Today in Entertainment: Beyoncé and Jay Z appear to have named their twins; Comic-Con will stay in San Diego through 2021

(Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

Actor James Cromwell has been sentenced to a week in a New York jail in lieu of a fine for obstructing traffic during a 2015 sit-in protesting construction of a natural gas-fired power plant in New York state.

The “Babe” and “L.A. Confidential” star, a longtime activist, was arrested in Wawayanda, N.Y., on Dec. 18, 2015, with five others who dubbed themselves the “Wawayanda Six,” according to the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y.

After being found guilty of disorderly conduct earlier this year and each being fined $250 plus a $125 surcharge, half the members of the group paid up before the Thursday deadline while the other three — including Cromwell — refused, the Times Herald-Record reported.

On Thursday, the three who didn’t pay got seven days in jail, though their attorney requested time to appeal, and the judge suspended the sentences until July 15, the paper said.

The 77-year-old “Young Pope” actor made up his mind a while ago not to pay, telling the paper on June 7, “I will not pay this fine. I will go to jail, and I will appeal.”

The six were part of a larger group protesting the CPV power plant, which they believe will be harmful to the environment; CPV disagrees with those assertions.

“I’m not a scientist, I’m merely a concerned citizen,” Cromwell told People about two weeks before his arrest, after being ejected from a celebration of local businesses in upstate New York, which he interrupted when he reportedly stood up and spoke out loudly against the plant.

“I’m concerned about this community and concerned about maintaining the quality of life for everyone here and not just for those people who make a profit out of ripping things out of the ground,” he continued.

Construction has proceeded, and the plant is scheduled to go online in February 2018.

After three seasons, “The Carmichael Show” is ending its run.

The series, co-created and starring comedian Jerrod Carmichael, will air its series finale in August.

“For three seasons (okay 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was 13,” Carmichael said in a statement obtained by The Times. “Now, I’m excited to go make other things that I love. Thank you to every person who worked on or watched the Carmichael show.”

The NBC sitcom, which also starred Loretta Devine, David Alan Grier, and Amber Stevens West, is currently in its third season, where it’s been averaging 3.7 million viewers.

The series has drawn praise from critics for the way in which it tackles topical issues through the unfiltered conversations among family members. This season, the show aired an unedited episode with the N-word.

The show’s relatively small viewership had placed its fate into question before. Its third season renewal came at the 11th hour, after NBC had already unveiled its 2016-17 schedule. And considering that the show is not owned by NBC (it’s produced by 20th Century Fox Television), low ratings make a harder case for continuation.

A joint statement from 20th Century Fox Television presidents Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman praised the show’s socially conscious approach.

“It’s a rarity that a comedy series tackles the social and political issues of the day in such a clever and hilariously funny way. This show was special, and we will miss it.”

That unabashed approach sometimes fueled Carmichael’s tension with NBC. Recently, he spoke out about the network’s decision to pull an episode about a mass shooting that was slated to air the day of the congressional baseball practice shooting that left multiple people injured.

In a joint statement, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt and NBC entertainment president, Jennifer Salke, thanked Carmichael for the show’s run.

“We are enormously proud of The Carmichael Show and Jerrod’s talent and vision to do a classic family sitcom that also taps into issues and relevant stories from the real world.”

(Jeff Daly / Associated Press)

Beyoncé and Jay Z appear to have named their twins — or at least the company that trademarked Blue Ivy Carter’s name has applied to trademark “Rumi Carter” and “Sir Carter,” so that’s a pretty big clue.

The applications were filed Monday on behalf of BGK Trademark Holdings and, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database, are still being reviewed. They seek to identify Rumi Carter and Sir Carter in connection with a host of items including recordings of musical performances, books, flags, sports gear, clothing, hair accessories, beauty products such as cosmetics and fragrances, entertainment services and, of course, baby products.

Plus key chains and mugs. Never forget the key chains and mugs.

Maybe-Rumi and Maybe-Sir were born in mid-June, maybe on the 17th.

Beyoncé and Jay Z — the latter of whom dropped a revealing new album at midnight Friday — applied to trademark their first child’s name in early 2012, shortly after Blue Ivy was born. However, later that year they wound up splitting rights with a Boston wedding planner who had been using the name for her business since 2009.

TMZ first reported the news about the potential baby names.

Philip Brown (dressed as “Aladdin” villain Jafar) rides the escalator inside the San Diego Convention Center at Comic-Con 2016.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

Despite much speculation and worry about the future location of Comic-Con International — the comic book, television, movie and pop culture extravaganza — the convention will remain in San Diego for at least four more years, it was announced Friday.

As the popularity of the cosplayers’ paradise expands, so do the crowds. Last year the event, which kicked off in 1970 San Diego with 145 guests, attracted more than 135,000 attendees.

The spectacular growth rate has elicited interest from other cities looking to cash in on the lucrative possibility of hosting the five-day affair. (Both Los Angeles and Anaheim were courting the relocation at one time.)

