Category: Entertainment

Will Ferrell is closing out the holiday season in iconic form.

The actor and comedian was spotted at the Los Angeles Kings game Sunday night, sitting rinkside decked head to toe in full Elf gear, a callback to his wildly popular role as Buddy the elf — aka Buddy Hobbs, the goofy human who grew up as one of Santa’s elves — from the 2003 hit comedy movie.

Ferrell wore Buddy’s iconic green and yellow cap and green fur-trimmed coat to watch the NHL game with his wife and son at Crypto.com Arena.

He sported an uncharacteristic scowl, switching between a beverage and what appeared to be an un-lit prop cigarette throughout the game.

The LA Kings got in on the fun as well, celebrating the appearance of the legendary Christmas character by posting on social platform X, “BUDDY THE ELF IS OFFICIALLY IN #HOCKEYWOOD.”

The Kings went on to win the matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4.

Elf premiered in November 2003. It tells the story of Buddy the elf’s adventures around New York City as he tries to reconnect with his birth father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), after being raised at the North Pole by his adoptive father, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), and working in Santa Claus’ (Ed Asner) workshop.

According to The Numbers, a film industry data website, Elf raked in $227,909,435 at the worldwide box office.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Gal Gadot is opening up about a scary medical condition she faced midpregnancy this year.

The Wonder Woman actress shared in an Instagram post Sunday that she had been diagnosed with “a massive blood clot” in her brain eight months into her most recent pregnancy.

Gadot wrote in the caption that 2024 had been a year “of profound challenges and deep reflections.” She added that along with raising awareness and supporting others facing similar conditions, detailing her experience was her way of “pulling back the curtain on the fragile reality behind the curated moments we share on social media.”

Gadot went on to explain the diagnosis she received while pregnant with her daughter Ori, whose birth she announced in March 2024.

“In February, during my eighth month of pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in my brain,” she wrote. “For weeks, I had endured excruciating headaches that confined me to bed, until I finally underwent an MRI that revealed the terrifying truth. In one moment, my family and I were faced with how fragile life can be. It was a stark reminder of how quickly everything can change, and in the midst of a difficult year, all I wanted was to hold on and live.”

Gadot wrote that after the diagnosis, she rushed to the hospital and “underwent emergency surgery.”

“My daughter, Ori, was born during that moment of uncertainty and fear. Her name, meaning ‘my light,’ wasn’t chosen by chance. Before the surgery, I told Jaron that when our daughter arrived, she would be the light waiting for me at the end of this tunnel,” she wrote.

Gadot thanked the team of doctors for the care she received at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, writing, “Today, I am fully healed and filled with gratitude for the life I’ve been given back.”

The actress said the experience taught her “it’s vital to listen to our bodies and trust what it’s telling us.”

“Pain, discomfort, or even subtle changes often carry deeper meaning, and being attuned to your body can be life saving,” she wrote, sharing that while her condition, cerebral venous thrombosis, is “rare,” it is crucial to “identify early because it’s treatable.”

Gadot wrote in her post Sunday that she decided to share her experience “to empower” others.

“I had no idea that 3 in 100,000 pregnant women in the 30s+ age group are diagnosed with CVT (develop a blood clot in the brain),” she wrote. “[K]nowing it exists is the first step to addressing it.”

“If even one person feels compelled to take action for their health because of this story, it will have been worth sharing,” she wrote.

In addition to Ori, Gadot and her husband, Jaron Varsano, are parents to three other daughters, Alma, Maya and Daniella.

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Linda Lavin, the Tony Award-winning Broadway actress and star of the 1970s sitcom Alice, has died at age 87. She passed away unexpectedly Sunday due to complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her PR rep confirms.

Lavin had been working as recently as December — she was set to star in the upcoming Hulu series Mid-Century Modern. In her last public appearance, she walked the red carpet for the premiere of Netflix’s No Good Deed on Dec. 4.

Lavin began her Broadway career in the 1960s, securing her first Tony nomination in 1970 for the play Last of the Red Hot Lovers. She received a total of six Tony nominations in her career, winning in 1987 for the play Broadway Bound.

In 1976, she landed the title role in the CBS comedy series Alice, based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The show ran for nine seasons and earned Lavin an Emmy nomination.

Most recently, she had a guest starring role in CBS’ Elsbeth and a recurring role on Netflix’s No Good Deed.

Her film roles included Damn Yankees!, The Ring, The Intern and Being the Ricardos.

Lavin is survived by her husband of 19 years, Steve Bakunas.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Three luxury watches, including a Rolex worth about $9,000, that were stolen from actor Keanu Reeves‘ Los Angeles home have been discovered in Chile, police confirmed to ABC News.

Authorities in Chile said a man was arrested in Santiago on Saturday in connection with the robbery, and that his arrest was part of a larger, local operation.

The unnamed suspect is currently in custody, police said.

One of the three watches discovered was a Rolex Submariner that had the John Wick star’s name engraved on it.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed in Dec. 2023 to ABC News’ Los Angeles station that a group of burglars were at large after breaking into Reeves’ house in Hollywood Hills.

