-
Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Apr 21, 2015
April 21, 2015
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
Watercooler:
You can add the Kentucky Derby to the list of events and places which won't allow so-called "selfie sticks."
Yesterday, Churchill Downs joined the Coachella and Lollapalooza music festivals along with the Smithsonian in DC and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yankee Stadium in NYC in banning the gimmicks.Sucking the life out of the wire services:
ROSEANNE BARR says she's going blind.
Roseanne, who's now 62, told the Daily Beast she's developed macular degeneration and glaucoma, which is causing her to slowly lose her sight. She said her doctors have not given her a timeline for when she will be completely blind, but she did say her "vision is closing in now."
And she said she uses marijuana to self-medicate: "[It's] good for me for that because I have pressure in my eyes. [Marijuana is a] good medicine for a lot of things," she said.On, off and way-off Broadway:
"Hamilton" is the hottest ticket in New York City. It is impossible to get into the Off-Broadway musical at the Public Theater, unless you are the First Lady or MADONNA.
The Confidential gossip column in the New York Daily News says MICHELLE OBAMA went to the matinee on Saturday, and was dancing in her seat, while Madonna went to the Saturday night show and spent most of it texting!
After each performance ends, the show's composer and star, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA asks the audience to donate money to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He said there was someone in the audience who could definitely afford to pay big bucks for some of the items he was auctioning off for the charity, but that someone was too busy texting. Didn't phase Madonna one bit. But, Lin-Manuel sent out his own text: "Tonight was the first time I asked stage management NOT to allow a celebrity (who was texting all through Act 2) backstage #noselfieforyou." The Tweet was deleted shortly after. (Marino)Fashion Emergency:
Frederick's of Hollywood is closing all of its brick-and-mortar locations after filing for bankruptcy. The sellers of affordable trashy lingerie began as a mail-order business in 1946 and quickly established itself as a go-to brand for women to get that sexy pinup look. In its heyday of selling open-cup bras, corsets, and garters, Frederick's had 200 stores. New York magazine's The Cut says the brand will continue to exist as an online-only merchant. (Bartha)
Pot news:
National Pot Smoker's Day was yesterday, and HBO used the occasion to pick up six episodes of the web series "High Maintenance," a comedy about a Brooklyn pot dealer (played by BEN SINCLAIR, the series co-creator) who delivers pot to clients who have various neuroses.
The Wrap says HBO will also make the 19 episodes, which previously aired online, available later this year on HBO, HBO NOW and HBO GO.From our No Brainer department: WILLIE NELSON has his own brand of weed. Yesterday was 4/20, the national holiday for pot smokers, and the 81-year-old music legend announced he'll be growing "Willie's Reserve" in Colorado and Washington state where it's legal to buy and smoke weed for personal use.
FYI: Willie joins other celebrity pot heads including SNOOP DOGG who is endorsing vape products; MELISSA ETHERIDGE and her marijuana-infused wine and reality TV star BETHENNY FRANKEL who is developing a line of Skinnygirl weed that won't give you the munchies. (Marino) -
-