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Entertainment

Pamela Anderson opens up in a documentary that works to help reclaim her narrative

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CNN
 — 

The word “Intimate” is frequently used when describing celebrity documentaries, but it certainly applies to “Pamela, a love story,” which at one point shows Pamela Anderson lounging in the bathtub as portions of her diaries are read as voiceover. The result is a humanizing look at a woman often reduced to cartoon caricature, while occasionally feeling too conspicuously like a licensed product.

Produced by, among others, Anderson’s son Brandon Thomas Lee, director Ryan White (whose biographical documentaries include “Ask Dr. Ruth” and “Serena”) had access not only to her diaries but a collection of home movies – including, yes, the one stolen and posted for the world to see, of Anderson having sex with her then-husband, drummer Tommy Lee.

Anderson, now 55, speaks at length of that interlude, the invasiveness of having private material shown and exploited in that fashion, and what she clearly sees as a reopening of those wounds with Hulu’s limited series “Pam & Tommy,” which dramatized those events.

Anderson’s account actually does little to detract from that Emmy-nominated production, which was quite sympathetic in portraying the hurt she felt and the way the media treated her. Indeed, the clips presented here of late-night comics cashing in on Anderson as a punchline, or interviewers Matt Lauer and Larry King asking her about her breasts, do as much to endorse the Hulu version as undermine it.

“Pamela” makes clear that Anderson is letting her guard down right from the outset, as she appears makeup-free, hanging out in the small British Columbia town where she grew up, before getting discovered at a football game (fans “oohed” when she appeared on the scoreboard camera) launched her as a model and into the pages of Playboy.

As Anderson tells it, during that time she reclaimed her sexuality, having experienced abuse on more than one occasion as a child.

International stardom on “Baywatch” followed, and it’s amusing to hear Anderson reminisce not only about all the celebrities she dated during that stretch, but the whole “Running on the beach in slow motion” imagery. (There’s no mention of “Home Improvement,” or Anderson’s recent allegations in her memoir of being flashed by its star, Tim Allen, which the comic has denied.)

The indignities of that “blond bombshell” status are nicely documented here. Ditto for the intrusions of the paparazzi, who dogged her particularly after the whirlwind romance with Lee.

The feeding frenzy surrounding the sex tape “solidified the cartoon image” of her, Anderson recalls, adding, “I knew at that point my career was over.”

While “Pamela” handles all of that quite well, too much of the rest of it plays like the Hallmark Card version of Anderson’s story, from the cloying, saccharine music to the interviews with her sons, whose protectiveness toward their mother is admirable but not especially enlightening.

The last part of the documentary also feels a bit scattered, venturing into areas like Anderson’s animal-rights activism through PETA, her advocacy for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and, finally, her Broadway debut in “Chicago.”

At its best, “Pamela, a love story” strips away what in hindsight looks like misogynistic media coverage – obsessed with her looks and relationships – to consider the person behind all of that, while proving a little too determined and pliable in the goal of helping Anderson assert ownership over her narrative.

At those moments, “Pamela” might work as a love story, but it fares a little less well as a documentary.

“Pamela, a love story” premieres January 31 on Netflix.

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Entertainment

Cindy Williams, ‘Laverne & Shirley’ star, dead at 75

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CNN
 — 

Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a representative. She was 75.

Williams died after a short illness, said the statement from her children Zak and Emily Hudson, provided to CNN by family spokesperson and Williams’ personal assistant Liz Cranis.

“The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed,” their statement read. “Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved.”

Williams had credits spanning six decades, but it was her role on “Happy Days” spin-off “Laverne & Shirley” that endeared her to millions and made her a household name.

On the series, she starred opposite the late Penny Marshall as one half of a dynamic friend duo whose adventures powered the show, which ran for eight seasons from 1976-1983.

Born in Van Nuys, California, Williams’ interest in acting throughout high school led her to studying theater at Los Angeles City College, according to a biography provided by her family. Some of Williams’ first professional acting credits include a three-episode arc on the 1969 series “Room 222” and appearances on other shows, like “Nanny and the Professor” and “Love, American Style,” in the early 1970’s.

