Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jul 22, 2021

Wotta surprise: In Los Angeles yesterday, HARVEY WEINSTEIN pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges from 11 women. Harvey saw the judge in his wheelchair, said he was innocent and any sexual activity back then was consensual. Of course, Harvey's currently serving a 23-year jail sentence in New York for similar crimes, but appealing the conviction. He could get another 140 years behind bars if he's convicted in LA.

No kidding: How much has the Coronavirus pandemic affected life here in the US? Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the average lifespan here in the US declined by a year-and-a-half during the past year. More than 600-thousand Americans have died because of the pandemic, and the average lifespan dropped from 78.8 years to 77.3 years in the span of a year.

Movie news: THE ROCK won't be in any more “Fast & Furious” movies. DWAYNE "The Rock" JOHNSON dropped the bomb after his co-star, VIN DIESEL, told a magazine that he'd have to give The Rock “A lot of tough love” to get the performance he wanted in the next movie. That was enough for Dwayne to say “I wish them well on ‘Fast 9.’ And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies they do that will be without me.” In other words: "See ya."

More movies: Warner Bros and DC Films have apparently selected “In the Heights” actress LESLIE GRACE to play Barbara Gordon in the studios’ upcoming “Batgirl” movie. Fans will be able to see the movie on HBO Max.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD will be doing a new, late-night talk show on Comedy Central beginning Friday, September 17th. CNN reports the half-hour show will reportedly revolve around Charlamagne's "culturally fluent take on social issues" and will feature sketches, interviews and "social experiments." Interestingly, STEPHEN COLBERT will be producing the show --to apparently be called "Tha God's Honest Truth With Lenard 'Charlamagne' McKelvey".

Fast food: Would you love to try out some Pepperoni Pizza Dip on some chips or crackers? Hidden Valley Ranch has put together the flavored dip and is distributing it exclusively at Sam’s Club in one-and-a-half pound containers for $8.48.