Investigators told ABC News that the Rolex recovered in Chile was taken during that 2023 break-in.

The break-in was reported by a caller who reported observing four suspects who were also recorded by a surveillance camera entering the home through a window at the rear of the hillside residence, an LAPD spokesperson said at the time.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Here’s a look back at those in the entertainment community we lost in 2024:

January
January 4 — Glynis Johns, Mary Poppins actress, 100
January 13 — Joyce Randolph, The Honeymooners actress, 99
January 20 — Norman Jewison, director of Moonstruck, 97
January 29 — Sandra Milo, 8½ actress, 90
January 29 — Hinton Battle, Tony winner, 67
January 30 — Chita Rivera, Tony winner, 91

February
February 1 — Mark Gustafson, co-director of Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio, 64
February 1 — Carl Weathers, Rocky actor, 76
February 5 — Toby Keith, country music singer, 62
February 27 — Richard Lewis, stand-up comedian, 76

March
March 15 — Joe Camp, Benji creator, 84
March 16 — David Seidler, Oscar-winning screenwriter, 86
March 21 — Ron Harper, Planet of the Apes actor, 91
March 30 — Chance Perdomo, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star, 27

April
April 5 — Cole Brings Plenty, Yellowstone actor, 27
April 10 — O.J. Simpson, football star and former murder suspect, 76
April 12 — Eleanor Coppola, wife of Francis Ford Coppola, 87
April 18 — Mandisa, American Idol contestant, 47

May
May 2 — Susan Buckner, Patty Simcox in Grease, 72
May 5 — Bernard Hill, played Captain Edward Smith in Titanic, 79
May 9 — Roger Corman, film director, 98
May 16 — Dabney Coleman, 9 to 5 actor, 92
May 23 — Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me documentarian, 53
May 25 — Richard M. Sherman, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” writer, 95

June
June 11 — Tony Mordente, West Side Story actor, 88
June 20 — Donald Sutherland, actor, 88

July
July 1 — Robert Towne, screenwriter, 89
July 11 — Shelley Duvall, The Shining actress, 75
July 12 — Dr. Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist, 96
July 13 — Shannen Doherty, Charmed actress, 53
July 13 — Richard Simmons, fitness instructor and TV personality, 76
July 18 — Bob Newhart, stand-up comedian and actor, 94

August
August 14 — Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence actress, 94
August 15 — Peter Marshall, Hollywood Squares host, 98
August 18 — Phil Donahue, talk show host, 88
August 21 — John Amos, Good Times actor, 84

September
September 9 — James Earl Jones, actor and EGOT winner, 93
September 26 — John Ashton, Beverly Hills Cop actor, 76
September 27 — Dame Maggie Smith, actress, 89
September 28 — Kris Kristofferson, singer and actor, 88
September 30 — Gavin Creel, Tony winner, 48
September 30 — Ken Page, voice of Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas, 70

October
October 16 — Liam Payne, One Direction member, 31
October 25 — David Harris, Cochise in The Warriors, 75
October 29 — Teri Garr, Tootsie actress, 79

November
November 2 — Jonathan Haze, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, 95
November 3 — Quincy Jones, legendary record producer, 91

December
December 2 — Kyle Birch, rising West End actor, 26
December 22 — Geoffrey Deuel, played Billy the Kid in Chisum, 81

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 narrowly edged out Mufasa: The Lion King for the #1 spot for the post-Christmas weekend box office title.

According to Box Office Mojo, the video game-inspired threequel earned $38 million over the weekend, a hair more than the $37.1 million brought in by the Disney prequel. Sonic 3 previously debuted at #1 with a $62 million week.

The horror film Nosferatu finished in third place with $21.15 million in its first week. Wicked and Moana 2 earned fourth and fifth place with $19.45 million and $18.2 million, respectively.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $38 million
2. Mufasa: The Lion King – $37.1 million
3. Nosferatu – $21.15 million
4. Wicked – $19.45 million
5. Moana 2 – $18.2 million
6. A Complete Unknown – $11.6 million
7. Babygirl – $4.39 million
8. Gladiator II – $4.15 million
9. Homestead – $3.19 million
10. The Fire Inside – $2.03 million

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Season 2 of Apple TV+’s Shrinking is now over, after airing its finale on Wednesday. The season saw the addition of Damon Wayans Jr. to the cast as Derrick, a friend of Ted McGinley‘s Derek and the new love interest of Gaby, played by Jessica Williams. Every character was Team Derrick, obsessed with his looks and often calling him the best-looking man they’d ever seen.

“I think they were doing it as a bit, but, you know, I’m thankful, I’ll take it,” Damon tells ABC Audio. “They had me in Sexiest Man Alive with the New Girl guys. So I’m like, ‘What’s happening?’ But I’ll take it.”

