Month: February 2024

NBC’s long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live has announced that Sydney Sweeney and Josh Brolin are the next round of hosts, along with Kacey Musgraves, and Ariana Grande as musical guests for Season 49.

Sweeney will make her hosting debut on March 2 with Kacey Musgraves as musical guest; followed by Josh Brolin as host and Ariana Grande as musical guest on March 9.

Sweeney is currently starring in the Spider-verse film “Madame Web” and is promoting her film Immaculate, opening March 22, which she stars in and produces. Musgraves will make her third appearance as a musical guest, and will drop her upcoming album, Deeper Well, on March 15.

Brolin will serve as host of “SNL” for the third time on March 9, and is currently promoting his role in the highly-anticipated Dune: Part Two, arriving in theaters on March 1.  Brolin will be joined by musical guest Ariana Grande, who is set to release her new album, Eternal Sunshine, on March 8. Grande appeared as musical guest twice before, and pulled double duty during her March 2016 appearance, also serving as host.

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Rooney Mara and her fiancé Joaquin Phoenix are expecting their second child together. The actress, 38, arrived at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival where she showed off her growing baby bump while posing for pictures in support of her new film, La Cocina (“The Kitchen”).

Mara and Phoenix, 49, first met in 2012 on the set of the film Her. The couple started dating in 2016 while working together on the film Mary Magdalene, and made their relationship public in 2017 after attending the 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival together. Two years later in 2019, it was reported that the longtime couple were engaged.

Phoenix and Mara already are parents to son River, born in 2020 and named after Joaquin’s older brother, actor River Phoenix, who died at the age of 23 in 1993.

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Jelly Roll and Tori Kelly will appear in Season 22 of American Idol as guest mentors.

Jelly Roll performed “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson last season, and he also performed “Need A Favor” with contestant Oliver Steele. Kelly appeared on Season 9 of Idol, making it all the way to Hollywood Week. After her departure from the show, she released her EP Handmade Songs in 2012.

Both Jelly and Kelly’s episodes will tape at ‘Aulani: A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i,’ showcasing Idol hopefuls as they perform on the beach in front of judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and host Ryan Seacrest.

American Idol Season 22 airs on Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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On Tuesday, former YouTube family vlogger Ruby Franke was sentenced to four, one-to-15 year terms in prison by an Utah district court in the child abuse case brought against her. Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt was also sentenced to four, one-to-15 year prison terms. Both women will serve their sentences consecutively.

Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 after police found one of Franke’s sons emaciated with open wounds and bound with duct tape, having escaped Hildebrandt’s home to a neighbor’s house, as well as one of Franke’s daughters was found in a similar malnourished condition in Hildebrandt’s home. After being charged with six counts of felony child abuse, Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in December. Franke previously agreed to testify against Hildebrandt in exchange for the county attorney’s neutrality in future hearings with the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

During the sentencing hearing, Franke teared up while apologizing to her kids, saying in part: “I … believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good.” The mother of six also addressed Judge John Walton and the courtroom: “For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion. My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me.” 

Hildebrandt also gave a brief statement to the court on Tuesday: “I desire for [the children] to heal physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I did not go to trial is because I did not want them to emotionally relive the experience which would have been detrimental to them. My hope and prayer is that they will heal and move forward to have beautiful lives.”

Franke, her husband, Kevin Franke, and their six children rose to prominence on YouTube, where they had amassed 2.3 million subscribers to their now-defunct channel 8 Passengers. Franke also frequently collaborated on controversial parenting and relationship advice videos with Hildebrandt.

According to Utah law, the maximum aggregate sentence for consecutive terms is 30 years. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine how long Franke and Hildebrandt will spend incarcerated.

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Jessie James Decker and her husband, Eric Decker have welcomed baby No. 4, a boy – taking to social media to announce the news with a carousel of photos and the caption: “Our beautiful boy is here Denver Calloway Decker 8.7. 2/9/24 .” In one photo, Jessie, 35, and Eric, 36, embrace with Jessie in a hospital bed and Denver on her chest. The second picture shows Denver laying in mom’s lap.

Denver joins the couple’s two older sons, Eric Thomas, 8, and Forrest Bradley, 5. and daughter Vivianne Rose, 9. Jessie tied the knot with retired NFL player Eric in 2013, and announced she was expecting baby No. 4 in August 2023, showing off her baby bump as she was taking in the view from a balcony in California.

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