And with the 2018 end date of Comic-Con’s agreement to stay in San Diego looming, fans were eager to find out where the nerve center of all things nerd media would be moving to.

But for now, the (near) future of geek culture has been settled. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced that Comic-Con will remain in the city it originated in through 2021.

“San Diegans can be excited to know that Comic-Con will continue to pump millions of dollars into our economy to support local jobs, street repair and neighborhood services,” Faulconer said in a press release Friday. “It is more important than ever that we continue to push to expand the convention center so we can ensure Comic-Con and other large conventions continue to stay in San Diego for years to come.”

Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer mentioned the lengthy discussions that led to the agreement.

“While it did take more than a year in negotiations, we are pleased with this outcome,” said Glanzer in the same release. “We are grateful for the leadership of Mayor Faulconer and the hard work of those at the San Diego Tourism Authority who were instrumental in securing this agreement.”

The Times will have full coverage of the 2017 convention leading up to its July 19 kickoff.

A new slate of artists has been added to KCON, the K-Pop (otherwise known as Korean pop) and South Korean culture expo in Los Angeles.

Cosmic Girls, Heize and Seventeen will join an already-packed lineup from across the K-Pop world. They join mainstays Vixx, Astro, Girls’ Day, NCT 127 and SF9.

Cosmic Girls is a Korean-Chinese mixed group that released its debut full-length album this month. Heize is a South Korean rapper with a pair of promising mini-albums to her name. Seventeen is a boy band whose EP “Carat” made major waves stateside, followed by well-received EPs and a full-length album, “Love & Letter.”

The concert takes place Aug. 18-20 at Staples Center and draws close to 120,000 fans.

It’s “Feud: Olivia and FX.”

On the eve of her 101st birthday, two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland has announced she is suing FX and producer Ryan Murphy over the unauthorized use of her identity in “Feud: Bette and Joan,” according to a statement released Friday morning.

The miniseries about the longtime rivalry between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford featured Catherine Zeta-Jones as de Havilland — the “Gone With the Wind” star who was a confidant of Davis’ and a commentator throughout the eight-episode show.

De Havilland, who resides in France and turns 101 on Saturday, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against FX Networks, LLC and Ryan Murphy Productions “based on the unauthorized commercial use of Dame Olivia’s name and identity in the FX hit series,” according to her attorneys, Suzelle M. Smith and Don Howarth of Howarth & Smith, noting that all the other real-life players who are featured in the series are dead.

Speaking on a panel at the Television Critics Assn.’s winter press tour, Zeta-Jones was asked whether she had ever met de Havilland.

“No, I didn’t, unfortunately. I was going to try and get to see her. I was in the south of France this last summer. Then, unfortunately, there was the horrible tragedy that happened there in Nice, so I didn’t get the chance to,” Zeta-Jones said in January.

“Miss de Havilland was not asked by FX for permission to use her name and identity and was not compensated for such use,” her attorneys said in a statement to The Times. “Further, the FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself.”

The suit accuses FX and its partners of appropriating de Havilland’s name and identity and placing her in “a false light to sensationalize the series and to promote their own businesses” while ignoring her interests entirely.

(Damon Winter / Los Angeles Times)

“A living celebrity has the right to protect her name and identity from unauthorized, false, commercial exploitation under both common law and the specific ‘right to publicity’ statute in California,” Smith said, asserting that, “FX was wrong to ignore Miss de Havilland and proceed without her permission for its own profit.”

Her team plans to file a motion seeking an expedited trial date because of de Havilland’s age.

De Havilland is no stranger to legal proceedings. In 1943, she filed a landmark lawsuit against Warner Bros. that resulted in the collapse of the binding long-term contract system and put the de Havilland Law on the books.

FX declined to comment on the lawsuit and Murphy’s team did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday.

Update, 11:45 a.m.: This story has been updated to include FX’s response.

“Hawaii Five-0” is losing two of its main players.

Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park will not be returning for the eighth season of the CBS procedural.

The network did not reveal what led to their exits but said fans will get an update on the characters in the Sept. 29 season premiere.

“Daniel has been an instrumental part of the success of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ over the past 7 seasons and it has personally been a privilege to know him,” executive producer Peter Lenkov said in a statement. “Grace’s presence gave ‘Hawaii Five-0’ a beauty and serenity to each episode. She was the consummate collaborator, helping build her character from day 1. They will always be ohana to us, we will miss them and we wish them both all the best.”

Kim and Park have been with the reboot since its inception, playing cousins Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua, respectively.

While actor departures are nothing new to television, the exits of Kim and Park has an added layer of significance given the criticism of CBS in recent years for its poor showing of diversity in starring roles across its prime-time lineup.

Pop diva Mariah Carey was supposed to make a cameo in Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler’s new comedy “The House,” but it never happened and it seems that Carey’s comportment was to blame.

According to the comedian, a star and producer on the film, Carey showed up four hours late to start shooting, and when she arrived, she had a few notes for the writers.