While many boosted his character’s confidence on the show, Derrick found himself at a standstill with Gaby, who struggled with committing to their relationship given all she was dealing with in life, including having to be her mother’s primary caretaker. Though he gives her the space she needs to get everything settled, Damon says he’s not sure what the future holds for Derrick and Gaby.

“I feel like Derrick, when he looks at Gaby, he’s like, ‘This is it. … This is the woman that I would marry. This is white picket fence. This is the two kids. … [But] she’s not reciprocating [in a way that] he’d feel safe pursuing that,” Damon explains. “And so I think that he enjoys being around Gaby so much that he also be willing to just be friends with her. … The ball’s in Gaby’s court, whatever Gaby wants to do. That’s what’s going to happen,” he continues. “And he’s going to … like her, love her regardless.” 

With that storyline up in the air, will Derrick return for season 3? Damon says, “I would love to be a part of season 3,” but the decision’s up to “the big boys”: Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel.

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Sometimes cultural trends swoop in and pass us faster than one can fall out of a coconut tree. That’s why we’re going over the memes, viral moments and trend-setting sensations that dominated the cultural landscape of 2024:

-Our year started off strong with the disastrous Willy Wonka-themed immersive experience. The February event, which promised to magically portray the Roald Dahl tale, went viral for its uninspired decor and lame costuming, to put it mildly. Videos of its sad-looking Oompa Loompa and confusing ghost-like figure, called The Unknown, were inescapable.

-Who could forget the fully conscious baby who wanted to go to the Four Seasons Orlando? A TikTok that Stefanie O’Brien posted of her 13-month-old niece Kate Wise was viewed over 85 million times. In the clip, the child raises her hand and confidently answers, “Meeeeee!” when asked by her mother, “Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando?”

-Vice President Kamala Harris ran for president of the United States this year, and during her campaign a clip from one of her 2023 speeches took on a brand-new life. “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” Harris says in the clip. The now-iconic phrase was repeated and remixed all over the internet, particularly in a certain viral TikTok, which combined it with one of Charli XCX‘s Brat tracks.

-Thailand’s very own Moo Deng became the cute baby animal of the year after the pygmy hippopotamus fought back by biting her handlers and chomping on practically everything that came her way. She was so influential, in fact, she was parodied by Bowen Yang on Saturday Night Live.

-As for popular phrases, we all became “very demure, very mindful” after TikTok user Jools Lebron coined the saying. We also found ourselves “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” after an interview with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande during their Wicked press junket took the world by storm.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new glimpse at the highly anticipated Happy Gilmore 2 has arrived.

Adam Sandler stars as Happy Gilmore, the hockey player reinvented as a goofy golf star, in the first special teaser released by Netflix on Wednesday.

The short clip shows Gilmore stepping up to a tee box in a Boston Bruins hockey jersey, baggy Adidas sweatpants and winter boots before taking his classic, over-exaggerated swing at the ball. Next, Sandler is seen riding his club like a horse to the cheers of onlooking fans.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce also appears to deliver the quick line, “It’s great to see you back, Mr. Gilmore.”

Short glimpses of other cast members, including Bad Bunny and Modern Family alum Julie Bowen — Gilmore’s girlfriend in the original film — are followed by a final showdown between Gilmore and his arch nemesis, Shooter McGavin, reprised by Christopher McDonald.

The famous rivals face off against each other in a graveyard — maybe a visit to his old swing coach, played by the late Carl Weathers, or his celebrity pro-am partner Bob Barker? — before the teaser closes.

Sandler shared the clip on Instagram with the caption, “Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And Happy Gilmore to all!!!!!!”

Netflix announced in May that Sandler would reprise his role from the 1996 comedy. The sequel to the cult classic will hit Netflix in 2025.

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Dramatic comedies and crime thrillers dominated the TV landscape of 2024. This year the small screen took us everywhere from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to Regency era London. Here’s a look at the shows and limited series that defined 2024:

-Penelope and Colin finally got together in Bridgerton season 3. The third season of the Netflix series became the sixth most popular title of all time on the streamer.

-Speaking of Netflix shows, people couldn’t stop watching the limited series Fool Me Once. It racked up an impressive amount of views, becoming the eighth most popular title in the streamer’s history.

–Baby Reindeer also had quite a year. The Richard Gadd-created Netflix series took inspiration from the writer and actor’s real life, and came away with six Emmy awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for Gadd and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series for Jessica Gunning.

-The real winner at this year’s Emmy Awards was Shōgun. FX’s series based on the James Clavell novel about a power struggle in feudal Japan set a new record for the most Emmys won by a drama series during a single cycle. The show won 18 awards in all, including Outstanding Drama Series.

-Other big winners at the 76th Emmy Awards were Hacks, which won Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy for Jean Smart, and The Bear, which surpassed its own record for the most Emmys won by a comedy series in a single cycle with 11.

–Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV made quite a splash this year, enrapturing audiences with its look at the toxic culture behind iconic children’s shows of the ’90s and early 2000s. The docuseries became the most successful Max title ever reported on Nielsen’s Top 10 charts, surpassing The Last of Us.

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