Williams went on to become a prolific working television and film actor, appearing in dozens of titles. But it was after she first appeared as Shirley Feeney on “Happy Days” in 1975 that her career began to take shape.

The lighthearted “Laverne & Shirley” proved to be a ratings hit and earned six Golden Globe nominations, including two for best comedy series and one for Williams in the best actress in a comedy category.

Williams also appeared in several standout films. Most notably, she starred in George Lucas’ 1973 film “American Graffiti,” which earned Williams a British Academy Film Awards nomination for best supporting actress. The film, about a group of friends who spend one wild night together before leaving for college, went on to be nominated for five Oscars, including best picture, at the 1974 Academy Awards. Williams also had roles in acclaimed films “Travels with My Aunt” by George Cukor’ in 1972 and “The Conversation” from director Francis Ford Coppola in 1974.

Williams was also an accomplished stage actress, with a long list of credits. Last year, she took her one-woman show, “Me, Myself and Shirley,” where she shared stories from throughout her career, on a national tour. She had at least one series of dates scheduled for later this year.

Upon news of her passing, Williams’ friends and fans took to social media to honor the late actress, who left a legacy of laughter.

“Happy Days” star and film director Ron Howard tweeted that Williams’ “unpretentious intelligence, talent, wit & humanity impacted every character she created & person she worked with,” going on to say that the pair worked together on six different projects together. “Lucky me,” he added.

Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie on “Happy Days,” called Williams “a fine and talented human being” on Twitter.

“Oh how I loved Cindy Williams,” Yvette Nicole Brown, who worked with Williams in 2016 when she guest starred in an episode of CBS’s “The Odd Couple,” shared on Twitter. “She was as lovely as I always imagined she’d be.”

Actor Jason Alexander wrote on Twitter: “I did not know Cindy Williams but boy did I adore her work, especially the wacky joyful funny pleasure of watching her Laverne and Shirley days. I pray she had a good life and send my sympathy to those who knew and loved her.”

Williams’ children added in their statement that they were proud of their mother for many reasons – “her lifelong mission to rescue animals, her prolific artistry, her faith” among them – but “most of all, her ability to make the world laugh!”

“May that laughter continue in everyone, because she would want that,” the statement said. “Thank you for loving our Mom, she loved you too.”



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US

Paul Pelosi attacker trafficks in conspiracy theories in call to TV station after video release

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CNN
 — 

The man who attacked the husband of Nancy Pelosi in their home last year showed no remorse and continued his dangerous fixation on the former House speaker in a bizarre phone call to a San Francisco reporter on Friday, according to the Bay Area station’s reporting.

David DePape called KTVU’s Amber Lee from the San Francisco County Jail on the same day the attack footage was released, with what he called “an important message for everyone in America.”

Without mentioning Pelosi by name, DePape said he had gathered “names and addresses” of people he believed were “systematically and deliberately” destroying American freedom and liberty and said he wanted to “have a heart-to-heart chat about their bad behavior.”

DePape added that he should have been “better prepared,” adding that he was sorry that he “didn’t get more of them.”

KTVU said their reporter was not allowed to ask follow-up questions of DePape during the phone conversation, which he allowed to be recorded.

The call came on the same day that a California court released video of the attack, audio of the 911 call and his initial police interview after the arrest in which he echoed right-wing extremist views, including MAGA tropes that underscored how he was influenced by dangerous rhetoric and conspiracies.

DePape also told a San Francisco police officer in October that the reason he went to the Pelosis’ San Francisco home was because he believed that the then-speaker was “the leader of the pack” of all the politicians in Washington, DC, “lying on a consistent basis.”

In laying out his reasons for enacting the attack, DePape epitomizes how dangerous unsubstantiated political rhetoric that enters the mainstream has contributed to political violence nationwide.

