Ryan Seacrest talks resolutions, hosting ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’
Disney/Gizelle Hernandez
The clock is about to strike midnight on the last day of 2024. Helping to ring in the new year again is Ryan Seacrest, who hosts Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Tuesday night on ABC.
The host talked to ABC News about what he’s most looking forward to as he helps welcome in 2025.
“I’m excited to see how this show has grown,” Seacrest said. “When I started with Dick Clark, we did a big show. We do a massive, almost international show now. So that’s exciting.”
Seacrest has been a part of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve since 2006. He says he’s picked up some pointers over the years on how to be a great host for the program.
“Kind of shut up. Don’t say too much. You know, get out of the way,” Seacrest said. “The ball drops. It’s midnight. People just want to see and feel it. And they’re with the people that they love. There’s not much one can say, so get out of the way.”
As 2024 comes to a close, Seacrest says he has a resolution he wants to follow in 2025.
“Slowing down a little bit,” he said. “I’m always rushing to everything. I’m rushing through things, even meals. I’m like, ‘We got to go, let’s hurry.’ I just want to slow down, chew my food and swallow it. And experience it.”
Alanis Morissette, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Kesha, Lenny Kravitz, Reneé Rapp, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Teddy Swims, Tinashe, TLC and more will perform during Dick Clark’s New Years’s Rockin Eve, which airs at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.
Tom Holland is giving fans a major update on his forthcoming fourth Spider-Man film.
“All I can tell you is that it’s happening,” Holland said Wednesday on Good Morning America when asked about the latest news for his iconic web-slinging Marvel superhero while promoting his new nonalcoholic beer, Bero.
Holland said they’ve been working on the movie’s concept but now feel it’s “strong enough” to go ahead, revealing that shooting begins next summer.
“The idea is crazy,” he teased. “It’s a little different to anything we’ve done before, but I think the fans are gonna really respond to it.”
Holland also shared his reaction to the news that former Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. is making his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom, saying he’s “obviously delighted.”
The forthcoming Spider-Man 4 will be Holland’s first time back in his Spidey suit since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw him team up with former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Holland has played the character in several ensemble MCU films, first in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and most famously in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers Endgame.
His other solo outings include 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Blake Lively is taking legal action against her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, for alleged sexual harassment during the filming of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel.
This comes months after rumors of tension behind the scenes first surfaced.
In the complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department and obtained by ABC News, Lively claims Baldoni’s alleged behavior caused her “severe emotional distress.”
A representative for Lively said in a statement that “Blake was retaliated against because she raised concerns about sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior that she and other members of the cast and crew experienced on the set of the film.”
The complaint further alleges that a meeting was held to address Lively’s concerns, adding that it was attended by key stakeholders in the film and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds.
According to the complaint, Lively said she laid out specific demands at the meeting to ensure a safe and professional working environment, including “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake” and “no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Lively claims Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, then engaged in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation, according to the complaint. The complaint includes alleged texts from Baldoni’s publicist to a Wayfarer publicist, whom the complaint alleges said Baldoni “wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried,” and “We can’t write we will destroy her.”
In a message to his publicist, according to the complaint, Baldoni allegedly wrote, “We should have a plan for IF she does the same when [the] movie comes out. Plans make me feel more at ease.”
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News:
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman said. “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Freedman added, “Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met. It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address. The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity. What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
In the film, Lively plays a woman with a traumatic upbringing who enters into a relationship that turns abusive.
Baldoni previously told Good Morning America that Lively was an integral part of the film and that he partnered on the project with a foundation dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Paul Mescal is giving Saoirse Ronan all the praise.
Both actors appeared on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, where Mescal and fellow guest Eddie Redmayne made light of the idea of having to use a cellphone as a weapon.
The men joked, asking who would ever have the time to reach for their phone if attacked. Ronan interrupted them and said, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” Her response has since gone viral.
During an appearance on The Late Late Show, Mescal reflected on the moment.
“I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got because it’s a massively important,” Mescal said.
He then went on to praise Ronan.
“She’s quite often — more often than not — the most intelligent person in the room, and I think she was spot-on, hit the nail on the head,” Mescal said. “And it’s also good that messages like that are gaining traction. That’s the sort of conversation we should be having on a daily basis.”