“Well, one script note was like, ‘I don’t want to do this scene,’ even though it was totally approved ahead of time,” Ferrell told “Watch What Happens Live!” host Andy Cohen on Thursday night.

In the film, Ferrell and Poehler play a couple who lose their daughter’s college fund and launch an illegal gambling operation in their basement. It’s unclear what Carey’s role would have been, but from the sound of it, she was supposed to play herself.

She was also supposed to sing one of her songs but changed her mind about it midstream “and it became quite a kerfuffle,” Ferrell added because they had already cleared the first song for use.

The “Vision of Love” singer also demanded that stuffed lambs be placed in her trailer, so she could give them to her fans, which she calls “Lambies.”

After several hours on set and quite the rigmarole, Carey’s guest appearance was nixed.

“I don’t remember [how long it took to determine] because at 11 p.m. there was a knock on my trailer door and they said, ‘You can go home,” Ferrell said. “I got in my car and left everyone on set and [the scene] didn’t happen.”

They have apologized, but Kylie and Kendall Jenner are still feeling the heat from the Internet firestorm they sparked after the release of their controversial line of vintage T-shirts.

The apparel in question, since pulled from the Jenners’ Kendall + Kylie online store, featured images of the young women overlaid on classic music T-shirts. The upcycled clothing included shirts showing Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Tupac Shakur and more — and were selling for $125 apiece.

Though the Jenners issued an apology Thursday afternoon stating they didn’t mean to be disrespectful, criticism continued to pour in from music fans and notably from family members of the artists in question.

Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, wife and daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, respectively, both weighed in on the debacle, with Sharon advising Kylie and Kendall to “stick to what you know ... lip gloss” and Kelly going a more obscene route.

Though her father’s image wasn’t included among the repurposed shirts, Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael Jackson, emphasized how music legends should be respected, not defaced. She arguably summed up the controversy best with the hashtag #bandsnotbrands.

But for all the criticisms, the Jenners should perhaps be most troubled by the complaints of Voletta Wallace, mother of the late Notorious B.I.G.

Wallace posted to Instagram on Thursday about how her son’s estate was never contacted and had not authorized the use of Biggie’s likeness.

Even though the shirts are no longer for sale, the Wallace estate told People, “While we appreciate that the Jenners have made an apology and pulled the unlawful and unauthorized items, this matter has yet to be resolved,” perhaps raising the specter that the estate will take legal action.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

“The Big Bang Theory’s” Johnny Galecki had much love for the firefighters who snuffed out the blaze that destroyed his Santa Margarita home.

The TV star, who plays Dr. Leonard Hofstadter on the CBS sitcom, returned to San Luis Obispo County where his sprawling getaway once stood and shared an image of himself hugging a firefighter, thanking him for his service.

“Thank you to the brothers and sisters of @calfire It is the profound risks that you accept and the sacrifices you and your families make that keep us safe,” Galecki wrote on Instagram. “Thanks also to the many of you who have reached out in support. It is far from lost on us here. #muchlove #movingforwardstronger”

Galecki, 42, was not home when the Hill fire engulfed the hideaway on Monday.

“My heart goes out to all in the area who are also experiencing loss from this vicious fire, the threat of which we live with constantly, which may seem crazy to some but we do so because living in our beautiful, rural area makes it worthwhile,” the “Roseanne” alum said in a statement to TMZ.

“It’s never the structures that create a community — it’s the people. And if the people of Santa Margarita have taught me anything, it’s that, once the smoke has cleared, literally and figuratively, it’s a time to reach out and rebuild. We’ve done it before, and will need to do it together again, and it will make our community even closer and stronger.”

The blaze, one of many burning in Southern California, is 95% contained, and crews continued work on containment and hot spots Friday, Cal Fire SLO said. Four homes, including Galecki’s, were burned in the wildfire, which ignited around 3:30 p.m. Monday and consumed nearly 1,600 acres.

While the rest of the media were obsessing over the president’s Twitter attack on “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, on Thursday’s “Late Night” Seth Meyers decided to focus on policy. In his latest “A Closer Look” segment, he argued that Trump barely understands the widely disliked healthcare bill he’s attempting to push through Congress.

The host suggested that Trump, who held a re-election fundraiser this week in Washington, “loves running for president, but he hates being president,” a job that’s difficult and relatively tedious compared to the campaign trail.

As evidence, Meyers pointed to Trump’s reported lack of interest in or understanding of the embattled Republican healthcare bill, which failed to move forward for a Senate vote this week following a damaging assessment from the Congressional Budget Office.

Calling it “one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in history,” Meyers noted that its 12% support in one recent survey was like an iPhone running low on battery in a horror movie. “It’s going to hit zero, and everyone is going to die.”

Meyers blamed some of the bill’s unpopularity on Trump, who in his estimation “has never been able to articulate a convincing case for it” and speaks about it in “the vaguest terms possible.”

The comedian likened Trump’s comments on Wednesday (he promised “a great, great form of healthcare” that will “take care of people finally for the right reasons and also at the right cost”) to a high school student who not only hadn’t read the assigned book — but didn’t even have the book or know how to read.