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said earlier this month that threats against members of Congress is “still too high” even though threat investigations dropped in 2022 for the first time in five years. Federal law enforcement agencies have consistently warned about the increasing threat of politically motivated violence after rioters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, raising specific concerns about the likelihood that online calls for violence result in real-world attacks.

DePape claimed in his October interview that Democrats, led by Pelosi, spied on former President Donald Trump in a way that was worse than Watergate, when then-President Richard Nixon was forced to resign after it was discovered his administration tried to cover up a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

“When Trump came into office, what they did went so far beyond spying on a rival campaign. It is just crazy,” DePape said in an audio recording of his interview with a San Francisco police officer in October.

Without evidence, DePape claimed that Democrats were on an “endless f**king crime spree” when it came to Trump.

“Not only were they spying on a rival campaign, they were submitting fake evidence to spy on a rival campaign, covering it up, persecuting the rival campaign,” DePape said of what he believed Democrats were doing to Trump.

DePape said that these actions originated with Hillary Clinton, who unsuccessfully ran against Trump in 2016, and that all Democrats are “criminals.” But he zeroed in on Pelosi as the one who “ran with the lying.”

DePape is facing both state and federal charges related to the attack. He has pleaded not guilty.

The video and audio were released by a court Friday, over the objections of DePape’s attorneys who argued it would “irreparably damage” his right to a fair trial. Media outlets, including CNN, pressed the court to release the information.

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Entertainment

John Mayer announces solo acoustic tour

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CNN
 — 

John Mayer has announced a first-ever solo acoustic tour.

The 19-date tour will stop at arenas across North America and is set to kick off on March 11 in New Jersey, according to a press release. The tour ends in Los Angeles on April 14. Tickets go on sale on February 3 at 9am in the ticket buyer’s time zone.

“I knew one day I’d feel it in my heart to do an entire run of shows on my own again, just like those early days,” the crooner said on Instagram. He added that while an acoustic solo tour has been decades in the making, “I feel it now.”

Mayer also said that he’ll be playing old songs and some “you haven’t heard yet” that will be performed on acoustic and electric guitars, as well as on the piano.

Best known for his breakout single “Your Body is a Wonderland” off his 2001 debut album “Room for Squares,” the singer-songwriter’s other hits include “Gravity,” “Waiting on the World to Change” and “New Light.”

The Grammy winner’s solo tour will wrap up just in time for the start of Dead and Company’s final tour, a band with which Mayer has toured since 2015. Dead and Company’s final tour begins on May 19 in Los Angeles.



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Entertainment

Taylor Swift: Live Nation exec will face lawmakers about concert tickets fiasco

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New York
CNN
 — 

Lawmakers are set to grill top executives from the event ticketing industry on Tuesday after Ticketmaster’s inability to process orders for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour left millions of fans unable to buy tickets or without their ticket even after purchase.

Joe Berchtold, the president and CFO of Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation Entertainment, is set to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday, two months after the Swift ticketing fiasco reignited public scrutiny of the industry. Jack Groetzinger, CEO of ticketing platform SeatGeek, is also scheduled to testify at the hearing.

Tickets for Swift’s new five-month Eras Tour – which kicks off March 17 and will have 52 concerts in multiple stadiums across the United States – went on sale on Ticketmaster in mid November. Heavy demand snarled the ticketing site, infuriating fans who couldn’t snag tickets. Customers complained about Ticketmaster not loading, saying the platform didn’t allow them to access tickets, even if they had a pre-sale code for verified fans.

Unable to resolve the problems, Ticketmaster subsequently canceled Swift’s concert ticket sales to the general public, citing “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”

As fury grew among legions of hardcore Swifties, Swift herself weighed in on the fiasco. “It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,” Swift wrote on Instagram in November. “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”

As a result, the US Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled the hearing on Tuesday, titled “That’s The Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment” to examine the lack of competition in the ticketing industry.

