SAG-AFTRA Expands ‘America’s Got Talent’ Fremantle Investigation After Orlando Jones’ Ouster From ‘American Gods’ – SAG-AFTRA is expanding its probe into the firing of “America’s Got Talent” host Gabrielle Union to include a deeper look at FremantleMedia, producer of NBC’s competition show. The move comes after Orlando Jones claimed that his firing from the Starz drama series “American Gods,” another Fremantle production, was racially motivated. “After initial meetings with Gabrielle Union and her representatives about her experiences on America’s Got Talent, and after learning more about Orlando Jones’s experience on American Gods, SAG-AFTRA is expanding its investigation of Fremantle Media,” the union said in a statement. “Our enforcement actions are handled confidentially to protect the members involved, and we typically do not publicize these matters unless the affected members request that we do so. We have nothing further to report at this time.” – Read more at Variety
NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ Probe Looks Beyond Simon Cowell – The network’s investigation into Union’s accusations of racial insensitivity and toxic culture at AGT comes three months before production on the top-rated competition’s next cycle is scheduled to begin — and no one familiar with the situation predicts a swift completion to the investigator’s scheduled interviews. “It’s not a shortlist of people,” one insider tells The Hollywood Reporter. As for Cowell, the acerbic 60-year-old Brit has been in the U.K. filming The X Factor as he’s borne the brunt of public criticism — former judges Howard Stern and Sharon Osbourne claim he fosters a “boys’ club” on the show — and enlisted Hollywood litigator Larry Stein to help him navigate the probe. But sources insist he is not at the center of the investigation, which covers NBC, producer Fremantle, Cowell’s Syco Media and, in particular, day-to-day producers. All interviews are being handled by one investigator, sources say, the same third party retained by NBC to mediate its “productive” five-hour Dec. 3 sit-down with Union and Fremantle’s North American COO Suzanne Lopez. – Read more at Hollywood Reporter
American Idol season 4 winner Carrie Underwood Reveals Cover and Release Date of Her Upcoming Lifestyle Book
Excited to share the cover of my new book #FindYourPath coming out in March 2020! Pre-order your copy today! https://t.co/JAli5g9GmB pic.twitter.com/qOeYl1yWhc
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) December 19, 2019
The Voice Winner Jake Hoot on Working With Kelly Clarkson, Taking Risks, Album Plans, and His Daughter Macy – Kelly said she would help you at the press conference Tuesday night. When you had a quiet moment together, was she any more specific? Is she going to have you come and do her Vegas residency, or does she want to get involved with choosing songs for your album? Not specific. Throughout the show, she had talked about the Vegas residency, and she invited more than just me, obviously. She invited a bunch of people from Team Kelly and then a bunch of people that weren’t on Team Kelly. But as far as specific, I think, she’s under the same mindset that I am as far as we’re looking forward to Christmas right now and getting to spend time with the kiddos and families. – Read more at Parade
Season 17 Winner Of The Voice, Jake Hoot, Talks What’s Next For His Career! – More at Y108radio.com
Chris Daughtry on His Kids’ ‘Sweet’ Reaction to His Surprising ‘Masked Singer’ Reveal (Exclusive) – Daughtry joined Lauren Zima on Thursday’s Entertainment Tonight, and he reacted to a video his wife shot of their kids watching the big reveal in real time. “It’s daddy!” the singer’s son, Noah, shouts in the heartwarming video, before asking, “How?!” “They suspected it,” the singer explained. “Noah was like, ‘OK, it sounds exactly like you, but I know when you’re home and when you’re not and it doesn’t add up. So it can’t be you.” Daughtry said that he first watched the video earlier in the morning and it “made me very emotional.” – Read more at ETOnline
Chris Daughtry Wanted To ‘Embody’ His Fear Of Rottweilers With ‘Masked Singer’ Disguise
Blake Shelton Helps 7-Year-Old Kid Find His ‘Voice’ … VIP Treatment With Celebs – Blake Shelton made an amazing wish come true for a 7-year-old fan who suffers from cerebral palsy … hanging with the kid on “The Voice” and the pics are AWESOME!!! Blake met Colton Harkness on set at “The Voice” semifinals earlier this month … and after the show’s live taping the kid got to chat with his favorite country star in the judge’s chairs, and rub elbows with Gwen Stefani and John Legend! The good folks at Kids Wish Network — a charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses — helped facilitate the meeting between Blake and Colton, flying the youngster from Indiana to California and chauffeuring him to set in a stretch limo. Colton also got hooked up with some ‘Voice’ swag, and while he was out in Cali he got to take his first trip to Disneyland. – Read at TMZ.com
‘Voice’ winner Sawyer Fredericks goes from farm to fame and back – “I’m more of the nighttime chore person, my dad is the one getting up in the morning,” he said by phone this week. “It has definitely kept me grounded. And I don’t like L.A., so I like being down to earth and staying close to my family. After ‘The Voice’ I was very glad that I could get back to my house and be separated from that kind of chaos. The attention has died down a little bit; in the beginning I was really shy about it and I didn’t want to be ‘on’ all the time. But I mostly enjoyed it because people were genuine, they really liked what I did. Now I can walk around and people won’t recognize me, as long as I keep my hair pulled up.” – Read more at Boston Herald
RaeLynn Talks New Era of Music, Teaming Up with Florida Georgia Line and Mentor Blake Shelton – Tell me about joining the Florida Georgia Line guys at Round Here Records. There’s something to partnering with a label run by artists because they know what it’s like to be unique and to tell your story in a unique way and having to fight for that. You shouldn’t have to fight for it — you should just be able to put that music out. It’s important to me to write what makes me happy, because I know it’s going to make my fans happy. My fans are all kinds of kinds; they’re not just your average country music fan. They’re just like me, and I’m not just a country music listener — I listen to everything. We’re all a melting pot, and I’ve realized on the road that’s what my fan base is. Anytime you do something a little different, I think that’s when the best songs come. It’s when you follow your heart. – Read more at People
