Billy Bob’s TexasScotty McCreery has teamed up with Billy Bob’s Texas to give back to ACM Lifting Lives.
During a recent limited-capacity show that Scotty performed at the famed Fort Worth venue, the singer donated $1 from every ticket sold to the charitable branch of the Academy of Country Music, which funds music-based health programs, and launched a COVID-19 Response Fund to help music industry professionals in need.
The donation total came to $2,100.
“I love having an opportunity to help a great cause like ACM Lifting Lives, and doing it while performing at a legendary venue like Billy Bob’s Texas is an added bonus,” Scotty says in a statement.
To celebrate Billy Bob Texas’ 40th anniversary in February, several country artists will perform at the honky tonk throughout the month, including Lee Brice, Jimmie Allen, Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser.
Disney+/Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — Marvel fans are already scrambling to figure out what happens next on WandaVision, but series star Paul Bettany hints the biggest surprise isn’t on anyone’s radar.
Speaking to the Lights, Camera, Barstool podcast Tuesday, the actor teased that a major Marvel character will debut on the Disney+ series. Bettany added that the character is such a big deal, the company has gone into overdrive to keep their identity a secret.
“So many things get leaked, but there’s this thing that has been completely under wraps that happens,” said Bettany. “I work with this actor that I’ve always wanted to work with and we have fireworks together, the scenes are great and I think people are going to be really excited.”
Continued the British actor, “I’ve always wanted to work with this guy and the scenes are pretty intense!”
As for who that mystery character is, Bettany says fans will have to wait and see but made a promise about the upcoming fourth episode, which premieres Friday, January 29, saying “minds are going to explode.”
The 49-year-actor also teased that the alternate sitcom reality the characters currently reside and the real world will “have more conflict.”
“I don’t want to give away too much about the future episodes, but I will tell you this, there were more special effects requirements for our TV show than there were for Endgame,” he boasted. “I think they’re going to be massively surprised by the end of the show.”
Bettany, teasing a big “payoff,” confirmed WandaVision will set the stage for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next phase, adding, “[Fans are] going to look at the MCU in a whole new light and also have a much deeper understanding in what direction it’s moving.”
WandaVisionis exclusively available on the streaming service Disney+.
Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
ABC(LOS ANGELES) — It’s safe to say that Zendaya hasn’t let her Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy win go to her head.
In an conversation with Promising Young Woman star Carey Mulligan for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, the Euphoria star says she still thinks of herself as a “Disney Kid.”
“The thing is, I am,” Zendaya says. “And to a degree, I am grateful for that. That’s where I started, and I learned so much from that experience. It’s just kind of been this slow progression, and I am happy that it’s all been to prove it to myself and not to anybody else, you know? I embrace it a little bit. It’s part of my heritage to a degree.”
Zendaya’s relationship with Disney runs deep. The actress first came on the Disney scene as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up. From there, she guest starred on various Disney shows before taking on the lead role in K.C. Undercover as K.C. Cooper, a teenager who becomes a spy.
While fans have seen Zendaya over the years on both TV and film, the young actress tells Mulligan that her “love of acting” actually came from theater.
“[Because] my mom worked at the California Shakespeare Theater when I was a kid,” she explains. “I think it’s always like an actor’s dream kind of a little bit to do something like a play.”
Up next, Zendaya will star opposite John David Washington in Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie, which follows a not-so-perfect couple who hash it out after a movie premiere at which Washington’s character’s film debuted.
“There were tough days, and it was exhausting,” she says of making the film. “But here was so much family around us, it felt like. We created this set family of support.”
Jeff JohnsonThe Chris Young Cafe at the singer’s alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, is officially open.
On Tuesday, the university in Chris’ hometown of Murfreesboro hosted the grand opening of the newly renovated cafe. It’ll serve as an entertainment venue on campus, where students can learn and refine their skills in music business, audio production, songwriting, lighting and rigging, and more. The Cafe can accommodate 240 people post-pandemic and 74 people during the pandemic to allow for social distancing. It features an elegant stage and a portrait of Chris on the wall. The singer also donated microphones, soundboards and other equipment from his previous tours.
“This is a huge honor,” Chris said during the grand opening, thanking MTSU for providing him with a “breadth of musical knowledges” including jazz education and learning how to sing in multiple languages.
Representatives from the university also unveiled a plaque in front of the Cafe commemorating Chris’ career.
The hitmaker hopes that student artists use the Cafe as a safe space to learn and display their talent through live performances, comedy shows and radio broadcasts. “I hope everyone finds a use for this space,” he said. “This means the world to me.”
The Grammy nominee christened the stage with the debut live performance of his current single, “Famous Friends,” a duet with Kane Brown that will be featured on his upcoming album.
Neon(GERMANY) — The indie movie company Neon, which has produced films like the Oscar nominated I, Tonya, has released its first image of Kristen Stewart as Diana Spencer, aka Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, in its upcoming drama Spencer.
Production on the film just got underway in Germany for a planned release this fall, ahead of 2022’s 25th anniversary of Diana’s death.
The photo shows Stewart as the spitting image of the princess turned human rights advocate. She’s staring out of a window, wearing a black blouse and red jacket, with a black veiled hat atop her signature feathered blonde coif.
As previously reported, the period piece takes place in the 1990s and will have Stewart playing Diana over a crucial Christmas holiday during which she plotted her divorce from Prince Charles and began charting a life away from the British royal family.
The synopsis from Neon reads, “December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold. Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different.”
Princess Diana was killed August 31, 1997 in a car crash in Paris that was caused in part by a high-speed pursuit by paparazzi. Her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were also killed. Paul was later found to have been driving drunk. A bodyguard survived the crash.
Pablo Larrain, who called the shots on Natalie Portman’s Oscar-nominated Jacqueline Kennedy 2016 biopic Jackie, is directing.
Billy Bob’s TexasScotty McCreery has teamed up with Billy Bob’s Texas to give back to ACM Lifting Lives. 
