“Succession” star Brian Cox gave his take on the world’s most popular book this week in an interview on The Starting Line podcast with Rich Leigh. He called the Bible the “worst book ever.” He said he thinks religion “holds us back because its belief systems, which are outside ourselves, they’re not dealing with who we all are, they’re dealing with well, ‘if God says this and God does that.’” He said: “We created that idea of God and we created it as a control issue. It’s also a patriarchal issue. That’s how it started and it’s essentially patriarchal. We haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy and I think we need to move matriarchically.” “We have to go more towards a matriarchy because the mothering thing is the thing which is the real conditioning of our lives,” he explained. “Our fathers don’t condition us ‘cause they’re too bloody selfish, but our mothers have to because they have an umbilical [cord],” he said. He concludes that people need religion because “they need some kind of truth,” but “they don’t need to be told lies.” And The Bible is “not the truth,” he stressed.

Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson will host and executive produce an Olympic highlights series for Peacock. Peacock announced in a press release that Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson will premiere in July during the Paris Summer Olympics. Olympic Highlights is a comedy commentary show that will see Hart and Thompson "bring their signature hilarious insights" to recap "the best and most unexpected moments" from this year's Olympic games. They’ll be “one-of-a-kind guides through the Paris Olympics," covering a mix of Olympic-themed in-studio competitions, conversations, and interviews. The Paris Olympics will run July 26 through Aug. 11.

ABC News weatherman Rob Marciano was fired yesterday - a year after temporarily getting yanked off the air for anger management issues, sources with knowledge told The NY Post. Marciano, who appeared on “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight” for a decade, made news last year amid complaints about his behavior over the years. He was temporarily banned from “GMA’s” Time Square Studios after he made a colleague feel uncomfortable, Page Six reported in March of last year. “He was found to have done something that was improper, but he was punished for it, and they still haven’t let him return,” one insider told Page Six at the time. It’s unclear what exactly transpired this time around between Marciano and his colleague, but another source said he had been dealing with some anger management issues while going through a divorce from his wife.

Kanye West is being sued for racial discrimination by one of his former security guards. The lawsuit has been brought forward by Benjamin Deshon Provo – who worked for the rapper at both his Donda Academy school and at a warehouse used as storage for the Yeezy brand of clothing. In the filing, the former employee alleges that Kanye subjected his Black employees to “less favorable treatment than their White counterparts,” and People reported that the lawsuit also claims that the rapper “frequently screamed at and berated Black employees,” and ultimately fired Provo for refusing to cut his dreadlocks.

Jerry Seinfeld said in an interview with The New Yorker that “P.C. crap” and the “extreme left” is making television comedy go extinct. He said viewers no longer flock to their TVs in order to get their comedy fix like they did for decades. “Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it,” Seinfeld said. “It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, “Cheers” is on. Oh, “MASH” is on. Oh, “Mary Tyler Moore” is on. “All in the Family” is on.’ You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight.’ Well, guess what—where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.” He said comedy fans are “now going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly. But when you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups—’Here’s our thought about this joke.’ Well, that’s the end of your comedy.”

Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms are out at CBS’ “The NFL Today” as the NFL studio show undergoes a huge makeover with Matt Ryan and JJ Watt joining James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher. The former Jets quarterback announced yesterday morning that he is stepping away from the position and that he signed a long-term deal to remain with WFAN as co-host of their morning show with Gregg Giannotti. “More their decision than maybe mine,” Esiason said of CBS. Simms, who helped the Giants win two Super Bowls, announced the news on X. “Great 26 yrs run with CBS SPORTS. Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next..,” he wrote.

CBS and Dick Clark Productions announced a deal Friday for the American Music Awards to air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The 2024 ceremony will be Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. EDT. The American Music Awards previously aired on ABC. The show took 2023 off. 2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards. The AMA nominees and winners are chosen by fans using metrics album sales, song sales, radio airplay and Billboard charts.

Paramount+ announced the Rosemary's Baby prequel Apartment 7A on Friday. The movie premieres this fall on the streaming service. Julia Garner leads the cast that also includes Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess and Kevin McNally. The movie is about the previous residents of Rosemary's apartment. The 1968 adaptation of Ira Levin's book starred Mia Farrow as the woman impregnated with Satan's child. Garner will play an injured dancer. Rosemary's husband, Guy, was also in the arts as a theater actor.

Zendaya's new movie, Challengers, is the No. 1 movie in North America, earning $15 million over the weekend.

