholic and started attending AA meetings.
Those meetings have been a staple in Leonard’s life, but as you can imagine, they have hit a bit of a roadblock recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put gatherings of all sizes on pause for the indefinite future. As such, these meetings have had to move to Zoom.
In an appearance on Vice’s Seat at the Table with Anand Giridharadas, Leonard spoke about the struggles he has had during quarantine, going as far as to say that he fears without being able to have these virtual meetings, he would “go back to drinking.”
“Normally I don’t talk about things — again, I don’t talk about things that bother me,” Leonard said. “I keep them inside my chest. My heart, I should say. Even when I was sexually abused by a coach, I didn’t tell my mother, didn’t tell my wife, no one. But when I did tell them, I felt better. So it’s being able to let go, release, surrender those things that are painful to you. That’s the best way to go.”
Leonard’s entire conversation with Giridharadas will air on Wednesday evening at 10 p.m. EST.
The Scream franchise turns 25 next year, and to celebrate we’re getting a fivequel. Not only that, it may wind up at least featuring its leading lady, eternally plagued everywoman Sidney Prescott. In a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes (as caught by /Film), actress Neve Campbell confirmed that…well, that she’s at least talked about coming back, if nothing more.
“We’re having conversations,” Campbell said. “I have been approached about it. The timing’s a bit challenging because of COVID. You know, we only started the conversation maybe a month and a half ago, so it’s going to take some time to figure out how it’s all going to work out…We’re negotiating, so we’ll see.”
Don’t get too excited, though. Campbell also confesses that she feels “really apprehensive about doing another Scream,” mostly because she doesn’t want to do it without series director Wes Craven, who died in 2015. The legendary horror master, whose credits include the original Nightmare on Elm Street and the Hills Have Eyes films, helmed all four Scream films, which took a meta approach to the horror genre, being populated with characters who watch and know horror movies but still get picked off by a masked killer anyway. The previous once was released in 2011.
That said, Campbell says she took a shine to Scream 5 directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, of Ready or Not. “The two directors wrote me a very touching letter about Wes Craven and how he was such an inspiration to them and how they really want to honor him, and that meant a great, great deal to me,” Campbell told Rotten Tomatoes. “So we’ll see. Hopefully we can all see eye to eye on the project and find a way to make it.”
(Via Rotten Tomatoes and /Film)
One of the highlights of The Last Dance has been the old footage of the 1998 Bulls, particularly the locker room, practice, and plane videos.
This past week’s episodes featured more of that than the first four, which also made them two of the best episodes yet in the documentary. There was footage of Jordan golfing, Dream Team practices, and Jordan gambling with security guards over pitching quarters, but there was also a segment dedicated to all the various celebrities that came to games just to see Jordan and the Bulls.
One of those was Jerry Seinfeld, who got quite a bit of airtime as there was footage of him meeting up with Jordan in the Bulls locker room prior to a game. Michael pointed out some team employees that were huge fans of his show and the two talked briefly before Phil Jackson kicked Jerry out of the locker room. Seinfeld appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show this week and Kimmel asked him about that moment — after Jerry explained he hadn’t gotten around to watching the documentary yet.
Seinfeld remembers “teasing” Jordan about whose final season would be a bigger deal, Jordan and the 98 Bulls or Jerry and the Seinfeld finale that was also taking place that same year. He goes on to say the most starstruck he’s ever been in his life was when Keith Hernandez guest starred on Seinfeld in 1992, but by 1998 he wasn’t exactly fazed by talking with an athlete, even on the level of Michael Jordan.
If you follow the Joe Rogan Experience, even in a passive way, you’ll know how often the mysterious death of Jeffrey Epstein comes up. You can simply Google “Joe Rogan Experience Jeffrey Epstein” and pages of clips of Rogan and different guests spanning dozens of episodes will pop up. If you listen to Rogan a little more closely, you’ll also know whenever Epstein does come up, the infamous “Lolita Express” comes up too (Epstein’s private plane). Rogan usually brings it up in relation to former President Bill Clinton by saying (while emphasizing every single syllable), “Bill Clinton rode the Lolita Express no less than 26 times.” (Worth noting, Rogan rarely brings up how many times current President Donald Trump was on that very same plane.)
Which makes this week’s guest a curious pick for the podcast host. Rogan welcomed famed Los Angeles steakhouse chef Adam Perry Lang (APL Restaurant) to talk about steak and how Lang’s ultra-high-end restaurant is faring during the lockdown. Lang is a renowned chef and Rogan loves meat, so that bit holds water. But Adam Perry Lang worked for Epstein and Rogan somehow didn’t bring this up a single time during the two-hour interview. Instead, they talked about steak. And that’s pretty much it.
Lang was outed as a personal chef for Epstein when court testimony by Epstein’s pilot was unsealed. It was confirmed that Lang spent considerable time traveling with Epstein and his crew to all the spots where Epstein was allegedly flying in underage girls to attend lavish parties he threw for celebrities, politicians, billionaires, and royalty. Lang himself admitted he was on some of the flights and worked in Epstein’s homes, but told Eater in 2019 that he was unaware of any wrong-doing going on all around him.
“My role was limited to meal preparation,” Lang told Eater. “I was unaware of the depraved behavior and have great sympathy and admiration for the brave women who have come forward.”
Lang hasn’t offered any more information since that conversation. In the years after Lang worked for Epstein at his New Mexico ranch, Palm Beach compound, New York penthouse, and private Caribbean Island, he’s become the toast of the Los Angeles food scene — working for Oprah, Mario Batali, and Jimmy Kimmel. The latter is such a close friend that Kimmel let Lang live in his beach house after his recent separation and divorce.
Why Joe Rogan, a man fairly obsessed with Jeffrey Epstein up to this point, choose not to ask a single question about Jeffrey Epstein while sitting across from his former personal chef who was regularly on the “Lolita Express” leaves a pretty big question mark. And he’s receiving a lot of ire from Rogan’s fans in on social media and in the comments section of the episode’s YouTube page.
I had a great time talking to @adamperrylang owner of my favorite LA steakhouse, aplrestaurant. We talked about the extreme difficulties restaurantsare facing during the lockdown, and how he’s spending his energy… https://t.co/8oTAs64zNo
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) May 5, 2020
Obviously, no one has to be fully accountable for their associates or employers, but this topic seems like a pretty large elephant to leave standing in the room.