ARIANA GRANDE IS JAMES CORDEN’S NEXT ‘CARPOOL KARAOKE’ GUEST – (08/08/2018)

It looks like Ariana Grande is James Corden’s next guest on Carpool Karaoke.

Corden tweeted out a picture of the lyric sheets for Ariana’s hits “No More Tears Left to Cry” and “God Is a Woman.” Ariana retweeted it and wrote, “Sick what for[?]”

The Late Late Show’s Instagram account re-posted Corden’s photo and captioned it, “That time James leaked the next #carpoolkaraoke.”  No word on when it’ll actually air, but Ariana’s new album Sweetener arrives August 17th.

ABC DETERMINED TO PREVENT PLOT LEAKS ON THE CONNERS: Everyone wants to know how ABC’s spinoff of the Roseanne reboot will handle the disgraced titular star’s exit (Roseanne Barr was famously ousted after posting a racist tweet, and the network also canceled her wildly successful show). ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey was tight-lipped at TCA, and said she’d remain so. According to Vulture, details are being so closely guarded, emails are verboten and all communications and scripts are being hand-delivered. One thing is clear: the show will go on, and the family will be depicted as it was, simply without Barr.

LADY GAGA TO BEGIN LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY IN DECEMBER – (08/08/2018)

Lady Gaga is heading to Las Vegas for a residency in December and offering fans two kinds of shows. The singer announced Tuesday that she will kick off the first of 27 performances at the Park Theater on December 28th. Lady Gaga Enigma will highlight her biggest and upbeat hits, while Lady Gaga Jazz & Piano will feature more stripped-down songs as well as music from the Great American Songbook. Tickets go on sale August 13th.

Gaga posted artwork on Instagram for the residency, which features a dark neon rendering of her likeness alongside a logo for Enigma.

“I can’t wait to share ‘Enigma’ with all of my fans and with Las Vegas,” Lady Gaga said. “We’re creating a show unlike anything I’ve done before. It will be a celebration of all that is unique and different within us. The challenges of bravery can be overcome with creativity and courage that is grown out of adversity, love and music.”

DRAKE FILES ‘GOD’S PLAN’ TRADEMARK FOR TV GAME SHOW – (08/08/2018)

Drake has filed a trademark for “God’s Plan” with plans to use the name for a TV game show and clothing merchandise. According to Rap-Up via TMZ, the trademark also includes other endeavors such as “downloadable music, music videos, audio recordings, marketing and promotion.” It is unclear if a “God’s Plan” game show is forthcoming. 

On another note, Drizzy’s album, Scorpion, remains at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for a fifth week. Meanwhile, “In My Feelings” tops the Hot 100 chart for the fourth week in a row.

ELLIE GOULDING ENGAGED TO CASPAR JOPLING: Ellie Goulding is engaged to her boyfriend, Caspar Jopling, after 18 months of dating. The couple made the announcement in the forthcoming marriages section of the British newspaper The Times. Goulding’s real name, Elena, was used in the newspaper. “The engagement is announced between Caspar, son of The Hon. Nicholas Jopling of Yorkshire and Mrs. Jayne Warde-Aldam of Yorkshire, and Elena, daughter of Mr. Arthur Goulding of Hertfordshire and Mrs. Tracey Sumner of West Midlands,” the announcement said. Jopling shared the happy news on his Instagram page, too. “I get to spend the rest of my life with this truly extraordinary and beautiful, beautiful person,” Jopling said. “No one has ever made me feel more full of life, knowledge, happiness, or love.” Jopling is an art dealer and former Youth Olympic rower who attended the prestigious Eton College in the U.K. Goulding and Jopling live together and divide their time between New York and London.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON, COBIE SMULDERS JOIN SPIDER-MAN: Samuel L. Jackson is starring as Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home, opposite Tom Holland. Cobie Smulders is also joining, where she will reprise her character Maria Hill, Fury’s frequent comrade. The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming arrives July 5^th, 2019. 

DEMI LOVATO POSTS HEARTFELT NOTE AFTER REPORTED OVERDOSE – (08/06/2018)

Demi Lovato is speaking out for the first time since being hospitalized after a reported overdose in late July. The 25-year-old penned a note posted to her social media on Sunday.