“The issues within America’s ticketing industry were made painfully obvious when Ticketmaster’s website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s new tour, but these problems are not new,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who sits on the committee, said in a statement about the hearing. “We will examine how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industries harms customers and artists alike. Without competition to incentivize better services and fair prices, we all suffer the consequences.”

In his prepared opening remarks, Berchtold blamed “industrial scalpers” for recent online ticketing snafus and called for legislation to rein in those bad actors. Ticketmaster, he said, was “hit with three times the amount of bot traffic than we had ever experienced” amid the “unprecedented demand for Taylor Swift tickets.” The bot activity “required us to slow down and even pause our sales. This is what led to a terrible consumer experience that we deeply regret.”

“As we said after the onsale, and I reiterate today, we apologize to the many disappointed fans as well as to Ms. Swift,” he said in the opening remarks. Berchtold also noted some things the service could have done differently “in hindsight,” including “staggering the sales over a longer period of time and doing a better job setting fan expectations for getting tickets.”

In addition to the executives, the committee said witnesses at the hearing will include Jerry Mickelson, CEO of Jam Productions, one of the largest producers of live entertainment, and singer-songwriter Clyde Lawrence.

Lawrence, who has composed music for motion pictures including the Disney+ holiday comedy movie “Noelle,” wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times in December titled “Taylor Swift’s Live Nation Debacle Is Just the Beginning,” in which he criticized Live Nation for allegedly being a monopoly and detrimental to artists.

“Whether it meets the legal definition of a monopoly or not, Live Nation’s control of the live music ecosystem is staggering,” he wrote.

Criticism of Ticketmaster’s dominance dates back decades, but the Swift ticketing incident has once again turned that issue into a dinner table discussion at many households.

Concert promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster, two of the largest companies in the concert business, announced their merger in 2009. The deal at the time raised concerns, including from the US Department of Justice, that it would create a near-monopoly in the industry.

The Justice Department allowed the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger to proceed despite a 2010 court filing in the case that raised objections to the merger. In the filing, the Justice Department said that Ticketmaster’s share among major concert venues exceeded 80%.

Ticketmaster disputes that market share estimate and says it holds at most just over 30% of the concert market, according to comments on NPR recently by Berchtold.

While irate fans were left scrambling to wade through the Swift ticket confusion, their collective anger caught lawmakers’ attention.

Members of Congress used the debacle to criticize Ticketmaster’s control of the live music industry, saying that because Ticketmaster dominates so heavily, it has no reason to make things better for the millions of customers who have no other choice.

“Ticketmaster’s power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services,” Klobuchar, who chairs the antitrust subcommittee, wrote in an open letter to Ticketmaster’s CEO in November. “That can result in the types of dramatic service failures we saw this week, where consumers are the ones that pay the price.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal echoed Klobuchar’s concerns. He tweeted at the time that the tour “is a perfect example of how the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger harms consumers by creating a near-monopoly.”

In December, lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, demanding a briefing on what went wrong and what steps the company is taking to fix the problems.

“The recent pre-sales ticketing process for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras tour – in which millions of fans endured delays, lockouts, and competition with aggressive scammers, scalpers and bots – raises concerns over the potential unfair and deceptive practices that face consumers and eventgoers,” the committee wrote in its letter.

The committee noted it had previously raised concerns about the industry’s business practices and said it wanted to meet with Rapino to discuss how the company processes tickets for concerts and major tours. It also wants answers about how Ticketmaster plans to improve in the future.

Brian A. Marks, a senior lecturer in the department of economics and business analytics at University of New Haven’s Pompea College of Business, said he would have liked Swift to make an appearance at the hearing.

“This hearing seems to be focused on Swift and what happened with the ticket sales. We also have to remember that Taylor Swift and her team negotiated a contract with Ticketmaster for sale of her concert ticket,” said Marks.

“Will Congress want to look at that contract? To me, what happened with the Swift concert tickets was not necessarily the result of Ticketmaster being the dominant player in the industry,” he said. Artists, and especially larger artists like Swift, “are free to elsewhere,” he said. “This point may get missed in tomorrow’s hearing.”

