Tyler Perry Is Killing Off His Madea Character Once And For All
The entertainment mogul’s feisty granny character has made him a fortune.
Madea’s days are numbered.
Tyler Perry said he’s retiring his mischievous grandma character after a final film appearance and stage tour.
“This is it,” Perry told SiriusXM radio host Bevy Smith on Monday in the clip below. “It’s time for me to kill that old bitch. I’m tired!”
Perry said his geriatric alter-ego will hit the big screen one last time in “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral” in March 2019. He’ll also play her on a farewell stage tour.
“We’re gonna say goodbye in ’19,” Perry said. “I just don’t want to be her age playing her.”
Perry likely won’t be forgetting Madea’s largesse. Eight films in the Madea franchise have grossed an overall total of $502 million worldwide at the box office, not to mention the revenue from three other films in which Perry appeared as her.
“She’s been very good to me,” Perry told The Advocate last year. “I love the joy that she brings to people. I love to see them laughing and smiling.”
Anybody feeling sad about the goodbye? Well….
Netflix’s ‘Dogs’: All About This Endearing New Docu-series
Animal lovers, brace yourself. Netflix’s Dogs might just be the thing to break your heart — or make it three-times bigger (Grinch-style).
Just yesterday Netflix dropped the first trailer for a beautiful new docu-series called Dogs. Now, it’s basically exactly what its cutely terse title sounds like; it is a show all about the powerful bond between man and canine. However, the trailer teases that Dogs might be something more than your typical adorable YouTube playlist. Netflix’s new series is going to be a six-part docu-series that will span the globe to tell extraordinary stories about the friendship between people and their beloved dogs.
The Dogs trailer introduces us to a Syrian refugee skyping with his pooch, Zeus, who is still stuck in the war-torn country. The man explains to the audience that he’s going to work to get Zeus out. Elsewhere, an Italian man introduces his Golden Retriever Ice as an integral member of his family — so much so that Ice has to be shushed at the dinner table because he’s “talking” over someone else. The trailer also shows us families hoping to pair their disabled daughter with a service dog who can become her best friend and one Japanese woman who considers her pet dog her “daughter.”
Dogs has an all-star line-up of directors including Amy Berg, Roger Ross Williams, Heidi Ewing, Richard Hankin, and T.J. Martin & Daniel Lindsay. The series was developed by Glen Zipper, who serves as co-executive producer with Amy Berg.
Dogs debuts on Netflix on November 16.
Article via Decider
Ava DuVernay is making a Prince documentary for Netflix
Apple Music also reportedly has a project around Prince’s legendary 1983 Minneapolis concert.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay will produce a multi-part Prince documentary with Netflix, Deadline reports. The project is being done with the full cooperation of the Prince estate, which has granted the producers access to interviews, archival footage, photos and other materials. “Prince was a genius and a joy and a jolt to the senses,” DuVernay told Deadline. “The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care. I’m honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate.”
DuVernay earned Oscar and Global Globe nominations for Selma and helmed the Netflix documentary 13th on mass incarceration and race in the United States. She’s also working on a five-part series on the Central Park Five for Netflix. Despite the mess that was Prince’s estate after his death, the Purple One himself might have approved of her involvement. Shortly before passing away, he reportedly reached out to DuVernay about working together, according to Deadline.
Article via Engadget
Uhhh, Meghan Markle’s Friend Claims She Forced Her Ex-Husband to Sign a “Pregnancy Contract”
One of Meghan Markle’s old “friends” has once again emerged to spill details on her life pre-royal family, and the newest claim—which we should all take with a thousands grains of salt—is that Meghan forced her ex-husband Trevor Engelson to sign a “pregnancy contract.”
What is a pregnancy contract, you ask? Well, according to Meghan’s former friend, the then-television star wanted to ensure that her husband would pay for a personal trainer and nutritionist throughout the duration of her pregnancy.
“It came up at a time when they were considering having a family, at some point in the near future,” the friend tells Daily Mail, adding that Meghan “wanted to make sure she would be camera-ready very quickly” and that “she demanded a personal trainer and nutritionist during and after the pregnancy.”
