Buzz Briefs: Kimmel, Silverman
Comedic Duo Jimmy Kimmel & Sarah Silverman Split
Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman have broken up, their publicists said Monday.
"Jimmy and Sarah have no further comment," Kimmel's spokesman Lewis Kay told The Associated Press, confirming the split that was first reported on Vanity Fair magazine's Web site.
Silverman's publicist, Amy Zvi, confirmed the breakup in an e-mail message to the AP. Zvi didn't immediately respond when asked for further details.
The pair dated for five years, and were one of Hollywood's funniest - and seemingly solid - couples.
Earlier this year, they took the Internet by storm with a mega-popular video duel. Silverman debuted a clip of her and Matt Damon singing about their fake love affair on Kimmel's ABC late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and Kimmel later responded with a star-studded video declaring a romance with Damon's best friend, Ben Affleck.
Silverman, 37, has made frequent appearances on the 39-year-old Kimmel's talk show. The comedian has starred in a feature-film length version of her one-woman show, "Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic," and fronted her own Comedy Central series, "The Sarah Silverman Program."
Whoopi Goldberg To Star In "Xanadu" On Broadway
Whoopi Goldberg is going back to Broadway.
Goldberg, a co-host on the ABC's "The View," announced on the air Monday that she will appear in the Tony-nominated roller-skating musical "Xanadu" as one of the show's evil sisters, Caliope.
Goldberg, 52, has previously been on Broadway with her own one-woman show as well as in revivals of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
She begins her six-week "Xanadu" run on July 29, taking over for actress Jackie Hoffman, who will return to the production on Sept. 9, said Karl Nilsson, spokesman for "The View."
The show - an unexpected critical favorite - was loosely adapted from the cult 1980s film starring Olivia Newton-John. It also features Kerry Butler, Cheyenne Jackson and Tony Roberts.
Larry King Tells All In Highly Anticipated New Book
Larry King is ready to tell his story.
"What Am I Doing Here?" will cover everything from the CNN host's childhood in Brooklyn to his multiple marriages. It will be published by Weinstein Books on Father's Day 2009.
"This book will be absolutely devoured by Larry King's millions of fans," Weinstein co-chair Harvey Weinstein said Monday in a statement. "He is a true media icon - one whose personal and professional journey to date is filled with delightfully evocative anecdotes and behind-the-scenes observations on some of our most important world figures."
According to Weinstein Books, the 74-year-old King also will offer "uncensored" opinions on the many world leaders he has interviewed, including the first and second President Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. King will even reveal whom he voted for in each election and which president he considers the worst.
The book will be co-authored by Esquire writer Cal Fussman.
SoBe Life Water Super Bowl Sequel Features Naomi Campbell
Model Naomi Campbell will shake it up with the dancing SoBe Life Water lizards again, but this time it will be to the classic hit, "Black Magic Woman."
Campbell will help kick off SoBe Life Water's Thrillicious movement, with a highly-anticipated follow-up to one of the Super Bowl's most popular ads.
The commercial will debut nationwide on July 15th and will introduce a trio of new SoBe Life Water flavors - Agave Lemonade, Yuzu Black Currant and Goji Melon.
The original Super Bowl spot, which included Campbell and the dancing SoBe Lizards jamming out to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was viewed online over 5 million times in just two weeks. The YouTube community made Thrillicious its most viewed Super Bowl spot, with more than 1 million views alone.
It's A Family Affair For Jon Heder's New Flick
Craig Zobel has been chosen to rewrite and direct the comedy "Loudermilk" for star Jon Heder (who was the dancing star of "Napoleon Dynamite") at Rogue Pictures. Heder, his identical twin brother Dan and their older brother Doug are producing through their Greasy Entertainment shingle, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"Loudermilk" centers on a Napoleon Dynamite-like oddball who becomes contaminated with a substance that gives him what might arguably be considered superpowers. "That blessing does not come without its consequences and costs," Doug Heder told The Hollywood Reporter.