– CNN’s Frank Pallotta, Chris Isidore and David Goldman contributed to this story



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Entertainment

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ crosses $2 billion mark in worldwide box office

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CNN
 — 

As has frequently been the case throughout his unparalleled career, James Cameron made film history again this weekend.

His long-awaited sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” has now made over $2 billion in worldwide grosses, as reported by Deadline.

That grand total is after the film’s box office take from this weekend, the sixth consecutive weekend the film has occupied the No. 1 spot since its release in December.

CNN has reached out to “Avatar: The Way of Water” producing studio Disney for comment on the film’s latest financial achievement.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is the sequel to Cameron’s 2009 extraterrestrial epic “Avatar,” which remains at the top of the list of biggest-selling films of all time, according to Box Office Mojo.

Another of Cameron’s films is also in the $2 billion club – 1997’s “Titanic.” Only three other films are part of that club – 2015’s “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens,” “Avengers: Infinity War” from 2018, and “Avengers: Endgame” from one year later.

Cameron is therefore the only director who can boast that three of his films are among the six to have made over $2 billion, as well as in top 6 bestselling movies of all time.

The director is planning to release at least three other “Avatar” sequels going forward.

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Entertainment

Aubrey Plaza joined by Amy Poehler to reprise ‘Parks and Rec’ roles on ‘SNL’

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CNN
 — 

Aubrey Plaza made sure to pay homage to her Pawnee roots while hosting “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, and she had a little help from her former onscreen boss.

The “White Lotus” star was joined by her “Parks and Recreation” costar Amy Poehler during the live broadcast, who appeared during Plaza’s opening monologue and again for a spot during the Weekend Update segment.

Poehler played well-meaning boss Leslie Knope on the hit NBC comedy series that ran from 2009 until 2015. Plaza played April Ludgate, an apathetic assistant to Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman).

During the Weekend Update skit, Plaza and Poehler came on to urge young people to get government jobs. Poehler, who acted as Weekend Update anchor along with Tina Fey during her “SNL” tenure in the early 2000’s, momentarily ousted current anchor Colin Jost to crack a news-related joke.

Other surprise guests included President Joe Biden, who chimed in during Plaza’s opening monologue as a fellow former resident of Delaware, and Sharon Stone.

Stone first appeared during musical guest Sam Smith’s second number, “Gloria,” and also featured in one of the last skits – a spoof on film noir. Coincidentally, Poehler used to impersonate Stone when she was a cast member on “SNL.”

“Saturday Night Live” will return with another new episode this coming weekend, with host Michael B. Jordan and musical guest Lil Baby.

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Entertainment

King Charles III’s coronation: Buckingham Palace reveals details of three-day celebration

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London
CNN
 — 

Buckingham Palace on Saturday revealed details of King Charles III’s coronation, set to be less extravagant than his mother’s ceremony 70 years ago, in a reflection of the cost-of-living crisis many Britons are enduring.

Three days of celebrations will take place, with the coronation on Saturday May 6, a “Coronation Big Lunch” and “Coronation Concert” the following day, and an extra bank holiday on Monday. The public will be invited on the last day to join “The Big Help Out” by volunteering in their communities.

The coronation itself will be “a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry,” conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the palace said.

It will, the palace reiterated, “reflect the Monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”

That line from the palace has been interpreted by experts as a hint that Charles’ coronation will be different and more subdued from the one his late mother experienced seven decades ago, with a shorter ceremony and amendments to some of the feudal elements of the ritual. Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was the first live televised royal event and lasted three hours.

Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, will arrive at Westminster Abbey in procession from Buckingham Palace, known as “The King’s Procession,” and return later in a larger ceremonial procession, known as “The Coronation Procession,” accompanied by other members of the royal family.

The King and Queen Consort, alongside members of the royal family, will then appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to conclude the day’s events.

