On what would have been his 100th birthday, an announcement was made that there will be a Gene Roddenberry biopic. Roddenberry created Star Trek in the 1960s and went on to create various spinoffs of the franchise. The project, which will focus on Roddenberry’s early years, has a producer and writer attached.
MIKE RICHARDS stepped down as the “Jeopardy!” host on Friday. This comes shortly after people dug up his 2013 podcast . . . where he made sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, and body shaming comments. Mike said, “It has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.” He will stay on as an executive producer. And the five episodes that he already taped for the new season will still air. When production starts again, “Jeopardy!” will go back to having guest hosts until a permanent one is chosen. Maybe this will give CNN legal analyst LAURA COATES a chance to guest host. Last week a 2018 interview resurfaced where ALEX TREBEK named her as a potential replacement.
KACEY MUSGRAVES wants to keep us all guessing these days. She has a boyfriend, but doesn’t say much about him. On Saturday she shared 15 short Instagram posts. The first one features an acoustic guitar, with her singing, “Let me set the scene.” The other 14 have no music, just lyrics to what is probably that song. And it seems to be about her divorce. The song is called “Star-Crossed”, it features Carlos Santana, and it’s the title track of her new album, which MIGHT be out September 24th. Saturday was also her 33rd birthday, and her boyfriend Cole Schafer posted photos of them being very much a couple.
Singer-songwriter TOM T. HALL passed away on Friday. He was 85. He wrote 12 Number One songs, and had 26 more reach the top 10. His most famous was Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, which dominated the charts in 1968.
Devasting floods in Tennessee killed at least 22 people over the weekend. One of them was Wayne Spears, who was a foreman at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch.
TIM MCGRAW has to love a song before he records it. Sounds simple, but tons of stuff gets submitted to him, and his process for filtering through it all is very detailed. Obviously it works because he picks hit after hit.
Carrie Ann Inaba is stepping down from her role as co-host and moderator of “The Talk”. The“Dancing With the Stars” judge, who has been on a leave of absence from the CBS daytime talk show since April, will not return to the roundtable when the show returns in September. No replacement has been named.
Sofia Vergara is opening up about her battle with thyroid cancer. The 49-year-old Modern Family actress was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 28. During a routine doctor’s visit, her doctor felt a lump in her neck. They did a lot of tests and told finally her she had thyroid cancer. She was fortunate to have caught it early.
“Paw Patrol: The Movie” opened with $13 million, but “Free Guy” is still #1 at the box office.
Nearly 15 years after first visiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® where he was immediately inspired to pledge his support, three-time GRAMMY Award winner Darius Rucker continues to give back to the mission, surpassing the $2.5 million mark in his fundraising efforts with this year’s 12th annual “Darius & Friends” benefit concert on Tuesday night, preceded by his corresponding golf tournament and silent auction on Monday morning. This year’s event alone raised more than $410,000.
Florida Georgia Line have canceled their 2021 I Love My Country Tour. Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley issued a statement on Friday citing the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for the cancellation. “We were hopeful we could get back on the road this fall, and are so bummed to have to cancel this tour, but we know in our hearts that we still have to make sure we’re keeping our fans and crew safe,” Tyler said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that we have to cancel but we hope y’all understand. We love our fans and can’t wait to be back out when the time is right.”
Congratulations to GRANGER SMITH and his wife Amber on the birth of their son, Maverick Beckham. He was born Friday. He joins their daughter London, who is nine, and their seven-year-old son Lincoln. Their little boy River died in a drowning accident at their home when he was three.
DON EVERLY of the EVERLY BROTHERS died Saturday at his home in Nashville. He was 84 years old. His brother PHIL passed in 2014. Their hits included “Bye Bye Love”, “Wake Up Little Susie”.
KYLIE JENNER and TRAVIS SCOTT are reportedly expecting their second child, although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. They already have a 3-year-old daughter named Stormi.
Shelley Long is 72. Diane Chambers on “Cheers”. She also plays Ed O’Neill’s ex-wife DeDe on “Modern Family”