"VH1 Rock Honors" Praises The Who
The Who was celebrated at a special concert by a few bands outside of their generation.
The legendary band was honored at the Saturday taping of the third annual "VH1 Rock Honors," which will air Thursday on the cable channel. Celebrity guests such as David Duchovny, Mila Kunis, Rainn Wilson and Adam Sandler introduced The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Incubus, Tenacious D and Pearl Jam, who covered songs from such Who albums as "Tommy," "The Who Sell Out" and "Quadrophenia."
Who guitarist Pete Townshend and lead singer Roger Daltrey closed the special concert at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion with a performance of some of the band's greatest hits. Original drummer Keith Moon died in London in 1978. Original bassist John Entwistle died in Las Vegas in 2002. Moon and Entwistle were remembered in pre-taped retrospectives during the over two-hour show.
"I have had a life of absolute privilege and wonder," Daltrey told AP Television News on the red carpet before the concert. "How could it ever be bittersweet? I miss old friends, but they are with me. When we start playing our music, John (Entwistle) and Keith (Moon) echo with us all the time, so it's kind of like they never left."
"The Office" funnyman Wilson, dressed as Elton John's character Local Lad from "Tommy," introduced The Flaming Lips, who performed a medley of songs from The Who's legendary 1969 rock opera. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne began the "Tommy" set inside of a giant plastic bubble that traveled over the first few rows of the audience.
"It's an honor to honor what I consider to be the greatest band of all time," actor and Tenacious D lead singer Jack Black told the crowd before acoustically performing "Squeeze Box" with musical partner Kyle Gass. "Wanna know why they were the greatest? Because they were the first ones to really rock hard."
Sean Penn introduced Pearl Jam, who were joined for "Love Reign O'er Me" with an orchestra and "The Real Me" with horn players. Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder and lead guitarist Mike McCready respectively paid homage to The Who's penchant for destroying instruments by throwing a microphone into the audience and a guitar up in the air.
"We know that we're all here tonight because The Who never did sell out, unlike certain music channels," Penn told the crowd.
The Who wowed the packed audience with such tunes as "Teenage Wasteland," "The Seeker," "My Generation," "Two Thousand Years," "Batman" and "Who Are You." Townshend stopped the band in the middle of performing "Won't Get Fooled Again" because of an issue with his speaker and later started the song over from the beginning. Daltrey and Townshend closed the show with "Tea and Theatre."
ABC, FX Get High Scores From Gay/Lesbian Alliance
The marriage between the gay characters Kevin and Scotty in the season finale of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" helped the network win the highest praise Sunday from an advocacy group that pushes for more visibility of such characters on television.
It was the first wedding of two gay or lesbian characters in a prime-time scripted series, said the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. ABC has had other historic moments, including introducing a gay character to "Soap" in 1977, having a gay teen in "My So-Called Life" and Ellen DeGeneres coming out on "Ellen" as well as in real life.
ABC ranked highest among the broadcast networks in hours where gay and lesbian characters were portrayed, with FX topping the 10 cable networks monitored, GLAAD said.
ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Corp. and FX by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
"We know that programming to lesbian and gay viewers is good business and these are two networks that realize the social and economic benefits of including images of our community in their programming," said Damon Romine, GLAAD's director of entertainment media.
FX was praised for "Nip/Tuck," which GLAAD said had one gay, lesbian or bisexual character in every episode. "Rescue Me" had a minor story line with a gay couple having a commitment ceremony and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" had a transgender character.
Fox, also owned by News Corp., and NBC both had "failing" grades from GLAAD. While GLAAD was pleased by the inclusion of gay characters on "House" and the games "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance," the group didn't like a "New Amsterdam" episode where two lesbian characters fell in love with a straight man.
GLAAD is pushing NBC to include more gay characters, particularly after the prominent lesbian doctor Kerry Weaver left "ER."