At this point, the palace has not specified which members of the family will appear in the procession and on the balcony, following Prince Andrew’s continued exile from public life as a result of historical sexual abuse allegations and the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir which railed against his family.

“It would help Charles a lot in terms of his image if Harry and Meghan were there,” royal historian Kate Williams previously told CNN. “It’s particularly going to look bad for him if his son is not there because, of course, Harry still is very high in line to the throne, as are his children.”

On the following day, May 7, thousands of events are expected to take place across the country as part of the “Coronation Big Lunch,” while as-yet unnamed “global music icons and contemporary stars,” will come together for a “Coronation Concert” held on Windsor Castle’s East Lawn, the palace said.

The concert will be attended by a public audience composed of volunteers from the King and Queen Consort’s charity affiliations as well as several thousand members of the public selected through a national ballot held by the BBC.

They will watch a “world-class orchestra play interpretations of musical favorites fronted by some of the world’s biggest entertainers, alongside performers from the world of dance…and a selection of spoken word sequences delivered by stars of stage and screen,” the palace said, adding that a line-up would be released in due course.

A diverse group comprised of Britain’s Refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs, will form “The Coronation Choir” and also perform at the concert, alongside “The Virtual Choir,” made up of singers from across the Commonwealth.

Well-known locations across the country will also be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations as part of the concert.

The celebrations will conclude on the bank holiday Monday with “The Big Help Out” that will aim to “bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the Coronation Weekend.”

To get updates on the British Royal Family sent to your inbox, sign up for CNN’s Royal News newsletter.

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Entertainment

Rapper Young Thug, co-defendant ara accused of in-court drug transaction

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CNN
 — 

Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug and a racketeering co-defendant conducted a hand-to-hand drug transaction during a court hearing, prosecutors said in a motion filed in Atlanta.

Fulton County prosecutors say the alleged exchange was captured on courtroom surveillance video Wednesday.

The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, and Kahlieff Adams are charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity, among other charges.

According to the motion seeking clarification of the record, Adams “stood up from his chair (…) and walked unattended” to Young Thug and gave him Percocet.

The motion said Young Thug tried to conceal his hand under the table. Sheriff’s deputies took the painkiller and searched Adams, who resisted. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital after “he appeared to ingest other items of contraband that he held on his person, in an effort to conceal the extent of his crimes within the courtroom.”

During the search of Adams, the deputies found Percocet, marijuana, tobacco, and other contraband, “wrapped in plastic and food seasonings to mask the odor of the marijuana,” the motion said.

Percocet is the brand name of a drug that mixes oxycodone, which is an opioid, and acetaminophen, which is the generic name for drugs such as Tylenol.

Keith Adams, one of Young Thug’s attorneys, told CNN on Friday, “The State is purposely misrepresenting and embellishing Wednesday’s events.”

He said Young Thug neither requested nor accepted the pill.

“As can be seen in the courtroom video footage, Mr. Williams IMMEDIATELY gave it to the courtroom deputy that was directly in front of him,” he wrote in a message.

Adams said an investigation cleared Young Thug of any wrongdoing and the responsible party was charged. He said the prosecutors’ allegations were “a blatant fabrication and disappointing.”

Teombre Calland, an attorney representing Kahlieff Adams, released a statement via text message to CNN affiliate WSB-TV saying: “On behalf of Mr. Adams, these allegations are simply that: mere statements made by the state in an effort to thwart the lengthiness of the jury selection process.”

CNN has reached out to Brian Steel, another Young Thug attorney, and Calland.

Young Thug won a Grammy Award in 2019 for his work with Childish Gambino and Ludwig Göransson on the hit song “This is America.”

The rapper was initially indicted in May on charges of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and participation in criminal street gang activity.

A re-indictment filed on August 5 in Fulton County Superior Court accuses him of nine new charges, including participating in criminal street gang activity and violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act.

He also was indicted on other charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a machine gun.

Jury selection is ongoing.