According to this person who’s clearly not at all bitter about not getting a wedding invite, Trevor ended up signing without lawyers involved: “She says she got him to sign something, maybe just a handwritten letter that she could hang over his head.”
No words, just: Sure Jan
Article via Cosmopolitan
In a first, same-sex couple carries the same baby
DALLAS — A same-sex couple in North Texas both wanted to carry their baby. They were able to through a special type of in vitro fertilization, CBS DFW reports.
Now, Ashleigh and Bliss Coulter call 5-month-old Stetson their miracle baby. “The way that Mr. Stetson came into this world was pretty special,” Ashleigh said.
Ashleigh and Bliss knew they wanted kids when they married. They both carried their son through what’s called “Effortless IVF.”
“We gave it a try and it was very, very successful,” Bliss said.
“This represents the first time that two women have both physically carried their child together,” said fertility specialist Dr. Kathy Doody of The Center for Assisted Reproduction.
Kathy and her husband, Dr. Kevin Doody, made it happen using Bliss’ eggs and sperm from a donor.
“She was so confident when she was saying that they can do it,” Ashleigh said. “I think that was surprising to us but also exciting.”
Through Effortless IVF, instead of placing the sperm and eggs into incubators, they go into an INVOcell. The device is then placed in the body for five days where the egg fertilizes and early embryo development begins.
In the Coulters’ case, after five days, Bliss had the INVOcell removed. The embryos were frozen and then one was transferred to Ashleigh. She carried their baby to term.
“This is a revolutionary type of IVF,” Kevin said. “It’s more accessible, it’s more affordable and it’s truly more natural.”
He said it’s received mixed feelings from the medical community.
“I think many have been excited about the thought, but Kevin is correct. Doctors in general, we don’t like change, so I think that their ability to share their story is phenomenal,” Kathy said.
Ashleigh and Bliss said they feel blessed to be able to share the experience together, and more children are in their future.
“You know your whole life changes obviously with anybody when they have a baby so leaning on your partner I think is really, really important and I definitely think it brought us closer together,” Ashleigh said.
Even though the Coulters were the Doodys first same-sex couple to go through Effortless IVF, they’ve performed the process for around 200 heterosexual couples.
They said the process typically costs about half as much as traditional IVF.
Hilary Duff Gives Birth to Baby Girl With Boyfriend Matthew Koma
Congratulations to Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma!
The 30-year-old actress gave birth to a baby girl, Banks Violet Bair, on Thursday, Oct. 25. Koma and Duff both announced the happy news on their Instagram accounts on Monday.
“This little bit has fully stolen our hearts!” Duff captioned a pic of the pair holding their new bundle of joy, huge smiles on both of their faces. “She joined our world at home on Thursday afternoon and is absolute magic ✨.”
“We welcome a beautiful daughter, little sister, and best friend for life,” Koma captioned his pic as a newly-minted proud papa. “Could not possibly be more grateful for our growing family and for the ? who makes it all possible. Cloud ten.”
Duff is already a mom to her 6-year-old son, Luca, with ex-husband Mike Comrie. She announced she and 31-year-old Koma — who recently sparked engagement rumors — were expecting a baby girl in June.
“Guess what guys! @matthewkoma and I made a little princess of our own and we couldn’t be more excited!!!!!!” Duff Instagrammed alongside a picture of Koma sweetly kissing her on the cheek.
Koma, a record producer and songwriter, was also over the moon with the news, writing, “We made a baby girl! She will be as beautiful and sweet as her mother… @hilaryduff another incredible chapter begins.”
Article via AOL
Coca-Cola cannabis-infused drink? CEO addresses rumors
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey on Tuesday dismissed rumors that the beverage giant is mulling an entrance into the legal cannabis industry, even as other beverage brands have explored cannabidiol (CBD)-infused drinks.
“We don’t have any plans at this stage to get into the space,” Quincey told analysts during an earnings call. “So that’s kind of where we are.”