Citing news reports about Trump’s allegedly tenuous grasp on the details of the bill, Meyers compared the president’s attempt to negotiate complex legislation to “playing ‘Call of Duty’ with your grandmother.”

Meyers was a bit more confident, describing the GOP healthcare bill as “cruel and vicious, which shouldn’t be surprising because it’s coming from a president who’s cruel and vicious.”

And yes, Meyers did eventually get around to Trump’s latest shocking comment regarding women and blood — a bizarre and widely condemned tweet in which he claimed “low I.Q. crazy Mika” was “bleeding badly” from a face-lift during a visit to Mar-a-Lago around New Year’s Eve.

Meyers joked that perhaps the president had gone off his meds. How else to explain Twitter tirades that have “gone from confusing to ‘Mommy, why is the man on the subway yelling so loud and where are his underpants?’”

(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fantasia is in control, and finally happy: ‘I’m the definition of strength’

(Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

Good news, Annie Lennox! An L.A. radio station suspects you might have “potential”!

“I think I’m in with a chance ??!!!,” the four-time Grammy Award winner and 15-time nominee said Thursday on Facebook, where she posted a letter she’d received from a new music coordinator at a station claiming “over 100,000 unique listeners each month.”

“I came across your music on line and really like what I heard!,” said the coordinator, who signed her name only as Kylie.

“I find artists who I think have potential and get them in rotation on our station,” Kylie told the singer, who in the U.S. has had a gold and two double-platinum albums in the U.S. as a solo artist and three gold and three platinum albums, and one double-platinum album, as a member of Eurythmics.

“If you’d like, please send over the MP3 for your latest single. I’ll forward it to Glenn our program director here at [redacted] to see if he’s interested in putting it in rotation.”

Maybe Lennox could submit a Eurythmics single, like “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” which went gold in the U.S., hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Or the more obscure “Would I Lie to You?,” which only charted in the top five.

For obvious reasons, however, we’re pulling for “Who’s That Girl?”

In comments on Facebook, one person speculated that the station involved was online KMIX Radio Los Angeles, whose program director is named Glenn Eisner. Also, though the station’s call sign is redacted in Lennox’s post, the last letter appears to be an X.

Eisner did not reply immediately to an email from the Los Angeles Times requesting comment.

Lennox, of course, isn’t the first established artist to be sought out by someone looking for a fresh sound: In 2014, Americana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell tweeted part of a letter inviting him to audition for NBC’s “The Voice.”

Perhaps that was an understandable error, given that Isbell had released only seven albums by the time 2014 rolled around. And he didn’t win his two Grammys until 2016.

OK, perhaps not so understandable.

Actress, comedian and talk show host Whoopi Goldberg

((Jennifer S. Altman / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

One day after announcing its largest-ever class of new members, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the results of its latest round of elections for the organization’s board of governors.

Whoopi Goldberg, director Kimberly Peirce, screenwriter Larry Karaszewski and Participant Media CEO David Linde were among those newly elected to the 54-member board, joining existing members including Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Laura Dern and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.

The academy’s board meets several times a year to approve new members, consider Oscars rule changes and help plan the annual Academy Awards telecast, among other responsibilities.

In addition to continuing to advance the academy’s ongoing diversity push, the board will play an important role in overseeing the building of the long-delayed Academy Museum expected to open in 2019 and later this summer will select a new president to succeed Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is nearing the end of her final term.

A full list of current board members can be found here.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

He lives in exile far from the revolution and time that made him famous.

Out near La Brea, drizzle blows through jacaranda, a gardener hurries past a pool. Bassem Youssef sips coffee, craving a mango from Egypt, his homeland, where from a laundry room in his apartment he started a political satire show that captured the passion of the 2011 uprising and turned him into one of the most influential voices in the Middle East.

That’s over, at least for a while. Death threats and pressure from the military-backed government of President Abdel Fattah Sisi forced him to flee Cairo. Now, at 43, Youssef, a former heart surgeon, is taking acting classes, arranging meetings with agents and producers, working on his elocution, writing scripts and seeking reinvention in a new city that is at once fantastical and cruel.

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Stylish business moguls Kylie and Kendall Jenner have issued a mea culpa regarding their ill-conceived line of vintage music T-shirts.

The daughters of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner and gold-medal Olympian Caitlyn Jenner debuted the T-shirts in their Kendall + Kylie online store Wednesday featuring graphics of the Jenner sisters stamped onto iconic music-related images.

But by late Thursday morning, as a backlash was brewing, the vintage shirts were removed from the site and tweets made by Kendall and Kylie were deleted.

Thursday afternoon, both Jenners tweeted a message apologizing for repurposing the images of artists for their own brand.

“These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologize to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists. We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in any way. The tee shirts have been pulled from retail and all images have been removed. We will use this as an opportunity to learn from these mistakes and again, we are very sorry,” both Kendall and Kylie tweeted.