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US

Alec Baldwin and armorer to be charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust’

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CNN
 — 

Actor Alec Baldwin, who fatally shot a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in 2021, and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said Thursday.

The family of Halyna Hutchins, who was the film’s director of photography, thanked prosecutors for their decision.

“It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” the family said in a statement released by attorney Brian J. Panish.

Baldwin has maintained he was not aware the gun he fired during a rehearsal contained a live round. His attorney called the prosecutors’ decision “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” attorney Luke Nikas said.

“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”

Live updates: Alec Baldwin to be charged in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting

An attorney for Gutierrez Reed said he believes jurors will find his client not guilty.

“We were expecting the charges but they’re absolutely wrong as to Hannah – we expect that she will be found not guilty by a jury and she did not commit manslaughter,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement Thursday.

“She has been emotional about the tragedy but has committed no crime.”

Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed each face two counts of involuntary manslaughter so that a jury can decide which specific count may be more appropriate, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

If convicted, “they will only be sentenced to one count,” the prosecutor said.

In either case, a conviction is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine, prosecutors said.

But one count would involve a firearm enhancement, or added mandatory penalty, because a firearm was involved. In that case, the crime could be punishable by a mandatory five years in jail, prosecutors said.

The district attorney said she believed “Rust” had a “really fast and loose set,” citing “a lack of safety and safety standards” and “live rounds on set – they were mixed in with regular dummy rounds.”

“Nobody was checking those, or least they weren’t checking them consistently,” Carmack-Altwies said.

“And then they somehow got loaded into a gun, handed off to Alec Baldwin; he didn’t check it, he didn’t do any of the things that he was supposed to do to make sure that he was safe or that anyone around him was safe. And then he pointed the gun at Halyna Hutchins and he pulled the trigger.”

Hutchins was struck and killed by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger.

Director Joel Souza was also shot and injured. No charges will be filed against Souza in relation to the shooting.

In the summary of the postmortem investigation into Hutchins’ death – which was formally signed by the New Mexico chief medical investigator – the cause of death is listed as “gunshot wound of chest,” and the manner of death is listed as an “accident.”

“Review of available law enforcement reports showed no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set. Based on all available information, including the absence of obvious intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is best classified as accident,” the report concluded.

An FBI forensics report said the weapon could not be fired during FBI testing of its normal functioning without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked. The report also noted the gun eventually malfunctioned during testing after internal parts fractured, which caused the gun to go off in the cocked position without pulling the trigger.

The shooting has led to a whirlwind of finger-pointing and allegations of negligence from those involved.

In an interview with CNN in August, Baldwin placed responsibility for the tragedy on Gutierrez Reed, who served as the armorer and props assistant on the film, and assistant director Dave Halls, who handed him the gun.

Halls signed a plea agreement “for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,” the district attorney’s office announced in its statement Thursday. Prosecutors said the terms of that deal include six months of probation.

On Thursday, Halls’ attorney Lisa Tarraco released a statement in defense of her client, who does not face charges in connection with the tragedy.

“Absent no charges at all, this is the best outcome for Mr. Halls and the case,” Tarraco said. “He can now put this matter behind him and allow the focus of this tragedy to be on the shooting victims and changing the industry so this type of accident will never happen again. “

In November, Baldwin filed suit against Gutierrez Reed and Halls and other individuals associated with the film, according to a cross-complaint obtained by CNN.

Through their respective attorneys, both Gutierrez Reed and Halls maintained they were not at fault and accused Baldwin of deflecting blame onto others.

Gutierrez Reed also sued the movie’s gun and ammunition supplier and its founder – who deny wrongdoing – and alleged a cache of dummy ammunition was sold with live rounds mixed in.

In October, Hutchins’ family reached an undisclosed settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Baldwin and others involved in producing the film.

Matthew Hutchins, widower of Halyna Hutchins, described her death as a “terrible accident” in a statement at the time of the settlement. Production on “Rust” was to resume this month with Matthew Hutchins joining as an executive producer on the film as part of the agreement.

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