Here’s the rest of the top 10:
2. Unsung Hero - $7.8 million
3. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire - $7.2 million
4. Civil War - $7 million
5. Abigail - $5.3 million
6. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - $3.9 million
7. Kung Fu Panda 4 - $3.6 million
8. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - $3.3 million
9. Dune: Part Two - $2 million
10. Boy Kills World - $1.7 million

More than 250 recording artists have signed a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce in support of a bill advocating for ticket sale transparency and consumer protections against bots. Billie Eilish, Dave Mathews, Cyndi Lauper, Lorde, Sia, Train, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Graham Nash, Becky G, and Chappell Roan are among the signees urging Congress to pass the Fans First Act (S. 3457). The bill addresses the live event ticketing system. The letter claims current practices leave fans and artists alike exposed to the predatory practices of bad actors within the secondary ticketing market.

Jennifer Aniston is looking to produce a reimagining of the 1980 comedy 9 to 5. Starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, the movie followed three female office employees who turn the tables on their sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot boss played by Dabney Coleman. The movie grossed over $103 million.

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty in 2020 in New York for sexual assault crimes, but those convictions have now been overturned. He was initially found guilty of serious offenses, like criminal sexual act and rape, in a New York City court and was given a 23-year prison sentence. Weinstein was accused of forcing a woman into oral sex in 2006 and raping another woman in 2013. His lawyer argued that he didn't get a fair trial because of the judge and claimed the focus was on Weinstein's character rather than the evidence. It's uncertain if he'll face another trial for these charges, but he's still in prison because of convictions in California from 2022. In that trial, he was found guilty of similar sex crimes, including forcible rape and sexual penetration.

 

The April 13 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Ryan Gosling, was the most-watched SNL in more than two years, NBC announced yesterday. The episode brought in 8.9 million total viewers across all platforms, the most since the Dec. 11, 2021 episode hosted by Billie Eilish.

Apple TV+ has moved up the premiere date for Presumed Innocent, its upcoming limited series starring and executive produced by Jake Gyllenhaal. The series will premiere Wednesday, June 12, just a few days after its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 9. It originally was scheduled to debut on June 14. The Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together. Ruth Negga, Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel also star.

Steve Carell has joined the cast of the Netflix comedy The Four Seasons. He’ll star with Tina Fey in the upcoming series. The Four Seasons is based on the 1981 film written, directed by and starring Alan Alda. Fey co-created and wrote the Netflix series with her 30 Rock collaborators Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher. Alda and original producer Marissa Bregman produce the show. The original Four Seasons follows three New York couples as they vacation together during each of the four seasons.

Taylor Swift dropped a new album on Friday, but some people don’t like the lyrics to her new song, "I Hate It Here." In the track off of "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," a deluxe version of her new album, Swift sings about discontent and the way our recollections are distorted by nostalgia. In it, she says she wants to return to an era that ended more than a century before her career began. "My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this / I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid," Swift sings in the song. The Civil War began in 1861, more than 30 years after the decade Swift references in the song. Slavery was still active in the U.S. during this time. "Everyone would look down 'cause it wasn't fun now seems like it was never even fun back then / Nostalgia is a mind's trick if I'd been there, I'd hate it," she sings. "It was freezing in the palace." Fans on X reacted to “I Hate It Here.” “y’all .. there are so many wrong things about this," one user wrote, while posting a screenshot of the song's lyrics from Genius. "'I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists' now Taylor …" another wrote.

Coming up on the 26th anniversary of Seinfeld’s series finale, Jerry Seinfeld said he’s still a little bit bothered how the show ended things. “The Finale,” which aired May 14, 1998, and drew 76 million viewers, has since landed on many a “Worst Series Finales Ever” ranking. When Seinfeld was asked by GQ if the show’s finale has “bothered him all these years,” he answered, “A little bit, yeah,” though he was quick to note, “I don’t believe in regret. I think it’s arrogant to think you could have done something different. You couldn’t. That’s why you did what you did.”

Several crew members were injured during rehearsal for a scene in Eddie Murphy's upcoming movie “The Pickup." "On April 20, an accident occurred on the set of ‘The Pickup’ during a rehearsed 2nd unit action sequence," a spokesperson for Amazon MGM Studios shared in a statement. "Unfortunately, the sequence did not go as planned and several members of the crew were injured as a result." Circumstances surrounding the accident are as yet unknown. Additionally, it's unclear who or how many people were injured and the extent of their injuries. "We are still in the process of gathering facts on what happened and why, but first and foremost our thoughts are with those who are recovering," the statement continued. Besides Murphy, the movie also stars Keke Palmer, Eva Longoria, Pete Davidson, Andrew Dice Clay and Marshawn Lynch. No word on plot details.