Demand for products containing CBD, a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, has grown in recent years amid pushes in various jurisdictions to legalize pot. CBD product sales are expected to surpass $1 billion in 2018, according to the Hemp Business Journal.
Bloomberg reported last September that Coca-Cola was in talks with Aurora Cannabis, a Canada-based marijuana company, to develop a CBD-infused beverage. At the time, Coca-Cola said it was “closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverage around the world,” but said “no decisions” were made on whether to partner with Aurora.
Constellation Brands, the parent company of Corona beer, invested an additional $3.8 billion in Canopy Growth, another Canada-based pot manufacturer, while Molson Coors Brewing is developing cannabis-infused drinks in the country, Bloomberg reported. Canada legalized pot on the national level earlier this month.
Coca-Cola has sought to diversify its product offerings in recent months in order to boost sales. The company took a major stake in premium sports drink brand BodyArmor last August and agreed to buy U.K.-based Costa Coffee days later.
Coca-Cola topped quarterly sales and earnings estimates in its report on Tuesday, fueled in part by a turnaround in diet beverage sales.
Article via FoxBusiness
Should there be an age limit for Halloween trick-or-treating?
We’ve probably all been within earshot of this question on Halloween night: Someone handing out candy to a porch full of costumed kids hesitates when a particularly tall one steps forward: “Aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating?”
Is there an age that is considered too old to trick-or-treat? Or should any school-age kid who gets dressed up and walks the neighborhoods be able to participate?
It’s a dilemma that’s being bandied about on social media as the holiday approaches.
Some are saying trick-or-treating should be cut off at middle school. (Ouch. That’s harsh! Some of those kids are only 11.)
A larger contingent seems to be pushing for a wider acceptance of any school-age kid in search of candy. They’re saying kids should be able to be kids on Halloween night – and people should not be asking if they are old enough to have a driver’s license.
What do you think? Should there be a cut-off point for tweens and teens?
Take the poll and leave your thoughts in the comments.
We’d love to know how you’re leaning … as the witching hour approaches and kids who aren’t trick-or-treating still have time to stock up on eggs and toilet paper.
Article via MLive
Kim Kardashian Says Kanye West Is ‘Harassing’ Her to Have More Kids: ‘He Wants Like 7’
Kanye West had babies on the brain on Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
While touring her new condo-turned-office with pal Larsa Pippen, Kim Kardashian admits that her rapper husband wants to keep expanding their family.
“How did you get so lucky with all your kids?” asks Pippen, 44. “They’re all so good.”
“Kanye wants to have more, though. He’s been harassing me,” says Kardashian, 38. “He wants like seven. He’s like stuck on seven.”
She and West, 41, share daughters Chicago, 8 months, and North, 5, and son Saint, 2.
“Okay, he needs to name his next album Seven and like lighten up on the kids situation,” Pippen cracks. “Seven kids is crazy!”
“That’s crazy. I could never, especially in like the world we live in,” says Kardashian, admitting that the onslaught of recent school shootings made her wary of bringing more lives into the world.
The slayings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018 stuck a particular chord with the mother of three.
“I’ve been kind of hesitant about having more kids just because it literally keeps me up at night, thinking about how my kids will survive in a crazy world like this,” she says.
“I hear you. And people have been trying to kidnap, rob, take you, so that plays into all that,” Pippen says, referencing her friend’s harrowing experience being robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October 2016.
Later in the episode, Kardashian and West take North to the March to Save Lives in Washington, D.C., where the reality star feels inspired by the young activists who tell her the only way to really change America is to vote for politicians who support gun violence prevention in the midterm elections.
“I one billion percent believe that we need stricter gun laws,” Kardashian says. “We need background checks, you shouldn’t be able to walk into a store and buy a gun. And to hear that the kids have met with people numerous times and nothing’s been done is just so sad.”
Article via People
Doomed Indonesian plane with 189 on board had asked to return to base
- An Indonesian aircraft with 189 people on board crashed into the sea on Monday as it tried to circle back to the capital, Jakarta, from where it had taken off minutes earlier, and there were likely no survivors, officials said.