Further, the Kendall + Kylie brand itself issued its own apology Thursday, echoing the sentiments of its namesakes.

“The Kendall + Kylie brand apologizes for any insensitivity. When deciding to work with one-of-a-kind repurposed vintage tees, it was not the brand’s intent to offend anyone. These designs were randomly selected and not well thought out. The brand would like to apologize, especially to the artists that have been featured in the series. We did not mean to disrespect these icons and understand that we missed the mark completely. The designs have been removed. We sincerely apologize to the artists, their families and estates and anyone who may have been offended,” the company’s statement read.

As disconcerting as it was to see a Kendall Jenner selfie emblazoned over the art for Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” it was nothing compared with the bikini shot of Kylie Jenner plastered over a Tupac memorial T-shirt.

Not everyone was eager to open their pocketbooks for the Jenners, though.

Voletta Wallace, mother of slain rapper Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, stated on Instagram Thursday morning that Biggie’s estate had not authorized the use of his likeness on the pricey T-shirts.

“The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me,” Wallace said in her post. “I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my Son Christopher to sell a t-shirt.”

Inexplicable branding and confusing copyright issues aside, perhaps the most offensive part of the Jenners’ newest fashion foray? The costs.

These old, remade (ruined?) T-shirts were selling at a hefty $125 a pop, roughly $124 more than you’re likely to find the originals at a Goodwill.

Even worse, they appeared to be selling really well. Before disappearing from the site, vintage shirts featuring Metallica, Pink Floyd and the Doors were running low.

Update, 3:08 p.m.: This story was updated with statements from both Kylie and Kendall Jenner, as well as the Kendall + Kylie brand.

Update, 12:10 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Voletta Wallace and news that the Jenners have removed the shirts from their website. Story was originally published at 10:29 a.m.

Netflix released a new trailer for the upcoming movie “Death Note” on Thursday.

An adaptation of the popular Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the film stars Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley and Lakeith Stanfield and features Willem Dafoe as the voice of its iconic villain, Ryuk. Directed by Adam Wingard, who also made “The Guest,” “Blair Witch” and the upcoming “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the movie will released on August 25.

In the story, Light Turner (Wolff) is a high school student who discovers a notebook with the power to kill those whose names are written in it. Though he attempts to use the book for what he believes to be good — “It’s not going to solve a few crimes,” he says in the trailer, “it’s going to solve all crime” — things quickly spiral out of control, putting him in a cat-and-mouse chase with the mysterious detective known as L (Stanfield).

When an earlier teaser was released in March, it garnered immediate pushback online for relocating the action from Tokyo to Seattle and showing little material with Stanfield or anyone from the cast who was not white.

That teaser came out amidst a media storm around issues of whitewashing, most specifically in the recent big-budget movie adaptation of “Ghost in the Shell,” and received much of the same criticism. Whether it was done in response to such criticisms, the new trailer features more footage of Stanfield and Paul Nakauchi, both actors of color.

“Death Note” producer Roy Lee has been involved with many projects that remade Asian movies by relocating the action stateside, most famously with the “Ring” movies.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Lee noted that he had never before received such a response to one of his adaptations, adding, “People can criticize it, but I’d say that they should see the movie first. … Then they could accuse us of not having a diverse enough cast.”

(Jordan Strauss / Associated Press)

Looks as if Corinne Olympios is done with “Bachelor in Paradise”: Done with investigating it, done with being a victim of it, done with being on it.

Also, done talking about it.

“My team’s investigation into this matter has now been completed to my satisfaction,” she said Thursday in a statement to The Times via her rep, referring to a drunken, sexually charged incident involving her and fellow contestant DeMario Jackson on the first day of “Paradise” taping in Mexico.

“My intent over the past few weeks has been to learn and understand what happened on June 4,” Olympios explained, reiterating that she hadn’t made any complaints or accusations about the production-stopping incident or anyone associated with it.

After Warner Bros. announced June 20 that its internal investigation found no misconduct, despite complaints reportedly lodged by a couple of “Bachelor in Paradise” producers, Olympios’ attorney promised to continue an inquiry on her behalf with the help of “multiple new witnesses.”

Olympios also revisited her June 14 comments about being “a victim” experiencing her “worst nightmare.”

“I felt victimized by the fact that others were judging me through conflicting and unsubstantiated reports, while I myself had no recollection of the events that transpired,” she said in her statement.

Olympios’ assertion that she was a victim came shortly after Jackson issued a statement that threatened legal action and said his character had been “assassinated ... with false claims and malicious accusations.”

Earlier this week, Jackson sat down with E! News to give his take on what happened June 4, which he described as “probably one of the wildest nights” of his life. “The human race failed the hell out of me,” he said about the aftermath, in which he was accused of sexual activity without consent.

On Thursday, after Olympios’ statement came out, Jackson tweeted a quote from “The Godfather”:

The line in the movie before that one? “I challenge this committee to produce any witness or evidence against me.”

According to a People source, producers had paired Jackson and Olympios for a “villains” story line, in which he was the one who “turns good.” He told E! News that he “got played.”

