Here's everything that's been happening in the world of Pop Culture this past week... in case you missed it! Feel free to comment on any of the stories and info shared here, add any news bits that you caught going on that may have been missed, or at least show us some love if you read the post but have nothing to comment on by clicking on that little heart icon at the bottom of the post...

GENERAL POP CULTURE NEWS:

- A California man was arrested after an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night, an event that was being attended by US President DONALD TRUMP, First Lady MELANIA TRUMP, Vice President JD VANCE, and several members of Trump’s cabinet and members of Congress as well as members of the media including on air personalities from several cable news channels and journalists from numerous news outlets, none of whom were injured amid the melee; Trump, Vance, and the rest of the officials were escorted out of the building without incident. The suspect reportedly was armed with multiple weapons when he charged through a security checkpoint close to the ballroom in the hotel where the event was being held, leading to engagement with police; one officer was shot during the exchange of fire but is expected to survive. The shooter allegedly emailed a manifesto to his family shortly before the incident in which he stated he was targeting members of the Trump administration and that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes”. Security for the event is usually handled by the Secret Service when a president is in attendance which usually is the case; this was the first year during either of Trump’s terms in which he decided to attend the event. The altercation with the shooter occurred prior to the events that usually take place at the dinner, which would include presenting awards to journalists, scholarships to individuals pursuing journalism degrees, a host presentation (in previous years the host was usually a comedian; this year the host was mentalist OZ PEARLMAN), and a roast-like speech from the president, leading to the event ultimately being cancelled. The WHCA has not yet stated whether they may attempt to hold the dinner again at a later date to present their awards and scholarships or not. 

- 33 year-old New Jersey bureaucrat JAMIE DING’s win streak on syndicated game show “Jeopardy!” came to an end this week after 31 straight games. Ding won a whopping $882,605 over the course of his 31 wins, placing him fifth among the top earners of all time on “Jeopardy!”. His 31 consecutive wins also puts him fifth on the all-time consecutive win streak list. The Michigan native’s time on the game show isn’t completely through though; his 31 wins qualify him to compete in the next “Jeopardy!” ‘Tournament of Champions’.  

- NAMES, HASHTAGS, MEMES, AND TRENDS FROM THIS PAST WEEK –

“Summer House” reunion audio leak; Saudi Arabia pulls out of LIV Golf;  BRITNEY SPEARS’ DUI charge

GOVERNMENT 101 -

- US: The FCC ordered Disney’s ABC-owned local stations to apply for early renewal of their broadcast licenses a day after President DONALD TRUMP and First Lady MELANIA TRUMP called for Disney and ABC to fire late night talk show host JIMMY KIMMEL over a joke he made on last Thursday’s episode, two days ahead of the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Kimmel, pretending he was hosting the White House Correspondents’ dinner this year since the oft-comedian-hosted event was not being hosted by a comedian this year, joked that Melania had the glow of an “expectant widow”. The Trumps both took offense to the joke on Sunday, suggesting it in some way promoted violence toward the president and attempted to blame Kimmel’s joke for Saturday’s alleged attempt on his life. On Monday Kimmel defended his remark about Melania as “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that,” adding that he agreed that “hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject,” suggesting the first lady should “have a conversation with your husband about it.” The FCC’s Media Bureau stated it was calling in ABC’s licenses for eight owned-and-operated stations for early review pursuant to an investigation into Disney and ABC over potential violations of the FCC’s “prohibition on unlawful discrimination” — meaning the agency is specifically probing the media conglomerate’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. But the timing of the order left the distinct impression that the FCC was acting in response to conservatives’ outrage over Kimmel’s joke. The licenses for ABC’s eight stations were not due for renewal until 2028 at the earliest, with some not due until 2031.

- US: The Supreme Court struck down a major portion of the Voting Rights Act of the ‘60s this week, in a 6-3 ruling that decided the state of Louisiana’s newly redrawn congressional maps are unconstitutional because they were redrawn on the basis of race. Louisianans fought through lower courts to have the maps redrawn to better reflect the state’s racial makeup (the state’s Black population currently makes up approximately 30% of its total population but its representation in congress is currently approximately 17%; the newly drawn map was meant to better balance out that representation). In the majority decision, Justice SAM ALITO remarked that it is legal to redraw the congressional maps for political purposes but not for racial purposes, effectively negating a portion of the voting rights act and also making it more difficult in the future to bring a lawsuit against gerrymandering in any state due to race because Alito stated one would have to prove intent, which would be extremely difficult to do. The following day, Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency to pause the congressional primaries – which are currently being voted on – in order to redraw the congressional map again, this time with intent to help the Republican Party potentially gain another seat in congress.

