Oscars 2021: Fans furious as Naya Rivera, Jessica Walter and more are SNUBBED from annual In Memoriam segment

Netflix’s record-breaking series Squid Game will hit a pair of movie theaters in Los Angeles and New York later this month as the streamer ramps up its awards campaigning for the Korean series.

Fox is developing a pitch black comedy about a meteorologist whose life unspools after a freak injury at work.

Yara Shahidi (Black-ish, Grown-ish) has signed on to exec produce and star in Amazon Studios’ rom-com Sitting in Bars with Cake, Deadline has confirmed. The feature, based on the blog and book of the same name by Audrey Shulman, will be directed by Pitch Perfect 3‘s Trish Sie.

California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a significant preview of the state’s plan to loosen Covid-19 restrictions next week. Calling it an “endemic plan,” indicated it will take the state into the era when it simply lives with the disease, instead of the pandemic strategy that’s been deployed to date.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a busy fall in both the film and TV worlds, Adrien Brody is looking to stay busy as he set to join Apple Original Films’ Ghosted, starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Dexter Fletcher is directing. 

Today. “Because it really shaped me into the individual that I am.

XTR, the global nonfiction entertainment studio behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “Ascension,” has hired Abazar Khayami as head of studio. Khayami, who previously served as head of content at NTWRK, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead XTR’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, XTR co-founder and head of film.

Luke Bryan enjoys a close and often hilarious relationship with his American Idol co-judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.MORE: Luke Bryan's five children and their mothers – and the heartfelt story behind his family unitIn a new interview with Good Morning America, the country superstar opened up about his relationship with Katy in the run-up to her Las Vegas residency and how that extended to her fiancé Orlando Bloom.WATCH: Chayce Beckham wins American Idol 2021"Anything Katy does, she sends stuff to create more anxiety," he said to the amusement of GMA hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, who could be heard laughing in the background."She's like 'Wow. Big stage, be ready','Wow, get ready for the dry air of Las Vegas', I'm like 'Katy!'" he joked.MORE: Katy Perry reveals wedding news after claims she secretly wed Orlando BloomHowever, he revealed that there was nothing but love between the two, perhaps veering on being closer than you'd expect when Orlando comes into the mix."Me and her, even as years have gone, we have an even more fun friendship and a great working relationship," he gushed about the Firework singer.A post shared by Good Morning America (@goodmorningamerica)Luke joked about Katy being "jealous" of his relationship with Orlando BloomHe then added: "She's really a little jealous because she believes Orlando kind of…might have a little man crush on me. "Because Orlando came to Nashville and I had all these outdoor activities planned for him.

Nadya Suleman, a.k.a. “Octomom,” celebrated her octuplets’ 13th birthday this week. The proud mom took her eight youngest children — Nariyah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Noah, Josiah, Jonah, and Makai — to a bowling alley, and then to a park, in Laguna Niguel, California to celebrate them reaching the milestone birthday. Photos, which can be seen HERE, show Nadya and the octuplets gathered together and smiling while holding bowling balls at the first celebratory event. The eight kids are truly so grown up — it’s crazy that they are now teenagers!

Better Things,” its original comedy series created by, executive produced by and starring Pamela Adlon.Adlon stars as Sam, a working actress raising three daughters in Los Angeles attempting to navigate her life and find fulfillment. Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood and Olivia Edward portray Sam’s daughter, who are each struggling to come of age, while Celia Imrie portrays Sam’s mother, who deals with increasingly difficult mental and physical health issues. Adlon heavily based the series on her own experiences as an actor raising three daughters.The trailer for the new season sees Sam working on a new movie, giving a presentation to an elementary school class and arguing with her daughters.

Miles Davis for a year in 1968, died today (February 9) of natural causes, close friend Danielle Maggio confirmed to Rolling Stone.Davis’ self-titled debut album arrived in 1973, which she then followed up the following year with ‘They Say I’m Different’. Her third and final studio album, ‘Nasty Gal’, was released in 1975.Though not commercially successful at their time of release, Davis’ music has gone on to be hugely influential in funk circles in the decades to follow.Born Betty Mabry, she appeared on the cover of Miles Davis’ 1968 album ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’, and was the inspiration behind his song ‘Mademoiselle Mabry’.“RIP Betty Davis, the original (and only) nasty gal, famed for being one of music’s greatest muses, but more importantly, one of the funkiest to ever do it,” journalist and author Jeff Weiss wrote in tribute to Davis.“Her first 3 solo records are sleazy, soulful and raw.

