More from Gary Baum
Review: B.J. Novak’s Chain Food Fest Is Hard to Digest
B.J. Novak, the wry Office alum, demonstrated his ability to throw a (sponsored) party on Dec. 1. He filled a parking lot along Cahuenga Boulevard with his celebrity friends and a swath of fashionable Hollywood in their Kith and Fear of God fits for ChainFEST 2023, a bizarre first-of-its-kind gathering meant to celebrate and send […]
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Hollywood Rabbis Prepare for Fraught Hanukkah: “This Is the First Time I’ve Seen People Really Afraid”
The entertainment industry’s rabbis say that in the eight weeks since Oct. 7 — a horrific chapter in Jewish history encompassing Hamas’ massacre, Israel’s ensuing Gaza invasion and the worldwide response to it all — their congregations have been roiled by crises of identity and safety not experienced in America since the Holocaust. These faith […]
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How Wolfgang Puck’s Pioneering Fusion Restaurant Chinois Changed Dining
Wolfgang Puck’s now-iconic Chinois on Main, which pioneered what came to be known as Asian fusion or Pacific Rim cuisine, has turned 40 this year. An entertainment industry haven since the day it opened in Santa Monica at the address of a former New Wave punk club, it’s since gone from radical to old guard. […]
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Why Henry Kissinger Was “the Ultimate Starf—er”
Revered and reviled U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger, whose death at 100 on Nov. 29 was met with the widespread view that his realpolitik was responsible for some of this country’s worst global war crimes, loved American celebrity — both his own, an expression of state power, as well as that of others, especially performers. He was “the ultimate […]
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Fran Drescher for President? Top Dem Consultants Weigh In
In a Nov. 9 post-strike interview with THR, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher discussed her career plans. The actress, who in September was elected to another two-year term at the helm of the union, recalled that after the announced deal with the studios, “Meryl Streep said to me, ‘This is great, now go run for [U.S.] president.’ ” In response, […]
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Who Won the Strikes? Who Lost? A Merciless Assessment
As the town flocked to picket lines during a historic 148-day writers strike and 118-day actors strike, moguls took a hit (looking at you, Bob Iger), stars made blunders (why, Drew Barrymore?) and others saw their stock rise (Lindsay Dougherty holds court next with the studios) … Winners Fran Drescher & Duncan Crabtree-IrelandTo be sure, […]
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How TMZ Became Hollywood’s Grim Reaper
On Oct. 28, TMZ was first to report Matthew Perry’s drowning death. The media outlet, which over the past two decades has become a byword for hard-edged celebrity coverage, cited law enforcement sources and ran a redacted audio clip it’d obtained of a dispatcher communicating with emergency personnel before running photos of the actor’s stricken parents […]
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“Anti-Racist” Dinner Party Hosts Say CAA Dropped Them Over Israel “Genocide” Rhetoric
CAA has dropped a pair of female BIPOC entrepreneurs who’ve gained attention in recent years for holding “anti-racist” dinner parties for an affluent white women audience, according to one of the founders who says they offended their agent with their vocal support for Palestine following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza. […]
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John Amos and a Family at War With Itself
In July, TV legend John Amos’ 53-year-old son, K.C., ended up in a New Jersey jail after his 57-year-old daughter, Shannon, claimed that K.C. had sent her “terroristic” threats over text message that made her believe that her life was in danger, according to a police report. These included a photo of a rifle with […]
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‘Priscilla’ L.A. Premiere Moves Amid Venue’s Union Dispute (Exclusive)
Priscilla’s L.A. premiere on Monday has been derailed by an ongoing IATSE contract dispute with the American Legion Theater in Hollywood. Distributor A24 confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that it decided on Friday to move to another, yet-to-be-announced location after becoming aware of the labor fight Thursday night. THR published an in-depth examination of the […]
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How a Sexual Misconduct Scandal and Allegations of Corruption Sparked a Civil War at the American Legion Theater
This year, the head of American Legion Post 43, the nearly century-old private club for military veterans in Hollywood, faced a secret probe into his alleged misconduct. An employee at the organization’s theater, which is rented out for events, had accused him of putting his arm around her neck at the end of a night […]
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Unmasking the AMPTP: Hollywood Labor’s Opaque Nemesis
On Sept. 8, more than four months into a historic Hollywood labor battle, the Writers Guild of America turned a klieg light on its adversary, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Citing behind-the-scenes conversations the union’s leaders were allegedly having with unidentified legacy studio executives, its negotiating committee said in a bulletin to […]
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