Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so when Chelsea Handler decided to recreate Martha Stewart’s now viral selfie, the icon herself had to respond.
Handler, 45, posted the copycat Instagram post just one day after fans went crazy over Stewart’s sultry pool pic which showed her rocking a pink lip, shimmery eyeshadow and mascara as she subtly pouted at the camera.
“I’m here to take [Martha Stewart]’s swimming lesson,” Handler explained in the caption. “If I look this good at 78 I better still have a pool to show myself off in.”
Flattered, Stewart commented, “Dear Chelsea I’m so happy that you like my post well enough to emulate it.”
“I do think my pool is a little bit prettier than yours and that my facial expression is a little bit more relaxed. Nevertheless you are a beautiful girl and F****** too young to be emulating me,” the businesswoman declared. “Continue with your comedy, your humor, and your amazing ability to gather around you political liberals. We need it! Love Martha.”
Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesBy ELLA TORRES, ABC News
(ATLANTA) — Civil rights pioneer Rev. C.T. Vivian, known for helping end segregation in the South and his close allyship with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was laid to rest Thursday.
Vivian died last Friday at the age of 95.
His funeral began at 11 a.m. at the Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he died.
He was remembered for his work that “helped forever change our nation,” presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said in a video message.
Biden was one of a handful who spoke on Vivian’s legacy, also including his friends, family and Oprah Winfrey.
“In his presence, we were always learning more about our country, about ourselves,” Winfrey said in a video message.
Calling him a “giant for justice,” Winfrey said, “We are better because he existed.”
Vivian participated in the first sit-ins to end segregation in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1960 and led the first march of the Civil Rights movement. During the sit-ins, Vivian was joined by John Robert Lewis, a civil rights icon who went on to become a congressman, according to the History Makers. Lewis died last Friday at the age of 80.
In Birmingham, Vivian’s work helped to enact the Civil Rights Bill and in Selma; the Voting Rights Bill.
Prior to that, in Peoria, Illinois, he was part of the effort to end segregation at lunch counters and successfully integrated restaurants in the 1940s.
King later asked Vivian to join the executive staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where King was the first president, and the two organized the Freedom Riders.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by former President Barack Obama. Vivian provided civil rights counsel to Obama, as well as former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
His two sons, Mark E. Vivian and Al Vivian, also spoke — remembering Vivian not just as an icon, but their dad.
“How do you adequately say goodbye to the greatest person you have ever known,” Al Vivian said.
Mark E. Vivian said the greatest pleasure he had in life “was to call him dad.”
“I had somebody when I needed advice, when I needed looking up to, when I needed just to hear somebody say I love you,” he continued.
He and other family members also spoke about Vivian’s relationship with his late wife Octavia and how much he adored her.
Mark E. Vivian said, “the greatest thing” his father ever showed him was how to be a husband.
“How to love your wife, be there for here…That’s the person you pull your strength for,” he said.
His son concluded his remarks through tears, with a final message to his father: “All I can say I love you. Nothing better than you.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Dave Franco has found his new project, portraying a young Vanilla Ice in the upcoming movie To The Extreme.
Franco, 35, spilled the beans during an interview with Insider when discussing his directorial debut on another movie, The Rental.
“We have been in development for a while but we are inching closer and closer to preproduction,” the actor dished; confirming that the 90s rap sensation will be the focus of a new biopic.
Franco attests that, should the project follow the right formula and be handled with respect, it’ll be just as successful as the film he co-directed with his older brother James Franco — the Oscar-nominated The Disaster Artist.
“With that movie, people expected us to make a broad comedy where we make fun of Tommy Wiseau, but the more real we played it, the funnier and heartfelt it was — that’s the tone we want for this one as well,” the younger Franco noted.
While COVID-19 has production shut down for the moment, the Now You See Me star says he’s been using his time getting to know Vanilla Ice — real name Rob Van Winkle — as a person.
“Rob is such a sweet and intelligent guy and he’s been super helpful in the process of getting all the details correct and making us privy to information the public doesn’t know,” he revealed. “Just talking to him I can’t help but think about the rabbit holes I’m going to go down to get ready for the role.”
To the Extreme was previously summarized by Production Weekly last year as “From a high school dropout selling cars in Dallas to having the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts with ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ a young Vanilla Ice struggles with stardom, extortion attempts, and selling out as he makes music history.”
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty ImagesBy AARON KATERSKY and IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney, will be released from federal prison and return to home confinement in Manhattan.
Cohen, serving a three-year sentence for violating campaign finance laws and lying to Congress, was ordered back to the federal facility in Otisville, New York, on July 9 after spending two months on furlough in home confinement. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Cohen didn’t agree to a clause in his home confinement agreement that forbade him from speaking with the media, including through a book.
Cohen contended in a lawsuit that he was being retaliated against by the federal government, which objected to a tell-all book on his experiences with Trump that’s slated to be released soon.
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein sided with Cohen on Thursday and ordered he be released.
“The purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, and it’s retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights and to publish a book,” Hellerstein said.
Cohen, who had been in solitary confinement, according to his lawsuit, must be released by Friday afternoon, the judge ordered. Hellerstein also said the conditions of Cohen’s home confinement will be renegotiated.
The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately return requests for comment from ABC News.
Cohen was one of several inmates released from federal prison in May after the Department of Justice raised concerns about COVID-19 in facilities. He was active on social media and teased the release of his book, which he said would include anecdotes of Trump using anti-Semitic and racist remarks. He also was photographed by the New York Post dining outdoors in early July.
The Bureau of Prisons previously said Cohen turned down the offer to remain at home in exchange for the media gag order, but Cohen contends he never made such an agreement and was taken into custody before he and his lawyer could negotiate terms.
Hellerstein blasted the federal government for issuing new guidelines to Cohen’s furlough and home confinement.
“How can I take any other inference but that it was retaliatory?” Hellerstein asked rhetorically during a hearing. “In 21 years of being a judge … I’ve never seen such a clause.”
“He was put on furlough with no conditions other than hang around your house and be in your neighborhood,” the judge added. “All of a sudden when the New York Post article comes out and the Bureau of Prisons understands he’s writing a book, and it’ll be finished by election time, they impose conditions.”
Danya Perry, Cohen’s attorney, said he would abide by the conditions laid out by the Bureau of Prisons once the requirement about media engagement was renegotiated.
“He wants to be able to edit and publish his book,” she said.
Two other recent books about the president have drawn legal challenges: The Room Where it Happened, by former national security adviser John Bolton, and Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, the president’s niece.
ABC/Mark LevineTim McGraw is offering a thoughtful gesture to healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “I Like It, I Love It” hitmaker is the latest star to take part in Spotify’s online series The Drop In, where artists surprise their loyal fans. In the latest episode of the series, Tim pays a virtual visit to a staff of nurses at Virtua Health in New Jersey to thank them for their tireless efforts.
In between stories from the nurses about the challenges of working on the front lines of a pandemic, Tim offered an acoustic performance of his song “I Called Mama,” along with some words of gratitude.
“…One of the bright lights I think through all of this is being able to see how much people care, how hard people work, how selfless people can be, especially you guys, our front line workers who put your lives on the line to take care of people,” Tim says.
The singer has dropped in on fans before — he surprised one with a video call for Mother’s Day and included a clip of the exchange in the video for “I Called Mama.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so when Chelsea Handler decided to recreate Martha Stewart’s now viral selfie, the icon herself had to respond. 