Spotify streams of Little Simz‘ music have soared over 350 per cent following her appearance at this year’s BRIT Awards.The rapper, who released her last album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, back in September, won the award for Best New Artist at last night’s (February 8) ceremony at London’s The O2. She also performed a medley of her tracks ‘Introvert’ and ‘Woman’.Her massive night has since prompted a huge spike in Spotify streams in comparison to other BRITs winners including Adele, Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Sam Fender.There was a 812 per cent increase in streams of ‘Introvert’ and a 594 per cent spike for ‘Woman’, equating to a 365 per cent jump overall.Elsewhere, Adele, who took home three BRITs last night (Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year), saw a 137 per cent increase in Spotify streams following the awards, while Dave’s streams went up by 217 per cent. Fender’s music saw a 79 per cent jump.“As ever, the BRITs showed the incredible breadth of talent being fostered here in the UK, across every genre of music,” Tom Connaughton, managing director of Spotify UK and Ireland, said in a statement (via Rolling Stone UK).

Families of the 22 who died in the Manchester Arena bombing have reacted with anger and dismay after a second act of vandalism at a memorial for their lost loved ones.

Former Manchester City and England striker Trevor Sinclair has compared Manchester United youngster James Garner with club icon David Beckham.

A taxi driver was taken to hospital with a head injury after he was attacked in a back street in Cheetham Hill on Tuesday evening.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorHollywood is about to stampede into Middle Earth. An array of movie, merchandising, gaming and live event rights to “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and other titles from author J.R.R. Tolkien are coming up for auction now that the Saul Zaentz Co.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorLifetime’s newest reality show, “Leave It To Geege,” sees Geege Taylor, a single mom and breast cancer survivor, on a mission to help other people on their journey of raising an autistic child.The show debuted on Lifetime in January and from Feb. 10 will be transitioning from linear to digital, starting with a two-episode drop followed by weekly episodes rolling out on mylifetime.com, the Lifetime app and VOD.Taylor, whose 19-year-old son Pootie was diagnosed with autism as a young child, says she had first wanted to open her doors to TV cameras over seven years ago.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteve Yockey, the creator and co-showrunner of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” has developed a new dark comedy series that has gotten a script to series order at Fox.The single-camera project is titled “Cindy Snow.” The series follows the title character, who is the most popular local meteorologist in Savannah, GA. But behind the cameras, she’s — not nice. When a freak head injury at work triggers surreal glimpses of the future, Cindy’s life quickly unspools.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Prince estate moves forward after years of confusion following the singer’s 2016 death, the six heirs are divided into two camps: the three siblings who sold their interests to Primary Wave, and the three who have retained their holdings.With the value of the estate recently determined at $156.4 million, the two parties are now establishing a structure for how to work together. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Minnesota judge decided against Primary Wave’s proposal to create a single holding company.

Naya Rivera and Jessica Walter were notably missing from the in memoriam portion of the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, a snub that angered fans of the beloved late actresses. Angela Bassettintroduced the segment — which was under scrutiny in general for its hurried pace — noting it was to celebrate “the artists who gave us permission to dream, the technical pioneers and innovators who expanded our experience of movie love.” Rivera was perhaps best known for her work on Glee, but the actress also had film roles, including inMad FamiliesandAt the Devil’s Door.Rivera died July 8, 2020,atLake Piru, nearSanta Clarita, California.

The Oscars had everyone talking on Sunday night, but not always in a good way.

The 93rd Academy Awards are facing backlash after omitting some key names in entertainment from its "In Memoriam" segment on Sunday.  As with most awards shows, the Oscars took a break from issuing trophies to this year’s biggest stars and creatives in film to honor those who died since last year’s show. While key names such as Christopher Plummer, Sean Connery and 2021 Oscar nominee Chadwick Boseman were included, many took to Twitter to note that Jessica Walter and Naya Rivera were unceremoniously omitted from the list.  Rivera died in July at age 33 in an accidental drowning incident while boating with her young son.

The Oscars paid tribute to those lost over the past year, but not everyone was happy with the manner in which they did so.

Jessica Walter, Naya Rivera and Adam Schlesinger were not included in the “in memoriam” segment. Airing as part of Sunday (25 April) night’s awards ceremony, the annual commemoration of those lost from the world of film included stars such as Cicely Tyson and Sean Connery.

The Oscars 2021 was celebrated on many levels . However, it also received flak from netizens as the 'In Memoriam' segment left out a few well known artists.

Several stars were noticeably left out of the In Memoriam segment at the 2021 Academy Awards.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWith a longer Oscar season than ever before, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences had even more people to remember in the annual In Memoriam segment. But inevitably, there are complaints on social media that some people were omitted.