“I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet,” Demi wrote.

“I want to thank God for keeping me alive and well. To my fans, I am forever grateful for all of your love and support throughout this past week and beyond. Your positive thoughts and prayers have helped me navigate through this difficult time.”

“I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery. The love you have all shown will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting,” she wrote.

The singer goes on to thank her family, her team and the hospital staff, adding, “Without them, I wouldn’t be here writing this letter to all of you.”

“I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery,” she concludes. “The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting.”

At the end of June, Demi revealed that she’d fallen off the wagon after six years by releasing the song “Sober.” Following her overdose, it re-entered the charts.

PINK HITS BACK AT CRITICISM THAT SHE HIT THE BEACH INSTEAD OF THE STAGE – (08/06/2018)

Please note the following story contains language that could be considered offensive.

Pink is hitting back at critics after she was spotted on the beach following the cancellation of her Sydney concert

The singer announced Thursday that she’d postponed Friday’s show due to an upper respiratory infection, but some outlets posted photos of the singer on the beach in Byron Bay, Australia, with her kids, which some took to mean that she wasn’t as sick as she’d claimed.

Pink took to Instagram to clear up any misconceptions, saying, “This break in Byron has been scheduled since 2017, as a way to get outside the hotel and the winter and have some time with my children.”

She continued, “[What] these parasite paparazzi don’t show you, is two doctor visits in Byron on two consecutive days, antibiotics, steroids, Vick’s, nose spray, throat spray, more steroids, NyQuil, a screaming baby in the middle of the night, every night, while mama gives him warm baths and tells her daughter everything is fine.”

Pink added that she has “never f****d off while disrespecting hard working people who spend money to come see me play.”

She notes, “I have never phoned in a single tour, I have an impeccable record for not cancelling. I mother with everything I have whilst handling all the rest.”

Pink also explained that the picture doesn’t show that she’s drinking water and lying down resting while her friends entertain the kids.

Pink’s pal Justin Timberlake came to her defense in an Instagram comment on the post. Justin, who’s toured with her twice, wrote in part, “I’m here to tell you that you won’t find a harder working, more authentically talented, and more thankful for her place on that stage and her fans than this woman.”

The 37-year-old went on to say he related to what Pink was going through – as he struggles with his own health.

“And NOW… as a parent on tour as well, and an artist who LOVES their fans just as much and wants to give them an unprecedented experience… AND is currently battling an injury, a sinus infection, and trying to be the DAD I want to be too?? I say HATS OFF to you, my friend. I don’t know how Moms/Artists like you exist.”

He also criticized the paparazzi photographers who took the beach pictures and wished Pink a speedy recovery.

“Go make up some fodder about somebody who’s half-assin’ it. NOT a real one. “Wishing you full health and speedy recovery, Pink! Shine on, sis!!!!! – JT,” he ended.

CHARLOTTE RAE DIES AT 92 – (08/06/2018)

Charlotte Rae – the lovable Mrs. Garrett from iconic sitcoms The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes – has passed away at 92-years-old. She died on Sunday after being diagnosed with bone cancer in 2017, her reps said.

Rae is best known for her role as housekeeper Edna Garrett, first on the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes and then the spinoff The Facts of Life, with both shows launching in the 1970s and running several years into the ’80s.

She also starred in the TV comedy Car 54, Where Are You? in the early ‘60s. Rae won an Emmy nomination for her performance in the 1975 TV drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. She played the mother of Woody Allen’s character in the movie Bananas. She appeared in The Vagina Monologues in New York and was the voice of a character in Tom and Jerry: The Movie in 1992. Several of her co-stars and fans mourned her loss on Twitter.

ARIANA GRANDE SAYS ‘SWEETENER’ SONGS ‘SOUND LIKE MY DNA’ – (08/06/2018)

With only two weeks to go until Ariana Grande’s album Sweetener is released, the singer has shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album.

In the clip posted to Twitter, Ariana is heard talking to her collaborator Pharrell Williams from inside the recording booth, describing how connected she feels to what she just recorded.

“These two I feel like sound like my DNA,” she’s heard saying. “Does that make sense? Or how I wish I felt. Not how I feel, but how I’m striving to feel.”

