ARETHA FRANKLIN TO BE LAID TO REST TODAY – (08/31/2018)

Aretha Franklin’s four day celebration of life will come to a close today (August 31st) as she will be laid to rest at 10 a.m. at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple Church. According to Bossip, the service will last five-and-a-half hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The funeral will consist of a musical prelude performed by the Aretha Franklin Orchestra, lighting of candles, the processional, a prayer of comfort, scripture of comfort, a reading of the Old Testament by Bishop T.D. Jakes and the New Testament by Pastor Solomon Kinloch. Franklin will also be honored with a number of musical tributes from artists such as Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, The Clark Sisters, Chaka Khan, Ronald Isley, Fantasia, Yolanda Adams, Bishop Marvin Sapp and Stevie Wonder. 

According to TMZ, J-Hud will be performing “Amazing Graze,” Faith Hill will be singing, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus,” Ariana Grande will sing, “Natural Woman,” Stevie Wonder will perform, “The Lord’s Prayer” and Fantasia will sing “Precious Lord.”

Former President Barack Obama will not be in attendance, but he reportedly sent a letter paying tribute to the Queen of Soul. 

The funeral will air live on BET, HLN, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. It will also be live streamed by The Associated Press, SiriusXM, and ABC News Live.

On another note, according to Billboard, Bishop Charles H. Ellis III — who is over the funeral, says that the service will not be a show or a concert. He said, “It is my goal and my aim to ensure that people leave here with some kind of spiritual awakening. This is not a concert, this is not a show, this is not an awards production. This is a real life that has been lived, that a person regardless of how famous she became no matter how many people she touched around the world, she still could not escape death. And hopefully, a lot of people here with money and fame and influence and friends and notoriety and wealth, hopefully they will think of their mortality and say there is something bigger than fame, there is something bigger than Hollywood, something bigger than being a recording artist and selling gold albums or what have you.” 

It has also been reported that the Greater Grace Temple Church will be lined with pink Cadillacs — a tribute to Franklin’s ‘80s record, “Freeway of Love.”

LADY GAGA’S ‘A STAR IS BORN’ SOUNDTRACK DETAILS – (08/31/2018)

Interscope Records has announced the soundtrack for Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s upcoming film, A Star Is Born, which will follow “the musical arc and romantic journey of the movie’s two lead characters,” according to the press release.

The 34-track album – which is available for pre-order now – is set to feature 19 songs and 15 dialogue tracks, which will “take listeners on a journey that mirrors the experience of seeing the film.”

Lady Gaga and Cooper both contributed to the writing on the album, with the 43-year-old actor lending his songwriting talents to four tracks and the 32-year-old singer earning writing credits on 13. The co-stars are also set to perform four duets in the film, including “Shallow,” which was featured in the movie’s trailer.

The soundtrack also features the talents of Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell, Mark Ronson, Julia Michaels and Lori McKenna, and is set to drop October 5th, the same day the film hits theaters.

Lady Gaga shared the exciting news on Twitter, writing, “From our hearts to yours. The soundtrack to A Star Is Born.”

A Star Is Born, which marks Cooper’s directorial debut, is the fourth remake of a 1937 film. It was most recently made in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. In the film, Jackson (Cooper) discovers a struggling artist named Ally (Gaga) and the two fall in love, set to a backdrop of country music.

The film is set to premiere today at the Venice Film Festival, ahead of its October 5th theatrical release.

In a new interview, Bradley Cooper says  he wanted Lady Gaga to be completely natural during her audition for A Star Is Born.

According to the LA Times, Cooper, who directs and stars in the film, swiped off Gaga’s makeup because he wanted to see her “completely open” and with “no artifice.”

“Take it off,” Cooper told Gaga when she walked into the audition with concealer, mascara and lipstick on. Then he took out a makeup wipe and removed it himself.

Meanwhile, Gaga made quite the entrance at the 2018 Venice Film Festival on Thursday, striking a glamorous pose on the edge of a water taxi as she pulled up to the event.

Gaga was all smiles as she cruised into the Palazzo del Cinema di Venezia on the side of the boat, showing off her fit figure in a chic black Jonathan Simkhai resort cocktail dress and matching black pumps. The Grammy winner, whose boyfriend, Christian Carino, accompanied her on the water, was also photographed blowing kisses to fans and sniffing a red flower before hopping off her ride.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE’S HACKER SENTENCED TO JAIL – (08/31/2018)

STATIONS: Please note the following story contains language that could be considered offensive to your audience.

The last of four hackers who leaked private nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other female stars in 2014 was sentenced to eight months in prison, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut.

George Garofano, 26, pleaded guilty in April to a phishing scheme that ultimately garnered private photographs and videos of Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, Meagan Good and many more. Their photographs and videos were then dispersed online. 

LAWRENCE TALKS FITNESS

Meanwhile, Lawrence also discussed her approach to diet and fitness with Vogue. The 28-year-old Oscar winner said she tries to balance junk with good stuff. 

“I don’t like when people say, ‘I only do this or eat this,'” she told Vogue, “Because I eat. I’m not very strict with my diet: If I want a piece of pizza, I eat a piece of pizza.”

“But I do work out more than normal because I have a certain way that I want to look, and a way that I want to fit into my clothes,” she continues. “I get photographed when I’m not asking for it, so there’s added pressure to look and feel your best.”

FAST FACTS:

• “When the hacking thing happened, it was so unbelievably violating that you can’t even put it into words,” Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter of getting hackedin November 2017. “I feel like I got gang-banged by the f—— planet — like, there’s not one person in the world that is not capable of seeing these intimate photos of me. You can just be at a barbecue and somebody can just pull them up on their phone. That was a really impossible thing to process.”
• The other three hackers also got sentenced to 9-18 months in jail. 

EMMY ROSSUM IS LEAVING ‘SHAMELESS’ AFTER 8 YEARS – (08/31/2018)

Emmy Rossum is making her last bow on Shameless. Rossum has played Fiona Gallagher since the show debuted, and she announced her leave-taking in a lengthy, emotional post on Facebook that noted her years on the show were “the best of” her life.

“See, in real life, unlike Fiona, I’m an only child. I never had a big family. Being ensconced in that messy Gallagher family love is something I’d always dreamed of. But even off set, it feels real. We’ve watched the kids grow up into the strong, talented, independent human beings that they are. I taught Emma to shave her legs. I was there when Ethan learned to drive. Shanola and Jeremy and Joan and Bill danced at my wedding in New York last year. Our fearless leader John Wells thankfully held Sam and me up on those rickety chairs during the hora. I’ve spent the Jewish holy days in temple with David Nevins and his wonderful wife and kids. It really feels like a family,” she said. 

Rossum famously waged a war over equal pay in 2016, and won. 

Season nine of Shameless is currently filming and set to debut on Showtime on Sunday, Sept. 9. It has not yet been renewed for a tenth season, but she hints the show will go on.

She wrote: “I know you will continue on without me, for now. There is much more Gallagher story to be told. I will always be rooting for my family. Try not to think of me as gone, just think of me as moving down the block.”