ASHTON KUTCHER made a surprise appearance on “Ellen” yesterday, and he dropped a bomb on her: He and his investment partner donated $4 MILLION to the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund. That’s the charity that PORTIA DE ROSSI set up for Ellen as a birthday gift earlier this year. Ashton said, “You’re always thinking about everyone else and we wanted to show you that people are thinking about you.”
MARK WAHLBERG is rebooting “Captain Kangaroo” as a way to get kids interested in science, engineering, and math. The original ran for 38 seasons, from 1955 to 1984, with BOB KEESHAN as the captain.
Sounds Like Nashville asked a few country stars to give their Festival Survival Tips. Most of it is what you’d expect. CAM said it’s all about hydration, sunscreen, and big hats. SCOTTY MCCREERY stresses hydrating early, because it’s the only way to make it to late night. He’s also a big fan of drinking Pedialyte. But I love this from MAREN MORRIS. “Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about wearing a fanny pack because they’re perfect for festivals.” I hope CARLY PEARCE knows that. She said, “I sweat a lot, and it ain’t fun. But just wear minimal clothes.” And then there’s KIP MOORE, who has a warning that I will NOT accept. “Stay away from the corn dogs. Tequila and corn dogs will take you right down.”
LAUREN ALAINA and her boyfriend Alex Hopkins have been together for six years. And even though they’re only 23 years old, people have been asking her why he hasn’t put a ring on it. She says, “We’ve definitely talked about marriage, obviously. It’s bound to come up at some point [but] we’re pretty young. “My parents got married really young and that didn’t work out, but Alex’s parents got married really young and they’ve been together for 30 years or something crazy, so I guess different strokes for different folks.” One thing’s for sure, she’s still hot for the guy. “He’s the most attractive man I’ve ever seen. And the older we get, the more attractive he gets and I’m starting to be like, ‘Glad we met at 17 because you are way cuter than me.’ “If they do make it official, it’s going to be a showbiz marriage. She says he wants to be an actor and model, and is already doing lot of commercial work. “You’re going to see him in commercials and be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Alex.'”
WOODY ALLEN and MIA FARROW’s son Moses is defending Woody against sexual abuse claims . . . and he says Mia was physically and verbally abusive to all her kids.
The first round of performers have been announced for next month’s “CMT Music Awards”. We’re talking Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini, and Sam Hunt. Little Big Town will host the show.
This year’s “Concert for Love and Acceptance” is going down June 7th at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. Organizer TY HERNDON will be co-hosting, along with CMT’s Cody Alan. Performers include Cassadee Pope, Michael Ray, Cam, Terri Clark, Billy Dean, and Thompson Square.
MIDLAND released a video of them performing a live version of “Gator Boys”. They call it a tip of the hat to “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Smokey and the Bandit”. It’s also interesting because all three of them take turns doing lead vocals.
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
The KANYE / KARDASHIAN episode of “Family Feud” airs on June 10th.
Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will be one of five new members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Gordon said, “It’s an amazing accomplishment and I’m so honored to be a part of this group. All the legends, and all the names that have been inducted over the years, and what NASCAR was done to the Hall of Fame to make it so special … man, I’m on cloud nine now.” Jack Roush, Roger Penske, Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison will also be inducted February 1, 2019.
Two new animated series based on Scooby-Doo and The Flinstones are in development at Warner Bros. Animation. Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? pairs celebrity guest stars featuring both real people, such as Bill Nye and Ricky Gervais as well as fictional characters like Wonder Woman and Sherlock Holmes with the iconic Mystery Inc. gang. Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs! focus on Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm and Dino in a 15-minute cartoon. The cartoons are scheduled to premiere in 2019.
The two-hour special “The Last Days of Michael Jackson” at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.
“Jimmy Fallon” – Cate Blanchett, Guy Fieri, and Darius Rucker.
Tommy Chong is 80.
Bob Dylan is 77.
Gary Burghoff is 75.
Patti LaBelle is 74.
Priscilla Presley is 73.
Rosanne Cash is 63.
Mark Ballas is 32.