Mary J. Blige is has opened up about being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She took to Instagram Sunday night to react to the news that she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October. "Beyond grateful!!!!!! This is incredible!!!" she wrote. She continued, "This is incredible!!! God always has the final say!!!! Thank you to my fans all over the world!!!! Tears of Joy!!!!" The news was announced on Sunday's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night episode of American Idol.

Alec Baldwin was caught on camera punching the phone of an anti-Israel protester who accosted him inside a New York City coffee shop. The protesters video was posted on X by an anti-fascist interview show called Crackhead Barney & Friends. Baldwin asked the employee to call the police and told the protester he would not say free Palestine. “F**k Israel, f**k Zionism, please say it,” the protester said. Baldwin said “can you do me one quick favor” before smacking the protesters phone from her hand. “Alec can you please say free Palestine one time,” the protester repeatedly shouted at Baldwin. “Free Palestine, Alec, just one time and I'll leave you alone. I'll leave you alone, I swear, just say free Palestine one time.” A coffee shop employee tried to get the protester to stop badgering Baldwin. “Why did you kill that lady? You killed that lady and got no jail time,” the protester said referencing the fatal Rust set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Mila Kunis is shutting down the possibility of returning to That ’90s Show Season 2, including Ashton Kutcher. The actress told “ET” that she and Kutcher won’t be reprising their That ’70s Show characters when the sequel series returns to Netflix. “No,” Kunis told ET when asked if she and her hubby Kutcher would return to the sitcom. “I mean, we did our thing, and they introduced our son in the show.” That ’70s Show ran for eight seasons on Fox. Netflix revived the show with the sequel series That ’90s Show, which centered on Leia Forman, played by Callie Haverda, Donna (Laura Preppon) and Eric’s daughter.

After playing a pivotal role in the first music video that Taylor Swift released in support of The Tortured Poets Department, Post Malone opened up about what working with Swift was like. Swift’s new album dropped on Friday, just hours before she released the music video for her new song “Fortnight.” The song arrived as the first track on the surprise double album and included a featured credit for Post Malone. In addition to his contributions to the song, Post also appeared alongside Swift in the “Fortnight” music video, which Swift directed. On Saturday, Post shared a behind-the-scenes photo of himself sitting on a couch next to Swift. The rapper’s hands rested on an object in front of him as he looked directly into the camera. Meanwhile, Swift sat beside him while dressed in a black sweater and jeans, her head resting on one hand. “It’s once in a lifetime that someone like @taylorswift comes into this world,” Post wrote in his Instagram caption. “I am floored by your heart and your mind, and I am beyond honored to have been asked to help you with your journey ???? I love you so much. Thank you Tay ????.”

Hulu is set to get two Family Guy holiday specials later this year. As the animated show celebrates its 25th anniversary since its premiere, it was confirmed at PaleyFestLA that the series would air two holiday specials later this year. The show celebrated its 25th anniversary on Jan. 31, and the cast and EPs participated in a panel at PaleyFest LA to celebrate the milestone on Friday.

Michael Douglas defended President Joe Biden against criticisms from his opponents regarding his age during a CNN interview. In an interview with CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria, Douglas said Biden’s age shouldn’t be an issue because he is “sharp as a tack.” The actor also said Biden’s cabinet members would work with the president again unlike Donald Trump’s former cabinet members. The actor said: “Well, I think that I walk a little similar to him. And the people that I’ve talked to and everybody that I have, say he’s sharp as a tack. He’s fine. We all have an issue with memories as we get older, we forget names. He’s overcome a stutter in his life. But let’s just say that his entire cabinet, including his vice president, everybody in his cabinet would be more than happy to work with him again in the next term. I cannot say that about the other candidate running because nobody in his cabinet from 2016 wants to be involved with him.”

Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department dropped at midnight - and the singer built the anticipation by teasing the lead single, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone. She took to X to share a preview of the upcoming music video, featuring dramatic scenes of the two searching through files, embracing on an empty road and throwing chairs, before the clip cuts to Swift looking into the camera with a smokey eye and her iconic red lip. “At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings,” Swift captioned the post, noting that the video will be arriving tonight at 8 p.m. ET.