Now that “Bachelor in Paradise” production has resumed, don’t expect to see Olympios poolside — or anywhere else at Playa Escondida.

“While I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have been a participant on ‘The Bachelor,’ and while I was invited to return to ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ when production resumed, I respectfully made the decision not to return,” she said Thursday.

She also noted that she’s “happy” about changes made to the show ahead of its reboot. New procedures reportedly include a drinks-per-hour speed limit (complete with snacks), a tighter drug policy and — color this awkward — a rule about contestants getting producer approval in advance of any sexual behavior.

That said, Olympios is aiming to take herself out of the conversation moving forward. “I think it is best,” she said, “if I keep any further thoughts private for now.”

Agent Dana Scully has something to say about “The X-Files” and its all-male writing staff: She, too, can’t wait until things are different.

Gillian Anderson, who portrays Scully on the beloved TV show, responded to reports that the writers room for the next season is comprised solely of men by shining light on an additional statistic. She pointed out Thursday on Twitter that only two episodes of “The X-Files” have been directed by women. Ever.

Anderson herself is one of these women. She wrote and directed the seventh-season episode “all things.” The only other woman to direct an episode of the show is Michelle MacLaren (of “Breaking Bad” and more), who made her directorial debut on the Season 9 episode “John Doe.”

Anderson has not shied away from calling out the truth when it comes to the sci-fi show’s missteps with regard to women. The actress, who won an Emmy for her role as Scully, revealed that she initially was offered only half the salary of co-star David Duchovny to reprise her role in the revival.

“Especially in this climate of women talking about the reality of [unequal pay] in this business, I think it’s important that it gets heard and voiced,” Anderson told the Daily Beast last year.

This is not the first year that “The X-Files” writing staff includes only men. All episodes of the show’s 10th season are credited to male writers (although the season finale gives story credits to Anne Simon and Margaret Fearon).

The 10-episode Season 11 of “The X-Files” is slated to air in 2018.

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for fans of Netflix’s sci-fi show “Sense8” after the streaming network canceled the series on June 1 and then reiterated the cancellation a week later.

The show’s small but passionate fan base was vocal in its unhappiness about the network’s decision, launching petitions and online movements in protest.

But fans learned Thursday there could be a happy ending after all, as Netflix posted a video on Twitter announcing a two-hour finale for the series.

Netflix also shared a letter from “Sense8” co-creator Lana Wachowski, who credited the existence of a final episode to the passion and tenaciousness of the show’s fans.

“In this world it is easy to believe that you cannot make a difference; that when a government or an institution or corporation makes a decision, there is something irrevocable about the decision; that love is always less important than the bottom line,” Wachowski said in her statement.

“But here is a gift from the fans of this show that I will carry forever in my heart: while it is often true those decisions are irreversible, it is not always true.”

The series, helmed by Wachowski and her sister Lily, followed a group of eight individuals who share a psychic connection and form a cluster of sensates who support one another with love and acceptance.

So what did Netflix have to say about granting the series, which filmed on four continents and cost a purported $9 million per episode, a two-hour finale?

“After seeing that the cancelation was a total cluster, we decided to give ‘Sense8’ fans the ending they totally deserve,” a spokesperson for Netflix told The Times.

It’s a good time for classic rap groups making urgent statements about contemporary politics. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Public Enemy has returned with a new, free record celebrating its 30th year as a group.

The group released “Nothing Is Quick in the Desert” on Thursday morning as a free download on its Bandcamp page. The record is Public Enemy’s first since 2015’s “Man Plans God Laughs.”

Public Enemy hasn’t sat out the turbulent last two years in America, though. Chuck D and DJ Lord joined with most of Rage Against the Machine and Cypress Hill as the supergroup Prophets of Rage, which toured during the election season.

You can hear (and download and stream) “Nothing Is Quick in the Desert” here:

Melanie Griffith will seduce audiences as Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate,” Laguna Playhouse announced Thursday.

The Academy Award-nominated actress will take on the role in October as part of the company’s 2017-18 season. The play adaptation by Terry Johnson is based on the novel by Charles Webb and the screenplay by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham. The 1967 film starring Dustin Hoffman, with Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, won director Mike Nichols an Oscar.

Griffith most recently starred in the independent feature “Day Out of Days” directed by Zoe Cassavetes. Griffith made her Broadway debut in 2003 as Roxie Hart in “Chicago.”

“The Graduate” will run Oct. 4-22 at Laguna Playhouse. Single tickets are $40 to $85, available through the box office at (949) 497-2787 or online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were targeted in Twitter attacks by President Trump.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

An unamused MSNBC released an official statement Thursday morning in response to Trump’s “petty personal attacks” on “Morning Joe” co-hosts (and real-life couple) Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough.

Trump tweeted early Thursday: “I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!”

“Morning Joe” became a trending topic on Twitter almost instantaneously, with Trump’s comments inciting outraged celebrities who feel like enough is enough.

