Denise Welch cuts off Janet as Covid jabs debate turns heated on Loose Women

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentOscar voters: If you still have films to watch before casting your Oscar ballot March 17-22, make sure one of them is writer-director Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers.” The film boasts two nominations: Lead actress Penélope Cruz and the music score of Alberto Iglesias, both incredibly good. Though some subtitled films may seem like homework, this one is a treat from start to finish.The work of the two nominees is closely connected.

Zack Sharf Jamie Lee Curtis forged a strong enough bond with LaKeith Stanfield during the making of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” that she personally contacted the actor last year when she heard from a mutual friend that he was thinking about sobriety. Stanfield revealed in a new interview with GQ magazine that he struggled with alcohol addiction, which resulted in crippling anxiety whenever he stopped drinking.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorChris Cuomo wants CNN parent WarnerMedia to keep paying him even though he no longer works there.The former CNN primetime anchor alleged in an arbitration filing Wednesday that his career has suffered damages in excess of $125 million, and suggested CNN had allowed several of his one-time colleagues to violate standards and practices in a bid to keep viewership. The anchor also said his firing by CNN late last year cost him nearly $15 million in salary that he would have earned if he had served out his last contract.In the filing, Cuomo’s attorneys argued that CNN favorites like Don Lemon and Jake Tapper, as well as analyst Jeffrey Toobin, had potentially violated the news outlet’s practices, but were not punished for doing so.  “As long as CNN’s ratings would not be hurt, [former CNN Worldwide President Jeff] Zucker and [former CNN Chief Marketing Officer Allison] Gollust were more than willing to overlook major transgressions by CNN personalities,” Cuomo’s filing alleges, “or even engage in blatant misconduct themselves.” CNN declined to comment.Cuomo and CNN parted ways last year after the anchor was caught up in the sexual-harassment scandal that engulfed his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterChildren’s and young adult literary juggernaut Judy Blume will be the subject of an untitled feature documentary from Amazon Prime Video and Imagine Documentaries, Variety has learned exclusively.Framed as a coming-of-age tale of Blume and the generations of readers who have sparked to her work, the film will cover 50 years and many of her bestselling titles including, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Blubber,” “Superfudge,” “Tiger Eyes,” “Wifey,” “Forever…,” “Summer Sisters” and more. It will also examine her impact on pop culture at large, and the occasional controversies over Blume’s frankness about puberty and sex.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAnchors like Don Lemon, Joy Reid and Sean Hannity have long looked at Nielsen ratings as one of the primary measures of their performance on air. Soon, they may have another.Magna, the large media-buying firm owned by Interpublic Group, has enlisted NewsGuard, a company that examines the veracity of news content and the ways in which it is produced, to grade news programing on TV for the parent company’s media clients, which include Johnson & Johnson, Grubhub and Merck, among others.

K.J. Yossman Kalu Ikeagwu and Marcy Dolapo Oni have been tapped to star in “It’s the Blackness,” the debut feature from actor turned director Hakeem Kae-Kazim.Ikeagwu (“30 Days”) and Oni (“Diary of a Lagos Girl”) will play Mr and Mrs Baba-Lola in the film.They are joined by Daniel Davids (“Meet the Adebanjos”), Matthew J.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterABC Signature has signed a two-year overall deal with Tony McNamara, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated writer who created Hulu’s “The Great” and penned films “The Favourite” and Disney’s “Cruella.”Under the pact, McNamara will develop and supervise projects for the Disney Television Studios-owned division.“Tony’s work on ‘The Great’ and ‘Cruella’ is sly, subversive and delicious, and we made it our mission to get this spectacular talent to our studio,” ABC Signature president Jonnie Davis said in a statement Wednesday. “Thankfully, he said ‘yes.’ We’re so excited to support him in whatever he wants to do next.”McNamara is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated series “The Great” on Hulu, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, which is based on his stage play.

Pablo Schreiber didn’t have a TV, let alone a video game system. So it wasn’t really until the 43-year-old actor was hired to star in “Halo” — Paramount Plus’ upcoming adaptation of Microsoft’s crown jewel Xbox franchise — that Schreiber sat down to play as the genetically engineered super soldier he’d been hired to embody: Petty Officer John-117, aka Master Chief.“I quickly realized just how new I was to this medium,” Schreiber tells Variety.

Wilson Chapman editorOn the heels of its Oscar nomination for best documentary, “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” will return to New York City’s Marcus Garvey Park this June.Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, a series of free performances and screenings in parks around the city, announced Wednesday that a free screening of “Summer of Soul” will open their 2022 season. The event will take place on June 17, two days before the national holiday Juneteenth.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households — a new attempt by the company to address illicit password-sharing.According to the Netflix terms of service, a customer’s account “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” Last year, the company ran a limited test prompting users to enter their account credentials, as a way to nudge freeloaders into paying for their own accounts.Now, in an upcoming test launching in three countries — Chile, Costa Rica and Peru — Netflix will let members who share their accounts with people outside their household to do so “easily and securely, while also paying a bit more,” according to Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix. The new options will roll out in the next few weeks in the three countries (and may or may not expand beyond those markets).

