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Chris Janson will be a special guest at a national amateur fishing tournament this weekend

• No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of Warner Music NashvilleChris Janson is headed to Florida’s Lake Okeechobee this weekend to be the celebrity guest at the US Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championship. He’ll host the weigh-in on Saturday afternoon, followed by the awards ceremony that evening.

While he’s there, Chris will hang out with professional sports fisherman Roland Martin, host of the long-running TV show, Fishing with Roland Martin.

“I can’t wait to get out on the water and see the excitement of all the participants and their families,” says Chris, who’s an avid amateur fisherman himself as well as a brand ambassador for Bass Pro Shops. “I can’t think of a better place to be and I’m humbled to get to share the stage with Roland and be part of such a great event!”

The Lake Okeechobee event is one of eight regional qualifying events being held across the country. It’ll include 250 two-person teams, all competing for a $50,000 prize.

The top 40 teams will qualify for the National Championship, which is going to be held in Missouri in November. That event will be televised, and the winner will walk away with a whopping $1 million cash prize.

As for Chris, he’s currently working on reeling in his next hit. His single, “Waitin’ on 5,” is a top 50 hit and rising.


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'Harry Potter' series veteran Katie Leung said she was told to deny "racist" attacks from online fans

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Dave Benett/Getty Images(LONDON) —  Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2 is opening up about alleged racists comments aimed at her while she was working on the franchise.

On an episode of the podcast Chinese Chippy Girl, Leung says she was 16 when she was first cast in Goblet of Fire, and soon experienced the attacks.

“I was Googling myself at one point, and I was on this website, which was kind of dedicated to the hardcore Harry Potter fandom….And, yeah, it was a lot of racist sh**,” she says.

Leung, now 33, said it “really affected” her. She recalled, “Because I’m 16, I’m a teenager, I care what people in school think of me, let alone what the world thinks!”

Leung said she was unprepared for that kind of flak. Making matters worse was the response from her representatives at the time. “I remember them saying, ‘Oh, look Katie, we haven’t seen these, these websites that people are talking about. And you know, if you get asked that, just say…it’s not happening.”

“And I just nodded my head. I was like, ‘Okay, okay,’ even though I had seen it myself with my own eyes. I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll just say everything’s great.'”

The Scottish actor of Chinese descent explained, “I was really f**king grateful that I was in the position I was in. I keep saying, ‘Oh I wish I’d maybe said something.’ But you can’t do that.”

Leung didn’t specify if the publicists with whom she was working at the time were hers or provided by Warner Bros., explains Variety, to which Warner Bros. reportedly refused comment.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Maren Morris hopes to help open the door for Black country artists: “We all have so much room to grow”

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAMaren Morris has been vocal about the importance of expanding diversity in country music, particularly when it comes to being more inclusive of non-white artists. During a stop on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, the singer shared why she believes it’s so important to make room at the table for everyone.

“Even though there is a huge disparity between men and women in our genre, there is even more of a disparity between white women and Black women trying to be in country music,” Maren said, explaining that she had an easier time finding career success as a white artist.

“There are so many Black women and men who adore country music and don’t feel like the door is open for them even a crack,” she continued.

Maren goes on to say that she’s been working to educate herself on this important subject, particularly since the death of George Floyd, the Black man who died while being arrested by white former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020, who’s currently on trial for murder in Floyd’s death. 

Maren has voiced her support for the inclusion of more Black artists seeking change in the music industry, such as Mickey Guyton. “I feel like country music as a genre — we all have so much room to grow, myself included,” Maren said.

That sentiment is at the heart of Maren’s new song, “Better Than We Found It,” which earned a Video of the Year nomination at the upcoming ACM Awards. The clip features Maren’s infant son, Hayes, and she says that her commitment to social responsibility is partially because she wants him to inherit a better world someday.


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Restored scene in 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' leads to 'Flash' role for actress Kiersey Clemons

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Warner Bros. Pictures/HBO Max(LOS ANGELES) —  Like the Flash did in the comics, the Scarlet Speedster has just changed the future — for actress Kiersey Clemons.  And it’s all because of Zack Snyder’s restored version of Justice League

When Joss Whedon took over directing Justice League back in 2017, following studio meddling and a family tragedy that caused Snyder to drop out of the project, much of his footage was left on the editing room floor.  One of these scenes centered on Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen/the Flash, and a beautiful young woman he saved called Iris West, played by Clemons.

However, that deleted scene has been restored in Zack Snyder’s new version — and as a result, so has Clemons’ future in the DC cinematic universe: The Hollywood Reporter notes Clemons will now reprise the role in the upcoming Flash standalone movie.

Fans’ negative reaction to Whedon’s version of Justice League — and its poor box office performance — led to the viral campaign #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Warner Bros. eventually agreed to invest millions into bringing Snyder’s original vision to life.  Dubbed Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the four-hour, two-minute-long opus debuts on HBO Max on March 18.

It reboot series director Andy Muschietti will bring Flash to the big screen November 4, 2022.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Could 'Grey’s Anatomy''s 17th season be its last?

• No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Mike Rosenthal (LOS ANGELES) — Heading into Thursday’s midseason premiere, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff says the future of the Shonda Rhimes medical drama, now in its 17th season, is still up in the air.

After months of talks without striking a renewal deal, she tells The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m planning a season and a finale that could function as either a season finale or a series finale.”

Adds Vernoff, “I’m planning for both contingencies and it’s hard and it’s not ideal.  It’s not where I wish we were.”

The snag seems to be between ABC parent company Disney and Grey‘s star Ellen Pompeo, who signed a deal in 2017 that made her television’s highest-paid actress in a primetime drama series. That pact, which carried her through season 16, was extended to cover season 17 as part of a two-year pickup in 2019.  Pompeo is again asking for a salary increase as part of the renewal discussions.

Vernoff says she’s asked ABC to inform her ahead of time if season 17 will indeed be the last.

“I’ve told them that I have to know before I’m making the finale what we’re making,” she revealed to THR, explaining, “There are a couple of character threads that will change,” explaining “Either there will be closure or I will build something in that allows me to have a bit of a cliffhanger and a thread for next season.”

Incidentally, Pompeo recently told CBS Sunday Morning. that the show’s future past this season isn’t certain. “We honestly have not decided,” she said. “We’re really trying to figure it out right now.”

Grey’s Anatomy airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.