March 22, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay doesn’t believe the recent controversy involving embattled host Chris Harrison or contestant Rachael Kirkconnell will be the downfall of Bachelor Nation.  Instead, she puts the blame solely on the bad behavior demonstrated by fans.

Speaking on the recent episode of the Higher Learning podcast, Lindsay warned Bachelor Nation that, should the “toxic” behavior continue unchecked, that will be the end of the dating show franchise.

“It’s wild out there… It’s so toxic. Bachelor Nation, y’all are gonna be the reason this show doesn’t exist anymore because you’re so damn toxic,” the 35-year-old media personality warned. “You’re gonna be the demise of the show and the reason it’s taken down.”

Lindsay noted how fans attacked past alums, touching upon how recent Bachelor star Matt James was hounded for breaking things off with finalist Kirkconnell.

“All they did was bash Matt,” she lamented, expressing that James ended things with Rachael because of her past actions — particularly the incident where she attended an Antebellum South party in 2018.

“You’re nasty.  You’re vile.  You’re harassing Matt for a decision that he made,” said Lindsay. “He supports [Rachael,] he’s allowing her [make things right] on her own. Let’s move on.”

The former Bachelorette doubled down that she will keep using her voice to create meaningful change in the Bachelor franchise, with or without fans’ support.

“Is it where it needs to be?  No,” the media personality explained before expressing optimism that she has encouraged the franchise to step in the right direction because of her persistence.

Previously, Lindsay revealed she had to step away from Instagram after her explosive interview with Harrison, which resulted in him excusing himself from the franchise and apologizing for his previous remarks.  Lindsay revealed she received a slew of hateful and ugly messages.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 22, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Marvel Studios/Chuck Zlotnick(NEW YORK) — (SPOILER ALERT) The Falcon and The Winter Soldier debuted on Friday, and the surprise return of MCU veteran Don Cheadle as Rhodey played an important part.

The series deals with the heavy issue of Mackie’s Sam Wilson, a Black man, taking up the mantel and shield of Captain America. Head writer Malcolm Spellman told ABC Audio why it was so important to have Cheadle’s and Mackie’s characters discussing why Wilson doesn’t think he’s worthy of it.

“One of the reasons we picked Rhodey for that scene is that there is no hiding from the fact that you have a Black man dealing with the Stars and Stripes,” Spellman says.

“And as you saw in the pilot, everyone thinks it’s going to go with Sam grabbing that shield and flying off into battle. But no, he has decided he is Black and he knows he’s Black and he knows that there’s a lot of baggage that needs to be dealt with and it might not be appropriate for him to deal with it.”

“Putting Rhodey in there more than anything we could write — to have two Black men in this moment does a million things for us, you know what I’m saying?”

Like it Marvel Comics has done throughout its history, Marvel Studios doesn’t shy away from issues of race in America, Spellman says.

“We knew after Black Panther that the Marvel fans would allow us to have certain conversations as long as we keep it fun. And thank God for that movie, and thank God for the ‘Killmonger Was Right’ hashtag because it proved these stories can be of the moment…”  

A new episode of Falcon and The Winter Soldier drops Friday on Disney+.

Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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

March 22, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Heidi Gutman(NEW YORK) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) For those missing the live movie theater experience, head on over to Leslie Jones’ twitter feed to watch her hilarious reaction to Wonder Woman kicking butt in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. 

In an often foul-mouthed commentary that got “Leslie Jones” trending on Twitter, the Saturday Night Live alumna recorded the scene on her iPhone as she screams her satisfaction at Gal Gadot’s character dispatching a room full of terrorists.

“I’ve ALWAYS wanted to throw a man against the wall like that!” was one of the rare printable comments. 

Jones captioned the post, “I love Wonder Woman!” followed by the hashtag “#LongA**Movie,” poking fun at the HBO Max release’s 4 hour, two-minute run time.

Jones already has a rep for her hilarious live-tweeting of events including Game of Thrones episodes and the 2018 Winter Olympics, the latter of which earned her a gig on NBC’s coverage team.

(Twitter video contains uncensored profanity.)

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

March 22, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Toni Anne Barson/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Kylie Jenner’s entrepreneurial skills have netted her nearly a billion bucks, which is why she got flamed by followers for only forking over $5,000 to a makeup artist who suffered brain injuries in a serious car wreck. 

Celebrity make-up artist Samuel Rauda remains in the hospital following a crash last month, and is facing surgeries and skyrocketing hospital bills, so a GoFundMe was set up to help him. 

The goal amount was initially set for $10,000 — it has since been bumped to $120,000 — but people called foul when Kylie dropped in just $5K, and in an Instagram story asked followers to donate to do their part.

One Twitter user wrote, “wait so kylie jenner’s make up artist got into a car accident and needed $60k for emergency brain surgery and she asked her fans to donate???? and then only donated $5,000 when she’s a literal billionaire? the wrong people have money.”

Another posted, “I know Kylie Jenner ain’t asking me for $60,000 for her make up artist’s brain surgery.. meanwhile sis makes over $450,000 a day.”

As of Monday morning, Rauda’s GoFundMe had received more than $99,000 in donations.

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

March 22, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — A man who successfully broke into actor Johnny Depp’s Hollywood Hills home did not take a single moment for granted.  Instead of grabbing riches and running off, the intruder instead made himself at home.

TMZ reports that a homeless man managed to get inside the Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s house on Thursday, according to police.

A neighbor alerted authorities after chasing away an apparently homeless man who was lurking by his pool.  The intruder took off and scaled the fence, where he landed on Depp’s property and took advantage of the situation.

The actor’s security team learned of the unknown man’s presence and called authorities — who arrived as the intruder was taking a nice hot shower.

The intruder also refused to leave the bathroom and police were forced to kick down the door, where authorities discovered that the man had also helped himself to Depp’s liquor cabinet.

While the intruder made himself a cocktail and take a shower, police say he committed a felony because he damaged a door to make his way inside.

The unnamed man was arrested and charged with felony vandalism.

This is the second time this year a stranger forced their way inside Depp’s mansion — the first being a woman who was arrested on suspicion of burglary back in January.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.