Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Dec 1, 2020

Turns out Darth Vader died of COVID-19. The NY Post reports his daughter said “It’s horrible that COVID restrictions meant we did not get to see him and say goodbye,” and noted he'd been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and spent two weeks in a London hospital with COVID-19.

Also from the Post: In England, a tequila bar owner has applied to become a church to skirt COVID-19 lockdown rules. The bar --now called the Church of the Four Hundred Rabbits-- has asked patrons to sign a petition claiming they're part of the congregation; either a “bunny believer” or a “reverend of the righteous rabbits.” Can't wait to see what communion is like... and whether you can order seconds.

How much money does RYAN SEACREST have? Probably a little more in a couple of weeks, since he's selling his Beverly Hills house for a mere $85 million dollars! The NY Post reports since he's living in the Big Apple these days where they film "Live with Kelly and Ryan," he's getting rid of the LA place, which he originally bought from ELLEN DEGENERES for $39 million eight years ago. So he'll make a little money on the deal if somebody will pony up the cash. It's 9,000 square feet has 4 bedrooms, 6 baths and a gourmet chef's kitchen that opens to an outdoor pizza oven inside. There's also a movie theatre, a spa, a world-class gym and a master suite with its own meditation garden. And there's lots more.

Know anybody who has the coronavirus? There could be a lot more by the end of the year, since Dr. SCOTT GOTTLIEB --a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner-- says he believes up to 30-percent of us may be infected with coronavirus by the year's end. Gottlieb is now a board member of Pfizer, which is working on one of the vaccines, but says he believes there's a lot more people with the virus because not everybody who contracts the virus is tested and then diagnosed --perhaps as many as a half a million cases a day, probably more during the just=passed Thanksgiving weekend.

See ya: Say goodbye to FCC Chairman AJIT PAI, who's leaving the commission January 20th --the same day that JOE BIDEN will be inaugurated-- ending his eight-year term at the Commission (the last four as Chairman). Pai's biggest move was the approval of the T-Mobile /Sprint merger.

And finally, she's ba-a-a-ack! FELICITY HUFFMAN, who served her time in the college admissions bribery scandal, will now get back to the TV, starring as SUSAN SAVAGE, the owner of baseball's Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-a affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. So far the show just has a pilot commitment, but the baseball show could be one of the few places we'll get to see a game this coming season, thanks to the coronavirus.