Did You Hear ...? Comic-Con geeks out, Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington dies and more from the week in entertainment
A pop-culture convention takes over, a rock star dies, two producers ask that you give them a minute, a singer says he didn’t do it and a familiar face gets his job back. Here’s all that news and more from this week in entertainment.
At Comic-Con, nerdy is the point
San Diego Comic-Con International — where Hall H has become the most important room in Hollywood — began Wednesday, building on a legacy that started in 1970. While the star factor has nudged out at least one major comic-book publisher, some highlights from the convention hall floor are a Wonder Woman statue, Disney film scores on vinyl and a pineapple that’s not quite under the sea. Of course, the cosplay is delightful. Couldn’t make it to San Diego? Our reporters have you covered with continuous updates through Sunday.
Chester Bennington of Linkin Park died by hanging
Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, died by hanging this week at age 41 in what appears to have been a suicide. The frontman of the L.A. hard-rock band was close to Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who took his own life in May. Bennington’s body was found early Thursday, which would have been his buddy’s 53rd birthday. The same day, Cornell’s family announced a six-figure donation to a music therapy program, named in Cornell’s honor, that will help traumatized children. Bennington, meanwhile, was remembered as a voice of reassurance in the darkness and honored at Dodger Stadium.
‘Thrones’ creators get a slavery show; reaction is as expected
HBO announced its post-Westeros plans for “Game of Thrones” showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff: It’s “Confederate,” a show set in an alternate reality where the South seceded successfully, leading to modern-day institutionalized slavery below a “Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone.” So, yeah, after a wave of “What the what?”-style backlash over two white guys turning slavery into entertainment, the “GoT” duo and fellow exec producer-writers Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman, who are black, promised it won’t be like that at all.
Aaron Carter thinks Nick Carter is using him for publicity
Aaron Carter did not appreciate his Backstreet Boy brother Nick Carter’s public offer of help Sunday after the “I Want Candy” singer’s arrest on suspicion of DUI and drug possession, an arrest he blamed on his “celebrity” and some bad tire alignment. The younger Carter later swore that a DUI was impossible because he never drinks alcohol — well, other than the occasional sip of beer, as long as it’s not too hoppy — and dared folks to strap him up for a polygraph test.
Ryan Seacrest is about to get even busier
It was rumored, but now it’s official: Ryan Seacrest is back as host of “American Idol” as the singing competition is reborn on ABC, where he’s been co-hosting “Live” with Kelly Ripa for a few months now. The man who clearly can’t handle having free time called the déjà vu-style gig “an honor, if not a bit surreal.”
Domestic Goods — and Bads: Mindy Kaling is reportedly pregnant. … Jessica Alba and Cash Warren are expecting a third child. … Blac Chyna says she’s glad to finally be “relieved” of baby daddy Rob Kardashian. … Monica Lewinsky gives Jay-Z props for owning up to infidelity on his new album.
Trumped: Late-night host Samantha Bee poked holes in President Trump’s Voter Integrity Commission. … The ninth season of stop-motion sketch show “Robot Chicken” will involve the Donald, and apparently the puppet has noteworthy hands.
R.I.P.: Martin Landau, Oscar winner who starred in “Ed Wood,” “North by Northwest” and “Entourage,” died at 89. … George A. Romero, creator of “Night of the Living Dead,” died at 77. … Clancy Sigal, the Hollywood-blacklisted novelist who wrote “Going Away,” died at 90.
New Trailers:
Bonus Links: At FYF Fest and elsewhere, hip-hop embraces middle age. … The Getty acquires a “transformative” group of drawings, including a Michelangelo, plus a “Surprise.” … They’re black, funny and female — and working as actresses in Hollywood.
Did You Hear …? runs Saturday in Entertainment at latimes.com.
cdz@latimes.com
Twitter @TheCDZ
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