Teigen’s husband, John Legend, also weighed in, frankly noting the kind of leader America has elected. He also lobbed a zinger at First Lady Melania Trump’s waned intentions to combat cyberbullying:

“Fake news” has become an inescapable catchphrase in 2017, evolving from falsehoods posted on fringe sites and Facebook to just about any report that doesn’t conform to the White House’s narrative. On Wednesday night, Seth Meyers unpacked another example.

Noting the doctored Time magazine cover featuring Donald Trump that the Washington Post reported hangs in several of the president’s private golf clubs, Meyers called this “the literal definition of fake news.”

“This would be the saddest thing I’ve ever heard if it wasn’t the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” the “Late Night” host continued.

Meyers went on to describe the president’s response -- a tweet threatening Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos’ other company, Amazon, with an “Internet tax” -- a threat that Meyers noted would have a lot more teeth if such a thing existed.

“The only thing we have that’s close to an Internet tax is the fact when you use the Internet, you have to read Donald Trump’s tweets -- that’s the tax,” Meyers joked.

You can watch the segment in the clip above.

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Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale star in Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.”

Welcome to the jungle, kids.

Four detention-bound teenagers are thrust into a mysterious game in the first “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” trailer, literally forced into the bodies of their avatars — played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Jack Black.

“I think we got sucked into Jumanji and we’ve become the avatars that we chose,” Johnson’s geeky Spencer observes after they land in the jungle with new identities.

Instead of a board game, however, the Sony-Columbia reboot features Jumanji as a retro video game console. Judging from the trailer, unlike its 1995 predecessor, the film appears to lean quite heavily on comedy in addition to action and adventure.

The once-scrawny Spencer finds himself as a buff world explorer, though he realizes he doesn’t have his allergy medication in the pollen-filled overgrowth. Gillan’s Martha points out that there’s no reason her character should be “wearing half a shirt and short shorts in the jungle,” and Hart’s “Fridge,” a rude jock, deals with missing “the top two feet” of his body.

And particularly humorous is Black, whose teenage counterpart is a pretty, blond popular girl forced into the body of “an overweight, middle-aged man” who “just can’t even with this place.”

The foursome discover that “you don’t just play Jumanji — Jumanji plays you,” according to the synopsis. “They’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, or they’ll be stuck in the game forever.”

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” which also stars Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale, hits theaters Dec. 20.

MSNBC has called out President Trump after his Thursday morning tweets in which he attacked “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

“It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job,” an MSNBC spokesperson said in a statement to The Times on Thursday.

The president’s early-morning tweets called Scarborough “Psycho Joe” and Brzezinski “Low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and alleged that the pair had invited themselves to Mar-a-Lago, a private club in Florida owned by Trump and dubbed the “Winter White House,” over New Year’s.

Most shocking of all, Trump went on to accuse Brzezinski of “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”

Mark Kornblau, senior vice president of communications for NBCUniversal, tweeted his own thoughts on the matter. “Never imagined a day when I would think to myself, ‘it is beneath my dignity to respond to the President of the United States,’” he wrote Thursday morning.

The president’s disparaging comments on Brzezinski’s appearance recall his GOP debate run-in with Megyn Kelly, after which he said, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

Read MoreALSO

Seth Meyers on President Trump’s phony Time cover: ‘The literal definition of fake news’

Conservative activists step up attack on CNN

Three CNN journalists resign over retracted Trump-Russia story

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Lively Latina Is Making A Name For Herself -- Her Own

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“My Little Pony” trailer

Like “The Lego Movie” before it, “My Little Pony: The Movie” represents a landmark in a brand’s evolution from children’s toy to big-screen star.

However, though Lego and My Little Pony toys both have TV credits and hard-core adult fans in addition to kids, even under pressure Princess Twilight Sparkle is a bit less surly than, say, Lego Batman.

Friendship, flowers, ponies — you know the drill.

A trailer for the animated pony movie offers up Liev Schreiber and Emily Blunt voicing baddies the Storm King and Tempest Shadow, who descend upon Equestria and demand its residents’ total surrender. Of course, the gang isn’t going to give up without a fight -- albeit a fight that has more than its fair share of incredibly bright colors.

Other big names getting their brony on for the feature include Zoe Saldana as Captain Celaeno, Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Skystar, Uzo Aduba as Queen Novo, Sia as Songbird Serenade, Michael Peña as Grubber and Taye Diggs as reformed con artist Capper.

Ashleigh Ball, Tabitha St. Germain, Andrea Libman, Tara Strong, Cathy Weseluck and Nicole Oliver from the TV series are voicing Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Princess Celestia, respectively.

“My Little Pony: The Movie” is scheduled to hit theaters Oct. 6.

(Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Jason Statham are parents to a baby son, the new mom announced Wednesday on Instagram.

Jack Oscar Statham was born Saturday and clocked in at 8.8 pounds, according to Huntington-Whitely, who shared a black-and-white photo of the infant’s hand grasping what we presume are her beautifully manicured fingers.

“Our little man arrived!” Huntington-Whitely wrote.