THE ROYAL REPORT -

- UK: King CHARLES III, along with his wife Queen CAMILLA, made his first state visit to the US as the British monarch. The King addressed a joint meeting of Congress as part of the multi-day trip, which included stops in Washington D.C, New York City, and Virginia to celebrate the US’s 250^th anniversary of its independence from Britain. Aside from the king’s address of Congress, the royal couple also attended a White House state dinner alongside guests including Apple’s outgoing CEO TIM COOK, Amazon owner JEFF BEZOS and his wife LAUREN SANCHEZ BEZOS, Paramount owner DAVID ELLISON, several Fox News personalities, members of Trump’s cabinet, Republican Senators JOHN THUNE, STEVE DAINES, and LINDSEY GRAHAM, and five of the nine Supreme Court justices, among others, and visited the 9/11 memorial in New York City.

ON BROADWAY/ THE WEST END -

- Following a series of clues and hints on social media, director/producer JAMIE LLOYD confirmed his musical revival “Evita” is set to hit Broadway in spring 2027. Actress RACHEL ZEGLER, who recently won an Olivier Award in the UK for her portrayal of Eva Peron in the West End production, will reprise the role in the Broadway production.

MOVIE NEWS:

- Universal Pictures has moved up the release of the upcoming revival of “The Mummy” with original film stars BRENDAN FRASER and RACHEL WEISZ from May 19, 2028 to October 15, 2027.

- Universal Pictures’ rom-com “The Catch”, starring EMMA STONE and CHRIS PINE, has been set for a May 21, 2027 theatrical release.

- Filmmaker EMERALD FENNELL’s romantic drama reboot adaptation of the EMILY BRONTE classic novel “Wuthering Heights”, starring MARGOT ROBBIE and JACOB ELORDI, will be available to stream on HBO Max on May 1^st. The film will make its debut on the linear HBO channel on May 2^nd. An American Sign Language version will also stream exclusively on HBO Max.

- MOVIE CASTING UPDATE -
- Actor CHRIS EVANS is joining the cast of crime thriller “My Darling California”. Actors JESSICA CHASTAIN, CHRIS PINE, MIKEY MADISON, CHARLES MELTON, and DON CHEADLE were previously announced as part of the ensemble cast.

TV NEWS:

- CBS announce plans to air the music special "Forever Young: A Grammy Salute to Rod Stewart Live" next month. The two-hour event, a co-production with the Recording Academy, will honor the platinum-selling pop singer by combining a live concert experience, never-before-seen interviews, rare archival footage, and exclusive behind-the-scenes access. "Forever Young: A Grammy Salute to Rod Stewart Live" will air on CBS on May 19 at 8 p.m.

- TV CASTING UPDATE –

- Actress HELENA BONHAM CARTER has exited the season 4 cast of HBO drama anthology series “The White Lotus” one week into filming. According to reports, during filming it “had become apparent” that the character created for her “did not align once on set” and thus the character is being rethought, rewritten, and recast.” Later in the week it was announced that LAURA DERN would be joining the series, but she is playing a new role written for her rather than just taking over the part Carter had.

- TV RENEWALS* AND PICKUPS/EXTENSIONS** -

* “Scrubs”, ABC, renewed for season 2

* “Shifting Gears”, ABC, renewed for season 3

* “Hazbin Hotel”, Amazon Prime Video, renewed for fifth and final season

* “Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85”, Netflix, renewed for season 2

- TV CANCELLATIONS* AND TRIMMED/NOT-EXTENDED SEASONS** -

* “Gen V”, Amazon Prime Video, cancelled after two seasons

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 SINGLES AROUND THE WORLD –

Australia/ Canada/ Ireland/ UK/ US: “drop dead” by OLIVIA RODRIGO

Germany/ Hong Kong/ Sweden: “Beauty and a Beat” by JUSTIN BIEBER ft. NICKI MINAJ

Japan: “Kagenimo-Hinatanimo” by TRAVIS JAPAN

Mexico: “Tu Sancho” by FUERZA REGIDA

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 ALBUMS AROUND THE WORLD –

Greece: “Channel Orange” by FRANK OCEAN

UK: “You Got This” by SKINDRED