- Lion Air flight JT610, an almost new Boeing 737 MAX 8, was en route to Pangkal Pinang, capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region.
- Rescue officials said they had recovered some human remains from the crash site, about 15 km (9 miles) off the coast.
An Indonesian aircraft with 189 people on board crashed into the sea on Monday as it tried to circle back to the capital, Jakarta, from where it had taken off minutes earlier, and there were likely no survivors, officials said.
Lion Air flight JT610, an almost new Boeing 737 MAX 8, was en route to Pangkal Pinang, capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region. Rescue officials said they had recovered some human remains from the crash site, about 15 km (9 miles) off the coast.
Indonesia is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, but its safety record is patchy. If all aboard have died, the crash will be the country’s second-worst air disaster since 1997, industry experts said.
The pilot had asked to return to base (RTB) after the plane took off from Jakarta. It lost contact with ground staff after 13 minutes.
“An RTB was requested and had been approved but we’re still trying to figure out the reason,” Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of Indonesia’s transport safety committee, told reporters, referring to the pilot’s request.
“We hope the black box is not far from the main wreckage so it can be found soon,” he said, referring to the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
Search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi told a news conference that no distress signal had been received from the aircraft’s emergency transmitter.
Yusuf Latief, spokesman of national search and rescue agency, said there were likely no survivors.
At least 23 government officials, four employees of state tin miner PT Timah and three employees of a Timah subsidiary, were on the plane. A Lion Air official said one Italian passenger and one Indian pilot were on board.
Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told reporters the aircraft had had a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta but it had been “resolved according to procedure”.
Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of its other aircraft of that model had the same problem. Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them, he said.
The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer’s workhorse single-aisle jet.
Privately owned Lion Air said the aircraft had been in operation since August, was airworthy, with its pilot and co-pilot together having accumulated 11,000 hours of flying time.
‘Be patient’
The plane went down in waters about 30 meters to 35 meters (98 to 115 ft) deep.
Bambang Suryo, operational director of the search and rescue agency, said about 150 rescuers and 40 divers were on the site, using an underwater drone to search for the fuselage, where many of the victims were believed to be trapped.
“We need to find the main wreckage,” he told reporters.
Another agency official, Deden Ridwansyah, said authorities were focusing on an area about 1 nautical mile in radius based on debris found on the water and floodlights would be used to search through the night.
The flight took off in clear weather at around 6.20 a.m. and was due to have landed in Pangkal Pinang at 7.20 a.m.
Distraught relatives of those on board arrived at the airport in Jakarta and Pangkal Pinang.
“Be patient, pray the best for papa,” one woman arriving at Jakarta airport told a sobbing girl.
The woman declined to speak to reporters.
President Joko Widodo told a news conference authorities were focusing on the search and rescue, and he called for the country’s prayers and support.
Boeing was deeply saddened by the loss, it said in a statement, and was ready to provide technical assistance for the investigation.
Under international rules, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will automatically assist with the inquiry, backed up by technical advisers from Boeing and U.S.-French engine maker CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran.
Data from FlightRadar24 shows the first sign of something amiss was around two minutes into the flight, when the plane had reached 2,000 feet (610 m).
It descended more than 500 feet (152 m) and veered to the left before climbing again to 5,000 feet (1,524 m), where it stayed during most of the rest of the flight.
It began gaining speed in the final moments and reached 345 knots (397 mph) before data was lost when it was at 3,650 feet (1,113 m).
Indonesia’s worst air disaster was in 1997, when a Garuda Indonesia A300 crashed in the city of Medan, killing 214 people.
Founded in 1999, Lion Air’s only fatal accident was in 2004, when an MD-82 crashed upon landing at Solo City, killing 25 of the 163 on board, the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network says.
In April, the airline announced a firm order to buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX 10 narrowbody jets with a list price of $6.24 billion. It is one of the U.S. planemaker’s largest customers globally.
Article via CNBC