The former Victoria’s Secret Angel, 30, and the “Expendables” actor, 49, started dating after meeting on the set of “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon” in 2010. They got engaged over the holidays in 2015 but haven’t married yet.

Conveniently, Statham might be uniquely equipped as a helpful dad, if his work in “The Fast and the Furious” is any indication. The actor reminded us of his babysitting skills Monday when he posted an uncut version of that movie’s baby-fight scene on Facebook, with a shorter version — see it below — on Instagram.

Hey, Mama Rosie, looks as if you have the all-clear for a moms’ night out whenever you need one ...

Joe Mantegna may be best known as an actor, most recently starring as FBI special agent David Rossi on the CBS crime drama “Criminal Minds.”

But he’s no stranger to the stage, having won a Tony Award in 1984 for David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Now, he’s taking on the role of director with the new play “I Am Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce,” which opened last weekend at Theatre 68 in North Hollywood and runs through July 29.

The play chronicles the life and times of the legendarily incendiary performer. Ronnie Marmo plays the title role.

Mantegna, a native Chicagoan, took a moment to answer a few questions for our regular rapid-fire survey.

Read More

Dawn Hudson arrives on the red carpet for the 89th Oscars on Feb. 26 in Hollywood.

(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)

The motion picture academy announced its largest class on Wednesday, topping its ground-breaking move in 2016 that at the time set a record when the institution invited 683 new members. That was a historic leap from the 322 invitations that went out in 2015.

Earlier this month, Josh Rottenberg interviewed academy CEO Dawn Hudson about a range of issues, from this year’s Oscars envelope snafu to construction delays on the academy’s movie museum. Here, Hudson discusses with Rottenberg how membership quotas previously hindered its diversity goals.

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Last year, the academy took in its largest, most diverse class of new members ever. As the academy works toward doubling the number of women and minorities in its ranks by 2020, with the deep inequities that exist in the industry, do you feel certain you can meet that goal without changing the standards for academy membership?

There are so many artists who were not admitted in the past because we had a limit on how many new members we invited each year. So with the elimination of those [quotas] and the aggressive pursuit of excellence by all of our members, I think we will be able to expand in a more inclusive way for several years.

But the academy is not letting it go at that. We’re expanding our internship programs and our initiatives to identify young, upcoming artists and mentor them and give them opportunities to grow. And we have also focused our grants program, our Student Academy Awards, our Nicholl Fellowship [in screenwriting] — we have a lot of programs that help to support young artists, and those are more robust and popular than ever.

That commitment [to diversity] has not waned and will not wane for many years to come. Because I don’t see this industry getting a lot more diverse or having more gender parity any time real soon. So this work will be ongoing for the academy. And I know that it has inspired others to follow suit.

READ the full interview >

A prop Oscar backstage at rehearsals for the 88th Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre.

( (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times))

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday its 2017 list of invitees to membership. Tallying 774 people, it’s the largest class to date, a move that leaves April Reign, creator of #OscarsSoWhite, “encouraged.”

“The opening of the academy to those who may not have been previously nominated or winners but are clearly deserving based on their body of work in film is gratifying,” Reign told the Los Angeles Times. “There are names on the list that many may feel should’ve been on the list before.”

Some of the new invitees include Janelle Monae (“Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures”), Leslie Jones (“Ghostbusters), Riz Ahmed (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) and Johnnie To (“Election”). In total, the new class comes from 57 countries and is 30% people of color and 39% female.

Here is Reign’s full statement to The Times:

“I am encouraged by this year’s class of invites. The opening of the academy to those who may not have been previously nominated or winners but are clearly deserving based on their body of work in film is gratifying. There are names on the list that many may feel should’ve been on the list before. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs pledged to double the number of people of color and women by 2020. With this new and largest class ever, she is one step forward. I hope that the new incoming president continues what she has started and that we see an even more diverse class next year.

“Lastly, even with the 2017 Oscar wins and new Academy invitee class, #OscarsSoWhite is still just as relevant today as it was when it began in 2015. So, I will continue to push for more inclusion in entertainment, both of actors and actresses as well as those behind the camera, on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, ability, race and age. The American public, as moviegoers, deserve to be able to see themselves on the screen, not just during awards season but throughout the year.”

Oscar statues backstage at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016.

(Christopher Polk / Getty Images)

Hollywood’s most exclusive club is rolling out the red carpet to 774 industry professionals – including such boldfaced names as Kristen Stewart, Gal Gadot, John Cho, Chris Pratt, Elle Fanning and Jordan Peele – in its latest and most dramatic step to diversify its overwhelmingly white and male membership.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its newest class of members on Wednesday, the second such round of invitees since the nearly 90-year-old institution launched an initiative to double the number of women and minorities in its ranks in response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.

Last year’s class of 683 members set a record at the time as the biggest and most diverse in the organization’s history, and many industry observers were looking at this year’s announcement as a sign of whether the academy can sustain the momentum of its diversity push.

Women make up 39% of the newest class