Pharrell tells her, “Listen, when you sing these songs on stage, okay, you will tell people the story of how you felt when we were doing this song. That is what’s so amazing. You will have this to look back on.”

“It’s an escape,” Ariana says.

Sweetener comes out August 17th.

DEMI LOVATO REPORTEDLY LEAVING THE HOSPITAL THIS WEEK: Demi Lovato will be leaving the hospital in the coming days, according to TMZ. The 25-year-old overdosed last week and has remained in the hospital due to complications. Demi is reportedly doing much better after suffering from extreme nausea and a high fever. A source says Demi’s team is making plans for her to head to rehab, although the decision is ultimately hers. They added that Demi didn’t get help after breaking her sobriety several months ago but her overdose seemed to have scared her enough to seek treatment.

PARIS JACKSON SAYS DEMI’S OVERDOSE DID NOT TRIGGER HER: Paris Jackson took to Instagram Stories to deny reports that she’s headed to rehab after Demi Lovato’s recent hospitalization. “ummmm no?? I haven’t gone to a clinic..someone doesn’t have to almost die for me to know to be healthy, I’ve already had friends OD and die. that’s enough for me,” she wrote in response to a tweet alleging she was headed back to rehab. In 2013, Jackson overdosed on Motrin. 

DAN REYNOLDS TAKES THE XBOX GAME PASS CHALLENGE FOR HIS LOVELOUD FOUNDATION; EXPOSES THE ILLUMINATI – (08/02/2018)

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds took on the Xbox Game Pass Challenge on Friday in support of Loveloud, the foundation Dan founded in 2017 to support LGBTQ+ youth and increase suicide awareness.

In the challenge, Dan had 50 minutes to complete 10 challenges in 10 games, including Halo 5: Guardians and Rocket League, throughout the Xbox Game Pass catalogue. For each challenge completed, he’d rack up $10,000 for the foundation.

In the end, Dan successfully won 10 out of 10 challenges, racking up $10,000 for the Loveloud Foundation. He also beat Usain Bolt as the reigning champion.

Meanwhile, in a series of videos posted to his Twitter, Reynolds jokes that he’s a member of the Illuminati, a secret society that supposedly controls the world.  

“The Illuminati’s real,” Reynolds declares. “I’m a member, that’s how Imagine Dragons got famous.”

In another video, Reynolds says he’s “in serious danger” for unmasking the Illuminati, before ticking off a list of famous people who are also members, including Nicolas Cage, Danny DeVito, country star Reba McEntire and the Olsen twins.

CAMILA CABELLO RELEASES ‘BEAUTIFUL’ BAZZI COLLAB – (08/02/2018)

Camila Cabello joins Bazzi on a remix of his track, “Beautiful,” released today. Camila teased the collab on Twitter Wednesday, posting a snippet of the song and writing, “12 pm est tomorrow.”

The 10-second clip features Camila and Bazzi singing in harmony, “I just had to let you know/Swear to God you’re beautiful.”

After Camila said in an interview that she was a big fan of Bazzi’s hit “Mine,” he was tapped to open for her on her on select dates of her Never Be the Same tour this past spring. Camila is currently opening for Taylor Swift on her Reputation tour, as well as playing her own headlining dates. Bazzi’s Cosmic tour wraps next week.

BRITNEY, BACKSTREET, ‘N SYNC, PINK, KATY PERRY HITS MAY FEATURE IN NEW MAX MARTIN MUSICAL – (08/02/2018)

A U.K. musical based on the works of Max Martin, the songwriter who’s penned 22 No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, is in the works.

A casting notice for the production reads, “AUDITIONS – NEW MUSICAL. Love Britney, Adele, Justin, Pink, Katy, Selena, Taylor, Robyn, Justin? This is for you. Music from the man behind their biggest hits – Max Martin.”

The musical, described as being in the “final stages of development,” will use Martin’s “incredible catalogue of songs as inspiration.”

Among the countless Martin co-writes or productions which might be used in the musical: Britney Spears’ “..Baby One More Time,” The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” Adele’s “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Katy Perry’s “Roar” and “Teenage Dream,” Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” ‘N SYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” and Pink’s “Raise Your Glass.”

Martin’s tally of 22 No. 1 makes him the third most-successful songwriter in U.S. chart history behind only Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26).