Day: April 20, 2023

Here’s the latest Jeff–and–Sasha Substack…have at it.

Once again, the link..

What more is there to learn or say about the poor guy? I can’t imagine what new wrinkles have yet to be considered…seriously. Even when I was a kid I knew Hudson was closeted. I had a surreal dream about him when I was 12 or 13, and I just knew.

Alec Baldwin had been facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the the accidental killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchin during the filming of Rust in New Mexico. But no longer.

He’s now out of the woods and standing clear and free. Two weeks before the start of the trial, criminal charges have been dropped against the guy.

We all knew it was a tragic accident, and that no reasonable person would argue that Baldwin loaded the western-style pistol. We all knew that the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was primarily responsible.

Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nikas: “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun, or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against him, and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident.”

F. Murray Abraham is publicly apologizing for passing along some presumably vulgar, off-color jokes during the shooting of Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest. The jokes were apparently what got him fired, and so Abraham is trying to calm the whole situation down.

“This is a sincere and deeply felt apology,” he said in the statement. “Though never my intention to offend anyone, I told jokes, nothing more, that upset some of my colleagues and as a result I lost a great job with wonderful people. I have grown in my understanding from this experience, and I hope they will forgive me.”

Remember The Aristocrats? Gauche, revolting, locker-room rumor performed ironically and without the slightest hesitation. The late Gilbert Gottfried‘s rendition was masterful. The idea wasn’t to be “funny”, but to demonstrate how brazen or unperturbed he was about slinging really disgusting material “in quotes”, and with a slight twinkle in his eye.

Did Abraham got into trouble because he didn’t have Gottfried’s confidence or charm?

Imagine Gottfried killing an audience with that idiotic Johnny Fuckerfaster joke, which I first heard when I was eight or nine. “Once there was a boy named Johnny Fuckerfaster, and he was having sex with a girl under the front porch and his mom came out looking for him. ‘Johnny!’ she called out. Johnny was silent. ‘Johnny Fuckerfaster, where are you?’ Still no reply. ‘Johnny Fuckerfaster, answer me or you’re in big trouble!” his mom shouted at the top of her lungs. ‘Jeez, ma,’ Johny finally replied. ‘I’m going as fast as I can!'”

I’ve never laughed at vulgar sexual humor, which often masks hostility or immaturity, and I’ve certainly never tried to amuse anyone with such humor. But a gifted comedian — confidence, generosity of spirit, timing, attitude — can make all the difference.

For a while there I thought Jonathan Majors might ride this thing out, but now I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows.

I do know that Majors had been connecting and gaining ground for the last four years, starting with The Last Black Man in San Francisco (’19), followed by The Harder They Fall (’21) and a boxer in Creed III (’23) and playing Kang the Conqueror, most recently in that godawful Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania. But now it all seems to be crumbling into pieces.

On 3.25 Majors was arrested in Manhattan on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, but two statements seemed to mitigate — one by attorney Priya Chaudhry that said Majors is “innocent and has not abused anyone,” and that “irrefutable evidence [shows] that the charges are false”, and another by his 30 year-old victim-girlfriend that basically said that the incident had been overblown and that she didn’t mean to create all this trouble.

But then Majors was dropped as a client by both his management company, Entertainment 360, and the public relations firm, the Lede Company.

And then yesterday (4.19) Variety‘s Tatiana Siegel reported that “sources” are saying Majors “is now a suspect in multiple cases of assault and abuse” and that “several alleged victims have reportedly come forward and are cooperating with the D.A.’s office.”

Just before that it was reported that while Marvel has decided nothing since the arrest, an “insider” is claiming that Marvel is fiddling around with the idea of replacing Majors, just in case.

How does he turn this around? Is the situation even repairable?

Nobody got killed so this morning’s Starship launch was basically an expensive lesson in what not to do next time. Try, try again. The rocket was flipping and tumbling for a while, and then boom. The explosion happens around the 4:02 mark.

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In the vicinity of the Colisseum, street peddlers have been selling this Roma Antica map to the tourists for decades. I bought mine (tightly rolled and shrink-wrapped) in ‘07, and for a good 15 years it hung on my dining room wall, mounted and framed.

I am eternally of this ancient city, or so I’ve always believed in my bones (or at least in my dreams). I actually lived there, I’m fairly certain, in one of my past lives. And what a comedown my lives have been ever since.

“So as through a glass, and darkly / the age-long strife I see / Where I’ve written and travelled in many guises, many names / But always me”