Did You Hear ... ? Taylor Swift goes to court, ‘Hamilton’ opens in L.A. and more from this week in entertainment
A pop star told a jury about her tush, a red-hot musical hit town, a country-pop icon passed away, a rocker eyed the Great White Way and a surprising celebrity split made people super sad. Here’s all that news and more from this week in entertainment.
Ms. Swift, can you please describe the alleged groping …
“It was a definite grab. A very long grab,” Taylor Swift testified this week in a $3-million civil case brought by a former DJ who says she got him fired by falsely accusing him of grabbing her butt during a meet-and-greet photo op. David Mueller admitted that he might have grabbed her ribs and speculated that his boss might have been the real offender. Of course, there had been a voir dire effort — can we call it a “background cheek”? — to keep Swifties and fired folks from getting on the jury. Then on Friday the judge tossed the charges against the singer. The trial continues next week, with the jury considering Swift’s countersuit, which seeks $1 in damages for alleged sexual assault.
L.A. freaks out more than a little bit over ‘Hamilton’
Time to quell that Left Coast jealousy: A touring production of “Hamilton” has finally made its way to L.A., and opened Friday at the Pantages, where it runs through Dec. 30. The show’s notorious pricey-ticket situation made the cross-country trip as well, though dreamers can enter a lottery for a chance to pay $10 for a ticket. Actually, a piece of “Hamilton” can be had in many ways. The production — which won over even The Times’ bandwagon-shunning theater critic — has been good to many from its original cast and crew, and now there’s even more spotlight to go around.
‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ Glen Campbell rides into the sunset
Campbell, who struggled publicly and poignantly with Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years that included farewell albums and an Oscar-nominated documentary tracking his goodbye tour, died Tuesday in Nashville at age 81. The country-pop musician’s passing sparked an outpouring of sentiment, including a new song from former flame Tanya Tucker and an appreciation from collaborator Jimmy Webb, who called the Rhinestone Cowboy “the American Beatle.”
Hotter than ‘Hamilton’? Maybe ‘Springsteen on Broadway’
Bruce Springsteen has confirmed rumors that he’ll make his Broadway debut. The deftly named “Springsteen on Broadway,” a series of solo shows including music and readings from his recent autobiography, will run in October and November in New York City. To look out for the little guy (who is willing to spend $75 to $850 to see the show), the Boss will sell ducats only to folks chosen randomly from among those who pre-register online for a shot at no more than two tickets apiece. Go pound sand, scalpers.
That time Chris Pratt and Anna Faris broke everyone’s heart
For many, this will go down as the week love died. Actors Pratt and Faris, beloved in some circles as Hollywood’s prime example of a just-regular-folks marriage, announced Sunday they were calling it quits eight years after saying “I do.” Amid calls on social media to put similarly sweet celebrity unions — think Teigen-Legend and Blunt-Krasinski — into marriage-protection programs, Kristen Bell, a.k.a. Mrs. Dax Shepard, pointed out a silver lining. Deep breaths, people. Deep, unselfish breaths. You know they’re actually hurting way more than we are.
Domestic Goods — and Bads: Newlyweds Carly Waddell and Evan Bass of “Bachelor in Paradise” are expecting a baby. … Amber Heard and Elon Musk’s love story has run out of fuel.
Trumped: The president said he wasn’t on vacation, but late-night TV hosts weren’t buying it. ... Seth Meyers broke down POTUS’ war of words with North Korea. … Anthony ‘the Mooch’ Scaramucci has decided to hit the talk-show circuit. … John Oliver called Trump aide Stephen Miller many nice names. OK, not really.
RIP: Barbara Cook, towering Broadway singer and actress, died at 89. … Haruo Nakajima, who played the original Godzilla in the 1954 film, died at 88.
New Trailers:
Bonus Links: From “Smokey and the Bandit” to “Logan Lucky,” Hollywood has had a complex relationship with America’s Southern Man. … How the evil doll in “Annabelle: Creation” helped unlock the “Conjuring” horror cinematic universe. … It should be interesting when conservative radio host Dennis Prager conducts the Santa Monica Symphony next week.
Did You Hear …? runs Saturday in Entertainment at latimes.com.
cdz@latimes.com
Twitter @TheCDZ
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