Bethesda Software has released a new video blog about the creation of Starfield, with game director Todd Howard saying it’s inspired by “older, hardcore RPGs”.Speaking about how a lot of the team behind Starfield have been making games for a long time now, Howard explained how it was “nice to go back to some things we didn’t do [on previous titles like] the backgrounds, the traits, defining your character, all those stats.”He went on to say that a lot of modern games have started incorporating those elements “and people are ready for something that does the things those older, hardcore RPGS that we used to make, did (but) in a new way.”In recent years, Howard has worked on Skyrim and Fallout 4.The video also sees the team talk factions, persuasion and the possibility of romance with repeated mentions about the importance of “immersion”.“It’s a level of immersion that we really focus on, you’re not just playing a game but really living in this world, in this universe,” said Istvan Pely, lead artist with design director Emil Pagliarulo describing Starfield as “a giant open world for the player to do what they want”.Lead quest designer Will Shen added: “You feel like you’ve had an impact on the world, you really feel like you’re there”.Pagliarulo said: “We don’t just make RPGs, we make simulations.” Later, he explained how Starfield will have ”romance, adventure, and mystery” alongside this other layer of “the cosmos, the universe and what is out there.”“At the end of it, we want the players to have told their own journey, but then look back at it. And we’re asking the big questions.

Little Britain is available to watch via BBC iPlayer again following a number of edits to “better reflect the cultural landscape” of today.Matt Lucas and David Walliams’ sketch show was removed from the streaming service in 2020 after facing criticism for a number of its recurring characters, particularly the use of blackface in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests. Netflix and BritBox also removed the programme from streaming.However, following a number of edits to the sketch show – including the removal of Black characters depicted by Lucas and Williams such as Desiree DeVere, “portly Thai bride” Ting Tong, and Pastor Jesse King – the series has returned to the BBC’s streaming service.Other Little Britain characters such as Vicky Pollard, Emily Howard and Lou and Andy remain in the edited episodes.A statement from the BBC said: “Little Britain has been made available to fans on BBC iPlayer following edits made to the series by Matt and David that better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape over the last 20 years since the show was first made.”In a joint statement on Twitter in June 2020, the pair said: “David and I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races.

Tom Morello has covered Tom Waits‘ 1999 track ‘Come On Up To The House’ – listen below.The Rage Against The Machine guitarist recorded a rendition of the song – the original of which appears on Waits’ 13th studio album, ‘Mule Variations’ – for the latest instalment in the Spotify Singles series.Morello enlisted X Ambassadors frontman Sam Harris to sing on the cover. Harris previously worked with the RATM star on the latter’s most recent solo album, ‘The Atlas Underground Flood’, which came out last December.The new Spotify Singles release also features a fresh take on the aforementioned record’s Ben Harper-featuring track, ‘Raising Hell’.

Denise Welch delighted her followers on social media on Wednesday, when she shared a snapshot that showed a small but significant role she’d played in a star-studded Hollywood series.MORE: Denise Welch supported by fans as she gives update following health struggleThe photo showed a scene from Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s Apple TV drama The Morning Show, where a bank of TVs in the background featured different programmes, including Loose Women – with a close-up of Denise’s face clearly visible!The actress and presenter captioned the picture: “When you casually discover that you’re in The Morning Show with @jenniferaniston @loosewomen.

Loose Women star Denise Welch married husband Lincoln Townley in 2013, and she had an incredible response on Friday as he celebrated some major news.INSIDE: Denise Welch's vibrant home is full of joyThe self-taught painter was celebrating the news that his artworks were now being sold through Sotheby's. Lincoln's art explores the "darker side" of someone's personality and he paints in an abstract style.In a heartfelt tribute, Denise shared a picture of her husband outside a Sotheby's store and penned: "From the day I met this man I knew he was special.

Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha has recreated Kim Kardashian’s already iconic all-black outfit for the Met Gala and the results are hilarious.The 56 year old star did an incredible job at copying US business mogul Kim with an outfit that would have cost a fraction of the price of the one worn at the swanky New York event. Sharing a picture of herself side by side with one of Kim’s red carpet paparazzi shots, Nadia had draped herself in all sorts of black fabric to get the look just right.

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Loose Women star Saira Khan reckons her future in daytime television is likely over, after she admitted she "tolerated" her Loose Women co-stars after she quit the ITV panel show.

CELEBRITY SAS: Who Dares Wins star Saira Khan has said she "tolerated" her Loose Women colleagues in another swipe at the show. The ex-panelist revealed she did not make friends with some of her co-stars - which included the likes of Stacey Solomon, Janet Street Porter, Nadia Sawalha, and Denise Welch.

Loose Women fans were baffled after The Saturdays songstress Frankie Bridge admitted she doesn’t wear slippers because she thinks she’s "too young for slippers" as the panel discuss the much-loved footwear on Friday.The 32-year-old admitted she tends to steer away from slippers and simply pops on a pair of fluffy socks when her feet get cold as she believes the fashionable footwear is meant for an older user.And the mum-of-two wasn’t alone as Katie Piper chimed in and admitted that when she was moving in with her partner for the first time, she waited a few months before she wore slippers in front of him.Viewers of the hit ITV daytime show, meanwhile, were left baffled - and soon took to Twitter to share their confusion over the hatred for

Loose Women star Denise Welch gave a proud update about her 83-year-old dad Vin on Thursday's show, admitting she thought she might "lose him" this year but celebrated his turn in recent weeks.Denise broke the news on the show earlier this year, when she revealed her father had fallen at home and was in hospital.The former Corrie actress has been sharing updates of his progress on Instagram, and recently posted a little video of her dancing with him.She shared: "The one thing that that choked me up is what I said to Lincoln and my sister when he was very sick.""My dad goes on holiday and loves to dance, he hates walking, but can dance with the women all night long," she joked affectionately before being serious again."I said, 'I'm never